NLT Blog - New Light Technologies

New Light Technologies Contributes to Capacity-Building Coalition

Written by Tim Kuhn | Jul 2, 2020 1:20:00 PM

New Light Technologies (NLT) is honored to partner with the Center for Effective Global Action’s (CEGA) Development Impact West Africa (DIWA). NLT Chief Scientist Dr. Ran Goldblatt will both present and facilitate a panel discussion at DIWA’s virtual “Online Impact Evaluation Training,” running from 22 June through 15 July. The event will train future policymakers and leaders in Ghana on the significance of impact evaluations. This training will equip researchers and policymakers alike to design, implement, and utilize their own findings. It will give them the skills needed to analyze data and ultimately improve their decision making. Dr. Goldblatt will present on using geospatial / satellite data to aid in decision-making, and NLT CEO Ghermay Araya and Dr. Goldblatt will lead discussion groups on this topic as well. 

This online training is a great place for local researches and policy makers to form lasting relationships that will facilitate the future of Ghanaian sustainable growth, and will also cover topics related to impact evaluations, including:

  • The relationship between impact evaluation and monitoring/evaluation;
  • Identifying key approaches and methodologies for impact evaluation, including when to use them;
  • Outlining the use and effectiveness of alternative data collection methodologies; and
  • Survey design basics and field implementation of impact evaluations 

This training will be put to use by the attendees in a number of projects such as assessing sustainable land/water management policies and increasing resilience to climate change through various means. NLT’s previous projects for customers such as the World Bank Group allow us to contribute in a meaningful way to provide trainees with meaningful tools to effectively conduct these projects. 

CEGA is a University of California at Berkeley (UCB) program aimed to inspire social and economic growth through research and development programs, and NLT’s partnership with CEGA started in 2019. This partnership has already led to fruitful results, and there is more to come this year with future collaborations already underway. 

At NLT, we believe strongly in the mission to build the capacity of developing nations to protect and bring resources to vulnerable populations. We are excited to have the opportunity to work with some amazing partners to train researchers and policy makers on the use of free and open tools to conduct impact evaluations. NLT is ideally positioned for this work given our history and expertise in using free and open data sources and analytic tools and creating innovative solutions. Our solutions inform all levels of decision making for our clients, and we are happy to transfer this knowledge as we can to brighten the future of developing countries.