Big Opportunities for Big Ideas

Yesterday’s kick-off of the Social Good Summit was a buffet of great ideas and inspiration. The people on the stage were incredible, but what happened inside and outside the room made it remarkable. A friend of mine remarked, “This place is like a power-list of people who believe in progress.” Agreed.

While the overall theme of the Summit is to find ways to connect technology, social media and innovation for social good, there were some sub-themes that I saw emerge. Here are some rough notes from what I heard, read and felt yesterday.

* DATA, BIG MATTERS, BUT WHY?: Big data is exciting, but what we do with it matters. We need to be using data with a purpose; data-driven decision making; data is not an end; data needs application, analysis and innovation to be useful for impact and social good.

* TECH TO THE MAX: This is our time in history to use tech to the max; it doesn’t always have to be about new technology – we have an opportunity innovate & use same tech in new, better ways as well.

* PEOPLE NOT JUST PLATFORMS: It’s not just about platforms, but the way we interact with people to make them work. We need to look at how platforms are one to one, one to many, many to one; data can’t heal a broken bone…people can.

* TOP DOWN AND (not or) BOTTOM UP: Social media’s power isn’t always coming from the bottom-up, and we need to be alert that rights are respected and encourage transparency about what people in power (at all levels) are doing with social media.

I look forward to another great day of ideas and digital, global action at the Social Good Summit. What were your takeaways from Day 1 — and what can I be on the lookout for you from Day 2?