The Beginning

After spending a week in Delhi interviewing with a number of research institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), I decided to work at OneWorld South Asia. OneWorld is an NGO that began in the UK and has offices in 13 countries across the globe. As an avid believer in technology for development, I felt that OneWorld, with its mission to promote development through the use of information communications technology (ICT), was a good choice for me. Since this job marks the beginning of my professional development career, and the field of development is quite broad, I feel that finding my niche within it is important for my future marketability. I believe that working at a purely ICT-focused NGO will allow me to develop skills in a specific area while also allowing me to gain knowledge about the various topics, for example governance and commerce, that ICT interacts with.

OneWorld’s work is centered on an online knowledge portal known as OneWorld.net. Essentially, it is a compilation of current and engaging information on development issues around the world. OneWorld South Asia holds the technical team that manages both the OneWorld.net and OneWorld South Asia sites. Both are designed using PLONE, a free and open source software. In addition to these sites, OneWorld South Asia manages the United Nations Millennium Campaign - Asia-Pacific portal.

Outside of knowledge management, OneWorld South Asia consists of a media team that designs and runs community radio programs. It is also comprised of an innovation team that has up to now implemented an e-agribusiness mobile phone program, a climate change web portal, and a rural computer based program supporting the Government of India (GoI) employment scheme called NREGA. My position as Research Associate will put me somewhere in the middle of all these activities.