RightsCon Tunis 2019

Come join us for a frank conversation about digital development programming, power structures, ethical design, and how blue sky “digital development principles” actually play out for people on the ground. Dragana Kaurin, Executive Director of Localization Lab, will walk us through refugees’ experience with European and UNHCR data collection requirements. Grace Githaiga, Co-Convenor of KICTANet, will provide insights into Kenyans’ experience with a forced Digital ID process. And Mikael Baker, Senior Digital Development Advisor for USAID, will speak to USAID’s new guide, Using Data Responsibly, and provide insights into how a major governmental institution is trying to map implementation to principles.
 
Most of all, though, we want to hear from you! Come join us for a conversation in which we ask: where are the voices of the "beneficiaries" of foreign assistance in digital development strategies, and how are their perspectives and rights informing the decisions donors and INGOs make with regard to data collection, aggregation and use within foreign aid? With current legal and procurement structures, and the political drivers, inherent in foreign aid, can our current assistance structures truly "empower beneficiaries" in new or powerful ways by shifting to data-driven or digital strategies, or are these moves primarily designed to diminish costs and increase efficiency among large Western institutions? Alternatively, could digital development practices be transformative, and allow us to disrupt what we ask of each other, and what donors can give back to the communities they strive to serve? Let’s explore it together.