2021 Global Digital Development Forum Viewing List .

Lightning Talks

From Small Nudges to Big Gains in Teacher Professional Development
This presentation explores how the UK aid-funded Syria Education Programme used online digital platforms to supercharge its behavior change communication campaign.

Adult Trainings in Times of Pandemic and Economic Meltdown
This session draws on experience in Lebanon to highlight ways to make distance learning programs for adults effective in times of pandemic and economic meltdown.

No Need for a School Building: How ICT-Enabled Distance Learning Makes Education Possible for Syrian Children
This presentation is based on field research conducted with a sample of learners and caregivers and focuses on technology as a key enabling factor in self-study programs.

Rural Client Uptake of Financial Services in Post-Conflict Colombia (Spanish)
This presentation shares challenges and solutions of digital financial services in rural Colombia, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, using session uses examples from USAID’s Rural Finance Initiative (RFI) partnerships.

App Draws Attention to Violence Against Women
The Ellas app is an informative app for GBV victims. This talk explains how the app works, why it was created, the information it provides, its utility during the pandemic, and its effectiveness in emergency situations.

In-Service Teacher Training: Responding to COVID-19 Using Blended Learning
Learn how Tajikistan approached in-service teachers’ training after COVID-19 forced a shift from traditional face-to-face training to using an online/offline platform.

Use of Innovation & Technology for Access to Medicine and Improved Health Outcomes (French)
This presentation introduces InfoMED, an information system designed to capture HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, family planning, and maternal child health commodity data. The tool supports the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Health make data driven supply chain management decisions.

Discussion Sessions

Putting Data in Indonesian Health Workers’ Pockets to Support COVID-19 Response
 Panelists from the Indonesian Ministry of Health (MOH) and the USAID-funded HRH2030 Program present emergency response dashboards and an HRIS mobile app that supports vaccine distribution for health workers.

Need a Break from Gold Mining? Take an Online Class! (Spanish)
“Oro Legal Virtual,” a learning platform designed by the USAID-supported Legal Gold Activity in Colombia, is presented in an interactive format to test knowledge acquisition and retention.

Small and Medium Enterprises Power the FinTech Ecosystem in Pakistan
Innovative FinTechs in Pakistan are leveraging the digital ecosystem to strengthen the economy. Hear how four Pakistani trailblazers are enabling individuals and small businesses to make digital transactions.

Unlocking the Key to Successfully Digitizing an Agribusiness
Agribusiness digitization is explored through the experiences of three organizations that collaborated on the USAID-funded Uganda Youth Leadership in Agriculture Activity to help Equator Seeds improve their decision making and management processes. 

Keynote Discussions

Democracy in the Digital Age: Why We Need Digital Development Now More Than Ever
As development and humanitarian assistance increasingly relies on digital technology, says USAID Counsellor Chris Milligan, we need to ensure that programs not only achieve development and humanitarian objectives but do so in a way that strengthens and supports digital democracy, inclusion, and human rights. Chemonics’ Digital Development Senior Advisor Manisha Aryal moderates.

Digital Inclusion: Increasing Access in Shrinking Spaces
Digital Empowerment Foundation’s Osama Manzar highlights how curbs on connectivity and online freedoms of expression, association, and assembly affect communities that are increasingly relying on the internet for their rights and livelihoods in India. Chemonics’ Digital Development Senior Advisor Manisha Aryal moderates.

War Against Truth: How Disinformation Undermines Public Trust and Democracy Across Africa
Code for Africa’s Justin Arenstein and Allan Cheboi uncover how governments, clickbait profiteers, political ‘hactivists,’ and foreign intelligence agencies are all exploiting cheap technologies to flood African societies with corrosive disinformation and what can be done about it. Chemonics’ Digital Development Senior Advisor Manisha Aryal moderates.