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I do hate sectoritis – the innate desire of development actors to isolate into health, education, agriculture, civil society, and all the other sector silos and sub-silos of our industry; its stupid tribalism at its...
Today Americans go to the polls across the country to choose the next President of the United States. Yet, leading up to this day, there was much talk of long lines, ballot issues, voter suppression, and witnessing violence...
Published on: Nov 07 2016 by Linda Raftree - Comments Off on Rethinking Informed Consent in Digital Development
Most INGOs have not updated their consent forms and policies for many years, yet the growing use of technology in our work, for many different purposes, raises many questions and insecurities that are difficult to address.
Our...
How much does ICT4D academic research achieve actual economic and societal impact? That was the question asked by ICT4D researcher Roger Harris in a recent study, “How ICT4D Research Fails the Poor.”
He found...
At its most fundamental level, the role of mobile technology within health systems should be to improve access to and sharing of valid health information. There is a real opportunity to exploit existing technological...
Published on: Oct 31 2016 by Guest Writer - Comments Off on Lessons From a MERL Tech Confessional: It’s All About Assumptions
It’s been said that good science is the art of getting less wrong over time. Maybe the same principle applies to the use of technology for monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning? That’s exactly what we explored...
The concept of Universal Service is pretty simple: telecommunications services should be accessible to the widest number of people at affordable prices. We can break it down into three principles:
Availability: the level...
Published on: Oct 26 2016 by Guest Writer - Comments Off on How Do We Make Open Data Useful in East Africa?
“What is the use of open data that makes it relevant for everyone?” This candid question was raised at the East Africa Open Data Fest held in Nairobi in August. People from a range of backgrounds and organizations...
Published on: Oct 24 2016 by Guest Writer - Comments Off on How to Mine All Your Existing M&E Data Without Breaking the Bank
A common challenge faced by organizations in a world where information systems are changing rapidly is a large amount of data that is not easily accessible. The Global Environment Facility (GEF), is no different, but we’ve...
Many scholars have identified an interesting phenomenon that manifests when introducing educational technology to populations in developing countries. The Matthew Effect, coined by Robert Merton, posits that students, who...