October 2017 updates
I had the honor of being
profiled
by Open University in the United Kingdom, where I
received my Master's Degree. I also wrote a followup
regarding
whether
or not pursuing a graduate degree at OU helped my
career (spoiler alert:
it did).
October 2017 blogs
September 2017 updates
I am thrilled to announce that I am working with
Knowbility,
a nonprofit based in Austin, Texas with whom I’ve been
working with on and off since its founding in 1998. And
even better: what I’m doing will help nonprofits,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charities,
schools and others to be able to welcome more clients,
more donors, more volunteers and more supporters via
their web sites. I am the Knowbility liaison for
nonprofits, NGOs, schools and other mission-based
organizations that will participate in
OpenAIR 2018.
This is my very favorite group volunteering gig and
hackathon anywhere in the world. This
Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR) by Knowbility was a
hackathon before there was the word
hackathon.
It was an onsite, local event for many years, and is now
an
international virtual volunteering event! See the
event web site
OpenAIR 2018 event
web site. for more information and how
your nonprofit, NGO or charity can participate. This
means, however, that I’m not available for any
consulting gigs until after February 2018. So if you are
thinking of me as a consultant for next year, contact me
ASAP, as my schedule fills up quickly!
More about my consulting
services.
Also, I've created a web page that answers the question,
"
How did you get a job with the
UN?!" Because I am exhausted from answering that
question on various online discussion groups.
September 2017 blogs
August 2017 updates
Latest Resource: Civil
Society Capacity Building: Why?
My favorite kind of professional work is building the
capacities of civil society organizations, especially
in transitional and developing countries, to
communicate, to change minds and to engage a variety
of people and communities, through communications,
dialogue and volunteering. But the term civil
society isn't used in USA as commonly as it is
elsewhere, and many don’t understand exactly what I
mean when I talk about my favorite type of work. This
new resource explores exactly what is meant by the
phrase civil society capacity building.
August 2017 blogs
July 2017 blogs
June 2017 blogs
in June, all blogs were focused on communications and
community engagement in some way
May 2017 blogs
in May, all blogs were focused on volunteerism in
some way
April 2017 blogs
March 2017 blogs
January & February 2017 blogs
December 2016
United
Nations Tech4Good / ICT4D Initiatives, a
list of the various United Nations initiatives that have
been launched since 2000 to promote the use of
computers, feature phones, smart phones and various
networked devices in development and humanitarian
activities, to promote digital literacy and equitable
access to the "information society," and to bridge the
digital divide. My goal in creating this page is to help
researchers, as well as to remind current UN initiatives
that much work regarding ICT4D has been done by various
UN employees, consultants and volunteers for more than
15 years (and perhaps longer?).
Updated:
Preventing
Folklore, Rumors (or Rumours), Urban Myths &
Organized Misinformation Campaigns From Interfering
with Development & Aid/Relief Efforts &
Government Initiatives
Folklore, rumors and urban myths / legends have
interfered with humanitarian aid activities and
government initiatives, including public health
programs, even bringing such to a grinding halt. They
create ongoing misunderstandings and mistrust, prevent
people from seeking help, encourage people to engage in
unhealthy and even dangerous practices, and have even
lead to mobs of people attacking someone or others
because of something they heard from a friend of a
friend of a friend. With social media like Twitter and
Facebook, as well as simple text messaging among cell
phones, spreading misinformation is easier than ever.
Since 2004, I have been gathering and sharing both
examples of
this phenomena, and recommendations on
preventing
folklore, rumors and urban myths from interfering with
development and aid/relief efforts and government
initiatives. I've updated this information with
new information per the organized misinformation
campaigns targeting Ukraine and the elections in the
USA. Now, with fake news sites set up specifically to
mislead people, as well as crowdsourced efforts by
professional online provocateurs and automated troll
bots pumping out thousands of comments, countering
misinformation efforts has to be a priority for aid and
development organizations, as well as government
agencies.
What Was NetAid?
A history of the NetAid initiative, part of which became
the UN's Online Volunteering service.