Social Actions in Open Source Business Resource (OSBR) July 2009 Issue

Social Actions had the opportunity to share its story in the July 2009 issue of Open Source Business Resource (OSBR), a peer-reviewed monthly publication for individuals and organizations contributing to, and interested in, open source projects and technologies. Guest Editor Stephen Huddart extended an invitation to feature Social Actions as an example of collaborative, open source principles in action. Peter and I had a great time co-authoring what effectively is the most comprehensive description of Social Actions' development to date. There's much more to tell about why and how Social Actions is developing in the way that it is, and what could and will come next for this initiative, but there's alot here that hadn't yet been put to paper (or cyber ink).

"Social Actions: Making the Web More Philanthropic" by Peter Deitz & Christine Egger

Social Actions makes it easier for people to turn their good intentions into meaningful action. The organization has created an open source database of actions people can take on any issue.... This article describes how Social Actions applies open source principles to the organization's products and processes. In its entirety, Social Actions is intentionally designed to contribute to the ongoing and vibrant conversations about open source practices and principles.

For an insightful overview of where those conversations might take the entire social sector, and the kind of infrastructure that would facilitate a truly collaborative process along the way, read Stephen Huddart and Anil Patel's article in the same issue:

"Applied Collaboration Studios: Transforming Complex Problems into S..." by Stephen Huddart & Anil Patel

This paper asserts that the voluntary or social sector plays a pivotal role in generating and disseminating social innovations through collaboration with diverse partners. The authors explore the potential to engender a quantum shift in the sector's efficiency, reach, and impact through the combined use of open source technologies, social process tools and collaboration platforms.