Taking development online with Dgroups

Seven international organisations recently launched Dgroups.org, an online community platform for groups working in development and human rights around the world. Quite a bit of the work for this initiative is being done out of India. Frederick Noronha reports

Designed for low-bandwidth users in developing countries, Dgroups hosts mailing list-based discussions supported by a simple website with discussion archives, and where members can share personal profiles, events, links, and documents of interest with the group.

International organisations Bellanet, DFID, ICA, IICD, OneWorld, UNAIDS and UNECA were behind the online community platform for groups working in development and human rights around the world.

OneWorld.net has an active presence in New Delhi, and calls itself the "largest news portal for civil society, providing news and information on human rights and sustainable development." Its regional office at the Indian
capital networks with partners in Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

From New Delhi, OneWorld.net runs its ‘learning channel’ that focuses on education, and a ‘digital opportunities’ channel. See www.learningchannel.org and www.digitalopportunity.org, run by Geeta Sharma and Kanti Kumar respectively. It is also a news provider to Yahoo News Service. Likewise, it helps non-profit and civil society organisations to build capacity with the required technical services.

"We are still in the process of working things out," says Nitya Jacob, a Delhi-based former journalist who looks after the technical aspects, and helps those wishing to set up their own mailing-lists and other tools on the Dgroups.org network.

Many groups have already made Dgroups their home. Among them are:

• Education-India and Literacy-India are two mailing lists dealing with these important themes.
• The education ministries and non-formal educators from Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania/Zanzibar, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe used Dgroups as a forum to discuss strategies and policies necessary for the development and implementation of an NFE Statistical Information System.
• Dgroups is being used to deliver a current awareness / news service covering HIV/AIDS press coverage in Asia and the Pacific.
• Students in Austria, Romania, Ghana, the Netherlands, Uganda and the USA are using Dgroups to discuss and learn about migration.
• Specialists around the world are exploring ways to apply information and communication technologies in agricultural research and extension.
• Dgroups is the forum for a group discussing and preparing an ICT policy for Jamaica.
• A network of grassroots organisations working for the eradication of poverty in South Asia are connected through Dgroups.

"Development through dialogue" is the slogan of Dgroups. It’s working to shape itself into an online meeting place for teams, committees, networks, communities of practice, and communities of interest that "transcend geography and institutional boundaries."

Its promoters say that already over 5,000 people are participating in more than 250 Dgroups—communicating, planning, and working together on issues such as the environment, human rights, and health.

Created by and for development partners, Dgroups is an advertising-free discussion platform "for people making change in the world."

Each Dgroup includes mailing list-based discussions supported by a simple website with discussion archives. Members can share personal profiles, events, links, and documents of interest to the group.

Dgroups can be public or private. The interface is currently available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Those interested in "helping to bring a new language to the platform" have been invited to join.

Says Kanti Kumar <kanti.kumar@oneworld.net> working out of development organisation Oneworld.net’s Delhi office: "Whether your interest is in health, education, agriculture, or any other sector of development, individuals are invited to participate in the many open Dgroups listed on the site. You can network, share knowledge, and even upload a photo of yourself."

"Over the past year, partners have pooled their resources, talent, time, network and enthusiasm to bring about this initiative. The result, Dgroups, enables the seven organisations to integrate dialogue and participation more fully into the delivery of their programmes in the South," adds a background note.

Hosted by an international developmental organisation, Bellanet, but equally owned and managed by all partners, Dgroups offers a sustainable way to share information and knowledge among members of any development-oriented network or stakeholders in development activities.

Partners say they "value quality over quantity." So, each Dgroups partner provides guidance and support to their users for the effective use of online spaces so that discussions are well run and purposeful. With enough critical mass, the partners hope to make Dgroups even more widely available to the development community.

Organisations interested in using Dgroups for their own efforts or in providing Dgroups to their networks can contact the partners to find out how to join. Visit the site online: www.dgroups.org or send in partnership inquiries to: contact@dgroups.org