The old adage of Build It And They Will Come simply doesn’t work with many Future Users. Sustained engagement demands not only an innovative product but a shake-up in the way we traditionally go about identifying relevance and creating useful solutions, typically using widespread or mundane technology and platforms (such as the ubiquitous mobile phone, GPS and RFID) that’s just applied to cool effect. 4iP have already established a strong pedigree of encouraging forward-thinking and inventive ways to reach out to millions of people who would otherwise happily let the digital revolution pass them by.

Even before setting up their north of England base in Sheffield, 4iP have demonstrated a commitment to going outside of the London belt to champion participatory ideas from across the country by ordinary people that get looked over by conventional funders. Just two classic examples that have spawned in the Yorkshire region and benefitted from their support include Patient Opinion and School of Everything.  Key to both ideas are using relatively simple technologies to giving normal folks a platform to not only have and share a voice – and, in the process, daring to challenge established institutions – but to follow up on it with actions that have real-world impacts and create real-world relationships and communities.

It’s no surprise that this bottom-up approach to influencing our immediate worlds through technology appeals to us at Unsheffield, and we’re delighted to welcome 4iP back after 2008’s BarCamp Sheffield as a sponsor committed to grassroots, participatory events.