Eje temático A. Política y cambio social:
A-6. Las TIC y la cooperación al desarrollo: después de la Cumbre Mundial para la Sociedad de la Información:
Tecnologias de la Información y Comunicación y el Tercer Sector.
Contribución de las TIC al desarrollo de las organizaciones no lucrativas.
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Ya se puede realizar el pago de la cuota opcional que permite recibir los certificados y las actas del congreso.
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¿Quién puede proponer un grupo de trabajo?
Cualquier grupo de 2/5 personas, preferentemente con alta frecuencia de conectividad, para una mejor coordinación general. También pueden presentar una candidatura de grupo de trabajo entidades, grupos de investigación ya formados, etc., pero, en cualquier caso, la responsabilidad de la coordinación recaerá en las 2/5 personas indicadas. Serán especialmente bien recibidas las propuestas de Grupos de Trabajo de equipos de coordinación del I o II Congreso online del OCS.
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Palabras clave:estudios ciencia-tecnología-sociedadONGs brecha digital desigualdad/exclusión apropiación social de la tecnología |
Autor(-a/s):Valtencir Maldonado Mendes |
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Abstract:Este artículo trata la relación entre las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) y las Entidades Sin Ánimo de Lucro (ESAL), analizando el concepto del denominado «tercer sector». A través de la constatación de correlaciones entre el nivel de uso de las TIC y el tipo de acciones, trabajos y resultados obtenidos en las organizaciones y entidades del tercer sector, se pueden obtener conclusiones sobre la interacción existente entre estos dos agentes. Este artículo hace una aproximación al tema basada en estudios actuales que, luego, será contrastada con los datos obtenidos en un estudio de campo, en una muestra de población del tercer sector del Estado español, analizando en profundidad la relación entre las ESAL y las TIC. |
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Texto de la comunicación:
Introduction ICT penetration and more specifically the Internet, is rapidly transforming the possibility of access to information, changing both our way of communicating, and the job routines of different social sectors. Naturally, NOs have not remained unaffected by this paradigmatic change. Economic theories intended to explain the existence of nonprofit organizations and their functions in society revolve tightly around the role of information. If these theories are correct, it stands to reason that the current revolution in ICT will influence the character and role of nonprofit organizations in the future (Te'eni & Young, 2003). Contrary to what might be thought, the popular use of some Internet services such as conferences (IRC, chats) and electronic mail, first took place in developing countries NOs, and then, in NOs in developed countries. The organizations in poor countries were the very ones that obtained more advantages by utilizing low cost resources to communicate. Analyzing the development of the world-wide macro-network of the third sector, it is possible to identify several initiatives established not only to enhance internal operations but also to communicate and develop an entities' local and global action plans. Concepts such as Community Networks, Ciberfundraising, and Ciberactivism among others, were born from the poliedric and global scenario favored by ICT. Among the several cases that can be cited as evidence are the successful recruitment and social movement campaigns run by Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Intermón-Oxfam, Medecins sans Frontiers, Friends of the Earth, and others. For these Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) which work in the fields of development cooperation and human rights, the Internet represents a new way of performing their activities since it revolutionizes documentation routines, social participation and implication, and internal and external communication. But nowadays the Internet is not simply one more way for communicating messages to current –or potential– donors, volunteers, friends or collaborators. Internet is a different medium which permits all the previously listed actions but which also has the power to transform the action programs and the internal operations of the NOs. The global character, capillary nature, 24-hours availability, flexibility, low cost, and most importantly, the interactivity of the Internet, means it has the potential to transform the so called third sector, as can be seen in studies conducted in the United Kingdom (Burt & Taylor, 2003), Spain (Oneworld Spain, 2002), Central America (Camacho, 2001) and elsewhere. The question is: to what degree are third sector organizations fully embracing the full potential of the Internet or to what degree are they simply anchored to a paradigm entrenched the past? In Mc Luhan's words: "we are behaving as if we were looking at the future through a mirror. We refuse to look at it face to face. Because of inertia or strictness we resist jumping into the new scenario" (Mac Luhan Institute, 2003). After analyzing documented experiences of the relationship between ICTs and third sector, it is possible to represent some of the behaviors observed in a two axis model (Table 1). As an example, the model is also applied to the second and first sectors, that is, the enterprise world and the governmental world. Third sector concept Definitions In 1973, Erzioni created one of the first definitions for the term "third sector" (as cited in Hodgkinson & Painter, 2003). This definition gathered all private nonprofit organizations and institutions together, emphasizing that they could be seen as an alternative to the Enterprise (second sector) and the State (first sector) as a provider of goods and services. From the 70's, a progressive implementation of this mixed system of "welfare" took place. The State was seen as sharing its role as a provider of welfare with a new agent emerging between the State and Enterprises: the third sector, the civil society organizations (CSOs). After it's introduction by Erzioni, the term "third sector" was gradually adopted by various authors. Of particular note is the 1975 report Giving America by the "Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs in the United States", which made reference to a "third sector" formed by non-governmental and nonprofit organizations and associations. Since the 70s, this terminology has been adopted worldwide. In the case of the United Kingdom and the United States the terms "nonprofit", "voluntary" or "third sector" were used to describe the group of institutions and activities that were non-governmental or nonprofit. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU), in the document The Commission and Non-Governmental Organizations: Building a Stronger Partnership, uses the expression "NGO". According to Martens (2002), the term nongovernmental organization (NGO) is: a post-World War II expression which was initially coined by the United Nations (UN). When the UN Charter was adopted in 1945, it was stipulated in Article 71 that NGOs could be accredited to the UN for consulting purposes. Thus, scholars first mainly applied the term NGOs only when referring to those societal actors. (p.271). The European Union uses this term in a general way to describe a wide range of organizations that share the following characteristics (European Union, 2000):
According to Fernandes (1994), of the two terms "third sector" and "NGO" the term most commonly used is "third sector", in the sense in which it represents a set of initiatives coming from society and oriented to the development of public goods such as awareness of human rights, responsible citizenship, etc. These originated in countries with strong democratic traditions in which citizens were searching for new ways of participating. The initiatives grew in the eighties and nineties as a result —in part— of the so called crisis in the Welfare State. For practical purposes, this article will group the various definitions reviewed together under the term "third sector", even though the words or acronyms NOs, NGOs, CSOs, etc., will still be used, since, as Bruhn (2001) states, it is a very complex concept in which actors, definitions, tasks, beneficiaries and relations with the public and the private vary according to different schools and authors. Third sector rising The twentieth century in the Western hemisphere has been marked by a strong nation-state. During this period, with hard work, society has been able to safeguard the emancipation and initiatives achieved in previous centuries. Education, health, social assistance, culture and other areas came to form part of the powerful public sector. This tendency began to change slowly in the last quarter of the past century due to two phenomena: the questioning not so much of the Welfare state itself, but rather of a worrying growth of its functions; and the increase of individualism. Two phenomena which can be seen as symptoms linked to the socio-cultural changes in advanced societies (Castiñeira & Vidal, 2002). Sáez (1999) argues that the current role of NGOs —for example, their objectives and procedures— should be evaluated through the radical and extremely compromising question: What should be the relationship between the State and civil society? According to Sáez, "NGOs have the same capacity of mobilization or disruption, the same structure, the same tone of voice as a political party; [they are] shamelessly attempting to assault small, but juicy, power parcels through non democratic ways". Are we facing a crisis in our model of democracy? According to Sáez, the birth of so many NGOs represents an attempt to "privatize" some State functions. This opens up an interesting debate about the need for a balance between the three sectors: state, private and third sector as a way to strengthen democracy itself. In this sense, for Rodríguez (2001), the third sector is not something which has come about as a reaction to the State (First Sector) or as a reaction to the market (Second Sector), but rather against the combination of state and market. The challenge resides in knowing how to accurately characterize the relationships between the three sectors and understand their potential in order to favor a higher level of human social development. The birth of the third sector could also be a response in part to the asymmetric and unequal dialogue between non-connected individuals, or small families, and a giant and powerful State, flanked by huge communication media monopolies. The sociologist Salvador Giner and professor José Luis López Aranguren identified in 1982 the importance of the intermediate social organizations as more reliable mediators than solitary individuals or families in a real democracy (Soberón, 1997). Today citizens are working together in these intermediate social organizations to build a new society, to organize it and to direct it toward what they consider important. In other words, according to L. Soberón (personal communication, April 18, 2005), a person alone sometimes may seem helpless, incapable of many things, but in reality not be so. Their resources as an individual are very limited when it comes to undertaking important ventures, whereas a community, a group or social body has more capacity to face challenges and transform society from inside. The continuing growth of new social movements, in many cases grouped together in nonprofit organizations, has generated new economic categories. According to Rodríguez (2001), the current emphasis on consumption, encouraged by all kinds of media, has the potential to provoke alternative civilizing leisure pursuits, publicly administered by the third sector. Work, and especially that which pays our salary, no longer needs to be the axis of our lives nowadays. A socially supportive development of the welfare society should provide room for activities/initiatives and jobs/employment which should then be considered from other more social, ecological, and civilizing economical categories. It is widely accepted that the third sector represents a new social vector in some countries, given the number of institutions formed and the economical resources mobilized, two factors which affect the number of jobs created. In the case of Spain, according to Moreno (2003), the growth experienced by programs of cooperation has been considerable: the number of associations has increased by 65% between 1990 and 1992 and the number of foundations by 30%, from 1,500 to more than 5,000 today. In addition, the contribution from this sector to Spanish GDP is growing. In 1999 the GDP contributed by about 250,000 nonprofit institutions was 7%. In this context, of expansion and progressive self-definition, of technological change and of new socio-economic models reflecting changing attitudes to work and free-time activities, there are new and exciting opportunities for the third sector. (Bresser-Pereira & Cunill, 1998). The influence of ICTs on third sector development Third sector facing ICTs rising According to Castells (2001), the Internet is more than technology: It is the organizing form that distributes power of information, knowledge development and the capacity to connect to the network within any human field of activity (…) Thus, to allege, as it is usually done, that it is necessary to begin with "the real problems of the Third World", that is, health, education, water supply, electricity, and other needs, before taking into consideration the development of Internet, reveals a deep ignorance of the issues that really matter nowadays. (p. 298). The third sector is not beyond the development of new technologies, even those nonprofit organizations in extremely poor areas of the planet, where the use of advanced technology could be seen as luxury by particular social agents. During the G-8 Summit, which took place in 2000, some people made fun of the international actions to channel technology to the needs of the poor. "We cannot eat computers. People are dying", claimed a leader of a group that advocated debt relief, as reported in the Human Development Report of UNDP-United Nations Development Programme (2001). While new technologies can potentially provoke or bring into relief inequality, Castells argues that the real dilemma is that a large part of the information and knowledge needed to achieve "development" is already on the web, but only available to those who have access. (Castells, 1999). Given the importance of the resources available on the net, it is clear that the institutions and entities that compose the third sector should try to make full use of the technology available in order to get the most out of all their resources to enhance common well-being (García, 2002). For example, a study of third sector organizations in the UK (Burt & Taylor, 2003) found them using communication and information technologies to reconfigure the flow of key information, to support campaigns and to improve efficiency. Naturally, a lot of questions remain. Not least, as one New York study asks, "How have information technologies changed the nature and distribution of work and workplace relationships in voluntary sector organizations?" (Saidel & Cour, 2003). In the 2001 report on Human Development in the UNDP, a Technology Achievement Index (TAI) was created to evaluate the relationship between technology and human development. The report concluded that ICTs can make important contributions to the reduction of poverty worldwide. Having examined the results of various pilot schemes, the report concludes that ICTs "could have important effects on development, since they could help to overcome the barriers of social, economic and geographical isolation; and increase access to information and education, etc." Naturally, even though UNDP treats ICTs as just one more available tool rather than fully examine their potential role, this is without doubt a positive step forward in attempts to bring this subject onto the agenda of governments worldwide. In this sense, as early as 1999, the UNESCO World Conference on Science convened to answer the question of how science can help the poorest nations in the world. Innovation has already brought about a good part of the social progress achieved in developed countries, and it is innovation which could find in the third sector a channel through which to transfer knowledge to less developed regions of the planet. If third sector institutions are to fulfill this role, then information technologies are essential. As it has been said, the popularization of some Internet services, such as conferences and electronic mail, first took place in nonprofit organizations in the south. As "The Economist" stated in a special report on ICTs, the end of the concept "long distance" will be of most benefit to those who are further away. According to Bissio (2000) NGOs in the south were asking those in the north to use electronic mail instead of fax to communicate with them, since the first was much cheaper than the fax, given the cost of thermal paper. This is a significant fact since, as Kempner & Loureiro (2002), "the application of global solutions on local context is inappropriate when these are formulated ignoring culture and local reality". The following are examples of how ICTs are being used in the third sector at the present time. Internet in institutions Even though third sector organizations do not know a great deal about network technologies, as demonstrated by Burt & Taylor's (2002) case study in the UK, they show a growing interest in finding out about and starting to use the technology. One of the few published studies on information technology in Spanish nonprofit organizations came to a similar conclusion (OneWorld Spain, 2002): 96% of Spanish NGOs have connection to the Internet and 85% of them have their own web site. Internally, 91% of members of the institution (volunteers and paid personnel) have access to computers. A relationship between the age of the web site and its update frequency was found: the organizations with a longer presence on the Internet were those that were most concerned about renewing their content. Those that had a web presence for more than three years dedicate an average of 9 hours a week on maintenance compared to the 5 hours a week invested by those with a web presence of less than three years. 44 per cent of the NGOs with long-term presence renew their content at least once each seven days, while only 25 percent on of the short-term presence NGOs do so. These results support the idea that those NGOs which are more used to the web give more importance to web maintenance and to its role in the institution's communication strategy (p. 25). The two largest voluntary organizations in the UK, Friends of the Earth and The Samaritans, are using advanced network technologies to redirect information flow, internal relationships and improve efficient use of resources (Burt & Taylor, 2002). However, the authors point out that the network technologies would have permitted greater change than was actually observed. They suggest that organizational change requires a paradigm shift within the organization: that the change to organizational values will be slow and probably not achieved in the short or medium term. In the context of less developed regions, like Central America, the Internet began to be used more intensively in about 1996 (Camacho, 2001), and yet there has been no research into its impact and implications in these countries. The Fundación Acceso has decided, therefore, to study the impact of the Internet in Central America. The research project is intended to run for 24 months and is supported by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada. According to Camacho (2001) "the principal concern in analyzing the Internet in our region arises with the recognition that the hegemony of developed countries is reflected in the workings and dynamics of the Internet (…)". Many questions are raised: What must countries of the South do in order to compete with developed countries in the creation of technological tools? How can they learn to make the Internet and the virtual world their own? Working jointly with Central American organizations (181 NGOs from six countries) Fundación Acceso intends to discover methods, tools and instruments for assessing impact, to record the history of Internet use, to map underlying feelings and perceptions of the Internet. So far they have stated that, "the digital gap does not exist in itself, but is the result of other social gaps, and if we do not move to make correct use of technology, those gaps will continue to grow" (p. 2). Coordination networks Citizenship Networks constitute an innovation, a result of the use of ICTs. GlobalCN, an international coalition, gathers together citizenship networks, organizations and individuals. From this initiative, the Platform of Citizenship Networks was created as a space for members of these networks to come together and work together: the organizations, institutions and individuals working with ICTs to achieve citizenship goals, or to promote and defend rights and freedom. In this process of creating the big world wide web for the third sector, one of the larger nonprofit organizations, a pioneer on the exploitation of ICTs, is the Association for Communication Progress – APC. This civic organization's international network offers support to groups and individuals that work for peace, human rights, development and protection of the environment, through the strategic use of information and communication technologies, including the Internet. At the end of 2001, APC had twenty-seven institution members from twenty-four countries of the five continents (In Spain, Pangea Solidarity Internet). Information networks easily connect to training facilities on the net. In OneWorld Network, ICTs are opening a new range of advantages when it comes to what it means to work in partnership, to be a volunteer, or to cooperating on various causes. To this end, several technological resources centers have been created for nonprofit organizations and for people interested in the use of new technologies —especially the Internet— for social justice and sustainable development goals. This network —like the smaller scale Pangea Solidarity Internet in Spain— offers an on-line resources center with information on the Internet and ideas for volunteers training and institutional management. One of their most striking findings is the ItrainOnline Initiative that aims to assist civil society organizations (CSOs) and other development actors in developing countries to confront the challenges posed by new ICTs. In seeking to overcome skills gaps in development, it tries to connect people and know-how with the needs of ICT learners and trainers. Their partners are: Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Bellanet International Secretariat, FAO, International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD); International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP), OneWorld Network and UNESCO. The worldwide web, to the extent that it eases and increases communication between people, has become an indispensable resource for third sector organizations to broadcast and interest people in their activities. The UNITeS (United Nations Information Technology Service) is a global voluntary initiative which helps people in various countries by helping them make the most of the digital revolution in their countries. It has published Mark Gannon's paper Utilizing Technology for Volunteers – Involving Organizations (Gannon, 2001), which looks at the different ways TIC can help organizations improve their efficiency and management, increase and diversify their volunteer base, and at the same time, provide new opportunities for new volunteers. In another UNITeS publication, Narrowing the digital divide notes on a global netcorps, Ian Smillie (2004) proposes global international volunteer strategies to bring about a reduction in the difference which exists between developed countries with telecomunications access and developing countries in which a lack of infrastructure and relatively high cost of equipment makes entry to the Global Information Society difficult. Financial solidarity network Ciberfundraising, fund raising through Internet is, by itself, a clear indicator of the transformation that ICTs may bring about in the third sector, "although it is not yet a reality for most NGOs" – Letter of Peace Foundation, E. Caballé (personal communication, April 29, 2005). ICTs, which have been applied in a systematic way during the last 30 years in the financial sector, present advantages which can improve financing and resource-raising in the third sector. Successful social mobilization campaigns and membership drives from Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Intermón-Oxfam and Medecins sans Frontiers, show the possibilities of the Internet. Unlike in earlier years, the Internet is now more than just a communication media to broadcast messages to current or potential donors. The Internet is all this and more. It offers unique characteristics: it is global, capillary in nature, available 24 hours a day, flexible, low cost and, most importantly, interactive. In the inaugural lecture of the 2002-2003 academic year at the Open University of Catalonia, the president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Mr. Suárez del Toro, described from his experience and from the values of his institution, the role of technology as a tool for progress which permits dignity (freedom and well being) for people. He argued for the humanitarian application of such innovative resources and the widespread distribution of knowledge that these new technologies allow. On this framework, Suárez (2002) presented the example of Helping to Help Foundation [Fundació AjudantAjudar]: «Others are networked in a very original fashion, like the Helping to Help Foundation which attempts to put potential donors in online contact with potential receivers. The receivers of any form of assistance in turn become donors as they agree to give 10% of the aid received to another group or project they consider may need it. In this way, the creation of networks of economic solidarity is favoured». Commitment and participation networks in the open access age Another indication of the way that the net could also favor third sector activities is its contribution to democracy. This is happening on a daily basis in many different ways. Without a doubt the most important is the way that the net permits widespread citizen participation across an enormous variety of topics and fields. Thanks to its social dimension, the net doesn't just open one door, but rather multiple doors. A good example is that of the anti-war demonstrations against the United States invasion of Irak. On 15 February 2003 the streets of capitals worldwide resonated to the sound of millions of feet marching. But the action of ciber-activists was as noticeable –or even more noticeable– and the wires of the web vibrated to the sound of an unprecedented protest. For example, in Spain the site antelaguerraactua.org ("act against the war") registered almost 100,000 electronic mails in 6 days. This activity was repeated all over the world on sites such as notinourname.net or truemajority.com. The 15th of February can be seen as a milestone in the history of social movements given that it demonstrated the potential for social organization offered by the Internet. Amnesty International's campaign to repeal the death sentence placed on Amina Lawal is of similar importance. On September 23, 2003, the Islamic Court in Kasina, in the north of Nigeria, repealed the death penalty that had hung over Amina since March 2002, when she had been accused of committing the "crime" of adultery. More than 9 million people signed a petition against her being stoned to death. Most of them did so via the Internet. In a similar vein, there has been a growth in awareness and use of "free" software and an associated exchange of ideas and experiences, practices which will impact on ICT use in developing countries. Until only a few years ago, it was not normal to speak of free software outside of specific technical areas. But with the creation and growth in popularity of Linux and similar programs (see Table 1), this has changed. So much so that Linux has come to stand for all that is "free" in the Internet, becoming an icon of the "open knowledge movement" on the Internet and putting into motion a practice that has been widely extended in other diverse fields. "We are living in the open access age. The open software isn't a marginal phenomenon of radical movements. The open software is the base of Internet" (M. Castells, personal communication, March 17, 2005). An example deserving special attention, as it shows just how far the concept of "free software" has extended, is that of RIIAL, the Latin American Church Information Network. This network has developed a specialized program for parishes and dioceses information management called Office Eclesial that offers an accessible and efficient solution for administrative management and is fully free and available to all interested users. It is also necessary to consider the role universities play in the third sector (Maldonado, 2002). This can be seen, according to García (2002), from two points of view. The university can be seen as a bridge between civil society and the State or as part of the third sector itself, making up for the scientific deficit which sometimes characterizes NGO activity. The first Latin American and Caribbean Free Software Use and Development Conference, held August 11-13 2003, found that the development of open source and free programs has made universities direct human resources education to research and use of these tools. The conference concluded that more research is necessary to identify the scope reached with them in all fields of society and their potential, as an alternative so the State and the enterprises can choose. One of most significant organizations in this field is the Free Software Foundation (FSF), a NGO based in Boston, USA. They rely on support from individuals to carry out their mission to preserve, protect and promote the freedom to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer software, and to defend the rights of all Free Software users. FSF remains the primary sponsor of the GNU Project. Third sector virtual space ICTs have had a clear impact on all three sectors – offering existing organizations new ways of doing traditional tasks as well as new opportunities for innovative activities. In addition, the development of ICTs has directly led to the creation of new entities, who in turn have used ICTs to undertake conventional as well as innovative activities. These developments are outlined in the following three tables – one for each sector. In each 2x2 table one axis classifies an organization as either conventional or new ICT-based and the other axis classifies their activities as either conventional or new ICT-based. Looking at the interaction in each sector, it is clear that ICTs have led to the development of what can be termed a "new virtual space" in each sector. The implications of this are considered in the conclusion. Conclusion The classification of nonprofit organizations as "third sector" is surprising as historically the so-called third sector developed first. The classification was based on economic grounds and no longer reflects the true importance of the third sector today. ICTs have the potential to address this imbalance and, as "communicative vessels", are able to enhance understanding and improve the relationship between the three sectors. The first sector shows an increasing degree of interest in working with the third sector. Local and national governments are trying out different ways of providing funds and encouraging citizen participation. While some third sector organizations may want to avoid certain types of aid, e.g. Amnesty International does not accept governmental aid, in general cooperation is growing. In the private sector, the notion of "Social Responsibility" is gaining ground. This is the recognition by management that a company not only has a financial balance sheet, but a social one too. This concept is being applied in the European Union as Social Responsibility and in Brazil as "Social Balance" (Maldonado et al, 2005). At the same time consumer awareness of the social dimension of their purchases is growing. A good example of the kind of inter-sector activity taking place today is the ISOC – Internet Society (see table 3). ISOC is a professional membership society with more than 100 organizations in over 180 countries. It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and the organization home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force and the Internet Architecture Board. So, ISOC is at the same time a new public governmental organization and a non governmental organization, one created thanks to new ICTs. Without falling into "technological determinism", which attributes primacy in social transformation to technology, we can observe that, during the past few years, ICTs have brought about a change in all three social sectors, in particular immediately after the social explosion caused by widespread adoption of the internet which according to Castells (2001), took place in 1995. As we can see on the charts below (Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3), we are living through a transformation in the three social sectors, in both the organizations themselves as well as in their respective fields of action. Dyson (1998) explains that in the case of the third sector: As these and similar organizations get involved in the digital world, they will function in their own virtual space which will be extended worldwide. My opinion is that nonprofit communities, and especially the smaller ones, will have a greater impact in our lives than their equivalents in the real world will. (p. 135). A recent review of literature (Burt & Taylor, 2003; Saidel & Cour, 2003) concluded that there is a need for further research into the use and impact of ICTs in the third sector. This analysis agrees that more research is needed and raises the following specific questions: In an organizational context, does the previous knowledge and attitudes of internal personnel influence how third sector organizations face the change that the adoption of new ICTs demands? Do ICTs quantitatively and qualitatively affect internal and external communication mechanisms in NOs? Can the impact of better or worst use of ICTs be observed in the performance of NOs, in their internal operations and/or their external communication processes and, in short, in the accomplishment of their social mission? How can ICTs best work as communicating vessels to allow interaction between the public, private and nonprofit sectors? BIBLIOGRAFÍA
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