World Bank + Social Web

You expect consumer brands to embrace social media – it is where their customers are communicating with each other and gathering information for purchase decisions. But, what about other organizations, like international non-governmental organizations?

The World Bank has become an active participant in the social web. Through the Open Development program the organization is encouraging transparency and sharing their data with the community to promote innovation. The data for organization's projects is available online and via the World Bank DataFinder App for iPhone, iTouch, and iPad.

Recently the organization announced a contest – Apps for Development – to build an app for any mobile platform that displays their data in a useful way to the community. Here is how the competition is described by the World Bank:

• “We're challenging the public to create innovative software applications that move us a step closer toward solving some of the world's most pressing problems.”

This is an ambitious effort to harness the collective creativity of the global community. And it is a way for the organization to transform from a large non-governmental organization to a tangible entity in the eyes of the individuals it interacts with around the world.

The World Bank has also embraced blogging and has a number of active blogs on its website. In addition, the organization is actively engaging the community on a variety of social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. On Twitter the organization encourages discussion of Open Development with the #opendata hashtag.

Reaching out – virtually – to the global community and participating in conversations on the web is important for all organizations, including for profit companies, governments, and non-governmental organizations.

If a large international organization like the World Bank can become an active participant in the social web so can you.