Without innovation, millions of people won’t get the help they desperately need.
One percent of the world’s population has now been displaced by violence, conflict, or persecution; climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent and intense, and there are more refugees in the world today than ever before.
At the same time, resources are increasingly limited. In 2022, aid flows to the least developed countries dropped by 4%, hitting a decade-low. The Sustainable Development Goals financing gap has widened from $2.5 trillion in 2014 to $4.2 trillion in 2024. And with state actors and NGOs forced to prioritize, the vulnerable and marginalized people missing out pay an enormously high price.
In real terms, prioritization of resources in 2023 meant 10 million people in Afghanistan lost access to vital food assistance between May and November. And only 2% of women needing essential sexual and reproductive health and gender-based protection in Nigeria received it last year. And in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, funding to help the 26.4 million people in need of assistance fell short by a full 60%.
“For nonprofits to even make a dent in the things that need to happen to resolve the multiple crisis faced — to address emergencies as well as help communities to build resilience and adapt to climate change – they need to be working as effectively and efficiently as possible,” says Daniela Weber, Deputy Director for NetHope’s Center for the Digital Nonprofit (CDN).
“And that's where digital solutions come in. The gap is identifying the solutions that work, and supporting nonprofits to build the capabilities that help them implement solutions, and at scale, so they really can reap the benefits.”
The cost of getting it wrong is simply too high for the nonprofit sector. Resourcing experiments that would lead to innovation is incredibly challenging when the potential cost of failure could be catastrophic— in both monetary and social good terms. That’s where NetHope is bridging the gap. By bringing research, the best contextualized use cases, and leading nonprofits and technology companies together, to work out the best ways to embrace digital innovation such as AI safely, ethically, equitably, and with the greatest impact.
Digital Transformation and Innovation in the nonprofit sector – NetHope leading the way
We’ve always believed in harnessing digital solutions to aid the efficiency and impact of the sector. Since our inception, NetHope has been equipping our nonprofit Members to become more digital – from getting their country offices online in the early days of NetHope, to transitioning to digital payments, developing ethical AI solutions, and helping them accelerate their impact using technology.
NetHope is utilizing its influence, networks, experience, and data to tackle complex issues with insightful policies and ethical technology solutions. Our focus on efficiency, relevance, and scalability includes leading the safe adoption of emerging technologies, such as AI.
Digital transformation is part of NetHope’s DNA
NetHope has been pioneering work on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in the nonprofit sector since 2017. For over half a decade, we’ve been convening our Members to help them incorporate AI into their humanitarian programs, supporting them to understand the benefits and risks of using the emerging technology. We’ve created contextualized toolkits on existing solutions, the ethics of using them, and most recently, gender equitable AI, to ensure AI solutions utilized by nonprofits do not perpetuate harm and discrimination based on gender (as much AI has done and continues to do).
Our years of work in this area stem from our belief that novel digital solutions like AI are essential if we are to meet the growing need for humanitarian support.
Through our Working Groups, Chapter Meetings, and the work of the NetHope Center for the Digital Nonprofit (CDN), the NetHope community has created a groundbreaking digital framework that is enabling NGOs to collaborate and share data before, during and after an emergency response and helping them manage the last mile of humanitarian aid. And our annual Summits shine a light on the successes in the sector, so more INGOs can benefit from tried-and-tested digital solutions to accelerate their impact.
Nonprofit Members who have been supported through NetHope’s Digital Nonprofit Ability (DNA and DNA+) Assessment, Digital Nonprofit Skills (DNS) Assessment, Digital Nonprofit Finance (DNF) and IDEA Journey can testify to the impact NetHope brings as a partner on the journey to digital transformation.
“NetHope has been pivotal in supporting our digital transformation journey. Their DNA+ assessment tool will provide a clear picture of where we are today and the gaps we need to fill going forward,” says the Senior Director for Strategy and Digital of a child-focused NetHope Member.
“The challenges the humanitarian sector is up against – where the needs supersede the funding available – will require new approaches. We need to team up with new partners and seek to do more with less. The Dream session [from NetHope’s IDEA Journey] we just concluded with… is an exciting start for NRC to explore new partnerships and new ways of working,” Jan-Egeland, Secretary-General, Norwegian Refugee Council.
Joined-up digital innovation throughout organizations will help the nonprofit sector reach more people, more effectively
The increased demand on our nonprofit Members, the ever-growing digitization of organizations and society, and the launch of new technology like Generative AI mean that digital transformation and innovation remains a priority for the humanitarian sector.
A key focus for NetHope in bridging the New Digital Divide of digital transformation and innovation is scalability. Helping our Members trial innovative solutions to a challenge and then supporting them to utilize the benefits they’re seeing across their organizations. We’ll also continue to amplify best use cases of emerging tech in humanitarian and development contexts, to scale impact across our Membership.
With the risks of emerging tech like Generative AI well reported, another key focus will continue to be equipping our Members not only to benefit from emerging technologies, but to protect themselves and their beneficiaries from potential risk, and ensure responsible use of the technology.
There’s so much potential for impact
While embedding new technology in nonprofit programs has to be done with caution (which is why Digital Protection is a key pillar of NetHope’s New Digital Divides strategy), digital innovation holds the greatest potential for enabling the nonprofit sector to meet the huge demand it’s facing. And when coupled with Digital Inclusion and Digital Skills and Leadership, to ensure those who have previously been prevented from accessing innovative solutions have the chance to lead and shape them, Digital Transformation and Innovation has the potential to increase the efficiency and impact of the sector exponentially.
“We recognize that there is now a lot more in terms of technology than just connectivity that we can use to benefit the sector and make it more effective, more efficient, more able to cope with all the crises and problems that are there,” says NetHope’s Daniela Weber. “What I'm finding exciting is that there's still a lot to do to really utilize the technology that’s already here, and to incorporate the new tools that are coming as well. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to make sure our Members and ultimately the communities they serve benefit from the exciting digital solutions that are now out there.”
Don't miss...
Every installment of our six-part series exploring how NetHope’s 2024-2030 strategic plan is tackling the New Digital Divides:
Digital Transformation and Innovation resources
