Posts by Josh Powell

From DG’s more than 20 years of experience in creating, delivering, and adapting open source and open data solutions, we’ve learned several best practices on how to make technology accessible and sustainable while prioritizing engagement from open source communities—these practices can be applied to building and implementing DPIs. In this blog, we’ll explore what DPI is, DG’s approach to DPI, and three best practices that can be used to ensure DPIs are effective and advance inclusion.

IREX and Development Gateway: An IREX Venture participated in Festival de Datos from November 7-9, 2023. In this blog, Philip Davidovich, Annie Kilroy, Josh Powell, and Tom Orrell explore five key issues discussed at Festival de Datos on advancing data systems and how IREX and DG are meeting these challenges.

The Festival De Datos is here, marking a pivotal moment to assess our journey with data for development. At DG, we've championed leveraging data and tech for a more equitable, sustainable world. But to fulfill this vision, we need to push for a fair data future and establish a culture of trust and cooperation in data use.

Our final episode of "Data… for What!?" about our strategic plan Josh Powell speaks with Fernando Ferrayra and Annie Kilroy about digital transformation, ways to center the user, and our approach to emerging technologies.

In this episode of "Data... for What?!" Josh talks to Charlene Migwe-Kagume about how we are approaching agriculture in our new strategy. DG has worked in Agriculture for a number of years, but how are we building on past experiences and our strengths to take this work forward? Josh and Charlene discuss digging deeper in agriculture and how innovation plays a role.

To help contextualize the new Strategic Plan, we are launching a podcast series called Data… for What?! This series consists of 5 episodes in Josh Powell and Vanessa Goas talk to DGers throughout the organization – as well as collaborators within our strategic partner, IREX - about how and why we prioritized the various elements of the new strategy. In this first episode, we talk to Kristin Lord, President and CEO of IREX about how our partnership fits into the Strategic Plan; and to Aleks Dardelli, Executive Vice President of IREX and Chair of DG’s Board of Directors, about the process of putting the Plan together at this opportune, yet precarious, global moment.

Building on 20+ years of experience, Development Gateway announces its FY23-25 Strategic Plan. DG will expand its role as a global leader in both data and digital for development, working toward a digital development agenda that builds trust between institutions and the constituents they serve. This strategy lays the foundation for how we will achieve that vision.

Josh Powell and Jenna Slotin reflect on the Data Values Project and building a movement for change in data for development.

As we review our strategy, we plan to share here much of what we’ve learned through programming in more than a dozen countries – from our work and from our excellent partners – about the state of data in agriculture, tobacco control, open contracting, and the extractive industries. For each theme, we’ll explore who are the key data users, the decisions they make, the most important data gaps, and the crucial risks of data (mis)use. Here we share previews from some of our flagship programs.

As we look forward to DG’s next decade, which coincides with the end of the 2030 SDG era, the tumult of the present, together with our core identity and skills, point us to several opportunities to contribute to a more hopeful future. We are looking forward to working with our partners in making DG’s 3rd decade our most ambitious and successful one yet.