Data and Feedback for Development

Even a cursory glance at the Internet would tell you there is a lot going on in the Bank on Open Development. Add in cutting edge approaches using SMS messaging by Think Tanks, CSOs and Foundations and you quickly see that mapping for results, crowd-sourcing, beneficiary feedback, and Open Data hold out enormous promise of leveraging technology for more effective development - as the technology grows and cheapens, we've all only begun to scratch the surface of its full potential.  

Last week in Ireland at a speech at the Institute for International and European Affairs, I tried to capture some of the excitement of that work (link to speech) and how it reflects a changing economic balance of power both among states and within them: if 2/3rd of global growth is coming from developing countries maybe 2/3 of ideas are too. Knowledge, combined with technology, can now make that ideas-generation possible across borders, continents and social strata. It isn't hard to imagine a future of "beneficiary implementation support" where beneficiaries are full partners in supervision reports and evaluation, prompting mid-course corrections and feedback loops that integrate learning into program design and implementation.