Ideas to Action:
Independent research for global prosperity
Governments, impact investors, and philanthropists are increasingly looking for innovative ways to address tricky development challenges. USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV)—which celebrated its 10-year anniversary last year—was set up to do just that.
It’s rare that good ideas in economics get such strong bipartisan political support in Washington. Hopefully that’s a sign of a secure future for DIV.
Dear Administrator Smith,
In addition to the initiatives you hope to institutionalize in the next 10 months, we hope you’ll also seize the opportunity to put USAID in the forefront of testing a new approach to delivering aid.
Raj Shah officially announced Wednesday what has long been rumored—after five years serving as USAID Administrator, he's leaving one of the more thankless positions in Washington.
It is UNGA season here in New York City, which spells the annual arrival of scores of world leaders, snarled traffic, and headline-grabbing announcements from the international development community.
Secretary Kerry, the world is on fire, the threats are real, and you can’t work any harder. Even while firefighting, you're giving your first big development policy speech tomorrow, at USAID's Frontiers in Development Forum.
When we make presentations on COD AIDat development agencies, we are frequently told: “Oh, we’re already doing that.” The more we investigate, however, the fewer cases we find where agencies are really disbursing funds against independently verified outcomes in a hands-off fashion. We’re tempted to say “close but no cigar.”
My (low) expectations for the 2013 State of the Union address were happily exceeded when President Obama delivered an ambitious speech that spanned a myriad of US and foreign policy topics. Admittedly, most of his remarks on development were cleverly disguised as domestic issues. But the 100+ wonks gathered at CGD’s annual State of the Union Bingo event weren't fooled, as mentions of climate change, immigration and trade set ink daubers in motion and prompted victorious shouts o
As the troubling details of the Department of Energy's loan program continue to roll out, I can’t help but think of another beleaguered agency…USAID. And, I also wonder if, in thinking how to generate new clean energy technology at home, we might also find insights to better promote development abroad? Here’s how:
Back in June, I blogged about a meeting with Dr Maura O’Neill Chief Innovation Officer at USAID, and a very interesting discussion of the importance of learning from failure. The possibility of a USAID FailFaire –or even Fail Summit— was mooted. We’re not quite there yet. And maybe we won’t be until there’s a grand bargain o
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