A new Indigenous Connectivity Institute is launching — here’s how it will drive funding towards equitable internet access

Just under a quarter of Indigenous communities have access to high-speed internet. This year’s Indigenous Connectivity Summit emphasized the urgent need for high-speed internet in Indigenous communities, as well as more community involvement in how internet infrastructure is funded and developed.

Experts now say digital access can determine a person’s health — here’s why that matters to social purpose organizations

From health services to social assistance, government and community organizations are investing in online service provision. For the 19 per cent of Canadians that identified as non-users or basic users of the internet even post-Covid, this cuts them off from critical services, leaving them even more exposed to health and wellbeing risks.

Community services can now replace medical prescriptions — but this will require organizations to share data.

Linking a person’s health data with information about their housing circumstances, employment status or fitness levels can help health providers better understand the underlying challenges that impact their health and wellbeing. But it requires community organizations to gather and share data – which many aren’t yet set up to do.

“Digital is here – embrace it, or survive it”: Four key takeaways from the 2022 Dismantling Digital Barriers Summit

There is still a significant proportion of the Canadian population that expresses “digital hesitancy”, which the Canadian social impact sector needs to keep in mind when developing programs. But data and digital tools are increasingly becoming important mechanisms for organizations to increase the reach of their services, and be transparent about where funding is needed most.

“Food is not a patient thing, it’s urgent”: how data collection and sharing can help people in Calgary access emergency food

As the affordability crisis deepens in Calgary, more people are turning to emergency food providers. Collating real-time data on the inventory that food providers hold can help the sector coordinate to reach those in need. However, a system of this sort requires both employees and volunteers to move past “mental barriers” and engage with data processes.

Are homelessness prevention schemes actually working? To find out, we need more person-specific data, experts say

Data can give shelters greater transparency on who is using their services, but there is still a severe lack of information about some of the reasons that people become homeless in the first instance. That means that at present, data is mainly helping the sector ‘react’ to those experiencing homelessness, rather than actively moving to prevent it.

How are social purpose organizations preparing for a post-Twitter world?

For many social purpose organizations, Twitter has long been a tool to advocate for, and organize movements around, particular issues. Under Elon Musk’s ownership, the sector’s ability to communicate with citizens, journalists and policymakers is now at risk.

“Maps can be seen as truth”: Why Indigenous communities are using digital mapping to defend their land

GIS mapping superimposes layers of data about a location over a digital map to reveal trends and gaps in an area. For social purpose organizations working at local or regional levels, this information can be critical in driving awareness and funding towards specific communities’ challenges.

Explainer: How are humanitarian aid organizations using blockchain and Web3?

Blockchain promises utopian ideals of decentralization and transparency, which are particularly appealing to the aid sector. However, as aid organizations and technology vendors build more public-private partnerships, it’s vital for the former to develop technical capacity and risk awareness among staff.

Newfoundland and Labrador will run a digital identification pilot in 2023 – what will this mean for community organizations and the people they serve?

Digital identification could alleviate certain accessibility issues, but at the same time, exacerbate inequities when it comes to digital literacy and device accessibility. It’s also unclear how exactly digital identification will benefit or intersect with the work of community-serving social purpose organizations.

Is AI your new non-profit coworker? Here are the ways that social purpose organizations are adopting ChatGPT.

It only took five days for ChatGPT to reach a million users. While there are clear benefits to using an AI-enabled tool when it comes to reducing time and resources spent on tasks, there are also some open questions for the social impact world in particular: what are the ethics of using artificial intelligence when working directly with communities?

“Benevity fails for me and my fundraisers” – why non-profits are calling on the platform to provide more timely donation data

Without timely and accurate information about donors and their donations, non-profits may not be able to secure repeat and frequent donations. This is especially critical in the current economic climate, where donations have dropped as the cost of living increases.

A “huge number” of non-profits have been victims of cyberattacks, risking the data of vulnerable groups, according to a new working group.

41% of Canadian small businesses that were victims of a cyber attack said it cost them at least $100,000 to recover from. The same is likely true of community organizations and small non-profits, although this is an area that has been severely under-researched. Without adequate security measures, community organizations could be exposing their clients to risks associated with cyber and data breaches, such as identity theft.

Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience to receive $1.2 million in funding, to enable sector-wide digital transformation over three years

Dedicating funding to digital transformation means that non-profits are able to reach clients that are situated more remotely, or home-bound. It also allows them to invest in tools and technology that increases the organization’s efficiency, which has a knock-on effect on the impact it is able to have.

In June 2022, British Columbia passed a law that would allow it to measure systemic racism using data. What progress has been made since?

This legislation is the first of its kind in Canada. Collecting longitudinal data – data collected over a long period of time – could lead to policy changes that centre equitable access, in sectors such as policing, housing and education. However, legislation that is rooted in data must also centre transparency and ownership.

Can geospatial data help communities prepare for natural disasters? Here are the lessons from Türkiye and Syria.

Location-based, openly available data – which is crowdsourced across a community, or from around the world – can help those working in aid contexts ascertain where the need for resources is most urgent following a disaster. However, constant and preemptive data collection activities – both before and after a disaster – could help aid workers and government agencies proactively plan for such disasters.

Data story: Only 10 per cent of Canada’s Universal Broadband Fund for high-speed internet was awarded to non-profits and cooperatives. Where did the rest go?

Funding cooperatively-owned or non-profit telecommunications providers not only brings more competition into the Canadian telecoms industry, but also contributes to community resilience, by allowing communities themselves to make decisions about critical infrastructure that they own.

“We can’t refuse to look at artificial intelligence until it passes us by”: a new survey finds that most charities don’t understand how they could use artificial intelligence

As artificial intelligence becomes more ubiquitous, the charitable sector is at risk of being left behind if they don’t feel they have the adequate knowledge and resources to learn about AI-based tools and applications.