ICT4D Conference Podcast: Global Tech, Local Good

Dr. John Reeder, Director of TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Disease, based at the World Health Organization, gives an overview of digital technologies used globally to help fight malaria, their benefits and potential, as well as challenges or barriers to overcome.

Kilyelyani Kanjo, Digital Financial Services Consultant, and Nandini Harihareswara, Senior Advisor for Inclusive Digital Economies & Women's Economic Empowerment, at United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) on SPRINT4Women, a unique design sprint engaging private sector in human-centred design for financial inclusion of rural women in Zambia.

Bonnie Chiu (Managing Director of The Social Investment Consultancy, Founder of Lensational) on grassroots and entrepreneurial approaches to digital capacity building of marginalized women.

Revi Sterling (Gender and Technology Specialist, DAI Global; Director, USAID WomenConnect Challenge) shares five proven strategies to close the gen­der digital divide and increase women’s economic empowerment.

Claire Sibthorpe (Head of Connected Women, Connected Society and Assistive Tech, GSMA) on delivering digital inclusion and connecting the unconnected. Resources mentioned: https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/ The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report: https://www.gsma.com/r/somic/

Ousman Njie, Head of Office, and Alieu Bah, Project Officer Malaria, at Catholic Relief Services Gambia, on engaging youth in data collection for health programs and building digital capacity in the Gambia.

Jocelyn Williams (Director of Business Development, Every1Mobile) on the role of digital tech in empowering women and addressing digital diversity and inclusion.

This special podcast edition is a summary of IT priorities and trends for 2021 mentioned in the interviews with CIOs and IT Directors, including resource mobilization, IT security, optimizing remote operations and digital work-spaces, strategic changes. Featuring Karl Lowe (CIO, Catholic Relief Services), Rosa Maria Cortada (CIO, Oxfam Intermón), Thomas Rubatscher (Intl. Director ICT at SOS Children’s Villages International), Michael Johnson (CIO, The Global Fund), Priscilla Chomba-Kinywa...

Michael Johnson (CIO, The Global Fund) on their digital transformation journey so far, and IT priorities for 2021 including effective remote operations, continuous operational improvements, supporting in country partners, and collaborative tech innovations.

Marco van den Berg (Chief Information Officer, Information & Knowledge Systems, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on digitization trends, and associated cyber risk and interoperability concerns.

Thomas Rubatscher (Intl. Director ICT at SOS Children's Villages International) on digital transformation, technology trends such as chat-bots, and ICT priorities for the coming year.

Dr. Ronda Zelezny-Green (Global Head of Training and Learning, The Internet Society; Co-Founder & Director, Panoply Digital) on digital literacy and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Priscilla Chomba-Kinywa (Head of Digital and Technology, ActionAid) on Covid-19 accelerated digital transformation, strategic changes, and need for more collaboration.

Sebastian Manhart (Chief Partnerships Officer, Simprints) on emerging eHealth trends and adapting digital health innovations and services in response to Covid-19.

Bobby Jefferson, VP and CTO at DAI Global Health, on emerging technologies in global health and associated risk, especially cyber security.

Mala Kumar, Senior Program Manager for Tech for Social Good at GitHub, Inc. on opportunities and barriers of open source adoption in the development and humanitarian sector. More info in the recent report Open Source in the Social Sector https://socialimpact.github.com/#report

Anthony Makumbi, Chief Technology Officer and Senior IT Director Solutions at Shared Action Africa, shares insights on digital transformation and digital skill trends and gaps in Uganda, especially during the pandemic.

Deepak Pareek, Founder of Digi Agri, Director at HnyB Tech Incubations and Tech Pioneer at World Economic Forum, shares digital trends in agriculture during the pandemic - like a 18-20% rise of WhatsApp use -, emerging technologies that truly support farmers and what role NGOs play.

Sreeni Narayanan, Group Managing Director at ASSIST Asia, addresses how in the Philippines digital skills and literacy as well as partnerships to support those have developed over the past years and especially in the past months during the pandemic.

Chris Houston, Director of Humanitarian Innovation at Humanitarian Grand Challenge Canada, talks about innovations for humanitarian response, investing in local leadership and solutions, and the upcoming Request for Proposals at https://humanitariangrandchallenge.org/