History of IDSS

IDSS was born out the passion and frustration of a group of Australians, some of whom worked with Community Aid Abroad, one of Australia’s earliest international development NGOs, and some of whom worked in various government agencies and the commercial world. They saw on opportunity for people with diverse qualifications and commercial skills to get involved in ‘international development’ but who did not fit the typical NGO profile. At the same time, they shared a common frustration at the limited involvement of so-called beneficiaries in the design and implementation of large aid projects which were ostensibly ‘for their good’ but actually, more often than not, ignored them. In 1981 Kaye Bysouth was appointed to CAA as a projects evaluation officer and arising out of her reports it was decided in 1983 to establish a CAA wholly owned subsidiary consulting company for the design and implementation of bilateral and multilateral project with Kaye as director. In 1983 Community Aid Abroad set up IDSS as a subsidiary company with the aim of bringing a level of critical rigour to the ‘aid’ business that they perceived was absent in the industry at the time. Include Kay, people such as Neil O’Sullivan, Alan Smith, John Birch and David Scott were key members of that early group which founded IDSS.

The first five years were lonely ones. No one seemed to have time for a new company’s critiques/ideas and the Australian government was preoccupied  with the outcomes of the Jackson review of the aid program. But in the late 1980s IDSS began to win some major work, out of which came evidence to support their ideas.  Some of those early projects, such as the community water supply and sanitation project In Sri Lanka are still regarded by donors the World Bank as one of the most successful and effective projects in their history at that time.

From its earliest beginnings, IDSS positioned itself very deliberately in the market to provide a different approach to the implementation of major development projects – whether these were procured by the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank or the Australian government.

The IDSS philosophy can be summed up as ‘the means are just as important as the ends’.  In other words its not just about managing the contract efficiently but also how communities are engaged in the process as well as ensuring they have a real role to play in their development.

Since its inception, IDSS has been driven by process, evidence-based planning, and especially engagement with communities. It focussed on the people as much as projects. This approach often put IDSS in positions to challenge as well as be regarded by some, especially donors, as an ‘irritant’. In fact, IDSS was not unused to being labelled, ‘inflexible’ or ‘out-of-step-with-reality’. Even ‘naïve’. But IDSS persisted and over time the industry has embraced those ‘radical, inflexible ideas’ the company was advocating and promoting many years ago. Most of them are now completely mainstream.

During its 25 year history, IDSS through its projects and key leaders, staff and associates, has assisted and advised key donors, such as the World Bank and ADB, on ways to improve the way in which the development process is understood, documented and approached. 

One of the early IDSS managers actually came out of the ADB. During his time at IDSS he developed a body of social and community development policies and systems which when he returned to the ADB, formed the foundation of the Bank’s social development framework. 

This has always been a huge part of IDSS culture and approach, and it remains true today. The ways of working that began with the community water program In Sri Lanka can be traced to one of IDSS’s flagship programs today: the Timor Leste rural water supply and sanitation project, funded by AusAID.

(Back to IDSS' Celebration of 25th Anniversary)