Posts by Sarah Orton-Vipond
Democratizing Digital or Digitizing Democracy?
The 2023 OGP Summit in Tallinn, Estonia featured a number of discussions centered on open government in the digital age. While the use of digital tools in government is far from a new idea, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred a rapid expansion of this practice, with leaders quickly adapting to remote environments through digitizing government processes
One Year of TASAI-VISTA
From the creation of survey tools to stakeholder mapping, one year into DG's partnership with TASAI, the Visualizing Information on Seeds Using Technology in Africa (VISTA) program has made great progress.
Our Partnerships Make Us DG
Out of DG’s twelve core values, five are centered on partners and partnerships. Our ability to achieve sustainability and impact is greatly dependent on our strong partnerships, which expand beyond our expertise alone. From our early days co-designing the Aid Management Platform with the Government of Ethiopia and other partners, to today, partnerships are what make DG, DG.
Launch of The African Seed Access Index (TASAI) Visualizing Information on Seeds using Technology in Africa (VISTA)
The timely availability of high-quality, affordable seeds is critical to improving food security, resilience, and livelihoods for smallholder farmers in Africa. In partnership with TASAI, Inc., DG is proud to announce the launch of the TASAI VISTA program.
Sharing DG’s Strategic Vision
Development Gateway’s mission is to support the use of data, technology, and evidence to create more effective and responsive institutions. We envision a world where institutions listen and respond to the needs of their constituents; are accountable; and are efficient in targeting and delivering services that improve lives. Since late 2018, we’ve been operating under
Understanding How DFID Makes Decisions – Landscape Report on the Role of Data
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.
International Women’s Day at DG: Our Internal Commitment to Gender Inclusion
This Women's History Month, we will continue to highlight DG’s cross-cutting support of women across our global programs. But in today’s post, we will focus on how we work internally to improve gender balance, support women in the workplace, and aim to do our part in closing the nonprofit leadership gender gap. We will also highlight areas where there is opportunity for us to improve.
Agile Development in the Age of Adaptive Management
Adaptive management – the idea that development projects should respond to real life complexities and be flexible enough to respond to unforeseen changes – is an often-praised approach to doing development differently, with donors and partners exploring how to apply it within their programming.
What’s Next for the Results Data Initiative?
Moving into 2019, we are pleased to be expanding RDI alongside our growing set of partners and funders. The program’s third phase focuses on agency-level engagement, and we will be scaling our partnerships with these development agencies to use results data to inform critical policy and programmatic decisions.
Harnessing Technology at DFID: Takeaways from the New Digital Strategy
When it comes to technology and innovation, we often joke that the development sector lags at least 5 years behind the private sector. Worse still, in an effort to catch up, development agencies risk falling prey to fads, buzzwords, and endless jargon. The result is a staggering number of abandoned technology pilots, a paucity of