Wikipedia
husITa (Human Services Information Technology Applications) is an international virtual associationand a registered US non-profit organizationestablished with the mission of promoting the ethical and effective use of information technology in the human services. The main focus of husITa, and the claim to expertise of its associates, is situated at the intersection of three core domains: information technology, human services, and social development. husITa pursues its mission through international conferences, publications and research dissemination directed at technology applications and innovations that promote social well-being.
For much of its early history husITa operated as an informal international network of human service academics and practitioners. One of the outcomes of its first international conferencehusITa1 held in 1987 in Birmingham, Englandwas the establishment of a working group to determine the feasibility of an international body 'to highlight the importance of human service computing, to guide developments, and to foster international co-operation'.
The working group was composed of Hein de Graaf (Netherlands), Walter LaMendola (USA), Dick Schoech (USA), and Stuart Toole (UK). Initial projects identified by the working group included the development of research agendas, position papers, repositories of information, and promoting a second husITa conference in 1989. Bryan Glastonbury was later added to the group as secretary. The working group met in Colorado, Denver for three days in May 1988 and published a report on the issues that a husITa international organization would need to address.
Although the 1988 Denver meeting agreed its objectives, husITa wasn't formally established as an organization for another twelve years. The structure of the formal organization was later agreed to at Denver in 2000. The founding members at the Denver 2000 meeting were: Hein de Graaf, Walter LaMendola, Rob MacFadden, Jo Ann Regan, Jackie Rafferty, Jan Steyaert, Dick Schoech, Stuart Toole, and Victor Savtschenko.