ICTworks

The Global Digital Development Forum is proud to announce that USAID Administrator Samantha Power will be giving a keynote presentation at 13:00 GMT (9am Eastern) on May 4th, 2022 – the first day of GDDF 2022.

Please RSVP Now to attend GDDF 2022. This FREE event will engage you with over 20 hours of exciting sessions on May 4-5 2022. 

USAID Administrator Power’s keynote will be one of many sessions at GDDF that explore USAID’s digital development leadership. USAID launched its Digital Strategy in 2020 and is now implementing change across the Agency, with impressive results:

• Digital solutions integration into Healthcare, Food Security, and Education sectors
• 20+ Missions creating Digital Ecosystem Country Assessments (25% of all Missions!!)
• How to guides for Cybersecurity, Disinformation, and Artificial Intelligence
• Formalized Digital Development Advisor job descriptions with staff in multiple Missions

Please review our draft agenda to see where you can engage directly with key Agency staff. Here are a few highlights to excite you for this high-profile event:

USAID Breakout Sessions

• USAID Digital Development Advisors – Perspectives From Four USAID Missions: Learn about USAID Digital Development Advisors (DDAs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Vietnam, Rwanda, and West Bank and Gaza USAID Missions. DDAs support the implementation of the USAID Digital Strategy through specific digital interventions, as well as advise the USAID Mission in digital approaches and best practices.
• DECAthon: Exploring USAID’s Approach to Digital Ecosystems: Understand the connections and interdependencies of topics like digital democracy, information integrity, and the digital economy drawing on USAID’s experience with the Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) initiative. Explore how a holistic ecosystem lens can help us make sense of conflicting digital trends.
• Impacts of Digital Harm on Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing: Explore how the massive increase in time spent online as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown worldwide has brought existing concerns about screen time and online experiences even more sharply into focus. Evidence is increasing on the adverse impact of excessive screen time and harmful online experiences, such as cyberbullying and misinformation, on the mental health of children and youth.
• Making AI “Work” for Work: Or, What Happens to Labor in an Automated World? The nature of work is changing as AI-enabled automation expands throughout the world. How can development practitioners prepare for this changing landscape? What can we do now to respond to the long-term consequences of these trends? How can we adopt technologies that enable economic growth while also ensuring that no one is left behind?

USAID Lightning Talks

• USAID Digital Strategy: How It’s Going & What’s to Come: The Digital Strategy is now in its third year. What has changed and what have we learned? How has it impacted IPs’ work? More importantly, what comes next and how can partners become more involved?
• 5 Things to Know When Developing an E-Gov Proposal for USAID: Find out USAID’s lessons learned from e-government projects via key insights from interviews of 21 USAID staff and reviews of 39 projects e-government  from around the world.
• Digital Literacy: Key Considerations for Digital Development: How does USAID define digital literacy? What is its two-pronged digital literacy framework of capacity and safety? What are the lessons learned from digital literacy implementation?
• More than a Map, USAID’s Geospatial Strategy: In 2022, USAID will launch its first ever Geospatial Strategy. Learn about USAID’s vision for geospatial technology as an integral part of shaping international development.
• Defining a New Cybersecurity Paradigm for Development: Hear ideas and suggestions for improving organizational cybersecurity readiness for USAID and its partners, including through greater collaboration and threat information sharing to mitigate the fast evolving cybersecurity threats facing the development field.

The draft GDDF 2022 agenda features over 100 other sessions from key thought leaders and decision makers from across the ICT4D field. Please RSVP now to ensure your ability to engage with them on May 4-5, 2022.