Around the world, teams from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are harnessing the power of digital tools and technology to help advance communities in our partner countries on their Journeys to Self-Reliance. USAID is committed to helping people live freer, healthier, and more prosperous lives while contributing to the goal of ending the need for foreign assistance.
In an effort to recognize USAID's Missions, Bureaus, and implementing partners that are leveraging digital tools and technology to support programmatic goals in USAID-funded projects and activities, the U.S. Global Development Lab is pleased to announce the winners of our 2020 Awards for Digital Development ("the Digis").
The Digis recognize and celebrate USAID-funded projects and activities from all geographic regions that use technology to sustain open, secure, and inclusive digital ecosystems and improve measurable development and humanitarian-assistance outcomes on a large scale.
This year's winners of the Digis showcase USAID's outstanding work around the world to implement our new Digital Strategy: judicial reform in the Kyrgyz Republic, human resources for healthcare workers in the Republic of Indonesia, transparent systems for public procurement in Ukraine, communications solutions to improve the economy in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and reforms to the supply-chain for seafood around the Asia-Pacific fishing regions.
The five winners of the 2020 Digis are the following:
- USAID/Kyrgyz Republic: Judicial Strengthening / Trusted Judiciary Program, implemented by the International Development Law Organization, for creating and helping to carry out a holistic e-justice initiative that strengthens the integrity of the Kyrgyz justice system, minimizes corruption, and enhances transparency for citizens.
- USAID/Indonesia: Human Resources for Health in 2030 (HRH2030) Program, implemented by a consortium led by Chemonics International, for strengthening the information system for human resources for health in Indonesia and its ecosystem to provide real-time quality data for strategic use, while also supporting the development of policies that address challenges in the health workforce and contributing to better public health outcomes overall.
- USAID/Ukraine: Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services Activity (TAPAS), implemented by the Eurasia Foundation, for helping to advance an electronic procurement system for government purchases and an anti-corruption watchdog network - to bring transparency to previously opaque public procurement process and reduce corruption in public spending in Ukraine.
- USAID/Pakistan: Pakistan Small and Medium Enterprise Activity (SMEA), implemented by Chemonics International, for addressing the structural deficits and inequalities faced by small and medium-sized enterprises in the digital ecosystem by offering solutions enabled by information and communications technology (ICT) and helping businesses harness digital potential through a network of service-providers and overall regulatory reform.
- USAID/Regional Development Mission in Asia: The Oceans and Fisheries Partnership (USAID Oceans), a collaboration with the the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC), for creating electronic catch-documentation and traceability technologies to capture data from point-of-catch to port entry, which improves the sustainability of fisheries in the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and those that form the Coral Triangle and protecting the livelihoods of people who directly depend on marine ecosystems.
USAID's U.S. Global Development Lab received more than 140 applications from around the world for this year's awards. USAID judged each project on the ability to support the digital ecosystem or the development of digital technology, as outlined in USAID's new Digital Strategy.