ICT and Big Data

The digital revolution is one of the greatest and most transformative events in human history, presenting both opportunity and a responsibility to harness technology for a prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable world. Technology is creating new jobs, lowering transaction costs, and delivering vital information to those who need it most. At Dalberg, we work with private companies, governments, leading foundations, NGOs, and civil society groups to harness digital technology for amplified impact, sustainable value, and cost reduction in sectors ranging from health to agriculture, from energy to financial services. We use big data analysis to build tools to help policymakers and other stakeholders plan more effective projects.

What are hidden data treasuries and how can they help development outcomes?

Cashew nuts in Burkina Faso can be seen growing from space. Such is the power of satellite technology, it’s now possible to observe the changing colors of fields as crops slowly ripen.

This matters because it can be used as an early warning of crop failure and food crisis – giving governments and aid agencies more time to organize a response.

Our team built an exhaustive crop type and yield estimation map in Burkina Faso, using artificial intelligence and satellite images from the European Space Agency. 



Aika Matemu

Aika Matemu is a Creative Lead with Dalberg Design in Nairobi. She brings over 15 years of expertise in user experience design, digital technologies, global public health and social entrepreneurism, with an extensive background in social impact and innovation. She has dedicated her career to designing and building innovations that impact social change.



Denys Sementsov

Denys Sementsov joined Dalberg Data Insights as a Data Scientist. Prior to Dalberg, Denys worked in Consulting and IT, for companies in China, Germany, Ukraine and Belgium. He has five years of experience in designing Data Structures and Software Architectures for his own applications and third-party business solutions. Denys holds three master degrees in Applied Quantitative Economics, Management and International Business. He was awarded a Zhejiang University Scholarship for outstanding academic achievements. 
 



Damien Jacques

Damien Jacques recently joined Dalberg Data Insights as a Technical Expert after seven years of experience in academic research. Prior to Dalberg, he worked for the Inter-American Bank of Development, UCLA and three different universities in Belgium. Damien holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering and Agronomy from the Université Catholique de Louvain. He was awarded the Agriculture prize in the Data For Development (D4D) challenge organized by Orange, MIT, and the United Nations.  
 



Swetha Totapally

Swetha Totapally is an Associate Partner based in San Francisco and Bombay. She is a leader of Dalberg’s technology and gender equality practice areas; seeking to identify when and how best to use technology to reduce inequality and make progress on important gender outcomes, especially for South Asian women. 



Rym Keramane

Rym is an Associate Partner based in Dakar, Senegal. Her work covers West and North Africa, and focuses on strategic planning, program design, and implementation. She has experience in inclusive economic development, youth employment and entrepreneurship, agriculture, and ICT.  



Dayoung Lee

Dayoung Lee is an Associate Partner with Dalberg Advisors based in Mumbai, and a co-lead of the Education to Employment Practice. Her other focus areas include early childhood and youth development, gender, health, ICT and monitoring, evaluation & learning (MEL). She enjoys working at the intersection of strategy and human-centered design and is excited about leveraging technology to enhance and scale impact.

AIDA, the Action Insights Data as a Service Platform, Launches in 3 continents


“We are launching a new and innovative Big Data platform in Uganda with UNCDF and Dalberg Data Insight. This will allow public authorities in the country to take better decisions and make stronger assessments. Think of using social media data to strengthen disaster response or telecom data to enrich national statistics as a solid basis for human-centred policymaking. It is the first step of building a local data ecosystem, the beginning of a larger scale-up across emerging countries. We want to give the value of the data back to the people.” 

DigiFarm Wins a Fast Company 2018 World Changing Idea Award

Smallholder farmers – which number over half a million in Kenya alone – are among the most underserved group by financial and information services. Investment in this sector is hampered by lack of understanding and visibility into what, exactly, smallholder farmers need and want.

Improving the Lives of Marginalized Farmers Through Technology

 

 

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