Posts categorized News/Events

The DataRev begins on November 20th here in Washington, D.C, kicking off a 3-day learning, collaborating, and networking event centered on the importance of data use to inform, drive, and measure development outcomes. At the Data Rev, we’ll gather with partners to promote and discuss the importance of investing in local data skills to drive decision making.

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

Imagine a young woman in her mid-20s in Nairobi, Kenya, named Rehema. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, she is surveilled. When she turns off her morning alarm, an app logs how many hours she slept. As Rehema jumps onboard a bus to go to work, her phone tracks her location.

Bloomberg’s Data for Good Exchange (D4GX): Data Science for SDGs brought together data scientists, corporations, academics, practitioners, and civil society to discuss issues and explore opportunities related to data science and social good. Given DG’s recent work on the Administrative Data Driven Decisions (AD3) program and understanding national data ecosystems, we opened our D4GX workshop asking, “Show of hands – who thought today’s workshop would cover how to use data science and administrative data to report on SDG indicators?”

As in most organizations, Development Gateway’s leadership team is always exploring ways to support and retain our talented team members, and we take care to encourage our neighbors and similar organizations to do the same. Years of research has shown that staff retention is critical not only for the growth and stability of an organization, but also is a key element in employee satisfaction – teams that grow together through the years can be stronger and more cohesive.

“Knowledge sharing” is an undeniable buzzword in the international development space. However, the idea behind it is both simple and effective: by sharing similar experiences and learning from one another, teams can develop practical solutions to challenges. Often, they also discover their challenges are not unique – across DG’s global Aid Management Platform (AMP) network, our experience highlights how AMP country challenges and goals are often aligned.

Today, Development Gateway (DG) is pleased to announce the publication of the Managing for Feminist Results: Measuring Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy white paper, that outlines the challenges and opportunities that development agencies may face when adopting new and/or feminist policies.

“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. 

Across DG’s extractives work, our aim is to help ensure a country’s natural resources actually benefit citizens. This starts with greater openness around natural resource management, to build public engagement and accountability. Building on our existing work with EITI on the EITI Global Data Portal, we’re expanding country- and local-level extractives work through several initiatives – including in Nigeria in partnership with the Ford Foundation, to build an online data collection system for the audit process.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call on us to “leave no one behind.” At the same time, there is an urgent need to empower individuals and communities with access to information and skills to help them thrive in the growing digital economy. But what investments can transform “data-driven decision-making” from a global commitment to a key component of community-centered development?