What's Your Web 2.0 Story?
<em>The Washington Post</em>'s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/12/AR2010041202122.html">Federal Player column</a> on Monday highlighted the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Karen Turner in developing a global competition designed to spur innovative ideas for using mobile technology to solve problems in developing nations. What I found most interesting is that Turner, 53, has not only used the contest to improve the work and mission of USAID, but also to prove the value of Web 2.0 technology to many of her peers who are less tech-savvy than the agency's younger employees.
The Washington Post's Federal Player column on Monday highlighted the work of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Karen Turner in developing a global competition designed to spur innovative ideas for using mobile technology to solve problems in developing nations. What I found most interesting is that Turner, 53, has not only used the contest to improve the work and mission of USAID, but also to prove the value of Web 2.0 technology to many of her peers who are less tech-savvy than the agency's younger employees.
"The challenge that we found is that the decision-makers are different from the new staff coming on board - we understand the value of things like blogs, but we don't use them, so we had to persuade people that this is valuable to our development work when it's not something they do themselves, and let them know that this is a vital part of the agency's mission," Turner said.
This is just one of what I'm sure are thousands of stories about how technology is often the easy part of the equation; it's the culture at agencies that makes technological change difficult. It also seems that it often requires a more seasoned to worker to effect change. What's your story?