Impact

WiN is used for sharing information (text and photo’s in web magazines), communication with others (guest books, fora, links) and for organizational purposes: agenda, map and manuals with the publication of tasks and deadlines. Users tell us they feel more competent, they learn new things and get to know new people and new networks, and organizing becomes much easier. The idea about their neighbourhood changes sometime to the worse, but that does not seem to matter: it is more their place, it supports their feeling of belonging and pride. It is innovative to make people media wiser and to teach them how to use ICT strategically to their own benefit. To stimulate them to use web pages to create networks and participation in the context of neighbourhood even more. In Parkwijk Almere (4.500 households) in one year 663 webpages were built by 300 people. In four years in Bargeres, Emmen (4.300 households) 4.500 webpages were built and 1.500 people logged in. The WiN portals are visited by approximately 1.400 visitors a month. The Digirooms are visited by many citizens (in Emmen 2.900 people in 2006). 60% of them is without a job, 50% women, 14% handicapped. They are of all ages.

Track record of sharing

The project started in 2002 in Bargeres, Emmen, after a year it was implemented in The Hague, in 2004 it was implemented in Almere and then more neighbourhoods in Emmen followed. At present there are pilots in Amsterdam and Gouda. A national organization was founded to monitor the dissemination. Methods were developed and contacts with universities (in The Hague, Amsterdam) established which led to the implementation of the subject Social use of ICT in the curriculum of social workers. WiN has contacts in Italy, Spain, Sweden, England, Latvia. It founded Vit@l Society, a consortium which made a declaration on the new social use of the internet. This was supported e.g. the Nordic Council and the Baltic IT&T Conference 2006. It was addressed to the E-Inclusion Unit and handed over to Mr. Paul Timmers in Riga (2006). In 2008 the local initiatives in Emmen and The Hague will be embedded in the local structures with the help of social institutions and the local government. The other neighbourhoods are still in the implementation phase. In 2007 the national organization of WiN made a business plan in 2007 to be able to disseminate. There are plans for localization of the software to implement it in other countries, to publish a book on the method in spring 2008.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - Workers in the social sector are not interested in computers and internet for their clients. The helpers are keeping the clients away from internet applications because they think it is not what they need. This is a hard lesson to learn. The workers can be persuaded to use the internet, bur that takes time and constant effort. Lesson 2 - In The Netherlands local social initiatives are about helping the underprivileged. WiN is community building between all citizens with a bottom-up approach including underprivileged. It is much harder then the initiators thought to interest these institutions and workers to work for all and stimulate people caring for each other. Lesson 3 - Making community software for a neighbourhood in a way that people respond is a special expertise. It asks for special design.