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Presentations on Technology Innovations with Potential for Transforming Community Development

Another aspect of the Summit was a series of presentations by individuals from both the commercial and nonprofit sectors whose organizations have developed or applied innovative technologies. These technologies all have potential for transforming community development. They were described in working sessions, and several applications were subsequently shown in hands-on demonstrations. Summaries of the presentations supporting key themes of the strategic agenda are presented below.

Key Themes:

  • Improve efficiency within all CDCs.
  • Raise expectations for the use of technology.

Financial software and technologies presentation by Richard Pargament, Metis Associates

http://www.metisassoc.com

Off-the-shelf financial management software is widely available, but using it will require a cultural transition for many CDCs. A common objection is that off-the-shelf software does not accommodate a particular CDC's idiosyncratic business processes. Compounding this problem, financial reporting is seen as relatively low priority within many CDCs. Adoption of standards throughout the sector will facilitate the transition, but only if CDCs can assure their funding sources that the new system complies with requirements. Ideally, financial systems should comply with the same standards and display a certain basic uniformity that all funders accept. The systems should link to programmatic systems for property management and client tracking, to help organizations and their funders ascertain the true cost of each line of business.

ASPs offer attractive solutions, in that the systems are maintained centrally and data can be arrayed in a multitude of ways to meet the demands of various funders. But they will not solve the fragmentation problem by themselves, because various options exist among ASPs. Nonetheless, implementation of standards across the sector will help. Note that the term "standards" applies to systems, not to data, which will continue to vary among communities A caveat was voiced concerning financial software upgrades: Migration to a new system poses a major challenge to CDCs, because of structural differences among systems and the poor quality of data in many old systems

Discussion

HUD's experience with off-the-shelf software for PCs has been good, but very problematic with off-the-shelf software for mainframes. In-house modifications render the software perpetually out of synch with the vendor's upgrades. As a result, HUD has never had a consolidated accounting system. Furthermore, documentation has not been kept up to date – much of the knowledge about the system is actually embedded in the computer code. FHA has standardized many reports to keep up with its high-volume workload, but the grant-making side of HUD continues to struggle.

Further underscoring the need for standards, participants noted that the community development sector is made up of some 3,000 individual enterprises, including 50 state financing agencies that operate autonomously, as well as Fannie Mae, banks, and other financial institutions. All these entities have the power to demand different financial reporting, and there is no industry leader at present who is providing direction. Living Cities took a leadership role, providing support to LISC and Enterprise to develop organizational development programs that helped CDCs implement basic financial reporting requirements to enable the CDCs to receive federal funds. While this initiative helped to "raise the bar" for using financial data in operations, consistency in reporting remains a challenge across CDCs. Some CDCs still fail to comply with generally accepted accounting principles, for example, by mixing capital investment and operating expenses.

On a positive note, certain software vendors have demonstrated a willingness to develop applications that directly meet the needs of the community development sector. For example, QuickBooks now offers a nonprofit package. Software supply is likely to be further enhanced by the "unifying and empowering voice of demand" from organizations in the sector.

ASPs and program integration presentation by Joan Fanning, NPower http://www.npower.org

Application service providers (ASPs) are vendors of software designed to run on the Web. Some are software vendors who offer industry-specific expertise in addition to reselling software via the Internet. Aggregators provide suites of Web-enabled software. A "related cousin" to ASPs is the managed services provider, who offers backup, support, and other computer functions on an outsourced basis.

NPower, which assists nonprofits in implementing mission-related technologies, has found that many clients cannot overcome the primary, or "first level," barrier of putting a stable, reliable technology infrastructure in place. Consequently, the nonprofits never develop the basic capacity to use technology in direct service to clients, much less innovate in the technology arena. To help clients reach the first level, NPower now emphasizes pilot projects. Increasingly, the potential exists to create pilot projects using ASPs, which can help to make infrastructure a "non-issue."

Discussion

Participants had many positive things to say about Web-based software, which has demonstrated its capacity to facilitate the sharing of best practices. It was noted that all examples of innovative technology demonstrated at the IT Summit use Web-based software. ASPs are a way to minimize the risk involved in system development at the level of individual organizations.

Although getting started with an ASP can be challenging – a broadband connection is required, and procedures must be established for getting data in and out – the potential for collaboration across the community development sector is great.

Demonstration by Jaime Greene, NPower http://www.techatlas.org/tools/

TechAtlas is a Web-based planning tool (developed by NPower with TechRocks) for nonprofits to use in assessing their technology and obtaining recommendations for improvements.

 

Knowledge management presentation by Peter Werwath, the Enterprise Foundation http://www.enterprisefoundation.org

Training is a major product of intermediaries. It is a very important means by which information filters up through an organization and becomes knowledge. In many organizations, training is a critical function. The Enterprise Foundation recently set up an electronic training archive, comprising courses, PowerPoint presentations, marketing materials, and other data, all of which will go online shortly. The objective of aggregating relevant data is comparable to what a CDC might do in managing the knowledge associated with home construction.

Knowledge management imparts a discipline to technology implementation that is needed in order to control costs. "The excuse that 'we're innovating' is wearing a little thin."

Discussion

What are the challenges of knowledge management? Participants offered various responses, including "getting people to use it" and "getting the attention of CDC practitioners." A critical step was identified: define the "community of practice," such as executive directors or development directors of CDCs, and provide support to those communities.

For knowledge management to be appreciated, participants agreed, it needs to be an active, integrated part of the CDCs' community building process and not seen merely as archiving. It could be a hedge against high staff turnover, which robs CDCs of critical information. Yet CDC staff should not come to regard technology as something that renders them expendable. This is a risk in a CDC culture, where knowledge about "how we get things done" is often seen as a vital element in job security.

To counter the potential opposition to knowledge management, responses were sought to the basic question: Why use technology? Responses included: "because funders demand it" and "because new staff hired just out of college will leave if an organization lacks technological sophistication." It was pointed out that many metrics are available for measuring the payback from technology. At the same time, the presence of organizational resistance raises the possibility that the technology may not be well synchronized with users' actual needs.

Demonstration by Peter Beard, Fannie Mae Foundation http://www.knowledgeplex.org

The KnowledgePlex is a comprehensive, interactive resource for the affordable housing and community development field.

Presentation on training by Loren Blackford, LISC http://www.liscnet.org

Technology can provide cost-effective means to communicate in a timely way with CDC staff in organizations that are growing rapidly or experiencing high turnover. In live online sessions, participants may view PowerPoint presentations, then submit questions using a keyboard or a telephone. Conference calls have generally been more successful than strictly Web-based conferences. Up to 130 people have been involved in a single session. Sessions can be archived for future reference. Both off-the-shelf and customized software are available.

Challenges include technical difficulties, limitations in attention span (1-1.5 hours maximum, for most people), some individuals' sense of discomfort with the medium, and the potential for distractions on participants' end. Moreover, software can be costly and inflexible, and the experience of online learning can be lonely and boring.

To address these challenges, some organizations choose "low-tech alternatives" in which sessions are archived for access at the user's option. Audio can be omitted. Materials can be posted for review by participants, who then communicate in an asynchronous mode.

Discussion

Organizations contemplating technology-enabled training must answer questions such as: How much training is sufficient? How formal should it be? How should it be coordinated? Where does one go for courses?

Investment in training is substantial, especially among large companies. Among the participants with significant training experience, there was agreement that self-directed training can, indeed, be lonely and boring. Tutorials are more popular and, in addition, less costly to implement. Where self-directed training has been successful, it has been offered in conjunction with e-mail or telephone interaction. Experienced trainers noted that, while 90 minutes is optimal for training sessions with interactive audio, 30 minutes is optimal for pre-recorded sessions. Interactivity adds to the cost of training. Organizations must perceive a significant benefit in order to make the investment.

As a "hybrid" between self-directed and interactive training, some organizations offer the option of solitary study interspersed with in-person group training every few weeks. Even so, participants agreed, online training requires significant motivation. An untapped potential may exist in the private sector, where large companies continually train employees and have a great deal of excess capacity in training sessions that could be filled by trainees from nonprofits.

Papers pertaining to the key themes (pdf)

Introduction to Knowledge Management by Peter Beard

Trends in Knowledge Management and Technology Based Training for Community by Peter Werwath

Application Service Providers (ASPs) as a Mission Tool for CDCs by Joan Fanning

Financial Software and Technologies: Tech Innovations and their Implications for CDCs by Barbara Chang, Andrea Ciurleo, and Theresa Stroisch of Npower

Estimating and Meeting CDCs' Technology Capacity Needs by Jaime Greene

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