ICT4D trends every NGO executive should know

The world is in the midst of an information and communications technology revolution that is reshaping economies and societies through unprecedented levels of connectivity. More than 75 percent of the global population now has access to a cellphone and mobile penetration has risen to 90 percent in developing countries — a figure most analysts expect to increase as the number of mobile subscriptions approaches 7 billion worldwide. Notably, half of the 3 billion global Internet users live in the developing world. Generally defined as any device, tool or application that enables the exchange or collection of data through interaction and transmission, ICT holds the potential to provide millions with greater and more equal access to goods, services and opportunities. And as consumer technology becomes more affordable and accessible, it will certainly play a more prominent role in combating poverty and improving livelihoods. But delivering on the promise of ICT to help achieve development goals has been an ongoing challenge. Overly complex technologies and failure to grasp the needs of individuals in the developing world are just some of the reasons for decades of mixed results. Still, ICT for development, or ICT4D as it is commonly known, is constantly evolving and there is an abundance of new trends reshaping the discipline. Based on interviews with ICT and innovation experts across the international development community, Devex uncovered a few of the latest and most promising ICT4D shifts that every development leader and organization should know. ICT4D is maturing Described as everything from a magic bullet to a development flavor-of-the-month, the application of technology for development has always been surrounded by a substantial amount of frenzy. Some global development thinkers and practitioners even call it transformative. Today, there is growing consensus that the field is moving past the hype and evolving into a more grounded component of the aid industry based on established standards and proven solutions. For instance, the ICT4D community is encouraging the adoption of standards that facilitates a fair and meaningful evaluation of ICT4D strategies and programs. The UNICEF innovation principles, GOV.UK design principles and the Greentree Consensus illustrate concerted efforts by a range of development players and partners to create frameworks around technology-enabled development programs. “For the first time ever, the ICT4D community has a common language to backstop it and evaluate new initiatives,” Christopher Fabian, co-creator and co-lead of the UNICEF Innovation Unit, told Devex. “And while a lot of people with good intentions come with their own little app or piece of hardware that they fetishize, their efforts don’t necessarily translate into useful contributions. The principles that have recently been developed help us mitigate those risks.” Similarly, development actors across the board are adapting to the role and appreciating the value of ICT4D. Many large donors and organizations have established in-house innovation groups tasked with finding ICT4D applications that could enhance their operations, such as the Department for International Development’s Innovation Hub. Significant investments are also being poured into so-called challenge funds, which provide grants to research and development in ICT4D. Greater emphasis is being placed on building an evidence base as well. The widespread success of “Fail Faires” have created an environment in which ICT4D experts are more and more inclined to share and discuss failure. This more honest exchange — one that addresses technology’s limitations and opportunities — contrasts sharply with the early stages of ICT4D when technology was wrongly presumed to automatically lead to development outcomes. Fabian has witnessed this important maturation process firsthand in his role with the United Nations. “The 2015 joint meeting of the executive boards of [the U.N. Development Program], [U.N. Population Fund], [U.N. Office for Project Services], U.N. Women and [World Food Program] is aimed at encouraging U.N. agencies to share their failures and lessons learned on scaling up innovation to reach people in need,” Fabian explained. “And that’s pretty novel for a big development organization.” ICT4D is going local Through a greater reliance on design thinking — an approach which involves creating products and solutions based on the needs and desires of end users — ICT4D is changing the conceptualization, structuring and design of development solutions. Many ICT4D interventions are now built using open-source tools and platforms that local communities can leverage on their own terms. “Instead of providing people with a solution, today’s ICT is providing them with a platform to come up with their own solutions and spread them,” highlighted Giulio Quaggiotto, head of the U.N. Global Pulse Lab in Jakarta, Indonesia. Quaggiotto’s team was established to research and facilitate the application of digital data sources and real-time analysis approaches to social development. One example of a technology solution built to enhance local ownership is FrontlineSMS. Currently deployed in more than 130 countries, FrontlineSMS allows any organization with a cellphone and a computer to distribute and collect information via text messages — even without an Internet connection. Applications include the monitoring of national elections in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Nigeria; the reporting of emergency information in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti; or support to the Indian government in rolling out land titles more efficiently. Widespread interest in the potential of mobile-based tools to solve social problems has also led to the rise of local innovators, software developers and technologists who are devising and adapting solutions to address the specific problems in their community. ICT4D is ‘better, faster, cheaper’ In the age of smartphones, drones and other disruptive technologies with capabilities hard to fathom even a few years ago, ICT is often associated with shiny new gadgets and big innovative ideas. But the ICT4D field is starting to realize that its potential also lies in the improved application of existing technologies that aren’t even revolutionary, high-tech or expensive. “The real shift we are seeing right now is that technologies are becoming better, faster, cheaper,” Microsoft international organizations director for Asia, John Cann, told Devex. “Today, ICT can deliver on the promises that many were hoping 10 years ago. This is why it’s a good time for institutions like the World Bank, [Asian Development Bank] or [U.S. Agency for International Development] to really begin to refocus on it.” Microsoft is supporting the use of “white spaces” — unused airwaves of a TV spectrum that can be used to deliver broadband connectivity over longer distances than conventional Wi-Fi. Working with industry and government partners around the world, Microsoft has conducted successful pilots geared toward delivering connectivity in disaster-stricken areas of the Philippines, universities in Ghana and remote villages in Kenya. “The Internet has been proliferating at a massive rate, as more and more infrastructure is being built,” Cann noted. “But a technology like TV white space can accelerate that process even further by revolutionizing the access of peri-urban and rural areas to Internet, as well as the economics of it because it’s so much cheaper to do than 3G and 4G networks.” ICT4D is fostering data-driven development The growing affordability and adaptability of new measurement technologies such as mobile platforms, sensors or satellite imagery are profoundly reshaping the way development actors use data. By enabling the collection of large amounts of real-time information, ICT4D is helping embed learning process and feedback loops throughout the project cycle. Currently running in half a dozen African countries, UNICEF’s U-report — a free SMS-based platform through which youth can express their views on what is happening in their communities and whether specific development interventions are fulfilling their needs and wants — is illustrative of how the development community is leveraging real-time data to gain a better understanding of the populations they serve and focus their efforts on the most vulnerable. “Thanks to U-report, we’ve mapped out the spread of crop diseases within hours simply by asking young people if the banana trees in their area were wilted or not,” UNICEF’s Fabian explained. “And almost immediately, we know where to focus our work.” Similarly, ICT4D is now focusing more attention on the clever use of data — an approach that leverages large quantities of data to produce actionable and practical insight for end users. As an example, sophisticated information systems that take advantage of a basic mobile phone are being employed to improve food security and agricultural yields. “Agriculture is a knowledge-intensive activity, even though such a statement may sound counterintuitive at first,” Simone Sala, ICT4D expert and associate director of the Sensemaking Fellowship at the Swansea University Network Science Research Center, told Devex. “This has led to a variety of applications being developed to provide farmers with the information they need to improve farm management.” ICT4D is fertile ground for inclusive business models Public-private partnerships are the name of the game in development today. However, the convergence of nonprofit and private sector in ICT4D is going one step further through the rise of “shared value” partnerships. As more tech firms look toward emerging and developing markets for future profits, they are finding that nonprofits possess the expertise that is critical to entering new, base of the pyramid markets. Likewise, development organizations are finding areas where it makes sense for them to align their mission with these companies for greater aid impact. “If we can find that sweet spot where there is an overlap between what we know the most marginalized people in the world need to have access to, and what private sector views as market building, we can do really big things,” UNICEF’s Fabian underlined. The M-Pesa success story — a mobile banking service that allows users with an ID card or passport to deposit, withdraw and transfer money from their mobile phones — highlights how the field of ICT4D is fertile ground for the alignment of business incentives with development priorities. The mobile money transfer scheme was set up in 2007 by DfID and Vodafone to provide banking and financial services to poor Kenyans, thus unlocking new “bottom of the pyramid” markets for the telecommunications company. Do you work in the ICT4D space? What other key trends should every development leader and organization know about? Have your say by leaving a comment below. Check out more insights and analysis for global development leaders like you, and sign up as an Executive Member to receive the information you need for your organization to thrive.