Development Impact Lab

MISSION AND APPROACH “We recognized that the Blum Center represented something special: a center for deep analysis and broad engagement that not only generates new ideas, but also tests and applies real-world solutions. In fact, we’ve admired it so much that it is now the model for a network of development laboratories we’re forming across the country.” —Rajiv Shah, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development The Development Impact Lab (DIL) is a global consortium of research institutes, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and industry partners committed to advancing international development through science and technology innovations. With the support of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and in collaboration with the U.S. Global Development Lab, DIL is formalizing the application of academic science and engineering disciplines to social and economic development. This approach is embodied in a new field called Development Engineering. This system of inquiry and practice combines engineering and the natural sciences with insights from economics and the social sciences to generate sustainable, technology-based solutions to development challenges. The Lab is headquartered at the University of California (UC) Berkeley, where it draws upon the innovative work and leadership of the Blum Center for Developing Economies and the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA). It is closely allied with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, an unparalleled scientific research facility supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. Other core university affiliates include UC San Diego, IIT Bombay, and Makerere University. The DIL consortium is part of a constellation of seven Development Labs that comprise USAID’s Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN). These unique research centers “harness the intellectual power of great American and international academic institutions and catalyze the development and application of new science, technology, and engineering approaches and tools to solve some of the world’s most challenging development problems.”