There are great stories behind the projects that USTDA supports. I find inspiration in the work of our partners like the African women entrepreneurs who are connecting underserved communities to telehealth services and solar-powered minigrids, or the U.S. companies behind innovative smart city and climate technologies. It is also gratifying to work on projects that will have a generational impact in our partner counties.

Numbers may not capture the imagination like a good story, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a number can be worth a thousand stories. Or, in our case, 816.

This is the number of USTDA-funded activities that were completed in the 10-year evaluation period from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2021. Thanks to excellent decision-making, these activities contributed to more than $74 billion in U.S. exports resulting from $321 million in programming. This means that USTDA now facilitates an average of $231 in exports for every appropriated dollar.

Every good story is a product of its time. This is also the case with USTDA’s projects. For example, during the above-referenced period we designed programming with U.S. industry to open China’s sizeable market to high-value U.S. infrastructure exports. We also funded oil and gas sector activities that succeeded in strengthening energy efficiency and security while facilitating U.S. exports to markets such as Algeria and India.

Infrastructure stories have numerous chapters. It can take many years for a project to go from concept to preparation (when USTDA engages), to financing, then implementation. This means that it will take several years for us to see the results associated with our present-day funding commitments in areas like nuclear energy, offshore wind, subsea fiber optic cables, last-mile digital connectivity networks, and intelligent transportation systems, just to name a few.

As older projects get cycled out of our 10-year evaluation period and newer projects get cycled in, our 1:231 export metric will fluctuate. What will always remain consistent, though, is USTDA’s commitment to evidence-based decision making and building partnerships that generate measurable results and new stories to tell.

By Enoh T. Ebong, Director

Director Ebong is the 2023 recipient of the Federal Evaluation Community’s 2023 Evaluation in Action Award.