Digital Development is Humanitarian Relief
The rapid development and adoption of digital technology are transforming economies and societies around the world. Digital solutions can help countries skip traditional stages of progress. Digital ecosystems can provide unique opportunities for communities to accelerate their social growth.
What is Digital Development?
Digital Development is the use of information and communication technologies to to magnify the intent of communities to accelerate their social and economic development. These solutions help countries leverage technology innovations to reduce poverty and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Practitioners use the Principles of Digital Development implementation methodologies to create successful technology-enabled programs for humanitarian aid and relief.
Why is Digital Development Important?
Digital development can help people live more free and prosperous lives. These solutions provide a unique opportunity for countries to accelerate economic growth and connect citizens to services and jobs.
In times of crisis, from natural disasters to pandemics such COVID-19, digital technologies keep people, governments and businesses connected. They foster community resilience and national self-reliance.
Multiple international development donors are funding ICT4D programs, including:
- USAID: United States Agency for International Development
- CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- DFID: Department for International Development
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
USAID released a Digital Strategy to help end the need for foreign assistance. The strategy focuses on digitally-supported programming that maximizes benefits and manages digital technology risks in communities.
Examples of Digital Development Programs
International development donors are funding ICT4D programs to improve social and economic outcomes of humanitarian aid programs. These solutions include technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, chatbots, digital financial services, and geographic information systems.
Here are more digital development solutions for you to review:
FCDO Funding for Digital Development Programs to Improve Aid
The past decade has seen the United Kingdom’s government continue to evolve its strategy of “doing development in a digital world” from a sectoral lens towards...
We Should Move From Digital Development to Digital Transformation
At the recent event exploring How Mobile Phones are Catalyzing an African Revolution, I was excited to hear Christopher Burns expanding on the idea that we are...
Are Your Digital Development Results in USAID’s DEEM Database?
USAID created the Digital Strategy Digital Ecosystem Evidence Map (DEEM) to give us a searchable database and world map of digital development evidence from across...
Starting Now on Digital Transformation for Ukraine Reconstruction
When the war in Ukraine comes to an end (hopefully with Ukraine having recovered all of its territory, including Crimea), Western countries are likely to provide...
4 Reasons to Shift Your Technology Career to Social Impact Firms
For the last few months, logging into LinkedIn has felt like opening a window to a slow motion train crash.
After years of a tech golden age, tech companies of...
What is Digital Development in Humanitarian Aid Programming?
Digital development in humanitarian aid programming refers to the use of digital technologies to support humanitarian efforts and to improve the effectiveness...
Apply Now: £45,000 to Advise FCDO on Frontier Technologies
New technologies and methodologies are disrupting and reshaping individuals, societies and economies. Emerging capabilities like machine learning, drones, blockchain...
Apply Now! $100,000 UNDP Grant Funding to Scale Your Digital Solution
UNDP created the Chief Digital Office in 2019 and observed hundreds of digital projects and challenges faced by UNDP, governments, and partners. From this experience,...
Have You Read the UNDP Digital Strategy for 2022-2025?
Digital technology is a fundamental force for change in this century, reshaping economies, government, and civil society – thereby impacting almost every aspect...
Don’t Miss These Exciting Sessions! Register Now for GDDF 2022
Please RSVP Now for the Global Digital Development Forum on May 4-5, 2022. Already over 1,300 of your peers have registered for this virtual ICT4D conference co-organized...
About Us
ICTworks™ is the premier resource for international development professionals committed to utilizing new and emerging technologies to magnify the intent of communities to accelerate their social and economic development.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Enter your e-mail to get ICTworks 3x a week!:
Become an ICTworks Writer
Our team gladly accepts outside contributors for ICTworks articles. If you would like to publish an article on our website, please see our Guest Post Guidelines
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.