ICTworks

Wow! Fourteen (14!) years after I started ICTworks, this site is still going strong. ICTworks has outlasted multiple programs, projects, and even organizations. We still have 25,000 continuously refreshed email subscribers, and every ICTworks post in 2022 was seen by an average of 10,000 people.

Top 10 ICTworks Posts in 2022

Last year we looked at popular ICTworks posts in 2021, which was surprising and enlightening. Let’s do the same this year and see if any trends are continuing for another year.

10. Six False Narratives to Change in Educational Technology Research

Mary Burns always has great insight on ICT4Edu programs and last year was no different. She helped us learn which bad edutech tropes need to stop now – the new reality has surpassed old ideas.  Like OLPC, which was all the rage when I started ICTworks, but now that idea has thankfully been discarded.

9. ChatGPT is Coming for Your International Development Job

Artificial intelligence applications are everywhere now, and the recent release of ChatGPT has captivated the Internet with its realistic answers to common questions – even Google is scared of its implications! This shouldn’t surprise ICTworks readers since we hinted at computers running development programs back in 2013.

8.  The Web3 Ecosystem Playbook for Nonprofit Organizations, The Benefits of Central Bank Digital Currencies for African Countries and 7 New Blockchain Initiatives Driving Financial Innovation Across Africa

Web3, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain are still very interesting for digital development expert, even with the recent market meltdown for cryptocurrencies.  Donors and practitioners want to know how these new technologies will impact developing countries – for better or worse. All three of these posts were popular, though not equally so.  I’ve grouped them here for your convenience.

7. Six Digital Agriculture Opportunities in 47 sub-Saharan African Countries

Agritech is a perennially popular way to improve smallholder farmer incomes and the FAO delivered with practical ideas for program success. I wonder if anyone used these ideas in their programs. Please tell me in the comments if you read the report and used any of their suggestions.

6. How Bangladesh Successfully Deployed DHIS2 Information System Nationwide

Digital health is on everyone’s mind as we enter year four of a global pandemic that ebbs and flows around the world, infecting and reinfecting people and communities with sickness and fear. DHIS2 is one of the most popular electronic healthcare systems and we all wanted to know how to deploy it correctly.

5. ICRC Cyber Attack is Our Constituent Data Management Nightmare

The ICRC was hacked in 2022, and to their great credit, the ICRC actually talked about the attack, who was behind it, and the impact it had on their programs. If only more organizations would be transparent about other cyber attacks, we could prioritize cybersecurity in our proposals and programs.

4. Please Submit Your Session Ideas for Global Digital Development Forum 2022

GDDF was back for anther global ICT4D conference that brought together over 4,000 practitioners, funders, and government staff for a two-day exploration of  community progress in digital development. GDDF 2023 will be in April this year, so start organizing your sessions now!

3. Digital Technologies Are Part of the Climate Change Problem

Tim Unwin noted that digital technologies create their own climate change issues, from massive electrical usage to rare earths mining for computer components to the massive eWaste problem inherent with mobile phone consumption. Climate change is also a growing issue (finally!) in the United States.

2. Three Key Challenges to Data Cleaning in Digital Development Programs

This year, I experimented with research articles that I edit to make readable for non-academic audiences. Many of them were very popular with this discussion on the realities of data cleaning proving to be a huge hit. This is understandable when basic data cleaning is over 80% of the workload for data scientists.

1. How to Guide: USAID Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment Toolkit

Congratulations to USAID for the most popular ICTworks post in 2022! They released a step-by-step guide to help USAID Missions conduct high-quality research for strategic and programmatic digital development decisions. Obviously, many ICT4D practitioners wanted to know how USAID would assess their work or guide future funding. You can skip right to the reports here too.

Share Your Idea with 10,000 Readers

ICTworks is the best way to get your idea into the minds of digital development practitioners around the world. You can submit an idea or a finished draft for a new post or articles published elsewhere. We especially welcome posts from:

• Donors looking for new solutions from innovative technologists
• Organizations that want to share case studies or impact storiesConsultants with strong views on how we can improve digital development
• Researchers who wants their papers to be read and change minds

Please read our guest post guidelines and send us your ideas today. You could be the next author reaching thousands and winning next year’s Top 10 Blog Posts list.