Bridging Digital Divides: Connecting Communities on the Margins
I am Manisha Aryal. I am advising the Digital Empowerment Foundation on technology. Recently, I found myself in the rugged mountains of Uttarakhand, India — a...
A Great Open Source Race: China vs India vs the African Continent
Bottom Line Up Front: China now leads the world with 2.2 million active open source software developers, while India’s 2+ million contributors already overtook...
There Is No Such Thing as Free Technology Software Solutions
The dismantling of USAID and the retreat of other bilateral donors is a major blow, and we will continue to see the ripple effects in years to come.
However, this...
Building Resilient Open Source Ecosystems in the Global South
Open source software exists in the development sector to promote equity, transparency, and local ownership particularly in contexts where proprietary alternatives...
Rethinking Open Source in the Age of Foundational AI Models
As the global artificial intelligence community wrestles with the tension between scale and accessibility, recent work by researchers at Lelapa AI offers a compelling...
Cybersecurity Strategies Are Making Rural Communities Less Safe
Surprise! Most cybersecurity guidance for rural communities in developing countries is actually harmful. Groundbreaking research from rural Ghana shows that well-intentioned...
Pop Quiz: Name 20 Digital Health Global Good Solutions That Scaled
Digital health solutions are critical tools for strengthening health systems in low- and middle-income countries and there are many to choose from in 2025.
We can...
8 Insights in Using Digital Data for Development
Data is an essential ingredient of effective decision-making in international development and wider society. New digital data sources, such as so-called ‘big...
Opportunities and Challenges with Social Media and Indigenous Youth
Social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram have become tools of empowerment—but also engines of harm—for Indigenous youth.
A recent study...
Bridging the Digital Divide in Rural Peru with Long-Distance WiFi
In the Santiago River Basin of Peru’s Amazonas region, an ambitious initiative is underway to bridge the digital divide and bring reliable internet connectivity...