Sustainable, inclusive digital development is the goal. The Principles for Digital Development are the foundation.
Sustainable, inclusive digital development is the goal. The Principles for Digital Development are the foundation.
Over a decade ago, international development organizations began seeking new ways of harnessing digital tools in their programming to improved outcomes.
These efforts were initially quite successful, driving significant advancements in various sectors such as health and agriculture. Technology-enabled initiatives connected more communities around the globe and reached underserved populations in a way that had not been possible before.
However, some digitally-enabled programs failed — and quite often that failure was for reasons that were both predictable and preventable.
To address these challenges, donors and implementers began discussing how to understand, define, and scale best practices in the use of digital tools in international development.
This led to the creation of the Principles for Digital Development.
The Principles are a set of living guidelines intended to help realize the full potential of digital technologies.
While the Digital Impact Alliance serves as the steward, the Principles are community-driven, shaped by the collective knowledge of a global network of technologists, practitioners, and activists. They were crafted based on the contributions, resources, learnings, and best practices of the digital development ecosystem. We aim to foster an inclusive and participatory approach to their evolution and application.
Resources
These Principles are weaved throughout all of our research, products, and initiatives. As we put these Principles into practice, we will continue to share our learnings along the way. The resources below are intended to offer context and guidance to help in the implementation of the Principles in digital development initiatives, and we welcome contributions from the broader community.
Excited about the Principles?
Join us: Endorse the Digital Principles and join the community of 300+ organizations committed to ensuring their work maximizes the agency of people and communities to drive their own development.
Contribute: We are looking for organization that can adapt the Principles for specific needs and communities, including developing trainings, guidance, or translating the Principles into additional languages.
Reach out to PrinciplesAdmin@dial.global to get involved.
