AidData began as an honors thesis at @williamandmary in 2003. Since then, 2,000+ W&M students have joined our team, and our research has been cited 2,100 times by outlets like the @BBC. Join us Sat Oct 24, 12:30pm! Free music, drinks + appetizers 🎶🍴 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…

China is a dominant maritime power, but where does Beijing direct overseas port financing, and to what end? @AidData researchers tackle it in a new chapter of "Traversing the Belt and Road" (@Harvard_Press), drawing on “Harboring Global Ambitions.” 👀 hup.harvard.edu/books/978067…

“I kept thinking about how we could take what we were learning beyond interviews and data.” @williamandmary undergrad Tajalla Moslih reflects on a year of student research on Afghan migration. 👉 aiddata.org/blog/from-resear…

Join @AidData Sat, Oct 24 for W&M Homecoming at Swem’s Conservation Patio! Food, drinks, music & a look at what’s next 👀 RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…

Droughts are getting longer, and farmers feel it most. Irrigation helps, but does it last? With @IFAD, @AidData is using satellite imagery to track long-term impact in Cape Verde, Ethiopia, and the Philippines. aiddata.org/blog/aiddata-par…

The EU will soon require proof that coffee and other commodities imported to the EU were not grown on deforested land. @AidData + COSA worked with Honduran smallholder coffee farmers to test approaches for data collection and deforestation monitoring.

Now, with USAID gone, BenYishay says "it's hard to even know what's happening" with much development aid. Read the full piece: insideclimatenews.org/news/1…

He also noted USAID shared more data on its programming than peer multilateral banks or governments, allowing researchers like himself to scrutinize what worked, and what didn't.

A USAID post-mortem flagged real inefficiencies — but BenYishay's own research on aid effectiveness consistently found USAID's programs delivered results.

Prior to its closure, USAID was one of the world's largest funders of conservation work — per a recent @insideclimate piece featuring @AidData Chief Economist @ariel_benyishay . 🧵

On Sept 22, join @AidData, @global_wm, & @wmwgc for a conversation on Afghan experiences in the U.S. grounded in our evidence-based research on how different immigration pathways shape outcomes. 📍 Williamsburg, VA | Sept 22, 5:15pm 🔗 RSVP: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…

💡 @WilliamAndMary students looking for paid research this fall? @AidData & the @global_wm are hiring 2 Research Assistants to use geospatial & earth observation data for climate & food security. 10 hrs/wk, fall semester. Apply by 9/18 aiddata.org/join-the-team/re…

This is Reimagining Development Data (RD²), and your input helps shape it. Have feedback? Fill out the form before Sept 15: 👉wmsas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form…

Next at @AidData, we're grouping each data system by funding source, interviewing leaders and those who use/produce data worldwide, and synthesizing it all to make the next generation of development data more sustainable and responsive.

🎓 Universities & multilaterals quietly run a lot of this infrastructure, not just NGOs or private firms. Examples: @Columbia, @UniOslo, and @WorldBankGroup all maintain major development data assets.

🏢 Private sector use is bigger than expected: 87 of 496 assets (18%) have documented private industry use cases. This points to a promising sustainability path: selling derivative data/analysis to companies—while keeping core (non-derived) data public and free.

To reimagine development data after the 2025 foreign aid cuts, @AidData compiled a list of 496 existing development data assets. We've now analyzed them, and some findings surprised us. 🧵🤔

@AidData's Sethu Nguna led a live data-informed negotiation simulation for The Presidential Precinct's 2026 Global Democracy Fellows—20 rising leaders tackling healthcare continuity in a fictional country. More 👉 aiddata.org/blog/decision-ma…

When evaluation archives disappear, so does institutional memory of what works and what doesn't. As development evolves, the evidence base that informs it must evolve too. That starts with making sure we don’t lose what we already know. Explore → aiddata.org/blog/before-reim…

She reached out to AidData to see if we could archive her work. We said yes, and built a fully searchable, free and un-gated database around her collection. Today, that archive holds impact evaluations measuring the actual, attributable results of foreign assistance programs.