As Senior Director of DAI’s Center for Digital Acceleration, Anand Varghese leads a team of researchers and policy analysts who help donor clients integrate digital technology into their work and strengthen digital ecosystems around the world. He works with clients to develop digital strategies, design and implement digital-focused activities, train staff on the use of digital platforms for development, and identify local partners. He serves as a technical advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded Digital Frontiers project, and has served as a technical advisor to the Kosmos Innovation Center (KIC) in Accra, Ghana, where he helped young technology entrepreneurs develop digital solutions for the local agricultural sector. He also teaches a course, “Digital Development: Innovative Use of Technology in Emerging Markets,” at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies. Prior to joining DAI, he served as Senior Manager at the PeaceTech Lab at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Anand played an integral role in creating and launching the Lab, the Institute’s first nonprofit spin-off in its 30-year history. Anand has managed various technology-related development projects, including the first nationwide mobile phone-based survey in Afghanistan, workshops for youth activists on crowdsourced mapping tools, and partnerships with universities to integrate young engineers into conflict management. Anand speaks regularly at international conferences and has authored studies on topics at the intersection of digital technology and international development. He hails from Bangalore, India.
- M.A., democracy and governance, Georgetown University
- B.A., journalism and mass communication, Arizona State University
- B.A., media studies, English literature, and psychology, Christ College, Bangalore University
- Member, 2022 Innovation Steering Committee, Engineering for Change (E4C) program
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