Development studies often focuses on the negative: constraints, challenges, negative impacts, etc. But what if we could use new digital datasets to identify positive deviants: outlier individuals, households, districts and others that outperform their peers in achievement of development goals?

In this episode, Basma Albanna and Richard Heeks discuss the “Data-Powered Positive Deviance” (DPPD) programme. The programme built on an original idea by GDI researcher, Basma Albanna, that was fleshed out in a paper co-authored with Richard Heeks, GDI’s Professor of Digital Development. It argued that traditional methods of identifying positive deviants relied on costly and time-consuming primary data-gathering from the field. Instead, it might be possible to identify outliers in the growing number of digital datasets already available.

Basma Albanna studied for her PhD at the Global Development Institute. She is now a lecturer at Ain Shams University and a Consultant for the GIZ Data Lab

More about Basma Albanna:

Richard Heeks is Professor of Digital Development in the Global Development Institute, part of the School of Environment, Education and Development. He is Director of the Centre for Digital Development.

More about Richard Heeks:

More about the“Data-Powered Positive Deviance programme

Intro music Anna Banana by Eaters

Find out more about the Global Development Institute:

Intro music Anna Banana by Eaters

In Conversation: Basma Albanna + Richard Heeks