Youth focus: Working to close kids' digital gap. (Cyber Frontier).Giving young people greater access to the Internet and digital technology is the focus of a new initiative being coordinated by The Children's Partnership in Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. , Calif. Known as the Young Americans & the Digital Future Campaign, the initiative is a collaborative effort among national and regional groups targeting state and local policymakers and business and civic leaders. The campaign, to last several years, initially will distribute data and information tools to connect state leaders with local schools, community tech projects and other efforts that can be models for delivering technology to youngsters, particularly those who are poor or underserved. The campaign then will serve as a technical resource and advocate to help develop tech policies. The Children's Partnership, a national research and advocacy group, has developed an online toolkit featuring national and state-by-state data on Web use by children and families, national and state agendas for tech policy and resources for policymakers. The campaign is being launched in the face of declining federal support to address the "digital divide" between those with access to technology and those without access, said Wendy Lazarus, executive director of The Children's Partnership. Federal spending for community technology centers fell 41 percent to $64.9 million in fiscal 2002 from $110 million in fiscal 2001, she said. At the same time, she said, states and cities "are finding inventive in·ven·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characterized by invention. 2. Adept or skillful at inventing; creative. in·ven ways to deploy existing funding or programs or staff toward valuable tech initiatives." Nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. newswire A four-year-old news service that feeds nonprofit news releases to news organizations and databases is growing and rolling out new features. AScribe as·cribe tr.v. as·cribed, as·crib·ing, as·cribes 1. To attribute to a specified cause, source, or origin: "Other people ascribe his exclusion from the canon to an unsubtle form of racism" , a for-profit firm in Oakland, Calif., has 500 subscribers for which it has distributed more than 13,000 news releases, said David Irons
Using the facilities of the Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. , the firm distributes news releases electronically to the newsrooms of nearly 100 daily newspapers. It uses Internet technology to reach weekly news magazines, online and specialty publications Specialty Publications is an American publisher of gay erotic material. Their 'Men' Magazine has been the #1-selling gay male erotic magazine for over 25 years.[1] Magazines
Approximately 60 percent of AScribe's subscribers are colleges, universities, academic medical centers and graduate professional schools, Irons said. the others are foundations, think-tanks, public-policy groups, associations, arts and cultural organizations, public-relations agencies and consultants representing nonprofits. AScribe, which sells no advertising, charges $125 for a year's membership, plus a subscription package ranging from $500 for 10 releases to $1,600 for 40. News organizations and freelance journalists get AScribe's news releases for free. The firm now has launched a service that, for $125, distributes a single news release within an hour of receiving it. It also has launched a twice-a-month NewsWatch newsletter that alerts nonprofit subscribers to future events and activities that might provide a good opportunity to issue a news release. With $1.5 million from investors to cover its first five years, AScribe has seen daily traffic grow to as many as 50 news releases from less than haif a dozen after it was launched in March, 1998, Irons said, and it expects revenues this year to total $500,000. Digital impact Two new studies map the impact of technology on nonprofits -- and the hurdles they face in using it. Most human service nonprofits use technology and say it has changed, improved and had a major impact on their work, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the results of a survey commissioned by Independent Sector, a nonprofit trade group in Washington, D.C., and San Jose-based Cisco Systems “Cisco” redirects here. For other uses, see Cisco (disambiguation). Cisco System,Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO, HKSE: 4333 ) is an American multinational corporation with 54,000 employees and annual revenue of US $28.48 billion as of 2006. . A separate study by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy philanthropy, the spirit of active goodwill toward others as demonstrated in efforts to promote their welfare. The term is often used interchangeably with charity. , a research and advocacy group in Washington, D.C., shows more targeted investments in technology could benefit most nonprofits, but "few foundations have a clear strategy for making those investments." "Wired, Willing and Ready," the study by Independent Sector and Cisco, reports that most nonprofits want to make better use of technology but believe that keeping up with advances in technology is tough. The telephone survey of more than 200 executives at human service nonprofits. by Princeton Survey Research Associates found that 86 percent of nonprofits use some form of information technology, 84 percent say it has changed daily operations in the past five years and 51 percent say it has changed operations a lot. And while 51 percent responded that improving their technology is a priority, only 39 percent have a tech budget and only 28 percent have a strategic plan for technology. "Beyond Access," the study by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, reports that closing the gap between organizations that can use information technology to further their missions and those that can't" requires going beyond access to equipment and helping nonprofits fully integrate IT tools into their ongoing operations." Tech grants focus on equipment and short-change tech training, assistance and maintenance, according to study results. And while grants back interactive online services, it reports, nonprofits and foundations "still could benefit from increased understanding of how online resources can enhance their impact." Tech security Information technology is critical to most nonprofit work, yet nonprofits typically fail to protect their hardware, software and data, according to a new survey by NetAction, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that focuses on Internet advocacy and tech policy. Only 4 percent of 134 nonprofits responding to the survey, for example, encrypt See encryption. all sensitive files, nearly two-thirds keep sensitive files on computers connected to a local network, and nearly half keep them on computers connected to the Internet. Computer users in nearly one-fourth of the nonprofits surveyed do not routinely lock or turn off their computers when away from their desks, and eight of 10 indicated that volunteers, interns  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . , outside consultants and/or temporary staff have access to office computers. Industry notes As part of a $25 million to provide technology assistance in 13 cities by the end of 2003, Microsoft has launched affiliates of Seattle-based NPower in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Michigan, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and Portland, Ore... The annual conference for "circuit riders circuit rider, itinerant preacher of the Methodist denomination who served a "circuit" consisting usually of 20 to 40 "appointments." The circuit system, devised by John Wesley for his English societies in their formative period and developed in America by Francis " who provide tech help to nonprofits will be held April 11-14 in Orlando. For information, visit nten.org/stories/storyReader$25... "Advancing a Community Technology Agenda" will be the focus of the 11th annual conference June 14-46 in Austin, Texas, of CTCNet, the national network of community technology centers. For information, go to ctcnet.org... San Francisco-based TechSoup, a Web site featuring nonprofit tech information and resources, said it received 149 million donated do·nate v. do·nat·ed, do·nat·ing, do·nates v.tr. To present as a gift to a fund or cause; contribute. v.intr. To make a contribution to a fund or cause. banner-ad impressions - ads, each viewed by a single person, linked to TechSoup's site from the sites of the donors - worth $1.9 million. An initial drive generated an eight-fold boost in visitors to more than 165,000 a month, TechSoup said. Todd Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. is editor and publisher of Nonprofitxpress, an online newspaper at www.npxpress.com. He can be reached at tcoben@aif.org |
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