Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world

This January, a newly elected U.S. Congress took the stage, bringing up the question of how it will shape U.S. foreign assistance discussions in 2015. The US Global Leadership Coalition’s Liz Schayer has argued that there is a consensus from both sides of the aisle that aid accountability and transparency will continue to be an emphasis moving forward.

Why do remittances matter?ODA has modestly increased over the past few decades; however, since the late 1990s officially recorded remittance flows have outpaced assistance – in 2013, by more than 300%. Remittances are sent by individuals, not governments, and often travel through money transfer companies such as Western Union and MoneyGram.

In part 1, we took stock of progress made and missing pieces to flesh fully the data revolution. With that in mind, what are some of the major challenges for the development community in launching a Geospatial Data Revolution?1) Matching data to Government needs

A recent ODI paper focused on what ‘localizing’ might be applied in the post-2015 agenda. With the exception of a few broad considerations, it depends on the local context. It’s an important phrase we’re all familiar with, but sometimes is left behind when we start talking about things like scalability. It also means involving local communities in feedback loops from the start.

(This is part 1 of a two-part series on the role of sub-national data and country systems in the Data Revolution. Part 1 discusses the progress made during the MDG process and what challenges are ahead over the next 15 years of the SDGs. Part 2 will discuss what is needed to put countries in the driver’s seat of the SDG process, to ensure that the beneficiaries of the data revolution are the ones who need it most.)How far have we come?

Development Gateway, through its partnership with AidData, recently concluded the first phase of USAID’s Higher Education Solutions Network-funded geocoding work in collaboration with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Planning. Outcomes were well received by government officials and key development partners. However, everyone acknowledges this is only the first step towards enhancing GIS capacity throughout government agencies and the donor community.

Working toward a self-sustainable Aid Management Program is among the highest priorities of Development Gateway. We believe that an AMP has the best chance of longevity when the government has the skills it needs, the resources it requires, and commitment from decision-makers. However, empowering a partner country to manage a program and maintain technology doesn’t happen overnight.

This post continues coverage of breakout sessions held at the 7th Annual Aid Management program Good Practices Workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal. At the crux of the Data Revolution is an increased use of data for government decision making. However, this tenet is often coupled with the assumption that a data-driven culture already exists.The Importance of Access

Recently, we discussed the International Aid Transparency Initiative’s data publication and quality “tipping point”: per the IATI Secretariat, seven of the top ten development partners (DPs) in most countries are publishing IATI data.

It’s a new year and you probably have your resolutions picked out, and maybe have already given up on one or two of them. Well it’s not too late to add to the list (or replace the unsuccessful). We suggest making a few data-lutions this year and have found a few good ideas to ponder.