By Lisa Wright, Assistant Director General, Communications, Ministerial and Transparency Branch, AusAID
The Australian Development Gateway (ADG) website was created in 2004 to make Australian research by Australian institutions more accessible to developing economies, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The main objectives of this AusAID-funded initiative were to provide relevant and quality information and knowledge, and facilitate sharing of information among its members.
Since that time, social networking and knowledge sharing sites and technologies have grown in functionality and popularity. There are now many other options available to share knowledge online, from informal social networks to professional communities of practice and e-learning opportunities. A recent comprehensive independent review demonstrated that the need for the ADG website has declined.
Following internal and external consultation and taking into account the recommendations of the independent review, AusAID has decided not to continue funding the ADG. This means that from 30 June 2012, the website will no longer be available.
What does this mean for those who regularly use the ADG website and are keen to stay informed about aid and development?
AusAID would like to acknowledge those who have made a contribution to the ADG—your efforts are appreciated. We will review the ADG website’s content and look at how we can republish relevant and interesting information using our online channels. At its inception, the ADG was at the forefront of information communications technology, providing an online community of practice and expertise that was largely unparalleled. This could only have been achieved with your contribution and ongoing support.
AusAID’s evolving online presence and social networks now allow us to offer more ways to involve you in our work. Like this blog, for example. It was launched in November last year and provides an alternative way to interact with people who are interested in aid and development.
The new look AusAID website was launched last month. Supported by the latest technology, the new design helps us increase our transparency, present information in a dynamic and engaging way, and improve accessibility for website visitors.
AusAID’s online communication channels will continue to evolve, and we are pursuing ongoing improvement through consultation and best practice. If you have ideas or suggestions, I encourage you to leave a comment.
This is a shame. I found ADG to be the only resource that regularly brought together all the AusAID-funded jobs and consultancies (and some other development organisations) for the Asia-Pacific in one convenient format. DevEx and other job boards do this but not nearly as efficiently and concisely as ADG (with DevEx, you have to wade through 100s of jobs). ADG was really valuable in this area. Will the new AusAID website take over this function?
I totally agree. ADG job search was one of its kind in filling the gap of development jobs.
Closing the ADG website is a retrograde step for those with interest in development issues. I regularly apply for advertised positions & as a rural person I do not know of any other way of staying in touch with my profession.
Please reconsider as I cannot imagine that there are great savings involved.
About time – this project was never useful to any audience, and after a decade of funding it is appropriate for it to be stopped. However, it could have (and still could be) a great product if pitched appropriately. There is still a gap in the market.
The channels providing information on development have diversified in recent years. There are other options now other than ADG. However, what is available from ADG is still different from what is provided by other information sources/technologies. Probably people still need a “one-click” library like ADG, wherever its portal is located and whatever it is called, that centralise development knowledge neutrally.
really sorry to read about closing down this site. I referred to it constantly. Was also a great source for career opportunities.
Dear Keith, Ian, Simon, Richard and Christine
Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback about the closure of the ADG. The ADG was originally created to make research and data more accessible and to promote the sharing of knowledge, skills and experience. While it provided an online community of practice and expertise, it was never intended to be used primarily as a jobs portal. There are now several online channels that allow development experts to share their views and keep informed in their areas of interest. Examples of these resources include the Interpreter run by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, and the Development Policy Blog by ANU’s Development Policy Centre.
As Keith mentioned, there are already existing job boards out there such as DevEx, and AusAID-funded jobs are advertised by the relevant partner organisations through their channels. The career opportunities published on the AusAID website will continue to be for opportunities within the agency.
In deciding the future of the ADG we consulted with internal and external stakeholders. We also sought a comprehensive independent review to make an assessment on whether or not the ADG is performing against its objectives. The independent review demonstrated that the need for the ADG website has declined, and that more practical, effective solutions could be found.
AusAID’s evolving online presence and social networks now allow us to offer more ways to involve you in our work. We will continue to improve our online presence in a way that fits AusAID’s business needs, and delivers value to all stakeholders.
Regards
AusAID
you still have not told us how you’re going to replicate the information in a ‘more useful’ way and the ADG site is due to be closed down tomorrow!!!
Dear Indira
As mentioned above, we are currently reviewing the content on the ADG website and looking at how we can republish relevant and interesting information using our online channels.
Regards
AusAID
It is a great pity that the ADG website has closed.
It was a great source of information on positions available.
ADG will be missed but hopefully AusAid will include a “jobs portal” on its web page.
I am really disappointed about the closure of the ADG website. I consider this a backward step. I found this website a central point for development jobs advertised not only by AusAID but also Australian managing contractors and other development agencies. Now it appears job seekers will be compelled to sift through individual AMC and funding agencies websites. It is a wholly inefficient process. As Ross has suggested, can AusAID please include a job portal on their website advertising centrally all development jobs from AusAID, other funding agencies, partner organisations and AMC’s. This would be really helpful to all potential jobseekers.
I agree! There are so many Ausaid funded volunteer programs which are supposed to act as a foot in the door for Australians interested in development, and it is tricky enough to transfer that experience into the next stage of a career even WITH a specific job network. Stating you are “currently reviewing….” doesn’t help those people who are trying to get their careers together! There should have been another resource in place before the closure, not some unknown time in the future. As someone who started off in an Ausaid funded volunteer post, the website was a key part of me transferring into a solid development career. It’s a shame others would have the same continuity of opportunities from Ausaid. Sorry guys….
I appreciate that the ADG was not primarily intended as a jobs portal for AMCs and job seekers, but what about the NGOs, regional organisations, and PIC Government departments who increasingly used the ADG to source expertise? AusAID is pushing for development partners to take greater roles in TA recruitment, and promoting the sourcing of regional expertise. This is all very noble, but many of these partners do not have websites or other means in which to advertise job/contract opportunities. A recent example I came across involved a donor-funded untied TA position being exclusively advertised on A4 flyers by a PIC development partner – after a little nudge in the direction of the ADG and some help posting the job online, a suitable candidate has now been found.
C’mon AusAID, at least make some sort of portal available for your development partners to freely advertise opportunities or browse available expertise.
I agree with the above comments that developmentgateway was a fantastic tool that I primarily used to search for jobs (I found the majority of managing contractors used this site so it was simple to find opportunities).
I am willing to develop a centralised job website specifically for development work (where managing contractors post job opportunities and consultants can apply etc) at no cost to AusAID on the condition that AusAID endorses this site.
Thoughts?
Dear bt
Thank you for your interest in the ADG. As a government agency we cannot endorse, nor appear to endorse, commercial services or products. However, we may link to it if we believe it is of value to our stakeholders. Please let us know when it goes live so that we may consider it then.
Regards
AusAID
I previously posted a comment indicating that I would create a development job list for the Australian market. This site has now been developed (www.developmentjoblist.com) and we are currently engaged in discussions with different managing contractors to get feedback and to get jobs posted. I would encourage anyone on this forum (and anyone else in the development field) to visit the site and if you have any feedback could you please use the “contact us” feedback form.
It should be noted that this is a free service and that we are doing this to fill the gap that ADG left. The more people who use the site the more likely we can convince MC’s to post opportunities.
We have also added a community discussion board just for a bit of fun.
Any comments or suggestions (or links) from AusAID would also be greatly appreciated.
Thanks all
I hope this move (while not entirely unwelcome) will mean that the development community puts more pressure on AusAID to publish, collate and communicate the over $100 million that AusAID spends on research every year. The majority of this is never put on the AusAID website nor communicated by AusAID. This is taxpayers money and this research is owned by the Australian public yet those of us in the development community, academia, policy workers can only access the tiny portion of research that AusAID bothers to put on the website. This is very poor transparency and a real blemish on AusAID’s reputation in both the development community and academia. With ADG’s now gone AusAID must become a repository of (at very least!) the research it spends our taxes on so that it can be used by the Australian public, academics, international researchers etc – it is after all designed to be used and is a public good: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/research/Pages/default.aspx
Dear Samantha
AusAID encourages researchers to publish their research evidence. Most of the AusAID funded research is available in publicly accessible journals and web sites. In the AusAID Research Strategy 2012-2016, AusAID has made a commitment to publish all of its funded research in a searchable online public database. The Strategy is just about to be released.
AusAID takes transparency very seriously – we launched a Transparency Charter last year. To date AusAID has published more than 1500 new documents for 13 country programs – Vanuatu, Philippines, PNG, Fiji, Vietnam, East Timor, Solomon Islands, Burma/Myanmar, Tonga, Mongolia, Nauru, Nepal and Indonesia. It is expected that by the end of July 2012 another 15 pages will be published. The remaining country, regional and thematic areas web pages will be published throughout 2012.
Australia is also a founding member of International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and last year was the third major donor – after the UK and the World bank – to publish its data on the initiative’s registry.
Finally, AusAID is committed to meeting the requirements of the Australian Government’s Information Publication Scheme (IPS) and has published over 6300 internal documents have been assessed for public publication and over 1100 made available via the IPS page on AusAID’s website.
Regards
AusAID
Very Sorry to see ADG go. Was a good source of Jobs, and opportunities especially those with AusAID. Also, some very interesting topical discussions.
Where will AusAID now post its opportunities and Jobs? Please not a closed subscription only Web Site!
Keith
Dear Keith
Opportunities within AusAID will continue to be published on our website under the Careers and Funding Opportunities tab.
Regards
AusAID
You mention external consultation. Who was consulted and what was their feedback? Did you take into account the negative impact of this decision on individual practitioners and the sector as a whole?
Are you able to provide a link to the “comprehensive independent review”? Otherwise you are rightly open to the criticism of a lack of transparency.
I would have thought that the Australian Development Gateway (ADG) website was one of the most popular of Aus Aids’ online spaces. The very fact that this post has attracted more comments than any other on Engage (over 3 times as many than the next highest) should speak volumes.
The Gateway filled a knowledge and information niche that is not replicated elsewhere. You want to Engage the sector – well, we have engaged with you and we are telling you you have made the wrong decision and would like it to be reviewed.
Dear IA
A survey was developed to access information from stakeholders. The survey was promoted through: banner and link on the ADG homepage; banner and link on the Australian Council For International Development website homepage; daily staff notices emailed through the AusAID internal email; direct emails to 1300 registered users; direct emails to 16 Sector Panel Experts; direct emails to contacts at 36 Content Partner Organisations; and direct emails to 149 Asia Pacific Roadshow attendees. Stakeholder discussions were also undertaken.
The findings were analysed side by side with: User Needs Surveys undertaken by the service provider in October 2009, May 2010 and December 2010; the 2007 and 2009 reviews of the ADG; and web statistics.
Analysis of available data shows that the number of stakeholders accessing the ADG website has been declining over the last 2 years. The most independent usage metric, bandwidth used by month, declined from about 10GB in Dec 2009 to a little over 2GB in October 2011.
The majority of respondents noted that they use the ADG to search and/or post jobs, and the least use of the ADG was to access case studies and policy information. The findings of the review demonstrate that the ADG is not a niche provider of information, with a range of alternative options available through:
• Country Gateways
• global research sites
• specific international development sites
• generic employment sites.
While stakeholders noted that discontinuation of the ADG would be disappointing they indicated there would be no real impact to delivery of their programs, services and/or activities.
The cost to operate the ADG was approximately $800,000 per year. The strategic misalignment between the ADG and AusAID objectives is such that financially the ADG does not represent economic or financial value for money for the Australian aid program – or for the Australian tax payer.
Regards
AusAID
Thank you for your detailed response. Has this survey been published it would make for interesting reading. I am surprised by the $800,000 pa. figure, this seems incredibly expensive. Is it possible to break that figure down to look at the various components? I am not surprised by the decline in bandwidth, the spike could be explained by site users accessing and saving large amounts of content, reports / case studies which are downloaded and don’t need to be accessed by that individual again.
Commentators here speak of the jobs module being the most useful and I agree with others that this isn’t replicated elsewhere. What was the cost of that one component and can it be made available by you elsewhere?
Dear IA
We are unable to provide a breakdown of figures in relation to the cost of the ADG.
The decline in bandwidth was consistent over two years—this demonstrates that the number of people accessing the site has been declining.
As mentioned before, the findings of the review demonstrate that the ADG is not a niche provider of information, and that includes employment opportunities. There are several employment sites available for people to use.
Regards
AusAID
AusAID is advertising for a Director in the Value for Money Branch -Executive Level 2 – pays between $112,527 – $130,460 p.a. I did not know Ausaid had a Value for Money Branch but was very impressed it existed. Accountability and Transparency sits alongside Cost Effectiveness. Can they look into the value for money of the Australian Development Gateway and give us back our “jobs portal”.
I agree with AusAid’s comments that a number of users including myself used the ADG website to search for job opportunities. However, this was a valuable service which is being discounted by AusAID with a cost tag of $800,000 p.a. ADG was a unique website for development job opportunities that does not presently have a parallel. Just imagine that if 10 to 20 people were able to secure job opportunities during the year through ADG then the Australian Government could have fully justified the cost. Quite frankly when the Commonwealth politicians are awarding themselves unjustifiable and immoral pay increments during these tough economic times, it is quite offensive that the ADG website that assists people in securing jobs and other opportunities is being shut down. Please reconsider and bring back the ADG website.
It really was a pity that ADG website is closed now. Like many others, I quite often referred to the job and consultancy opportunities on the website. I understand that AusAID will review the ADG content and take it over in a more effective way. But how can we – the end users – be informed where the information will be put? Could AusAID at least send us a notice where we can find the info once a decision is being made please? Thanks.
Dear E
We encourage all those seeking job/funding opportunities in international development to utilise existing employment sites and specific international development sites. If you still can’t find what you need, please use online search engines.
We encourage you to subscribe to our Insight e-newsletter to get the latest updates about the Australian aid program. Here’s the link: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/apps/consultnet/Pages/Insight-Subscribe.aspx
Regards
AusAID
I have made an appointment with my local federal MP to discuss this matter.
Hi AusAID,
as discussed in a previous post I have developed a job website for the specific purpose of consolidating development jobs from Managing Contractors (MC) into a single portal for development practitioners to be aware of and search for employment opportunities.
I have asked selected MC’s to test the site and provide feedback to us to make this site better.
I am opening up this offer to anyone else on this forum (to test and provide feedback from a development practitioners view point).
the website is http://www.developmentjoblist.com
If you want to provide feedback please use the feedback section at the above website.
I am hopeful that we will have this website launched within the next 2 weeks. With this in mind it would be extremely helpful if AusAID did provide a link to this site from the AusAID website (or any other assistance they are able to provide).
Thanks
I am very disappointed to find the Australia Development Gateway has been closed. As a Careers Consultant working with university undergraduate and post graduate students, it has been one of my primary sources of information on what is happening in the aid and development community and has offered me, and the large numbers of people I have directed to it, a real one stop shop of excellent, up to date information and contacts.
Its value has been to those people who are not connected into this community, so are unaware of the social networks and other contacts. As someone who worked in this sector previously for more than 15 years, I know how frustrating it was for outsiders who has a desire to work in the sector, or had skills to contribute, to break in, and the ADG offered that chance.
At a time when many in the community continue to question the value of our aid program, AusAID’s decision to de-fund this innovative site means the task becomes that much harder.
The answers regarding where to find jobs in the development sector that originate in australia, that ausaid gives in this forum, perform the task of responding only. Their function is to ensure that AusAID is not seen as ignoring peoples’ discontent with their decision to decommission the site. Their replies are unhelpful- like the suggestion to use a search engine to find the job advertisements. If their replies were truly solutions, people would stop writing back about the problem. Far better to acknowledge that there is no secondary site with the information on jobs that everyone here wants, than pretending that viable alternatives exist. It may be that “ADG does not represent economic or financial value for money for the Australian aid program – or for the Australian tax payer”, but it certainly represented access for all. Not everything comes down to profit making, surely.