Aiming at the Wrong Targets: The Domestic Consequences of International Efforts to Build Institutions
Buntaine et al – We explain why international development organizations have had so little success building and reforming public sector institutions in developing countries. They often fail despite their apparently … Continue reading
Big data is people!
Rebecca Lemov – We live in what is sometimes called the ‘petabyte era’, and this pronouncement has provoked much discussion of the sheer size of data stores being created, as … Continue reading
A tale of three cities, or: The smart city as will and category error
Adam Greenfield – By leveraging the decentralizing tendencies that appear to be implicit in our networked technologies, and the configurations of power they in principle give rise to, we can … Continue reading
Measuring poverty and wellbeing in developing countries
Detailed analyses of poverty and wellbeing in developing countries, based on household surveys, have been ongoing for more than three decades. The large majority of developing countries now regularly conduct … Continue reading
Civic Tech in the Global South
Civic Tech in the Global South is comprised of one study and three field evaluations of civic tech initiatives in developing countries. The study reviews evidence on the use of … Continue reading
Five ways urban design can spur inclusive growth
Every week, 1.5million people move to the city. By 2030, some 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Yet while cities drive economic development, generating about 85% … Continue reading
A government perspective: Tech Trends 2017
Macro forces—such as digital, analytics, cloud, core modernization, and the changing role of IT—are at the heart of the technology trends that are fueling innovation and growth in both the … Continue reading
Scientific data and its limits: rethinking the use of evidence in local climate change policy
Climate policy is typically seen as informed by scientific evidence that anthropogenic carbon emissions require reducing in order to avoid dangerous consequences. However, agreement on these matters has not translated … Continue reading
How to build a data revolution
This video series by UNU-WIDER tells the story of Viet Nam’s data revolution. To build on its success in poverty reductions, the country needed better data to continue pressing forward … Continue reading
