Government and private donors from US, Germany, Belgium, UK and Switzerland and global leaders from Microsoft Philanthropies, Salesforce.org, and John Deere will convene at the 11th Information Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) Conference in Kampala,Uganda, to strategise and give insights on how digital innovation can improve efficiencies within development activities.
With a tradition of transforming development through innovation, the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) will address its upcoming Digital Strategy, during its session “What to Expect and How to Engage”, led by Director of the U.S. Global Development Lab’s Center for Digital Development, Christopher Burns.
Big questions will be tackled during the donor panel, including; how donors perceive the role of digital technologies in the investment ecosystem, new means and methods to track and asses project impacts and the importance of secondary and unstructured data to identify deeper insights and quantify impacts. International experts who will join this debate include leaders from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Fondation Botnar, UK Department for International Development (DFID), Enabel and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The potential of incorporating digital innovation into development that these organisations offer is particularly pertinent in Uganda; with its progressive refugee policy and 1.35 million refugees, where 78% of its population are under 30 years of age and where agriculture provides 70% of the country’s employment opportunities and contributes more than half of all exports.
The focus and structure of the ICT4D Conference adapts each year based on current challenges. Leading development and technology organizations, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS), The Norwegian Refugee Council, Esri, Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL), Dimagi, Dharma Platform, RTI International, Tetra Tech, Fondation Botnar, QED Group, SkyVision, Fenix International,and Ecobank join to bring expertise within trends such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital financial inclusion,responsible data, and ICT for smallholder farmers.
Now in its 11th edition and with over 1000 attendees, the conference is scheduled for April 30 to May 3, 2019 at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Uganda. It has cemented itself as the global digital development conference that explores innovative solutions to development challenges around the world. “At the ICT4D Conference you’ll hear from IT companies and development professionals how they adopt, adapt, or completely reengineer to integrate ICT into demand-driven solutions for local and global challenges alike.” Commented Niek de Goeij, Country Representative at CRS Uganda.
