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    Should your NGO go open source?

    Global development is a competitive industry. But it's also a collaborative one. Should development organizations forgo some ownership of their data and methods to build a shared pathway to impact?

    By Catherine Cheney // 26 February 2016

    The open source model of universal access and collaborative intelligence has extended from Web development to global development.

    NGO leaders can maximize the impact of their organizations either by taking their models to scale or opening the books on their projects and programs and allowing peer organizations to take them and run with them. Whether proprietary information belongs in the business of fighting poverty is open to debate. On one hand, intellectual property can drive competition and innovation, but on the other hand, collaborative models can lead to greater success stories.

    The U.S.-based international NGO Pact has spearheaded a new effort — Locus — to address the knowledge gap around which interventions work best to tackle increasingly complex global development challenges. So far, Locus has engaged ten additional partners to identify shared approaches and eliminate funding silos.

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    Read more stories on technology:

    ► Should your NGO be developing a mobile gaming app?

    ► Is your NGO leveraging satellite imagery the right way?

    ► How technology is taking down human trafficking

    ► Does development need virtual reality?

    ► Are development professionals too resistant to new technologies?

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    About the author

    • Catherine Cheney

      Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney

      Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.

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