Help us explore IoT for a Data Revolution in Development Programmes

An open invite to join to share your expertise at our marketplace of ideas.

The problem

Have the essential goods and supplies we sent reached those most in need?

How do I build an accurate picture of what’s going on, so I know what’s working and what to change?

How do I free up time for people working on the front lines, so they’re not inputting data and writing reports all the time?

Questions like these are being faced every day by donors like the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and large not-for-profit organisations like the British Red Cross.

Essential data can often take too long to gather, be inconsistent across a programme and redirect money and other resources away from doing the actual work.This reduces both the accountability of these programmes and the quality and speed of decision making.

We believe that development programming needs a data revolution.

We need your help

We believe that embedding Internet of Things (IoT) connected buttons, sensors or other devices in development programmes might help us solve the problem by complementing how we collect data today.

To help us find the answers to these questions, DFID and the Frontier Technologies Hub are excited to be hosting a marketplace of ideas.

We want to bring together IoT technologists and not-for-profits/donors implementing development programmes to help us better understand the problem we are trying to solve, and understand whether this technology is feasible.

Our marketplace of ideas will kick off preparations for in-country pilots, and we hope to bring technology partners and/or other donors or not-for-profits on board to test our hypotheses.

If you are:

• A donor or not-for-profit implementing a development programme; or
• A technologist with expertise in IoT buttons, sensors, or other data collection mechanisms

Please put the date in your diary and bring your ideas to the event to explore how we can make our vision a reality.

The details of our event are:

Time: 10:00–12:00 (UK time), Tuesday 30th July

Location: TBC (Central London Venue)

No international development experience is necessary, and we do not necessarily expect anyone to have or to share technical solutions at this stage. We are looking for different perspectives on the problem we are trying to solve, what the technical challenges might be, and how we might approach them.

To register to attend, please fill out your name and contact details on this form. Online (Zoom) details will be circulated to all who register.

This brief presentation outlines our thoughts to date, including our vision and initial hypotheses.

Delivering a Masterclass

We know that this problem is already being solved by organisations across all sectors already — for example, those with global operations or supply chains. In addition to the marketplace of ideas, we’re also interested in learning from how organisations solve this problem today.

Are you interested in delivering a 10-minute masterclass on how your organisation is obtaining, sense-making, and presenting data from remote places using IoT?

Please note your interest in our Google Form and we’ll get in touch separately to talk through how and when might be the best way for us to learn from you.