User:Pbberg/developmentgateway

Development Gateway, formerly known as the Development Gateway Foundation, is an international non-profit organization that works in the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). It seeks to improve aid transparency and governance through information management solutions and consulting services for development organizations and developing country governments.

Development Gateway was created in 1999 by then-president of the World Bank James Wolfensohn. Initially, Development Gateway was incorporated within the World Bank, and in 2004 became an independent entity. It is supported by a combination of unrestricted grants and project-specific funding from a number of bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and private foundations.

Development Gateway maintains several informational websites and databases as public goods for those working in international development, including AidData, Zunia, and dgMarket. It works with governments of developing countries that receive aid to improve aid information management via the Aid Management Program, the main component of which is the Aid Management Platform (AMP), and other online software tools. Development Gateway also designs and maintains custom websites and software tools for development organizations on a contractual basis.

The Aid Management Program
The Aid Management Program combines online software with institutional strengthening activities to help developing country governments that receive Official Development Assistance (ODA) build capacity for aid information management. There are two primary components to the Program: 1) aid information management systems including the Aid Management Platform (AMP) and ODAdata, and 2) institutional strengthening activities.

The Program was first presented at the 2005 High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Paris, and has since been implemented in 20 countries with funding from the UNDP, the World Bank, and various governments. Countries use AMP to monitor the implementation and execution of development aid projects, coordinate development strategies with donors, and produce ODA and budget reports. Development Gateway hosts an annual conference, known as the AMP Best Practices Workshop, to enable governments in the program to exchange experiences and best practices.

AidData
thumb|right|211px| AidData is a collaborative initiative to make information on development finance and activities more transparent and accessible. AidData is a joint project of the College of William and Mary, Brigham Young University, and Development Gateway, and launched its online platform (www.aiddata.org)in March 2010.

AidData’s primary activity is maintaining the AidData database, which catalogues nearly one million aid activities financed between 1945 and 2010 by 87 different donor agencies. This information is aggregated from a variety of sources, chief among which is the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the official source of aid statistics for all OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members and some other donors. AidData augments existing aid activity records by publishing longer project descriptions and applying an expansion of the OECD CRS sector classification scheme. AidData also works to account for aid projects that fall outside the realm of Official Development Assistance and projects financed by donors that do not report to the OECD.

AidData has also worked to geocode development assistance data. Jointly with Uppsala University’s Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), AidData developed a geocoding methodology for aid information, worked with the World Bank on the Mapping for Results initiative, and collaborated with Esri on the Development Loop application.

Zunia
thumb|right|211px Zunia is an online platform for knowledge exchange and networking among development practitioners. Zunia aggregates publications, posts, and articles from leading international development organizations, websites, and blogs. Zunia also aggregates job listings in the international development field from other sites. Free membership allows Zunia users to post their own development-related content, comment on other content, subscribe to custom email alerts, and create or join thematic discussion groups. Zunia replaced dgCommunities, an earlier version of Development Gateway’s knowledge-sharing platform, in 2009.

dgMarket
dgMarket is an online marketplace for government tenders, providing access to tender notices, contract awards, bidding documents, and other procurement information. dgMarket provides access to government tenders in 60 countries and aid-funded tenders in 150 countries. Branded dgMarket Web sites have been launched in Estonia, Belarus, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Israel, Kenya, Mauritania, Mexico, Romania, Rwanda, Spain (Catalonia), Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, as well as for the Agence Française de Développement and the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Country Gateways
The Country Gateways program was one of Development Gateway’s first initiatives and sought to replicate the international Development Gateway model at the country level. With seed funding from Development Gateway, 36 countries – including China, Morocco, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, and others – have established independent Country Gateway entities. Each engages in a different set of activities depending on its objectives. For example, some Country Gateways provide web portals with local development and ICT-related information, whereas others provide e-government, e-business, e-learning, and knowledge-sharing services. Some services offered by Country Gateways include the publishing of procurement notices for government contracts, databases of development projects, directories of non-governmental organizations, and e-commerce tools. Offline services include consulting and training in ICT.