If 2020 taught us anything, it is that adaptation is paramount. The events of the past year have changed almost every aspect of how we think, work, and live, and we would be naïve to think that our digital toolkit won’t change right along with us. Therefore, heading into 2021, we have high ambitions to continue to analyze and elevate inclusive, ethical, human-focused digital products and services that can help us address some of the complex issues that 2020 unveiled. Following are seven areas we’ll be exploring in the coming year… …and while it may be tempting to focus on the challenges that lie ahead or rush to put 2020 behind us, the folks at DAI’s Center for Digital Acceleration have also been reflecting on how to take the lessons learned last year and begin 2021 stronger and more committed to a safe, inclusive, and human-driven digital world. The COVID-19 pandemic is having a transformational impact on trade. What can DAI and other trade and international development practitioners do to improve trade resilience, support recovery, and “build back better”? Can we help turn the crisis into an opportunity to catalyse reform and reimagine a more nimble, responsive, and inclusive trading system? What can be done to protect businesses and nurture new trade opportunities emerging in response to COVID-19? Webinar: How MSD Enhanced Nigerian Farmers’ Resilience to COVID-19The pandemic threatened severe economic hardship for smallholder farmers and other enterprises in rural Nigeria. Now, evidence is emerging about how past investments in market systems development are helping businesses to weather the crisis. On January 26, the BEAM Exchange will host a webinar to explore this evidence, featuring DAI’s Bill Grant and other speakers discussing two programmes in the Niger Delta: the UK Aid-funded Market Development in the Niger Delta programme and The Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta. For resource-rich countries looking to derive value from their extractive industries beyond tax revenues and production-sharing arrangements, promoting “local content” has become a mainstay of domestic policy in the past few decades. Governments looking to stimulate economic growth and create local jobs—especially in response to the coronavirus pandemic—would do well to consider Oman’s example. Our ProjectsDemocratic Republic of the Congo—Strengthening Livelihoods and Resilience (SLR) This project assists the Government of the DRC to improve resilience capacities in vulnerable households and communities and support the Congolese people, households, and communities in their efforts to sustainably escape poverty and chronic vulnerability. SLR strengthens systems and institutional capacity; fosters inclusive economic growth and improved livelihoods; improves the availability, access, utilization, and stability of nutritious foods; and promotes gender equity and the empowerment of women and youth. Colombia—Responsive Governance Activity The Responsive Governance (RG) Activity is a four-year initiative to narrow the governance gap between the “two Colombias”—large cities, on the one hand, versus the more isolated and conflict-affected municipalities where RG will work, on the other—resulting in national and subnational governments that are more responsive to citizen needs and more likely to create conditions conducive to peace. “In Central America, the COVID-19 pandemic has created new barriers for people living with HIV to adhere to their antiretroviral therapy regimen,” writes Claudia Guzmán of DAI affiliate IntraHealth International. People living with HIV face lack of transportation, reduced clinic hours and sites, and fear of going to clinics—all of which make it harder for them to continue taking their medication. So health workers are using new approaches to help their clients overcome these obstacles. “Modernizing and upgrading street lighting infrastructure with more energy efficient technology is an easy way for cities to save electricity and promote sustainable development,” writes DAI’s Nora Brown on the ClimateLinks blog. “Da Nang, a city of more than 1.1 million people in central Vietnam, has identified energy efficient public lighting as a key part of their energy reduction strategy and a critical aspect of becoming a green city.” COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns have seriously disrupted economic activity, affecting at least 80 percent of the global workforce, according to the International Labour Organization. While such instability threatens livelihoods across the board, women are disproportionately harmed by the pandemic because it exacerbates existing inequalities, presents new challenges, and sets back recent achievements. But there are practical steps we can take to strengthen women’s economic position in the COVID-19 era—and beyond. USAID’s Promote: Women in the Economy project bolstered women’s inclusion in Afghanistan’s economy through technical assistance, access to finance, and business training. In 2016, we wrote about the possibility of leveraging machine learning to “automate the alignment of unstructured CVs and resumes with available jobs, thereby facilitating the Afghan women’s access to employment opportunities.” Here we reflect on five lessons from this initiative, and how its success can be applied to future endeavors. The Three Seas Initiative (3SI) brings together 12 EU countries that lie along the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black Seas. In October, Estonia—a pacesetter in digital transformation at the national level—organized and hosted the 3SI annual summit. We were grateful to have a chance to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the office of the President of Estonia to assess opportunities for Smart Connectivity in a vision paper on the topic, which is now available. We're always adding new positions to our Careers Page on Linkedin. Come join a group of global development professionals dedicated to shaping a more livable world.
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