Tech4Dev is an initiative to build an ecosystem of software, data & design companies, NGO partners, and foundations working towards creating social impact in developing countries. The initiative aims to integrate technology + data into development program design to build scalable and sustainable solutions. Tech4Dev aims to build resilience amongst NGOs to expand their vision, while leveraging technology + data in India and beyond.
Tech4Dev 2.0
As we consolidate our learnings from the first phase, our vision to build an ecosystem of NGOs and foundations that leverage technology to best serve their beneficiaries is further solidified. We aim to realize our vision in the next phase(Tech4Dev 2.0) by:
- Continuing to create affordable, high-quality, open-source technology platforms and services for NGOs
- Helping NGOs create and implement technology strategies by providing fractional CTOs
- Encouraging more technology professionals and companies to join the tech-for-good space, while bridging the gender gap.
Platforms and services
Glific
Glific is a WhatsApp based two-way communication platform (and SaaS service).
Glific uses a combination of automation and manual processes to enable NGOs to easily scale to thousands of conversations a day with few staff. It empowers NGOs to distribute content, provide the right information at their pace & get feedback over Whatsapp. Glific also integrates with Google BigQuery & DataStudio so NGOs can analyze their interaction, see the users’ pain points, and visualize & measure their impact.
Glific has been deployed by NGOs supporting various SDGs, such as
- for education programs, to send learning resources and activity based evaluation,
- for career counseling,
- to disseminate farming advice,
- as a helpline for intellectual and developmental disabilities
Some of the case studies can be found here.
Avni
Avni is an open-source platform for community service provisioning. Using Avni, organizations can easily create applications for their fieldwork programs for managing their interactions with community members, recording and reviewing community members data. Avni goes beyond data collection/reporting and provides a complete solution.
Avni is sector agnostic, already used to power a wide spectrum of applications in areas such as Health, Water Management, Sanitation Facilitation, and Social Security Facilitation. Around 25 organizations have used Avni to serve more than half a million beneficiaries. Here are Avni’s current usage metrics. Some case studies are available here.
Organizations choose Avni
- To adopt a single solution for different stakeholders across multiple community programs
- To easily and comprehensively analyze data, visualize trends and patterns
- To make decisions backed by data – in the field and in the office
- Because It is the most affordable solution in the market
- Because it is Reliable, Secure and Scalable
Fractional CTO
NGOs typically don’t have in-house technical expertise and they feel intimidated by technology. Often, the NGO staff have the vision but because of their non-technical backgrounds, they feel unable to engage with technology professionals. This pattern is fairly prevalent in the social sector in India.
Over the past few years, Tech4Dev has built a network of whetted and reliable software partners who know how to work with NGOs, have proven experience of working with NGOs building applications for them and work with NGOs professionally and with high integrity. Tech4Dev technologist associates act as Fractional CTOs to evaluate technology needs, help recruit technology personnel and to recommend and evaluate a reliable and proven software firm to carry out software projects.
We see this program to help NGOs that don’t have any technical expertise in-house as well as those that need help evaluating their technology needs, suggest solutions etc. The details of the program are as follows
- An engagement with a technologist who spends a few hours a week with the NGO.
- Assistance with identifying a technically sound solution
- Assisting with hiring technology personnel at the NGO
We believe this program will also help NGO participants to demonstrate to their funders that they have a reliable organization helping them with capacity building.
Women In Technology Fellowship
This is a paid fellowship for women from technology institutions; we solicit candidates from all years of college. Tech4Dev runs this fellowship with its partners and focuses on engineering institutions from Tier II and Tier III cities.
The program mentors fellows in a wide range of non-tech related subjects such as written and oral communication in English, business communication etiquette and tech-related subjects such as digital technology, programming in general and Python and front-end technologies. The goal is to make them more confident, well-spoken and technically proficient candidates as they enter the workforce for internships and beyond.
Tech4Dev plans to run this fellowship in cohorts from engineering colleges in different parts of the country, The fellowship cohorts are run by two partners at a time: one partner providing mentoring on soft skills and one partner focusing on their technical development.
The first cohort is in the Tehri area with Hyperverge Academy (HVA) and ColoredCow. HVA on soft skills development and has deep experience in running such fellowships and they have demonstrated success in previous cohorts before this Tech4Dev cohort.
Technology mentoring and standups for the first cohort are managed by ColoredCow, a Tech4Dev partner with offices in Gurgaon and Tehri. ColoredCow manages the technology part of the curriculum, holds regular standups and guides the fellows in their technical advancement.
Our next cohort will be run by HVA and Soft Corner with students from various colleges in Nashik/Satara area. Soft Corner is a founding partner of Tech4Dev and has been in the software business for over 25 years. They are headquartered in Pune.
Our fellows write regular blogs describing their experiences and learnings. Read the blogs from our fellows here.
Follow the progress of Tech4Dev programs on the Tech4Dev blogs page.
