Thread by @DIAL_community

🔴 LIVE: @DIAL_Kate is kicking off her keynote at the 2022 @ICT4DConference!

https://twitter.com/DIAL_community/status/1486090155731689473

How the #DigitalDevelopment community thinks about sharing #information, #resources, and #data and partners to advance #DigitalTransformation will be key to creating #impact from our efforts and ensuring country #governments can replicate them to better serve their #citizens.

DIAL thinks about #partnerships in everything it does—in fact, were founded in 2015 by a partnership of #global #donors seeking to connect incredibly promising #DigitalDevelopment efforts that had failed to achieve #scale.

Our mission is to advance #DigitalTransformation. To fulfill it, we take a 'think, do, replicate' approach:
- Identify problems in the space
- #Research with #partners to develop better solutions + #collaborate to implement
- Make tools + share learnings for others' #replication

.@DIAL_Kate emphasizes her hope that what she shares can be of use to others, and shares that's actually what DIAL's success is measured on: Were our #research, #partner-developed #solutions, and resulting #tools + #knowledge of use to other #DigitalDevelopment actors?

#DigitalTransformation is complex, and we see countries struggling with it as they try to quickly deliver #DigitalSolutions on a sector-by-sector basis. @DIAL_Kate notes siloed approaches are incredibly #unsustainable and says we need more #DigitalPlatforms, not 'digital pipes.'

"Quite frankly, #DigitalTransformation requires a new way of thinking about #partnerships." @DIAL_Kate

But she notes country #governments and #implementers face a lot of #challenges to #DigitalTransformation, which can result in #inefficiencies:

- Gov coordination across partners and #ministries
- Limited resources (⏱️, 💲, 🧑)
- Low in-country and global actor coordination

.@DIAL_Kate asks: "How many of you have tried to work with a #partner and see your values didn't align, your goals weren't the same, and you rushed processes have been rushed because your projects were on different timelines?" and follows up: "Rather, you want to #collaborate."

We at DIAL started wondering whether there was a way to create a new #partnership model, one really built starting at the #user, the country, the #government, and the society that could be #scaled and soon after, led and #sustained by the government?

The beginning of this model started with a listening study across 10 #SubSaharan countries, developed with our #partner @RealSmartAfrica. We asked them about their main challenges to their #DigitalTransformation efforts, and we listened. And they shared: digitalimpactalliance.org/research/unloc…

#SpoilerAlert: they identified #partnerships and the ability to bring those #partners together as one of the main #challenges they faced to their #DigitalTransformation. One partnership led to another, and in 2020 we signed an #MOU with the #Government of #SierraLeone.

It's still early in our #partnership, but so far, we've been able to mobilize #financing, introduce new #tools, and share #knowledge to build #DigitalCapacity.

To date, our #partnership has included @digiprinciples #training for principled #DigitalDevelopment, #technical guidance for #EnterpriseArchitecture, setup of a #ProjectManagementOffice, and support to developing the #government's #national #policy and #strategy.

These achievements have led to the country coordinating this new #DigitalInfrastructure, and to forming and leading new #partnerships locally. This new model has produced new #efficiencies, and @DIAL_Kate provides an example:

When DIAL started working with the #Government of #SierraLeone a year ago, their #National #DigitalDevelopment #Policy and #Strategy had been in development for several years. In 4 months, this new model was able to connect #ministries to get the documents approved and announced!

Now, this new #partnership model continues with support to developing an operational plan and mobilizing additional resources to help make their long-awaited #DigitalTransformation drafts and dreams a reality over the next few years.

DIAL will support the #government's #DigitalTechnology choices with a customized Catalog of #DigitalSolutions and guidance on the @GovStackGlobal #BuildingBlock approach to further kickstart their journey by adopting, deploying, and #scaling #DigitalGovernment services.

To learn more about the concepts behind our approach, read our Leadership Brief: Accelerating National #DigitalTransformation digitalimpactalliance.org/research/accel…

To learn more about @digiprinciples, @GovStackGlobal, and the Catalog of #DigitalSolutions, visit:

digitalprinciples.org
govstack.global
solutions.dial.community