Practice innovation through technology in the digital age: A grand challenge for social work

Information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to dramatically shift and enhance social work practice in the coming decade.
Integrating technology into social work and creating practice innovations through ICT will make transformative social change possible. Technology integration can create practice that includes flexible, on-demand, personal, and individually-paced services. Potential integration of specific technologies, including gaming, gamification, mobile technology, social media, robotics, the quantified self, and wearable technologies represent tremendous potential for practice gains. Beyond specific technologies, there is the opportunity to transform the social work profession to be ready to respond to and leverage any technology that becomes available. This paper delineates these possibilities and the specific goals for achieving this challenge.