Many companies write down guiding princples. Google is (in)famous for “Don’t 😈be evil😈”.
ZinZen chooses “😇Be good😇”. What does that mean in practice? Read more…

Whilst Google’s negative motto “Don’t be evil” was a way of saying ‘you can make money without being evil’ - why they didn’t formulate it in a positive way? Positive formulations for motto’s and goals are much more useful in practice. Google did try this in 2015 by adopting “Do the right thing”. But this is even more vague as it leaves ‘the right thing’ open to interpretation… ‘Right’ for the bottom line - or for humanity?

It’s weird. The obvious choice would be a simple “Be good”.
Anyway - ZinZen®, unlike Google, has no problem choosing “Be good” as a guiding principle.
But what does that mean in practice?

Rather than re-inventing the wheel - we turned to the United Nations and the community effort of more than 500 individuals representing over 100 organizations working in international development. You can read the full back-story and detailed principles and what actions they can be broken down to online - as they are constantly evolving.

📢 Today we officially endorse the Digital Development Principles! 📢

Here’s a quick summary:

  • Design With the User
    User-centered design starts with getting to know the people you are designing for through conversation, observation and co-creation.
  • Understand the Existing Ecosystem
    Well-designed initiatives and digital tools consider the particular structures and needs that exist in each country, region and community.
  • Design for Scale
    Achieving scale requires adoption beyond an initiatives pilot population and often necessitates securing funding or partners that take the initiative to new communities or regions.
  • Build for Sustainability
    Building sustainable programs, platforms and digital tools is essential to maintain user and stakeholder support, as well as to maximize long-term impact.
  • Be Data Driven
    When an initiative is data driven, quality information is available to the right people when they need it, and they are using those data to take action.
  • Use Open Standards, Open Data, Open Source, and Open Innovation
    An open approach to digital development can help to increase collaboration in the digital development community and avoid duplicating work that has already been done.
  • Reuse and Improve
    Reusing and improving is about taking the work of the global development community further than any organization or program can do alone.
  • Address Privacy & Security
    Addressing privacy and security in digital development involves careful consideration of which data are collected and how data are acquired, used, stored and shared.
  • Be Collaborative
    Being collaborative means sharing information, insights, strategies and resources across projects, organizations and sectors, leading to increased efficiency and impact.

    These principles will be broken down into concrete actions 💪 using the ZinZen® methodology.
    Everything will be available online - in the open. 🤗

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PS: The Digital Development Principles are CC BY-SA licensed.