Three reasons that I think it is important that those in the philanthropy world start thinking about disruptive technology now.

  1. In order to take advantages of the opportunities new technologies afford: This may be in terms of new ways of addressing social and environmental problems, or in terms of more efficient and effective ways of running your own organisations.
  2. In order to understand the risks that new technologies pose and play a part in addressing them: These might be the risks that technological developments will pose for the operational or business model of philanthropic organisations themselves, or it might be the risks they pose in terms of creating new challenges for those organisations’ beneficiaries or for society as a whole.
  3. Because you think this is all nonsense: This is some people’s immediate reaction to any discussion of far-reaching technological developments. And I am willing to accept that is a valid point of view; but I would argue that you need to be able to explain why you think it is all nonsense (i.e. you need a strategy about why you don’t need a technology strategy).

Read the full article on disruptive technology and philanthropy by Rhodri Davies at Charities Aid Foundation.