Day 6, Question 6: What if we upgraded our social services as often as our technology?

I live in Toronto and it’s cold.  The city has already issued a couple of extreme cold weather alerts this year, triggering additional services to support the homeless.  One day last week I was driving down the Allen Parkway and I pulled up to the stop light at Eglinton Avenue, where the Allen ends.  A homeless man was standing on the side of the road with a sign that read: “It’s cold.  And I’m hungry.  And homeless.  Please help.”  It was -20 C with the wind chill.  He had ice on his eyebrows.  I opened my window and gave him all of the change I had in my car and wished him the best.

As I zipped up my window and settled back into the warmth of my car, the technology reporter on the radio started chirping about the new Google phone – the Nexus One.  He was excited, talking about what a game changer it was, how it was really going to shake up the industry, give Apple a run for its money, “hell”, he said, ” it might even change the world.”  This, about a phone.

Now I realize that once upon a time, a phone did change the world.  And once upon a Steve Jobs, another phone shook things up.  But the contrast between a homeless man freezing on the side of the road and the fervour swirling around the Google phone and the mad dash to get one made me feel like we’d lost the plot.  And it made me wonder “what if we upgraded our social services as often as our technology?”

Maybe it’s too much to hope for a full social services upgrade with every cell phone/smart phone upgrade but it did get me thinking about what might change if services in the social sector benefited every time we upgraded our technology?  A quick search on the iTunes Apps store resulted in not one single App that facilitated the donation of money to charity.  You could track your donations and look up information about not-for-profit organizations, but nothing that would facilitate a donation.  And maybe that’s to be expected, since many not-for-profits have better things to do with their money than develop an App.  So, perhaps that opportunity, maybe even the responsibility, rests with the technology companies and the service providers.  What if every phone purchased came with a built-in iGive or GoogleGive or NokiaLikesToGive App?  What if the handset and/or service provider company matched every microgift made through that phone?  What if, as part of their upgrade service, our cell phone companies made sure that our perfectly good, not-so-fancy-and-exciting-for-us phones were delivered into the hands of people and organizations who needed them?  How might social services be upgraded if social investment was connected to our technology upgrades?

Now, it’s possible that I’m just bitter because the Google phone isn’t available in Canada yet.  And it’s possible that I’m bitter because it’s -20C.  It’s also possible that I’m just bitter.  But I think we can do better that a man freezing on the side of the road while a ridiculous percentage of the chattering classes are yakking on about a phone.

Social investment.  I’d like an App for that.

P.S.  And to put my money where my mouth is – and into the hands of those who need it – I’ve donated $50 to the Daily Food bank.

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