"Copy and Paste" in Development

One of the most fundamental challenges in international development is context adaptation. To deliver long-lasting solutions, development organizations must first understand local constraints and tangible uniqueness in culture, economy, politics, history, and language. However, in reality, I've seen several development projects still following the oversimplified logic of: "wealthy nations already have this, so let's give the same to the poor." In particular, with the rapid penetration of digital technologies, data-driven operations, and AI-assisted workflows in rich countries, international organizations and NGOs are eager to mimic the activities by investing in digital skills training programs and nation-wide digital transformation initiatives in the Global South — even though there is a great majority of disconnected populations who don't have stable internet or reliable computer devices at home. This is what I call copy-and-paste development, surfacing the practical gaps overlooked…