ITEM3: East Midlands ICT Champion

The latest minutes from the ITEM 3 meeting held in July can be downloaded here

The knowledgebase is designed to help community and voluntary sector organisations access the benefits of information technology. The knowledgebase is a comprehensive source of independent ICT information and advice.

The resources can be found at http://www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/

There will be an initial investment of £150k in 2008/9 in the work of ruralnet to continue to develop the work of appropriate net:gain centres exploring a more market based approach to local provision of ICT support for the third sector. Financial support will be available in each of the following two financial years but these will be tapered grants in recognition of the market based approach of the work.

Commenting on these grant decisions, Simon Hebditch, Chief Executive of Capacitybuilders, said:

“The Board is very glad to be able to announce these important decisions concerning our investment in workforce development the use of ICT in the third sector. All of these areas are of important to the sector.”

Martyn Croft, the Head of Corporate Systems at the Salvation Army presented on the challenges of utilising ICT to convert their data rich systems which were information poor into a fit for purpose data bases which integrated into a single source of information via a single portal. It was interesting to hear how ICT was being applied to assist in the management of assets namely the Salvation Army property portfolio.

 Kevin Skingsley presented the Regional ICT Strategy and the work of the Regional ICT Champions to regional funders. The funders undertook to use the ICT Hub Publication ‘How to cost and fund ICT’ as a template in working with Voluntary organisations applying for funding to ensure that the full costs of ICT are reflected within funding bids. EMDA, Big Lottery, Community Foundations and other funders were interested in exploring ways of supporting current weaknesses in funding for IT Development Support and IT Training. Furthermore, they wanted to receive invitations of the Regional ICT Conference.

The ICT Hub Circuit Rider Training and Standards Project, has carried out consultation with a wide range of CircuitRiders and other ICT voluntary sector professionals to formulate the Principles which are shown on www.lasa.org.uk/circuitriders/principles.shtml and are also available for download as a PDF. This is a significant step forward in advancing the Circuit Rider movement and one which help with a step towards enabling acceleration of professionalisation of the community.We would urge all those working in the sector to show their commitment by “signing up” to the principles. To sign up to the list of organisations and individuals who have made a commitment to work according to these principles, please email crprinciples@lasa.org.uk - your name, organisation (if appropriate) and web address will be published on the Circuit Rider Signatories page www.lasa.org.uk/circuitriders/signatories.shtml

The latest ITEM3 network meeting took place on 10th January, attended by a number of 3rd sector IT providers across the region. The notes of the meeting are here.

The next meeting will take place in April, after the group hears the outcome of the Improving Reach bid.

A great (if slightly long) video of a talk given by Robert Simpson, Director of Ecomoney Systems ltd, about the difference free Open Source software has had to the charity, community and voluntary sectors in their local area. It describes how to go about volunteering for IT in your area, what to expect, and the advantages of open source software into this unique sector. Also included are descriptions of local projects that Ecomoney has been involved with, including a ten-PC learning suite and cybercafe that was setup for just £30!  Worth a look…

Helping groups to identify and plan for their ICT needs 

18 March 2008, GMCVO, Manchester, M12 6FZ 

Region: North West 

Event topic: funding Paying for ICT is one of the biggest investments a small group can make, so it is important to make the right choices from the start. This is not a technical session, but will help you in your supporting small groups role when they ask about - planning their ICT - costing and funding ICT - the benefits of ICT use - how to get help to ‘healthcheck’ an organisations ICT - signposts to get help in supporting day-to-day ICT problems and ICT development. All ICT Hub resources will be provided in printed format and on a 1GB USB stick. Fee: £45 (includes VAT, lunch, resources and USB memory stick) Who is it for?: Voluntary and community organisations, Infrastructure organisations Organiser: Pauline Baker, GMCVO Contact details: May Johnson, NAVCA, 0114 289 3964, may.johnson@navca.org.uk

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………..