NetHope and DIAL Announce Partnership to Support Digital Development

NetHope and the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) announced a partnership to guide the use of the Principles for Digital Development at the ICT4D Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. Working closely with the broad ICT4D community of implementers – nonprofits and the private sector –  DIAL and NetHope will develop together a set of tools that will simplify the application of the Principles to international development projects and improve outcomes for millions around the world.

“Our goal is to help transform the Principles from statements to action, building upon the year of community consultation conducted in 2015,” said Kate Wilson, CEO of the Digital Impact Alliance.  “As we see greater adoption of the Principles by donors into their RFP processes, we recognize that implementers require practical methods and templates that can be used in program design and implementation.  Community engagement which highlights the best tools that implementers have tried already, builds upon them, and develops what is missing to be shared as common public goods that all can use will be key to building useful, relevant tools and resources.”

“The Principles establish broad guidelines that can help increase the efficacy of the use of technology in development,” said Lauren Woodman, CEO of NetHope.  “As we move forward, our focus will be on helping implementing organizations meet the objectives of the Principles – improved impact for ICT4D – in practical, adaptable ways.”

“The community has been important part of the development of the Principles,” said Wilson, “and that engagement will continue to be an important part of this next phase.”  Woodman added, “We all share the goal of using technology more effectively in international development, and to do so, we have to work together to identify and scale promising approaches and innovative solutions that have real impact.”

The Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) aims to accelerate the collective efforts of government, industry and development organizations to build a more inclusive digital economy for underserved communities in the developing world.  DIAL is a partnership amongst some of the world’s most active digital development champions, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), and the United Nations Foundation.  For more information, visit http://digitalimpactalliance.org/ or contact info@digitalimpactalliance.org.

NetHope and its member organizations are committed to improving the human condition through the use of technology in humanitarian, development and conservation work.  A collaboration of the world’s leading 49 international nonprofits and the technology industry, NetHope helps its member organizations realize the full promise of technology to solve the world’s most difficult challenges.  For more information, visit www.nethope.org or contact info@nethope.org.