Does anyone have some advice on the pros and cons of any asset mapping software?

Hi Lachlan,

Do you have any examples?

Where you thinking of developing something?

I've often thought of finding/developing something user-friendly like this - have you seen The Personal Brain ? I think it's a possibility - I've been mucking around with it but I'm not fully convinced yet that it would work for what you want...

I'll let you know...

Regards,

Dee...

Hi Dee,

my post was speculative really...I thought I read somewhere about some software that was in use and was hoping someone on the network could fill the gap in my memory. We are working with a number of Deaf communities - potentially 20 or more throughout NZ -so the paper pile is going to get pretty tall eventually...

Lachlan

Hi Lachlan,

Well I'm having a great time with The Personal Brain - I think it has great implications/applications - and you can add all the documentation you want! I suggest you have a look - it launches on my desktop everyday and I add everything I think about - and they all link!

Let me know if you find anything else...

Regards,

Dee...

Dave!

Wow! I would love to hear more! I haven't used Personal Brian since this post 8 years ago!

I have heard of a few trial apps being developed though...

Dee...

Here's one example ... With the person I'm thinking about in the center of the Personal Brain (PB) display, I start identifying what does this person 'carry on board' (this photo), where is this person 'anchored' (associations, workplaces, learning places, formal and informal groups, etc.), to whom does this person have strong connections (and what do those people 'carry on board', etc.).  When I think about where someone is 'anchored', I remember that these are community places in which the person is likely to have standing and influence and where they have the power of invitation.  

When we're thinking about where someone is anchored, it raises the question, Who else is in there? and What do those people 'carry on board'?  It also leads us to explore what does this place 'carry on board' in terms of ideals, focus, commitments, etc.  For example, if someone is anchored in Habitat for Humanity, that's a very rich environment for connections, opportunities, and in particular, opportunities for someone to make a valued contribution.

The second photo, starts to remind us of the various kind of associaitons, and it often deepens our inquiry.

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One more screenshot, detailing what we're thinking about when asking where someone is (or might want to be) 'anchored'.  A friend of mine once mused, "Imagine what would happen if you did this kind of inquiry in a neighbourhood?"  I would add, Or a church?  Or a local civic club?  We're also looking for what Faye calls the 'sweet places' in community -- places that are based on invitation and agreement, tend to be small, are fundamentally cooperative rather than competitive, and in John McKnight's words, that systematically identify and mobilize the gifts of every single person.  Habitat is a beautiful example of that idea.

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Thanks so much for all this info, Dave! It's fabulous to re-visit the "brain" and see how you have been using it!

Have you written this up anywhere else? blog? article?

I think it could definitely benefit the e-conversations that are happening around online/virtual communities!

Dee...

Hello David,

Thank you for sharing about how you have been using Personal Brain. A friend of mine has talked me into using it for the past 3 years and I haven't taken a look.

For the sake of newbies like me and others that have started using it, but not in this special way as you have highlighted, will you consider doing something like a mini-webinar or video to show how this works?

Thank you.

Dear Fasoranti, 

I would be more than happy to do a mini-webinar demonstrating a live version of the Personal Brain 'map' that we've developed for this.  Early- to mid-December would be a good time on my side.  I'll get into my calendar and see what might work best, and set it up on Zoom's webinar platform.  What time zone are you calling from?

Appreciatively,

David Wetherow

Hello David, thank you for your response.

My time zone is GMT+1. If a weekend is great for you, so as not to infringe into your regular week, I will be available for that.

You can send me a link to your calendar and I will book for this session.

Best Regards,

Fasoranti.

David, were we on a webinar together last month?!

Garold Elston of Collaborative  for neighborhood Transformation. gelston@neighborhoodtransformation.net has been working extensively on a tool to gather information of groups using ABCD. It is based on 9 questions we ask people living in the community. Everything NT does is based on focusing on assets. We believe open ended questions are better then check questions. The problem though is adding the results into a data based which has taken a lot of work to work but  NT has got the tool ready and it is in use by new communities

Stan Rowland stanleyrowland9@gmail.com

[quote="Stan Rowland"]

Garold Elston of Collaborative  for neighborhood Transformation. gelston@neighborhoodtransformation.net has been working extensively on a tool to gather information of groups using ABCD. It is based on 9 questions we ask people living in the community. Everything NT does is based on focusing on assets. We believe open ended questions are better then check questions. The problem though is adding the results into a data based which has taken a lot of work to work but  NT has got the tool ready and it is in use by new communities

Stan Rowland stanleyrowland9@gmail.com

[/quote]

Hello Stan, can you please share the name of the tools and how to access it? Also, what are the 9 questions you ask people living in the community?

What are the specifications (data fields) that define Assets in ABCD?

While, I have not populated an asset system, yet, assets tracking is included in Sahana Eden:
http://eden.sahanafoundation.org/wiki/BluePrint/Assets

I have started exploring, a new instance of Sahana Eden:
https://picounion.net/eden/static/formats/s3csv/asset/asset.csv

Assets Management (Depreciation) | Odoo Accounting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZH-HDp95PE

Unfortunately, that will be 3am for me... maybe I could offer a Doodle poll next time? I regularly host international calls and would be happy to support this so the southern hemisphere could be involved, too...

In response to Kenneth's question about the "data fields"... I believe asset mapping is, at the heart of it, about intent and purpose - we don't gather data for no reason or to tick a box!

Here's a link to a project I was part of in Jakarta, Indonesia where we identified 6 "elements" to potentially map, including the 6 assets of ABCD, which are noted in the "community mapping" element in this example: http://jeder.com.au/the-asset-mapping-atlas/  

Hi David, I hope to join in the meeting on 18th at 16:00 GMT.

[quote="Dee Brooks"]

In response to Kenneth's question about the "data fields"... I believe asset mapping is, at the heart of it, about intent and purpose - we don't gather data for no reason or to tick a box!

Here's a link to a project I was part of in Jakarta, Indonesia where we identified 6 "elements" to potentially map, including the 6 assets of ABCD, which are noted in the "community mapping" element in this example: http://jeder.com.au/the-asset-mapping-atlas/  

[/quote]

thank you for providing a link

i found http://jeder.com.au/art-of-participatory-community-building/

http://jeder.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Six-Levels-of-Asset-Mapping-_2_.pdf

but this forum is about software. the sahana eden and ushahidi are both software that include asset management. I also use http://project-open.com a powerful ERP system that has many integrated financials and asset management capabilities.

My concern with the brain, which i used many years ago,
is that I did not find a Linux version, when I looked and

from my experience it is great, as a mind map, it's so fluid. The zoom in and out provides a unique experience where by it constitutes visually dynamic relational, interactions that morph based on one's selectable focus. TheBrain does not easily create an open system, by design, that would be widely accessible on github, as open source software. Makes it a bit hard to share.

So, it's hard for me to get excited about it since it does not satisfy my personal requirements.

A software tool i've used since ~2000 is: http://exelearning.net
It's a desktop outlining and publishing systems, written in python.

Ok, Kenneth, I think we're talking about 2 very different "data fields"... you asked, "What are the specifications (data fields) that define Assets in ABCD?" and I was responding to that question... 

Assets, as defined by ABCD are the ones that are contained in the link I sent but to keep it straight and easy here:

Assets of ABCD:

- skills, talents, passions of individuals 

- community groups and networks (associations)

- government and non-gov services and orgs (institutions)

- physical assets (natural and built environment)

- economic assets (spending power of individuals, small businesses)

- stories, values, culture 

Potential elements (or areas) to map:

- individual

- community

- stakeholders and partners

- organisations

- systems

- ecology/bio-region

Well Dee,

I'm still thinking that this forum is about software. The list of ABCD Assets does not constitute or otherwise identify any software applications, at least that I can find. What software are you referring to, if any?

I didn't think your question was asking about software applications? I thought it was asking about "what data fields define assets in ABCD"? 

I'm obviously not all over software and was trying to be helpful about what ABCD defines as assets - that's all...

Sorry if I have misunderstood your question about "data fields"...

So, please feel free to educate me on what data fields are; I'm very curious now!

Not a problem. I'm glad to share common interests. Asset management software, related to ABCD would be good to have. The data fields, that define the assets in ABCD should provide the grounds for establishing software requirements. 

What software do you use and know about that might be used for ABCD asset management?

I've already shared (above) software that I use. Each of which have asset management components defined by data fields in an integrated data model used by the system. Make sure to scroll down to the features section of the https://www.cmdbuild.org
to see GIS and BIM: https://www.cmdbuild.org/en/project/features/gis-and-bim

This is a pretty advanced topic and when it comes to software, especially open source software http://github.io is a vast repository and http://adlnet.gov is a DoD framework for Advanced Distributed Learning. Online and Distance Learning with Instructional Development and Learning Resource are topics and capabilities that provided functional structured systems, toolkits and methodologies to know about and where based on ones requirements can be utilized in real world situations.

I'm looking to map assets on different levels for various projects as a tool. How about you?

I'm still fairly confused...

My take from your message above:

"Asset management software, related to ABCD would be good to have" - agreed, this is what I understand this thread to be about - I was part of a meeting in India where a technology team were consulting with us about the assets of ABCD so they could develop an app that would show/highlight the areas of a neighbourhood where not only resources/networks were situated but also where things like piles of rubbish that needed a community-led response to clean up were located - they are still working on this, as far as I know...

"The data fields, that define the assets" - still doesn't tell me what a data field is?

"ABCD asset management" - I don't think I "manage" assets; or do you mean "manage" as in "how data is collected, looked after, stored etc"?

If the software you shared is Sahana Eden, I don't see how that aligns with asset-based community-led development, apart from mapping a static set of names, resources, locations etc - it does not seem very community-led, to me?

Project-open says it is an "end to end solution for the service industry" - also doesn't seem very community-led?

And, exelearning is about creating your own educational resources? - could be community-led if created with the community?

I'm aware of GitHub as a repository utilised by a colleague in NZ but haven't looked into it myself...

You said, "I'm looking to map assets on different levels for various projects as a tool" - what different levels? why are you mapping assets?

Thanks for your informative response!

We've had two different conversations on ABCD in Action that are focused on software for asset mapping. I've closed the other conversation and I'm sending people to this one. 

Now go talk amongst yourselves!

Hi,

I'm sure there are more complex tools out there but if you're looking for something quick, easy, flexible, collaborative and that looks good enough to share in a report you could try coggle.it

Here's the link - https://coggle.it/

Here's an example asset map for a local ward in the UK but you are free to invent your own!

Westover_Asset_Map.png  •  273KB

This is such a cool picture! I can't wait to try it out.

Deb

Thanks Deb. It's worth giving a go.

My tip if you like it is to create some space for the Coggle logo as it adds it to every picture you save on the free version.

It always places the logo in the top left corner. So by stretching a left branch out and a vertical branch up you can create a bit of room for it to fit. 

You can then easily remove the logo using any image editor (I use Pixlr X - https://pixlr.com/ as it's free and web based too).

Good luck!

Wes