2022 - The year of un­cer­tainty

If I had to sum up 2022 in one word, it would be uncertainty. The frameworks that our wider environment had taken for granted have been called into question. We used to think we lived in a peaceful, predictable world. We found that we could be confident that we could achieve a stable, growing market presence through our effectiveness.

What we had previously experienced as a working model has been fundamentally shaken. The effects of our expansive environment have seeped into our daily lives, and stress has entered most of our lives on a scale not seen before.

I think the most important achievement of the past year has been the strengthening of our relationships, the experience of being able to rely on each other in the face of many difficulties. External circumstances have brought us adaptability and resilience alongside the experience of uncertainty.

We have had an exciting year at Integral Vision. Last year we worked on 23 projects, 5490 tasks and 15760 complexity points. Below is a summary of the major developments that have taken place in the past year.

2022 launch - war

We started 2022 with a bang. We have completed a lot of the work we started earlier, and we have brought a number of projects to life. It was not long before we were able to meet each other more often with adequate protection: we were soon faced with another worrying development: on 24 February, war broke out in our neighbouring country. We discussed a number of issues within the team, including how to deal with the current situation and how to prepare for the expected economic recession.

We also looked at who in the community would like to play an active role in addressing the crisis. We decided to work with each other, but essentially make individual contributions on refugee issues. And our corporate focus will be on ensuring that we can deliver the work we have undertaken in the face of anticipated difficulties.

Our firm's lawyer Heni has been volunteering for a decade with the Street Layer Association, where she and others provide free legal assistance to people living in poverty, mainly homeless and in precarious housing. We started working with the association over the summer to revamp their former website. We did the development pro bono.

The Thalassa House provides a niche and nationally unique therapeutic community space for people who come to them. With scarce resources, they perform their work to a high standard. Last summer, we decided to offer our professional help to revamp their website. Our former colleague István Csáki took a very active role in the pro bono project. 

We have made available the result of an exciting project, which was also summarized in the leading Hungarian online newspaper, Telex.hu. "On the occasion of the Hungarian Culture Day, the Petőfi Literary Museum (PIM) has made available and downloadable on the 200 Petőfi freely website a digitized version of Sándor Petőfi's original poems, letters and portraits, as well as photos of artworks and objects related to the poet."

On average, Bethesda Children's Hospital cares for twelve thousand outpatients and nine thousand inpatients each year. We are pleased that we contributed to the improvement of the institution's internal knowledge management processes through the implementation of an intranet knowledge sharing system.

How does the development of artificial intelligence affect our human rights? How can we fight terrorism without violating our human rights? The ECNL e-learning platform is constantly expanding its range of topics. We are honoured to be part of this work.

I wrote an article about building trust and the principle of reciprocity, "The most stable formations are not selected by project managers, but come into being on their own, in a self-organizing way." 

Second quarter - economic crisis

The power of community really shows in difficult times. It has become clear that we are on the brink of an economic crisis. We have done our utmost to ensure the most stable conditions possible for our clients and ourselves in our micro-community.

In the shadow of war, otherwise manageable stress levels can multiply; it is particularly important to recognise signs of exhaustion and to bridge the gap when someone is going through a difficult time, allowing them to rest and recharge.

We have taken the following measures during this period:

*we have started to review our operations to improve efficiency.

*called in a trainer with expertise in collaborative communication, and started a small group session that focuses on connection rather than a quick methodological knowledge transfer.

*increased our international visibility, applied for new projects, won several awards.

A humanistic approach is a cornerstone of how we operate. Identifying and solving problems is our core business, so there is a strong urge to solve other people's difficulties rather than listen and ask questions. How to listen rather than advise is knowledge I have been trying to deepen for years.

Current projects in this period:

• intracen.org 
  We have completed our project which has been running for almost a year. Through our development, we have helped to create decent paid jobs for marginalised groups in society. 
• farmit.net
  The farmit.net portal has been revamped twice in the last eight years: first with a redesign, and this year with a migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 9. 
• kassakmuzeum.hu
  Working together with the PIM and Kassák Museum staff, we redesigned and revamped the official website of the institution. 

Autumn and winter - the power of community

By this time, it became clear to us that there was a need to strengthen the community and the positive atmosphere. So we kicked off the autumn with a celebration of IV's birthday, inviting all our colleagues who have contributed to the company's development over the past 13 years to come to the office. Integral Vision is the story of 40 people joining and 20 people leaving. A long version of the toast has also been published on the blog.

While the office is an important place for community organizing on a day-to-day basis, we've now fully realized that hybrid working is the model that works best for us. We will continue to reinforce this in the coming quarter.

We have had an intense year, with many exciting projects that we have worked on this year, many of which we will be able to boast about in the first half of next year. After almost half a year of cooperation, we launched the magyarnaplo.hu and irodalmimagazin.hu websites at the same time. It's a pleasure to read feedback when the other party feels our enthusiasm and commitment to the project.

"They listened to our needs and delivered the best possible solution. It was clear that they care about the project and want it to be successful. Their Drupal developers are among the best in the industry. They exceeded our expectations on several occasions." https://integralvision.eu/en/work/hungarian-diary-publishing

Beyond the narrower community, we've also tried to be more active in the wider professional community. In October, we participated in Drupalcon in Prague. https://events.drupal.org/prague2022

As the year draws to a close, and as a result of conversations with old and new colleagues, I've been looking back a bit further than the beginning of the year. In my last piece of writing this year, I shared an experience from before the founding of IV, but one that still resonates intensely today. Looking back now, I would say...

So 2022 was about uncertainty, adaptation, community and resilience.

I wish the new year brings peace, trusting connection and a sense of belonging for us all.