Bastian Pelka

Web 2.0 revisited: user-generated content as a social innovation

This paper raises the question whether Web 2.0 can be seen as a technological or a social innovation and which interdependencies exist between these two innovative aspects of the phenomenon. For that purpose, the definition of Web 2.0 as a tag cloud (for example given in Wikipedia) or as a difference in comparison to a ‘Web 1.0’ is revisited, challenged and discarded. In following steps, the paper argues that the core innovation of Web 2.0 is the communication of ‘user-generated content’ as a new social routine. The main enabling factors for Web 2.0 utilisation as a social routine are identified as easy-to-use software and broadly spread internet access. So while technology is seen as a ‘catalyst’ of the phenomenon, the innovation itself (user-generated content) is considered a social one.

Empowerment by Digital Media of People with Disabilities

The paper differentiates three dimensions of access for eInclusion instruments: Firstly, digital media are understood as environments that offer multiple channels for interaction between persons with disabilities and their environment. This dimension is challenged by barriers that hinder people to use digital media. Peer support could be understood as a second dimension: Social media can empower people to act as social innovators and help people with disabilities. Barriers are identified in the effort that has to be done or in unsuitable ICT-applications. On a third dimension, the advantages of “space” are explored: Public internet access points can be understood as a “space” that offers ICT access, support for individual needs and competences, facilitated by specialized staff. The high costs, missing political backing and need for competences could be understood as main barriers here. The paper suggests to capitalize on social innovation approaches to design new support instruments for eInclusion.

Challenges at the Intersection of Social Media and Social Innovation: A Manifesto

Inspired by recent critical social and economic developments – and their most visible eruptions in the Arab world, Spain and Greece – which demonstrate that there is a relatively low barrier of entrance for individuals and groups to adopt social media for virtually any shared purpose, objective or cause, a “manifesto” has been written by a group of transdisciplinary researchers, activists and practitioners from the fields of ICT and social movements.

Inclusion Through Digital Social Innovations: Modelling an Ecosystem of Drivers and Barriers

The paper links latest insights from the field of social innovation research to the role of digital technologies and their potential to better address special needs. Therefore, it proposes a model to identify drivers and barriers for a broader use of digital social innovations in transformative processes towards inclusion. The paper develops a model of four distinct, yet interrelated contexts which analytically structure drivers and barriers in complex social innovation ecosystems, and which may also enable and support innovators to better understand driving and hindering factors for their digital social innovation initiative.

Digital) Social Innovation Through Public Internet Access Points

The post-industrial innovation system with its distinct focus on social innovation allows for theoretical and conceptual connections between innovation research and new fields of social practice. In this article we elaborate on the potential of social innovation and especially digital social innovation to tackle digitally excluded persons’ needs. Public internet access points are key infrastructures driving the digital inclusion of marginalized persons. Empirical results presented in this paper shows that these players act socially innovative by creating collaborative spaces for digital inclusion, by developing hybrid staff competence profiles and by creating community-based, intergenerational learning content. The paper relates research perspectives from the social innovation and the digital inclusion discourse and argues against the background of research and development results of six EU funded projects on social innovation and/or digital inclusion in the years 2011–2015.

New Initiatives for the Empowerment of People with Activity Limitations – An Analysis of 1,005 Cases of (Digital) Social Innovation Worldwide

The paper exploits an extensive quantitative case mapping to blend three strands of research: First, social innovation will be considered as an approach to improve and/or guarantee social inclusion for people with activity limitations. Secondly, ICT will be understood as a means to empower people with activity limitations; and thirdly, the needs of vulnerable people will be regarded as a lens for scrutinizing those two approaches: How can ICT based social innovation/digital social innovation (DSI) empower people? The analysed cases shed light on the phenomenon of “digital social innovations” and allow first insights into their practice. The paper illustrates a quantitative overview of the actors behind these initiatives, their funding structures and drivers and barriers. In a conclusion, the new phenomenon of “digital social innovation” is described in contours.

eFacilitators: Functional Hybrids between ICT Teaching and Community Management

Contribution Details EERA Network: 02. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET) EFacilitators: Functional Hybrids between ICT Teaching and Community Management Organisation(s): TU Dortmund / sfs, Germany Submitted by: Dr. Christoph Kaletka (TU Dortmund / sfs) Presenting Authors: Kaletka, Christoph; Pelka, Bastian (kaletka@sfs-dortmund.de, pelka@sfs-dortmund.de )

Digitale Teilhabe: Aufgaben der Verbände und Einrichtungen der Wohlfahrtspflege

Zum einen geht es um die Nutzung digitaler Medien zur Unterstützung von Teilhabe (zum Beispiel auch im „nicht-digitalen Leben“). Dazu zählen etwa assistive Technologien, die immer häufiger digitale Medien nutzen. Digitale Dienste und Geräte werden einerseits von Kunden genutzt, erleichtern aber auch die Abstimmung in den Einrichtungen und zwischen professionellen und ehrenamtlichen Mitarbeiter in der Wohlfahrtspflege.

Die Potenziale des Web 2.0 bei der Unterstützung von Lernprozessen

Taugen die Angebote des Web 2.0 zur Unterstützung von Lernprozessen? In drei Schritten soll dieser Frage nachgegangen werden: Zunächst werden die Anforderungen an Lernen in der Wissensgesellschaft umrissen und ‚klassische’ formale Bildungsangebote kritisiert. Anschließendwerden Potenziale des Web 2.0 für informelle Lernprozesse bestimmt. In einem dritten Schritt werden Communitys und Wikis als praktische Beispiele für Web 2.0-gestütztes informelles Lernen diskutiert. Auf dieser Basis können mögliche Einsatzfelder und nächste Schritte zu einer breiteren Nutzung von Web 2.0-gestütztem informellem Lernen skizziert werden.

Copy Here, Paste There? On the Challenges of Scaling Inclusive Social Innovations

This article addresses the question of under which conditions established social innovations aiming at improving social inclusion may be transferred from one specific environmental context to another. Through the example of an in-depth case-study on the PIKSL laboratories in Germany, the authors develop insights into the importance of innovation-friendly ecosystems as preconditions of successful breaching and scaling of social innovations. Previous work (cf. [1]) provides a generic understanding of such an ecosystem and proposes a ‘context understand guide’, which is applied to the specific use-case of a social innovation initiative and its goal to scale their new solution. On the basis of a working definition of inclusive social innovations and a critical reflexion of scaling concepts the authors draft a framework which is then applied to the PIKSL initiative. In the following, a set of questions is presented to which those inclusive social innovation initiatives can answer who want to systematically plan a dissemination process of their ideas, theories and methodologies. Main outcome of this paper is an instruction of how to apply the context-understanding guide to the scaling process of inclusive social innovations.