CLIMATE CHANGE COLLABORATION PLATFORM
Executive Summary
(Draft 1.0)
Suresh Fernando
January 19, 2009
The following is a summary description of a technology platform that is designed to connect climate change organizations (or more generally the climate change ‘ecosystem’) that want to collaborate in various ways; specific campaigns, joint research, etc.
The objective of this document is not to provide exhaustive detail, but to stimulate discussion such that a collaborative process can be initiated with members of the climate change ecosystem with a view to further clarifying the problem that needs to be solved, as well as the specific architectural features necessary to solve the problem.
The Problem We Are Solving
T
he
climate change ‘ecosystem’ consists of organizations,
projects undertaken by those organizations, and volunteers within the
community that can support these projects.
We believe that activities in the climate change space can be made more effective through the creation of a technology platform that will:
Connect People (volunteers, for example) to Projects they are interested in.
Connect People (volunteers, for example) to Organizations that they want to volunteer with
Connect Organizations to Other Organizations that have a similar strategic mission and/or projects that the might want to collaborate on.
The Assumptions That Underlie The Ideas Presented Are As Follows:
Climate change is a global problem that is better served by coordinating the activities of small and mid-sized organizations around the world.
The climate change landscape is very fragmented with many smaller organizations around the world having similar objectives working in isolation.
The climate change landscape is undercapitalized with little ability to invest in strategies for “growth and expansion”.
The best way to mobilize effectively is to develop strength in numbers.
The best way to develop strength in numbers is for organizations to collaborate.
There is a fundamental difference between climate change organizations and For Profit organizations: the difference is that climate change organizations do not compete with each other in the same ways that For Profit organizations do. Hence, there is no impediment, in principle, that should prevent climate change organizations from collaborating.
The fundamental difference outlined above provides the opportunity to build broader consensus amongst people and organizations globally.
This consensus should be built through the process of dialogue that includes as wide a range of participants as possible.
The effective utilization of technology solutions will contribute significantly to the ability to manage global dialogue, create a broader consensus and effectively manage widely dispersed teams.
Principles That Underlie The Service Offering
The Climate Change Connectivity Platform will be developed so that organizations in the climate change space can:
Provide Visibility For Projects They Are Working On: Most organizations will have certain projects that they will be willing to collaborate on, and for which they are seeking support from other organizations as well as others in the community. We will provide the infrastructure that will enable them to make visible their projects within the broader climate change ecosystem.
Have Visibility Into Projects Others Are Working On: Many organizations will be interested in joining forces with other organizations that have similar strategic interests. Our platform will bridge geographic boundaries and allow organizations to view the work of other organizations and to engage on projects with which they see a strategic fit.
Have the Ability to Collaborate on Projects With Other Organizations: Identifying which projects might be appropriate for collaboration is not sufficient. In addition to this, the platform will provide a project management infrastructure to stimulate and manage the collaborative process. This will include:1
The Service Offering
The function of the Climate Change Collaboration Platform is twofold:
It will serve to connect members of the ecosystem
It will provide a collaboration platform that will enable organizations that are geographicall dispersed to work together online.
Connecting Members of the Climate Change Ecosystem
Members of the climate change ecosystem will be connected by creating the mechanisms that are necessary to make what is essential about organizations, as well as projects within the organizations visible within the ecosystem.
Project Visibility
The platform would make it possible to represent the essential features of a project, for example:
Mission: what is the larger objective of the project?
Goals: what are some of goals of the project?
Timelines: when is the project/elements within the project expected to be completed?
Tasks: what are the tasks that need to be completed?
Management Structure: who is leading the project; elements within the project? Who reports to whom etc.
Organizational Visibility
Organizations seeking to build relationships with other organizations as well as with volunteers in the community can make visible essential features of the organization. This will allow those seeking to connect with the organization to do so.
Mission: the mission can be described so as to enable other organizations with a similar mission to identify common themes.
Projects: Projects can be described in detail as detailed above. This will allow other organizations to see clearly what projects the organization is working on for which they are seeking opportunities to collaborate as well as external support.
Volunteer Opportunities: specific areas where volunteer assistance is required.
Areas of Potential Collaboration
Areas where organizations within the climate change ecosystem might be able to collaborate are:
Information Exchange: organizations with similar objectives should be able to increase their efficiency through the exchange of information
Research: Organizations with similar objectives should be able to increase their efficiency by deploying resources judiciously when researching related topics.
Campaigns: organizations that are working on similar campaigns can increase their efficiency by coordinating forces. The benefit of this is that they will be able to generate greater critical mass (strength in numbers) around campaigns.
Share Resources: Organizations will have different skill sets and might be able to benefit from sharing resources from time to time.
Features of An Online Collaboration Platform
The precise feature set that will make online collaboration within the climate change space optimally efficient will have to be determined in conjunction with members of the climate change ecosystem. However, we don’t envision the feature set to be dissimilar from those already present in existing online collaboration platforms:
The following is an list of potential features that a system might include:
Communications:
Email
Instant Messaging
Videoconferencing
File Management
With collaborative document development tools
Whiteboards
Gantt Charts (see last page for example)
Discussion Forum
Calendar
Volunteer Sourcing:
Interested Volunteer with availability
Polling Capability: seamless mechanisms for gauging thoughts of team members
Blogging Capability: ease of update and publishing
News Aggregation: source relevant news from online sources
News Dissemination: automated ‘newsfeed’ similar to Facebook newsfeed
Online Collaboration Platforms
The following represents a sample of existing online collaboration applications:
Name |
URL |
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Basecamphq |
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CentralDesktop |
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CoMindWork |
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ELoops |
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GroupLoop |
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HyperOffice |
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KabLink |
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ManyMoon |
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PlanZone |
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Webspiration |
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Zedzone |
1. Sample Gantt Chart
1 The following is designed to provide an idea as to what the elements of a Project Management System will consist of. There are many project management systems and the details will have to be researched in more detail as we move forward.