"The Tanzania DECA report presents the findings and recommendations of the Tanzania DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Tanzania’s digital ecosystem and provides 13 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by USAID/Tanzania priorities: i) foundational
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skills of children below age 15; ii) increasing empowerment, productivity, and engagement of Tanzanians aged 15 to 35; and iii) strengthening capacity of state and non-state actors to benefit future generations, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Tanzania technical offices, and 76 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. Key findings include: while the Government of Tanzania prioritized increasing connectivity for all citizens over the last two decades, last-mile connectivity gaps persist; there is a large usage gap in Tanzania that is attributed to factors including lack of device and mobile broadband affordability, low levels of digital literacy, and a dearth of locally relevant content; while there has been greater openness over the past two years, nearly all of the restrictive laws remain in place and prospects for amending or repealing them remain uncertain; the government is committed to developing and promoting digital government services and systems and often relies on software solutions developed in-house; while the government has a National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS) 2018-2022 that outlines a comprehensive framework for detecting, preventing, and combating cyber threats, the strategy is not shared widely or publicly; mobile financial services are at the forefront of digital financial services uptake; Tanzania’s startup ecosystem is growing, with startups in a variety of sectors, although it is in its infancy and not yet enabled by explicit policies or regulations; E-commerce is in early stage development in both supply and demand. Weak enabling factors such as logistics infrastructure, addressing systems, and consumer protections regulations prevent the sector from realizing its full potential." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"The Honduras Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) report presents the findings and recommendations of the Honduras DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Honduras' digital ecosystem and provides 9 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by USAID/Ho
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nduras priorities, which include i) facilitating a systems change approach - social, economic, justice and security, environmental, education; ii) partnering and co-creating with the private sector to capitalize on shared values, forster innovation, and facilitating joint investment where interests align; and iii) generating opportunities for citizens - especially youth - to actively engage and invest in their future in Honduras, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Honduras technical offices, and 76 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. Key findings include: digital transformation is a priority of President Xiomara Castro’s new administration; an outdated telecommunications legal and regulatory environment is hindering connectivity expansion, affordability, and accessibility; efforts to digitize education are succeeding, but digital literacy lags and requires a concerted strategy; there are not effective data protection and cybersecurity regulations; the Government of Honduras lacks the capacity to prosecute digital crimes; there is a focus on countering mis- and disinformation by civil society, but a joint strategy is required for greater impact; the level of financial inclusion continues to be low due to systematic weaknesses, such as poor connectivity infrastructure, and supply-side factors, such as the lack of relevant traditional and digital financial services; e-commerce is slow to take off in Honduras, except in the two largest cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula; the digital talent pool does not currently meet the labor market demand." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"This whitepaper establishes that there is misalignment on the implementation of digital enabling strategies between global headquarters and the local humanitarian and development programs of East Africa. As headquarters of international NGOs – mostly based in the global north – participate in a
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n information revolution that seeks to drive organizational efficiency (i.e., Peak Performance) through effective data use (i.e., Information Certainty) local humanitarian impact programs – mostly based in the global south – have not been afforded the equivalent digital foundation to join the information revolution on their owns terms. Consequently, when seeking to leverage business applications and digitally enabled services for amplified impact there exist fundamental barriers to success. To unlock gridlock around the amplifying potential of digital, global nonprofits must revisit foundational digital dimensions thereby finishing the job on “wiring [and connecting] the global village” (Granger-Happ, 2001), providing skills and leadership for a digital age, and ensuring that collective action is harnessed in a strategic capacity to scale innovation in parallel with sector trends of localization." (Astract)
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"Mobile technologies underpin digital transformation in the Pacific Islands as authorities take steps to help economies recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and manage threats from climate change and natural disasters. Mobile is the first (in most cases only) form of internet connectivity for many con
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sumers and businesses across the region. In the past few years, mobile subscriber penetration and smartphone adoption have increased but remain considerably lower than the global average. Improving access to connectivity and closing the mobile internet usage gap are essential for socioeconomic development and to ensure that no one is left behind.
Digital connectivity – with 5G at the core – is set to shape the way people live and businesses operate, accelerating socioeconomic advancement across areas such as healthcare, education, digital commerce, transport and tourism. 5G is still in its early stages in the Pacific Islands; only Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands had launched commercial 5G services as of March 2023. However, operators have already taken steps to prepare for the 5G era, including making their networks 5G-ready. By 2030, the number of 5G connections in the Pacific Islands will reach 1.5 million, equivalent to 17% of total mobile connections. In the meantime, there is an opportunity to migrate more customers from legacy (2G and 3G) networks to 4G, growing adoption beyond 50% in the coming years." (Executive summary)
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"For nations to make the most of digital technology, governments must play their role. Formal education is becoming increasingly important. Yes, some apps serve illiterate people, but those who read have access to far more information. International discourse is held in languages like English, Frenc
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h and Spanish. Those who only speak a vernacular cannot take full advantage of the World Wide Web.
In its early stages, the digital economy thrived in a largely unregulated sphere. Even in the 1990s, Silicon Valley companies were still known for not doing much lobbying in Washington. Now they are lobbying giants. The anti-trust proceedings against Microsoft were the turning point. In yet another epsiode of economic history, it had become clear that leaving things to market forces would lead to monopolistic dominance. Accordingly, the tech companies now want to shape political discourse. We actually need better international regulation. Profit-maximising corporate giants are running social media platforms that have become indispensable for public debate, at both national and international levels. The companies make the rules. They are free to decide whether they want to ban liars and propagandists, and it is up to them whether they apply their own rules consistently. All too often, they do not. Hate speech remains unchecked in many cases. Antidemocratic propaganda abounds. Content moderation is typically not done in African or Asian languages. Freedom House, the Washington-based pro-democracy initiative, warns that an increasing number of governments are restricting civic liberties online. Human rights are indivisible, however, and need to be defended in international and multilateral settings.
Humanity is facing huge challenges including global heating. Digital technology can help us get a grip on some of the problems. But if we want technology to serve the common good, we cannot simply leave application to market forces. Regulation must not obstruct progress, but it must ensure that oligarchic corporate interests do not become obstructive. And that, obviously, applies to artificial intelligence too." (Editorial page 3)
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"The Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) Toolkit is a step-by-step guide designed to help USAID Missions conduct high-quality research that will directly inform Mission strategic and programmatic decisions for digital development interventions. The DECA is the flagship initiative of the USAI
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D Digital Strategy. It identifies opportunities and risks in a country’s digital ecosystem to help the development, design, and implementation of USAID’s strategies, projects, and activities. The DECA informs USAID Missions and other key decision-makers about how to better understand, work with, and support a country’s digital ecosystem. This Toolkit is designed to provide Mission staff with the tools and information needed to conduct this assessment." (About this Toolkit, page 5)
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"UNDP's Digital Strategy builds on the momentum created by the first strategy launched in 2018 and lays out a long-term vision for UNDP to 'help create a world in which digital is an empowering force for people and planet'. It outlines three interconnected objectives through which UNDP will support
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countries in reaping the benefits of digital technology while mitigating the risks. Digital Strategy 2022-2025 is intended to maintain and accelerate the momentum that has already been generated across UNDP and among its partners. Indeed, many of the components are already in place such as the Accelerator Labs, the Digital Advocates Network, a comprehensive IT transformation, and the Chief Digital Office. Continuing to build the capabilities of UNDP's workforce to imagine, plan, and implement integrated digital approaches has the potential to truly generate a multiplier effect on its support to partners." (Publisher description)
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"Hivos sees vital opportunities to support creatives and build alternative digital spaces and activist communities that will stand up to the digital monoculture. They are essential if we want to imagine and work towards a more humane and sustainable digital future. In 'Counter the Digital Monocultur
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e', the team interviews seven future-oriented activists, artists and academics to answer the question 'How can we counter the digital monoculture?' The interviews cover a wide range of topics, from indigenous futurism to afro-feminism, speculative storytelling, and the need for a fossil-free internet. A recurring theme is the importance of amplifying the work of activists, artists, and filmmakers to reach wide audiences with narratives that focus on humane digital futures." (Publisher description)
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"The goal of this Data Governance Toolkit is to guide non-profit organizations through the steps and best practices for implementing Data Governance within your organization, while keeping in mind the changing organization IT landscape, enterprise architecture and program deliverables. To support or
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ganizations, reach their goal of capacity building in Data and Analysis, this toolkit guides you through a Framework to implementing Data Governance that includes template policies, roles, roadmaps and KPIs." (Purpose of this toolkit, page 3)
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"In over 30 years of history, the field of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) has asserted itself both within Information Systems (IS) and across disciplines. However, the core assumptions on which the field was built have been questioned over time, resulting in a situa
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tion in which such assumptions—on development, the role of ICTs towards it, and the meaningfulness of the term “developing countries”—have been problematized. As a result, this paper poses the question on whether it still makes sense to do ICT4D research: starting from older ICT4D landscape papers, it fleshes out three main assumptions made at the origins of the field. It then problematizes such assumptions through more recent works, noting that the old theoretical grounds of the field do not apply anymore today. Having said that, it states three reasons for renewed ICT4D research efforts: the reframing of “development” in terms of justice, the potential of multi-theoretical research approaches, and the turn to indigenous understandings of ICTs. For all these reasons, it concludes that doing ICT4D research is especially important today, in virtue of a juncture of history that problematizes its older assumptions." (Abstract)
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"Focusing on the internet as a foundational technology, this paper begins by summarising recent developments in digital inclusion theory, particularly as this relates to developing countries. It sets out a framework of core components of digital inclusion - including access/use, quality of access/us
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e, affordability, and digital skills - and briefly considers policy implications. The paper then surveys the ways these components are currently measured in household and firm surveys and by international organisations, highlighting some of the often-overlooked weaknesses of current measures, and suggesting possible improvements. The paper also reflects on potential applications of (and risks associated with) new ways of measuring digital inclusion using big data. Lastly, building on the framework developed, the paper reviews the empirical literature on ‘digital divides’ in developing countries, and makes suggestions for how future research could become more rigorous and useful." (Abstract)
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"In this article we consider the notion of digital global public good and articulate our understanding of it. Against this conceptual foil, we examine the development of DHIS2 (District Health Information Software Version 2), a global health platform inspired by public goods, focusing on the paradox
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es that arise in the scaling process. We find that the scaling dynamics played out differently at the macro and micro levels, giving rise to the following paradoxes: addition of new functionalities to cater to the universe of users across the world (macro level) works counter to the needs of users in particular locations (micro level); responsiveness to the requests of the donors with a global view (macro level) distorts the production process, as the voices of users, situated in remote locations in developing countries, are not adequately heard; the system needs to be simultaneously relevant across the global (macro level) and the local (micro level), when the former calls for decontextualization and the later (re)contextualization. We then discuss challenges these paradoxes create with regard to attaining non-rivalry and non-exclusion, the defining characteristics of a public good." (Abstract)
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"The How-to Note is a brief, user-friendly guide that helps program design teams understand and prioritize the Digital Principles most relevant to their work. Through a series of leading questions and worksheets, this digital activity design checklist provides actionable guidance for each Digital Pr
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inciple and shares additional resources for ensuring that programs are well-designed and effective." (Publisher description)
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"This report aims to introduce techniques and procedures of NLP (Natural Language Processing), the computational preparation and analysis of text data, to map the public voice and aid development. First, the report introduces essential concepts of communication and elaborates on the theoretical foun
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dations of natural language analyses. Second, the report reviews research on NLP of social media text data by showcasing studies that have applied the techniques to the Sustainable Development Goals. Third, the report reviews specific NLP techniques, including data preprocessing, and dicusses libraries and programming procedures. It also reviews concepts such as keyword extraction to identify relevant terms, topic modeling to detect common themes, and text classification to recognize language features. These NLP techniques are showcased in two case studies. The first shows how topic modeling can be applied to derive insights on the public debate over climate change in Australia. The second demonstrates how text classification can be leveraged to analyze public sentiment on COVID-19 in the Philippines. Finally, the report discusses the challenges and limitations, as well as the potentials, of NLP." (Foreword)
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"The present paper sheds light on the current trends of cyber capacity building and its implications in Africa and beyond as well as on its actor landscape. It argues that Germany and Europe should strategically engage more with African countries in terms of cyber capacity building to avoid that the
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se countries slide into the camp of 'digital authoritarianism' and help them to embrace the benefits of digitalized economy flanked by proper cyber security." (Executive summary, page 4)
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