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Collaborative Networking: The Global Development Commons

The model for successful development has changed from an approach that is closed and hierarchical to one that is open and collaborative. To adapt to this new reality, USAID seeks to transform its business model to use the Internet as a Global Development Commons to share development knowledge and make it easily accessible, especially with people in the developing world. USAID also seeks to encourage the broader development community to do the same through new approaches, alliances, and applications that will accelerate and expand the sharing of development knowledge. Any person or institution that needs knowledge for development should have access to it.

What Will It Do?

1. Improve USAID’s own information infrastructure to enhance the ability of people to share and search the U.S. government’s development knowledge. We will do this by taking a number of immediate steps, as well as a requirements analysis, to determine the longer-term knowledge management needs of the U.S. government’s foreign assistance community.
2. Partner with external organizations to aggregate high-quality development knowledge into sector-focused portals for use by the entire spectrum of potential users, but with a special emphasis on users in developing countries.
3. Partner with external organizations to create investments in innovative technologies, which will make development knowledge more easily available.
4. Enhance knowledge sharing among bilateral and multilateral donors, and among donors and the recipients of Official Development Assistance and the public.

Source: U.S. Agency for International Development

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From the July/August 2008 issue of Serviam.