dot-ORG is working globally with USAID within the context of the DOT-COM Alliance to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide underserved communities with access to critical information and applications. ICTs increase the productivity, efficiency, and transparency and impact of initiatives in such sectors as health, democratic reform and governance, economic growth, and workforce development.  Technology solutions can also take proven development interventions to national or regional scale and improve sustainability.

Several key principles and methodologies inform the way dot-ORG operates:

An emphasis on public-private partnerships.  dot-ORG works with such entities as local and multi-national software development companies and equipment vendors, training firms, telecom providers, and micro-finance institutions, and the Peace Corps in order to leverage their expertise and investments;

• Training, organizational process change, and institutional capacity building are a cornerstone of our projects; and
• The use of rigorous, ongoing monitoring and evaluation and focus on sustainability over the long-term.

Some examples of dot-ORG programs include:

Morocco: Building civil society and political development for female community leaders by training women politicians and civil society leaders to use ICTs for networking and political activism.

Mali: Creating local public health, agribusiness and government information using Community Learning and Information Centers (CLICs) to stimulate the creation and dissemination of local health, agribusiness, and government content across Mali.

Macedonia: Supporting small and medium enterprise development using ICT business centers, providing Internet connectivity, skills training, and business services to local Macedonian companies.

Brazil: Providing Information Technology (IT) workforce training for at-risk youth, giving these young people real career opportunities and providing local small businesses with badly needed IT support staff.

Rwanda: Strengthening democracy by providing technical expertise and equipment to the National Electoral Commission to help it manage the Rwandan voter registration database of over 3.9 million voters.

Romania: Improving local government services and economic development by enabling county and local-level councils to automate tax systems, improve document management, and better exchange social services assistance information.