The Sector

A Lack of Internal Digital Capabilities in Ontario’s Third Sector

According to a study by the Ontario Not-for-Profit Network, “most technical requirements of non-for-profit organizations in Ontario are outsourced.” The study presents evidence that this suggests a fundamental and systemic issue, impeding the participation of many organizations, in digital transformation, given what will be the requirement of the “centrality of technology to many organizations” (ONN, 2019). Outsourcing does little to build internal capacity or to create a culture of digitally skilled Third-Sector employees. The report from the ONN further purports that “government investment” in nonprofit collaboration addressing “the digital skills gap in the sector must start with strategic investment (ONN, 2019).

Imagine Canada’s 2006 Report on The Sector, writes that “particularly when considering how we structure our internal teams and work with partner organizations, is an important piece and a step in the right direction.” But “it’s not enough: what is needed is recognition within the sector that investing in digital skills training is an investment in ourselves and the future of the sector.” As Imagine Canada’s Bruce MacDonald noted last year, “Effective administration enables fundraising, infrastructure and staffing that are essential to fulfilling a charity’s mission. Real impact requires real investment” (Imagine Canada, 2006). Overall, this body of literature revealed that Ontario’s Third Sector is experiencing a broad spectrum of technology challenges that require a response.

The Sector Inc’s overall approach of this research project was to test the dissertation’s hypothesis against the findings gleaned from the empirical research, triangulated with the evidence in the reviewed literature.

From preliminary discussions with experts and a review of the literature, it’s apparent that consensus exists that:

1. In divesting itself from service delivery as it’s core business and investing in it’s own “transformation,” The Government of Ontario has created a fragmented, strained, “Third Sector” of service-delivery organizations, who’s operational inability to participate in digital transformation, now hinder the effectiveness of the very transformation, which government is undertaking.

2. The digital transformation of government, to improve its capacity to enable Third Sector organizations effectiveness, will not improve outcomes, without Third Sector organizations undergoing digital transformation as well.

3. The Big Four do not see government transformation outside of digital transformation, as one of their core business areas; they do not see government transformation without digital transformation at all.

Simply put, this approach asks the question: what would the critical success factors to successful consulting engagements be?

#socialinnovation #digitaltransformation #government #ops #wbs #toronto #impactinvesting #consulting #nonprofit #corporatesocialresponsibility

The Sector

The Sector’s Digital Skills Gap

The abundance of third-sector authored literature, conveys that anecdotally and empirically, there is a digital skills gap in the Third Sector. The Non-profit Technology Enterprise Network report, 2017 Nonprofit Technology Staffing and Investments Report showed that while the majority of surveyed nonprofits in Ontario feel they have the tools they need, they” are less confident about having enough skilled staff or training to effectively use their technology for their work.” (NTEN, 2017).

The study found that while most organizations i.e. 52%, self-identified as having a stable tech infrastructure and mature policies, over 25% of those surveyed indicated they were “functioning” i.e. just meeting basic needs or “struggling.” Given the rapid changes that technology has brought about in most other sectors, from “automated checkouts in retail”

to “open data sets in government,” it is apparent why an abundance of third-sector organizations indicate that they are behind the digital curve (NTEN, 2017).

While the Non-profit Technology Enterprise Network is headquartered in the United States and the survey sample presents a limited percentage of Ontario-based respondents, the study’s findings hold true for the Third Sector of Ontario. Good Works State of the Web Nation report (the very first online benchmark report for the Ontario nonprofit sector), found that “60% of Ontario respondents say web is not valued by organizational leadership,” and that most “indicated challenges in using and integrating different web tools, such as social media, search engine optimization, and data collection (Good Works, 2019).”

#digitaltransformation #socialimpact #socialinnovation #government #wbs #sustainability #SDG