13 02 2012
The high importance of technology to the not for profit
sector, and the desire to keep apace of the rapid changes in
digital communication, were clearly reflected as nearly 200
delegates, comprising senior managers and executives of 126
membership and charity organisations, attended the IRIS NFP
Roadshow at the Royal College of Surgeons in London on Tuesday 7th
February 2012.
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They gathered at the event organised by IRIS NFP Solutions -
suppliers of integrated software, services and infrastructure to
the not-for-profit sector – where partners and consultants,
including global technology players Microsoft and IBM, laid out
their vision for the future of technology and what it may mean for
the sector. There was also an accompanying exhibition, where
delegates were able to view many new initiatives and share their
challenges.
Overall feedback from delegates was extremely positive. David
Combes, Director of Knowledge & Information Systems at Action
for Hearing Loss, commented: “It was a very worthwhile event, and
so good to see a partnership-based approach to meeting the needs of
the NFP Sector.”
The day started with the views from two keynote speakers on how
digital technology was impacting membership organisations and
charities.
Rob Smith of Indigo Blue talked of “another revolution” to match
the impact of the digital revolution. He saw the rapid growth
of “cloud” applications as a “game changer” for the way we all work
and how organisations source technology. Also, he warned that the
growing number of “online communities”, such as common-interest
groups on sites like LinkedIn, was creating a new threat and real
competition to long-established membership bodies.
Simon Morrison, Director of Marketing and Communications at the
Institute of Fundraising echoed this theme, saying that digital and
mobile technologies were “changing the way charities work” by
offering new and exciting opportunities to fundraisers to have
more personal, integrated, experimental and collaborative
engagement with stakeholders. He cited examples of how mobile and
text giving and the use of social media was enabling charities to
reach and engage with new donors, particularly in the 18-24 years
old demographic, traditionally viewed by fundraisers as a
difficult to reach audience. According to the IoF figures,
text-giving had increased 12% in the past year, against a
background of an 11% decrease in overall fundraising income since
2008.
The day continued with presentations from other IRIS companies
and key partners, such as NetXtra, QAS, Transoft, IRIS Exchequer,
Orbis and Communicator, describing how their products and services
were meeting the new challenges and being applied in all aspects of
the sector’s activities, covering online and email
communications, automated workflow, through to data
quality and integrity. Solutions included automated
verification of emails and mobile numbers at point of entry,
through to ground-breaking tablet based and web-integrated
solutions to support an increasing mobile and disparate
workforce.
Jim Adam of IBM explained how the vast increase in data
available to organisations from the communications explosion
presented a real challenge but how the use of analytics was helping
top companies use this data to make more informed decisions.
Mark Bloodworth of Microsoft presented his organisation’s vision
of the future, in which there will be more pervasive displays and
innovative, and more natural, human – technology interfaces,
facilitated by touch and motion sensors. A glimpse of this future
was seen when Paul Sparkes of IRIS Exchequer talked about the
pioneering work IRIS had done with Microsoft on finance
applications delivered through tablet and touch technology.
“I believe it was a high value day for all those involved,
with real buzz as suppliers and consultants shared their visions
and concerns.” said David Pinches, Director of Product Management
& Marketing at IRIS NFP Solutions. “ We were delighted to
involve so many of our key partners and I think the high level of
attendance and positive feedback we received reflected not only the
importance of technology, but also how IRIS and our partners, as
key suppliers in this market, are able to provide innovative
solutions to meet the fast-changing needs of our customers.”
Copies of the presentations given on the day can be downloaded
at
http://not-for-profit.iris.co.uk/iris-nfp-roadshow-2012/agenda.aspx