The document outlines the draft action plan for Dgroups in 2014, focusing on six high-level priorities: strengthening partnerships, improving the platform, enhancing marketing and outreach, ensuring service reliability, promoting training and peer exchange, and engaging current partners. Key objectives include increasing visibility of communities of practice, enhancing user-driven improvements, and maintaining service reliability. It also discusses future financial plans for membership fees to support operational costs.

1. Dgroups: (Draft) Action Plan 2014
Neil, Rob, Kristin
16 January 2014

2. High-level Priorities
1.
Strengthen partnership
2.
Improve the platform
3.
Improve our marketing and
outreach

3. Strengthening the Partnership

Alfa Redi

CIDSE

Department for International Development (DFID), UK

ECDPM

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)

(Helvetas)

Humanist Institute for Co-operation with Developing Countries (Hivos)

ICCO

International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD)

International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)

Natural Resources Institute (NRI)

RWSN – Rural Water Supply Network

SAP International

SDC

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA)

UNECA
New partners 0
Leavers 1 (KIT)

4. Strengthening the Partnership
Shared vision
2. Promote connections among the
Partners and among individual
Dgroups
3. Promote connections with other
CoPs
1.

5. Shared vision
(= how we want the world to be)
What is our vision? Suggestions for
discussion…
1. “A world where every individual can
contribute constructively to dialogue
and decision-making for international
development and social justice”
2. ???
3. ???

6. Promote connections among the
Partners
 ↑ Knowledge sharing among Dgroups
partners (?KM4Dev)
 ↑ Visibility of individual Dgroups and how
they relate to each other, by theme, geo, lang.
visualisation tool, eg DebateGraph
 Mapping of Dgroups 
 INCREASED COLLECTIVE IMPACT
OF DGROUPS

7. Promote connections with other
CoPs
Mapping of Dgroups 
Progressive mapping of Global CoP
ecosystem
↑Navigability ↑Alignment ↓Duplication
 ↑ collective impact of all CoPs
(Dgroups + non-Dgroups) working in
international development

8. 2020 Goals
By 2020:
• All (open) Communities of Practice will be
readily visible and searchable by moderators
and users.
 All (open) CoPs will be able to connect and
share seamlessly with one another
 All (open) CoPs will be able to harness the
collective intelligence of their members (multistakeholder input into policy and practice)

9. Work area 1: Platform
improvement
2014 Objectives
We shall continue to
 improve the platform through a user-driven process.
 ensure that all requests and ideas for functionality
improvements raised through the [redesign] discussion group
are monitored and made freely available to all users
 assess the feasibility (or otherwise) and provide progress
updates on each request.
 explore how Dgroups can take advantage of mobile
opportunities
 Other??

10. User-driven functionality
improvement
[redesign] Dgroup – Kristin & Damir
 Viewing the web archive (6)
 Delivery of email messages, formatting and
content (5)
 Moderation (4)
 Visual design (1)
 Monitoring and evaluation (1)
 Terminology (2)

11. Work area 2: Service reliability
2014 Objectives
Working with WA-Research:
 We shall maintain service reliability at or
very near to 100%.
 We shall increase our disaster
preparedness, so that normal service is
maintained in the event of disaster (eg
technical breakdown, illness, injury).
 Other??

12. Work area 3:
Training & Peer Exchange
2014 Objectives
We shall:
 introduce a peer support / training programme
(Dgroups Training module – ECDP)
 organize regular online peer exchange sessions (1
each quarter)
 continue to publish regular blog
posts, presentations etc on Dgroups Foundation
website (www.dgroups.info)
 other??

13. Work area 4:
Engagement with current partners
2014 Objectives
 We shall regular communications with all
our Partners, through 1-to-1 calls (at least 2
times per year).
 We shall promote knowledge sharing among
Partners, especially around C4D issues
 We shall build a basic visual representation of
the Dgroups CoP ecosystem
 Other??

14. Work area 5: Marketing and
outreach
2014 Objectives
We shall:
 continue to develop and improve the Dgroups
Foundation website (www.dgroups.info)
 recruit 6 new paying members
 produce leaflet in different languages
 coordinate and provide support to at least 6
Partners to promote Dgroups (conference
calendar, leaflets, PPT)
 other??

15. Work area 6: Governance and
administration
2014 Objectives
 We shall seek to expand the
number, skills and influence of the
Board
 We shall improve Board
representation –gender and
geographical location
 Other??

16. M&E
Stats
Impact
IDS Linked Open Data

17. Fees: Way forward
 With present membership, an increase in partnership
contribution to E 5.000 is needed to cover costs.
Therefore:
 Dgroups Board proposes to increase fees to E. 5000
starting 2015, for organizations with turnover of over 5
million Euro.
 From now on, for new small organizations with turnover
below 5ME, a reduction of fees is offered, calculated at
0.1% of turnover, limiting the number of Dgroups to a
maximum of 12
 Below E 150.000 we do not charge, but ask for a
formalized "sponsorship" by one of the large members