2010 News
The future of books
Having long been an avid reader, a report on ‘the future of books’ was bound to catch my eye. As I’m sure you can guess, it talks about the emergence of ebooks and their implications for the older relative: the hardcopy book.
It’s a fascinating read, which covers six key drivers:
- Digitization of books (see our ease of publishing online driver)
- Emergence of wireless ebook readers
- Spread of wireless broadband (also have a look at our ubiquitous connectivity driver)
- Generational shift - (explore...
Sharing: does online leave you hollow?
For strapped for cash charities, spreading information online can seem like a golden option. Think of the print and posting cost of your annual report and the idea of a pdf emailed out (or whatever version you use) beckons seductively. But there is still a widespread wariness of engaging with web technologies for this. Sometimes such a view takes the form of top-level reluctance to, for example, engage with twitter; or manifests itself when an organisation plans and designs for publications ...
Will to change?
We have just completed an in-depth collaborative project with Disability Lib to find out more about what the future could hold for disabled people’s organisations. We'll be posting the drivers that Disability Lib came up with during our work with them into our drivers bank very soon – so keep an eye on the site or sign up to our bulletin if you want to make sure you catch them as they go up.
In the meantime, take a look at these great graphic summaries of what participants in a recent...
Big Society in a small room
The first Big Society Network event
Last night I was at the first Big Society Network open night. There were over 100 people crammed into a small room at CLG, from organisations such as shared intelligence, envision, networked neighbourhoods; other charities, neighbourhood associations, local government, community regeneration organisations … I could go on.
There was a real buzz in the room – everyone was enthusiastic about the term Big Society and what it could mean. The event broke up into...
Hand in hand into the sunset?
A title with more than a whiff of cheddar – I apologise! But the event I went to earlier this week left me feeling as optimistic as the title suggests. I attended the NCVO Corporate Community Involvement Seminar: A Climate for Change? A couple of coporate-charity partnerships presented: Sky and Global Action Plan, followed by WSP and Resources for Autism, and some thoughts from BITC’s Business and the Environment Campaign Director Jim Haywood, all pithily chaired by Dame Julia Cleverdon of aRead on
Implications of the budget
First, apologies for the dry title: it feels like the puns have been taken a little too far, for example in the constant references to ‘axes’ across the front pages of all the major newspapers today.
These give a pretty clear sense of the overall tone of the budget. But how does that affect voluntary and community organisations, and more important, how can we anticipate and plan for the changes that may come as a result in the way we work, who we help, and who funds us?
Some major...
Some Southern insight
NCVO Third Sector Foresight are very pleased with how recent training with South West Forum went and - judging from our feedback - so were the participants:
“I found the workshop very insightful & stimulating and would love to work with colleagues on this process”
During both sessions of tailored training for South West-based leaders and development workers for infrastructure organisations, delegates were encouraged to identify the external trends or forces (drivers) most relevant to them.
Do...
Reflections on yesterday's seminar
We had a great session yesterday afternoon at Third Sector Foresight’s latest Leading Lights seminar. If you weren’t able to make the session, I hope this will give you a taste of what you missed. If you were one of those taking part in a bursting-at-the-seams room, I’d welcome your comments on what most struck you about the speakers and the discussions. And if you’re interested in reading more, the links below will take you to drivers on key areas on our site.
Tessy Britton, our...
From Einstein to economics
If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.
Such an apocalyptic view, from the mouth of a rather respected gentleman, has set many scientists, agriculture experts and others atwitter. For me it’s been a rather worrying thought, but one that I’ve trusted ‘the experts’ to sort out. Head in the sand approach maybe, but I don’t think I’d be alone in this. Similarly, there are many who see climate change and other environmental issues as...
Past Foresight
Foresight from the past
I came across this report from the Policy Studies Institute the other day, which made for a fascinating read. Written in 1991, it was an in-depth study where PSI experts devoted their efforts to suggesting what a future in 2010 was most likely to look like. They bill it as ‘painstaking research on what is happening now in the different areas of the project's field of enquiry and how that has been changing; and making informed judgements of the likely changes in the...
