April Chapter Event : "Democratizing Development : How Technology is Disrupting Traditional Models"

 

SID-Washington was proud to hold its April Chapter Event on “Democratizing Development: How Technology is Disrupting Traditional Models”. 

 

Mathew Clark of Microsoft moderated the panel discussion which included Raj Kumar, President of The Development Executive Group, Premal Shah, President of Kiva, and Pierre Wielezynski, Communications Officer, Online Outreach, the World Bank. 

 

Mr. Clark opened the discussion by explaining that the development model has grown in accordance with technological advances. The actors in the development community have increasingly explored technological means to obtain information at a faster and more reliable rate..  The advancement of technology is reforming the traditional model of negotiations between donor agencies and governments in developing countries.  All three panelists offered their alternatives and ideas for adapting to the new technologies being offered. 
           

During his years at the Kennedy School of Government Raj Kumar discovered that recruiting and current knowledge of the international marketplace were of the biggest problems for international development professionals. As a result, Mr. Kumar created the Development Executive Group (DevEx), an on-line networking and information portal for the development community, geared to empower otherwise “out-of-the-loop” organizations and individuals. DevEx’s new website enables recruiters to find people, view CV’s, job announcements, and other various posts. This forum creates a one-to-one relationship, via a network model on a website through which an individual can create their own content or create a network among peers. Mr. Kumar believes that this will lead to a more efficient marketplace because there is an array of accurate information presented in a cohesive manner which companies can use to hire more qualified people. The Development Executive Group’s goal is to make facilitation easier in an open industry.
           

The second panelist, Premal Shah, the President of Kiva.org, used the presentation of his website to address the open industry and technology in a different dimension. Kiva is looking to assist working poor through microfinance projects while remaining completely transparent about the operations and the information being posted. Kiva’s purpose is to post profiles of entrepreneurs in the developing world so that lenders can review this content and decide accordingly to invest through microloans of $25 increments at 0% interest.  Every ten days $1 million dollars is invested in Kiva’s entrepreneurs and less than 10% withdraw from their investments... Mr. Shah explained that Kiva thrives on several principles for web 2.0 success: 1.) Create an “addictive” user experience, 2.) Be “radically” transparent, 3.) “Crowd sourcing” against constraints, 4.) Build an “increasing return on data”, and 5.) Reach the “long tail”. He stressed that international development should not be about “poverty pornography,” exploiting the developing world with photographs, and that authentic language builds trust. The site also promotes longevity in the type of assistance that Kiva is offering and strives to build credit worthiness for these entrepreneurs. 
           

Pierre Wielezynski in the External Relations section of theWorld Bank, acknowledged international leverage through the web and its inherent ability to bring various people together. The World Bank has recently publicized their entire application programming interface to lenders and entrepreneurs alike. The Bank is trying to facilitate cross-communication among related projects. The main challenge is culture and age disparity rather than technology. He commented that people retire and new, young people enter the Bank’s workforce with knowledge the latest technology and networks like Facebook, Kiva, or DevEx. He suggested that large institutions like the World Bank and the United Nations view technology and the internet as an open source to share all information with each other.
           

 

During the question and answer session an individual asked how the audience can take advantage of the new trends, tools and technology. Mr. Shah pointed out that the internet and credit cards have proliferated the number of loans and Kiva strives to give people identities. New technology allows loan officers to have an identity and to blog about their day in the field working with people. It puts a face to the story and offers an outlet for the officer. Mr. Kumar stated that there is a plethora of technology and events continuously occurring and DevEx allows people to find professionals or nearby projects. 

Another question in the audience for Mr. Clark was about the ease (or lack thereof) in adapting to technology at a certain age. In response, Mr. Wielezynski replied that young people should be the ally of those who didn’t grow up with new technology. The World Bank offers reverse mentoring, supplying a junior staff guide to the senior staff to help them with new tools.        

print this pageprinter friendly page