www.nominettrust.org.uk
Supporting Social Innovation through Digital Technology
National Assembly for Wales, June 2013
Dan Sutch dan.sutch@nominettrust.org.uk
@dansutch @nominettrust
To seek out, galvanise and
support new, effective and
widely adopted solutions that
transform how we address big
social challenges through the
use of digital technology.
• Social investments and grants of c£5m per year
• Aim to demonstrate how digital technology can be used to redesign the way we address
persistent social challenges
•Aim to support (in addition to funding) scaling the social and economic impact
•Direct relationship with Nominet’s public purpose & strength of their membership
Our mission
Research and Insight
Grant making and social investment
The successful application of new ideas generated at the
intersection of insight and invention, which leads to the
creation of social or economic value
Insight understanding the context, histories and work of others
Invention finding and developing the best ideas
Application putting ideas into practice
Value capturing outcomes, impact and learning
Social Innovation
Redesigning our approach to social innovation
Affordances of
digital Tech
Social
Entrepreneurship
Designing from
‘first principles’
Consider together, the:
Affordances of digital technology
The values & energy of social
entrepreneurship and social business
Look again at the challenges and
redesign approaches
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Transistor_Count_and_Moore%27s_Law_-_2011.svg
Many examples of significant
tech-driven/tech-enabled
changes – where for social-tech?
The use of digital technology provides remarkable
opportunities to redesign how we address persistent social
challenges
This requires:
• Creativity and imagination for how else we might address
these issues
• Risk taking and testing of these new approaches
• Entrepreneurship and willingness
• Aspiration, persistence and tenacity
• Openness, collaboration...
• Advocates to help find social-tech entrepreneurs
In addition to the technology
What does social-tech innovation look like?
Podnosh ‘Recording Real Lives’
Capturing voices of disconnected
people for social policy makers
Futuregov ‘Patchwork’
Supporting and improving
communication between key local
authority workers around the family
UK Online Centres ‘Outreach programme’
Helping people get online in environments where
they’re already comfortable (local
pub, laundrette, cafes, churches etc)
‘Memory Box’
Collecting digital memories for
recollection activities for people
suffering from dementia
‘Discoverables’
Helping young people
discover, develop and demonstrate
skills for employability
Carers UK ‘Jointly’
Supporting time-poor carers to
manage caring responsibilities with
busy lives
History Pin
£209k investment
Global intergenerational site
40,000 contributors, 600,000 app users
eg Peoria Hist Soc 1.4m hits, $14,000
sales
Make Things Do Stuff
Make Things Do Stuff
:
"Make Things Do Stuff, a collaborative effort led by
Nesta, Nominet Trust, and Mozilla, marks another
important step in our ambition to become the
most digitally capable nation in the world. We
want to inspire young people to become creators
and not just consumers of digital technologies“
George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Trailed in 2003, the Technocamps project was set up in response to the continuing
decline in Computer Science Education.
In September 2011 Technocamps secured £3.9 M ESF funding to deliver a
programme led by Swansea University in partnership with Aberystwyth, Bangor and
South Wales Universities for 11-19 year olds in Wales.
To date over 4,500 young people have attended one or more day-long workshop
introducing them to CS principles from a catalogue of projects.
Technocamps is also working with the LIFE programme in the City and County of
Swansea in conjunction with BOX UK, S4C and Tinopolis, running the weekly CS
Talent Academy for disadvantaged young people in Swansea.
Technocamps recently secured Digital Maker funding – 3000 Primary children will be
undertaking CS driven digital making activities.
Stuart Toomey, project manager
Community ownership and management of
Digital Network Assets
Exploring cooperative model for sharing internet
access from Merthyr Valley homes to (in pilot)
provide low cost access and support to tenants for
100 homes in Gellideg
Merthyr Valleys Homes and Creative Co-ops
(Gellideg Foundation; Welsh Government; MTCBC;
Coed Y Dderwen School IT dept)
Mike Owen, CEO, Merthyr Valley Homes
Get IT Together in Rhondda Cynon Taf
Supporting 1200 older people to get online for the
first time
Supporting 50 young people to develop
employability skills
Citizens Online and BT Wales
Nominet Trust funding of £30,000 with £70,000
investment from BT Wales and £20,000 from
RCT council
Current opportunities for Welsh social-tech entrepreneurs
How digital technology can be used to support people through transitions
across the lifecourse
Transitions
To discover, to help demonstrate and test the potential of a new approach
that uses digital technology to address a persistent social challenge.
Nominet Trust Open Innovation Funding
Discover by bfishadow ccFlickr
Dan Sutch dan.sutch@nominettrust.org.uk
Open Innovation description
http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/areas-investment/open-
innovation
How to apply
http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/areas-investment/open-
innovation
Application deadlines
http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/application-deadlines
Useful links
More descriptions of our Open Innovation programme, links to ‘how to apply’ and some further background info.

Nominet Trust introduction to National Assembly of Wales

  • 1.
    www.nominettrust.org.uk Supporting Social Innovationthrough Digital Technology National Assembly for Wales, June 2013 Dan Sutch dan.sutch@nominettrust.org.uk @dansutch @nominettrust
  • 2.
    To seek out,galvanise and support new, effective and widely adopted solutions that transform how we address big social challenges through the use of digital technology. • Social investments and grants of c£5m per year • Aim to demonstrate how digital technology can be used to redesign the way we address persistent social challenges •Aim to support (in addition to funding) scaling the social and economic impact •Direct relationship with Nominet’s public purpose & strength of their membership Our mission
  • 3.
  • 4.
    Grant making andsocial investment
  • 5.
    The successful applicationof new ideas generated at the intersection of insight and invention, which leads to the creation of social or economic value Insight understanding the context, histories and work of others Invention finding and developing the best ideas Application putting ideas into practice Value capturing outcomes, impact and learning Social Innovation
  • 6.
    Redesigning our approachto social innovation Affordances of digital Tech Social Entrepreneurship Designing from ‘first principles’ Consider together, the: Affordances of digital technology The values & energy of social entrepreneurship and social business Look again at the challenges and redesign approaches
  • 7.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Transistor_Count_and_Moore%27s_Law_-_2011.svg Many examples ofsignificant tech-driven/tech-enabled changes – where for social-tech?
  • 8.
    The use ofdigital technology provides remarkable opportunities to redesign how we address persistent social challenges This requires: • Creativity and imagination for how else we might address these issues • Risk taking and testing of these new approaches • Entrepreneurship and willingness • Aspiration, persistence and tenacity • Openness, collaboration... • Advocates to help find social-tech entrepreneurs In addition to the technology
  • 9.
    What does social-techinnovation look like?
  • 10.
    Podnosh ‘Recording RealLives’ Capturing voices of disconnected people for social policy makers Futuregov ‘Patchwork’ Supporting and improving communication between key local authority workers around the family UK Online Centres ‘Outreach programme’ Helping people get online in environments where they’re already comfortable (local pub, laundrette, cafes, churches etc) ‘Memory Box’ Collecting digital memories for recollection activities for people suffering from dementia ‘Discoverables’ Helping young people discover, develop and demonstrate skills for employability Carers UK ‘Jointly’ Supporting time-poor carers to manage caring responsibilities with busy lives
  • 11.
    History Pin £209k investment Globalintergenerational site 40,000 contributors, 600,000 app users eg Peoria Hist Soc 1.4m hits, $14,000 sales
  • 12.
  • 13.
    Make Things DoStuff : "Make Things Do Stuff, a collaborative effort led by Nesta, Nominet Trust, and Mozilla, marks another important step in our ambition to become the most digitally capable nation in the world. We want to inspire young people to become creators and not just consumers of digital technologies“ George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
  • 14.
    Trailed in 2003,the Technocamps project was set up in response to the continuing decline in Computer Science Education. In September 2011 Technocamps secured £3.9 M ESF funding to deliver a programme led by Swansea University in partnership with Aberystwyth, Bangor and South Wales Universities for 11-19 year olds in Wales. To date over 4,500 young people have attended one or more day-long workshop introducing them to CS principles from a catalogue of projects. Technocamps is also working with the LIFE programme in the City and County of Swansea in conjunction with BOX UK, S4C and Tinopolis, running the weekly CS Talent Academy for disadvantaged young people in Swansea. Technocamps recently secured Digital Maker funding – 3000 Primary children will be undertaking CS driven digital making activities. Stuart Toomey, project manager
  • 15.
    Community ownership andmanagement of Digital Network Assets Exploring cooperative model for sharing internet access from Merthyr Valley homes to (in pilot) provide low cost access and support to tenants for 100 homes in Gellideg Merthyr Valleys Homes and Creative Co-ops (Gellideg Foundation; Welsh Government; MTCBC; Coed Y Dderwen School IT dept) Mike Owen, CEO, Merthyr Valley Homes Get IT Together in Rhondda Cynon Taf Supporting 1200 older people to get online for the first time Supporting 50 young people to develop employability skills Citizens Online and BT Wales Nominet Trust funding of £30,000 with £70,000 investment from BT Wales and £20,000 from RCT council
  • 16.
    Current opportunities forWelsh social-tech entrepreneurs
  • 18.
    How digital technologycan be used to support people through transitions across the lifecourse Transitions
  • 19.
    To discover, tohelp demonstrate and test the potential of a new approach that uses digital technology to address a persistent social challenge. Nominet Trust Open Innovation Funding Discover by bfishadow ccFlickr
  • 20.
  • 21.
    Open Innovation description http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/areas-investment/open- innovation Howto apply http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/areas-investment/open- innovation Application deadlines http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/application-deadlines Useful links More descriptions of our Open Innovation programme, links to ‘how to apply’ and some further background info.

Editor's Notes

  • #4 Part of this is commissioning relevant research, documents and publications that can inform us, partners, future applicants and others working toward similar aimsWorking in partnershipDeveloping programmes of funding/investment
  • #5 165 funded partnersRiver and Sea Sense, N Wales + TechnoCamps
  • #6 Realy understanding problem, how can digi tech help redesing how we approach them.
  • #7 Properties of technology – ways in which they can be used...
  • #8 Starting point for this is that there are already lots of examples of how digi tech have changed the way we communicate, buy and sell etcPotential of digi tech –if we were to design how you access information now, knowing how much comp power you have in your pocket; design learning interactions; ways of reducing social isolation etc etc, perhaps we would do it differently.Moore’s law – tech to get into space! – with this growth – how would wWhe begin to design what social care, education, addressing poverty, environmental action could look like in 5 years time? What sort of action would you like to see in 5 years time – let’s start testing and developing it now.We can expect Moore’s law to continue – so EXPLORE if you have a super computer in your pocket, sensor devices in your hand and environment how would you address social challenges? OR, another way of looking at this (William Gibson, future’s already here its just not evenly distributed) – if we imagine more people have current smartphones, internet access, tablets etc – how would we design approaches?£500 tablet will cost under £100 in 4 years
  • #9 .. . But this isn’t easy.
  • #12 600 institutionsPeoria History Society (USA) read: "Peoria Hist Soc started from scratch w no images online. Now w historypin they got 1.4 mill hits to website, $14,000 image sales." This is specifically related to the tools developed as part of this project and illustrates an amazing potential impact on partners, their audiences and their sustainability. In 2013, we will examine this impact more thoroughly.