Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world

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.

Through the DCDJ Fellowship program in Côte d’Ivoire, youth are trained in data science skills and placed in organizations where they can support data use in the fight against HIV/AIDS. At her placement site, Flore Koffi identified the opportunity to enhance the use of the data by creating a regularly updated, real-time, centralized source.

For a long time, gender in development data has been an afterthought. The focus was on the role of data or technology broadly; if gender came up, it was usually in the context of issues that explicitly affected women (maternal health for example.) DG has increasingly sought to prioritize a gender data. By asking “how could we use a gender focus here?,” we have been able to answer a surprisingly broad range of questions. 

Through dozens of implementations across a variety of sectors, countries & contexts, DG has seen firsthand what makes data, technology & evidence effective, and what can contribute to dormant systems filled with incomplete and unused data. Based on our history, relationships, and perspectives, we realized that DG had a lot to say.

If an organization with an existing culture of learning and adaptation gets lucky, and an innovative funding opportunity appears, the result can be a perfect storm for changing everything. The Results Data Initiative was that perfect storm for DG. RDI confirmed that simply building technology and supplying data is not enough to ensure data is actually used. It also allowed us to test our assumptions and develop new solutions, methodologies & approaches to more effectively implement our work.

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.

15 years ago, AMP development was led by and co-designed with multiple partner country governments and international organizations. From a single implementation, AMP grew into 25 implementations globally. Through this growth, DG has learned crucial lessons about building systems that support the use of data for decision-making.

20 years is multiple lifetimes in technology. We have seen technologies, companies, and trends come and go – some leaving lasting impact, others unfulfilled promises. Here we reflect on our tech history and our efforts to constantly evolve, to stay ahead of the curve, and to maintain a focus on building tools that our partners can actually use, expand, and sustain.

As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we recognize that in many ways the DG of today and the DG of 20 years ago are totally different, but what we have accomplished and learned on the journey has become part of our DNA. Our successes and challenges have fed into our ethos as the innovative, agile organization that we are today.