The Civiblog Project uses ICTs to foster interpersonal interaction and news/information exchange. It is meant to be a virtual community in which members - working far from home - engage with each other in an online space to support their work as practitioners in the communication for social development field.

This project began with an invitation for participation in this new community, which was originally extended only to Canadian citizens working for international NGOs or international civil society groups. Later, the project expanded to offer blogging space to NGO personnel, irrespective of nationality. Those who join the "Civisphere" receive 1 Gb of disk space, 100 MB of transfer per month, a custom name within the Civiblog domain, and the ability to upload and organise pictures, videos, and files to share. Participation costs nothing. Participants can update their blogs as often or as seldom as they like and it is up to them to decide what they are able or want to write about; members are focused in writing on civil society.

Blogs are then hosted on the civiblog global community map. One example of such a blog is the Kandahar Chronicles, written by a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF - or "Doctors without Borders") logistician working in Afghanistan. Members of this online community connect through a "meta-site", maintained by organisers, which links together participants; Reuters and BBC News feeds are also offered.

Technology.

According to organisers, the last several decades have seen significant growth in NGOs in the humanitarian, development, and human rights sectors. Young people, in particular, have been increasingly finding employment and other opportunities within this "global civil society". Working in this field carries with it certain occupational stresses, dangers, and alienation. For example, NGOs working in zones of conflict have seen their staff subject to harassment and intimidation, and are, according to organisers, "constantly faced with life-threatening situations."

The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada focusing on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media and world civic politics. To read a programme summary of a related project, click here.