I collaborate, e-collaborate, we collaborate

Product of PSO, Capacity Building in developing countries, The Hague and IICD, International Institute for Communication and Development, The Hague

Have you used Skype or MSN for communicating with others located somewhere around the world? Already experienced an online conference meeting with a group of colleagues from different countries? Or watched a video on the web from an interesting conference you could not attend? International Development has always had a global character, but never before have the developments and use of web-technologies changed so rapidly. Within international development, individuals and organisations have similar experiences and similar interests, from different places in the world. Continuous sociotechnological developments in the area of communication and ICT make it nowadays possible to connect with each other globally in new ways, making use of the wide range of innovations created on the web. This offers more and new opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration processes, dialogue, and interaction. The new range of tools, like for instance skype, do not only make communication cheaper, but have the potential to change the nature of collaboration and relationships in international development too. Physical distances can be bridged, by making use of new possibilities to communicate. But how do people in development organisations learn how to make use of new tools? And which tools are really useful? And how can we help them not to drown in the sea of new tools, abbreviations and error messages?

In this relatively new area various Dutch development organisations, large and small, are undertaking interesting experiments and try-outs which are worthwhile to make explicit and share with each other. This booklet describes 14 stories of organisations using e-collaboration in some way, varying from using Moodle as an online learning platform to Teamspeak as a software tool for having an online meeting with partners located all over the globe. We hope to inspire you with these experiences, stimulating you to take this first step, using your work as a laboratory for experimenting. The following expression might help you getting started: When you don’t know how to ride a bike, walking is always faster! We hope you will enjoy the stories!

Sibrenne Wagenaar, facilitator of learning, PSO

Joitske Hulsebosch, former officer knowledge sharing, IICD

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  I collaborate, e-collaborate, we collaborate