Full Circle Associates

Via NetSquared comes this VERY important quote for anyone trying to "save the world" and even more important for anyone seeking to apply technology to "help" others. Despite our very bests efforts, helping sometimes turns to damage. When there is a shared outcome, driven by choice, not leverage of grant funds strung before hungry noses, there is a chance for positive movement.

Last week I posted a few things related to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) meeting in Tunis in November. While there were trumpeting headlines about the $100 laptop, there were those trying to critically reflect on what is "done" unto others in the name of "helping" -- particularly from the North. Pilots that build hope then dissolve into nothing. Programs that are so skimmed that the intended beneficiaries never see results. Good intentioned but ill informed outsider who lack enough cultural context to suggest meaningful work.

This is not to question the act of doing or giving, but to suggest that it should be reflective and contextual. The advice of Lilla Watson is good advice, for example, to those designing "Web 2.0 applications" that they wish to contribute positively to the world. Technology is not neutral. It carries our values and beliefs. If you are a designer, have you articulated your values and beliefs? Those of your intended recipient or user? Are they congruent? What is underneath that line of code? What is your liberation?

Technorati Tags: nptech, development, WSIS, values, liberation