How ICTs Can Change the World: Giving Every Man a Voice

In our modern world, new technologies such as the internet and social networking platforms have served as an engine of globalization. Through giving users a way to communicate across geographic boundaries, they have brought the globe closer together than at any time in history.

“ICTs”, or Information and Communication Technologies, identifies any long-distance communication outlet, ranging from radio and television to cell phones and broadband. Along with convenience, the impact established and emerging ICTs can have on activism and social programs cannot be overstated. In particular, the United Nations is emphasizing Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) to link populations in developing areas. Since 1992, the UNDP has taken on various initiatives including the creation of a trust fund to fund expansion of ICT use “in close to 25 developing countries, on a demand-driven basis.”

Since its inception, the Genesis Network has sought to take social networking to a new level in this regard. Genesis’s ongoing objective is to give human rights-focused nonprofits a new way to reach out to prospective donors and partners, as well as connect with volunteers and beneficiaries. Among the Network’s features:
• Users can synch Genesis with existing networks, connecting through Facebook and using Twitter feeds to update their status.
• Users can invite friends and search for members who have similar interests or projects.
• Direct communication with individual beneficiaries. Through using network profiles, donors can search for both children in need of assistance and existing programs working to help them. Ongoing connections between benefactors and those they aid can be established.
• Within Genesis, individual organizations can create their own networks with features including being able to track proposed plans and budgets for new projects.

Through growing and developing this unique platform, Genesis hopes build new connections that can make a better world possible, project by project.