The Future of Technology Governance and Global Development: Why DG Brought DataReady In-house

As digital tools proliferate, automated analysis and decision-making algorithms spread, and cyberspace becomes more geopoliticized and contested, Development Gateway: An IREX Venture (DG) has strengthened its belief that data and digital solutions are key in creating more effective, responsive, inclusive, and trusted public-serving institutions. In an effort to further enrich our current data governance services, we’re pleased to announce that DG acquired DataReady in 2024. Founded in 2018, DataReady was a social enterprise with a mission to help the sustainable development and humanitarian sectors navigate the complexities of data governance.

At DG, we define data governance as the processes that establish the rules and norms related to data collection, management, and use. We believe that data governance processes within decision-making bodies should be inclusive, participatory, transparent, accountable, and led by multiple stakeholders.

Fundamental to DataReady’s ethos was that data governance is primarily about the processes through which rules and norms are set; these rules and norms, in turn, shape data collection, management, and use. Based on this understanding, DataReady’s approach was to engage with the institutional and individual-level dimensions of the digital and data revolutions, ensuring that human rights-based approaches and ethical standards are baked into innovation and policy. This approach aligns well with DG’s standard of prioritizing local ownership and governance of data and creating “fit for context,” sector-specific approaches to data governance frameworks that enable their long-term use.

Both DG and DataReady also share a commitment to strengthening institutions, empowering individuals, supporting youth, and designing and implementing digital and data programs that improve people’s lives. Continuing to build out DG’s data governance advisory capacity through adapting the innovative DataReady approach is an exciting step toward both implementing and advocating for a better, fairer future for digital development across the globe. 

Check out the full video in which DG’s CEO Josh Powell and DataReady founder Tom Orrell discuss the ways in which this new consolidation will further strengthen DG’s data governance service offerings and capacity to embed strong digital and data governance practice at the core of every DG project and engagement.