'New technologies, and especially participation in the network, give a chance to develop models of participation in democracy,' said Michał Boni, Minister of Administration and Digitalization in his speech opening a two-day ‘Sector 3.0’ conference held under the slogan 'Innovate now!'
The U.S. Ambassador to Poland Stephen D. Mull emphasized in his speech on supporting society with innovations and technologies that ‘As a result of information and communication revolution, the societies became more dynamic and ready to act.’ He also announced the organization of the TechCamp (www.techcampglobal.org), which is the U.S. Department of State’s international initiative aimed at strengthening the digital potential of non-governmental organizations. It will be held in October in Warsaw.
The first day of the Conference took place at the Copernicus Science Center. Jakub Wygnański, President of the Unit for Social Innovation and Research ‘Shipyard’ Foundation spoke about civic innovations in the context of the new technologies’ application, while Melissa Pailthorp of Microsoft presented ICT development forecast. Next, during the seminar part, the participants had the opportunity to learn from Polish and foreign experts (among others from the USA, United Kingdom and Germany) how to build virtual teams, use the cloud and social media as well as how to raise funds via the Internet.
During breaks the participants could watch the technological shows presented by such companies as Intel and Orange, see the presentation of 3D printing and try free mobile applications created by non-governmental organizations.
Thanks to a dedicated application, the participants could also select speakers of the Experts’ Forum summing up seminar sessions, which was moderated by Dariusz Bugalski, the Polish Radio Program 3 journalist.
The culmination of the first day was awarding the organization with outstanding achievements in the use of new technologies with an award of PLN 40,000. The award was funded for the first time under the ‘ICT for Local Development’ Program by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation. The winner was the ‘Visible’ Foundation from Częstochowa which promotes the websites tailored to the needs of the disabled. ‘Technologies are the need of everyday life and we must learn to use them rationally,’ emphasized Radosław Jasiński, the PAFF Program Director.
The second day of the conference was held under the slogan ‘Innovation in Practice’. The participants took part in workshops organized in eight venues in Warsaw, namely in the seats of: PAFF’s Representative Office in Poland, Information Society Development Foundation, ‘Shipyard’ Foundation, Projekt: Polska Digital Center as well as Microsoft, Intel and Orange Polska companies. The participants discussed such issues as the use of technology in event organization, social innovations, modern communication in the network, ICT tools for cooperation at the local level, and technology synergies in civic actions.
Also the NGO Connection Day was held for the first time as part of the event, while earlier it was organized independently by Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/poland/ngo-day/).
The 3rd all-Poland ‘Sector 3.0’ conference was organized by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and the Information Society Development Foundation as part of the ‘ICT for Local Development’ Program. The institutional patron of the event were the Ministry of Administration and Digitalization and the Copernicus Science Center. The main partner was Microsoft and the technological partners were Orange Polska and Intel.
More information on the conference as well as conference materials are available at:
