CRS ICT4D Conference

The Principles for Digital Development are “living” guidelines that can help development practitioners integrate established best practices into technology-enabled programs. They were written by and for international development donors and their implementing partners, but are freely available for use by all. The Principles are intended to serve as guidance rather than edict, and to be updated and refined over time.

The Principles find their roots in the efforts of individuals, development organizations, and donors alike who have called for a more concerted effort by donors and implementing partners to institutionalize the many hard lessons learned in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in development projects.

Donor organizations have been discussing how to surface and spread best practice in the use of ICT tools as part of development programming for at least a decade. These discussions culminated in the UNICEF Innovation Principles of 2009, the Greentree Principles of 2010, and the UK Design Principles, among others.

The Principles for Digital Development draw from these processes, and are the result of consultation with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Omidiyar Foundation, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the UN’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Development Program (UNDP), UN Global Pulse, the UN Fund for Population Assistance (UNFPA), the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Women, the World Bank, the World Food Program (WFP), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. Department of State, and the World Health Organization (WHO).

In the presentation we will give an overview of the Principles, including how and why they were developed, and discuss each one in detail. We will also review working group accomplishments to date and opportunities for organizations to participate in ongoing activities and share their challenges and insights (either with attribution or anonymously) in implementing the Principles.