Creating investable opportunities for business in underdeveloped markets will be even more vital as the world looks towards economic recovery in a post-COVID world.

Through frank conversations with leaders at the intersection of business and global development, we’ll explore how companies can create sustainable jobs that promote SDG progress even where informality persists and drive smart business growth and build resilience in markets that need investment to reverse pandemic declines.

We are living through a time of crisis and transformation. Governments around the world are struggling to keep economies afloat while preventing the spread of COVID-19. Citizen-led movements are demanding greater accountability when it comes to issues of structural racism, police violence, and corruption. The global pandemic has lent new urgency to calls for universal health coverage, social protection, and financial inclusion — while the increasing impacts of climate change drive growing movements for just and equitable economies and societies.

At this pivotal moment, hear from those who are marshalling global energy to tell new stories about what might be possible, and building people-powered movements for change.

COVID-19 has highlighted an important challenge for the development sector -- the need to prioritize the collection and use of data to support decision making and response. Data both informs and transforms the way aid is delivered. Satellite and mobile data can inform policy and help us reach underserved populations. Being data-driven is no longer a question of if but how. Now is the time to leverage the transition to a greater digital approach by investing in the data and systems required to support this transition.

Together, we’ll dig into how to operationalize new data tools and how to partner effectively – especially with tech companies – to achieve impact. And we’ll also discuss the barriers that exist – technically and culturally – in communicating data, and how to overcome them with an open approach.

While the international development industry has borrowed innovation practices from Silicon Valley, these projects often fail to make the transition from pilots to impact at scale. The devastating impact of COVID-19 requires the sector to move beyond the buzzwords to ensure that innovation accelerates progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

What are the best practices for scaling development innovation, and how can we move from hype to discipline across the sector?

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated development finance challenges with the OECD estimating that the SDG financing gap could grow by 70% as a result. The crisis has brought to the fore rising debt burdens putting pressure particularly on low income countries while donor funding appears to be ebbing as they face their own challenges at home. At the same time development finance institutions, from the bilateral, to the multilateral to the local are rising in influence trying to define their role and mobilize the private sector.