MERL Tech DC Conference wrap up

Over 300 MERL Tech practitioners came together in Washington DC the first week of September for MERL Tech DC.

Core topic areas included organizational change and capacity; evaluation of MERL Tech and ICT4D; big data, small data and data analytics; tech tools to support qualitative methods; new and emerging technologies with a potential role in MERL; inclusion and ways tech can support ‘downward’ accountability; practical sessions on tools and methods; and community building in the MERL Tech sector.

Check out InSTEDD’s fantastic recap of the event in pictures and Tweets.

What does “MERL Tech Maturity” look like?

In plenary, groups worked together to discuss “MERL Tech Maturity Models” – in other words, what are the characteristics of an organization that is fully mature when it comes to MERL Tech. People also spent some time thinking about where their organizations fit on the “MERL Tech Maturity” scale: from brand new or less experienced to fully mature. (We’ll share more about this in a future post).

As always, there was plenty of socializing with old and new friends and collaborators too!

Stay tuned for session summaries and more, coming up over the next several weeks here on MERL Tech News!