How ironic to live in a society where millions of rands are spent on developing mindless toys, when a little of the right IT could improve the lives of thousands.
In the spirit of giving ahead of the festive season, I recently went walkabout on the Net in search of worthwhile charities to give money to. I blithely assumed they would be neatly listed somewhere, I`d pick on one I liked, and would electronically do my bit for the less privileged. No mess, no fuss - right? Wrong.
The organisations with less savvy PRs and not-so-cute beneficiaries are lagging woefully behind in the technology stakes - and they are the ones who need it most.
Tracy Burrows, journalist, ITWeb
For starters, I was astonished to find that none of the standard searches turned up a comprehensive list of the really worthwhile charity groups in SA. I found assorted directories, and followed many listings to dead links, outdated sites and "it`s here somewhere, find it yourself"-type collective Web pages.
Once I found a few sites of charities I recognised, I discovered that precious few made it easy for people to give them anything.
Most people I know give donations in a fleeting fit of generosity. If you`re a welfare group, you ought to be ready and able to take advantage of the moment before it`s gone. Few people (myself included) are prepared to wade through pages and pages of very slow-loading stuff to find contact details so as to phone the charity and ask how you can give them your money.
Practically none of the sites I looked at had electronic payment gateways. None had lists of what they needed - other than money - to make their work easier.
My favourite charities - the SPCA and the Salvation Army - had very sad little collections of Web pages and very little else. I couldn`t find Meals on Wheels at all, and couldn`t find a convenient place to take a load of used toys for underprivileged children either.
The only site doing what a welfare site should be doing is the Cotlands site, which probably enjoys a lot more financial support thanks to tireless marketing and the patronage of celebrities.
The organisations with less savvy PRs and not-so-cute beneficiaries are lagging woefully behind in the technology stakes - and they are the ones who need it most.
If SA`s clever IT companies were to donate a little time and effort to develop hard-hitting Web sites and effective electronic payment gateways for the less privileged, we could see the true impact of a little IT harnessed properly.
Just a little festive season thought.
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