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A few weeks back I had a really energising conversation with Bert Maerten, the International Program Director for Oxfam Denmark. Like many in his position, Bert was looking to make sense of the fast-moving world of Generative...
African startups raised only $2.2 billion in 2024, representing just 0.6% of global startup funding, highlighting a massive financing gap that leaves promising tech entrepreneurs without the capital needed to scale digital...
Today, we face twin challenges: improving impact while navigating a growing funding crisis. I believe reimagining how organizations generate, manage, and use data can help meet both.
This is not a magic bullet, but it is...
I’ve lost count of how many AI-for-development projects I’ve seen crash and burn. Not because the technology wasn’t impressive or the intentions weren’t noble, but because teams fundamentally misunderstood...
Independent news outlets worldwide face an existential crisis. Media outlets in 160 out of 180 countries report achieving financial stability “with difficulty” or “not at all,” according to the 2025...
Development practitioners are focusing on the wrong AI narrative. We are debating ChatGPT’s impact on humanitarian aid and fret over whether 90% of corporate AI pilots fail. Yet, something extraordinary is happening...
Where we are with GenAI and MERL? Back in November 2024, I wrote a post outlining some trends and learning from 2024. Picking up from there, here are some key trends and happenings worth noting now:
The world (or maybe just...
The IndiaAI Mission is spending taxpayer money for open-source LLMs. India is also a strong advocate of Digital Public Goods and Digital Public Infrastructure on the global stage, both of which are deeply intertwined with...
The State Department’s $150 million grant to Zipline represents everything wrong with current “America First” aid policy. This deal positions African governments as paying customers for a proprietary American...
I started ICTworks seventeen (17!) years ago to engage digital development leaders, and help us all implement technology solutions more effectively in international development programs. This humble website is now the blog...
