Submitted by Editor on 1 February, 2006 - 11:23.
With this report, we see bridges.org pass its fifth year — an important landmark for us. A small and young organization, we have had an influence beyond our size and years. We have had smart, original things to say about the use of information and communications technology (ICT) for development, and seen many of the new ideas we brought to the field become standard practice and widely-used terms of art. Now we are consolidating our efforts, and planning for the next stage.
Bridges.org has enjoyed significant success during the last five years. The result is a body of work that illustrates an independent, objective and people-centered approach to ICT-based development bringing together international, local, and technology perspectives. We have shown how a passion for social change can combine with the rigor of a business approach to produce practical, realistic development solutions. We have proven that a fee-based business model can work for a non-profit organization when projects are chosen carefully, consistent with the social mission and producing outputs that are widely shared. We have cultivated a culture of learning among our staff — tolerant of mistakes but intolerant of duplication — and learned that the growth of staff members must necessarily be an objective of any organization working in this area. I feel that we have proven our concept.
2005 was an especially busy year that saw the completion of six major research projects and eight new publications, and the re-launch of our policy program in Uganda. It was also a year of significant change for bridges.org. We recognized that the time had come for the organization's founders to step aside and make room for the fresh ideas and renewed energy that new leadership can bring. In July we hired Vincent Waiswa Bagiire as Director of Africa Programs, and he's set up a base for our work in Kampala. At the same time, we have scaled back and cut costs in order to give ourselves room to restructure. We made the decision to become a "mostly-virtual" operation this year, and closed our physical office in Cape Town. This gives us flexibility to work in more places, and keeps our overheads low. Meanwhile, I moved back to Washington DC, where I am leading efforts to leverage our US contacts and resources, and increase international visibility for our work.
2006 will be a period of continued evolution for bridges.org. We have three cutting-edge projects underway, and have already generated a lot of interest in the upcoming results. And we have also made room for our new leaders to take the ideas we have developed and use them as a foundation to reach more people and make a greater impact.
In 2005, bridges.org:
- Finalized an innovative framework that is improving the way that ICT-based development policies and initiatives are planned, researched, monitored and evaluated
- Suggested how to turn wasted effort in the e-readiness assessment field to more productive outcomes with a focus on the use of ICT to achieve concrete development goals
- Informed funders and implementers about the practical obstacles that need to be addressed in the use of ICT in healthcare environments
- Helped a university computer science research program target its work toward real community needs and influencing ICT policy
- Helped a city government plan to attract financing support for local ICT-based development
- Completed a two-year, landmark study on software use in Africa
- Gave policy advice to African governments considering the use of free/open source software to support development goals
- Continued to raise awareness of best-practice approaches to ICT-enabled development to encourage and inform replication
- Re-launched our Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) program
In 2006, bridges.org will focus on:
- Establishing CIPESA as a free-standing entity in Uganda and helping it to achieve sustainability and make an impact in the policy world
- Field-testing the use of maps and mapping technologies for socio-economic development and contributing to the Map Library initiative
- Producing innovative tools for basic e-literacy training and publishing them as open content so they can be used widely by others in the field
- Demonstrating our ideas by implementing projects based on our philosophies and using our tools, and looking at how models can scale
- Investing in our team
Exciting times are ahead! We are grateful for your continued collaboration and support.
Teresa Peters, executive director
