Services in Action

05/23/2026

Great read as we re-imagine International Development
"The ‘development system’ as we’ve known it for decades is facing a twin crisis. First is a crisis of solvency: official development assistance (ODA) fell by roughly $50 billion between 2024 and 2025. Core development finance is down 26%, humanitarian funding down 36%. Second – and perhaps more fundamental – it is facing a crisis of legitimacy: the benevolent donor model is running out of moral capital at exactly the moment it has run out of money."

The 'development system' as we've known it faces a twin crisis of finance and legitimacy. A new model for development cooperation must urgently be built – shaped by transformative shifts across power, finance and technology.

05/14/2026

05/08/2026

Is it Workspace Intelligence "eliminating the need to manually provide context to Gemini on every query," or is it a massive overstep and violation of my organization's privacy?

As of April 2026, Google Workspace will "draw from content in Gmail, Drive, Chat, and Calendar, as well as connected third party sources" to inform Gemini to help me work better. (An example of a connected third party source may be Salesforce, Trello for Gmail, DocuSign, etc.)

So essentially, Google will mine the org's data to inform itself to tailor responses for me. Which can be great, if none of the data is Personally Identifiable Information, (PII).

The concern is not with unauthorized access, it is with authorized access. Google Workspace's privacy policy states:

"We’ve designed our technology so that your Google Workspace content (emails, documents, etc.) will not be shared with other users without permission."

What permission are users granting?

"Google carefully reviews every legal request to ensure it satisfies applicable laws" This is particularly questionable when laws change, when enforcement oversteps, when other countries don't share the same governance, (Canadian sues U.S. Homeland Security, which allegedly sought his Google data after critical social media posts, https://lnkd.in/ekeqds97).

Now, the notice does say "Your data is never used to train generative AI models or for advertising purposes." Great, but I received notification regarding this change on April 22, 2026 that this change was in affect as of April 22, 2026.

Before you move on from this, know how your database is being exposed.

05/06/2026

A fascinating article on the recalabration facing Africa in a post-USAID world.

Author Paul Tiyambe Zeleza reminds us that the economic engine in Africa has enough fuel to run on its own machine. If given the chance to be treated as equals and not just recipients.

“American support for Africa is five times less than the amount of illicit capital that leaves the continent every year. So, what we call official development assistance is nothing compared to the financial flows generated in Africa.’ Recognizing that revenue lost through tax evasion, trade mispricing, and illicit resource extraction far exceeds foreign aid inflows, African governments are strengthening financial oversight, enforcing tax compliance, and closing loopholes to retain more capital domestically.”

African states and peoples, both on the continent and in the diaspora, have a historic responsibility—and an opportunity—to understand and navigate this moment strategically and smartly.

05/01/2026

International Worker's Day/May Day/Labour Day!

04/30/2026

In 2011, the UN declared internet access a human right, and here we are 15 years later, still without universal access. This article highlights some of the glaring gaps including affordability, accessibility, digital literacy

We envision a future where everyone can thrive – with or without digital technology

04/29/2026

I had the privilege of hearing author Sasha Constanza-Chock speak at this year. If you are involved in the design of things, this is an excelled resource for thought consideration of inclusivity and striving for better.

04/23/2026

04/10/2026

Great day of conversation, collaboration, & cooperation. Thank you,