Introduction

Through January 2020, 205 government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private sector firms and contractors have endorsed the Digital Principles. Some endorsers, such as USAID, DFID and Enabel, have engaged heavily with the Digital Principles by incorporating them into digital strategies, requests for proposals, and toolkits and frameworks. Other endorsers, such as Digital Opportunity Trust and mPowering Health Workers have provided case studies on how they implement and incorporate the Digital Principles at their organizations. However, there remains a sizeable percentage of endorsing organizations from whom it is unclear and difficult to ascertain if and how they use the Digital Principles. 

To address this gap in DIAL’s knowledge and to encourage deepened engagement with the Digital Principles among endorsing organizations, the Digital Principles team is proposing a new system of following up with endorsers to learn how they use the Digital Principles along with highlighting and promoting good uses of the Digital Principles. This system will involve two components. The first component will involve a short self-assessment survey sent to endorsers asking about activities that they incorporate and use the Digital Principles in their activities. The second component will involve assessing and categorizing the endorsers according to a rubric based on the extent to which they incorporate and use the Digital Principles in their activities, projects, and programs. The results of these activities will inform Digital Principles programmatic decision-making and communication products and hopefully nudge endorsers to greater accountability and deeper engagement with the principles. 

Tiers

The Digital Principles team will use a tiering system to organize endorsers into groups based on their level of engagement, adoption, and incorporation of the Digital Principles. We will also share the results of the designated tier with endorsers so that they can use it to publicize their designation if they so choose. However, we will not publicly share designations without the approval of the endorsers. These tiers can potentially be used by the Digital Principles team in the following ways:

Definitions

For the initial implementation of the self-assessment and tiering system, there will be three levels— bronze, silver, and gold:

Tier	Definition
Bronze	Activities within this tier pertain to initial limited and general engagement with the Principles. These efforts promote an awareness of the Digital Principles within and outside of the endorsing organization, but do not show activities related to use.
Silver	Activities within this tier pertain to modest engagement with the Principles aimed toward adoption of principles. While there are some minor activities of use, many of these activities are geared toward creating an organizational culture that values the Principles.
Gold	Activities within this tier consist of concerted efforts for the incorporation of Principles to facilitate organizational change. All activities pertain to systematic inquiry, policy-making, or actual use and implementation of Principles-informed policies and procedures.

Activities in Each Tier

In order to maintain transparency and openness, the activities that qualify organizations for each tier need to be clear. This allows endorsers to both understand why they have been classified into a particular tier as well as how they can advance to the next level and more fully practice the principles. It will also allow the Digital Principles team to be clear about the criteria and standards against which endorsers will be assessed, facilitating easier classification. The example activities listed within each tier are related to general engagement with the principles and not to any specific principle. Many have been observed, reported, or conceptualized over the years through community-led processes. The following table lists all activity indicators, their associated tier, a definition, and a source:

Tier	Activity Indicator	Definition	Source
Bronze	Social media engagement	At least one organic post on one or more of the Digital Principles was placed on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or another social media platform, and at least one Digital Principles-related post was shared on a social media platform per quarter.	Social media posts and shares
	Write a blog	At least one blog was written in the previous calendar year on one or more of the Digital Principles and their use at the endorsing organization.	Blog post link
	Cited one or more principle in a report or document	At least one report was published in the previous year that cites the Digital Principles or a resource created by the Digital Principles team and hosted on the Digital Principles website.	Report link
	Participated on a panel	At least one representative of the endorsing organization participated on a panel or webinar in the previous year where one or more of the Digital Principles were a significant portion of discussion.	Event link
	Conference or event presentation	At least one representative of the endorsing organization presented on a subject in the previous year and incorporated one or more of the Digital Principles into the presentation.
	Training participation	At least one representative of the endorsing organization participated in a training on one or more of the Digital Principles in the previous year.	Certificate/proof of participation
Silver	Organized a brown bag	At least one representative of the endorsing organization organized and implemented a brown bag discussion on one or more of the Digital Principles in the previous year.	Email invite
	Partnered with the Digital Principles team on an activity	The endorsing organization organized a training, workshop, podcast episode, or event on the Digital Principles with the Digital Principles team.	Program records
	Organized forum for the digital development community	Facilitated cross-sector community conversations around the Digital Principles, especially between the sector communities that would not otherwise interact.	Event link
	Successfully encouraged another organization to endorse the Digital Principles	The endorsing organization successfully referred another organization to contact, apply to, and gain approval of the Digital Principles program to be an endorser of the Digital Principles.	Referral email
	Implemented a training	The endorsing organization organized and implemented at least one training on the Digital Principles and their use at their organization during the previous year, provided by either the Digital Principles team or a certified Digital Principles trainer.	Program records
	Applied for an RFP	A proposal was submitted in the previous year to a Request for Proposal that explicitly references one or more of the Digital Principles and asks for their incorporation into the submission or proposal.	RFP copy and excerpt of proposal submitted
	Used a toolkit or resource	The endorsing organization documented a case of using toolkits or other resources available on the Digital Principles website.	Use case
	Wrote a case study	Wrote and disseminated a case study on one or more of the Digital Principles and their use, either independently or with the Digital Principles program.	Copy of case study
Gold	Established an internal working group or network	Established a peer working group or some other vehicle within the organization to build capacity and promote knowledge exchange among staff.	Working group documents
	Implemented a change in organizational policy or procedure	The endorsing organization made material changes to digital strategy, procurement processes, project or program resources or tools, or some other strategic or operational activity that both cites and uses at least one of the Digital Principles.	Copy or excerpt of the change
	Conducted a Digital Principles-focused evaluation	Conducted an internal or external Digital Principles-focused evaluation that evaluates the relevance of, fidelity to, and results of applying Digital Principles within the endorsing organization.	Evaluation report
	Drafted an organizational Digital Principles strategy plan	Developed an implementation or institutionalization strategy with concrete steps to put specific principles into practice at the organization.	Strategy plan
	Assessed capacity to implement a Digital Principles strategy	Assessed organizational staff and technical capacity to implement a Digital Principles institutionalization strategy across sectors and at various stages of implementation.	Assessment report
	Adapted M&E systems for a Digital Principles strategy	Established or adapted an existing monitoring and evaluation system for tracking progress on implementing a Digital Principles strategy.	M&E plan
	Created a Digital Principles review board	Created a review board for spending on digital development to provide input, feedback, and guidance on digital development strategy and spending informed by the Digital Principles.	Review board roster and or minutes
	Implemented an organizational Digital Principles strategy	Implemented several institutional changes following from a Digital Principles strategy plan.	Activity indicators for each change or application of the Digital Principles

Gold Tier Endorsers

APO-Coach	Arqaam	Avert
Bopinc	Chemonics	Enabel
Energypedia Consulting	Ersilia	FCDO
Foundation Botnar	GIZ	IntelliSOFT
Norad	PSI	Save the Children
UNDP	UN Habitat	USAID
VSO

Survey

The self-assessment survey will be administered at least once per year to all endorsing organizations that have been an endorser for at least three months. The survey will be administered through SurveyMonkey to all of the contacts at endorsing organizations. There may be follow-up emails administered every one to two quarters, according to the discretion of the program director. Any public announcements of bronze, silver, and gold endorsers would be done annually and at the discretion of participating organizations.

Related Blog Posts

To read more on how the Digital Principle have been integrated by our endorsers and the methods and approaches used in creating this and other Digital Principles measurement tools please read the following blog posts:

-“Digital Principles Engagement, Adoption and Integration in the Community”

–“New and Improved Methods and Tools for Measuring Through the Digital Principles”.