The sign of success in foreign assistance is that “We are partners in building capacity for transformational change,” President Obama said in a recent speech in Ghana.
“Africa’s future is up to Africans,” he said.
Open Development is an approach to international development that stems from this definition of success and aims for the transformational change that President Obama envisions. Improving transparency and accountability through open access to information and data on outcomes, knowledge, and tools for international development can help to enable people who have traditionally been known as “beneficiaries” to become producers of their own economic success. “From cell phone entrepreneurs to small farmers,” said President Obama, “Africans have shown the capacity and commitment to create their own opportunities.”
At Open Development Camp on July 10th, just a day before Obama’s groundbreaking speech, development professionals from Washington DC and all over the world gathered to discuss ways that data and aid-related information could be shared in an open and transparent manner, and used in innovative and creative ways to empower people around the world. The Global Development Commons at USAID co-sponsored the event, and participated in discussions about the democratization of data, mapping information, and new uses for mobile phones, all while garnering ideas for our own initiatives, such as digital brainstorms, open innovation challenges, and creating an online community to collaborate on their own initiatives. We believe that open development is the first step toward a transformational paradigm shift in how foreign assistance is provided.
Although open development is gaining momentum now thanks to globalization, ever increasing improvements in communications technology, and a renewed political will, the concept of free information has a long, proven history. As keynote speaker Owen Barder reminded Open Development Camp participants, it is central to Amartya Sen’s observation that no country with a free press has ever had a famine. “You can’t eat information,” said Barder, “But you can use it to change your life.”
Following the day of discussions, 18 year-old Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, representative of the World Youth Alliance from Nigeria noted, “It is important to make [people in developing countries] not just the object of our work as international development practitioners, but also to make them the subject of our work by involving them actively in seeking solutions to the problems they face. In developing countries, people know how to solve their problems; they just need to be empowered with the information to do this. That is what open development is about.”
“The world will be what you make of it,” Obama said to the young people of Ghana. “You have the power to hold your leaders accountable and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities, and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease and end conflicts and make change from the bottom up.”
Participants in the Open Development Camp are continuing to offer recommendations to help shape open development at USAID and beyond. To learn more open development and contribute your own ideas, join the conversation today!
