Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world

PRESS RELEASE Washington, DC – Development Gateway, an international non-profit that makes information on development aid more transparent and accessible, signed a memorandum of understanding with Esri, a leading provider of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. The two organizations plan to continue joint efforts to leverage geospatial technology to support international development objectives. "There is a huge amount of information on international aid available to the public online. But if you really want to understand what donors are doing, seeing the locations of aid activities on a…

AidData and the Climate Change and African Political Stability Program (CCAPS) at the University of Texas are working with Malawi's Ministry of Finance to geocode aid activity information. Geocoding, through which information is pinpointed to a precise geographic locality, provides a visual aid for development planning and coordination, allowing governments and their donor partners to better assess current aid distribution and plan future projects.

By early May, users of the AidData database will be able to run queries on aid activities by donor, sector, and country, as before—but with a new twist. The results will be exportable in the new international aid reporting standard recently finalized by the International Aid Transparency Initiative, which aims to make aid information more open and accessible.

The Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) recently chose to implement Development Gateway’s Aid Management Program, with financing from UNDP. Through a combination of technical support and institutional strengthening activities, the Aid Management Program helps governments build capacity for managing information on development finance.

In December 2010, Development Gateway hosted the third annual AMP Best Practices Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop brings together delegates from governments that have implemented or are interested in implementing the Aid Management Program to discuss their experiences and lessons learned in managing the program.

Between January 31st and February 28th, thousands around the world voted on their favorite submissions to the World Bank Apps for Development Competition. The contest challenged software developers to create IT platforms that use World Bank data to address pressing development questions, particularly those related to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). AidData, with support from Esri, built the “Development Loop” for submission to the contest. It uses sub-national data from the World Bank and African Development Bank, overlaid with local development indicators and project success…

Bindu Venugopal, a Senior Technical Associate with Development Gateway who manages product development of the Aid Management Platform, shares her experience at the recent Knowledge Sharing Workshop: In early December, I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, to attend Development Gateway’s annual Knowledge Sharing Workshop for countries implementing the Aid Management Platform (AMP). The workshop is an opportunity for AMP countries to get together once a year to learn from each other and share best practices. This year 14 countries sent delegations to the event. The workshop,…

Development Gateway has recently partnered with GlobalGiving, a non-profit that connects donors with non-profits around the world through their online marketplace. Through the GlobalGiving website donors are able to connect with projects and regions that interest them, and support the communities and ideas they find important. The GlobalGiving team also works with local partners to collect feedback from ordinary citizens on both GlobalGiving and non-GlobalGiving affiliated projects. Development Gateway and GlobalGiving intend to explore a number of projects together, including connecting local feedback to publicly…

PRESS RELEASE Washington, DC – Public voting is open through February 28 for the World Bank’s “Apps for Development” competition, which challenges development practitioners and technology professionals to develop innovative software applications that address the Millennium Development Goals. AidData, with technical support from Esri, created the “Development Loop” application for submission to the contest. The application demonstrates how geospatial technology can facilitate a rich dialogue between aid donors, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders. To vote or access a demo and prototype of Development Loop, visit the Apps…

Projects funded by development aid are complicated undertakings - they take many forms, financing different activities in different currencies over different periods of time. In order for development actors to use aid information for development planning, coordination, and monitoring, project-level data must be recorded in a standard, commonly-accepted language. For the past two years, the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) has partnered with donor and recipient governments, multilateral aid agencies, private organizations, and NGOs to develop, elaborate, and test a common aid language. At their meeting…