Overview

What is infoDev?

infoDev is a global development financing program among international development agencies, coordinated and served by an expert Secretariat housed in the Global ICT Department (GICT) of the World Bank, one of its key donors and founders. It acts as a neutral convener of dialogue, and as a coordinator of joint action among bilateral and multilateral donors—supporting global sharing of information on ICT for development (ICT4D), and helping to reduce duplication of efforts and investments. infoDev also forms partnerships with public and private-sector organizations who are innovators in the field of ICT4D.  Priorities and strategies for infoDev are guided by its governance framework.

Our Three Themes

infoDev's work focuses on three main themes: 

INNOVATE

Innovation, Entrepreneurship and GrowthinfoDev helps developing countries and the international partners maximize the contribution and impact of the private sector through direct support for ICT-enabled innovation, new business and partnership models and toolkits, and networking among entrepreneurs, private sector investors and the donor community. Our iDISC network of over 300 incubators around the world gives us unique insight into the challenges facing ICT innovators and entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Topics: Business Incubation | Innovation & Competitiveness

CONNECT

Enabling Access For All

infoDev helps developing countries and their international partners make smart choices and develop effective partnerships for enabling access to information infrastructure, applications and services in ways that are sustainable and maximize private investment and leverage public resources where necessary. This includes sponsoring research, toolkits and capacity building on regulation issues, expanding access to broadband, promoting municipal networks, etc.

Topic: Access for All

TRANSFORM

Mainstreaming ICT as Tools of Development and Poverty Reduction

Through a rigorous program of field-based experimentation, research, and analysis, infoDev helps developing countries and their international partners make smart choices about when and how to deploy ICT as tools for development goals in health, education, livelihoods, public sector reform and other areas.

Topics:  Education | Governance | Health | Livelihoods of the Poor

Why infoDev?

Cutting Edge Programs Developed with Key Stakeholders

infoDev's unique partnership model as the central coordinator of joint action among bilateral and multilateral donors means we deliver innovative programs on a regional and global scale.  Designing ICT approaches relevant to developing countries requires a firm grounding in the realities of developing countries and considerable flexibility in approach. infoDev works with donors, experts and local stakeholders to develop and implement the cutting edge technology and innovation programs that work on the ground. One exciting new area is infoDev's Climate Technology Program to accelerate the development, deployment and transfer of locally relevant climate technologies. 

Trusted Source of Knowledge

infoDev sponsors cutting-edge research and analysis to help identify global best practice in the use of ICT4D. The renowned Telecommunications Regulation Handbook is an enduring and constantly updated infoDev knowledge product.  infoDev's other products include surveys, reports, handbooks, toolkits, best practice guides, case studies, briefs, seminars and many other key information sources based on field research in the fastest moving and most relevant topics.

Community Platform for Knowledge-Sharing and Dialogue

infoDev acts as a neutral convenor of dialogue and cooperation, bringing together donors with practitioners in seminars and events, and developing online tools and platforms for dialogue and debate. infoDev's communities of practice include the infoDev Incubator Support Center (iDISC), a community of over three hundred business incubators around the world. infoDev uses ICT to support dialogue and discussions about what works best in ICT for education, in the lively EduTechDebate blog developed with the cooperation of UNESCO.

an introduction to infoDev