At Social Outcomes Conference 2023, organized by Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, GDi team, led by co-founder Mohit Bahri and Madhunika Iyer, presented India’s first Pay-for-results EdTech program in the country, where government payment to EdTech providers is linked to improvement in student learning, instead of just set-up to EdTech infrastructure in schools. GDi is working with NITI Aayog and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, India to drive program design and implementation.

To ensure maximum social returns on otherwise limited financial resources, there is a need to relook at effectiveness of government spend across sectors. At the conference, experts from around the world presented various initiatives taken by several governments to shift focus towards real-life outcomes in lives of beneficiaries, from erstwhile focus on mere provisioning of services or products.

It was heartening to see the progress being made by several governments across sectors in driving sharper focus on delivering outcomes through public spend. Impact bonds and pay-for-results are becoming more real, driving innovation in service delivery and improving lives of the beneficiaries in a meaningful way.

GDi has partnered with the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to provide specialized support in streamlining the commission's operations, designing solutions to identified gaps, and standardizing grievance reporting and redressal channels.

In this partnership, GDi is strategically working on four broader domains:

1. System strengthening: GDi is working with DCW program teams to closely monitor operations and intervening to provide recommendations based on key data insights, helping them to improve efficiency and ensure the smooth functioning of the commission.
2. Communication with citizens: GDi is revamping DCW's communication strategy and developing campaigns to reach women of all ages and make them aware of their legal rights and the commission's work, increasing public awareness and making help and support accessible.
   
3. Landscape transformation: To make a sustainable shift around women safety, GDi is supporting the commission in developing evidence based, data driven policies and programs to address women's crime.
4. External collaboration: To reach the scale, GDi is supporting DCW in building partnerships with funders, academia, and other ecosystem players to access resources, share knowledge, and scale impact.

Zero Project India is a regional chapter launched by the Zero Project (an international organisation with a mission of creating a world with zero barriers) launched in collaboration with Youth4Jobs (a Hyderabad-based NGO working towards providing employability support to the disabled in India). A key part of the India chapter is the annual conference - held on 19th & 20th September, 2023 - on disability welfare, which seeks to bring together diverse stakeholders to introduce and promote innovative solutions to achieve a more inclusive society for persons with disabilities. Apart from Zero Project, Youth4Jobs and GDi Partners, the 2023 Conference involved partnership with organisations like the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Omidyar Network India, the Hans Foundation and others.

The conference brought together stakeholders from every sphere of the disability inclusion ecosystem through six thought-provoking panel discussions on critical topics, including employment opportunities, assistive technology, and policy reforms. In addition to discussions and launches, the conference hosted an exhibition showcasing the latest assistive technologies for persons with disabilities.

GDi’s involvement with Zero Project India is spread across three tracks-

1. Conference Design & Execution- GDi served as the knowledge partner for the 2023 conference and helped onboard other partners for the event and in conference management and execution.

2. Knowledge Products- GDi will be preparing two public goods, including a primer that any organisation can utilise to make their events more inclusive and a landscape report on the status of disability welfare in India. The former was launched at the 2023 Conference, while the latter will be released in the public domain soon.