Addressing key questions during the CODES launch event

Hi everyone - great to be here. Many people have asked for a transcript of the zoom chat from the launch event. Please find it attached. Thanks again for all of the engagement yesterday. 

PS - why do I always look so glum in these screen grabs ?

GMT20210331-141704_Recording.docx30.13 KB

• How do we identify and plug key gaps in the CODES community to maximize reach, diversity and engagement?
•  I will attempt to answer the above question from the technical Perspective.

We need to identify stakeholders . The matrix will help  to identify the relevant stakeholders impacted and using the STAKEHOLDER POWER/INTEREST GRID. This  will help to determine the level of interest and involvements​ of each stakeholders. Also, the use RACI chart to determine who to be responsible, accountable, consulted and informed.​ There is a need to conduct a  gap analysis. Allowing sufficient time to understand the current process. For any proposed change is an important part of any analysis  and should not be overlooked. However, some discretion is required in terms of how much time is spent capturing and validating this information. This is because users are likely to perceive it as adding little value to their objective of implementing a new system or revised process. The use of  Flow charts, Process flows: to analyze the ‘As Is process’ the CODES COMMUNITY". and to articulate ‘To Be’ process​ for "  Model the as is to be process by aid of visio software by highlighting differences between then, use of business process modeling notation.  We need to make sure we understand issues facing Codes community.Therefore need for review, conduct data analysis to provide analytics in relation to customer behaviour, spending pattern, product trend and engagement with the features.Functional Requirements​, Non functional requirements Training material: To train end users.  Facilitated various workshop sessions to elicit requirements, and walk through sessions to review requirements and agree solution options. Ensure plug key gaps in the CODES community is  maximize and reach, diversity and engagement  we need to make sure these need are aligned to clear business goal. Able to foster a motivated and cohesive team dynamic committed to business outcomes. CODES community members  need to attend regular stakeholders’ meeting such as design authority, change board, steering committee to provide project update using RAG and RAID to discuss and escalate issues when required. they well be need for the requirement baseline as well and going forward.

Talking Agile. For the technical there is need to Support testing and implementation activities​ such as Review test strategy and scripts​Support SIT and UAT​, Support Live Proving​, Support Go Live, Create training materials and train key users.

In my view,  "the most important short term priorities to accelerate a digital planet for sustainability?"   I believe the highest priority inputs  will take precedence. We need first  to focus on project Goal/Scope  and end users needs

I use this scenario example  : The “First Class” organization wants to implement an online based service to enable its prospective clients to register, login and make bookings for training courses. The organization looking to redesign the front end of existing pages, The minimum viable product to be  delivered were as follow : Home for registration, log in and make booking and other Fist class  -related pages) In order to improve encourage visitors to explore facilities. The  need for  one to one section meeting with the management team must arise, team must work  on the defined sprint backlog and agreed on the MVP, Minimum viable product to be delivered, agreed on time scale. Incremental Delivery is the art of breaking this large project.Need to Plan and create activity list, end to end digital deliverables,discus about  resources available, impact assessment about the changes.  To get the back ground running we need to engage stake holders, gather requirements from them to articulate all the functionalities/Epics, to document the high level requirement,document the detail requirements, quick Document the requirements in the user stories format, have a work though session of requirement gathered earlier. Engage with the solution team to review their project working artifacts, document the data dictionary for all the data fields for the MVP (registration process). Prioritizes the backlog. We need to be  responsible for the delivery of the functionality at each iteration. Facilitate the definition of solution acceptance criteria and UAT scripts as well as define business rules, system parameters, system messages and field validation that will be used in supporting business requirements for registration, for example . We need to do so via a set of iterations (Sprints in Scrum) daily work.The Delivery teams, as well as the company overall  streamline deployment processes so that over time the delivery  phase become shorter. We need to establish a  roadmaps to guide the team’s efforts.In addition, the need to assessing the project against the sprint goals. We must established  a centralized data system that help to collecting feedback from end users once the product fit for its purpose. The closed loop will  bring feedback directly into the development environment, facilitating rapid iteration. Registration process was there after delivered in  timely manner , and the efficiently. 

1. How do we identify and plug key gaps in the CODES community to maximize reach, diversity and engagement?

As an independent filmmaker based in Los Angeles, I would suggest we create an ad hoc committee of folks that can help tell our story. Scientists are not known to be good public speakers. Creating a tool is a technical challenge. But I think the bigger challenge is dealing with people. How to get buy-in and how to layout a vision. I've seen an urban poor vendor community displaced by fire become empowered after I told them that they can build the vision for themselves. here is a short video I created related to this community: https://youtu.be/8FJEyVuXl5Q

In your view, what are the most important short-term priorities to accelerate a digital planet for sustainability?

I think we need to define the scope of the project, identifying the specific objectives, stakeholders, work routine, goals to be achieved, and which path will lead us to reach the final product “Acceleration Plan for a Sustainable Digital Planet.

In addition, I think we should create a space in the group to share experiences in ecological management, eco-industries, and other topics that present tools for sustainable digital innovation.

It is worth remembering that the guidelines that will guide our work must be aligned with the finding presented in the report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Program
The fifth session (2021), which took place in February of that year and presents three planetary crises - climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution, as well as close to the objectives of the 2030 agenda.

How can CODES be governed in a manner that is digital, agile and inclusive with engagement opportunities for both individual and organizations ?

CODES has to incorporate digital technologies adoption into its objective strategy.  The new functionalities will improve processes and productivity, deliver better end user and employee experiences, manage project risk, and control spending (Create a roadmap for resource allocation and architecture) .  The transformation represents great number of tools, solutions, and processes.  Understanding where the new frontiers of value are and effective strategy is one that’s customized for each unique organization. 

CODES must encourage a culture that promote continuous iteration of development and product testing in the system development life cycle process. Agile breaks high level requirement products ( Epics) into details builds.  Need to document the detail requirements. Agile methodology, development and testing activities are concurrent, Document the data dictionary for all the data fields. unlike other software development methodologies. CODES   will continue to encourage teamwork and group meetings communication, workshops, interviews.  CODES Staff , stakeholders, and developers and community must work together to express ,to develop a project requirement.  The solution development teams to pay attention on delivering project values in shortest time line by speedily and repeatedly monitoring current working product software. CODES must ensure accountability, team collaboration as well as iterative continues progress towards well-defined product scope. the implementation of Agile Scrum Framework will deal with fact that product requirements are likely to change, scope creep or mostly not known at the initiation of project.

Some suggestions regarding

Re: How do we identify and plug key gaps in the CODES community to maximize reach, diversity and engagement? => In the world, there are many different ways of knowing, informed from diverse philosophies and ‘meaning making’. As it is not possible to know what you do not know, diversity of inputs is crucial and should be actively sought. Mainstreamed universalized, normative, often eurocentric, gatekeeping approaches need augmentation by, for instance, dynamic/integrative ways of knowing, input from philosophies like buen vivir, ubuntu, and Confucianism, and, for instance, inputs from declarations from the Holy See, among others. An example of a decentered input is the Transnational Framework Digital Health in International Cooperation, published by Medicus Mundi Switzerland in a South/North cooperation (with a special paragraph on ethics and environment). Thus, the CODES community can benefit from actively inviting textual and oral contributions from outside of a universalized hegemony to reach consensus for a diversity of contexts of experience, understanding, judgement and action. By reconciling multiple definitions of success and respecting multiple ways of knowing, we can get to a system that is ‘set up for participation in power not its appropriation, and an underlying philosophy was one of cooperation, not confrontation’ (from Kwasi Wiredu).

Re: In your view, what are the most important short term priorities to accelerate a digital planet for sustainability? => Proposed priorities are to get communities involved, the workforce enhanced, all stories to be told (from the local), and systems to be reconciled. Also, there is an urgent need to decenter approaches, steering away from coloniality and withstanding power inequities in digital infrastructuring.

Re:  How can CODES be governed in a manner that is digital, agile and inclusive with engagement opportunities for both individual and organizations? => By also realizing that half of the world’s population is not using the internet, in 'black holes' (but they have a voice), that the cost of connectivity is often prohibitive for those living outside of the centres-of-power. In view of the earlier, there are authorative communities-of-practice that are ‘normally’ overlooked, for instance, the Pan-African Parliament, who can be respected to voice the (digitally) voiceless.

Transnational Framework Digital Health_concise.pdf2.27 MB

Transnational Framework Digital Health_extended.pdf3.35 MB

In your view, what are the most important short-term priorities to accelerate a digital planet for sustainability?

I was reading the Green New Deal by Jeremy Rifin and he lays out a very good argument why the environmental movement has not made a lot of progress in the Obama years. He argues that there was no narrative that was communicated. The dots were not connected. Its a very different scenario now with Biden where a lot of dots are connected. But for our purposes, we need to learn from this. We need to communicate a narrative, a vision. We need to layout a vision for how our efforts in CODES connects the dots with the broader SDGs and the broader UN and its various agencies as well as the nations, tribes and communities especially in the developing world.

Some generic thoughts concerning the questions proposed:

1. How do we identify and plug key gaps in the CODES community to maximize reach, diversity and engagement?

A gap analysis may examinate and assess the current performance of the CODES community engagement by identifying differences between the actual situation and where CODES community would like to be (where are we now? where do we want to be? and how are we going to close the gap?) This dynamic process requires constructing a full picture of the current state-of-play of the stakeholders mapping (as mentioned earlier by one of the CODES colleagues) and a solid monitoring approach on how they progress over time. Eventually, by identifying gaps, we may have a better assessment of how advanced is the stakeholder ecosystem, how well developed the enabling infrastructure (digital environmental sustainability), how widespread the level of uptake across different stakeholders (private/public… domains/business sectors… society, how well established the partnerships with other actors, and, finally, how well structured the innovation environment.

2. In your view, what are the most important short term priorities to accelerate a digital planet for sustainability?

A strong focus on skills development is needed by mismatching the skills demand and skills supply. Identification of those skills which are the pillar to build understanding on what digital planet for sustainability means, creating meaningful connections with interested stakeholders and communicating inclusively to the public, private and citizen level enabling equitable open access.

3.  How can CODES be governed in a manner that is digital, agile and inclusive with engagement opportunities for both individual and organizations?

CODES has to be prepared to achieve and how it operates should be a result of the stakeholder’s engagement “inclusion collaborative efforts” which is crucial from the beginning of the initiative. As the community will grow and initiatives will also expand maybe should be considered to centralize the key information (knowledge) rather than the initiatives (the essential is behind the names). One of the emphasis of the coalition may be through a coordinated community management effort, which is supported in getting to better known other communities, finding out gaps and challenges concerning the digital environmental sustainability (which is our overarching framework), so ideas feasibility, evaluation, prioritization, the impact may be also considered. The Coalition should have the tools and means to help to establish and maintaining lines of communication with stakeholders to share information through the levels of engagement between communities. The Coalition may adapt its communication to different groups depending on the action to be proposed. It could be considered to use the “virtuous circle” as a technique used in community building and management for which the Coalition community manager or moderator (role) optimize the communication engagement and by extension, increase interest in the coalition activities so the “value proposition” to be part of the coalition remains active. As the maturity of the coalition will heighten, more communities of interest may be reached (integration of new initiatives into the Coalition) and proposing ambassadors could provide voices from other stakeholder’s groups (Networks of Networks). If CODES follows a digital governance framework, several components (even if in a very light mode) will need to be discussed such; roles, responsibilities and potential brainstorming for decision-making.

Overall some food for discussion, Thanks!

Yes, Monica.  I'm of the same opinion . I think it's reflecting Agility way of  thinks, working. 

Great questions David. For the question: 

1. In your view, what are the most important short term priorities to accelerate a digital planet for sustainability?

I think that in many ways the climate challenge we face can be thought of as an accounting problem. We have a finite remaining global carbon budget and activities that are adding carbon (debits) and activities that are removing carbon (credits) to/from the atmosphere. Managing this account together will depend on how well we are able to manage the data generated from all of our collective actions and how well we can organize this information using some sort of global carbon accounting system.  I think an immediate priority to consider should be the need to begin discussions about how we can build a global carbon accounting system together and how to organize and share climate action data.

1. How do we identify and correct the main gaps in the CODES community to maximize reach, diversity and involvement?

I think that one of the main gaps in the CODES communities is the question of digital inclusion itself. How to talk about CODES without talking about digital inclusion? We know that there is still not internet in certain more remote locations. And that needs to be resolved. Then the other gap would require almost a second technological revolution in order to involve all spheres of society, from children to the elderly. We still have big gaps in this regard. For example, in the 21st century, we still have school teachers who do not know how to use the internet and computers.

2. In your opinion, what are the most important short-term priorities for accelerating a digital planet for sustainability?

Internet accessibility at all levels of society and locations; Encouraging technological education from children to the elderly; Production of telephone platforms and applications, whose data is opened and fed by the local community itself, for example, the OpenStreetMap platform. I think it is possible to involve society in this regard.

3. How can CODES be managed in a digital, agile and inclusive way, with opportunities for engagement for individuals and organizations?

Creation of groups of students and professionals who can voluntarily contribute by managing the digital platforms and conducting training to expand the groups involved. For example: a platform with climate data where the local population itself feeds that platform with local data and information, and this platform could also be used as a means of raising awareness about climate change through alerts with telephone messages. Some examples of digital platforms that contribute to improvements in society and it is the local communities themselves that insert the information.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/

https://maptionnaire.com/

https://www.mapillary.com/

4. Share your opinion on one or more of these key issues. Answers and solutions for all of them must come from you.

So, I think it will be very important to set up CODES communities that can be interconnected through relevant information on different types of topics that demand the population's awareness, mainly regarding the environment and sustainable cities.

Contribution to question #2 & #4

While it is very important to define what is it that we can collectively achieve in the short term, there might be another question to solve at this juncture which would consist in defining the “who” and the “how”.

Coming from the Internet, we believe that any attempt to address critical questions pertaining to the digital sustainability of our societies, does imply that key stakeholders of our societies be closely associated to the process, at early stage. That is to say, the multistakeholders nature of our endeavors need to be ensured as indeed only an inclusive process will deliver upon the expected goals.

As an example, the mission of the DGG Foundation implies that all actors from civil society, academics, consumers, governments, regulators, industry but also the financial sector be closely associated to the design and the implementation of the strategic goals to sustain our mission.

In so doing, we believe we can create an immediate added value to each and every stakeholder hence ensuring the success of the strategic goals which we are committed to pursue.

Once the inclusiveness of the process is established, the merits of short-term priorities need to be measured against the strong and demonstrated added value of these priorities for each stakeholder.

Again, as an example, the foundation strongly supports the idea of developing “green labels” for digital services which will mirror the interest of each party involved in the process to design those green labels. Consumers buy-in is as important as the industry willingness to develop and implement those labels. So is the support of investors as the financial sector has clearly indicated its commitment to further invest in sustainable industry.

And, last but not least the governments and regulators involvement in the process will ensure the proper legal and regulatory environment so that investors and industry have the legal security for their long-term investments in those sustainable solutions.

To sum up, in order to define short term priorities, we might need to firstly ensure that a multistakeholders process is up and running with a view to agree on priorities which will create a virtuous circle among all involved parties.

Greeting Reina Otsuka please is the public consultation document from our meeting on 7th May still available for inputs