The Development Gateway Foundation is an independent, public foundation that was conceived in 1999 by former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn, and initially developed in the World Bank. It was established as a foundation in 2001, with support from governments, international organizations and the private sector.


What is the Development Gateway portal?

The Development Gateway portal provides an interactive, online space for development practitioners around the world to share information, best practices and experiences on development efforts. The portal is also host to additional services that support the Development Gateway's objectives, including: an online government tender listing service that promotes open and competitive bidding in public procurement (dgMarket); the world's largest online directory of development activities funded by major bilateral and multilateral donors (AiDA); and access to associated Country Gateways, which are social enterprises in dozens of developing countries providing web-related services that support local development needs.

dgCommunities

This is a user-driven area of the Development Gateway portal where content is shared according to specialized topic area. Thousands of members share experiences and practical information on what works and what doesn’t in about 30 critical areas of social and economic development. Expert guides and global topic advisors work with their communities to highlight the most relevant and useful resources available. Free email alerts and newsletters are available in each area of interest.

dgMarket

dgMarket is a global online service that provides free and paid access to government contract tender information from around the world. With the purpose of fostering government transparency and efficiency, as well as promoting business opportunities for suppliers of goods and services, dgMarket enables open, cost-cutting competition that saves millions of dollars for developing countries. Users can access more than 40,000 tender notices for projects on any given day. Purchasers can post procurement information for an international audience of suppliers. Free email alerts can be received for a particular business profile.

AiDA (Accessible Information on Development Activities)

AiDA is the largest online source of information on development projects that are funded by bilateral and multilateral donors. Access over 100,000 records on current and planned development activities, as well as over 400,000 archived records. View programs and projects by country, region, sector or thematic area.

Country Gateways

A network of 50 Country Gateways that were established with help from the Development Gateway Foundation. They are locally owned and managed social enterprises that provide web-related services in the areas of e-government, e-learning and e-commerce. They serve local social and economic development needs and increasingly provide paid services such as web hosting or IT consulting.

What else does the Development Gateway do?

The Development Gateway also works to build the capacity of developing country governments through an e-Government Grants Program, in cooperation with the Government of Italy, as well as through the development of tools and services that improve country-led aid harmonization and coordination. The Aid Management Platform (AMP), implemented as a pilot in Ethiopia in 2005, has been created by the Development Gateway with the generous donation of time and effort from the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing in Bangalore, a part of the Indian Government-funded Development Gateway Foundation ICT Research and Training Center, as well as from the OECD, UNDP and World Bank. As the first government to pilot this system, the Government of Ethiopia offered important feedback on donor coordination and liaison, reporting requirements, and the standardization of terms for coordinated reporting on aid programs.


Who governs the Development Gateway Foundation?

The foundation is governed by a Board of Directors composed of members from 12 countries (Australia, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mali, Mozambique, Pakistan, and Rwanda), a private company (MphasiS), and two international organizations (United Nations and the World Bank). The Board is chaired by Dr. Michael Hofmann, Director General for Global Sectoral Tasks, European and Multilateral Development Policy, Africa and the Middle East, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany.


Who uses the Development Gateway?

The Development Gateway serves the needs of development practitioners and civil society, the public and private sectors, the official donor community, and many others.

External links

Governance Focus issues in governance worldwide, in English & Español