Technology can be an amazing tool for social and economic development. It can help people get a better education, learn new skills to earn a living wage, or start a business. It also can enable organizations to meet community needs by broadening access to healthcare, education, micro-banking and other essential services.

One of the most significant advances in information technology (IT) today is the growing connectivity among devices— computers, mobile phones and even televisions. With the widespread penetration of mobile phones and other handheld devices that connect to the Web, nearly 4 billion people worldwide now have some level of access to computing. Increasingly powerful and feature-rich software applications are emerging to run these intelligent and interconnected mobile computing devices. At the same time, the Internet continues to mature as a gateway for “cloud computing,” in which remote datacenters host data and serve applications over the Web for use across a broad spectrum of devices and IT systems.

The convergence of device connectivity, software innovation and cloud-based services offers great potential to improve how we all work, but even more significant promise for NGOs to manage their operations more effectively, deliver a broader array of services and achieve a greater impact in the communities they serve.

This Leadership session will bring together a panel of top NGO IT experts and CIOs for an interactive and forward thinking discussion of technology’s potential as a disruptive force o better achieve their missions and accelerate social and economic development.

Takeaways:

1. Overview of IT trends, relevancy and opportunity for NGOs and social change mission organizations
2. Learn about and share innovative examples of IT advancing social change and the challenges of pursuing IT in the developing world.  Bring your ideas!
3. Discuss with leading NGO IT experts and CIOs about how NGO leaders and IT staff/experts can partner together to achieve a common IT vision.

This session will be presented live from the 2010 Nonprofit Technology Conference. Register to view the live presentation -- the slides and audio -- just like any other webinar, from the comfort of your office or home. You'll also be able to participate and ask your questions of the presenters in Atlanta through the chat feature.

> Get the Recording of this 10NTC Session!

Presented by: 

Jane Meseck, Director of Global Community Affairs at Microsoft Corporation, is responsible for development of strategy and implementation of global philanthropic programs. This includes the Microsoft’s Strengthening NGO’s through Information Technology initiative and Microsoft’s commitment to provide NGOs worldwide with access to IT products, services and locally-relevant resources so they can use the power of technology to create economic and social change. During Jane’s thirteen years with Microsoft, she has led and participated in the development and implementation of such signature partnerships and initiatives as the NPower Network; NTEN; telecentre.org; TechSoup’s US and global expansion efforts; and the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program. Prior to joining Microsoft in 1997, Jane was program manager at the University of Washington’s Institute for Public Policy and Management. She also lectured at the UW Daniel J. Evan’s School of Public Affairs. Jane previously worked as a management consultant, designing technology solutions for fortune 500 companies. Jane has a master’s degree in public administration from University of Washington and bachelor’s degrees in both finance and marketing from Texas A&M University. Jane spends her free time keeping up with her 5 year old, remodeling her house, saving puppies and kitties, and playing ultimate frisbee.

Dr. Michael Best is assistant professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology where he is a researcher with their GVU Center. He is also a Fellow of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Professor Best is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Information Technologies and International Development. He is a frequent consultant to the World Bank, ITU, and USAID. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and has served as Director of Media Lab Asia in India and head of the eDevelopment group at the MIT Media Lab. Professor Best’s research focuses on information and communication technologies for social, economic, and political development. In particular, Dr. Best studies mobile phones, the internet, and internet-enabled services and their design, impact, and importance within low-income countries of Africa and Asia. Dr. Best researches engineering, public policy, hci/usability, and sustainability issues as well as methods to assess and evaluate social, economic, and political development outcomes. He also interested in the impact of information and communication technologies on the development-security nexus and in post-conflict peace and reconciliation.

Edward Granger-Happ is the Chairman of NetHope (www.nethope.org), a consortium of 28 leading international relief, development and conservation nonprofits focused on communications technology and collaboration. He is the former Chief Information Officer at Save the Children (www.savethechildren.org), in Westport, CT, where he worked for the past decade. During his first year at Save the Children, in March 2001, he presented a paper to Cisco on “Wiring the Virtual Village,” which became the basis for NetHope. Before joining Save the Children, he was a senior partner and founder of HP Management Decisions Ltd. (www.hpmd.com), a management consultancy, and has held a variety of corporate management positions, to the Senior Vice President and General Manager level, with Wall Street data providers, service and software product companies. His thirty years of professional experience include all facets of managing information services and high technology businesses, including general management with P&L responsibility, operations, product management, sales, marketing, customer service, human resources management, technical consulting, manufacturing, and both software and hardware development. In 2007, the editors of eWEEK, CIO Insight and Baseline selected Mr. Granger-Happ as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in IT and one of the Top 100 CIOs. In 2008, the Center for Digital Strategies at the Tuck Business School at Dartmouth appointed Mr. Granger-Happ as Executive Fellow and first CIO in residence for the spring term. Further information on Mr. Granger-Happ’s work at Tuck may be found on his Blog at http://granger-happ.blogspot.com . He is a recognized thought leader in the NGO sector and the author of numerous articles, presentations and publications, including the chapter on the future of IT in the NTEN book Managing Technology to Meet Your Mission.

Marnie Webb, Co-C.E.O. at TechSoup Global, is the driving force behind the organization’s efforts to continuously innovate its services to help social benefit organizations around the globe better fulfill their missions. Under her leadership, TechSoup Global’s NetSquared initiative (www.netsquared.org) is in its fifth year of helping nonprofits worldwide use innovative Web tools to increase their reach and impact. Having been with the organization since 2001, Ms. Webb most recently held the position of Vice President of Knowledge Services. A sought-after speaker and writer on nonprofit technology and social media, Ms. Webb understands both the challenges and technological possibilities facing the sector. She is one of the founding members of the Nonprofit Emerging Technology Exchange and an organizer of the NPTech tagging experiment. In December 2009, Ms. Webb was named a Silicon Valley Influencer by the San Jose Mercury News, and in 2008, she won the prestigious NTEN “Person of the Year” award, and was included in to the Nonprofit Times’ list of the 50 most influential leaders in the U.S. nonprofit sector. Ms. Webb’s blog, Ext337, http://ext337.org/ , is considered one of the iconic blogs about social media and social change.

The fantastic folks at ReadyTalk -- long time partners with a great discount for NTEN members -- are bringing you six NTC sessions as webinars.  You'll be able to hear the speakers and see their slides, just like any other webinar. As an added bonus, you'll be able to chat YOUR questions to the speakers, and the ReadyTalk folks will make sure they get answered! Of course, the recordings will be available after the conference, as well.