This is my reply to Pam's last letter.
Hi Pam,
Thanks for your reply.
I am able to access the site now more easily, although I got an OOPs! page twice when I clicked on the Dadamac url.
Thanks, your answers gave me a good idea of how the site will evolve over a period of time. I liked the concept of a reception area, which will link up to various ‘back offices’ of the site. You rightly said that Dadamac will be driven by the interests and energy of the community.
Without beating about the bush, I will come straight to some of the questions that did not make much sense to you.
Q3) And most importantly, is Dadamac looking at a market-based approach to development? Actually, on oversight, I think this probably should have been addressed as a question about Dadamac Limited, which I presume will be your commercial arm. My concern, while asking this question, is about how and where Dadamac will raise its resources for its projects. Are you looking at grants and donations as your operations expand? Or will Dadamac be reaching out to aid agencies and multinational NGOs for financial support? Or will it become sustainable on its own steam, either by a market-based approach or by taking up a lot of projects for outside agencies. Lots of questions together—all pointing towards the same theme.
Q4) Does it want to move and expand within the broad areas it has already charted out--foundation, limited, open knowldge and learners. Or is it open to new avenues?
Again this is an overlap of question 3. As I said earlier, self-sustainability is a crucial issue for any NGO. And I wanted to know if Dadamac has figured out the puzzle that most other NGOs get trapped in. As a new member to the community, I feel that a lot of the good work done by you, Dada and the others needs a big push in terms of resources, people and visibility. Your past record is praiseworthy, and your intentions are noble. But will that be enough to take the initiative to the next level.
I have no doubt that the Dadamac team has its heart in the right place in visualizing a future for development with the web as a centerpiece of its strategy. Also, there is no doubt that its ‘open source’ model might be one of the best ways to share and learn knowledge from different cultures and communities of the world. My only concern is that while it is good to dream differently and talk about competitive advantage, shouldn’t there be some sort of roadmap to make it move on the fast track to sustainability and viability?
I suppose a lot of these basic questions (from a newcomer like me) will get answered on this blog over the next few months
During this period, I will try and think of other ways to add value to the Dadamac expressions. Before that, I need to ask you more questions to understand the Dadamac tree.
Bye for now. Have a nice weekend.
Vijay