ICTworks

Please sign up to present, register to attend, or reserve a demo table for MERL Tech DC 2017 on September 7-8, 2017 at FHI 360 in Washington, DC.

We will engage 300 practitioners from across the development ecosystem for a two-day conference seeking to turn the theories of MERL technology into effective practice that delivers real insight and learning in our sector.

MERL Tech DC 2017

Digital data and new media and information technologies are changing monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL). The past five years have seen technology-enabled MERL growing by leaps and bounds

The field is in constant flux with emerging methods, tools and approaches, such as:

• Adaptive management and developmental evaluation
• Faster, higher quality data collection
• Remote data gathering through sensors and self-reporting by mobile
• Big data and social media analytics
• Story-triggered methodologies

Alongside these new initiatives, we are seeing increasing documentation and assessment of technology-enabled MERL initiatives. Good practice guidelines are emerging and agency-level efforts are making new initiatives easier to start, build on and improve.

The swarm of ethical questions related to these new methods and approaches has spurred greater attention to areas such as responsible data practice and the development of policies, guidelines and minimum ethical standards for digital data.

Championing the above is a growing and diversifying community of MERL practitioners, assembling from a variety of fields; hailing from a range of starting points; espousing different core frameworks and methodological approaches; and representing innovative field implementers, independent evaluators, and those at HQ that drive and promote institutional policy and practice.

Please sign up to present, register to attend, or reserve a demo table for MERL Tech DC, where we’ll bring over 300 community members together for 2 days of in-depth sharing and exploration of what’s been happening across this cross-disciplinary field, what we’ve been learning, complex barriers that still need resolving, and debate around the possibilities and the challenges that our field needs to address as we move ahead.

Submit Your Session Ideas Now

Like previous conferences, MERL Tech DC will be a highly participatory, community-driven event and we’re actively seeking practitioners in monitoring, evaluation, research, learning, data science and technology to facilitate every session.

Please submit your session ideas now. We are particularly interested in:

• Discussions around good practice and evidence-based review
• Workshops with practical, hands-on exercises
• Discussion and sharing on how to address methodological aspects such as rigor, bias, and construct validity in MERL Tech approaches
• Future-focused thought provoking ideas and examples
• Conversations about ethics, inclusion and responsible policy and practice in MERL Tech

Submission Deadline: Friday, May 12, 2017

Session leads receive priority for the available seats at MERL Tech and a discounted registration fee. You will hear back from us in early June and, if selected, you will be asked to submit the final session title, summary and outline by June 30.

Register Now

Please sign up to present or register to attend MERL Tech DC 2017 to examine these trends with an exciting mix of educational keynotes, lightning talks, and group breakouts, including an evening reception to foster needed networking across sectors.

We are charging a modest fee to better allocate seats and we expect to sell out quickly again this year, so buy your tickets or demo tables now. Event proceeds will be used to cover event costs and to offer travel stipends for select participants implementing MERL Tech activities in developing countries.