TOR136: Coordinating ICT4D at UNICEF with Sean Blaschke

Terms Of Reference Podcast

Would you agree with me that it is easy to become overwhelmed - in general? If I'm honest, which I always try to be, it actually pains me that this reality is, well, a reality. But, the truth of the matter is we are all a part of this brave new world where information, opinions, new ideas and old obligations are hurtling at us with both unprecedented speed and in abundant volume.

So what, then, do you do, when its you're job to coordinate the implementation of innovation - of new solutions to old problems? With the wrong person or team in place, it could quickly become a case study in watching people go crazy as they attempt to absorb all the information about shiny new objects, while effectively staying the course to roll out the technology or process that has been developed for the needs at hand.

This is exactly what my guest for the 136th episode of the Terms of Reference Podcast does day in and day out. Sean Blaschke is the ICT4D coordinator for UNICEF in Uganda and, as you'll hear in just a second, he has essentially an unlimited amount of stories about how implementing new practices can go wrong - but also what happens when you get it right.