Sector comes together on Digital Social Innovation

Leaders from the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector came together at NICVA to discuss recently released research on the potential for digital technology to be used for social good.

As part of the Building Change Trust’s work on Social Innovation, the Young Foundation, one of the leading organisations globally in this field, was commissioned to put together the report, entitled ‘Turning up the Dial’.

You can access the full findings here.

The event, set up by Building Change Trust, was a vital opportunity for the sector to have significant input into the wider social innovation strategy being developed by the Trust and others. 

The report explored the characteristics, capacities and culture of the VCSE sector, the quality and distribution of Northern Ireland’s digital infrastructure, the opportunities for collaboration between sectors and the current state of digital social innovation in Northern Ireland.

Ashley Elizabeth Ball from the Young Foundation first presented the eagerly awaited findings at last week’s BelTech 2014 conference. 

Paul Braithwaite, who heads up Building Change Trust’s work on Social Innovation, said: “Too often the people with the technical expertise and the people working on social problems are disconnected.

"BelTech 2014 offered us an opportunity to bring these important sectors together and to improve understanding of social innovation as a concept. 

“The events this week have given the VCSE sector the opportunity to learn from the important findings of this report and to have their input into the best strategy for Digital Social Innovation in Northern Ireland".

If you or your organisation would like to find out more about Digital Social Innovation click here.