Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world

The Strauss Center's Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program has released a new aid dashboard that includes an interactive map and graphing tools, allowing users to explore trends in aid allocation by donor, sector, and demographics across Africa. The dashboard is a collaborative effort that includes geocoded aid data from CCAPS and several partner institutions. AidData and CCAPS built the aid dashboard using Esri tools to combine trends analysis with the most comprehensive collection of geocoded data on aid projects in Africa.

Development Gateway and Global Integrity are thrilled to announce plans for the new OpenGov Hub, an endeavor to bring like-minded organizations together in one physical location to work on issues related to the open government agenda. The OpenGov Hub will be housed in Development Gateway’s current headquarters in Washington, DC, and will open officially in September.

The Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program launched Version 2.0 of the CCAPS mapping tool this week, adding the full Social Conflict in Africa Database, and updating the Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset (ACLED) with events through 2012.

This Story from the Field comes from Stephen Davenport, Development Gateway’s Senior Director for Business Development/Partnerships: In April and May, I had the opportunity to represent Development Gateway at three events focused on transparency. One of these events was the Open Aid Partnership (OAP) Workshop in Stockholm. The event was very hands on. There were about 25-30 participants who each brought datasets of their activities in different parts of the world. My colleague, Josh Powell, did a great job co-leading (with our partners at the…

PRESS RELEASE New York, NY – April 23, 2012.  The Foundation Center and Development Gateway have announced a breakthrough partnership that will link their expertise in global philanthropy and global development to produce a clearer picture of international aid flows. Data from both organizations will power online platforms that will make collaboration between foundations, foreign aid agencies, and nonprofits more efficient and effective. The Foundation Center, based in New York City, maintains the most comprehensive body of current information on the activities of organized philanthropy.…

Development Gateway has received a grant from the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE) for EUR 600,000, to be used for a series of research and innovation activities over a three year period. M. Jean-Baptiste Mattei, Director-General for Globalization, Partnerships, and Development, and Jean-Louis Sarbib, CEO of Development Gateway, signed the agreement on March 15 at a ceremony in Paris. After signing the agreement, the parties discussed the activities to be funded under the grant in 2012, which will include work on data visualization and analytics and other areas.

Mapping aid activities is a powerful way to show what donors are doing and where, which could be a big help in division of labor discussions.

PRESS RELEASE

Honduras recently became the first country in Central America and the second middle-income country to use the Aid Management Platform (AMP, or Plataforma de Gestión de la Ayuda in Spanish). During this initial pilot phase of the project, eleven people from the government’s Secretaría Técnica de Planificación y Cooperación Externa (SEPLAN) have been certified to use the system and four people have become certified administrators.

This Story from the Field comes from Djamila Kerim, a Development Gateway Senior Associate working on the Aid Management Program:This year, I was able to attend the AMP workshop for a second time. The program is growing both with respect to the number of people participating, and the scope of activities we are discussing. This year, there were more than 90 participants from more than 20 countries. Many of them are beginning to see the potential to use AMP as much more than a computer system and more as a process of managing aid flows effectively.