2017 ICT4D Conference

World Vision International (WVI) has fostered ICT4D innovation for near 15 years. In that period, WVI has solidified its portfolio across ICT for health, education, humanitarian assistance, child protection, microfinance and livelihoods leveraging internet centers, mobile, GIS and other technologies. As the ICT4D sector has matured globally, the importance of integrating solid partnering models for the use of technology in socioeconomic development has become clear. Efforts of iNGOs, local NGOs, donors, multi-laterals and private sector entities to foster improved collaboration, reduce duplication of effort and align with the strategies, policies and architecture of national governments where ICT4D projects are initiated, are critical for scale up. There are many challenges involved in attempting to shift existing approaches, which are often siloed in nature. Taking the time to collaborate well and to arrive at compromises for the broader good is difficult in the humanitarian and development sector given the ‘co-opetition’ that has been the norm in socio-economic development for many decades.

However, the rewards from working together have the potential the change the game, particularly for governments that often find themselves dealing with uncoordinated and/or duplicative sector programming and technology implementations. Particularly with respect to ICT4D in health and some other sectors, the importance of all actors driving toward alignment with a national enterprise and technical architecture, as well as integration or interoperability, forces the issue. In addition, the immediate need to design and implement relevant business models for sustainability of ICT4D is salient. In both of these cases, partnering in innovative ways with governments, solution providers, mobile network operators and corporations can unlock viable options for nationally scalable, sustainable solutions. The difficulties and possibilities inherent in this type of innovative partnering will be explored and discussed.