A Keynote about Values

Our value statement for NetHope is simple. That's as it should be. We believe:

1) Technology (ICT) Matters: NGO Effectiveness depends on technology and capacity building
2) Benefiting all benefits one: Benefiting one also Benefits All
3) Learn through collaboration: Learn by doing
4) IT solutions are deployed solutions: Bias for on-the-ground action
5) The need for speed, especially for emergencies
6) Technology gets close to beneficiaries; we want to move the IT agenda up the strategy pyramid

This year I emphasized value #2, the "Three Muskateer" value: all for one and one for all. I highlighted our learning through projects, that all members support NetHope projects even though only a few participate in any one initiative. And the successful pilot run by one becomes available for all the members to benefit. That means we have developed a mature level of trust for each other. We also gain the advantage of NetHope running an "innovation lab" in which it can execute small pilot projects and--to borrow a page from the P&G playbook--fail fast and fail often. The NetHope members can then cherry-pick the successful pilots and take them to scale.

I added the sixth value after this Summit, when it became apparent how important ICT4D pilots were to our members. These are technology projects that get close to the people we serve. And the closer the technology gets to our beneficiaries, the more strategic it becomes.