Every incoming administration receives hundreds of "white papers' advocating policies and priorities for every aspect of the Executive Branch. Development assistance is no exception.   We propose to promote transparency by aggregating all available recommendations relevant to USAID in a single website.  

 In addition to the public service of aggregation, we propose to democratize the process of making recommendations through user comments and voting, very similar to the way Netsquared manages its competitions. The benefits of using social networking tools in discussions about foreign assistance priorities, in addition to transparency, are greater opportunities for outreach and a wider net for innovation.While USAID can't be bound to the outcomes of the process, it would be an innovation in public outreach that would open up input from a far wider range that is heard at its ACVFA (Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid - essentially an echo-chamber for the development assistance establishment).   In addition, public engagement may produce new ideas.   Finally, the opportunity for public education about development assistance will emerge through discussions among development professionals and private citizens on what does and doesn't work in development assistance and why.

The expected inpact is greater public support for foreign assistance and USAID, with the possibiity of improvements in development delivery through innovations proposed in the discussions.