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Policy, Research and Reports

• The 2002 Treasury Cross Cutting Review got a 'big picture' ICT strategy for the voluntary and community sector going, and various capacity building projects are now being funded (from Feb 04). It is run by the Home Office Active Community Unit, and includes NCVO and others. See NCVO's Developing the information and communications technology capacity of the voluntary and community sector document.

• UK Circuit Riders is a discussion forum on and off line for sector IT support workers and will often be the first with updates on what's happening in this field. Charity Web Managers Forum is also a key online source of advice and news. See Functional support page for both.

• The ShareIT Community Metadata Schema, in Manchester, seems to have disappeared, but addressed the need to promote consistency between information providers from voluntary sector organisations, public sector agencies, private sector companies and community groups.

• Virtual Promise - Are charities keeping up with the Internet revolution? First report published Feb 01 (see News Review) and updated annually, from nfpSynergy (was Future Foundation). Contact Joe Saxton, email: joe.saxton@nfpsynergy.net. Also look at our review of Digital Futures, which also covers some sector IT issues.

• Re-Shaping the Voluntary and Community Sectors in the Information Age is the title of research undertaken at Glasgow Caledonian University Business School (as part of Virtual Society? project). The report from Dr Eleanor Burt and Professor John Taylor is available as hard copy from the University at £20 or download from Virtual Society web site. Although the summary and highlights (on the uptake of ICT in the sector) are useful for the novice, reading it in depth will give a much better insight into the issues.

• Voluntary Sector in the Information Age was aDublin City University School of Communications research project - we can't locate it any more on their web site, but worth checking the associated Centre for Society, Technology and Media.

• Papers presented at the Spring 2001 Research Forum on The Impact of Information Technology on Civil Society in Washington DC are available at the Independent Sector web site (in PDF). These include a fascinating description of SCVO's ambitious workwithus gateway project, Mark Gannon on ICT in volunteering work, plus IT and Umbrella bodies.

Community focus

Inclusion in the Information Society - The Distinctive Role of E-Gateways The report from Gateways to the Virtual Society research project (part of Virtual Society?) was downloadable from Warwick Business School Ikon unit site, but no longer? The research, by Sonia Liff, Peter Watts and Fred Steward, included a survey of 300 facilities in 1998. It categorises community IT/internet access centes as being ShopFront E-gateways (e.g. cafes) or Community E-Gateways (closely connected to a particular geographic, ethnic or other community).

Local Connections: Making the Net Work for Neighbourhood Renewal A report from Communities Online. No longer seems to be available online (Nov 04) .

Shipley Communities Online (link problem Nov 07).

The American Community Technology Centers' Network gives the lowdown of whats happening over there.

Development Projects

Also see Functional Support page.

The IT4arts project aims to help arts organisations "take the correct steps in introducing computers into their organisation, and subsequently getting the most out of their IT resources". Set up by Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and the Baring Foundation, it also runs seminars and is developing a peer support community.

Making the Net Work A joint UK-US initiative, aiming to develop 'how to' guidance for those trying to get their organisation or neighbourhood online, or how to create community technology or learning access centres. The Department of Trade and Industry has funded a start up kit for those creating online communities and developing other community networking projects.

There are UK Online Centres around the country providing ICT access for communities, in places such as internet cafés, public libraries, colleges, community centres, village halls. Quite a few are run by voluntary organisations. (See Local Resources below.)

Learning and Teaching Scotland has an ICT for Communities section providing "information, advice, support, strategies and toolkits for using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to help build community capacity" - its worth checking out what current resources they have.

Help is at hand is now part of UfI but remains a resource for UKOnline centres.

DirectSupport is a free advice and mentoring service for community and voluntary sector UK online centres.

Wales Information Society "A project that aims to stimulate and develop the use of information and communications technology throughout the Principality".

com.com/holyrood was a Millennium project run by SCVO (to Apr 01) to establish 200 community based internet access points across Scotland, enabling communication with the Scottish Parliament, and more. Not sure if there's anything about it still on SCVO web site.

Women Connect is a network of women's organisations in England. 'Women use and shape the net together'. Various aims include to build the capacity of women's organisations to use the Internet to meet their objectives more effectively.

Community Network Analysis and ICTs - Bridging and Building Community Ties - is a research project run by University of Brighton/SCIP.

International

Association for Progressive Communications 'Internet and ICTs for Social Justice and Development'. The UK GreenNet is one of a wide range of civil society organisations belonging to this international network, which among other things is a 'facilitator of civil's society's engagement with ICTs and related concerns'.

Journal of Community Informatics (enabling communities through ICT).

Local Internet/IT Resources

We would welcome more contact details (especially outside London). There are many more locally based web sites on the Local contacts page, which may well lead to community facilities.

The net:gain project is working with various UK Online centres to help voluntary organisations with strategic ICT planning. The ICT Hub should be able to point you in the direction of other ChangeUp funded projects (local or regional).

Anglesey See Menternet on Local Contacts.

Bradford Resource Centre.

Brighton See Resource Centre on Local Contacts.

North West Leicestershire Appleby Online Centre.

London, West Community Technology Centre, Nottingdale Technology Centre, W10. Low cost IT and design services for charities and community groups - a design studio where students do work placements. Phone 020 7243 4880, email: mat@ntdc.org

Manchester Women's Electronic Village Hall An Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Training and Resource Centre run by women for women.

Merseryside 3TC's mission is to make Information and Communications Technology (ICT) available to all third sector organisations in the region.

Newcastle Try Lifestile - in formative stages, but trying to provide access to information for local voluntary sector.

Nottingham CU-ICT# aims to combat the 'digitial divide' in socially excluded groups in Nottinghamshire communities.

Renfrewshire (Barrhead) Try Login Internet Cafe, a Youth Internet Cafe and ICT Learning Centre.

National

e_bus Not sure what has happened ot this - web site not working July/Novt 04 but still shows as a project of YouthNet. It is a custom-built double-deck bus delivering mobile internet access and conferencing facilities.

Also look at

Communities Online Has a directory of member organisations involved in community IT.

TeleCottage Association, has a listing of member telecentres: to be included they must offer public access to computers and other IT equipment, provide training facilities and business services.

Terminology

The following are various names and flavours for community-centred physical IT resource facilities:

• Local Access Centre
• Telecottage or Telecentre
• Electronic Village Hall or EVH
• Local Support Centre
• Innovation Centre
• Technology Centre
• IT Hub
• Business (or Community) Resource Centre
• Community Communications/Computer Centre

We have a glossary of internet/web terms.