Social Enterprise Annual Conference

Until recently, international development has largely been a one-way street driven by the global North. From the Indian farmer suicides to the social repercussions of structural adjustment loans, development strategies imposed from the top-down have been ineffective across diverse, local contexts and insufficient to address growing levels of inequality. As the Internet, computers, portable medical devices, and other innovative technologies are becoming both cheaper and easier to access, local institutions are taking a greater role in directing development. At the same time, policy makers and NGOs are seeing the benefit of working through local institutions in areas ranging from environmental management to education to healthcare. The result is a profound shift of the development paradigm. This panel will identify how new technologies are engaging marginalized populations in the development process, and how this shift is leading policymakers to rethink the design and implementation of appropriate development solutions.