Yesterday, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah delivered a powerful speech at the Center for Global Development marking the beginning of a new era for the federal government's most specialized development agency.  In his speech, aptly titled "The Modern Development Enterprise," Shah outlines how USAID will transform from a traditional aid agency to an organization built on efficiency, impact and data-driven decision-making. Shah first lays out a number of top USAID global development programmatic areas that address key priorities in the State Department's development agenda:

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) – or public-private alliances (PPAs) - are receiving increasing amounts of attention. There is broad acknowledgement across the public and private sectors that sustainable solutions to serious development issues require collaboration.  Additionally, the current economic conditions create an intensified desire to mitigate risk and to share resources and expertise.  Under President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton, the U.S.