The digital journey- reaching out to harvest input. The first Accra SDG Investment Fair

Using digital tools to reach out and harvest input - the digital journey

An important aspect of the Accra SDG Investment Fair was to create a “virtual” platform for communication. As we know the media landscape is undergoing rapid changes and new ways of communicating, funding and working (gig economy) continue to emerge. Owing to advances in communication technology, the whole world or globe along with its vast opportunities becomes accessible to local spaces. Ghana, with a large informal economy, young population and high mobile penetration will benefit by having access to the global market space, and global knowledge sharing.

Members of YRE was trained by Social Capital guru Bert Ola Bergstrand from Sweden to contribute with live coverage of the event through social media platforms.  

As sivil society representatives from the interlinked SDG environment and the general public we were invited to report and participate, some through virtual spaces and others physically present at the fair. Consequently, input was harvested from both social media and the physical space of the Fair. Life streaming was also shared on impact platforms worldwide.   

A number of tools were deployed at the Accra SDG Investment Fair:

• Live streaming: 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W00e1MScwLQ

• https://www.facebook.com/191663575114129/videos/291282991495895/ 

• Facebook account was established: ‘Accra SDGs Investment Fair’

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  • Pre-films were made to arouse interest

  • Graphics for countdown were designed and distributed

• Twitter account was established: @AccraSDGInvestmentFair

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  • Traditional pre-prepared institutional twittering pre, during and post event

  • Pre films were made to evoke interest

  • Graphics for countdown were made

• Hashtags and established social media handles: Two hashtags were introduced at the beginning of the conference,where communication to and from the Fair could be traced. #AccraSDGinvest  #AccraSDGcharter

• Traditional prepared content for charter was adjusted in room according to formal discussions

Civil society engaged in sharing and harvesting online and in the room to materialise actual communication, and to harvest the “inbetween” communication both for reporting and communication from their own handles.