Global Development Commons
Any person or institution that needs knowledge for development should have access to it
What is the Global Development Commons?
The model for successful development has changed from an approach that is closed and hierarchal to one which is open and collaborative. In order to adapt to this new reality, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) seeks to transform its business model to use the Internet as a Global Development Commons to share development knowledge and make it easily accessible, especially with people in the developing world. USAID also seeks to encourage the broader development community to do the same through new approaches, alliances, and applications that will accelerate and expand the sharing of development knowledge. Any person or institution that needs knowledge for development should have access to it.
What Will We Do?
- Improve our own information infrastructure to enhance the ability of people to share and search the U.S. Government development knowledge. We will do this by taking a number of immediate steps, as well as a requirements analysis to determine the longer-term knowledge management needs of the USG foreign assistance community.
- Partner with external organizations to aggregate high-quality development knowledge into sector-focused portals for use by the entire spectrum of potential users, but with a special emphasis on those users in developing countries.
- Partner with external organizations to create investments in innovative technologies which will make development knowledge more easily available.
- Enhance knowledge sharing among bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, and between donors and the recipients of Official Development Assistance and the public.
 Speech: Administrator Fore at the InterAction 2008 Closing Plenary
"I believe this means we must do business differently. I'd ask you to consider how we might resolve this paradox of growing complexity in assistance. It won't be settled simply through structural changes, more funding, or new legislation.
No, I would submit that the key to easing complexity is knowledge. And the knowledge I consider most critical--in the global context in which we must all operate together--is shared between the donors and contractors, agencies and NGOs [non-governmental organizations], host governments, private sector interests and foundations all trying to make a difference. It is the knowledge of what works, of what is best practice, of what is delivering results.
In Africa, we are working with public and private sector partners, and African education leaders, to launch an Education Commons. USAID was one of the early supporters of an education portal for Zambian teachers that provides them with online and in-service training, electronic library access, and peer-to-peer best practice sharing. This portal also connects Ministry of Education officials with their counterparts in the provinces and directly with teachers.
Our goal is simple: to help reinforce the government's own strong commitment to universal primary education by 2015. But the partnership pursuing this goal is remarkable. It involves a range of in-country and international government agencies like UNESCO... leading private sector companies and foundation like Sun Microsystems, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation... and InterAction members like the International Reading Association, and the Academy for Educational Development.
We see this portal as precisely the kind of technology that will become part of a larger Global Development Commons: a community of continuous and real-time information exchange, coordination, partnership and action between public and private donors, agencies, NGOs, host governments and civil society--all in constant collaboration. A Global Development Commons gives people in the developing world the tools they need to lead their own development."
 Higher Education Summit for Global Development
We will create a focal point within our agency for reaching out to the university community so that we will take advantage of a broader scope of ideas and opportunities from you. We realize that we are currently tapping only the surface of what universities have to offer. We want to make sure we have the means to communicate with you in the Global Development Commons.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT COMMONS - CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
 On March 21, 2008, USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore responded to a series of articles written in the Christian Science Monitor by Mark Lange on international development. She said:
"The entire world has come to hope and expect that international development will knit us together as a human family, helping those in need by fighting global poverty. Resources are an important part of the solution. US assistance for developing nations rose from about $10 billion in 2000 to $24 billion today. A missing piece, however, is a forum where concerned actors from all walks of life can come together to exchange ideas and forge solutions for the toughest problems. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched the Global Development Commons to wrestle with the kinds of questions raised in Mr. Lange's thought-provoking articles. Henrietta H. Fore
Washington
Administrator, USAID
See Mark Lange's articles here
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT COMMONS - WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
In January of 2008, USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore traveled to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF):
Click here to view the Administrators YouTube video highlighting the Global Development Commons:
Administrator Fore hosted a Global Development Commons' discussion and side event at the WEF to engage private sector leaders concerning the use of information sharing technology to advance development.
Click below to view larger images of the Global Development Commons discussion:
Administrator Fore discusses the GDC with private sector and academic leaders.
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GDC discussion participants discuss the role of technology to advance development
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Administrator Fore discusses various GDC ideas with participants
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For background on the Global Development Commons, please see the following links:
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