WASHINGTON, D.C. – On June 28 at noon, USAID will release its “Crowdsourcing” data report and case study during an event at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

On June 1-3, the Agency launched it’s first-ever crowdsourcing initiative to pinpoint the location of USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA) loan data.

DCA utilizes risk-sharing tools to encourage private financial institutions to increase financing for creditworthy, but underserved borrowers. Geo-visualization of these loans will allow donors, host governments, and the public to see where USAID helps enhance the capacity of the private financial sector by making loans to entrepreneurs, acting as a gauge for trends or signaling areas for cooperation.

Without any additional cost, USAID worked with federal partners, volunteer technical communities, and leveraged the power of crowdsourcing to perform data mining and “geo-coding” to understand the geographic distribution of the loans. USAID also utilized data.gov, an online platform for hosting released data, as a crowdsourcing platform for the first time to make the data open to the public

The case study details technical and policy implementation challenges and solutions to help others explore how to leverage the power of “the crowd.”  The project has the potential to encourage more agencies to publish data in a cost-free manner and engage an interested and experienced public directly in U.S. Government work. 

WHO:

Shadrock Roberts, Senior Spatial Analyst, USAID
Stephanie Grosser, Communications Specialist, USAID
D. Ben Swartley, GIS Analyst, USAID

WHEN:

Thursday, June 28
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. EST

WHERE:

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20004
6th Floor Conference Room

*This meeting is free and open to the public. Allow time for routine security procedures. A photo ID is required for entry.

To watch the live webcast on June 28th and contribute comments and questions for the panelists, visit: http://techchange.org/live-events/. To follow and discuss the event on Twitter, use hashtag: #USAIDcrowd

Media should RSVP with USAID Press Office usaidpressofficers@usaid.gov.