I'd like to expand on this: a think-tank/paper that formulates a way of evaluating all grants by a set of objective, quantifiable, criteria. This in order to better inform future allocation decisions so that each dollar spent ends up making the greatest impact possible.

In this respect Retrospective Grant Evaluations, is but one variable to measure grant effectiveness.

I have a few more ideas that can be combined to create some kind of weighted scoring mechanism for grant evaluation:

• Social return on investment (SROI). Arriving at a set of non-monetary variables to quantify social impact
• Cost effective analysis. GiveWell is a leader in this. We could consider applying some of their key learnings from the non-for-profit space to EA projects
• Horizon Scanning. Governmental bodies have departments that perform this kind of work. A proposal could be assessed by it's alignment with emerging technology forecasts
• Backcasting. Seek out ventures that are working towards a desirable future goal
• Pareto optimal.  Penalize ideas that could have potential negative impact on factors/people outside of the intended target audience.
• Competence and track record. Prioritize grant allocators/judges based on previous successful grants. Prioritize grants to founder or organizations with a proven track record of competence

Obviously this list could go on and  this is just a small number of possible variables. The idea is simply to build a model that can score the utility of a proposed grant. 

Basically, the aim here is twofold:

1. Skilled migrants. Enable host countries to perform a reverse-lookup to attract skilled migrants with a background in say Tech, STEM or IT. And vice verca. Support skilled  migrants in their search for a new home environment that can foster their growth and development. An influx of academic and entrepreneurial immigrants can be a boost to the economies of their newly adoptive countries,  and can lead to a increase scientific advancement
2. Human Right Cases. All too often these fall through the cracks. Long wait times, particularly in danger zones. A principle aim of this platform would be to help find a new home country for those that need it most

EA ops: "Immigration Tech" 

I have an idea for a cloud based, AI-powered SaaS platform to help governments handle immigration. Think KYC meets immigration

Today the immigration process is disjointed and fragmented amongst different countries and in most cases it's cumbersome, overly bureaucratic. That means that difficulties for immigrants, particularly in clear Human Rights cases, as well as for countries, who may be losing out on highly skilled migrants.

The idea is a platform that connects between potential immigrants and potential host countries. Instead of an immigrant applying individually to a number of countries, he would upload his relevant documentation to the platform that will then be shared with his countries of choice. Another model could be for interested countries to directly reach out to the potential immigrant of their own accord.

Part of the work of the platform would be to perform the relevant KYC work to authenticate the request as legitimate - thereby saving time and resources for national immigration departments, particularly when a request is lodged to multiple countries. 

Obviously the idea is still in it's early stages and there are a number of details that would need to be fleshed out. For example:

• Compliance. Each country has its own procedures, required documentation. The platform would need to comply and "onboard" with each country individually
• Authentication / KYC. The platform would need to validate the authenticity of the documentation and of the request in order to prevent fraudulent requests

But there are already solutions for these issues that are employed in other areas (for example KYC in Crypto, Authentication in HR tech platforms), so I'm sure that an appropriate path can be found.

There are a tonne of useful platforms in the KYC space - from banking, to HR and talent sourcing. I don't think there is a single "Immigration Tech" platform that connects international partners to smooth out the immigration process

We've all seen the sheer scale of the human catastrophe in Ukraine in the last week.

Immigration is a pressing issue. 

Having a platform that smoothes out and streamlines the process can be a huge win-win for both immigrants and countries alike.

Avi Lewis