Post by Catholic Relief Services

This past May, the ICT4D Conference returned to Nairobi for the first time in a decade and, for the first time ever, reached participants online across more than 100 countries. Over three days, over 500 practitioners, partners, and leaders came together around a shared conviction: that digital transformation must be grounded in the realities of the communities it serves. With 75% of in-person participants from low- and middle-income countries, the room reflected that commitment. CRS founded the ICT4D Conference 15 years ago as a space for honest, rigorous knowledge exchange, and the 2026 conference delivered exactly that. Across five plenaries, 21 breakouts, 24 panels, and 17 hands-on workshops, four defining frames emerged: 🔹A sector being reshaped by disruption. Funding contraction and the rapid rise of generative AI means localization is no longer aspiration, it is necessity. The question is who shapes what gets built, and for whom. 🔹Digital development is fundamentally about power. Transformation by who, for whom, and under whose control? 🔹Data is the contested battleground. Ownership, governance, and the push to decolonise data ran through conversations across every track. Tech moves fast, but do we have the data foundations for responsible use? 🔹Deployment is harder than design. The call was clear: do less, better. Make technology accountable to people, not people legible to machines. These are not just conference themes. They are the sector's unfinished business and our shared agenda for the years ahead. None of this is possible without our partners and sponsors, who keep the conference accessible and credible. And a heartfelt thank you to TechChange, whose partnership made this year's virtual expansion possible and helped deliver an exceptional experience for participants around the world. The ICT4D Conference returns in 2028. Until then, the work continues. #ICT4D2026 #ICT4DConference #DigitalDevelopment