USAID Introduces Digital Policy to Advance Open Digital Ecosystems

The US Agency for International Development has introduced a new digital policy geared toward taking advantage of new technologies to improve people’s lives.

In a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event on Thursday, USAID Administrator Samantha Power announced several initiatives that will ensure the agency can achieve its vision of having an open, inclusive and secure digital ecosystem.

Among those unveiled at the event is the Digital Policy, a document that aims to achieve three goals: improve development and humanitarian initiatives by investing in infrastructure; enhance digital knowledge, skills and technology; and promote privacy, security and transparency in USAID programs, USAID .gov reported.

The other initiatives announced are a proposal to establish a new office that would oversee the implementation of the modernization initiative; DigitalDevelopment .org, the agency’s newly created knowledge hub; and a collaboration with the Vodafone Foundation and the government of Tanzania to provide emergency transportation for pregnant women.

The introduction of USAID’s new digital policy comes after the launch of a democracy, human rights and governance policy amid the growing use of artificial intelligence.