UNFORTUNATELY, THE LINCOLNSHIRE VOLUNTARY SECTOR ICT PROJECT HAS CEASED WITH EFFECT 19 FEBRUARY 2010. PLEASE USE THIS WEBSITE AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION GATHERED BY THE LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTYWIDE ICT DEVELOPMENT OFFICER DURING HIS TENURE.
Information Communications Technology (ICT) is now an integral part of our lives. Email and social websites now form part of every teenager’s daily routine and many commercial ventures rely heavily on ICT (many now trade solely on-line). The voluntary sector is no different and a few minutes browsing the Web will reveal numerous organisations advertising their presence.
However, voluntary organisations are often unable to make the most of current technology, with their ability to properly engage with large sectors of the community hampered. In light of this, in June 2008, the Lincolnshire Voluntary Sector Consortium ‘InvolvingLincs’ http://www.involvinglincs.org.uk/ established a new ICT Development Officer post in order to promote the use of ICT in the voluntary sector.
The ICT Development Officer has gathered all this information and placed it on this Lincs Voluntary Sector ICT Website (courtesy of the Lincolnshire County Council Community Website Scheme). The intention is to archive the information as an enduring facility that voluntary groups in Lincs can benefit from in the future.
In the absence of an ICT Development Officer, there are a number of Voluntary Sector ICT forums that share ICT ideas and best practice.
The NAVCA ICT Forum is at http://www.navcaboodle.org.uk/group/ictchampions
The NCVO ICT Forum is at http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/networking-discussions/groups/11991
The LASA ICT (‘Circuit Riders’) forum is at http://lists.lasa.org.uk/lists/info/ukriders
Microsoft also offers useful advice via their 'At Home' and 'At Work' services:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/default.aspx
So what can I expect from the ICT Web? The purpose of the Lincolnshire Voluntary Sector ICT Web is to create a permanent record of the ICT hints and tips that have been offered via ICT Bulletins and other means. The advice covers ‘hands-on’ technical advice through to policy advice for senior managers. You can find your way round the website by using the menus and links to the left of each page.
A number of images from across the county have been used to liven up the website. Picturesofengland.com (http://www.picturesofengland.com/) displays photographs from across the UK, all taken by the general public. We are indebted to them and the contributors for allowing us to use their pictures of Lincolnshire.
