How open-source technology can help nonprofits scale

Investing in customisable, open-source software solutions allows nonprofits to grow their programmes faster and at lower costs.by Abhishek SharmaThe proverb ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ rings true for India’s social sector now more than ever before. Unable to support their communities in...

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Challenges with tech in midsize to large nonprofits

Nonprofits, even midsize to large ones, rarely have a seamless tech adoption journey. Here are some common issues that crop up and ways to tackle them.by Shobhit MathurTechnology has been a key driver of efficiency in mainstream businesses. In the development domain too, sectors like agriculture,...

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How to build an effective data dashboard

Good monitoring dashboards help with data analysis and programme implementation in the social sector. Here are seven things to keep in mind when building them.by Eric Dodge, Tanmay VermaMonitoring dashboards inform crucial decisions for improving program implementation in the social sector. But...

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Digital doubles: In the future, virtual versions of ourselves could predict our behaviour

The data we generate online and using apps could be used to inform a digital version of ourselves. (Shutterstock) Jordan Richard Schoenherr, Concordia University A digital twin is a copy of a person, product or process that is created using data. This might sound...

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So this is how it feels when the robots come for your job: what GitHub’s Copilot ‘AI assistant’ means for coders

Shutterstock Ben Swift, Australian National University I love writing code to make things: apps, websites, charts, even music. It’s a skill I’ve worked hard at for more than 20 years. So I must confess last week’s news about the release of a new “AI assistant”...

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It’s 2022. Why do we still not have waterproof phones?

Shutterstock Ritesh Chugh, CQUniversity Australia While manufacturers have successfully increased the water-repelling nature of smartphones, they are still far from “waterproof”. A water-resistant product can usually resist water penetration to some extent,...

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Concerns over TikTok feeding user data to Beijing are back – and there’s good evidence to support them

amrothman from Pixabay, CC BY-SA David Tuffley, Griffith University When English statesman Sir Francis Bacon famously said “knowledge is power”, he could hardly have foreseen the rise of ubiquitous social media some 500 years later. Yet social media platforms...

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China’s big tech problem: even in a state-managed economy, digital companies grow too powerful

Joanne Gray, University of Sydney and Yi Wang, University of Sydney China’s digital economy has advanced rapidly over the past two decades, with services, communications and commerce moving online. The Chinese government has generally encouraged its citizens to accept digital technologies in all aspects of daily life. Today China has around a billion internet users. China has made clear it aims...

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Sendit, Yolo, NGL: anonymous social apps are taking over once more, but they aren’t without risks

Shutterstock Alexia Maddox, RMIT University Have you ever told a stranger a secret about yourself online? Did you feel a certain kind of freedom doing so, specifically because the context was removed from your everyday life? Personal disclosure and anonymity...

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