© MGG
Since the second half of 2019, a team of MGG network members from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and Germany virtually puts its heads together to discuss options and opportunities regarding a digital space for the entire network. The aim is to deepen international cooperation and strengthen global connections by providing a space that makes it easy to exchange and explore the network anytime.
Like most of the people and the institute itself, the team, which is dedicated to the search for an internet platform for the MGG network, has to adapt its way of working to the new challenges. Although we are traditionally used to exchange and collaborate across different time zones and continents using digital channels, the virus brings with it some additional challenges. The cooperation is affected by practical quarantine restrictions like changed working hours or simply a poor internet connection (yes, unfortunately the quality of our screenshots from the last meeting was too bad). Fortunately, humans are very robust and adaptable and our learning curve goes up steeply.
Like most of the people and the institute itself, the team, which is dedicated to the search for an internet platform for the MGG network, has to adapt its way of working to the new challenges. Although we are traditionally used to exchange and collaborate across different time zones and continents using digital channels, the virus brings with it some additional challenges. The cooperation is affected by practical quarantine restrictions like changed working hours or simply a poor internet connection (yes, unfortunately the quality of our screenshots from the last meeting was too bad). Fortunately, humans are very robust and adaptable and our learning curve goes up steeply.
The crisis and the fact that personal contact has become virtually impossible show just how important a forum with easy access for all members and friends of the network really is. But it is precisely through this isolation for an indefinite period of time that we learn how important the platform is not only as a work space for common questions and for connecting members, but that the connection of us all as humans is the basis for the spirit of the network and the cooperation that arises from it.
After we tested a potential platform with a group at the end of 2019, a small group of the network is currently working on evaluating the tested platform as well as possible alternatives. The goal is ultimately to achieve the best possible outcome for the network and to find the solution that can lift the spirit of the MGG network into digital space. In addition to testing alternative systems, we meet regularly via Skype and Zoom to share our experiences and always check the priorities set. Ultimately, we hope to have found a suitable solution for all requirements soon, so that the platform will remain a contact point for dialogue, cooperation and friendship long after the crisis has been overcome, and will accompany us as a strong network through the next, hopefully less dramatic tasks.
