Friday, 23 November 2007

Another day of catching up and correspondence. I completed another funding bid, started preparing thoughts for our next Trustees’ meeting, and met with Helen on volunteering, Maria on networking lunches, Vanessa on Training, Anne on Fundraising, and our Connexions Team.

IT and Communications

I also reviewed the IT and Communications paper I’d drafted for the HIC. Several recent studies have shown that the voluntary sector is lagging behind other sectors in the use of IT. Our findings certainly confirm this. We also found little enthusiasm for a voluntary sector agency delivering IT services, and that the sector's communication systems are simply not “fit for purpose”.

The question then is how can this state of affairs be changed? How can the value of effective ICT be demonstrated? How can HIC demonstrate its leadership? How can the ICT environment be transformed?

What I proposed was creating a communication and information centre for Hertfordshire’s voluntary sector. This centre could include contact details of all groups, offer opportunities for groups to create e-mail addresses and websites, provide access to support services, house discussion groups, and offer individuals the chance to subscribe to a range of information streams.

Revisiting the proposals today, I was pretty confident that they are the best opportunity we have of securing a "step change" in ICT.