Knowledge Capture
Preserving six decades of US development sector knowledge to inform the future of global development
AidTA, in partnership with the USAID Alumni Association, is providing urgent support to locate and preserve key development sector knowledge and expertise that elevates the awareness of the U.S. development sector’s impact over the last six decades.
AidTA’s vision is to build anew for the future of global development versus reconstructing models from the past. To date, we have crowdsourced over 148,000 resources — research, data, and human-interest stories — through our 2,108 LinkedIn members and shared 136,566 resources via the public tracker. These resources include 1,081 impact stories that synthesize key programmatic results and lessons learned from the perspective of the people closest to the work. Individual interviews of former local staff are also underway. Before the end of 2025, the team expects to complete over 100 interviews, including critical information on recommendations for rebuilding the global development system.
Our Approach
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Preserving Development Knowledge
The Development Knowledge Commons consists of documents, data, research, and evidence from USAID and its partners around the world.
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Capturing Experiential Knowledge
Collecting experiential knowledge (“tacit”) through interviews that will be rolled out by topic with AI-supported sensemaking, and standing up technical communities of practice that will make recommendations on the future of development.
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Building Communities Globally
Coordinating a network of knowledge holders, including the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, and developing partnerships with global south universities, think tanks and others to reframe a more equitable knowledge management system for the future global development system.
Support Our Work
Your support helps preserve critical development knowledge and ensures that decades of experience continue to inform the future.
Get in touch.
Have questions, ideas, or want to collaborate? We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to explore partnerships, volunteer opportunities, or ways to support the global development community through this critical transition.