Conference Description

New technologies are opening up all kinds of possibilities for improving our efforts in monitoring development programs and evaluating our short and long-term impact. In fact, the M&E field is undergoing a revolution in data collection and analysis, thanks to technological innovations from sensors to drones to constituent-driven multimedia campaigns that catch us by surprise.

These and other new technologies and engagement opportunities are turning old M&E processes and methodologies on their heads and the demand for quantifiable results is more important than ever. From foundations, to bilaterals, to individual donors, there is an expectation for real-time feedback as it happens. Yet, there is still a gap between donor hopes and implementer realities, and we must ask ourselves:

• Beyond surveys and dissemination, how can ICT systematically improve M&E?
• How real is real-time data? And is it really timely? And how timely is really necessary?
• What ethics should we have with constituent data and privacy? And how can we enforce them?
• How can we use ICT to close feedback loops and truly involve communities in development decisions?
• What are the best practices in embedding M&E into an ICT4D program? Who is doing it right?

Overall, new technologies are enabling M&E to be at the heart of data-driven development, where constituents can be powerful co-evaluators of our work. Yet, all these conflicting trends can seem overwhelming when trying to find effective ways to build evidence-based interventions that can scale.

These issues and more will be addressed at the M&E Tech Conference DC, held September 25 and 26, 2014 in Washington, DC. The conference is supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, GSMA, and FHI 360.

Session Description

Don’t be content with boring bar charts and line diagrams – liberate your data and make it beautiful, engaging, and worth the effort you spent collecting and analyzing it. In this session, learn about new ways data can be visualized and get hands-on help with social network analysis, GIS, and good old Excel to make data insightful for stakeholders.

On Friday, September 26, 2014, I’ll be contributing to one of the breakout sessions titled What’s Next in Visualizing Data for Better Decision Making? Kendra Keith, Rachel Trichler, Taylor Corbett, and I will each be sharing tools and resources for sharing M&E data.

Learn more and register: http://mandetech.org