by A major inspiration for DDRN is the SciDev.Net website ‘Science and Technology for Development’, which was launched in 2001. Marianne Hedegaard Forti, previously the communication officer of DDRN, had the opportunity to interact with a few of the people driving SciDev.Net. at the Eldis 20th Anniversary event ‘FROM DIAL-UP TO THE DATA REVOLUTION: LEARNING FROM 20 YEARS OF DIGITAL KNOWLEDGE SHARING FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT’ held 13-15 September 2016 at the Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, United Kingdom This post quotes the vision, the objectives, the editorial values, the history, and the people involved. In a video interview by Financial Times journalist, Andrew Jack, SciDev.Net director Nick Ishmael Perkins explains the specialist media role that SciDev.Net plays in bringing the worlds of science and development together through news and analysis from across the globe. Andrew Jack is a trustee of SciDev.Net.
“What we do
SciDev.Net’s website is the world’s leading source of reliable and authoritative news, views and analysis on information about science and technology for global development.
We engage primarily with development professionals, policymakers, researchers, the media and the informed public.
Our main office is based in London but we have seven editions: Sub-Saharan Africa English, Sub-Saharan Africa French, South Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, South-East Asia & Pacific, Middle-East & North Africa and Global. Between us we manage a worldwide network of registered users, advisors, consultants and freelance journalists who drive our activities and vision.
SciDev.Net is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity in England and Wales (registered Charity number 1089590).
Vision
Our mission is to help individuals and organisations apply evidence and insights from science and technology to decision-making in order to have a positive impact on equitable and sustainable development and poverty reduction.
Strategic objectives
The purpose of our strategy for 2013–2017 is to encourage science and technological awareness in policies, programmes and projects that contribute to the well-being of the poor in the developing world. We hope to achieve this by facilitating access to information that is useful and trustworthy, as well as supporting the capacity to deliver and sustain this mainstreaming strategy. In our new strategic focus we will commit our core business capacities to convening the science community, mainstream development stakeholders and public policy in developing countries. Based on research around our Global Review 2012 there are four key supporting factors that SciDev.Net can provide to facilitate the mainstreaming of more science and technology evidence for development.
Our work provides:
- Access to accurate, understandable information for an audience interested in supporting the improved well-being of the poor in the global South
- Analysis of research findings, exploring socioeconomic implications and facilitating local relevance
- Capacity to support and sustain uptake of research, including working with partners to provide specialist training on communicating science
- Space and incentives for key relationships with champions of science and technology
Editorial values
A commitment to accuracy
Accuracy is fundamental to SciDev.Net, so we strive to make sure that our output is well sourced, based on sound evidence and presented clearly. We avoid speculation and endeavour to be honest about the limits of our knowledge. We ensure accuracy by checking and crosschecking facts and figures, as well as by using reputable sources.
A commitment to fairness
SciDev.Net makes every effort to be open, honest and straightforward in its dealings with contributors, audiences and the people and institutions we feature in our content. As a media outlet, we understand our legal obligations and respect confidentiality. Individuals and organisations represented in our output will always have a right to reply. We have a robust complaints procedure.
A commitment to impartiality
Impartiality is a key to our work and so is applied across all our editorial output. Where possible, we strive to avoid bias on controversial subjects. We believe in editorial integrity and independence. Our editorial impartiality is not influenced by political or commercial pressures. Our funding arrangements do not affect our editorial decisions.
A commitment to respecting privacy
We believe that all our audience has a right to privacy and dignity.Where we create our own multimedia content or take photographs, we ask people featured for their consent. We do not make secret recordings. We do not pass on contributors’ personal details, comments or personal information to third parties without consent from the contributor. We respect our legal obligations under the United Kingdom’s Data Protection Act 1998.
A commitment to equitable and sustainable development
We want to see a more equitable and just world and recognise the importance of the concept of wellbeing in global development. Above all, SciDev.Net is committed to supporting the contribution that science and technology can make to global development through access to and interrogation of the knowledge that underpins it.”
ANDREW JACK, FINANCIAL TIMES JOURNALIST, INTERVIEWS NICK ISHMAEL PERKINS, SCIDEV.NET DIRECTOR
HISTORY OF SCIDEV.NET
SCIDEV.NET PEOPLE
THANKS TO FUNDING/SUPPORT FROM:
