Posts filed under ‘news’
Nominate your IT Volunteer and win £500!
It’s you last chance to nominate your great IT volunteer in iT4Communities’ National IT Volunteering awards 2008. Get your nominations in by 19th December for any or all of the 4 categories: Best IT Volunteer, Best IT Volunteering Project – Innovation, Impact, and Accessibility. Each winning organisation gets £500. Nominate now at http://tinyurl.com/itawards08 or call iT4Communities on 020 7796 2144.
New Regional ICT Champion
Steve Webster has just been appointed as the new Regional ICT Champion for the East Midlands. As Steve reports: ‘The role of a regional champion is an interesting one. The post operates strategically by working with third sector infrastructure organisations across the East Midlands.’
Key aspects of the role include:
1. Working regionally and sub-regionally developing ICT strategies, and delivering initiatives to raise awareness of ICT amongst local infrastructure organisations.
2. Signposting third sector organisations to providers of practical ICT resources and services in their sub-region.
3. Working with existing ICT service providers to facilitate the sharing of best practice, e.g. on sustainability of services. Where limited coverage exists, providing support to local infrastructure to develop services to fill these gaps.
Prior to taking up the post, Steve has been working as an independent consultant undertaking a range of third sector research and evaluation projects, including ICT needs and models of support. Steve has also held a number of posts working directly within the sector, including work with key infrastructure organisations. Further, he gained a PhD from the University of Bradford, which explored the developing use of ICT by NGOs in the UK.
The best way to contact Steve is via:
Email: steve@highpeakcvs.org.uk
Phone: 07595 119182
Please note that Steve’s post, which is hosted by High Peak CVS, is part-time. Messages can also be left for Steve via the following administrative support number at High Peak CVS:
Direct dial: 01663 736432
Main tel line: 01663 735350 ext 232
Capacitybuilders Improving Reach Programme launched
At the last meeting, the ITEM3 network discussed the possibility of a joint, region wide partnership bid for IT development work. As Regional ICT Champion I was keen to progress this idea and I can now confirm that a regional bid has now been submitted. Watch this space………..
BASIS II consultation – get ICT on the agenda
The Big Lottery is currently consulting on the priorities for the second round of its BASIS (Building and Sustaining Infrastructure Services) grant programme – and we all have the chance to get ICT on the Big Lottery’s regional agenda. Details of the consultation are can be found here.
Although IT support is mentioned in other parts of the country, in the East Midlands it is currently NOT one of the priorities recognised by the Lottery. The implication of this is that, unless this changes, they will not fund IT support or sub regional IT development work with groups in the East Midlands through the next round of BASIS.
The consultation is open for comment for another two weeks, and there is still an opportunity to make an on-line submission to this if you feel there is something more important than their current list of priorities (like IT development work and support to groups)
The consultation runs until 12pm on 16 November.
CaapcityBuilders announcement about future of ICT
As some of you will know, the 6 “hubs” (including the ICT Hub) will be no more after April, with CapacityBuilders replacing them with 9 “National Support Services”. In the initial announcment, ICT was not one of the 9 themes.
A board meeting at CapacityBuilders last week reviewed that decision and decided that ICT and workforce development will not be included in the national support services programme.
However, aspects of workforce development and ICT priorities are included in a number of the nine existing programmes, and the CapacityBuilders Board has decided to allocate increased funding of £1m per annum to its Learning and Innovation programme from which it will directly commission further essential work at a national level including on specific workforce issues, the testing of different ICT delivery models locally and other potential areas of work.
Read the full press release.
Podcasting: South Lincs CVS goes web 2.0!
Congratulations to South Lincolnshire CVS have just produced their first podcast – a really good use of web 2.0 tools to get their message across. Have a listen, and let them know what you think.
Local IT social enterprise Digital Umbrella have recently produced a short guide to podcasts, which is available here as a pdf, for those organisations that are considering it.
There is also some really good stuff about podcasting on the ICT hub website
More news from ITEM3
The September editition of News ITEM3 is now available (word doc, 85kb). Hopefully it will be of use – feel free to pass on to groups you work with, or to “cut and paste” bits into your own newsletters.
News from ITEM3
I’ve started a new newsletter, “News from ITEM 3“, to help promote resources, events in the region etc. As well as being for frontline organisations to use, infrastructure organisations can “cut and paste” bits out of it for their own newsletters, use it in its entirety, email it out etc. The idea is that it is a flexible resource to help groups find out more about what IT can do for them. First edition can be downloaded here:
News from ITEM 3(as word doc, 65Kb)
Feedback welcome.
