Reference Group

The Digital Impact Alliance has set up a reference group with key experts in the digital ecosystem, to provide ongoing advisory and technical support on the Digital Impact Exchange .

Reference Group Objectives

• Enhance the development of the Exchange product roadmap by reviewing research conclusions and evaluating proposed architecture, features, and functionality.

• Promote the cross-fertilization of ideas and research results across complementary initiatives, in particular GovStack.

• Support momentum for Exchange uptake and business model sustainability.

Composition

The reference group comprises of a diverse set of leaders and thinkers in the DPG sphere – including Digital Impact Alliance staff, digital procurement experts, donor organizations, government officials, technology providers, service providers, and other key stakeholders.

It is a group of well-rounded members with technical expertise and experience implementing global goods and services in the international development context. All reference group members meet at least one of the following membership criteria:

• Digital public goods, procurement, information technology, software development, and/or interoperability expertise.

• Supporting digital solutions to achieve the sustainable development goals or in the development context.

• Capacity building, development, implementation, and/or deployment of digital solutions.

Roles and Responsibilities

Members of the reference group are strongly encouraged to review, provide feedback/input and appraise new features being incorporated into the Exchange. Each member is requested to attend two (2) hours workshop format meetings every two months. The agenda and discussion points will always be shared with all members prior to the meetings.

The members will also be requested to disseminate information relevant to the Exchange and marketplace research with any relevant stakeholders in their network i.e., other government officials, NGOs, international development actors, system integrators, service providers, and product owners.

Key Objective/Goal for 2022

In 2022, the reference group members were requested to collectively assess the value, feasibility, and opportunity of the three prioritized marketplace types of features: 1. Vendor Storefront, 2. RFP/RFI Opportunities Radar, and 3. Product Comparision Tool.

Long-term Objective

From 2023 onwards, the purpose of the reference group is to: facilitate peer learning and best practices in the digital for development space, and for the reference group members to provide feedback on DIAL’s work - with a focus on the Exchange.