Digital Economy for Sustainable Development

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Dear Reader,

The new decade holds new opportunities, but also historical challenges. Currently, the coronavirus (COVID-19) is dominating all news broadcasts. It has become a worldwide phenomenon. Starting in China, it has rapidly spread to the western industrialised countries and now also to developing countries.

BMZ counts it among its tasks to mitigate the effects in the African, Asian and Latin American partner countries. Digital solutions offer enormous potential in the fight against COVID-19. They can provide useful information, as these solutions record cases of illness or use movement data to reduce the risk of infection.

Once again, however, we observe how closely the blessings of digital transformation are linked to a new surveillance curse. A clear separation of powers in democracy and the protection of personal liberties are necessary and must be further sought after, perhaps even questioned. Merely reacting to polling trends, which were previously generated by one-sided media coverage and social echo chambers, creates a dangerous self-reference.

In this issue, we report on these new opportunities and problems associated with digital solutions in the global fight against pathogens such as COVID-19. At the same time, you will learn about news from the BMZ.

I wish you an interesting read,

Guenter Nooke
German Chancellor's Personal Representative for Africa in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

BMZ News in the Context of COVID-19

Coming up: Hackathon to Mobilise Creative Ideas
Against COVID-19

BMZ is counting on private sector engagement in the search for solutions to the corona crisis in developing countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic will hit many of BMZ's partner countries severely. That is why BMZ initiated the hackathon #SmartDevelomentHack. The BMZ wants to bundle all forces and become active together to find solutions against the corona crisis. Many corona hackathons are currently taking place worldwide, in which digital solutions are being worked out from scratch. We are convinced that many solutions can be adapted and applied to the challenges of development cooperation.
The aim is to build on existing digital solutions and refine them in a targeted manner - across countries and sectors. In a two-day workshop, mixed teams will work together in a co-creative way. The best solutions will be awarded by a jury and promoted sustainably.

You have an innovative and digital solution that you would like to apply and scale to one of our challenges? We support you with professional expertise and a lot of knowledge about the situation on site to implement the solution together in our partner countries. The Call for Solutions starts on April 20, 2020.

We will send you more information about this BMZ hackathon via the newsletter distribution list in the coming days.

More about the Hackathon

Apply Now for Support of Entrepreneurial Measures Against COVID-19

BMZ is forging new public private partnerships against COVID-19

In addition to projects from the ongoing develoPPP.de ideas competitions, BMZ currently supports measures by privately owned companies that significantly alleviate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in developing or emerging-market countries.

Suitable projects can be funded with up to 200.000 EUR, in exceptional cases and in compliance with EU law higher funding may be possible. The public contribution can reach up to 100% of the project costs.

More about the COVID-19 response programme

"Yes We Breathe" Challenge in Tunisia

Developing freely accessible building instructions for respiratory masks

On behalf of the BMZ, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) supports the development of digital solutions in the fight against the coronavirus in Tunisia. The aim is to prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19 and at the same time, to identify and treat infected persons. To this end, several initiatives are being implemented by the BMZ's Digital Transformation Centre in Tunis: In the "Yes We Breathe" challenge, 38 teams are already working on the development of freely accessible (open source) construction instructions for respiratory masks and their mass production.

In addition, the Digital Tranformation Centre is working on curating online courses on hygiene measures and online training formats for efficient teleworking. This is intended to help Tunisian companies contain the virus, protect their employees and - where possible - maintain production.

Real-Time Epidemic Monitoring Using SORMAS

SORMAS, an eHealth tool for disease surveillance and control in times of COVID-19

The Surveillance, Outbreak Response and Analysis System (SORMAS) is a multi-functional, open-source, mobile eHealth tool that organizes and facilitates disease surveillance and control procedures. It was developed by a consortium of Nigerian and German partners; born of necessity, sequel to the containment measures adopted during the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in Nigeria in 2014.
With the emergence of the coronavirus in 2019, the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) rapidly developed a module for its detection and control. The Ghana Health Service and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control immediately activated this new module in over 400 districts already using SORMAS, covering a population of over 110 million people.
GIZ on behalf of BMZ and the EU together with other esteemed partners continues to support the expansion of SORMAS in the ECOWAS region.

More about SORMAS

More About COVID-19

Digital Solutions Fighting COVID-19

The Global Digital Health Network collected digital applications in the fight against the coronavirus. The focus was set on projects that support the health management of low-income countries. Among the entries were monitoring systems and chat applications for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19.

The Luxury of Self-Isolation

Fairwork investigates the precarious employment situation of people working in the so-called gig economy (e.g. delivery services). Corona sheds new light on unfair working conditions and meanwhile underlines the important role of these professions. Due to a lack of social and contractual security, the obligation to stay at home becomes a threat to the workers' existence.

More BMZ News

Launch of the BMZ Digitalforum

The BMZ Digitalforum develops and implements new digital solutions.

Virtual cooperation in the course of the corona crisis shows that digital leapfrogging is necessary and possible. Whether in the context of the current corona pandemic or beyond - digitalisation offers the potential to significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of development cooperation. For this reason, digitisation has been declared a quality criterion in the BMZ 2030 reform process. New digital ways of development cooperation are now to be tested across BMZ departments in the so-called Digitalforum. Following the kick-off workshop in February 2020, the BMZ digital promoters will now continue to work and communicate on a virtual collaboration platform. The Digitalforum has a duration of one year and is designed to promote the development and exchange of know-how on digital solutions. Concrete ideas and other results of the Digitalforum will be the basis for the design and institutional cooperation of the BMZ Digi-Lab.

Strategic Alliance between Orange and BMZ to Strengthen Digital Skills

A project to improve 20,000 young people's digital skills in Africa and the Middle East

On behalf of BMZ, the GIZ launched a development partnership with Orange in January 2020 using the so-called develoPPP format. The aim of the strategic alliance is to strengthen the digital skills of 20,000 young people in Africa and the Middle East. For this pupose, so-called Orange Digital Centers will be established and deployed in 14 countries over a period of three years. The centers combine various support activities: a coding school, a start-up accelerator programme, a makerspace and Orange Digital Ventures Africa, the investment fund of the Orange Group. This provides participants with the necessary digital skills and start-ups with tailored support programmes, technical equipment and access to financing.

On February 17 2020, BMZ and Orange discussed how the programme can exploit synergies with the BMZ's Digital Transformation Centers. The partners would like to go one step further and develop a concept that would enable European partners to jointly establish a pan-African network of digital centres on the partner continent.

More about the Orange Digital Centers

Flying Helpers in Malawi: The Deliver Future Project

Deliver Future enables the distribution of lifesaving drugs via drone.

In Africa, more than 1.6 million people die every year from causes that could be prevented by functioning medical aid and access to medicines. In many regions of Africa, there is no possibility of bringing medicines to remote regions reliably and within a short time. The Deliver Future cooperation project has shown the opportunities of drone technology for Africa and improved the supply of medicines to over 115,000 people in Malawi. In the Kasungu district, the drones delivered around 50 kilograms of drugs and medical products to remote health centers. Besides the logistics company DHL and the drone manufacturer Wingcopter, the Government of Malawi and UNICEF Malawi were also involved in the BMZ cooperation project.

Make-IT News

WSA Global Congress in Vienna

World Summit Awards (WSA) honours digital innovations for sustainable social impact.

From March 9-11 2020, the WSA Global Congress Vienna welcomed participants from all over the world. The event provided a platform to explore the key role of digital innovation in creating sustainable social change and impact in the world. Among the experts was Dr. Jan Schwaab, Head of Make-IT in Africa and member of the WSA Management Board. He took part in a jury during pitching sessions and presented an award to one of the winners of 2019 on behalf of the BMZ at the evening gala. We are proud to announce that five African projects were among the winners!