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It and Socialentrepreneurship

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Information Technology in Social Entrepreneurship: The Role and the Reality
Diana Burley
The George Washington University dburley@gwu.edu Abstract
Social entrepreneurship is increasingly seen as a critical component of the global conversation on volunteerism and civic engagement. The purpose of this article is to lay the groundwork for a larger conversation on the role of information technology in social entrepreneurship by summarizing the discussions among participants of a recent conference on the subject. Social networking and information sharing were identified as the most critical roles of IT in support of social entrepreneurship. However, in order to realize the full potential of these roles, conference participants suggested that four key challenges must be addressed: access, capacity, commonality, and the scholar-practitioner link. Keywords: information technology, social entrepreneurship
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank the organizers, participants, and volunteers of the 2009
Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship Conference for their wisdom, insight and interest.
Introduction
Interest in social entrepreneurship, the application of business models to social issues, has risen to the forefront of the global conversation on volunteerism and civic engagement.
Social entrepreneurship combines the passion of a social cause with business principles, and is distinguished from other forms of entrepreneurship by its pursuit of mission related impact [1]. The last two decades have seen extraordinary growth in social entrepreneurship and increased attention from a variety of sectors [3, 5]. Media accounts of social entrepreneurial efforts are plentiful. See, for example, recent stories on Ashoka
(http://www.ashoka.org), the global social entrepreneurial association, and micro-finance providers Kiva Loans (http://www.kiva.org) and Grameen Bank (http://www.grameeninfo.org/). Even the Obama administration has embraced the movement by establishing a social innovation fund to support these entrepreneurial efforts (see http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/service/). It was against this backdrop that approximately 200 people gathered on May 4th 2009 at
The George Washington University to engage in a conversation about the role of technology in social entrepreneurship. The conference, Accelerating Social
Entrepreneurship: How Technology is Knocking Down Doors and Fueling Social
Innovation (ASE), was organized by The Phoenix Project and The Corporation for
National and Community Service, and co-convened by a host of academic and non-profit organizations. Conference participants included representatives from government and industry, members of the non-profit community, academicians, and social entrepreneurs.
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(See http://www.aseconference.org/ for additional conference information.) Through a combination of invited speakers, breakout sessions, and informal discussions; participants engaged in a daylong conversation on the role of technology in creating social change and transforming communities.
The purpose of this article is to lay the groundwork for a larger conversation on the role of information technology in social entrepreneurship.

Social Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is distinguished from other forms of entrepreneurship by its value proposition. Social entrepreneurships are designed to make societal change [2] and social entrepreneurs simultaneously work to address a specific instance of a social problem and to enable transformational change within the system. Social entrepreneurs “recognize when a part of society is stuck and … provide new ways to get it unstuck. [4]”
Accordingly, social entrepreneurship is inclusive of three basic components [3]:
A stable, but inherently unjust equilibrium that marginalizes, excludes, or causes the suffering of a segment of the population that is unable to transform the situation on their own.
An opportunity, through the development of a social value proposition that brings to bear inspiration, creativity, direct action, and the courage to challenge the unjust equilibrium.
The development of a newly forged stable equilibrium that releases trapped potential or alleviates the suffering of the targeted group.

Role of IT
Clearly IT has many roles to play in the transition toward a new equilibrium. The question addressed here is how do those involved in the movement prioritize those roles?
In response to the conference theme, the role of IT in creating social change and transforming communities, ASE participants overwhelming suggested that the number one role for IT is social networking. Second on their list – facilitating the flow of information. Interestingly and perhaps ironically given the premise of social entrepreneurship, only the IT providers in attendance mentioned the importance of business applications that support daily operations. Rather, most conference participants envisioned a loftier role for IT, and the themes, social networking and information sharing, were echoed by presenters and attendees throughout the day and in follow-up questionnaires collected at the end of the event.
Social Networking
Connecting. Bridging. Linking. Matching. These words were repeated again and as participants indicated a strong desire to use the social networking capabilities of IT to build connections across sectors and geographic boundaries. IT is seen as a “low risk way of linking of individuals with common interests” and these connections can aid in the identification of potential collaborators – resource providers (e.g. funding agencies), consumers, and partners. Consistent with the idea of making a significant social impact,
IT-enabled social networking was viewed as critical to the success of replication efforts.
Participants saw IT as providing a mechanism for strengthening existing relationships,

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leveraging them to connect with 2nd and 3rd order relations (i.e. ‘a friend of a friend’), and facilitating the formation of groups to explore topics of mutual interest.
Information Sharing
Access to information is vital to the transition toward a new equilibrium. To quote, former Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, “Information is liberating.”
It is no surprise then, that conference participants placed information sharing among the top roles for IT in social entrepreneurship. Information sharing, they suggested, is key to building and sustaining relationships. Faster access to more information, along with the ability to efficiently communicate that information to constituents, may lead to the opportunity for faster social change – at least according to some participants. Others suggested that the graphical representation of information may facilitate social change.
Visual imagery, whether through pictures, maps, or other data visualization tools, may help to overcome language, cultural, and educational barriers to the sharing and assimilation of information.
Challenges to Realizing the Role
It is difficult to argue with the potential impact of social networking and information sharing. Realizing the full potential of these roles, however, is not without challenges and conference participants raised several issues that must be addressed.
Access
Despite the significant progress society has made in addressing the digital divide, it remains a pervasive issue; particularly in the disenfranchised communities being served by social entrepreneurships. As a result, any discussion of the role of IT in social entrepreneurship must address disparities in access. These disparities come in the form of access to resources, technology, training and education.
Even when access exists, social entrepreneurs often face a digital mismatch. A digital mismatch occurs when the technology resources available do not match the technology needs required to accomplish a particular goal. Yes, the organization has computers but no-one on staff knows how to use them to engage in an online discussion. Yes, the neighborhood has a computer training center, but it is not open when members of the community are able to use it. This digital mismatch results in the false impression that technology needs have been met and that the access gap has been narrowed.
Capacity
In order to realize the potential of IT for social networking and information sharing, social entrepreneurships must develop the capacity to exploit its use. Capacity building efforts often start with the search for resources. Certainly financial resources are important. These resources enable the purchase and maintenance of the IT infrastructure.
However, capacity building activities also must include education and training – as these activities are critical components of any capacity building efforts.
Commonality
Grassroots movements are diffuse by necessity. Needs, and the solutions that address them, differ across regions. Cultures vary and communities often have ‘their own way’ of working. While this variability allows social entrepreneurs to effectively address local needs, it also hinders their ability to effect system-wide change. Information sharing is

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more effective when parties have a common understanding and use a common language.
IT may facilitate the linking of individuals across geographic boundaries, but it does not ensure that they will be able to communicate. The old adage, ‘you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink,’ seems particularly appropriate here. IT can electronically link individuals in disparate places, but it cannot make them enter into a relationship. Relationships require some common interest and lack of commonality will prevent a relationship from forming.
The Scholar-Practitioner Link
Conference participants recognized that social entrepreneurship scholars and practitioners can and must learn from each other in order to realize the full potential of IT. Theoretical developments need to be informed by the realities of the field, and practical innovations should be incorporated into theoretical advancements. Reaching the full potential of IT in social entrepreneurship will require timely and purposeful communication between scholars and practitioners.
Conclusion
The Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship conference highlighted the role of IT in social entrepreneurship. Interestingly, although the idea of social entrepreneurship is to apply business principles to the achievement of a social mission, conference participants were not interested in having this type of discussion. Rather, they focused on bigger ideas – the facilitation of social networking and information sharing. Given that social entrepreneurs tend to focus on big ideas [2], it is perhaps not surprising that the conversation about the role of IT would follow suit.
However, the focus on higher order uses of IT without some attention to the more mundane (e.g. basic office operations), might not present an accurate picture of the needs in the field. For instance, it may lead to a digital mismatch where resource providers assume a basic level of IT capacity and offer services outside of the reach of many social entrepreneurs. In order to prevent this situation, stakeholders across sectors must continue to engage in an open dialogue about the role and the reality of IT in social entrepreneurship. The potential for IT to be a catalyst for social innovation is apparent.
How this potential manifests itself will depend on the ability of social entrepreneurs to harness and exploit that potential.
References
[1] Dees, J. G. ‘The Meaning of “Social Entrepreneurship”’ October, 1998. http://www.caseatduke.org/documents/dees_sedef.pdf [2] Light, P. ‘Social Entrepreneurship Revisited: Not just anyone, anywhere, in any organization can make breakthrough change.’ Stanford Social Innovation Review,
Summer, 2009.
[3] Martin, R. L. and S. Osberg. ‘Social entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition.’
Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring, 2007.
[4] Oregon Public Broadcasting. ‘What is social entrepreneurship?’ 2005. http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/whatis/ [5] Trelstad, B. ‘Simple Measures for Social Enterprise.’ Innovations. Summer, 2008.

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