Since the formation of the Church, technology has played an important role in its progress. The Prophet Joseph Smith utilized the technology of his day—newspapers—through advances in printing presses. Under President Heber J. Grant, Music and the Spoken Word made use of the radio. And President Gordon B. Hinckley continues to employ technological advances to spread the gospel across the globe.
In the spirit of this tradition, several directors of technology for the Church are employing the forefront technology of the 21st century to continue the work.
Joel Dehlin, chief information officer for the Church, has a vision of what technology should do for the Church.
"[It should deliver] high quality content to every corner of the earth, decrease administration and increase ministration, and bring souls to Christ," he said during a "Tech Talk" discussion held in Salt Lake City on January 18 and 23.
At the first Tech Talk, Brother Dehlin highlighted the headway the Church has made in utilizing various technologies, including satellite conferences, which have given most Church members the opportunity to participate in general conference and enabled many others to participate in several temple dedications. Also, with the rise of the Internet, 61 country Web sites are now available in 42 different languages on the Web through LDS.org.
Brother Dehlin also addressed some of the challenges on the path to truly utilizing today's technology. The Church's 12 million members live in many different countries and speak many different languages, making things complex, he said. Furthermore, the Church is spreading in large numbers in third–world countries where easy access to the Internet and other technologies is not possible. Despite that, Brother Dehlin and his colleagues are optimistic about the usefulness of technology in spreading the gospel.
Many of the Church's advances in technology are being discussed on the new Web site ldstech.lds.org, which was recently launched to offer deeper insight into the technological aspect of the Church. But more than that, the site is aimed at getting people involved.
There is a great, untapped resource of people who are tech–savvy and could improve the technology of the Church, Brother Dehlin said. The time has come to utilize their knowledge.
Visitors and contributors to the site can post questions or respond to one another's quandaries. Contributors can also offer up their own ideas and suggestions that "the Church or community need to develop," according to the site.
Read the entire article here.Labels: technology
