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There is a wiki on "http://get.wikispaces.com/" The Global Engagement Trust.
We are currently looking for support from individuals and groups who think this is a sound idea.
The Global Engagement Trust, is currently looking for founding Directors. Please contact the Provisional Chairman, John S Veitch, if you are interested, or add your name to the "http://get.wikispaces.com/Support" supporters page in the GET Wiki.
"The Global Engagement Trust vision is that all adult Internet users will understand that engaging with other people in different cultures, can help them adapt to life in a global world, providing new purposes, new partners and fresh knowledge for whatever one chooses to do."
1. To acknowledge the need for basic computer access and the skills to protect and maintain one's computer.
2. To encourage people to join groups, communities of practice, or networks of like-minded people who can become sources of 'rich data©', support, inspiration and help.
3. To impress upon people the value of the personal relationship with chosen people who are members of the groups they have joined.
4. To seek ways to work in co-operative ways with your network for the purposes of learning, or helping each other, and of participating in social or business ventures together.
5. To recognize the importance of conversations, (even email discussions) which are self organized, have no defined "objective" and no clear "end point" but are the product of personal participation in a groups activity. In these discussions we get to know and trust each other.
There are two advanced activities which flow on from success in following the pervious five strategies:
6. To create an on line identity so that people can feel confident to approach you knowing what your interests and concerns are.
7. To be a leader; you make yourself visible, findable by search engines, you use the skills you have gained, the knowledge, the networks and tools available to be an advocate for things that are important to you.
It's very difficult even with the best will in the world, and taking the best advice, to understand how the Internet is changing our society and how as a community and as individuals to position ourselves on the progressive side of that change.
I speak from bitter personal experience. Making a decision (1995) to put my effort into a web site called NZ Dances, I built the biggest and most popular regional dance site in the world, but the site made no money, and received zero financial support from the NZ Arts Council. I lost five years income. I understand the pain of being wrong.
In the last three years (Since 2003), mostly on a social network called Ryze I've seen a profound change in myself, and I can recognize that same change in other people who have regularly participated. Frankly when I first saw Ryze, (2002) I couldn't understand what it would be useful for. Now I understand. You learn from what you do. Participating on Ryze involves DOING these things.
People who do this: develop a wide appreciation of what is important, are respectful of other people, have remarkable knowledge on many topics, have learnt who to contact for help with almost anything, think clearly and are capable of producing sound reasons for what they do, and are able to put their ideas into a logical presentation easily. Moreover they become capable, innovative and powerful leaders. That's a result we want to see more of, but this achievement takes time and involves work. Doing these constructive things online requires effort.
The Digital Strategy for New Zealand, recognizes that there are huge advantages for New Zealand if we can ride the information wave on the Internet. A previous minister said that the Internet was for New Zealand as important now as refrigeration was to NZ after the 1890's. But we don't see that opportunity alone. Singapore has spent a lot of money and is getting results. The technically trained population of India are visibly present on the Internet, they are enthusiastic and active. Malaysia is also making a mark. Wherever you live in the world there is probably a similar proposal. However, none of the countries we in NZ like to compare ourselves with (UK, Canada, Australia and the USA) are doing that well in developing an effective digital strategy. Official strategies to encourage Internet use are everywhere in disarray.
Panama is developing "Knowledge City" and is enticing foreign investment in high tech companies with incentives for start-ups. There may be hundreds of similar efforts around the world. The dream of success in a high tech future is widely shared.
Scandinavian countries have been noted for their leadership in the online world. People from Scandinavia, France, Germany and most European countries are tending to join EU networks in multiple languages rather than using English language networks.
In contrast in China and Taiwan decisions have been made to educate EVERYONE in English from the age of six. In Taiwan by 2025 English will become one of the official languages.
In NZ, we have tried to follow the leadership of Canada. Canada produced the idea of Connecting Communities, but they were experimenting too. They failed to achieve the expected changes as we did. In the UK, the concept of Inclusion was developed. That's another idea that's under-resourced and in trouble. In the USA things are no better. While there are more American people online than any other group, they do not represent a leading edge. They lack energy and vision, being too sure of their place in the centre of the Internet. That is a position the USA is steadily losing. (For instance there are 476 members of Ryze in New York, population 8 million and 560 in New Zealand, population 4 million) Australia came to the Internet more slowly than New Zealand, but in the last few years they have forged ahead of NZ, not because they are any wiser, but because they have emphasized broadband successfully. New Zealand is handicapped by inadequate telecommunication provision. In the USA, where they have similar problems, communities are choosing to install free WI-FI services city wide, cutting out the telecom companies altogether.
The picture painted here is one of confusion. Business interests are very interested in connection costs and in the development of broadband. While this will encourage more people online, without education about how to use the Internet, it will be many years before people become "Information Literate".
"http://www.ate.co.nz/networking/communitystrategy.html"
People need to be encouraged to participate. There are many ways to do that. One of the obvious trends, visible since the beginning of the Internet, is the eagerness of people on the outside, to participate in networks and to collaborate actively. New Zealand's early success on the Internet was driven by that need. Witness the low level of participation of Americans and the very high participation of people from India and Singapore as current examples.
In the same way in NZ, several people who have a high profile in the Internet world (They see themselves as being at the centre), in Government and in otherwise in the public eye, are not members of social networks (or are not active), do not maintain a blog, and are not involved in building wiki. None of us can do everything, but the skills I consider essential learning and collaborative knowledge, are not always evident in people who consider themselves "experienced Internet users". This reinforces the findings of the observations made below.
Case studies of ICT use in NZ were undertaken by the Ministry of Economic Development. In the conclusion of the report there is a section called "Integration of Findings".
http://www.med.govt.nz/pbt/infotech/case-studies/conclusion/conclusion.html
In a sub-section headed "Human Capital Factors" they say: "The significant problem for New Zealand appears to be lack of skilled and experienced business knowledge workers with an understanding of both information and how it contributes to the creation of value in businesses, and business processes in general. In light of this shortage, many firms were required to grow their own knowledge workers."
The Summary includes these disturbing words: "However, the cases also illustrate that the country is a very long way still from having a vibrant information economy." That is a conclusion that is easily reached, evidence of our failure to grasp the human side of the "information culture" is everywhere.
No Country is an Island:
"http://www.nzinstitute.org/Images/uploads/pubs/No_country_is_an_island_Executive_Summary_November_2005.pdf"
In this report the NZ Institute points to the declining relative productivity of labour in NZ, the low wages paid here and the lack of investment in local businesses. They claim that NZ needs to engage more directly with economies overseas, that we need to produce higher value products, and expand into international markets.
To do that, we do need to be strongly engaged with the international community. We can achieve a great deal of that in the process of networking. In the first case we need to engage in networking to learn, to enlarge our world view, to understand what problems other people are facing: to get close to them. This process will inspire us to think deeply about the relationship, and the options for doing collaborative or co-operative work.
Developing an "information culture" is the key objective of this proposal.
Education is a social activity. People learn much more efficiently in groups. People learn best from other people who they recognize as "like me" particularly if that person is respected by the group. In educational institutions we try to take advantage of that. We form groups (classes) and we try to provide an expert who provides guidance and specialist knowledge. The group helps it's own members to become and remain motivated , and they give each other feedback on personal performance.
Everybody who is "on the Internet" needs the confidence to join groups, and the ability to find groups that are personally interesting. Managers and owners, in government, in business and in NGO's, need themselves to be personally involved in such groups and setting an example for their staff. This is how we access the "information age" for ourselves. Too many CEO's don't see groups, or networking as a key to their future. That may be a significant misjudgment. You can't succeed in the world if you choose not to be part of that world.
There is no way to get up the global engagement learning curve except to climb it yourself. You can't be given this experience, you can't buy it. It can't be taught in some classes you may join, although there is certainly a place for classes to get people started. People should be learning the basic principles of networking from junior high school through university. In university there should be advanced classes in co-operative information gathering and electronic publishing.
"Time to Get Online: Simple steps to success on the Internet." is a new publication for African civil society. The HQ is in Washington and the project is funded from Germany, Canada and the USA. "Time to Get Online: Simple steps to success on the Internet." was published by Kabissa in February, 2005. They say "one of the key barriers has been the lack of necessary Internet skills." The first half of the course is aimed at creating "Internet-savvy activists." The second half of the course is to "help empower African civil society organization to be effective Internet champions."
http://www.timetogetonline.org/
The term "Kabissa" means "complete" in Kiswahili, meaning offering a complete free Internet service to civil society organizations in Africa.
The Kabissa course lists FIVE steps to success on the Internet. Most confident NZ Internet users have achieved only the first two of those steps.
(1) Getting online, and learning how to use , maintain and protect your system. (It's been reported that many NZ users don't adequately protect their systems.)
(2) Accessing web sites using search engines, and using email to exchange letters and documents or photographs with people you know.
The third stage is accessing and interacting with groups online. This involves finding interesting groups, joining, keeping up with the correspondence and becoming a contributor to that correspondence. It involves subscribing to newsletters, writing newsletters, and participating in online discussions. Perhaps contributing to a wiki. These are the skills you learn in social networks. These participatory skills are the key to membership of the peer group of skilled users. In addition the ability to use Web 2.0 tools with confidence adds not only to your own effectiveness but also helps other people.
Stage four; is to establish your own online identity (organizational and personal) , and to be responsible for your own online image. This means creating a blog, or several blogs, maintaining a personal web site, and making yourself generally visible. (There will be some people who will chose not to do that, but if you are not present you can't be found and you can't participate. So invisibility is a legitimate choice with it's own cost.) Visibility makes it possible for people who share your particular interests to find you.
Joining a social network would help.
Stage Five; is to become an effective advocate for whatever concerns you. It's at this stage when people who have developed the knowledge, confidence and skills to be "Internet Literate" begin to be valuable to their companies, or organizations, and when their activities begin to impact on the community they live in.
People who have reached stage 5 are now capable of "creating an information culture" in a mature way. They will become by virtue of their skill and knowledge, community leaders.
You can't use the Internet to reach people who are not Internet focused. This was the failure of the NZ effort called "Connecting Communities". The assumption seems to have been, if we build local online resources we will attract local users.
Inviting people to participate online by email doesn't work. Email delivery is too unreliable. Even if the letter is read, the readers don't really understand the message. They assume it doesn't concern them. They fail to act. People who are not active online are passive towards such invitations. This education programme needs a substantial off-line initiative.
Joining Groups:
The key idea is this: in the process of joining together with like-minded people, one learns from good models appropriate ways to behave. Good groups provide you with a source of "rich data©", topics to increase your knowledge and to exercise your understanding and command of the topic you are interested in.
In groups, if your own viewpoint it challenged, you have the opportunity to reconsider your position. (Sadly most people are unable to acknowledge that any change in position is desirable.) If we can't come to the table prepared to re-evaluate our own data and our chosen position, we have chosen not to be learners.
Groups bring to your attention a range of ideas and opinions which you might otherwise never imagine. We need to engage with the topic and with the people to connect these ideas to our lives. The process of discussion creates that opportunity.
Friendship has the ability to cut through religious and political differences. You will pay attention to your friends view, even if you disapprove of what he or she is saying.
There is no "knowledge base" in which all the "benchmark answers" can be placed for efficient retrieval and use. Knowing what the ideal solution might be, doesn't negotiate a settlement among the parties. Resolution of problems requires a fresh engagement with the problem and with the people involved each time. An invitation to open discourse is always useful.
Engaging with Key Ideas:
At any one time, certain idea sets seem to have the attention of a wide audience, are topical and perhaps important. If you are engaged in several networks those key ideas will be presented to you in a form you are likely to understand.
To succeed in any cultural environment you MUST speak the language of that environment. That's why so many people are learning English, Spanish and Mandarin right now. There are also technical and specialist vocabularies within any language, and styles of expression, that you must master to be recognized as a peer.
Some people fear that open discussion is likely to become an endless revolving merry-go-round where nothing is ever resolved. That depends entirely on the practices and skills of the participants. Every group has limits to it's knowledge and expertise. At that limit, the discussion can certainly become circular. There is one easy solution, find another group. There is one other solution, to introduce the group to new ideas or research of your own.
Paying Attention to People:
People give lip service to the idea of listening to other people. We pretend to listen, but we remain unaffected.
Opportunity exists when you pay attention to others. When they know that you pay attention they develop trust in you. That trust is the basis of future collaboration.
Participating as a Peer:
We come to networking as peers. Each one of us has similar ability to read, to ignore, to write, or be silent, to contribute or not.
By the nature and value of their contributions to the group, some people build a reputation for knowledge and good sense. A good reputation is social capital that tends to create many community links that point towards that person.
Inappropriate behaviour closes down potential links from other people.
Households Online:
It's been suggested that in the next 25 years vast numbers of home based business will be created. Employment will become contractual and uncertain. The ability to attract work will depend on reputation and contacts.
Even where people have a traditional sort of job, certainty of employment will be lower. Every employee needs to develop a backup network with two purposes. First, to keep you in touch with the new skills you need to be learning. Second, to give you extended contacts across the world so that if you need to take on new roles in your current firm, or look for a new job, or start your own business, you have options.
Businesses Online:
Every business is competing on a world market. No individual can understand the implications of that to the firm, but a team of well informed, globally embedded people might get close.
Having both deep and wide connections across the world gives you sensitivity to the political and economic mood. You can't get that from the news media. Media news is skewed by financial and political pressures. Your online contacts can't be manipulated in that way. (They may not be right either, but they can be honest if they choose.)
Language Skills and Culture:
In New Zealand we lack the language skills of many European countries. That's unfortunate, and the Internet may give new life to the teaching of languages in our schools. We've seen in China and Taiwan the political will to teach everyone English.
As we resolve the problem of who we are, we will find ourselves better placed to play a leadership role in the world. Our experience on the Internet will inform us about the places where we can be most effective.
Employment Flexibility:
On the global market, employment for all of us is going to be less stable. Perhaps also less well paid. The export of middle class American jobs to India and China, won't only affect Americans.
Firms can build in market knowledge and collaborative expertise into their processes.
If firms fail to find niche's where they produce products people want to buy, employees may find that they face as individuals that same challenge. Home based businesses selling "Noni juice" are not the solution. Collaborative skill based alliances are.