Towards a 4th Sector in Global Development

A podcast with Gib Bulloch and Louise James, Accenture Development Partnerships

Towards a 4th Sector in Global Development

A podcast with Gib Bulloch and Louise James about the new report from Accenture Development Partnerships, The Convergence Continuum: Towards a 4th Sector in Global Development.

The digital revolution and innovative financing are reshaping the convergent forces that define international development.

The international development landscape is evolving. From the individual sectors—public sector, private sector and civil society—we now see a steadily evolving convergence continuum that is showing the way toward a new collaborative space: the 4th sector. The convergence continuum will define the overarching dynamics shaping future operations and ways of working in international development.

The 4th sector blends the best aspects of private and public sectors, and the civil society. This new ecosystem helps develop and enable new and innovative initiatives to maximize the impact of their respective competencies on the challenges of development.

It is important to note that the eventual emergence of a 4th sector will not spell the demise of the existing three sectors. In fact, all four sectors will not only continue to have key roles to play in global development but their work will also be increasingly interrelated and complementary.

While evaluating what the convergence continuum and 4th sector are, our report has identified two powerful drivers—digital technologies and innovative financing—that are accelerating the pace of developmental change by encouraging the convergence of the three sectors at a rapid rate.

This report evaluates key questions: where is cross-sector convergence today, where is it going, what is driving it and what is holding it back. It also provides some recommendations for all three existing sectors to catalyze, cocreate, challenge, disrupt and nurture new ideas and approaches for global development.

Download the report here.

Editor’s Note: You can follow Gib and Louise on Twitter, via @Gibbulloch and @LouiseJames_, respectively.

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