In a rare departure from blogging about expat life in NZ, this blog comes to you from technology corner (it’s a bit like Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, but a bit less ranty).
I’ve spent two days this week at the National Digital Forum, finding out what others in the culture and heritage sector have been up to in the wide world of digital. A lot of the sessions were thought provoking – although there were a few too many sessions about archives (I apologise – I realise archiving stuff is important, I’m just glad someone else is doing the thinking about it for me). However, there was one talk that really struck a chord – Courtney Johnston from The Dowse spoke about The Caring Museum, and the role museums have in reaching out to vulnerable or minority groups.
In her talk, Courtney argues that museums need to do more to cater for the most vulnerable people in society, whether that’s homeless people, fostered children, the elderly. These aren’t the easiest target groups to reach – and she wasn’t suggesting that museums should replace all the valuable institutions that already work with these groups (social workers, charities, etc). Instead, Courtney wants museums (both online and offline) to be welcoming to these people; traditionally people who don’t often go to museums, yet who perhaps could gain huge benefits.
This got me thinking about how my institution reach out to those minority or vulnerable groups through digital sphere. Like most software teams, we don’t have a lot of spare cash this year for new shiny projects – we’ve budgeted for some already, in amongst the boring but necessary maintenance costs. So, it’s unlikely that we’ll be working on an online output with the specific (or even additional) aim of reaching a particular vulnerable / non-museum going / minority audience. So without the cash, what can we offer instead?
Time.
Time and expertise are immensely valuable assets that we can share. Giving time, as an institution, to vulnerable and under-represented groups demonstrates our interest and care for others. Sharing our knowledge and expertise in the technology and digital fields – areas that are shockingly under represented by certain groups – can also be of huge value. Although I was heartened to see the number of women at NDFNZ, there were very few people from ethnic minority groups. And, I’d be willing to put money on the vast majority of attendees having a university education. On anecdotal evidence, it looks like ethnicity and wealth – for whatever reason – remain a barrier to a career within the digital world.
Recently, there has been a spate of excellent initiatives in the UK attempting to address this problem. Tech Mums, recently profiled in the Guardian, is one such initiative. The founder, Sue Black, was an unemployed mother of three at 25. She launched herself out of poverty by studying computer science, and wants other women to have the same opportunities. Read the Guardian article for more information about the Tech Mums programme – it’s an excellent idea. But, it’s just one of the many projects in the UK which work with groups who are under represented in technology careers.
Is this something we could consider here in New Zealand? I think so. I’d love to hear about any institutions that are doing something in this area. It’s got me thinking about how my workplace can do more for those not traditionally involved in digital careers – or even those who just want to know more about it. Some thoughts buzzing around include working with low decile schools (who may not have teachers with expertise in digital areas) to help them learn to code to create their own games or websites (similar to the work by STEM Ambassadors, or Raspberry Pi Code Club). We could work with Pacific or Maori youth, who have excellent cultural and creative role models, but lack public-facing role models in science or technology, to help them gain experience. We could reach out to elderly people (who may be unable to get to us for health reasons) through a service such as Google Hangouts, allowing them to gain access to the museum. We need to take inspiration from Tech Mums and work with those people who could really benefit from our time and knowledge.
All these ideas are in fledgling form – it’s only been a few days since the talk, so my brain is still whirring through the possibilities. But I’m inspired by Courtney’s desire for institutions to do more for vulnerable groups. Technology is an enabler – and as cultural institutions we need to spend our time to share our knowledge and enable others.
0.000000
0.000000