We had mass quantities of learning in 2014, so it’s only fair to guess that we will have much more in 2015! Here’s a quick list of the top-level learnings you can find in the FabBlog from last year:
- Unless a project will help you move forward in your strategy, not max out your capacity or not drive you insane, it’s best to Just Say ‘No’
- The key to effective data advocacy is to understand how data becomes evidence that will support your campaign.
- Don’t use social media for broadcasting, instead use it as a tool for listening and learning about your stakeholders.
- When using a platform like ‘Crowdmap’ to map violence take security very seriously.
- When working with data and marginalised communities, it’s not about FAQs but QAF’s.
- The key to attaining security and privacy means understanding contexts and how information makes you vulnerable.
- If you are going to use online services, use services that you trust.
- Maps can take data about individuals and turn it into information about communities.
- Resource creators should be accountable to the communities they aim to serve.
- An effective advocacy campaign will build power for those who don’t have it but should.
Of course, none of these learnings happened as a result of us working alone. We are super thankful to the following organisations that partnered with us in 2014 including: Article 19, Aspiration, the engine room, Eurasian Harm Reduction Network, National Democratic Institute, Open Knowledge, Open Rights Group, Open Society Foundations, OWPsee Foundation, Total Tactics, and The Transparency and Accountability Initiative.
What do you want to learn in 2015? Please contact us if you want to co-author a blog post about technology capacity building, have a technology capacity building project you want help implementing or need facilitation of a technology capacity building related event.