Posts by Josh Powell

At the beginning of the year, we welcomed James Beresh as DG’s new Chair of the Finance Committee. He will be helping manage and oversee DG’s financial team with expertise and great care, to help ensure DG’s financial positioning into the future. Read more about his role.

Yesterday USAID launched its first-ever Digital Strategy, which aims to bring coherence and direction to programs and approaches already employed by the agency. We found a lot to like, but also some key misses that could limit the impact on USAID’s work. Here are five highlights recommendations for improvement.

DG’s Board of Directors plays a crucial role in helping to define the scope of our work, ensuring that our progress is aligned with our mission, vision, and strategic plan. Today, we are pleased to welcome two new members to the DG Board.

“What do you think, Josh?” The questions kept coming to me, no matter how many times I reminded our counterparts in the government that my female colleague was the assessment lead, had more experience, and was an expert in this topic on which I was a relative novice. I redirected again to my colleague, only to have the process continue to repeat itself. 

The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Development Gateway (DG) are pleased to release a new report entitled “Decision-Making and Data Use Landscaping: Better Data, Better Decisions - May 2017 to October 2018.” This work examines the role that data plays in supporting key decisions taken by DFID at the strategy, portfolio (sector or country), and programme level. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through DG’s Results Data Initiative, the report synthesises in-depth interviews with approximately 60 DFID staff across four country offices, all sector teams, and senior management. 

Last week, we shared our schedule for this week’s Data for Development Festival, hosted by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD)  in Bristol, UK. The event brings together a vibrant community of governments, foundations, private sector and nonprofit organizations, galvanized by the belief that data, used well, can drive better development outcomes and

This post builds upon a DG contribution to the 2017 OECD Development Cooperation Report, launched on October 17, 2017. All too often, discussions about managing for results in development fail to specify who is managing, what decisions they are authorized to make, or what results data are being used. Identifying the who and whats is

The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda offers the promise of new technologies, big data sources, and increased government statistical capacity for data-driven policy and progress. However, we cannot assume that more data will result in a better world. Moreover, a data revolution comes with risks: Will SDG reporting consume already-limited government statistical capacity? Will “focus on

In 2005, the international community came together to adopt the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, built upon the idea that “aid could – and should – be producing better impacts.” Improving effectiveness means aligning development assistance with the needs and priorities of the partner country government, as well as coordinating activities among partners to avoid

In 2003, an undergraduate student at the College of William and Mary set out to write his honors thesis on the efforts of international development organizations to help communities adapt to and mitigate the effects of global climate change. His research quickly hit a roadblock: existing public data on foreign aid flows was not precise