Article Type: Expert comment

Recently, the Digital Impact Alliance, DAI and Accenture Development Partnerships hosted a London Technology Salon on the question of: “Is Positive Collaboration Possible Between Aid and Mobile Sectors?” Subscribe today to get invited to future Technology Salons in London Eminent thought leaders Diana Sang (Digital Impact Alliance) and Oliver Rowntree (GSMA) shared their varied experiences of collaboration between development actors and mobile network operators (MNOs)

Nearly half of the world’s population uses one or more messaging applications and increasingly, development organizations are seeing the value of using mobile messaging applications to reach both urban and rural populations across the globe. The Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) worked with Echo Mobile to examine how international development organizations are using messaging apps and capture lessons for development

I am neither a data nor a health specialist, yet it is at the nexus of the two where I have built my expertise. I took my very first steps on the sands of Dar es Salaam’s Msasani Bay, but it was in Lusaka eight years later that I became acutely aware of the realities

Donors such as USAID have a critical role to play in encouraging greater respect and protection of the data of vulnerable individuals and groups. They can help to reduce data-related risks by bringing a values-based responsible data approach to their work and by supporting implementing partners to improve their handling of data, especially data belonging to vulnerable individuals

The world’s data is expected to double every two years for the foreseeable future, thanks to increasing connectivity and progress in technology. This abundance of data combined with advances in computing power, software and algorithms have allowed us to do tremendous tasks such as push the boundaries of artificial intelligence that helps us speak with

I’m excited to return to Kampala for the ICT4D conference representing the Digital Impact Alliance. When I left Kampala in 2012, my home of two and a half years, many things were different. I left UNICEF having grown and trained the software development team that took U-Report from concept to a platform of over two