Doing IT Better - building ICT capacity in the Victorian community sector

Doing IT Better is a three-year project to build information and communications technology (ICT) capacity in the Victorian community services sector

Community service organisations — just like government and commercial organisations — are now dependent on ICT systems to support basic organisational functions and service delivery. But limited financial resources and a shortage of ICT skills and know-how in the sector have left most agencies struggling. Improved ICT capacity will enable improve organisational efficiencies, enabling more resources to be directed where it really counts: supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged Victorians via the direct service work and advocacy that is the community services sector's core business.

A three-way approach has been adopted:

Undertaking case studies with a number of organisations to identify issues and trial solutions
Providing information resources to build know-how and assist decision-making and planning
Identifying systemic issues that are holding the sector back, and working to change them

A Reference Group comprising workers in community service organisations and people from the ICT industry guides the work, and will ensure that key aspects of the work continue to be supported beyond the life of the project.

Doing IT Better is a social justice initiative of the Centre for Community Networking Research (Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University) and the Victorian Council of Social Service, generously funded by a foundation.