ICTworks

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we brought together over 2,600 experts for the first Global Digital Development Forum in May 2020. It was an amazing success with 154 sessions spanning 16 hours across the workday from Asia, to Africa, to the Americas.

Last year, GDDF 2021 was bigger than ever! Over 3,000 professionals from 1,500 organizations and 133 countries joined us again to celebrate the global digital development community. We anticipate even more enthusiasm this year.

Please RSVP Now for the Global Digital Development Forum on May 4th, 2022, co-organized by USAID, Chemonics, Deloitte, and TechChange.

Submit Your Session Ideas Now

The Global Digital Development Forum will feature thoughtful keynote presentations, exciting lightning talks, captivating breakout sessions, interactive workshops, and enlightening solution demonstrations from your peers.

This year, we are focusing on three key areas of digital development – exploring transformative questions,  industry-defining discussion, new voices, creative ideas for each area:

• Locally-led Development: What is locally-created tech? How can digital development harness local digital ecosystems? What does locally-led mean for the status quo in technology development? Where is local ICT4D successful? How can digital development foster greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility?
• Climate Change: How does digital development respond to this mega-threat? Where are we contributing to it? Who is measuring its impact? How can we help people mitigate or adapt? Who is on the leading edge? What is working? What are they learning & doing?
• Emerging Technologies: Can 5G increase last mile broadband Internet access? Are cryptocurrencies now relevant to developing countries? Do the risks of AI outweigh its benefits? Will sensors and Internet-of-Things improve geospatial data accuracy? How can emerging tech be useful, and not another fad?

This forum will be a highly participatory, community-driven event so we are actively seeking practitioners from around the world with a wide range of ideas, experiences, and backgrounds to lead each type of session. Special consideration will be given to sessions led by practitioners from low- and middle-income countries.

Please Submit Your Session Ideas by Feb 24th. If selected, you will be asked to submit the final session title, summary and outline by March 10th. All session leads will receive dedicated training in presenting online from TechChange to ensure an engaging virtual event.

Suggested Session Construction

GDDF 2022 sessions are different from the usual ICT4D conference events. Please propose engaging conversation topics with lead discussants from different organizations. The idea is to foster lively debate on key questions with multiple viewpoints, not listen to rote presentations on implemented projects.

Here are several session topic ideas to guide your design direction:

• How are local approaches successfully combating disinformation campaigns?
• Do we need a code of ethics for digital development?
• What successful strategies are being used to account for bias in AI?
• How can local communities respond to climate change with digital tools?
• Who is creating innovative models for building digital literacy?
• Where can Web3 innovations lead to development outcomes?
• How can we leverage two years of COVID-19 for better development?
• Where are immersive technologies being used in refugee camps?

See past Technology Salon sessions for further inspiration on how to develop your session theme and recruit diverse discussants. Session ideas that focus on one solution or with discussants from one organization will not be accepted.

Suggested GDDF Session Topics

We seek a wide range of ideas and viewpoints across the international development and humanitarian relief sectors – especially those coming from local communities – within these broad topic categories.

• AgriTech: Smallholder Farming, Animal Husbandry, Aquaculture, Value Chains
• Climate Change: Climate Adaption, Clean Tech, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Green Transport
• Digital Democracy: Community Engagement, Elections, Activism and Human Rights
• Digital Economy: Digital Financial Services, Digital Identity, Agency and Inclusion, Fostering Inclusive Digital Innovation
• Digital Health: COVID-19, HIV/AIDS, Mother & Child, Family Planning, Health Workforce, Supply Chain
• Digital Transformation: Personalized Service Delivery, Predictive & Proactive Outreach, Omnichannel Engagement, Focused Customer Experience
• EduTech: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Adult, Informal and Digital Literacy Skills
• Emerging Technology: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Remote Sensing, Digital Identification, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Virtual Assistants,
• eGovernment: Citizen Services, eProcurement, Social Payments, Public Administration, Land Registration, Anti-Corruption
• Humanitarian Response: Natural Disasters, Conflict, Post-conflict
• Information Integrity: Media, Disinformation, Misinformation, Social Accountability, Information Literacy
• Responsible Data: Collection, Analysis, Interoperability, Presentation, Dashboards, Risks, Privacy, and Protection
• Safeguarding and Protection: Cybersecurity, Digital Safety Technologies, Policies, Guidelines and Training

We expect a COVID-19 Digital Response theme in many non-health sessions, featuring learning from recent activities as well as Ebola, HIV and other viral infection epidemics.

Each session should include underlying concepts like data privacy and security, constituent protection and safeguarding, inclusion, the role of gender and how to monitor, evaluate and learn from success.

Suggested GDDF Session Types

We want to curate multiple interactive online session formats that engage and inspire participants to action. We encourage session ideas that utilize these broad session types:

• Keynote Presentations on transformative digital development topics of global importance
• Lightning Talks that showcase new ideas or focused learning on ICT4D successes and failures in short, fast-paced presentations
• Breakout sessions featuring lively debates on key contested issues or interactive roundtable discussions that explore complex deployment challenges
• Workshops and skill-building sessions with practical, hands-on exercises and approaches
• Technology demonstrations of new solutions, approaches and key innovations ready for rapid deployment

All session leads will receive dedicated training in online learning from TechChange to ensure they have the skills to lead an engaging virtual event. This online facilitation skill is getting more valuable every day, so submit your session idea now!

Key GDDF 2022 Participant Benefits

GDDF 2022 is different from other online ICT4D events. We are committed to community-driven sessions that explore digital development challenges and opportunities with four key benefits:

• Digital Development Focus: Explore the long-term challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and opportunities to collectively build an open, inclusive, and secure digital ecosystem for a safer, more prosperous future for us all.
• Peer Connections: Join your friends and collaborators from around the world and meet tech and development entrepreneurs with emerging ideas, as well as the donors and partners working with them – and you – to responsibly leverage technology solutions for greater impact.
• Your Ideas: Share your experiences and insights with thousands of other digital development professionals in exciting presentations, lively discussions, and personal conversations across multiple fora.
• New Experiences: Expand your concept of an ICT4D conference by joining innovative sessions using emerging tools, music, and virtual worlds to improve on physical interactions with your personal and professional peers.

GDDF 2022 will continue to remove barriers to the inclusion of participants from low- and middle-income countries by providing free admission for all, and include:

• A headlining keynote presentation from USAID and multiple interactive online sessions, led by trained facilitators that engage and excite you.
• Sessions spanning the globe from 4:00 GMT to 20:00 GMT featuring your peers at the cutting edge of technology and development in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.
• Free participation in exciting, compelling, relevant sessions on TechChange‘s online learning platform.
• Inspiring experiences and results from innovative projects that achieve development goals by the creative use of new and emerging technologies.

Don’t miss out on GDDF 2022. Please RSVP now to be considered for participation and please pay special attention to the Relevance section when you fill out the application form.