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What are the most exciting examples of AI for Education Training and Learning, particularly for adult learning and global development?

Here are the 6 things I’m most excited about (some which we’re already doing on the AI front at TechChange)

1. Powering captioning and translation services: Translating training and learning materials has been a huge challenge for TechChange over the past decade. I see huge potential in the global development sector for AI technology to reduce cost and time needed to translate and caption content for our cohort based learning experiences. Live captioning for our events has also been something we’ve worked hard on through partnerships and the AI for live captioning continues to improve. And lastly our multilingual learning and events platform is already available in dozens of languages but AI tech has opened up the possibility for hundreds more less spoken languages to more efficiently be used in our stack.

2. Creating more opportunities for accessibility. The AI accessibility revolution is upon us. We are big on inclusion at TechChange from making our courses 508 compliant to providing sign language service options for our partners for virtual and hybrid conferences. AI tech will allow us to provide more inclusive spaces for those who need it.

3. Generating virtual environments and scenarios for simulation-based learning: Simulations are a powerful way to build skills and demonstrate learning. I see huge potential for AI to power the building of complex scenarios and environments quickly and efficiently, especially when paired with VR/AR. At TechChange we have designed many 3D virtual environments for events and conferences and are excited to be piloting some immersive training projects with several partners this year. Get in touch if you are interested in working with us on this.

4. Recommendation and matching engines: At TechChange we believe that building relationships is as important as building skills. We are social creatures and we learn better with other people. That’s why we’re excited to experiment in the coming months with engines and tools that help facilitate networking connections and personalized learning experiences for our learning cohorts.

5. Summary generation: ChatGPT and other tools are great for generating content but I am really excited about summary generation. We have been capturing summaries for meetings, summaries for trainings, summaries for conferences, etc. – Both text based and video based – that can be easily processed and shared at speed. In today’s FOMO world I think this is a powerful application that will only improve.

6. AI-supported workshops and trainings: We also see potential for using ChatGPT and other tools within flow of activities exercises to support learning outcomes for both in person and virtual experiences. AI can help to do time bound do-read outs of group conversations, support with research and synthesis prompts, pair groups and participants up more effectively based on specific criteria and more.

7. ???

Educators and global development professionals- Curious what you think? How are you using AI to support your learning outcomes?

Some other news…

We are excited to bring back our AI for global development online cohort course. This was one of our more popular offerings from 2017-2020 and given the interest and demand in 2023, we are thrilled to be revamping it and adding additional content related to ethics and responsible data.

We don’t have a specific date yet but you can register for the waitlist here.

Get in touch if you want to explore how TechChange can support you in delivering best-in-class AI-powered learning and convening experiences.

By Omondi Peter, GDDF Ambassador – Kenya

Being a sports enthusiast, Covid – 19 meant no team sports, and this was frustrating to me. I spent much of my time indoors building and testing online Life Skills Challenges for my students which I found interesting and consoling in some way.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, TechChange was looking for volunteers to help facilitate Happy Hour Sessions during the Our Future Our Voices Youth Summit under International Youth Foundation.

I signed up for the role and I was accepted. This role gave me an opportunity to learn and connect with a wide range of professionals from across the globe. My favorite moment though was the points segment whereby contributing and engaging on discussion threads earned one points. I emerged the top point winner for the Summit, and I felt so nice about it.

Since then, I kept following TechChange events and in 2022 I saw an open call for participation for Global Digital Development Forum to which I signed up.

My main aim here was to be the most active platform user and contributor on discussions that I felt were relevant. My goal was to earn the most points and win. I attended nearly all the live sessions, breakout sessions, listened to all the lightening talks, attended most the tech demos, and had my nose in nearly every virtual room of the GDDF 2022. Turned out to be the top point winner with 1852 points, followed very closely by Wayan Vota who came in second with 1631 points. Again, I felt motivated as I had found my niche and field of play.

Being a Top Point winner, I had a number of offers to choose from, I selected a 30 minutes 1 – 1 coaching session with CEO TechChange Nick Martin, our meeting was facilitated by Kristen Weymouth and I met Nick Martin who hinted to me about the Hybrid Pilot projects regarding the GDDF and asked if I would be interested to be part of that, I said to Nick, “By all means, bring it on.” True to his word I was recruited as an Ambassador for the Frontiers of Digital Development Forum in 2022, where my role was to organize and facilitate a hybrid watch Party in Nairobi.

Come 2023, TechChange again was looking to roll out a hybrid pilot for the Global Digital Development Forum and I was asked if I would be interested to be an Ambassador for the GDDF 2023 to which I accepted. This time I had two goals, to lead one of the best Watch Parties and to be the top point winner on the GDDF TechChange Platform.

GDDF 2023 Watch Party at Palladium’s Nairobi offices

I can proudly say I did both and felt really good about it. By being part of the first ever hybrid version of GDDF, leading a watch party that brought 29 participants and seven major organizational representatives in one room to engage on real issues affecting their local communities, the following are some of the lessons I learnt going through the process.

TechChange has a working model that is already transforming the convening landscape starting with Tech players and industries and more partners and stakeholders need to join in.
We do not have to travel to New York City etc for conferences to engage on issues affecting us locally, we can just be empowered to organize our local sessions and synchronize that to the main event happening anywhere around the world.
Building partnership is key for such projects to thrive, thank you to Palladium; Make it possible for believing on the idea and sponsoring and hosting the Kenya Watch Party.
Young people are a powerhouse of change, all they need is a clear direction and tools to realize their full potential.
The pandemic has transformed the way people view things especially the education and convening models and the hybrid mode approach is the way to go.

The Kenya watch Party event was unique, as it involved both local and international guests, with the most enticing element being the Team Project at the end where participants were divided into 4 groups, each group was tasked to come up with a project they will undertake post the GDDF 2023 to help mitigate Climate Change issues in Kenya.

With TechChange providing an open space for the ambassadors to create their own models to meet their own needs made the whole concept more interesting and fun as it allowed flexibility and creativity resulting to diverse outcomes.

With the firm foundation established for the future GDDF, the team is now building their own momentum focusing on the 2023 Kenya Watch Party Theme “Tech4ClimateChange” both online and offline looking forward to the GDDF 2024.

By: Christopher Ford, Senior Director of Hybrid Events

Before embarking on my current role as Senior Director of Hybrid Events at TechChange, I had already clocked in more than 20 years in the events industry. Over the years, I’ve seen the events industry from almost every angle.

I’ve been the event manager in search of critical event services. I’ve been on the venue side and seen how exceptional event planners execute a seemingly flawless meeting. I’ve executed meetings that range in format, size, location, budget, and subject matter and dealt with the complex in and outs of events with guests from the White House and A-List celebs to events with hundreds of demanding attendees, all with a unique set of challenges, requirements, and expectations.

And while there are some basic fundamentals to every event, the execution will be different every time because of the objective of the event, the venue, the attendees, etc. No event is ever exactly the same, even ones that happen year after year. That is more true than ever now with the rise of hybrid events.

However, there are some steps you can take to avoid common pitfalls in the new hybrid events world. I refer to these pitfalls as the “seven deadly sins” and it’s all too easy to make during event planning.

Sin #1 – Virtual attendees become “ghost” attendees.

Virtual attendees face unique challenges when it comes to engagement and participation. Because they’re not in the room, they may not have access to the same level of interaction as in-person attendees. Don’t let your virtual participants drop off the map!

Bring virtual attendees into the conversation and ensure that their voices are heard through live Q&A sessions, polls and surveys, interactive breakout sessions, networking opportunities, and other engagement activities.

By uniquely seeking ways to include virtual attendees in the conversation, organizers can create a more collaborative and dynamic event experience for everyone involved. This not only helps to build stronger connections between attendees, but it also ensures that all attendees feel valued and heard.

Sin #2 – Your virtual and in-person experiences = two roads that never meet.

This new event tool we call hybrid has two components: the first is you have two sets of distinct audiences – the virtual and the in person – both with distinct reasons for choosing their participation format. The second component is the two audiences need to have some shared experiences to make the one event a truly hybrid experience. A common mistake is not recognizing that the in person experience and the virtual experience will never be exactly the same. You can’t take your in-person agenda and simply live stream it to the on-line audience. Vice-versa, the in-person attendee can’t participate in a critical chat discussion on-line during a keynote and can miss out on important voices. You have to create content that engages both audiences in their unique setting – and then bring them together.

At the end of the day, people attend meetings and conferences to make connections. If there’s no networking across in-person or online participants or being able to attend sessions together, people leave without a significant sense of having attended the same event and one group or the other feels slighted.

Sin #3 – An agenda that clings to the beaten path.

In this post-pandemic world, on-line participants have become exceptionally savvy in a short amount of time. So, simply live streaming a Zoom call won’t keep your audience engaged.

Keep your attendees from Zoom fatigue by incorporating a mix of different session types and experiences. This can include a combination of keynote speakers, panel discussions, breakout sessions, interactive workshops, networking opportunities and on-demand (or asynchronous) sessions.

Get creative with your content, your format, your media, and your interactivity! Your audience will thank you for it, and you’re far less likely to experience the “Day 2 Drop-Off” that is all too common in hybrid event participation.

Sin #4 – Accessibility as an afterthought.

Accessibility considerations can vary widely depending on the needs of individual attendees. For example, in-person attendees may require wheelchair accessibility, while virtual attendees may require closed captioning or other assistive technologies. You have to consider both!

By taking a proactive approach to accessibility, event organizers can ensure that all attendees have the resources they need to fully participate in the event.

Some key accessibility considerations for hybrid events include:

Providing accessible transportation and parking options for in-person attendees
Offering closed captioning, sign language interpretation, or other assistive technologies for virtual attendees
Ensuring that all event materials, including presentations and handouts, are accessible to attendees with visual impairments or other disabilities – or materials are available for download for on-line attendees
Designing event spaces to be wheelchair accessible and accommodating to attendees with mobility issues
Providing clear instructions and guidelines for accessing the virtual experience and participating in sessions

Sin #5 – Taking a “let’s just…” approach to technology.

In my opinion, the phrase, “let’s just…” should be stricken from every planner’s vocabulary. It implies that the person isn’t thinking strategically or creatively. Taking a “let’s just” approach to technology will kill the hybrid event experience for all participants.

Remember, technology is the thing that connects your two audiences and makes the hybrid experience unique for both in-person and on-line attendees. Consider elevating your production quality for high-profile speakers or for your opening and closing plenaries; this is where both audiences are typically more engaged and excited. Keynotes and open and closing plenaries have a big impact on attendees overall experiences. Plan and budget for graphic elements like animation, bumpers, music, and other graphics that bring cohesion and excitement for the entire audience experience.

Conversely, overcomplicating the technical is just as bad as under conceptualizing the tech. It’s easy to get caught up in the latest technology and want to incorporate all the bells and whistles into our events. However, the more complicated the setup, the higher the chance of technical issues occurring during the event.

Attendees don’t want to spend their time troubleshooting technical difficulties. They want to focus on the content and the overall experience of the event. Overcomplicating the technical aspects of hybrid events can detract from the overall experience and even cause attendees to tune out.

Sin #6 – Throwing attendees into the deep end without a floatie

As an event organizer, your job isn’t just to plan and execute – it’s also to ensure that attendees have a smooth and seamless experience. This means providing clear instructions for how to access the event platform, how to navigate the conference agenda, and how to engage with other attendees.

When attendees are left to figure things out on their own, they become frustrated or disengaged. Providing resources and instructions upfront, you set them up for success and ensure that they get the most out of their experience.

Consider creating a welcome packet or guide that includes all of the information attendees need to know. This could include instructions for logging in, tips for networking, and a detailed agenda with links to each session. Make sure to provide resources for troubleshooting common issues, such as slow internet speeds or trouble accessing the platform – and make these available ahead of time so attendees are not scrambling seconds before your keynote speaker takes the mainstage.

By taking the time to provide these resources and instructions, you can show attendees that you value their time and are invested in their success. When attendees have a positive experience, they’re more likely to return for future events and recommend your event to others.

Sin #7 – Overlooking inclusivity and keeping important voices out of the conversion because they’re not in the “room”

Hybrid events provide a unique opportunity to connect with people both in-person and virtually, but we must ensure that everyone has equal access and feels welcome.

When planning a hybrid event, make sure that all aspects of the event, from registration to networking opportunities, are accessible and accommodating for all audiences, whether they’re in-person or on-line.

Inclusion is not just a buzzword – it’s an important aspect of creating a successful and impactful event. By prioritizing inclusion and accessibility, we create a more welcoming and diverse event where attendees feel valued and empowered.

A final word…

I am incredibly proud that we apply these best practices to each and every event we support at TechChange, particularly as we expand our hybrid portfolio. In doing so, we are making each event more accessible, engaging, and inclusive than the last. Not to mention more sustainable. But, I’ll save that for another blog post!

SID-US (formerly SID-Washington) is the largest and most active chapter of the Society for International Development (SID), an international network founded in 1957 to serve as a global forum dedicated to sustainable economic, social and political development. SID-US brings diverse constituencies together to debate critical ideas, innovations, policies and practices, advancing equitable development.

TechChange has had the honor of supporting the SID-US Conference annually since 2020, including the upcoming 2023 SID-US Annual Conference taking place on May 24 online and in Washington, DC. SID-US President Katherine Raphaelson shares her reflections on their 2022 hybrid experiment and what’s in store for 2023.

***

Q: Leading up to the SID-US 2022 conference, what were you most excited for?

A: We were excited (and nervous) to see how a truly hybrid conference would work. We had a vision for what the day would encompass and how it would feel for in-person and virtual attendees and were eager to see our vision take shape.

Q: What were you most worried about while organizing a hybrid conference?

A We were very worried about the many, many moving parts and something falling through the cracks or simply not working. We realized that having a truly hybrid conference is really like running 2.5 or even 3 conferences at once – the in-person one, the virtual one, and connecting the two. We were worried some link in the chain would not hold and it would be messy.

Q: What were some of the benefits of hosting a hybrid conference compared to an in-person or virtual event?

A: We were able to include participants from all corners of the globe – attendees and speakers. This made for much richer conversations and interactions and made it all more inclusive. At the same time, our in-person attendees were able to have the connections they had missed so much during the pandemic, engaging in ways that virtual just doesn’t really support.

Q: How did you ensure that both in-person and virtual attendees had an equal opportunity to participate and engage with the conference?

A: We tried to give equal attention to both aspects of the conference and to make sure our virtual attendees did not feel as though they were simply watching all of us in person interacting. We tried to ask questions of the virtual attendees and to bring video to them from the exhibit hall floor via the Pop Up Studio. We had staff assigned specifically to manage virtual pieces vs. in-person.

Q: What was your favorite session or feature of last year’s event?

A: We all loved the Pop Up Studio and felt that surpassed expectations. It truly connected the virtual and in-person participants and made it a hybrid event. We also liked the lunch session which was hybrid and involved several in-person and several virtual speakers, including one who was both deaf and blind and needed an interpreter. It was very challenging putting that together and we thought it worked extremely well and felt truly inclusive.

Q: Did you receive any feedback from attendees about the hybrid format? If so, what were some of the key takeaways?

A: Yes we did. Many felt that it worked quite well. We did learn that attendees do not like pre-recorded sessions, not surprisingly, and prefer all sessions to be live, whether in-person or virtual.

Q: What are you most excited about for this year’s conference coming up on May 24?

A: I am excited to be doing most of the same things as last year to hold a fully hybrid conference but with more confidence since we have done it before. Last year was a little nerve wracking. This year we are genuinely excited. We feel we can improve on many aspects and attract a really vibrant crowd – both virtually and in person. In fact, we already have a lot more people coming than I would have anticipated at this point. I also think people feel a little safer gathering in person than we did last year so I am excited about that.

Q: What new features or improvements will be made to the conference based on feedback from last year’s event?

A: We will not have any pre-recorded virtual breakout sessions – they will all be live. We hope to have a way for in-person attendees to gather in certain spaces to see the virtual programming throughout the day. This is challenging due to the configuration of our space at the Ronald Reagan Building but we are working on it.

Q: How are you approaching the theme and agenda for this year’s conference?

A: This year’s theme was determined via crowdsourcing – we asked SID-US members and the broader international development community to vote and the clear winner was Power Shift: Defining the Next Decade of Development. This is a great theme for where we are right now and what our priorities and those of our members are. Power shift addresses so many key priorities from localization to DEIA to private sector engagement, youth engagement and so much more. And it really is what will define the next decade of development. The agenda is still in the works! We hope to have more to say on this soon but we anticipate keynote speakers, high level panels, and many breakout sessions – both in-person and virtual. Of course, we’ll also have networking time.

Q: Can you share any keynote speakers or panelists that you are particularly excited about for this year’s event?

A: Not yet! But soon!

Q: Where can people find out more?

A: Here! http://www.sidusconference.org/

Q: So, tell us more about yourself. Why do you like working on events?

I like variety. I like the variety of clients that working on events allows me to interact with. I like the variety of experiences that we get to create for people. I’ve often said “an event is an event, is an event; but all events are different.” In other words there’s some basic logistics to events, but the execution is different all the time. No day at work is ever the same.

But mostly I like working in events because events bring people together. There’s something magical about getting a good group of people together for a common purpose. Whether they’re bonded by business, a common purpose or good music, a successful event can inspire people to act in a way other activities rarely do.

Q: How did you first hear about TechChange?

The first time I heard about TechChange was when Lindsey Burke reached out to me on LinkedIn. Thank you Lindsey! Although, through my past work at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Newseum, I realized TechChange and I had many overlapping connections – including close ties with USAID. I am thrilled to be able to continue playing a small part in supporting big goals like improving digital democracy and stemming climate change.

Q: What are some of your favorite parts of working at TechChange so far?

Two things immediately come to mind; the people and the culture. I’ve been using a Nick-ism a lot to describe it – TechChange is a company of “good humans”. I don’t use the term company to mean a business. But in the secondary definition; meaning the fact or condition of being with others, especially in a way that provides friendship and comradery. And this company of good humans has created a culture where we get to do cool stuff that helps other good humans.

Q: What excites you about this role?

I’m excited to apply the TechChange platform to the hybrid event model for our partners. Across the event industry, we can safely say that events are not going back to the pre-pandemic in-person only model. Over the last couple of years, the entire world dove head first into virtual events and while virtual is fantastic, there’s nothing like real human interaction.

So hybrid is the next step in the evolution of events. It’s now about having the right people in the “room”- no matter if the “room” is real or not- and those people having the right conversations. But more importantly, the right people in the right spaces having the right conversations can affect change in the right areas. So, I’m really looking forward to seeing how TechChange can help move the needle on the ground in the areas where our partners work.

Q: Anything you look forward to working on or learning at TechChange?

Naturally, I’m looking forward to my first Global Digital Development Forum coming up soon in April.

But, I’m also excited to build out the service packages that will go along with a TechChange hybrid event, like our local Watch Party model, venue selection, and full-service event management. We’ll be sharing a lot more on these in the coming weeks!

Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?

I’m a proud introvert. I get asked a lot, how is an introvert successful in an industry where your job is to literally bring people together. The two are not mutually exclusive. Most people misunderstand introverts. I highly recommend reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain if you want to nerd out on the introverts vs extroverts topic.

Not all introverts are antisocial or shy – I love being around people and if you put me on a stage and hand me a microphone I’m likely to break out in song. My introvert-ness shows up after the “party” ends. I need time alone to recharge my batteries.

By: Sacha Robehmed, FDDF Ambassador (Jordan), and Partner, Digital at Expectation State

With the new year often comes transformation. A calendar flips to a new page, resolutions are proclaimed, new habits get made. But transformation of the digital sort is more ongoing – perpetual, even.

Several weeks ago, TechChange and partners hosted the first-ever Frontiers of Digital Development Forum (FDDF), a two day hybrid conference to consider more aspirational technologies and their practical utility (or lack thereof) for large-scale humanitarian and development objectives. TechChange worked with Ambassadors to host watch parties in locations across the world–in Kenya, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania–to make the FDDF 2022 a truly hybrid experience and to ensure that conversations about digital development were happening in the places where digital development is taking place.

In the Jordanian capital, TechChange and Expectation State screened one of the flagship sessions, “What is Digital Transformation Anyway?” on the morning of November 2nd at Impact Hub Amman. A group of professionals whose work spans the humanitarian and development sectors, tech startup ecosystem, and digital rights, joined the breakfast event for a lively discussion. At Expectation State, as development practitioners living in the countries where we work, we believe that context is vitally important – which was underscored when a locally contextualised understanding of digital transformation came to the fore during the FDDF Amman discussion.

A decade ago, ‘digital transformation’ was the purview of government digital services in countries like the UK and Estonia. These models of digital transformation were held up as examples and shared with Majority World countries in a “top down”, often one-size-fits-all, way. But a decade on, and in our FDDF conversation we saw something quite different, showing how far ‘digital transformation’ has come. We covered everything from virtual reality and the metaverse, open source intelligence, humanitarian cash transfers, and education during COVID lockdowns. Compared to the ‘digital transformation’ of a decade ago, it was striking how rich, informed, and diverse the conversation in Amman was around digital transformation today – perhaps reflecting the diversity of views and understandings of digital transformation that we see from different countries across the digital development ecosystem. What emerged was an understanding of digital transformation unique to Jordan, and very much rooted in the context here.

*FDDF watch party at Impact Hub in Amman on November 2, 2022*

We’d like to share four takeaways from the Amman discussion on digital transformation:

1. Education as a local example of COVID-19 digital transformation – that wasn’t inclusive

Undoubtedly, COVID-19 accelerated digital transformation globally. In the FDDF session, Rachel Sibande from the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) shared how countries with existing digital infrastructure were able to make faster payments during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In Jordan, the example of education shifting online was a key topic in our digital transformation discussion. With technology hardware not widespread, this example of digital transformation left people behind. While school classes were shown on TV to try to overcome the hardware gaps, in families with four of five children this wasn’t enough – how were they all meant to watch their classes at the same time on one device? While there were some initiatives giving laptops in an attempt to bridge the hardware gap, what about connectivity and data costs? In this very local example of digital transformation of education during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite best intentions the most vulnerable were not included.

2. Digital transformation has been called other names

*Whiteboard activity at FDDF Amman watch party*

Our discussion took on a historical perspective, reflecting on digital transformation as the most recent in a long series of buzzwords over the last two decades, which all have a similar meanings. From “e-government” and “going paperless,” to “smart organisations/smart cities” and “the fourth industrial revolution” – just how different is digital transformation anyway? We also reflected on the concerns around digital transformation historically, such as government workers fearing that computers would take their jobs when they were first introduced to ministries, but the efficiencies and advantages that digital transformation has created – we definitely don’t want to go back to the paper-based processes of the past. Looking at digital transformation from a historical perspective highlighted how far we’ve come, but also that many of the challenges and risks of new technologies are similar to those of past and present technologies.

3. Big tech giants – the view from Jordan

Meta and big tech giants featured heavily in our discussion. We talked about the power tech companies have, not only in our individual lives in terms of their data capture, but at a geopolitical level, such as the conflict around 5G technologies. The dominance of big tech in the future landscape was of particular concern, epitomised by the renaming of facebook to Meta as we move towards Web3 technologies and the metaverse. We talked about what the future might hold – if it was one where big tech grows increasingly powerful, or if the monopolies of big tech are broken up through regulation, and interoperability and decentralised alternatives emerging from outside the US will offer a different future. To what extent might digital transformation enable the building of digital products based on available talent and existing needs in Jordan, versus offering more regulatory space for big tech in the country?

4. Rights-based digital transformation means non-digital alternatives

As Jordan is host to the “second-highest share of refugees per capita” according to UNHCR, our understanding of digital transformation in Jordan was heavily informed by this. We talked about individuals being more or less vulnerable depending on their awareness of privacy and personal data protection. If individuals were unaware of their rights and just signed up to get a service, this wasn’t seen as meaningful digital transformation. Providing individuals with non-digital options in order to offer inclusive services, and to give the option to “opt-out” of digital services, was key to this rights-based approach to digital transformation offered by humanitarian actors during the discussion. At the same time, they acknowledged that digital has made changes for the better, for instance, increasing efficiency in cash distribution, compared to paper-based processes of the past. We also talked about power dynamics, identifying and mitigating risks of digital transformation, and discussed practical measures that should be taken such as identifying technology partners with similar values.

From a rights-based focus on digital transformation emerging from the high refugee (and humanitarian agency) presence, to the inclusiveness of digital transformation during COVID-19, the history of ‘digital transformation (by other names), and the dominance of US big tech in the Majority World; the Amman FDDF watch party had a rich and varied discussion about digital transformation. Which leaves us wondering – what might digital development actors elsewhere identify with and learn from our conversation? And what might we learn from similar discussions in Nairobi, Lagos, and in your city?

We’re looking forward to continuing these conversations at next year’s FDDF! In the meantime, please share your thoughts in the comments.

By: Jessica Swann, Director of Partnerships for Education

As TechChange’s new Director of Partnerships for Education, I have been in learning mode this week at the Global Digital Health Forum, catching up on what my peers and new coworkers have been working on in this vital and fast-moving space.

In preparing for the conference, I dove into TechChange’s wealth of materials within the Digital Health space, and I want to share an animated video that caught my eye as a high-quality, easy to understand instructional aide: “Standards and Interoperability in Digital Health: Explained.” It really helped me to understand these complicated concepts.

I’m an education generalist, with a rather eclectic range of experiences. Yet across all my previous roles, whether I’ve been writing about in-depth topics on database administration, or leading a program to strengthen capacity for virtual teaching amongst university lecturers from the Peruvian Public Sector, I’ve seen the importance time and time again of distilling complex concepts into digestible, engaging educational assets. This video is a great example of that – the clear narration, illustrative graphics, and storytelling bring these digital health concepts to life.

Storytelling to illustrate real-life problems

The video takes us to the fictional country of Onesa, where the government is implementing a national vaccination campaign. We meet Lucy, the National Immunization Officer, and Isaac, a health officer from one of the more rural districts. They share a goal of vaccinating children against disease, but are quickly faced with challenges that arise from multiple systems tracking key pieces of information such as the number of children who need to be vaccinated and the number of vaccines that are available.

This is exactly the kind of dilemma faced by healthcare leaders in countries around the world as they struggle to manage resources effectively.

Lucy and Isaac consider integrating the systems manually, but this quickly becomes too complex and costly to manage. Lucy has a whole country to manage for the immunization campaign, and Isaac has the other health issues in his district to consider. They can’t afford to spend all their time doing manual, error-prone integration. The systems need to talk to each other in a way that’s efficient and cost-effective.

Enter the concept of interoperability.

What is ‘interoperability’ anyway?

Interoperability is the ability for multiple applications to communicate with one another by accessing, exchanging, and making use of data in a coordinated manner.

In the context of digital health, this means that health information systems like OpenIMS and DHIS2 can communicate directly and exchange data. As the video does a great job of explaining, standards help to achieve this.

What are the different kinds of standards?

The video shows us that there are two different sets of standards to consider for interoperability:

Semantic standards – that help applications establish a common vocabulary; and

Syntactic standards – that allow applications to share a common grammar to communicate meaning.

It’s amazing how much this sounds like language acquisition! In order to communicate and share information, systems have to have to understand the words and ways of putting them together…just like people.

*We tackle interoperability in our Architects of Digital Health board game*

Countries can invest in a health information exchange, which is enterprise architecture that bundles all digital health applications together to provide guidance to software developers on how to manage interoperability between them. It stores lists of terms and concepts, and maps how they relate to each other. Kind of like the Rosetta Stone of digital health tools.

These terms can sound abstract, but in practice, standards and interoperability of digital health systems help save lives. Careful, systematic implementation of these concepts allows policymakers and decision makers to see population-level trends and make time-sensitive decisions that impact the lives in every locality, in every age group, and at each point in the health journey.

Accessible knowledge for all

So there you have it, interoperability in a nutshell. And you don’t need to be a software developer or digital health expert to understand the importance of this concept.

I love that the video makes it easy to understand the stakes and goals of digital health applications and makes simple the complex concept of interoperability.

In my role, I get to work with our partners to develop assets just like this, which can help explain complicated concepts and share knowledge across diverse learner communities. Indeed, at this very moment, we’re working with IFAD on creating a digital agriculture course, to help policy makers and extension workers understand how concepts like interoperability have a role to play in the design and application of agriculture and environmental policy.

You see, standards and interoperability are just as important within digital agriculture as they are within digital health. Systems need to communicate with each other in order to help stakeholders manage information and make timely, evidence-based decisions to maximize yields and get food products to market.

I’m looking forward to flexing TechChange’s amazing creative skills and instructional design muscles now and into the future, creating new videos and other web-based educational tools to help our partners to communicate all manner of complex ideas in ingeniously simple ways, and seeing the impact of this work in their programs.

This video was created by TechChange as a part of the Digital Health: Planning National Systems Course to support the training on standards and interoperability, funded by Digital Square, a PATH-led initiative funded and designed by the United States Agency for International Development, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and a consortium of other investors.

By: Ariel Frankel, Director of Public Health

The Global Digital Health Forum kicks off today, the leading networking and learning event for policy makers, practitioners, and tech professionals who are passionate about improving health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries through digital innovation. As the Director of Public Health at TechChange, I’ll be there to share one of our latest educational tools on digital health, developed with our colleagues at USAID.

Can you guess what it is? Hint– it’s not a policy paper, text book, worksheet, or even a video.

It’s a… game.

Surprised? Digital health concepts and tools can be complicated, but they don’t have to be boring. Play is an important – and often underutilized – way that we can put learning into action, in a way that’s fun and practical.

*Players work as a team – online or in-person – to respond to new investments and new shocks to their digital health system – mirroring what happens in real life.*

A Collaborative Game with Real-World Elements

Architects of Digital Health is a collaborative game that represents multiple years of building a digital health system in a fictional country that is facing challenges from HIV/AIDs, cholera, malaria and tuberculosis. Players, joined together in a team, have the ability to make investments in digital health tools, for scale or interoperability. Then, just like in real life, unexpected events and pressures cause problems for your intervention and your team has to decide how to handle it. There are new investments and shocks every year, impacting how your interventions unfold.

The different interventions represent key building blocks of a digital health tool box:

messaging systems like SMS and WhatsApp;
community information systems like Commcare or MobileCHT;
electronic medical record systems; and
digital systems to train the healthcare workforce.

In the game, you can add or remove systems, scale them to the next level, or invest in interoperability and governance. The goal is to fight fragmentation and achieve national level scale on coordinated interventions.

Putting Learning into Practice Through Play

We use this game as a capstone learning activity in our digital health course, created and hosted by TechChange and supported by USAID, PATH/Digital Square, the WHO and others. Digital Health: Planning National Systems is an online course that teaches policy makers and practitioners the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to design and implement digital health interventions. Participants use the key concepts and best practices from the course to play the game, working together to minimize shocks and scale beneficial systems.

More than 200 mid- to senior- level ministry of health officials from a wide range of nations including Laos, India, Zimbabwe, and the Philippines have already participated in the course and used what they have learned to inform their national digital health strategy.

Play Architects of Digital Health at GDHF22 or at Home

*USAID’s Merrick Schaffer leads a round of “Architects of Digital Health” at the Frontiers of Digital Development Forum 2022*

Want to learn more about the game or give it a try? If you are attending GDHF, come by our virtual session and we’ll teach you how to play. We’ll also be demonstrating it and playing in small groups at GDHF online (on the TechChange h y b r i d e v e n t s platform) on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 9am EAT / 8am CET / 2am EST.

If you’re not able to join, you can print your own copy of Architects of Digital Health for free, including all the instructions you’ll need to follow along. Feel free to use this instructional aide in any of your trainings or workshops – we invested in it so that it could become a learning tool for the field.

By: Nick Martin, CEO

As TechChange’s CEO and someone who finds great joy in bringing people together to discuss topics that matter, I love pushing the envelope on how we convene. On reimagining what a conference or event can be, and what it can mean for the people who participate.

And after nearly three years of the COVID-19 pandemic and the distance that it necessitated, people are hungry for connection. The kind that gets brain cells stimulated, but also the kind that you can feel in your bones. We believe TechChange’s hybrid event model brings together the best of virtual technology and in-person experiences for a new kind of convening that is accessible, inclusive, and downright fun.

With some help from our founding sponsors USAID, Chemonics, and the Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL), exactly one month ago, we put our hybrid model to convene the first-ever Frontiers of Digital Development Forum to explore the role of frontier technologies in international development. This two-day conference took place online and in Washington D.C., with nearly all in-person elements available to virtual participants and even more virtual-only content and networking opportunities. More than 600 people joined us from 55 countries– because conversations that impact the whole world shouldn’t just take place in D.C.

What went well

1. Virtual participants felt “centered.” There is such a temptation with hybrid events to focus on the in-person experience. The food, the drinks, the lighting, the seating charts… it can be all-consuming. But we tried hard – super hard – to focus our attention equally on the in-person AND the virtual experience. We wanted to create a hybrid conference that made our virtual participants in Kenya, Jordan, Nigeria, Ghana, Pakistan, Argentina, and everywhere else feel like they matter just as much as those who could be in-person with us in DC. And I’m happy to report that FDDF participants online resoundingly felt exactly what we intended for them: that the virtual experience far exceeded their expectations. In fact, 84% of participants who joined virtually reported FDDF improved their opinion of hybrid events.

*TechChange producers kept the Main Stage content flowing so participants felt engaged, which was evidenced by a robust participant chat throughout.*

2. Diversity of content types: For a nuanced topic like this, we knew that we needed to look at the subject matter from different angles. For FDDF, we had 25+ engaging and robust conversations, tech demos, breakout sessions, and networking activities that dug into aspirational, frontier technologies and their practical utility for large-scale humanitarian and development objectives.

3. Surprising session formats: For Day one’s kick-off, we tried a new session format, “The Long Conversation.” This unique Smithsonian-inspired approach staged timed two-person dialogues on frontier tech skepticism, aspiration and progress with luminaries from USAID, Google, and more from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. No moderator, no speeches, and no slides. Just interesting conversations on stage between two people at a time. You can watch it on YouTube or listen on Soundcloud to check it out.

*We livestreamed 2-minute interviews from our Pop-Up Studio in between sessions to participants around the world*

4. The Pop-Up Studio: One of the goals of hybrid is to break down the barriers between in-person and online participants. One of the ways we do this that allows online participants to dig into the energy of the conference is the Pop-Up studio. I’m biased, but this was easily my favorite part of FDDF22. I got to interview speakers fresh off the stage for their impressions and hot-takes, and talk with conference goers about what they’re thinking about all the material. Our on-site production team streams these interviews out to virtual participants like TV news. This allows people at home on their computers to get a back-stage view of the conference, and get a taste of the energy of the day.

What didn’t go so well…

No event is perfect. We had an honest conversation with our organizing committee about what went well and what we’d improve next time. Here are a few:

1. Timeline: I gave the team a deadline that was nearly impossible– under three months to envision, build, and execute a brand-new hybrid event from scratch. And yet they rose to the occasion to meet it. I’m still amazed they pulled it off – and didn’t even once try to kill me in the process!

2. Lack of a content czar: Next time, we’ll build in a longer lead time, and have a content Czar whose job it is to oversee the overall narrative of the conference and make sure all of the dynamic pieces fit together holistically. This is also something some of the partners we support may also want to consider.

*Experimenting with improv comedy at a serious conference = worth trying!*

3. Improv comedy is great, but not without some serious preparation: We tried something wild, y’all: we invited comedians to be part of our event. And not to just do some stand-up entertainment at the opening and closing plenary. We wanted them to sprinkle it in throughout the event. Does that sound nuts? Maybe it was, a little?! While we heard positive feedback on the comedians’ prepared sets, we gave them the pretty impossible task of doing improv – on camera – throughout the entire day. But we’re excited to keep exploring ways to make global development content more innovative, accessible and entertaining with more creative partnerships like this.

4. Not quite enough on-stage controversy: FDDF was meant to explore the boundaries of frontier technology within digital development, not shying away from tough conversations. And we did that – through sessions on the information war in Ukraine, the pros (and cons) of partnering with tech firms, and a feminist, Global South critique on AI. The topics were hard-hitting, but we think we can do more to set the stage for difficult and important conversations in the future. We’ll be exploring the role of anonymous inputs, and crowd-generated content, in order to further engage new voices in each conversation.

At TechChange, we don’t just put on hybrid events for our partners, and sit back and watch. We are actively involved in putting on our own events, where we have skin in the game and a major role in planning and organizing. These events are our own R&D labs. They help us test out the technology we’re offering to partners, and always keep an eye on opportunities for improvement. Not only that, it keeps us empathetic to the stressors and joys of conference planning. When we say we’ll be the partner that does more for your hybrid event, we mean it. We’ve been there, and we want to put our lessons learned to work for you. From recommending ways to keep global participants engaged from afar to project management suggestions around timeline, our team can help you shorten the learning curve to engaging, inclusive, and fun hybrid events. We love this stuff!

By: Emma Sakson

Delegates from all over the world have returned home after attending the 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, or COP27, which was convened in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt over the last few weeks. The first African COP since 2016 brought government representatives, climate activists and advocates, lobbyists, and policymakers together to hash out the details of an ambitious agenda to translate climate commitments and pledges into collective action towards our shared future.

COP27 panel *(from COP27 media library)*

Conveners came into a challenging, tense situation in Egypt, as the legacy of broken promises from COPs past loomed large, and many wondered whether any real progress could be made on topics that always seem to be a high-priority in name but not action.

At TechChange, we believe in the power of bringing people together to tackle big challenges related to topics that matter. And as someone who is obsessed with convenings, I was curious to see if COP27 would be the opportunity to do just that: tackle big challenges related to one of the topics that matters the most to every one of us on this planet.

While TechChange did not attend COP27 (we were busy hosting our inaugural Frontiers of Digital Development Forum!), we recognize the critical nature of this event and the work that countries, institutions and our partners do to harmonize global efforts to mitigate and adapt to the consequences of climate change.

In the days ahead, we’ll be keeping an eye on the following topics and key agenda items from COP27 to see if this convening can move the proverbial needle:

1. Climate finance must be prioritized

Low- and middle-income countries need more than $2 trillion in annual investments by 2030 to help fight climate change, yet commitments from climate funds are far from enough to fill that shortfall. The low- and middle-income countries most vulnerable to climate change have been vocal about the need for an agreement on loss and damage, or climate reparations, which has always been a somewhat controversial topic in the COPs of years past. In the final hours of COP27, the establishment of a loss and damage fund was agreed upon so that the high-income countries that helped to create the current climate crisis will compensate the countries experiencing the consequences of their actions. While the details of who will contribute and who will receive what from the fund remain unclear, it’s a huge step in the right direction. There are also strong calls to mobilize private capital and reform multilateral development banks to help fill this huge funding gap, but only time will tell if the status quo will actually change.

John Kerry addressing the COP27 delegates (from COP27 media library)

2. Trust must be rebuilt

Commitments and promises made by high-income countries to lower-income countries have been broken time and again in the past. Countries in the global south are feeling the disastrous impacts of climate change much more acutely than those in the global north, and suffering the consequences of other countries’ action (and inaction). Countries and institutions must prove they are good on their word and take action on their commitments coming out of COP27, or the galvanizing words spoken on stages are nothing but platitudes.

3. Our systems are failing, and quickly

As countries struggle with their own unique problems and pressures, the systems we have built, at a micro and macro level, are failing. Conflict, such as the war on Ukraine, have destabilized energy and food systems, and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wage war on health systems globally. Natural disasters, such as the horrific floods in Pakistan and the drought in Horn of Africa, have taken countless lives and wreaked havoc on communities. The humanitarian system cannot support the needs of refugees, IDPs and human migration at large. We need to move quickly and strategically to address the most pressing challenges facing each of these systems, all of which are all feeling the heavy effects of the climate crisis.

***

These are only a few of the critical and multifaceted challenges discussed at COP27, but also some of the most pressing. As more convenings related to the climate crisis are organized in the weeks and months ahead, we’ll see if real progress on these issues is made and if the power of convening at COP27 can bring us closer to the future we are working towards.