The origin story
Beginning in 2021, ECNL launched the project of building an online tool, with the goal of positive social change for the global community of practice in the field of security and counter-terrorism. Thousands of such tools are built daily across the world but ECNL decided to take a new approach to ensure the positive social impact of the technology they were to build. A ”Build it and they shall come” approach to technology, where we think we know what a group of people need, and are sure technology in itself will resolve it deus ex machina, has failed often, and sometimes, tragically with unused platforms, dormant apps and millions of euros and hours spent in vain. Much like tailoring a good suit, testing and measuring must be an integral part of building technology at its very conception.
The theme: translating needs into technology
The only thing worse than unsolicited advice is unsolicited technology that ignores the needs of the community it is built for. Even more so it is true in the case of the community of key experts and exposed civil society leaders that fight for democracy and rule of law, often putting a lot on the line in their professional and private lives. The project of building an online hub had started several months before developers and designers - the “tech” people - were contacted. The first months were in the hands of social scientists and impact managers that researched the needs, paths and potential of the existing community and the room for its growth. They conducted sociological research, developed a blueprint of functionalities and then translated these learnings into a tech brief for the developers and designers . As the users could not sit at the desk at every development meeting, when they were not present, their voices and needs were advocated and ensured by impact experts who were there throughout the entire process.
The characters
Lead: ECNL as facilitator and coordinator of the developing process
Main characters: community members and future users
Supporting characters: Greenhost tech for good experts, Impact House sociologist and impact experts, Init Group designers and developers
Protagonist: the often anonymous yet visible and impactful civil society activists protecting civic freedoms against the misuse of security and counter-terrorism measures
Antagonist: as always, time and budget
Narrative arc: The story of a hub
Setup: ECNL, jointly with other organisations, facilitates a global community of activists and lawyers in the field of security and counter-terrorism. Communication has traditionally been limited to email list correspondence and professional individual support. Most members of the community did not feel that they belonged to a community nor that they had a space for supporting and exchanging with each other, the communication was linear and bilateral from members of the community to facilitators. Community members expressed a clear need to have such a space, both in a broad survey and individual conversations. In other, sociological words, what existed was a community in itself rather than a community for itself.
Development and obstacles: The goal was to design a tool - a platform - that is a safe, virtual space, which generates support for change/advocacy and enables interaction, a library of resources, and sharing of learning and strategies in real time. An online space that enables and supports the development of a functioning community. But the question remained: how?
The original idea was to create an online platform with a chat room or bespoke new technological solution for communication. However, this was paused when ECNL and the expert team embarked on a community research endeavour to better define the functionalities needed. Geographical scope, level of digital literacy, area of expertise, areas of action, access to resources, indexing of documents, gender and name fluidity, and sensitivity of the position of community members were all taken into consideration in creating the tool. Broad surveying of the community members as well as targeted focus groups were conducted. Being visible yet anonymous, and being informed yet not overburdened, were the main goals set for the team to accomplish through technology.
Climax: At the end of 2022, following the alpha testing of the new tool, a lot of phone calls and messages, and some new glitches, ECNL asked the community members once again to volunteer time and test the prototype. Many kindly agreed. The beta testing had two major goals - testing usability and user testing. Members were recorded while using the prototype, and narrating their user logic, as well as completing a list of tasks (functionalities) while time, process, and satisfaction were measured. This resulted in the identification of the community's needs at the next level and additional upgrades to the tool to make it as user-friendly as possible.
Resolution: Based on detailed identification of the community's needs, the project team created the platform as an i) online repository with essential documents in the field of counter-terrorism and security and as an ii) online communication tool for establishing contacts between users and for exchanging knowledge, experience, strategies and all materials. The "Global CfT Expert Hub" platform was developed, enabling registered users to safely exchange knowledge and information while remaining anonymous if they choose to do so. After registration, users have access to a well-indexed, searchable online document repository - a collective hive of ideas, templates and information.
At this moment in time, the platform uses existing tools such as Google Translate or email, WhatsApp, etc. for translation and conversation. Bespoke integrated tools for this purpose were not built in, as the needs, frequency and intensity of contact of the researched community do not justify such investment.
The innovative aspect of the platform is the three-tier system of the newsletter where the user gets a) general information; b) information about the most talked about topics and documents in the community; and c) an individualised summary of documents and topics they register as being of interest for them and they have a history of researching and interacting with.
Ensuring impact. It works! Now what?
We have all been there, something great is built but soon forgotten or neglected, not updated or developed. Thus, it is necessary, as part of technology development, to put in place an action plan, a management and measurement strategy, and to ensure resources for it. To manage and measure the social impact generated by the solution - in our case - requires identifying goals and desired impact, sources of documentation as well as methodology for measuring if the goals have been achieved.
This can be done through defined indicators and transparent analysis, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually depending on the product/service. Impact that the platform has on users’ knowledge, experience and activities in their daily work in the field of security and counter-terrorism should be the guiding principle of platform management and development and is the work we are looking forward to in the upcoming year!
A special thanks to all the collaborators on the project, tech for good specialist Tin Geber from Greenhost, the Init Grupa developers and designers and the Impact House sociologist and impact specialists.
Most of all a big thank you to the members of the community that volunteered their time to respond to the interviews and participate in focus groups as well as to test the technology - we hope this makes your mission easier!