Daniel Dietrich

I am a critical optimist interested in intersections of human rights, good governance, civic action, sustainable development, social innovation and digitalisation.

I am passionate about working with people who strive for equal rights and social justice and finding out what motivates them to take action and drive change.

Over the last two decades, I have been working with governments, civil society actors and investigative journalists around the world in designing and implementing programs and initiatives to strengthen participatory governance and foster public oversight and independent reporting to hold power to account.

A focus of my work is on digitalization and the use of technology for public good and social innovation. As an independent consultant I am applying action research, design thinking, future scenarios, multi-actor approaches, theory of change and other agile methodologies. I always work problem-driven and people-centred.

I have worked with and advised governments and leading organisation, including with the Humanist Institute for Collaboration with Developing Countries (Hivos), Open Knowledge Foundation, World Wide Web Foundation, World Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) of the United Nation Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

I am the proud co-founder and member of board of the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany and co-initiated several OpenGov and CivicTech initiatives, including the School of Data and the Code for All network.

I regularly speak and write about the challenges and potentials of digitalisation and using technology and data for investigations, advocacy and civic action.