2017 ICT4D Conference

Human capacity is a critical component of delivering financial services, yet many financial institutions, particularly those targeting the poor in developing countries, consistently struggle to develop and manage their human capital. This is important as an estimated 2 billion working-age adults – more than half of the world’s total adult population – do not have an account at a formal financial institution.

In response to the opportunity to look at new applications of technology to catalyze change in the field of financial inclusion, CGAP has launched a project called Gateway Academy, an innovative learning project offering both on-line and blended courses and cultivating communities of practice focused on financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa. Gateway Academy is working with training providers, financial service providers, and e-learning experts to generate high quality course content, build communities of practice, and conduct on-going research to understand user needs.

Gateway Academy is facilitating the development of inclusive and sustainable markets for virtual and blended training around financial inclusion. A critical part of this work is creating an online marketplace for that training. Our presentation will include a brief demonstration of the online marketplace and share what have learned through its design and user input. We will highlight how our approach is guided by principles for digital development and the opportunities and challenges they present.

Our presentation will focus on the following principles as they apply to developing this platform, community and market:
• Design with the user
• Understand the existing ecosystem
• Design for scal
• Build for sustainability
• Be collaborative

As part of our sustainability approach is to open this platform to other sectors and geographical areas, we are eager to hear from other attendees about its potential utility for them.