IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017 - 70

FIGURE 7. Backpack.

FIGURE 8. Step into the shoes.

The IT for Social Impact Project Vignettes presented above have in common the use of terms and
desired outcomes of technology for good. Microsoft
highlights positive celebration of people and organizations, making a difference, and empowerment. It
brings together aspects of local and global approaches for doing good in communities. The call to action is
also positioned at the audience, "What if you could
help?" This offer to participate is taken up by Vodafone to its customers through its DreamLab App,
whereby on the campaign's website, an introductory
video (https://youtu.be/0fRKlAmnreU) suggests that
users on the telco's network "... put them [mobile
phones and tablets] to good use". The power of collective action is emphasized in the Incipe and Be Collective vignettes. Phrases such as "we can work towards
social good," "ideas for a better world," and ever so
gently, bending Gandhi's directive towards the users
of the online platform to "be the change that they wish
to see in the world." Be Collectives self-description of
being "a social network for good" perhaps implies that
not all social networks are as altruistic. Once again,

the call to action of technology for good is inclusive:
businesses, community groups, schools, charities,
government... working towards an outcome envisaged
by Be Collective as "making things better for everyone." While the final two vignettes may focus on academic programs and are positioned intentionally to
draw the reader back to the Swinburne University IT
for Social Impact Projects, they also clearly exhibit
aspects of collaboration, cross-disciplinary teams, and
a desire to address compelling problems facing
humanity, i.e., searching out solutions that support
communities in need. In summary, these vignettes
support Hull & Berry's [22] claim of "extensive activity
and enthusiasm for the notion of developing and
applying technology for social good, with much of the
activity located squarely within or on the margins of
social entrepreneurship" [22, p. 3].
Returning to the Swinburne IT for Social Impact unit,
project students enrolling in the unit tend to be able to
discern the structure of the unit in regards to projectbased assessment and client engagement, but are not
as certain in clearly conceptualizing the term "social
impact." Students generally believe that the IT for social
impact project they work on during semester will assist
individuals or communities, and students have a sense
of altruism. This is a motivating factor in the student's
enrolment into the unit.
What is IT for Social Impact? The 'Backpack' Analogy.
In attempting to transfer the conceptualization of IT
for social impact across to students taking the SUT unit
of study, an analogy has been useful. Analogies are particularly helpful when used to help someone understand
the importance of a message involving a body of knowledge or domain they are unfamiliar with [28]. The 'What
is IT for social impact?' analogy is as follows:
Imagine you have a backpack. Gather up your firstworld technology devices, your smartphones, tablets, laptops, power packs, and place them into the backpack.
This shouldn't take long. (Figure 7.)
These devices in the backpack have multiple points
of access to networks auto-configured to seamlessly
keep you connected as you move around your house,
your city, or travel the globe. You have the ability
through these devices to record text, images, and
sound and store this data for ubiquitous retrieval
through the "cloud." Having accumulated your Big data
through push-pull, you also possess the skills to filter
and manipulate this data as a digital native.
Now, step into the shoes of an individual who is less
advantaged, less fortunate than you. Empathetically
immerse yourself into a community of those who are
less advantaged and less fortunate, and as you begin to
walk in their shoes become mindful of the ways in
which barriers to social inclusion emerge.

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

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DECEMBER 2017

https://www.youtu.be/0fRKlAmnreU

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2017