Navigating the Challenges of Measuring Impact in Development

This chapter explores the difficulties of measuring impact in development, focusing on the relationship between development and economic metrics. The speakers emphasize the need for innovative evaluation approaches, drawing from diverse perspectives within academia and social impact sectors.

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Thank you to the folks at Sustain for providing the hosting account for CHAOSSCast!

CHAOSScast – Episode 112

In this special CHAOSS community panel episode, Harmony hosts a group discussion with Daniel Izquierdo, Peculiar Umeh, Cassie Seo, and Ijeoma Onwuka as they share their experiences at the FOSS Backstage conference held in Berlin. They dive into their goals for attending, the talks they gave, key takeaways, and what the open source community means to them. Topics covered include measuring social and economic impact through open source, building sustainable open-source projects, diversity in open-source communities, and various personal experiences and learnings that contribute to individual and community growth. Press download now to hear more!

[00:00:29] Our guests introduce themselves and their backgrounds.

[00:03:15] We start with FOSS Backstage conference takeaways from each guest.

[00:08:49] Cassie recaps her panel, emphasizing the complexity of measuring impact in humanitarian and academic settings.

[00:12:54] Sessions that stood out: Ijeoma points out a session on how open source can help meet UN SDGs and expresses interest in the newly released Open Source Principles.

[00:14:35] Peculiar attended Stephen Pollard’s talk on an educational model by OpenChain, related to improving onboarding in open source.

[00:16:30] Cassie learned about digital public health infrastructure via Bianca’s World Health Organization affiliated session.

[00:17:58] Ijeoma was inspired by Dr. Wolfgang Gehring’s session on contributor efficiency and avoiding pseudo productivity. Cassie reiterates pseudo productivity issue and its implications in social impact metrics.

[00:21:22] The discussion turns to people connections and Peculiar talks about meeting and connecting with Stephen Pollard and appreciating the support during her talk. Daniel saw value in meeting the broader community, and Ijeoma was proud to represent Nigeria and met CHAOSS members and other international speakers despite travel barriers.

[00:25:07] There’s a conversation on what everyone learned at the conference. Cassie learned to overcome fear and embrace the value of her ideas despite technical difficulties and Peculiar felt deeply supported by the open source community during her illness mid-talk.

[00:27:45] Daniel gained insight on EU regulation and how it affects small businesses and open source projects and Ijeoma learned to trust her voice and recognized the passion of global contributors.

[00:30:19] We end with closing thoughts on the conference: Peculiar shares it was an amazing conference and is eager to attend future editions in person. Daniel reveals three hashtags to sum up his experience: Community, friends, and learning experience. Ijeoma called it an “exceptional” experience, including food, conversations, and inclusion. Cassie sums it up in three words: Urgency, care, and collaboration.

Value Adds (Picks) of the week:

[00:32:01] Daniel’s pick is retro gaming.
[00:32:22] Peculiar’s pick is connecting with someone that helped her with a certain skill.
[00:32:54] Cassie’s pick is to go on a long walk every day without a phone.
[00:33:46] Ijeoma’s pick is making sure each contribution I make to each project is very impactful.
[00:34:18] Harmony’s pick is taking some late night drives and snack along the way.

Panelist:

Harmony Elendu

Guests:

Daniel Izquierdo

Peculiar Umeh

Cassie Seo

Ijeoma Onwuka

Links: