I’ve been serving on the SA IT Committee for the past 4 years. Communication technology is playing an increasing role in the basic function of our fellowship. Newcomers are attracted by visiting our websites; literature is purchased and, in many cases, distributed via the web; during the pandemic, many of our face-to-face meetings moved to video, phone and/or other virtual platforms; chat groups helping members to stay instantly in touch; video/phone platforms are allowing our lower levels of service to more effectively meet as the fellowship spreads across the globe. The Committee plays an important role in enabling many of these functions through various projects. Some questions and projects of the past few years:

• How can the Buddy List and Sister List be re-structured to provide easy and non-technical access to loner members while still maintaining high security and protection of the personal data?
• How can SA offer Intergroups and groups the opportunity to update, online, their own meeting information to give SAICO the most up-to-date information possible when newcomers call for help? How can this information be connected to the SA website in a way that respects each meeting’s unique desire for anonymity?
• Who can help maintain the SA website to make it responsive and easy to use, especially for younger members who have high expectations for how websites and tech platforms are supposed to work to provide relevant information in easy and familiar ways? Particularly important is the modernization of our online Store platform.

I’m impressed by the work accomplished by the techy members of the IT Committee. They have worked in Customer Relations Management (CRM) software (Buddy/Sister Lists); JotForm and Excel (online meeting update system, RAC); WordPress, Commerce (website, Store); PHP, MySQL, Google Maps API (fellowship-wide on-line meeting finder). Wow!

We need more help as the technology needs of SA continue to rise. If you have been sober more than 2 years and have a few hours a month, please consider joining the fellowship’s IT committee. Any level of IT experience, from qualified professional to casual user is valuable: we need people to both help with the work of IT projects and make sure the final products make sense to the end user. Contact SAICO for an application. We hope to see you at our next meeting!