USAID recognizes winners of 2018 digital development awards

Today, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the winners of its 2018 Digital Development Awards (Digi Awards), which recognize USAID projects’ innovative use of digital technologies and data to advance international development. USAID helps developing countries with their journey to self-reliance by empowering them with digital tools that enable them to build their commitment and capacity to solve their own development challenges.

The five winners of the 2018 Digi Awards are:

• Digital Inclusion in the Peruvian Amazon (Peru) – expands internet connectivity to rural areas while promoting digital skills training and opportunities to rural communities.
• Feed the Future Tanzania Land Tenure Assistance (Tanzania) – uses GPS and government data to register and provide official certification of ownership to farmers, leading to increased access to inputs and financing for smallholder farmers, increased community trust in the registration system, and a reduction in land disputes.

• Jamii Africa and Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) Plus (Tanzania) – expands access to affordable health care and insurance to low-income Tanzanians through a cashless, paperless mobile platform.
• FlaveDor and the Moldova Competitiveness Project (Moldova) – protects and strengthens the Moldovan wine industry by using technologies such as drones, remote sensing, and data analysis.
• WeMUNIZE and the Maternal and Child Survival Program (Nigeria) – increases early childhood immunizations in Northern Nigeria by using robocalls and SMS to influence, remind, and persuade mothers, caregivers, and their relatives to take children to health facilities.

These five projects represent USAID’s commitment to working with governments, the private sector, and communities to ensure that everyone benefits from and is included in the rapidly expanding digital economy.

Over 140 applications from around the world were received. Each project was judged on its ability to successfully integrate digital technology and the Principles for Digital Development into program design, strengthen the digital ecosystem, build lasting digital capacity, and promote self-reliance and resiliency within the local community.