ICT Management > Strategy & Planning
Databases > Sharing your data
Software > Buying & Owning Software

Shared ICT systems in the Voluntary and Community Sector

By Tamara Hale
Dr. Robin Pharoah
Pipal Associates

This article explores a series of researched, case-studies which demonstrate the use of shared ICT systems and resources within the Voluntary and Community Sector.

Introduction

…pieces of hardware, or software, developed and used by more than one voluntary and community organisation, for the same purpose or purposes and mutual benefit.

This definition of ‘shared systems’ in the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) is necessarily broad. Given the diversity in type of both Voluntary and Community organisations (VCOs), and the infrastructure within which they sit, only an open definition of a ‘shared system’ could account for the variety of systems that exist.

“Shared Systems” in the voluntary and community sector present both challenges and opportunities to both ICT professionals and potential users alike. Challenges of funding, training, support and skills are matched by the benefits of reduced workloads, enhanced data sets and ways of measuring performance, improved client relationships, new connections within the sector and innovative solutions to voluntary sector needs.

Shared ICT systems are perhaps best promoted by those organisations that already see sharing and integrating as part of their function, but the concept is one which benefits a wide range of organisations and more marketing and support for innovative ideas and development of new systems is needed.

Despite the challenges there are many benefits to the sharing of ICT knowledge, information and skills within the sector. It is likely that there will be a greater emphasis on, and use of, shared ICT systems in the future and it is felt that this development that should be encouraged.

Examples

Shared systems, and ICT projects in general, present both challenges and opportunities for the VCS in the UK. The examples listed here represent blue-sky innovations aimed at solving social need (e.g. providing learning tools to ‘low-income families’), practical solutions to problems of data management (e.g. searchable online databases) and simple time-saving devices (e.g. creation of a centralised knowledge base). There are examples of both success and failure, which demonstrate challenges and solutions in setting up such systems; some technical (e.g. which software shall we use?) others non-technical (e.g. How will we fund this project?) and many that are specific to the context of the VCS.

System	Description
ExpertsOnline	Developed by RuralNet, ExpertsOnline is an online ICT support service aimed at the VCS.
CP Terminal	CP Terminal is an online payments system developed by the Charity Technology Trust, aimed at the VCS especially to handle charitable donations.
Voluntary Action Westminster (VAW) integrated online package for local VCS	The system is being developed by ThirdSectorDesign Ltd. for VAW and will include a database, content management system, case-management system.
thankQ	Developed by North Yorkshire Forum for Voluntary Organisations, thankQ will provide a database of information about the local VCS with a mailing list function with potential to introduce a case management and event planning tool.
VCO Connect	Voluntary Action Sheffield are building on an existing database to allow user accounts which allow local VCOs to join mailing lists, recruit volunteers and partner with other local organisations.
Frontline Online	A web portal service that provides a database of local VCOs along with webspace to member orgs with news feeds, forums, diary etc. (Soon to be upgraded)
Community Connected	Developed by Kingston Voluntary Action in partnership with LocustWorld Ltd, community connected aims to bring wireless broadband access to low income families living in a housing estate. Training and online support was also provided along with hardware.
Advisornet/CASE	These systems were created by the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB) for use by their members (individual CABs). They provide an integrated case management system and advice system for CAB practitioners.
Volunteering Opportunities Database	A database of volunteering opportunities developed by Volunteering Development Scotland which connects vol. orgs with potential volunteers.
Falkirk CVS database	This database is accessible to all local vol. orgs and provides a means of sharing information and searching through information about the local voluntary sector.
Voluntary Action Waltham Forest (VA-WF) Venue Database	An online searchable database developed by VA-WF for local landlords to provide information to a searchable database for vol. orgs looking for local venues.

Development

It is clear from the above examples that local infrastructure organisations are a common site for the development of shared systems. This is perhaps unsurprising as it is these organisations which hold much of the information which is applicable to a range of VCOs and are also in a position to gain funding for setting up shared system projects.

Smaller organisations tend to be users rather than commissioners or developers. They often lack the skills, knowledge, motivation, time and funding to act as developers themselves. However it is the smaller organisations which stand to gain the most from the promotion of shared systems in terms of gaining access to ICT resources they could never access on their own.

In many of the cases mentioned above, software was written by commercial partners using commercial products, though sometimes the system was developed for the commissioning body who then took the proprietorial rights. Using outside commercial providers and products had many justifications such as: a lack of in-house expertise and trained support staff, time constraints and the fact that appropriate commercial products, in many cases, already existed. It is worth noting however, that for many ICT professionals working in the VCS, the concept of ‘sharing’ is synonymous with ‘open-source’ and many try to use open-source solutions where possible (e.g. Drupal content management and Open-Office). Using open-source software also circumvented one of the challenges described below to do with compatibility.

Motivations and benefits

Setting up a shared system could be inspired by a number of factors:

• To save time by holding information centrally on an accessible database
• The desire to draw together knowledge, skills and resources from different organisations
• To generate revenue by utilising in-house ICT knowledge and skills to create a new application
• To provide innovative solutions to social problems (e.g. providing free wireless and broadband to allow people to join learning programmes from home)
• To reduce current work loads and time spent on tasks which appropriate ICT systems could handle with relative ease

Shared systems meet these goals directly in a number of ways through databases and applications. Examples of benefits include:

• Better quality of data with less duplication
• Faster work-turnaround (with especial reference to client, case management)
• New and better knowledge of clients and the local VCS (through centralised knowledge base)
• New revenue opportunities through selling of developed system or user subscriptions
• Better systems of monitoring and evaluation (e.g. by recording client usage)
• Streamlined service provision (e.g. by integrating databases with case management)
• Less duplication of information work by different orgs
• More professionalism in terms of services (e.g. a branded visual tool) and client relationships (e.g. clients able to access information online)

Research also showed that there were some unintended or indirect benefits that arose from the development of shared systems:

• Users began to generate ideas for extending systems (this could be clients or administrators)
• Experience with systems created motivations to create new and different systems or connections between systems
• Administrators of shared systems suggested that there had been a beneficial knock-on effect of creating better communication channels between organisations (e.g. between CVSs and member organisations)
• Staff gaining ICT skills
• ICT skills being passed to users and client organisations

Challenges

Setting up a database or a community internet programme however is not without challenges. Some were project specific, others more general. Below we divide these into technical and non-technical challenges. Two challenges in particular, are dealt with separately (Planning and Marketing) because they were the most frequently cited problems.

a) Technical Challenges

Technical challenges were not as fundamental as had been anticipated. In general there are both commercial and open-source solutions available to the VCS and could be dealt with often by using an ICT professional (such as a Circuit Rider). Some issues emerged such as the incompatibility of open-source and commercial software or the logistics of user-administration software but for the most part challenges were related to cost and availability of hardware and software and were not technological as such.

The important lesson here is that fear of technical challenges SHOULD NOT prevent an organisation from thinking about developing a shared system, as the solutions are not beyond reach either financially (often open-source, free solutions exist) or practically (since there is ICT knowledge within the sector).

b) Non-technical challenges

All of the challenges we describe here would be best met with good planning before undertaking a project:

• Databases: Sending out data protection forms, getting data back, chasing information, ‘cleaning up’ information, getting users to provide up-to-date information, maintenance of databases, giving assurances of confidentiality etc.
• Getting ‘buy-in’ from staff who will administrate the system and from users who will use or populate the system. How can people be motivated? Remember that ICT is often not seen as core to the mission of many VCOs
• Complex systems strain resources.
• Reluctance to look for commercial options means opportunities are missed
• Lack of knowledge about available resources and technologies
• Lack of ICT skills and training
• Funding (for both set-up and ongoing costs)
• Lack of feedback system to monitor the success of the system or user satisfaction

Failure to address these challenges had meant the stagnation of some systems: databases were providing out-of-date information, users had stopped using, systems had not been updated, and internal motivation to keep the system running had dropped or been overtaken by other concerns within the organisation.

Planning

For many of the organisations a lack of proper planning had exacerbated many of the problems described above. We recognise that there are inherent problems with long-term planning of resources within the VCS; however a long term plan, including time-scales and budgets, would help to pre-empt problems which will occur down the line.

Planning a shared system needs to account, for example, for funding of initial set-up costs AND the cost of maintaining the system over its life-span. Developers need to think about training for both users and staff and to consider questions like ‘what happens if a key person leaves the organisation?’ They will also need to consider how a system is going to be delivered. How will potential users find out about it?

Marketing

Marketing presents two challenges to the development of shared systems. On the one hand we have to consider whether ICT professionals and commercial providers are marketing their expertise to the VCS in a way which allows organisations to think about the possibilities of shared ICT options. Are VCOs aware of the possibility of taking part in developing or joining in an existing shared ICT system? On the other hand, once a system is developed, how will potential users come to know of it? Will there be advertising, open training sessions etc.? Can the system be promoted by local organisations or local public service providers?

The benefits of the system can be the strongest selling point if there is a desire to sell the system more widely and this too will require evidence in the form of user feedback and monitoring.

Systems also need to be sold internally, by training staff and getting them motivated to maintain and develop the system. This involves an internal marketing plan.

Future Trends

There are likely to be more shared systems in the future. Funders, like the Big Lottery Fund, are increasingly attracted by the idea of sharing resources and knowledge across the sector. Developers and backers like NACAB too, are looking to make using their shared system a condition of membership. Increasing pressures on measurement and accountability within the sector also provides extra motivation to create shared databases and ‘customer relations’ systems. And the potential to generate revenue via subscriptions or the sale of innovative applications is increasingly attractive to organisations looking to secure ongoing funding. Into this environment there are also an increasing number of users and staff with ICT knowledge and skills, who may be eager to look towards ICT solutions and are less fearful of modern technologies than their predecessors.

The full ICT Hub publication, Shared Systems Research that this article summarises is available from NCVO.