Adrian is the Web Innovations Convenor at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.

We look forward to working with Adrian and IDS to further strengthen Dgroups in the coming months and years.

Click here for the full list of Board members.

This is an open session for all with an interest in Dgroups, to discuss how to use Dgroups to effectively support communications, knowledge sharing and learning in their work.

Two presentations will provide food for thoughts and elements for discussion:

• Carmen Eckter and Caster Schulz will share with us how SDC is using Dgroups, and focus on the specific case of the Private Sector Development discussion group;
• Kristin Kolshus and Julien Custot will give us some insights on how Dgroups is used at FAOand present the case of Food for the Cities.

A facilitated Q&A will follow to allow participants to compare notes and foster peer learning.

If you are interested in participating, registration is open on this Eventbrite page.

The outgoing Chair, Caroline Figuères (IICD) has been the first ever chair of the Dgroups Foundation after this has been established in 2009. In her words, the past three years as Chair of Dgroups have been “a challenging but also rewarding experience.” Above all, according to Caroline, it has been very rewarding to see the commitment of people involved in Dgroups, in its Board as well as amongst partners and users at large. The main regret she has is that “we are not as far as we were expecting” as some of the objectives indicated in the Business Plan could not be met. However, she remains confident that the Dgroups Board and members will continue the good work that has been put in place over these past years.

[youtube_video id=9g707VKKHGU width=”445″ height=”280″]

As new Chairman, the rest of the Board members nominated Neil Pakenham Walsh, representing INASP. Neil has been involved in international development for the past 20 years. He is the coordinator of HIFA2015 and until recently he has been working at INASP. In the video below, he reflects on the vision and mission of Dgroups.

Dgroups aims to improve communication for development (C4D) and it can do so from its unique role. Indeed, Dgroups is a unique partnership of diverse development organisations that can play a crucial role in improving connections amongst communities of practice globally.

According to Neil, fragmentation is a real threat in communication for development and Dgroups can make a difference in this area. As a new Chairman of the Board, Neil is very much looking forward to carrying up his role and working with others to improve communication for development.

[youtube_video id=3fkVOBhRZ2M width=”445″ height=”280″]

We would like to take this opportunity to thank once again Caroline for her guidance and contribution over the years – and to wish Neil best of luck as new Chairman of the Dgroups Board.