As more voluntary organisations gear up for e-business, some have
IT take-up stifled by a lack of funding
A survey has revealed that organisations in the voluntary
sector, like their counterparts in the public and private sectors,
are gearing up for e-business, despite a lack of funding, writes
Martin Couzins.
QUAYtech Training, the non-profit IT skills division of EWTC, an
Edinburgh-based, former women's training centre, surveyed 340
voluntary organisations to gauge the take-up of e-business within
the sector. The survey found that 98% of voluntary organisations
now have a computer, and 90% have access to the Internet, of which
44% use the Web on a regular basis.
The Internet is mainly accessed for research purposes and to
gain information on similar organisations, and 24% of Internet
users have an appointed member of staff to carry out searches.
Some 57% of organisations surveyed cited cost as a reason for
not making the most of the Internet, while 26% blamed other areas
such as lack of human resources and expertise. However, 92% said
they would use the Internet more if access was free of charge.
Web sites have been set up by 42% of respondents, and 92% have a
registered Internet domain name. Free Internet service providers
are used by 49% of organisations.
E-mail is used by 84% of voluntary bodies, and 57% use it on a
regular basis. Fifty-four per cent of organisations that use e-mail
have more than one e-mail address, and 18% of users have a
different e-mail provider to their Internet service provider.
However, policies covering Internet and e-mail usage are thin on
the ground, only 30% of respondents incorporate security features
and 20% have an e-mail policy for users.
Despite the high number of organisations using PCs, the findings
reveal that, once in place, the use of IT still leaves a lot to be
desired. Only 10% of Internet-enabled organisations use online
banking services, for example. Of those organisations that have Web
sites, only 32% offer services online to clients, with just 16%
offering online services to beneficiaries.
Paper-based offices still dominate the voluntary sector. Some
78% of organisations reported using mostly paper-based systems, but
57% of respondents with an internal e-mail system said they use it
more than paper-based communication systems.
The good news is that 81% of respondents are of the opinion that
the advancements in IT will have an impact on their
organisation.
Government support received a massive thumbs-down from voluntary
organisations. Only 2% believe that enough is being done by the
Scottish Parliament to provide the voluntary sector, charities and
community projects with IT resources to enable them to use the
Internet and e-mail to their full potential.
Assessing the survey results, Heather Smith, project
co-ordinator for QUAYtech IT Skills project, says, "Although, there
are some areas that, at first glance, look encouraging, the
organisations that took part in the study had all been able to take
up the training offered [by QUAYtech] at some time. There are other
organisations that have so little funding that they have not been
able to tap into information technology, let alone the training
offered."
For further information on the QUAYtech IT survey e-mail
heather.smith@ewtc.co.uk