Telecom & Technology

Internet freedom isn’t a left or right issue—it should matter to everyone who cares about the health and future of democracy.

Today, a full third of the world’s population is now online. And as the importance of the Internet as a platform for participation and expression increases, it’s all the more vital that we keep it open and free from censorship, surveillance, and discrimination.

This morning, the US Treasury announced the MyMoneyAppUp Challenge, a “contest intended to motivate American entrepreneurs, software developers, the public, and students to propose the best ideas and designs for next-generation mobile tools to help Americans control and shape their financial futures.”  The challenge is a joint effort of the US Treasury, the D2D Fund, and CFSI. There are cash prizes for winners of the challenge that come from the Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network, and the Citi Foundation.

In our last podcast, we discussed the growing consensus that financial inclusion and asset building can help reduce poverty and how cost-saving breakthroughs in payment technologies are enhancing the impact of social protection. But in order to really understand savings-linked social protection, we need to delve into the question of what kinds of savings methods are best suited to social protection goals - formal, informal, both?  

The evaluation framework we commented on in a recent blog post is only one part of the World Bank’s series of handbooks on rethinking approaches to the use of information and communication technologies for development [ICTD].

This week at the Open Technology Institute, we’re going back to the source of our passion for technology. It’s not about policy objectives or new software features, but rather the inspiration and enjoyment we get from sharing what we know and learning from others. The Allied Media Conference offers a rare chance to interact with an array of community organizers, technologists, and policy folks in an environment that’s all about generating creative ideas and engaging with other participants.

People across the world are experimenting with ways to leverage technology for economic development and social change. These projects, often referred to as Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) strategies, tackle pressing and difficult questions: what are best practices for communities seeking to use technology to identify and work towards development goals? How do we ensure that underserved communities are connected and able to participate actively in civil and political dialogue, much of which is occurring on digital platforms?

With a growing consensus that financial inclusion and asset building can help reduce poverty, along with cost-saving breakthroughs in payment technologies such as mobiles and biometric IDs, the potential of financial innovation to cost-effectively enhance the impact of social protection is increasingly hard to ignore.

The Open Technology Institute (OTI) and its partners in the Freedom Rings Partnership (FRP) in Philadelphia are pleased to release for public use a comprehensive set of program evaluation instruments designed to gauge the impact of broadband adoption and digital literacy programs. These instruments have been approved by two independent Institutional Review Boards (IRB) as acceptable protocols for use by the FRP in Philadelphia.