College of William & Mary

AidData is a research lab at William & Mary that equips decision makers in aid agencies and low- and middle-income country governments with evidence to more effectively design, monitor, and evaluate policies and investments that affect the well-being of people living in low-income and middle-income countries. This grant will enable AidData to develop a business plan that outlines optimal pathways for scaling geospatial impact evaluations (GIEs) and prepare the institutional partnerships and arrangements to support this plan. GIEs, which use existing satellite data, offer policymakers an exciting new tool to assess the impact of recent or long-past programs, often where few other approaches are feasible — and at a fraction of the cost. AidData will also generate an array of guidance documents, code repositories, and technical improvements designed to help analysts globally design and conduct GIEs. The goal is to enable the expansion of GIEs that are policy-relevant and likely to be used in decision making. (Strategy: Evidence-Informed Policymaking)

AidData is a research lab at William & Mary that equips decision makers inside and outside of government with evidence to more effectively design, monitor, and evaluate policies and investments that affect the well-being of people living in low- and middle- income countries. Its work includes developing and helping decision makers use new methods such as (a) geospatial evaluation tools, (b) tracking of all types of financial flows and assessing to what extent resources reach the most vulnerable, and (c) researching the priorities and perspectives of leaders in low- and middle-income countries, and (d) measuring donor influence. During this grant period, AidData will expand the use of its existing tools and research, continue to develop new methods, and deepen its partnerships in low- and middle- income countries.