handheld tech in community service/volunteering/advocacy
12:44, 18 August 2008
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In October 2001, while working at the headquarters of United Nations Volunteers and, specifically, as part of the Secretary General's UNITeS initiative, I published the results of research I'd done on Handheld computer technologies in community service/volunteering/advocacy. This free online resource provided examples of how handheld tech -- PDAs, cell phones, etc. -- had been used by nonprofits, community groups and governments as a part of health and human services, citizens and government initiatives, environmental science and, ofcourse, advocacy. It was a tough job -- it took months to find the examples used in this resource, usually from constantly reading the tech sections of online newspapers,, and it was hardly the only thing I was working on in 2001. But the resource turned out well, with realworld examples -- not just theory -- about how this technology was helping in community service, environmental, volunteering and advocacy efforts.Now, seven years later, there's much more data about how handheld tech is used as a part of advocacy efforts. The Aspen Institute has weighed in with Civic Engagement on the Move: How mobile media can serve the public good, which includes inputs from Katrin Verclas of MobileActive and Jed Alpert of Mobile Commons. There's lots of great information about how handheld tech, primarily cell phones, can be used -- and are used -- as part of advocacy efforts.
Sadly, UNITeS is no long an active initiative at UNV, per the death of one champion and the departure from the UN of another, so I hope someone out there will pick up the mantle and explore how handheld computers are being used by nonprofits and governments in NON-advocacy efforts, such as in the provision of health and human services. The advocacy information is great -- but there is so much more potential for handheld tech!
