Monday, November 5, 2012

Daryl Copeland on a virtual community for saving the planet

Daryl Copeland
By Per Koch, Innovation Norway

Daryl Copeland is a Canadian analyst, author, speaker and educator specializing in diplomacy, international policy, public management and global issues. Or, at least, that is what the Wikipedia says. 

For me Daryl is an engaged and challenging discussion partner. He took part in the Oslo workshop on science, technology and innovation for global challenges, and I met him again in London last week, where he took part in the Royal Society presentation of the OECD STIG project and the following Imperial College workshop om the follow up to STIG: 

In a very interesting blog post over at the Canadian iPolitics site, Daryl presents the STIG project and discusses why this topic has not gotten the traction it deserves internationally. 

He points to several factors: Civil servants lacking the resources needed to follow up is one of them. The financial crisis has directed their attention elsewhere. Moreover, Daryl also argues that the foreign offices are  poorly equipped to follow up with relevant science diplomacy.

Daryl's conclusion is that we have to reach out outside the science and policy circles to generate more interest. He says:
"OECD reports are rarely read outside of specialized circles, and the STIG document lacks a public communication dimension. In that regard, perhaps best way to popularize, and ultimately to politicize the project, would be to orchestrate an outreach campaign using new media venues with a view to attracting STIG advocates from across global civil society. By generating a critical mass of that sort, governments and international organizations might be spurred into taking the urgent remedial action which the circumstances require."
He believes the social web can be used to disseminate and discuss STIG issues. He argues that we should establish a web portal that could gather new and existing online activities.  And if the public authorities are not willing to fund such a platform, maybe some private philanthropists could contribute. 

Daryl mentions Google. Anyone else?


per.koch@innovationnorway.no twitter: @perkoch

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