News & Events > ICT Bulletin Archive

London ICT E-Bulletin - March 2011

By Lasa Information Systems Team

A source of technology news, resources and advice for small to medium sized third sector organisations in London.

Lasa news

Does your organisation want to get better value for money for its ICT?

Lasa and Civic Regeneration are running a short survey for charities and not for profit organisations in the UK to find out how they use cloud technology.

It will only take a few moments to complete - and there will be a prize for an entrant. Closing date is 15 April. Take the survey now.

News

JustGiving launches corporate giving platform as part of new push

JustGiving is poised to trial a new company team giving platform as part of a strategic push towards corporate giving for the website according to CivilSociety IT.

Public mistrusts social media organisations when it comes to keeping private data safe

More than three-quarters (79 per cent) of respondents were either ‘not very’ or ‘not at all’ confident in social media sites keeping their data secure, according to research by YouGov.

ISPs may have to change broadband speed advertising

Ofcom says that consumers are being misled about broadband speed by their service providers. The watchdog has urged service providers to advertise the typical speed customers are likely to achieve while using their computers at home rather than the "up to speed" which is often the usual advertising norm, and not to cap "unlimited" services.

Charity Commission moves more services online

Civil Society IT reports that the Charity Commission is set to move more of its information and services online after a consultation found that there will be no impact on the majority of its users.

Online survey online

nfpSynergy are currently updating two of their reports: Passion Persistence Partnership, the secrets of earning more online; and Sending out an SMS, the potential of mobile phones for charities. The first editions were full of case studies, tips and trends and they need your help. The survey closes on 21 March. All respondents will be entered into a prize draw and 5 people will win £25 Amazon vouchers.

Events, training & learning

London ICT Events

For London technology events please see our Events Calendar. Events include NetSquared on social reporting, Fossbox Friday, ICT in Public Services, Web Usability Week and CiviCRM training. Also advance notice of the Information Security in the Voluntary Sector event. 

KnowHow NonProfit launch video training programme

Starting with Making the Most of your Web Content at £8.99 for four sessions including handouts and a moderated discussion forum.

Media Trust training

The Media Trust is running a number of digital media training events in the London area over the next few months.

Idealware online seminars

Idealware continues its series of seminars in March and April with Measuring your Social Media Strategy, Getting Started with Mobile Outreach, Social Media Research for the Real World and Optimizing your Websites for Search Engines. All seminars are one and a half hours long and run between 1 - 2.30 pm EST (which is 6 - 7.30pm here, we think).

Funding and awards

Heart and soul

The CTK Foundation is proud to launch this year’s Heart and Soul Competition. Non-profits of all types and sizes are invited to apply their creativity to win major grants of funds and technology Applicants are asked to submit an original four to eight line poem that reflects the work/mission of the applicant’s non-profit organisation. Grants will support non-profits; charities and voluntary organisations of all types in the US, UK and Canada. The deadline is 28 March.

Technology4Good awards open for nominations

These new awards celebrate the hard work of the many charities, businesses and individuals across the UK who use digital technologies to help change our communities for the better. There are eight award categories for accessibility, community impact, fundraising and IT Volunteer of the Year. Entry is free and nominations close on 9 May. Check the entry details and criteria for all the awards and enter now through the awards website.

How to apply to charitable trusts

Jo Goldberg writes a how-to on KnowHow NonProfit - all you need to remember is TRUST...

Early success claimed for micro donation schemes

Two new micro donation schemes which launched at the end of last year are claiming early fundraising successes.

Resources, legal and accessibility

Updating your website?

Just because you're responsible for your organisation's web presence doesn't mean you know how to run a website. The Website Owner's Manual by Paul Boag is a book for the thousands of marketers, technology managers and project leaders who need to put a website in place and keep it running with a minimum of trouble.

Think mobile

The resources from the Media Trust's recent Think Mobile event are now online. Presentations include JustGiving, DePaul's iHobo app and tips from Google on leaner mobile sites.

Review of online survey tools

There are a number of free survey tools available. How do they compare? Idealware spoke to three non-profit staff members with extensive survey experience, consulted postings on a number of non-profit listservs, and scoured reports and article on the topic.

Working from home?

TechSoup and Citrix Online have produced a white paper which finds that an organization can potentially save $1 million in energy and office expenses if 100 employees work at home half the time. The study is unique particularly in its carefully quantified view of the field of teleworking.

Time to refocus your technology strategy

In an article ahead of his NTC session, Steve Heye of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago looks at how to prioritise your tech strategy.

Software guide updated for 2011

Idealware’s 2011 Field Guide to Software for Nonprofits, with updated information and 24 new types of systems to help your organization, is on sale now at Lulu.com. The 2011 version includes three entirely new sections on Collaboration, Constituent Management, and Back Office software.  It’s 30% more information than the last version, for the same price (£13.23)

Cloud computing and the law

Adam Rose says that Cloud computing may be a way of saving costs but asks how can firms be sure data is kept safe and complies with the law? Over on The Register Google says that everyone will be involved with the cloud

Guide to holding personal information online

The Information Commissioners Office has published a personal information online code of practice following an extensive consultation process. The code explains how the Data Protection Act applies to the collection and use of personal data online. It provides good practice advice for organisations that do business or provide services online.

Practical tips

Google adds website blocking to search

Google has added a feature to search allowing users to block websites from results.

Making Data Relevant: a case study

Laura Conrad, policy officer at Barnsley Hospice blogs about combing data to improve the services they provide for their beneficiaries.

What's that sound?

Over on Guardian Technology, Jack answers a concerned user whose computer is whirring away.

Networking 101 - Understanding your needs

Chris Peters at TechSoup describes a roadmap for networking for small organisations.

A blog for your organisation?

Amy Sample Ward looks at how to plan for and instigate a blog over at KnowHow NonProfit

Tools and applications

Office 2010 vs Open Office

IT Pro puts two popular office productivity suites in a head to head test. Meanwhile Michelle Murrain over on the NOSI blog looks at the new generation of open source suites and compares them to the, ah, brand leader.

Free Charity Websites

Charity Technology Trust is now offering free charity websites which are easy and simple to set up.  Using a friendly content management system (the free version of Terapad) and a range of templates, you can create professional web pages and add content so funders, donors and beneficiaries can find out all about your organisation online.  
 
Button it!

Internet Buttons is a tool that allows you to set up a page of buttons which link to a website or service that someone would like or find useful. The site has been developed by UK Online Centres, We Are What We Do and the Nominet Trust with the idea of getting people up and running online as quickly as possible while they continue to learn more about how the internet works. It is designed to work alongside Online basics and myguide.  
 
Freecorder

Freecorder 4 is a free video downloader, audio recorder & converter tool making it easy to save video and audio from the web, and convert to many popular formats.  Once installed, a tool bar displays in your browser with buttons enabling you, for example, to download videos from YouTube and other sites so you can view and show these offline.

Online publishing

Issuu is an online publishing tool where you can upload a document, share and publish it in an e-book type format.  You can then embed the publication within your website.  There is a free version with advertising side bar or a pro version which starts from $19 a month.

Browsers welcome

The Guardian reports that Microsoft has released the latest version of its Internet Explorer browser. IE 9 will only run on Windows Vista and 7 machines. Conuicidentally, Google has just updated its Chrome browser and Mozilla has put out Firefox 4 in beta. 

Opinion

Women in science, innovation and technology

Neelie Kroes, EU Digital Agenda Commissioner over on eGov monitor wants to see more women involved in technology.

Who says email's dead?

Not Allison Kapin on Frogloop for one...

Accidental techies of the world unite

Judi Sohn is proud of her role as an accidental techie.

...and an accidental techie comes up short

Melissa Barber's cautionary database-development-going-wrong tale on the NTEN blog.

Why your non-profit social media is not the domain of teenagers and other misconceptions

Carol Buckheit un-myth-makes about social media activity. Thanks to Deborah's NPtech Update for the heads up.

JustGiving is poised to trial a new company team giving platform as part of a strategic push towards corporate giving for the website, according to CivilSociety IT.