Corporate report

Review of Digital in DFID Programmes: Summary

Published 27 March 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

1. Overview

The purpose of this review was to benchmark DFID’s current activities on digital and to support the development of an overarching vision for our digital work in programmes. This informs a shared sense of where we should focus our efforts both strategically and thematically. In Autumn 2014, we carried out a series of discussions with 35 interviewees (DFID staff and key partners) with the aim building a more detailed picture of the use of digital in our programmes.

Headline conclusion: Digital technologies can add value to our development interventions to help us reach greater numbers of poor and marginalised people more quickly and cost-effectively – and there are some successful examples of this. However, there are also significant barriers to success, scale and replication.

2. Key findings

1. access to mobile/internet: Access to quality and affordable internet connection is a key barrier to success faced by the poorest and most marginalised. Access includes: infrastructure (electricity, mobile network, internet connectivity), affordability, digital literacy (relevance and ease of comprehension of content and delivery), and government level issues around regulation, intellectual property rights, standards and international co-operation
2. co-ordination and knowledge sharing: Despite significant investment in digital for development interventions, knowledge is not being systematically shared across sectors and between donors and partners. This risks not getting the best value for money or the most effective implementation through the reuse of successful interventions or common procurement. The lack of donor co-ordination in overcrowded sectors like mHealth could also be holding back sustainability and scale up
3. capability: The varying levels of knowledge and experience amongst DFID staff, delivery partners, governments and regulators in exploiting the benefits offered by digital is another key barrier to success. Issues include fear of risk, entrenched attitudes and behaviours, and misinformation

3. A new vision

We want to ensure the poorest and most marginalised people in developing countries benefit from the added value digital can bring to our aid and development work. We intend to take advantage of the power of digital to have a bigger, faster and cheaper impact on the lives of poor people - bringing solutions to scale so development products and services reach the poorest.

Initial practical steps for 2015

• improve the skills and confidence of DFID staff in programme design and encourage conversation around risk and failure, through our Year of Innovation and Learning and digital quiz follow up
• turn knowledge sharing grid into a working tool
• continue allocating central resource and build a community of practice - a core hub for sharing knowledge, evidence, best practice, ideas and connecting people and projects
• improve co-ordination of programme planning, internally and with other donors – resulting in better procurement and re-use of proven interventions
• identify opportunities for DFID Leadership and Ministers to promote this agenda
• become clear on our positions for overarching issues, ensuring these are reflected in the new cross-government digital strategy, and lead on endorsing standards
• embed knowledge of government spending controls across DFID, so that new programmes take advantage of experience and expertise from colleagues and use the most appropriate solution to their problem - reusing existing technologies where appropriate

4. We are developing plans for greater action

1. greater ambition on connectivity – Coverage and access for the most marginalised. E.g. identifying what we can do to bridge the gap between the public and private sector, particularly on creating enabling regulatory environments and exploring connectivity options such as spectrum in regional pilots
2. a global movement for collaboration – Bringing together private sector, governments, donors and civil society. E.g. Mobilisation around embedding digital in the Sustainable Development Goals, connectivity and delivery and/or standards and measuring impact of digital
3. scaling up our ambition around capability - Build on the best current individual initiatives and ideas. E.g. Fellowships, DWP Academy, Code Clubs. Explore Best of British support from: e.g. GDS, Ofcom and UK government departments, and working with national country governments and regulators