Development and Technology, Learning from our Failures

The diffusion of information and communication technology (ICTs) throughout the world is changing the face international development and global health in fundamental ways. Development practitioners and technologists have an array of new tools with the potential to solve age-old problems, but the road to realize success is full of failures – as it should be.

Recently, about 100 people working in international aid met at the World Bank for FailFaireDC to share and learn from failure.  The event, which was sponsored by the World Bank, Development Gateway, Inveneo, Jhpiego, and Facilitating Change, brought together ICT professionals working in development to discuss their failures and learn about ways to avoid similar challenges in future projects.

Presentations ranged from how assumptions on existing infrastructure didn’t account for  the nesting habits of killer bees to how USAID’s $40 million gaming program to teach students in sub-Saharan Africa about HIV prevention only served about 2,500 players on 15 computers, which equates to about $16,000 per player –  an expensive endeavor, but something to learn from nonetheless. For a full list of presentations and descriptions, visit Inveneo’s blog “ICTworks.”

The main takeaway from the event was that failure happens. While organizations and individuals never set out to fail and waste valuable resources, a failure does not have to be a complete waste of financial investment or effort if we share our experiences with the community at large.

With emerging ICTs, social media, and open source options, organizations can now collaborate with stakeholders in the most remote areas, crowd-source experiences and disseminate needed information efficiently and cheaply. As access to these tools increase, so do the opportunities for people and organizations to reach key stakeholders and move various agendas forward in new ways. These tools, however, are not without challenges, and if we are to fully capitalize on their potential, we can’t sweep failures under the rug. We need to share them with the development community so we can continue to push the boundaries and, in the end, achieve the ultimate goal of creating a more equitable world.