Page 27 - CGIAR AR 2023 - Printable Med Res

Novel Approaches to Diet and

Environmental Monitoring, AI, and

Inclusiveness

In 2023, the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation validated its method to collect crowdsourced
high-frequency data on consumer diets. This collected dietary information from more than 80,000
people in Rwanda during 52 weeks after launch and has been adapted for Guatemala. Compared to
conventional survey techniques, the crowdsourced method was only slightly less accurate while
providing an immediate and detailed insight into nutrition at a fraction of the cost.

In a year defined by breakthrough artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, Digital Innovation
generated 14 results from its pilot programs to show how AI technologies can transform
agriculture, for example, analyzing large, underutilized datasets to provide agronomic advice to
farmers in India and Indonesia, or a chatbot trained on scientific publications. In South Africa, a
smartphone app was developed to enable over 1,000 citizen scientists to collect AI-validated data
on water quality, another example of how novel approaches can address data gaps while

empowering local communities.

The Multi-Dimensional Inclusiveness Index was developed to assess the impact of innovation on
the digital gender divide, while Digital Innovation also shows how human-centered design (HCD)
can be used to make more impactful and inclusive innovations. This includes a new toolkit -

uxtools4ag.org - aimed at CGIAR researchers, while HCD expertise is being used to support five
digital agri-food service providers in an Inspire Challenge to improve the gender balance of their
user base, which combined extends to thousands of farmers in 14 countries.

Along with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through Feed the

Future, DAI, and DevGlobal, Digital Innovation organized the ICTforAg conference, which brought
together 1,700 participants from 100 countries online in 2023 and is expanded to include five
worldwide hybrid events in 2024.

Advancing Digital Transformation

at CGIAR

Building on the momentum from 2022, CGIAR’s Digital and Data Group (D&D) achieved significant
milestones in 2023 while being a partner and enabler to business units and research programs.

A new product development approach was launched to focus new digital and data products on
value, impact, and problem-solving. The director and team structure fosters agility and
responsiveness, ensuring that our digital solutions effectively address CGIAR’s strategic objectives.

CGIAR Annual Report 2023 27