Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world

'Next week is our Annual Aid Management Program (AMP) Good Practices Workshop - and this year’s theme is “Meeting the Challenge of Open Data.” However, the “Data Revolution” is already underway, and many attending countries have already gone public with their Aid Management Platforms - so why this theme, and why now?Here’s why: At Development Gateway, we know that Open Data is about much more than throwing data out into the universe; it’s about using that information once it’s available, and getting back to the why behind data transparency.'

As attention shifts to the Sustainable Development Goals, Development Gateway reaffirms our decades-long commitment to facilitating South-South cooperation and urges the United Nations to ensure that post-2015 plans include all voices. Below is an outline of remarks given by Development Gateway CEO Jean-Louis Sarbib at the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation’s Global South-South Development Expo in Washington, DC.

'The post-2015 development agenda calls for a “Data Revolution,” asserting that a worldwide commitment to providing more high-quality, open data is the key to sustained global development. We’re in.

'The Secretary-General’s Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution has released their report, A World that Counts: Mobilising the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, which outlines how to enact the data revolution into the Sustainable Development Goals. In true MDG/SDG global goal setting fashion the report proposes a “Global Consensus on Data,” a “Network of Data Innovation Networks,” a UN-led “Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data,” and an “SDGs data lab.”'

The United Nations IEAG report on mobilizing the Data Revolution for development, opens with this truism:Without high-quality data providing the right information on the right things at the right time; designing, monitoring and evaluating effective policies becomes almost impossible.

'Last week, the Ugandan Government made public its Development Assistance Management System, which tracks all external development assistance projects in the country. This system is a technical part of the country''s Aid Management Program (AMP).Overseen by the Ugandan Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development, Secretary Keith Muhahanizi reaffirmed on Friday that the system:'

As a technical-minded social enterprise, much of Development Gateway’s work involves partnering with governments to devise solutions to improve the effectiveness and transparency of their aid management activities. The Aid Management Program (AMP) – a comprehensive suite of co-created software, technical training, and good practice-sharing – is one such example. After nearly a decade of software iteration, technical training, and fostering South-South Cooperation through annual workshops, AMP has reached a new milestone: Software Version 2.10.'

Maybe it’s just me, but the hysteria over Ebola seems to be far greater than any other contagion-type scenario we’ve been through of late (or I’ve just become more cognizant of the fact that I’m a little bit older, and death is that much closer).

Development Gateway is pleased to announce the launch of EU-DEVFIN, a platform that enhances official development assistance (ODA) reporting capacity for new European Union (EU) member states.

The voices that yell “aid is broken” are varied, and while you may or may not agree with that full statement, there is definitely room for improvement.