Giving Compass' Take:

• Developing a global digital strategy could be very useful for international NGOs and nonprofits. However, many of these organizations are not taking advantage of the technological advances within the development sector. 

• How can we encourage innovation in technology and utilize it in development work? 

• Learn about how philanthropists and humanitarians examine technology's potential. 

Tech innovations such as biometrics, facial recognition, and drones could be used to improve a range of services provided by the development and humanitarian sector, but adoption remains slow.

A change in mindset and strategy is needed to ensure that the sector does not fall behind, according to panelists at the 10th Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Development, or ICT4D, held last week in Lusaka, Zambia.

There will be a lot of money spent in digital innovations in the coming years, which the humanitarian and development sector can tap into, said Lauren Woodman, chief executive officer of NetHope.

According to the World Economic Forum, the digital economy could unleash over $100 trillion by 2025.

One of the key issues is that NGOs aren’t thinking about this digital disruption in a strategic way, she said. This can be illustrated by the fact that most nonprofits don’t have a formal, internal digital strategy. A survey conducted by NetHope found that 70 percent of its nonprofit members lack a digital strategy. Leadership was pinpointed as one of the top reasons for this.

“When leadership steps up and shows through the way they are behaving and the way they are using data to the rest of the organization, it encourages others,” said Michele Broemmelsiek, vice president of overseas operations at Catholic Relief Services.

Organizations also need to understand their own strengths and not take on too much of the burden of implementing technological innovations internally, said Woodman. They need to look to technology providers as services providers, rather than trying to replicate these technologies internally.

Read the full article about digital strategy for nonprofits by Sara Jerving at Devex International Development