PRESS RELEASE
In Keynote Speech, Administrator Samantha Power Announces Agency’s New Digital Policy
Today, Administrator Samantha Power reiterated USAID’s commitment to a model of development that advances open, inclusive, secure, and rights-respecting digital ecosystems – minimizing the risks of new technologies while maximizing their potential to improve people’s lives. In remarks at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, she set out a vision to harness technology’s potential for a better world.
Administrator Power made a number of announcements that will enable the Agency to advance this vision in the places where USAID works:
USAID’s new Digital Policy, released today, reflects the Agency’s recognition that rapidly evolving digital and emerging technologies are transforming development and humanitarian assistance objectives – accelerating progress towards addressing global challenges while also requiring careful governance and action to mitigate risks. Through the Policy, USAID will pursue three key goals: enhancing development and humanitarian outcomes through infrastructure investments; improving digital knowledge, skills, policies, and technology; and promoting privacy, security, transparency, equity, and human rights in USAID programming and across digital ecosystems.
USAID intends to provide $14.6 million in new funding to support the goals of the Digital Policy. These resources will be aimed at achieving key objectives outlined in the policy, the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence, building the cybersecurity capacity of partner countries, and strengthening foundational digital connectivity infrastructure and financial services.
USAID will work with Congress to propose a new Office to both support the implementation of this policy and account for the central role digital technologies play in USAID’s work and on development outcomes around the world. This proposal would enhance USAID’s ability to anticipate and respond to rapidly evolving trends in the technology landscape; accelerate progress on systematically incorporating digital tools across the Agency’s work; promote the efficient and responsible use of technology across USAID programming; and facilitate cross-sectoral and regional investments as well as dynamic partnerships with private sector, civil society, and partner governments.
DigitalDevelopment.org is USAID’s newly established knowledge hub to connect external stakeholders to digital development resources in a given country – making it easier for the development community to support digital transformation efforts around the world.
USAID, Vodafone Foundation, and the Government of Tanzania connect 100,000 expectant mothers in Tanzania to emergency transportation during pregnancy. Together, USAID and Vodafone Foundation developed m-mama, an emergency transport system for mothers that uses volunteer drivers to get pregnant women to a hospital when ambulances are not available. As of this week, m-mama has helped get moms and babies access the care they need in 100,000 emergencies, saving thousands of lives. In the initial regions where the program launched in Tanzania, maternal mortality fell by nearly 40 percent over four years. M-mama has already expanded to Lesotho, and USAID and Vodafone Foundation will later launch the service in Kenya and Malawi.
USAID agrees to greater digital cooperation with the governments of Latvia and Estonia. As two global leaders in e-governance, USAID will work alongside both governments to help other nations across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa to boost their digital capabilities. These partnerships aim to foster greater digital transformation in these regions by promoting e-government that will enhance nations’ capacity for digital skills and cybersecurity, create resilient media and information ecosystems, and build greater communication technology solutions. Later today, USAID will sign memorandums of understanding with both governments to advance this critical work.
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