'I have been heartened to witness the Digital Principles move from a niche design framework to a mainstream measure of what good digital development looks like.'
This week, our Director of the Digital Principles program, Allana Nelson, announced that she would be leaving DIAL. She announced and reflected on her departure in a post on the Digital Principles blog. Here’s a taste:
‘I have been heartened to witness the Digital Principles move from a niche design framework to a mainstream measure of what good digital development looks like. The community has rallied around this social movement, felt ownership over it, and has taken on so much responsibility in seeing it grow. The Principles have been written into organizational strategies, from small NGOs to major governmental donors, thereby evolving into a central point of policy. Many community members contributed to our body of resources by creating their own Digital Principles-based products for internal use at their organizations, which they kindly permitted us to share publicly with all of you. Others have championed the Digital Principles by including them in virtual learning series, conferences, and encouraging partners to join the endorser network. I came to DIAL intent on being the Principles’ chief advocate, wanting to be the voice of the community and push for better practices in development, but it didn’t take long for that role to become shared by so many of you. The Digital Principles were very much my life for the past few years, but they certainly were never mine alone.
You can read more on the Digital Principles blog.
Under Allana’s leadership, the Principles have grown to a community of 231 endorsers. While we’re sad to lose Allana, we know she’ll remain a part of the Digital Principles community and we’re cheering her on in her new role. Meanwhile, the work continues: we’re hosting a webinar in partnership with the CDAC Network this Thursday morning; continuing work to develop new training courses and sustainability resources for community members; and Allana is wrapping up recording for the next mini-season of our podcast, Pulse on the Principles. This mini-season is on Digital Education. In the coming weeks we’ll begin our search for Allana’s successor – keep an eye on our Twitter account for updates.
