Development Gateway

Development Gateway is an international nonprofit organization with the purpose of delivering information solutions to people who are working directly in international development. This includes a variety of people such as government policy makers, frontline aid workers, and private citizens. Each shares the desire to share expertise and to have a voice in the development process. Development Gateway collaborates with people in information and communication technologies with the aim of improving transparency in governance utilizing information management tools. It also consults with developing or grassroots organizations and governments in areas specific to development and remains behind the scenes in this capacity.

Development Gateway was formerly named the Development Gateway Foundation. Originally, the organization was incorporated as part of the World Bank, having been created by its president at that time, James Wolfensohn. By 2004, it became an independent organization supported through grants and funding from a variety of foundations and donor agencies. Its current mission is to empower international development professionals, governments, and citizens by providing them with the knowledge necessary to improve lives. It develops information solutions tailored to the needs of the organization and further cultivates the skills to turn information into lasting results.

Development Gateway is concerned with international development and promotion of the public good, collaborating with developing countries to improve the acquisition and management of fiscal aid. In a world where technology changes with lightning speed, an organization that is devoted solely to remaining abreast of innovation and then having the ability to harness it for the betterment of other groups fills a necessary void. Development Gateway claims to be the go-between for ideas and application, invoking ambitious endeavors that might never be realized because of a lack of technological expertise on behalf of the developing nations. It is able to create tools and processes specific to the needs of an objective and to customize its analysis to improve results.

In fact, Development Gateway is comfortable in the arena of international development and technology and is able to create visual analytics that readily explain the outcomes of programs that have been undertaken on behalf of fragile states and beleaguered war-torn countries. This benefits these groups by allowing them to use this simple-to-understand data evidence to drive policy and decision making—the ultimate goal of Development Gateway. The data are also useful to perform authentic monitoring and evaluation of processes that have been implemented. Always the intended outcome is to improve on-the-ground and people-oriented services. Technology and information management expertise is the manner in which this group works to have a lasting impact. Unfortunately, when the needs are [Page 363]great, the value of this capability is often overlooked until it is too late.

The organization may be more recognizable by its multiple subsidiary Websites that include Country Gateways, AidData, dgMarket, and Zunia. Development Gateway regularly pursues opportunities to improve the manipulation and maximization of aid via a number of online software tools that combine to create its Aid Management Platform. However, Development Gateway is also expert in designing and maintaining customized Websites for its clients that help to get their message out to the public. This is done on a contractual basis and, again, involves the use of a breadth of software tools. Each program is very important, as described below.

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