JFDI vs Being Boring – "Don’t let strategy and process get in the way of doing good stuff. At the same time, don’t JFDI and find yourself exposed."
New Proposal – “Community DigiLand Bank Register” « Birmingham Social Investment Trust – Interesting idea – perhaps citizens can put and on the map and someone in the council can flag it if they own it – with information about who to talk to?: "One idea that came out of the discussion would be for the public or council owned land to be registered and available for all communities to view on a new web based ” Community – DigiLand Bank Register”, maybe using googelmaps as a base and thereby allowing citizens to geotag and photo any plots they become aware of or are interested in."
OGC – Home – "The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is an independent office of HM Treasury, established to help Government deliver best value from its spending"
These are my links for March 1st through March 2nd:
MADE – Talking cities lecture series – "MADE’s thought provoking lecture series, supported by Cudos and Birmingham Architectural Association, kicks off on 11th March with a talk by Irena Bauman, Bauman Lyons Architects, entitled Happy Cities – Stitching the Disconnections"
Green ICT Surgeries | Voscur – "Voscur would like to help members tackle their negative impact on the environment, which seems to be an inevitable part of running a modern office or organisation.
We are running surgeries for up to 5 organisations at a time to introduce members to the Bristol Green ICT community developing around the the Green Bristol ICT website (http://www.bristolgreenict.org.uk)"
Using the internet for effective citizenship – at the Citizenship Foundation we believe that effective civic engagement – or more specifically, effective citizenship – requires critical reflection by all involved; not simply the release and management of data by one party and the voicing of opinions by another.
Leadership services – Leadership 20:20 | National Council for Voluntary Organisations – "We have launched a Commission on the future leadership of civil society, to give emerging leaders a chance to have their voices heard and discuss some of the major issues affecting both our sector, and our world. As well as contributing to this key agenda, our hope is that Leadership 20:20 develops as a network for civil society’s emerging leaders to share ideas, share information and learn from each other."
When using open source makes you an enemy of the state | Technology | guardian.co.uk – "It turns out that the International Intellectual Property Alliance, an umbrella group for organisations including the MPAA and RIAA, has requested with the US Trade Representative to consider countries like Indonesia, Brazil and India for its "Special 301 watchlist" because they use open source software."
digital economy bill – massive lobby remains | Tom Watson MP – "If you counted the number of people who are working full time to bounce this Bill through the Commons on behalf of big publishing interests I bet it would run into three figures. Those that want to protect the Internet connections of the nation’s youth? Probably one or two."
Are newspapers selling linkspam? (Again?) | Online Journalism Blog – "Clever as this idea may sound, the newspapers may want to research what happened when other publications tried the same approach. The Irish Independent, the Economist and The Times are among publications whose PageRank has been penalised by Google."
RAWM and Charity Builder UK – "RAWM has joined forces with Charity Builder UK to offer a £300 a year web service free of charge to RAWM members.
Charity Builder UK (CBUK) is a new online service which has the potential to transform administrative tasks in your organization. Designed for charities and community groups, it provides advice on lots of important topics such as human resources, health and safety, volunteering and governance."
Here are some of the things I’ve been reading February 18th from 09:08 to 21:55:
10 Keys to Effective Non-Profit Organization Websites | Vandelay Design Blog – volunteers who are offering their time and services are also critical to most non profits. The website should provide information that tells people how they can get involved, how it will make an impact, and provide them with an opportunity to express their interest in volunteering.
Connecting 2.0 Communities? « – Tracey helps organisers organise: "I couldn’t help feeling that with a few “tweaks” a good event could have been great and so, I’d like to offer a few suggestions – and – an offer to help put some of them into practice at the next event."
Let me introduce you to two new blogs about neighbourhoods in Birmingham, both run by public servants
Hands on Handsworth is written by Tracey Thorne – the neighbourhood manager for Handsworth in Birmingham; Be Heard in Birchfield is being nurtured by Yvonne Wager – the neighbourhood manager for that particular part of the city. (Click here to see Tracey’s explanation of neighbourhood management)
Both Yvonne and Tracey are in jobs funded by Be Birmingham – the local strategic partnership. They were inspired to start a neighbourhood blog by their colleague Kate Foley who had been running Life in Lozells – a site set up originally to address the problem of all the bad news you find when googling Lozells. Kate explains in more detail in this video made by the Chamberlain Forum.
What do they do?
They talked to us about helping them develop these sites during the Social Media Surgeries we ran in Lozells last year. Both are built on WordPress with some changes to the back end that make it a little easier to blog and listen to what the web is saying about your neighbourhood. There’s also a simple events system with mapping, plus the sites include a facility to easily turn plans into commentable consultation docs. We also provide a service that ensures the software stays updated, plugins don’t clash etc, plus training and support on using it well.
Tracey is a natural – she really enjoys writing for the site and is on a roll. Yvonne is equally enthusiastic but needs a different sort of support, so it is taking a little longer.
Why Bother
The sites are the neighbourhood managers’ home in a wider web conversation. It’s only fledgling at this stage. The point is that over time they help the neighbourhood managers share information, ask questions, pool expertise and begin to collabroate in new ways with their community. I’m not convinced they should attempt to become THE site for their neighbourhood.
Such an idea concerns me, because if THE site gets switched off or someone begins using it to be self serving that’s a problems for the whole neighbourhood. Instead I’m interested in how we can nurture a range of online resources and voices in a place. These blogs form part of that process – providing a tool that can also help neighbourhood managers link to and encourage the wider conversation.
What do you think?
It will take time and patience for these sites to bed in – but what do you think? Could you encourage them by commenting a post or do you have any advice for Yvonne or Tracey?
These are my links for February 14th through February 15th:
Richard Sambrook: Big Thinker | Big Thinkers – Transparency is the new objectivity
Balance used to be the watchword of the regulated UK news environment
Now that is not enough. Trust is built through transparency.
This can be liberating and it means “showing your workings”- as you did when doing maths at school- and admitting mistakes.
Federal Agency Ideascale Dashboard – Very neat – I especially like the bit which says which departments are short on ideas and could do with a little love. "To satisfy the Open Government Directive agencies are soliciting your ideas on how to make them more transparent, participatory, collaborative and innovative"
Google Buzz: Not fit for purpose – Really detailed post on the many flaws with Google Buzz: "I have enough problems managing my email already, I don’t need Buzz to add to the cognitive load".
These are my links for January 26th through January 27th:
News : NDS – The government will create one secure, resilient and flexible network which will enable every area of government to adapt their ICT to best deliver for the public. Other changes include, for the first time, bringing together Government departments, local government and wider public sector organisations to remove unnecessary overlaps between departments and avoid costly duplication of technology.
Giving activities – Part 2: Professional amateur « Project : Arena – "taking journalism into the gift economy where it’s no longer a simple exchange between producers and consumers, writers and their readership. This new form of journalism is confronting issues familiar to many in volunteerism and others who’ve worked for many years in the gift economy."
Open Government Initiative | The White House – "As part of the Directive, federal agencies have answered the President’s call by democratizing hundreds of high-value datasets on every aspect of government operations. While this is meaningful for the technology community and transparency advocates who have been working on this issue for years, the data released will have direct impact on the daily lives of the American people. Here are three examples to consider:"
http://bournvillevillage.com/?p=622 – Bournville hyperlocal volunteer run news reports like, well er, reporters…."Passions ran high at a packed Rowheath Pavilion on Tuesday evening as experts and residents clashed over the best way to preserve Bournville’s future in the light of the Kraft takeover of Cadbury."
These are my links for January 16th through January 22nd:
Puffbox.com » Archive » Creative Commons coming to data.gov.uk – "There's something almost unnerving about the launch of a government website getting so much positive coverage. But today's been data.gov.uk's big day, and everyone seems to agree it's a jolly good thing. For now.
James Crabtree's piece for Prospect magazine hails it as 'a tale of star power, serendipity, vision, persistence and an almost unprecedented convergence of all levels of government'. The New Statesman says it's 'a far more radical project than it first appears… a clear break with the closed, data-hugging state of the past.' We're all getting quite excitable, aren't we?"
Unlocking innovation | data.gov.uk – Advised by Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Nigel Shadbolt and others, government are opening up data for reuse. This site seeks to give a way into the wealth of government data and is under constant development. We want to work with you to make it better.
News Corp is foolish to block linking | Media | The Guardian – "Linking is a right. The link enables fair comment. It powers the link economy that will sustain media. It is a tool for accountability. It is the keystone to free speech online."
The Through the Viewfinder photography of Pete Ashton – My mate Pete keeps on forging new ways to make money from networks, trust and creativity: "As part of my plan to make lots of money from my photographs I’m encouraging you to download high resolution versions of my TTV photos to make cool things with them and I don’t mind if you pay me or not."
There’s a new section in my shop: Roll your own. That explains how I expect this to work so go read it before reading on.
African Social Media Surgery launch | Technology for Community Empowerment – I am almost impossibly excited by this first social media surgery in Africa: "The Social Media Surgery will be managed by Craig Ross and the rest of the RLabs Superstars. What excites me about this initiative is that the management and our surgeons will be men and women who use to disempower their community through drugs and violence, who are now giving back and empowering citizens through Social Media."
These are my links for December 20th through January 7th:
Doctor Who leads Welsh regeneration | UK news | The Guardian – The success of Doctor Who provided a platform to develop the skills and experience of local people within the industry and then attract further productions to the city [and] region," he said. "The diversity of the landscape is also a significant factor, with beaches and mountains within half an hour of a modern capital that has changed beyond recognition." So successful has Doctor Who been in blazing a drama trail that the BBC has outgrown the programme's dedicated studios in Pontypridd and is proposing to build a "drama village" in the country, possibly in Cardiff Bay.
Cardiff is considered to be cheaper and more film-friendly than London and will fill in for the streets of the British capital on Sherlock Holmes, a modern take on the Arthur Conan Doyle classic, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, being made by Hartswood Films for BBC1.
1. Tend towards sharing first and inventing second, to create mutual value;
2. Are honest about the mistakes they’ve made and seek to rectify them quickly;
3. Know their strengths and weaknesses and so actively seek complementary partners;
4. Prioritise long term relationships over short term outcomes;
5. Systematically focus on the macro and the micro.
"To be true to yourself, you need to be wrong sometimes. You need to be ok with being wrong and you should be ok when others around you are wrong. That means going against the grain and speaking your mind, especially when it’s different from what those around you are thinking."
MadLab – Manchester Digital Laboratory – home of creative community technology in Manchester – The Madlab is a community space for people who want to do and make interesting stuff – a place for geeks, artists, designers, illustrators, hackers, tinkerers, innovators and idle dreamers; an autonomous R&D laboratory and a release valve for Manchester's creative communities.
The state of the UK gov blogosphere – Really good comment from Neil on Dave Brigg post about the problem of us not blogging enough good stuff. Like Steph, my own experience of blogging about my work within Whitehall over the last year and a bit has been that it is *really* difficult. Lack of time is the biggest barrier due both to having a young family and the day job spilling over into evenings and weekends. But this is closely followed by issues around permission and propriety. I’ve felt that I’ve had to restrict what I share and write about more, not less, as time has gone on.
Which is a real pity – because writing about this stuff online gets me a lot of useful feedback, helps me make contacts which are useful to my employer, makes me reflect more deeply on the value of what I’m doing – ultimately helps motivate me to do the best I can. If it was easier, if I felt safer, if it were encouraged, I’d do it a lot more."
Here are some of the things I’ve been reading December 15th from 02:21 to 03:00:
David Barrie: Love diagrams – “What followed was a sequence of graphics that map the course of human relations in the film – cutely assuming that love relationships are “dynamic” (don’t stop reading) and ignore scuzzy soap and socks left on the floor.” Original here.
Theatre Pledge 2010 « Stan’s Cafe Theatre Company – Stan’s Cafe theatre pledge encourages people to make a commitment to support local theatre, bring new people to new experiences. What might you choose to create a pledge for?
Official Google Enterprise Blog: Why the City of Los Angeles chose Google – “Google Apps will save the city of Los Angeles millions of dollars by allowing us to shift resources currently dedicated to email to other purposes. For example, moving to Google will free up nearly 100 servers that were used for our existing email system, which will lower our electricity bills by almost $750,000 over five years. In short, this decision helps us to get the most out of the city’s IT budget.” via @davebriggs.
Christmas Fun at Stanhope Hall Highgate « Highgate,Digbeth and St Andrews – Andy Sheppard, neighbourhod manager, shows that praise is a key quality to deploy in blogging a community: “Father Christmas made a special visit to Stanhope Hall and presented all the children with an early Christmas Present. Special thanks for both events are due to Monica Lee Community Worker and the ladies of Stanhope Hall Womens Group who worked incredibly hard to ensure the success of both events. Special thanks are also due to Eddie Howard and Highgate Housing Liaison Board for their support for both events.”
Hyperlocal news: profits a long way off | Media | guardian.co.uk – “2010 will not be the year of hyperlocal—these are the foothills, the beginnings of localised online publishing. But the signs are auspicious: increasing levels of online literacy and broadband connections mixed with more inevitable local newspaper closures mean it’s natural that readers—and advertisers—will shift to new outlets. Whether anyone will be making a real living from it—as a mainstream publisher or a start-up—seems unlikely in the near future… ” via @daveharte.
