I love that way of thinking, since you're totally right; everything can't be solved by another tech tool that looks nice on TechCrunch.
I have been lucky enough to be a part of what you're proposing a few times, and it is an amazing (and exhausting!) experience. Talking to them, fully understanding their pain points and even try to go out into "the field" with some social workers is a very important method for solving problems that matter in the right way. I agree. :-)
What I have experienced though, and your mileage may differ, is that even though you want to invite them (and community members) they simply do not have the time unless it's some under-the-radar workshop or some big hackathon. Both good initiatives, but it nags me that there's nothing "in-between".
Our local government is stressed and pushed to its limits, meaning that many initiatives like hackathons and the like needs to yield some sort of return of investment.
Nevertheless, I completely agree with you and thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I love that way of thinking, since you're totally right; everything can't be solved by another tech tool that looks nice on TechCrunch.
I have been lucky enough to be a part of what you're proposing a few times, and it is an amazing (and exhausting!) experience. Talking to them, fully understanding their pain points and even try to go out into "the field" with some social workers is a very important method for solving problems that matter in the right way. I agree. :-)
What I have experienced though, and your mileage may differ, is that even though you want to invite them (and community members) they simply do not have the time unless it's some under-the-radar workshop or some big hackathon. Both good initiatives, but it nags me that there's nothing "in-between".
Our local government is stressed and pushed to its limits, meaning that many initiatives like hackathons and the like needs to yield some sort of return of investment.
Nevertheless, I completely agree with you and thanks for sharing your thoughts!
- Anders