In a relatively short period of time Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become the leading driver for economic growth, productivity, and jobs.   Use of ICT is so widespread in the general population and such a significant component in our society that it is recognized as a basic life skill.   Digital inclusion is the inclusion in our information society through the acquisition and use of these basic life skills.   In the past our nation has recognized and acknowledged the consequences of not having access to essential life skills (Digital Divide / No Child Left Behind).  Today there are unfortunate consequences for individuals that are digitally excluded.   Organizations, like people, can also be digitally excluded.  If the standard of an organization’s digital inclusion is degree to which ICT has been applied in the for-profit and public sector then the majority of Human Services is clearly digitally excluded.  What are the consequences of the majority of organizations in Human Services being digitally excluded?

Cannot Keep Pace with Needs ICT continues to change our world and as the world changes the dynamics that impact people change and thus the needs of people change, new needs appear and new combinations of needs appear. Service providers must keep pace with the needs of the people they serve.   However, when service providers are digitally excluded they cannot keep pace and the gap of exclusion grows.  As a result policies, best practices, staff development, and other tools become less and less relevant.   Organizations expend more resources to accomplish the same outcomes.   The only way to keep pace with change driven by ICT is to apply ICT.

Cannot Deploy Best Practices Enormous amounts of funds have been spent to pioneer and demonstrate new and innovative approaches.  Indeed many excellent best practices have been identified but few have been replicated across the nation.  Our nation simply does not have an ICT framework in Human Services to effectively share and deploy new approaches and best practices on a large scale.  The analogy in the for-profit sector is a company with the best new product in the world collecting dust in the warehouse because no distribution channel was established to get it to market. We live in the Information Age in an Information Society and things move fast.  Human Services must adapt and keep pace.   Service providers need to understand a best practice but they also need the tools to apply it.  Information technology converts practice to process and can replicate a process across the nation with training, and support to those that need it.

Closing because of Cost Every year funding sources require more performance measurement and accountability but that requires tools like case management.   Unfortunately many of the small and medium sized organizations in Human Services do not have the funds for these and other tools and will be forced to close. Enormous amounts of funds have been spent to educate nonprofits on why performance measurement and accountability is important.   We are providing these tools at low or no cost.

Capacity Will Decline We live in the Information Age in an Information Society and we, especially the younger generations, are immersed in a hard to understand Internet culture.  Our government and private sector recognize the importance of embracing our changing Information Society.   The US Army uses an Internet game (America’s Army) to recruit. The IRS accepts tax returns on-line.  Disney markets to children while engaging them in Internet games.  Toy manufactures create virtual worlds for what children purchase.  The list can go on and on.  What appears radical today is common tomorrow. Human Services must embrace our Internet culture and connect with society or face the consequences.

Untapped Potential of Working Together In the for-profit sector many organizations contribute materials or services to a finished good.   ICT allows these organizations to work together seamlessly and automatically.  For example, when you purchased an item in a store and the inventory level triggers restocking it could also trigger a new order, shipment, assembly, manufacturing, even the procurement of raw materials (supply chain management).  The analogy in the Human Services sector is that most all people in need require services from multiple organizations in a coordinated manner.   However, the ICT framework to achieve this does not exist.   The need for organizations to work together is obvious and the potential to conserve resources and improve outcomes is enormous. The impact of ICT in the for-profit sector exceeded 100% and 200% increase in productivity.  Partnership for Human Services is demonstrating that ICT in Human Services can achieve equally dynamic outcomes.

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