Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID) as an International Platform for Cross-Sectoral Solution Finding and Policy Dialogue on Information and Communication Technologies for Development

The Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID) is a recent example of an innovative public private partnership (PPP) that implements social responsibility under the auspice of the UN by advancing Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development. This chapter qualitatively analyzes the start-up of the Global Alliance network on ICT for development (GAID) to derive recommendations for the improvement of PPPs in the sustainable development domain. The evaluation covered web contents, publications, interviews, emails and blog responses. Since the inception in 2006, GAID has successfully leveraged its position as a UN-related organization that keeps ICT for development on the global agenda. GAID has brought together constituents on ICT for development comprising governmental officials, corporate executives, academia and civil society. The accessibility and harmonization of ICT best practices standards have been advanced. GAID has secured funding, launched conferences and extended its network in flagship initiatives, regional networks and communities of expertise. Some of the partnerships initiatives have successfully linked with the GAID network and facilitated information exchange in conferences, trainings and workshops. Others had difficulties in integrating with GAID mainly due to resource limitations and a lack of expertise. Areas for improvement are additional resource mobilization, network establishment and maintenance as well as business planning, goal achievement strategies and measurement