Global Development Commons: Connect. Collaborate. Innovate.
 The Global Development Commons promotes innovations for international development through knowledge sharing, partnerships, and collaborative problem-solving. Identifying and fostering innovations through open approaches can improve our ability to deliver on our core mission at the US Agency for International Development. We seek to enable any citizen of this world to co-create solutions to common problems because no single actor can solve today’s global challenges.
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Join Our New Partnership to Monitor Election Related Violence in Afghanistan
As the 2009 elections come to a close in Afghanistan, the Global Development Commons is proud to announce a partnership that has been on the ground with an innovative tool to monitor and disseminate election related violence and other related trends.
The Global Development Commons at USAID is proud to be partnering with
FortiusOne’s GeoCommons, Google, OpenStreetMap, Stamen, Development Seed, the Synergy Strike
Force, and many others who map data on election-related violence and trends
around the Afghanistan 2009 Elections. This map is available in real time to
anyone with an internet connection, creating an unprecedented degree of
transparency. Check
out the map and the data available so far, or upload your own data to build it out
even more.
Todd Huffman of the The Synergy Strike Force (SSF) is a volunteer on the
ground at the Taj in Jalalabad heading up the project. The SSF is a private
volunteer organization comprised of individuals with various technical skills
and access to a wide range of social networks that works to support humanitarian
relief and stabilization efforts in post-conflict environments. The technology
collaboration was tested two weeks ago at Camp Roberts as part of RELIEF
(Research & Experimentation for Local and International Emergency and
First-responders) STAR-TIDES.
Todd is currently collecting election and violence data to upload to a
portable GeoCommons appliance and overlaying it on the latest NGA imagery
through Google’s mobile fusion server. Further, Alive in Afghanistan has powered up Ushahidi’s platform to collect data from
mobile phones via SMS. The combination is sharing critical data with the world
on the outcome of this historic event.
We believe this effort will demonstrate the potential for a new way of
documenting events surrounding elections in general, and will be useful in
similar situations around the world. For more information on the partnership and
the contributions of the many people involved, check out these blog posts: Off
the Map, Development
Seed, Greetings from Manasquan,
NJ, Brain
Off, GeoCommons Afghanistan
Elections 09.. USAID is not directly affiliated with Alive in Afghanistan.
IntraHealth OPEN Council - Promoting Open Source Platforms to Build Capacity for Health Practitioners and Systems in Africa
IntraHealth has worked through USAID’s Capacity Project to develop the new Human Resource Information Systems (iHRIS) suite of free open source HRIS solutions to supply health sector leaders and managers with a collection of new tools. The software provides the information they need to assess HR problems, plan effective interventions and evaluate those interventions. Building on that knowledge and experience with open source platforms, the Global Development Commons team supports IntraHealth's OPEN initiative and advises the IntraHealth OPEN Council to promote the production and distribution of open source solutions for health.
Working to connect and support new and on-going technology efforts, the IntraHealth OPEN Initiative emphasizes the need to form global alliances, expand access to infrastructure, and develop new skills and tools that are cost-efficient and technically viable at the country level. Open source platforms enable citizens of developing countries to learn critical thinking skills and modify systems as they enhance the underpinnings of a health system to optimize it for continually changing health care environments.
Visit IntraHealth’s website to learn more about iHRIS through live demonstrations of each software product or to download the software packages. Visit the Capacity Project to learn more about the many tools and resources available to develop and support the health workforce.
Open Innovation for Government
On Tuesday, April 14th, at an interactive panel called Open Innovation for Government: Answering President Obama’s Call for More Open, Effective Public Service, leaders for innovation from NASA, the State Department and the US Agency for International Development agreed that the federal government must create incentives and processes that enable citizens to offer feedback and co-create solutions with government employees. Offering ways to participate and collaborate can help agencies to innovate to achieve their core mandates for the American people. "At USAID, we are in a space where risk-taking is particularly appropriate, said Karen Turner, Office of Development Partners and Acting Director of the Global Development Commons at the US Agency for International Development. "The Global Development Commons promotes innovations that deliver better development."
Dr. Beth Noveck, who leads President Obama’s Open Government directive for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, framed the discussion around the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration. “We are here today to listen, to celebrate these innovators, and to encourage more,” said Dr. Noveck.
Hosted by USAID's Global Development Commons and the Post-conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, the interactive discussion included a live streaming webcast featuring chat, available in an archived version at www.GlobalDevelopmentCommons.net/node/1679. More than 40 participants online from as far as Singapore asked questions in the hopes that their feedback would help shape policy.
USAID Development 2.0 Challenge
 Mobile phone penetration has now topped 50 percent, with almost four billion subscribers, compared to 10 percent for personal computers. The Global Development Commons wants to apply these mobile technologies to exchange key information among people in developing countries. The USAID Development 2.0 Challenge sought to tap non-traditional sources, such as students, budding entrepreneurs, and other innovators to apply an innovative mobile technology solution for maximum development reach and impact in areas such as health, banking, education, agricultural trade, or other pressing development issues.
Read more about the 2.0 Challenge and watch video from the event
Partnership with the Tech Awards
The alliance between USAID and The Tech Awards will support and promote innovative individuals, companies and organizations that use technology to improve the impact of international development efforts. USAID cultivated this partnership as part of an integrated strategy driven by its Global Development Commons to harness innovation in international development and apply it to the work of the agency.
"We're honored to have the opportunity to work with USAID, a prestigious organization with global outreach and objectives very complementary to those of The Tech Awards program," said Peter Friess, president of The Tech Museum. "By working together, we can further accelerate the identification and recognition of people and projects around the world that are using innovative technologies to benefit humanity, and hopefully inspire more innovation as a result."
Learn more about USAID's activities with the Tech Awards
Development Experience Clearinghouse
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