Growth prospects for the Philippines’ digital economy are promising; the internet economy grew by 32% from 2015 to 2019 and 93% from 2020 to 2021. However, the Philippines is falling behind regional peers in digital adoption. Longstanding distrust in digital transactions and limited digital infrastructure contributing to unequal access to services delivered via the internet…
For the fourth year in a row, we partnered with USAID, TechChange, and other technology and development companies to host this global virtual forum that engaged over 3,000 participants on key areas of digital development – exploring transformative questions, industry-defining discussion, new voices, and creative ideas in the following areas: climate change, locally led development,…
The gender digital divide maintains the dichotomous status quo of the world as women are not able to reap the dividends of participation in the digital world. Empowering youth, and especially young women to meaningfully engage with technology is a critical part of the solution to close the gender digital divide. Besides youth being overall…
Melissa Marland brings more than 20 years of experience in sustainable development, including 17 years with Chemonics in leadership positions spanning proposal strategy and design, work planning, and performance management. An expert in USAID business development, Melissa most recently served as principal advisor on the new business support team, providing mentorship, capacity building, and quality…
December 15, 2022, Mysore, India — We are in the Decade of Action — a short window to 2030, the date by which society must make significant progress on achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or face irreversible consequences. Chemonics believes that meeting this vital mission of making the planet more sustainable and…
The Digital Development Awards (“the Digis”) recognize and celebrate USAID projects and activities that support inclusive development through digital technology. This year, the USAID Colombia Rural Finance Initiative (RFI) implemented by Chemonics was selected as one of five Digi recipients for developing a mobile phone-based system for rural smallholders and urban-based, low-income groups to conduct…
Today the world faces numerous global crises – the devastating impact of climate change, the threat of pandemics like COVID-19, an increase in conflict – and more. We know to address these unprecedented challenges, we’ll need unprecedented solutions. It is clear that innovation is more important now than ever, but how do we work together…
Digital technology is transforming the way people and organizations connect and conduct business, and this transformation’s impacts on the economy are significant. Despite these advances, digital transformation is not reaching people equally around the world. In this technical brief, we present four considerations for advancing the digital economy based on our experiences applying them in three projects in Colombia,…
This September, Chemonics held its second annual company-wide contest to identify innovative approaches and solutions that drive locally led development. The contest encouraged all members of Chemonics’ global workforce to share how they center local communities and users in inclusive design. Submissions included examples of project teams engaging the public and private sectors, civil society,…
Money is going digital, full steam ahead. Within the past five years, interest around Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) has exploded. Nearly 100 CBDCs are currently in research or development stages, with CBDCs in Nigeria and the Bahamas already launched. Unlike volatile cryptocurrency assets (e.g., bitcoin and stablecoins), CBDCs offer promising development benefits through central…
There is increasing pressure on International Finance Institutions (IFI) and Development Finance Institutions (DFI) to drive market additionality and creation in lower-income countries and emerging market economies. These institutions regard market creation as key to closing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) financing gap. Market creation requires development finance actors to invest in small- and early-stage…