Share your knowledge!

On the weekend of 28th and 29th November 2008 ICVolunteers took part in the conference of humanitarian professionals (Salon des Métiers de l'Humanitaire) organised by Annemasse Agglo at the Martin Luther King complex in Annemasse, France. 45 participating NGOs and training organisations joined the round table sessions, thematic conferences and individual discussions.

Viola Krebs, Director of ICVolunteers, was invited to contribute to a session on humanitarian aid and new technology and presented  her thoughts on what she referred to as "a three-screen society where the overabundance of information and dependence on technology does not necessarily lead to equal distribution of knowledge". As a network of volunteers which offers their knowledge and skills on a voluntary basis, ICVolunteers has always been very active in capacity building, particularly linked to ICT. "Our 'Africa@home' project, which uses shared computer power for a malaria modelling programme, represents a good example of the link between voluntary organisations, humanitarian needs and technology". In other words, with changes and developments around the world (not necessarily for the better), all the cybervolunteers and internet users on the planet can become active participants in this transformation to contribute to the positive development of human society.

Clément Trumeau of the interactive communication agency Hopscotch, then presented the blog platform www.solidairedumonde.org. Created by the French Development Agency, this blog platform is "dedicated to those who act, would like to act or want to know more about support for development and solidarity". The aim is, again, the sharing of knowledge, experience and projects. "By creating this blog" Clément continued "by expressing opinions, sharing ideas and information, everyone can find here a space for dialogue and information on all the development debates".

The final speaker, Annick Barrand, who co-founded Soli.tv in 2007, presented the aims and technicalities of this new media, which sees itself as the first French language web-TV channel dedicated exclusively to the theme of solidarity and takes up the challenge of promoting actions of solidarity to the public through audiovisual and information communication technology. For this reason Soli.tv is also transmitted in 3-D (in particular on Second Life) under the name of 'Solisland'. "This represents a platform for information and communication exchange" observed Annick, "because the daily commitment of the millions of volunteers and paid workers to the causes of international solidarity merits genuine visibility".