Colmena

Four media outlets in Ukraine have been part of the Colmena community since September, sharing a single vision: to use the open-source software for the entire process of producing journalistic content.

What is the future of community communication? How has the digital environment and the development of new technologies evolved? How do radios relate to new digital realities? These questions inspired the creation of the series of talks “Other ways to expand the radio”, an event in which Colmena took part on October 20.

On September 27, Colmena participated in a round table on digital innovations and their contribution to the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Digital innovations consist of creating new proposals with a close relationship with information and communication technologies.

Since this month, media in Ukraine have been involved in the co-creation of Colmena. A team of four journalists with experience in the region started the testing and feedback phase of the beta version of the application adapted to the Ukrainian media landscape.

July and August were months of reflection for the Colmena development team. Through a “creative pause”, the roadmap for the coming months was redesigned. The main objective, with the support of the media, is to achieve a fully functional first (beta) version of Colmena by the end of this year.

In a country where computers are not accessible to all, radio stations see the arrival of Colmena as a means to facilitate the work of journalists in the field.

With the aim of creating a space for dialogue and cooperation, the Bolivian magazine Muy Waso held a workshop in Puno (Peru) in June on journalism and digital security. The main goal was to showcase Colmena’s potential for local communicators.