Large, resource-intensive, general-purpose Generative AI models are causing undeniable harm to the environment, the climate, and communities around the globe. Small language models, built in purposeful and controlled ways, and managed with thoughtful design, can be an alternative. Built with fewer computational resources, they can lead to faster processing, increased possibilities on smaller devices, more privacy and security, and they can be tailored by you and your tasks!

The global startup ecosystem faces a persistent challenge: early-stage ventures struggle to secure both capital and visibility in an increasingly crowded marketplace. However, venture capital often concentrates in established tech hubs. We need to actively seek solutions from diverse geographies. Subscribe Now to Get More Funding Emails The mobile ecosystem continues driving digital transformation in low- and middle-income countries, where connectivity remains fundamental to accessing education, healthcare, and financial services.

I've spent years advocating for digital inclusion, arguing that Internet access is fundamental to closing development gaps. But new research from the University of Zurich has me questioning everything we think we know about connectivity and its benefits for young people in low and middle-income countries. The findings are stark and uncomfortable: 3G internet coverage leads to substantial increases in smartphone ownership and internet usage among adolescents, but also results in significant declines in test scores in math, reading, and science, with magnitudes roughly equivalent to the loss of one-quarter of a year of learning.

Many nonprofit organizations still lack the resources or support to shape artificial intelligence for public good. OpenAI’s People-First AI Fund aims to change that. This opportunity offers a large scale investment in organizations that are building AI literacy, fostering innovation from the ground up, and creating inclusive economic opportunities. Sign Up Now for more funding leads. OpenAI has committed $50 million to support mission-focused and nonprofit organizations working where innovation intersects with public welfare.

We've spent years watching development organizations celebrate every new digital initiative as a silver bullet for poverty and poor governance. The conventional wisdom is seductive: build the digital rails, and development will follow. But Ethiopia's experience with digital infrastructure tells a different, more sobering story that should make us all pause before our next digital transformation pitch. The Data Doesn't Lie—It Confounds…

Artificial intelligence is moving from hype to reality, offering powerful tools to transform health, education, livelihoods, and climate resilience. Yet in Ethiopia, many communities remain underserved by both technology and policy. Sign Up Now to get more funding updates Responsible AI solutions can help close service gaps, improve efficiency, and build resilience—if they are designed inclusively and ethically. That is exactly the goal of the EthiopiAI Programme from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

While development practitioners obsess over access to capital and business training, groundbreaking research from The Gambia reveals something far more powerful: how platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp connect women entrepreneurs and actually amplify the strength of their relationships in ways that transform businesses. The concept is called "tie-strength amplification," and it's reshaping how we should approach digital development programming. Let me explain why this matters for your work.

The MIT report declaring that 95% of generative AI pilots are "failing" has sent shockwaves through boardrooms and generated countless LinkedIn hot takes about artificial intelligence's imminent demise. Headlines scream about wasted billions and broken promises, feeding into a familiar cycle of technological disillusionment. But here's what the doomsayers are missing: this spectacular "failure" rate isn't evidence of AI's weakness.

Africa's women entrepreneurs face a staggering $42 billion financing gap, and traditional venture capital continues failing them spectacularly. They need strategic economic development that recognizes women entrepreneurs as Africa's most underutilized growth engine. Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge 2025 Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge offers $100,000 grants combined with mentorship and investor networks to address the systemic barriers that keep women-led tech innovation marginalized.

Against the backdrop of rapidly evolving digital technologies, it is unimaginable that one third of humanity – or 2.6 billion people – still remain offline. Sign up now for more funding emails. This lack of connectivity means that many children have fewer opportunities to learn and fulfill their potential. Closing this digital divide requires global cooperation, leadership and innovation in finance and technology.

Collaborative international research and development, and technology development, projects can help society prepare for, respond to, and recover from different kinds of disasters, such as: Human-caused: including widespread destruction resulting from conflict and war, urban fires, and industrial accidents of various kinds. Natural: including avalanche, flooding, extreme cold and hot weather, drought, earthquake, storms, volcanic activity, and wildfire. Research and development products and solutions can save life, prevent or limit environmental catastrophes, and help society prepare for a future where climate change is expected to increase the frequency and scale of many kinds of disasters.

Bottom Line Up Front: China now leads the world with 2.2 million active open source software developers, while India's 2+ million contributors already overtook Europe and the US in total numbers. African countries show the fastest growth rates globally, but the China-India race creates both opportunities and challenges for the continent's emerging tech talent. The global open source landscape has fundamentally shifted eastward, and the implications for international development are profound.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly emerging as a transformative force in shaping new possibilities for economic development, social inclusion, and innovation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Africa. Yet, AI carries the risk of reinforcing existing inequalities and introducing new forms of exclusion. Sign Up Now for More Funding Emails How can we understand what the socioeconomic implications of AI are now…

Local communities must adapt to a changing climate and build long-term resilience. This includes for example strengthening food security, enhancing health systems, and building coastal resilience in regions that are particularly vulnerable to climate impacts. We need to support pioneering projects that leverage artificial intelligence for climate adaptation in underserved, climate-vulnerable regions, like using AI to support smallholder farmers, build early warning systems, or translate complex risk data into community action plans.

Gender-based violence (GBV), linked to a patriarchal social system with millennia-old roots, is among the most widespread human rights violations. Subscribe Now to Get More Funding Alerts Over the past fifteen years, with the development of the internet and social media, this violence has also been practiced online: this is referred to as technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). This includes not only that which occurs in the virtual world, but also that which, although occurring in the physical world, is facilitated by technologies.

Read about how GiveDirectly’s pilot in Bangladesh used phone data and AI to deliver aid faster, cheaper, and often more accurately than traditional poverty targeting methods.

As artificial intelligence becomes a defining technology of our time, governments and multistakeholder groups are racing to shape its future. Two major frameworks were released recently reflect starkly different visions for how AI should be governed, deployed, and measured. America’s Artificial Intelligence Action Plan Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI for the SDGs Both documents seek to harness AI’s potential for transformation.

Billions of people all over the world use WhatsApp to stay connected to friends and family. It is a key tool to provide vulnerable, disempowered and minority communities with easy and secure access to vital information and support. Sign Up Now for Grant Funding Emails WhatsApp It can also provide tools and resources to empower organisations creating lasting healthcare services and improving lives.

This is your final chance to submit GDHF abstracts to share your digital health innovations, challenges, and lessons learned with a global community of peers, implementers, policymakers, funders, and technologists. Show us how your work is making an impact! Digital health is driving local, sustainable change with AI and open source to equity, climate, and national strategies. You can present your session in-person in Nairobi or virtually from anywhere.

African countries need genuinely innovative approaches to addressing climate and digital transformation challenges. Technology innovations that fill gaps or solve pressing problems in a unique or significantly improved way. Sign Up Now for More Funding Leads African countries also need business model innovations and disruptive market approaches. The solutions must drive scalability, efficiency, impact, or access through these new business models.

Rapid technological advancement promises tremendous benefits, but it also risks exacerbating socio-economic disparities and deepening social divisions. Subscribe now for more grant funding opportunities While technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, algorithm-driven information systems, and digital platforms can drive innovation, efficiency, and new economic opportunities, they also present challenges related to workforce disruption, transparency, accountability, bias mitigation, and data privacy.

Surprise! Most cybersecurity guidance for rural communities in developing countries is actually harmful. Groundbreaking research from rural Ghana shows that well-intentioned security programs have made vulnerable populations even more vulnerable. A new study from the Max Planck Institute in rural Ghana, reveals how communities adopt complex workarounds to access electricity and mobile networks, creating security vulnerabilities that traditional cybersecurity approaches completely fail to address.

Digital skills and technology solutions are more critical for African economies as they embrace digital transformation. Countries are positioning themselves as major tech hubs as the world goes virtual. Sign Up Now for More Entrepreneurship Training Programs Entrepreneurs need to master artificial intelligence and advanced AI solutions available today for business growth and development. AI skills are an important tool for promoting social and economic development, creating new jobs, and driving innovation.

The humanitarian sector stands at the cusp of a technological revolution that could fundamentally transform how we deliver services to the world's most vulnerable populations. A new research paper from University College London - Interactions Between Artificial Intelligence and Digital Public Infrastructure: Concepts, Benefits, and Challenges -reveals how artificial intelligence and digital public infrastructure (DPI) can work together to create more inclusive, efficient, and equitable public services.