I’ve been in Prato, Italy since Wednesday for the CIRN Prato conference which is built around Community Informatics.

Picture of Nicolo Tadini (Prato’s Premier Philanthropist)
 
I’m definitely looking forward to next year’s Prato conference. For more details on this year’s installment, go here .

I had the pleasure of attending the Ganesh Festival in Paris held every year, corresponding to the early September full moon. Called Ganesha Chaturthi, it is organised by the Sri Manikar Vinayakar Alayam temple based in the “Quartier Indien” (Paris’ South Asian enclave).

Arguably, these festivals do more to foster ethnic harmony between culture and help build an understanding of the ‘other’; providing a context in which to engage in fruitful communication in a festival-like atmosphere and providing ample opportunity for the Indian culture to be ’sampled’ (and by this I refer to its various foods). It also allows the ethnic Diaspora to put on a show for the other communities.

Its been more than a while since I’ve posted to my blog but in talking to an acquaintance earlier in the day who mentioned that she had been to my blog, I was reminded that people do track others and make judgements based on virtual presence. I vow to redouble my efforts beginning with a travel writing article on Turkey that I’ve been meaning to put together for sometime now.

The Concept :

• Community Development through building of social capital (via social networking)

• Transfer of capital (social, political and cultural)

• ICT and Entrepreneurship
• ICT and Diasporas

The Method :

• Online giving (Kiva like platform or Give India )
• m-banking like service

The Stakeholders :

• Diaspora : Indian Communities in Paris and wider France with resources to spare and driven by altruism
• Beneficiaries / Business Partners : Indians living in India with similar interests to the diaspora in need of entrepreneurial assistance via start-up capital  
• Development Organisations : HTAs (Hometown Associations), Local and International NGOs

This picture was obtained from a hyperlink posted on Twitter by Ken Banks at Kiwanja.net and I think exemplifies the heart of how development is best carried out. Putting aside differences in multistakeholder partnerships, easier said than done admittedly, and painful as the process may be for parties involved, is best for the individuals and community at the locus of the development process. Development projects are likely to be far more effective, efficient and timely in comparison to the case where differences, political, cultural or those over funding, arise between partners. Keep the beneficiaries in mind and all else should flow.