Who do you address with this offer?
Digital Vereint addresses civil society organisations (associations, limited liability enterprises (GmbH) or non-profit organisations) with headquarters in Berlin.
Who do you mean exactly when speaking of the Berlin civil society?
Organisations engaged in the civil society, for example associations, charitable limited liability enterprises (GmbH) or charitable entrepreneurial companies (UG). One of the criteria for the organisation is to have its headquarters in Berlin.
What does digital infrastructure mean?
We understand digital infrastructure as all relevant elements to support and sustainably ensure digitalisation. This comprises digital tools, education and networking opportunities, but also funding and hardware.
Why is digitalisation important for civil society?
Over the last twenty years, digitalisation has confronted civil society organisations with new challenges, but also with new opportunities. During this process for example, public space was relocated to digital spaces. Especially the COVID-19 pandemic clearly showed the importance of having a digital civil society to continuously ensure a functioning democracy. The initiative Aus der Krise lernen! Digitale Zivilgesellschaft stärken (Learning from crisis! Strengthening a digital civil society) shows that there remains a lot of work to be done in order to build and sustainably support a digital civil society, for example through funding programmes or publicly accessible open source infrastructure. Digital Vereint takes a step to bring digitalisation and civil society closer together.
How important is data protection for my organisation?
Data protection as well as open source software are the fundamental requirements of digital tools which are used in civil society work. Data protection isn’t a nice-to-have, but a definitive must-have. Many civil society representatives however, are still insecure when it comes to membership administration, newsletter mailing or general data security. Therefore, Digital Vereint offers education programmes and networking opportunities on this topic.
What’s the GDPR?
The GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation is an EU regulation which ensures that data protection standards are fulfilled. It equally applies to civil society organisations and after a while it’s easy to implement.
How do I choose a secure password?
The most common passwords in Germany in the year 2020 were “123456”, “hallo133” and “passwort”. Such passwords do not offer sufficient protection. If you choose a new password, for example to use one of the tools mentioned above, please bear the following points in mind:
A secure password should
- have at least 8-10 characters
- combine numbers and letters
- not contain names
- ideally consist of sentences or multiple languages
- not be written down anywhere
- not be used for different services
If you need support, password managers such as KeePassXC can generate and safe secure passwords.
What’s the difference between the Community Chat and the Teamchat?
The community chat is an open platform that aims to put civil society organisations into contact. Here, they can exchange learnings, network and cooperate. The Teamchat is an offer for only one organisation that is looking for a tool to communicate internally. Both offers work with the privacy-enhancing, open source service Mattermost. To access the community chat, click on “connect”, to get access to the teamchat, click “services”.
I want to add information to the content or know another initiative for the list.
Thank you! This platform is constantly renewed and developed, therefore we gladly receive your feedback via kontakt@digital-vereint.berlin
Why has Digital Vereint become a platform and who initiated it?
Before this platform was developed, several representatives of the Berlin civil society were consulted in workshops and individual interviews regarding their skills and needs in the field of digitalisation. Based on the survey, Digital Vereint was initiated. The platform was realised with funding from the Berlin Senate Chancellery. The CityLAB of the Technologiestiftung Berlin tests the use of open source infrastructure for civil society work through Digital Vereint.