Building and Evolving a Global Data Platform

This case represents one of the most formative phases of my career — evolving from hands-on development to full architecture and delivery ownership of a global data dissemination platform used by UN agencies and deployed across 120+ countries. The work required balancing extensibility, multilingual support, structured data exchange, and long-term platform sustainability across hundreds of country-level adaptations.

The Context

DevInfo was a global data dissemination and monitoring platform used by UN agencies, governments, and development partners.

It supported multilingual environments and country-level adaptations, eventually running in more than 120 countries with 300+ customized implementations.

I began as a developer contributing new modules. Over time, I progressed into architecture leadership and took complete ownership of architecture and delivery for DevInfo Data Admin and all Data Exchange systems.

This was not a standalone product.

It was a globally adopted platform used for development monitoring and evidence-based decision support.

The Challenge

The platform required:

Supporting multilingual deployments across diverse regions
Managing country-level customization without fragmenting the core
Maintaining structural consistency across 300+ adaptations
Handling data transformations ranging from 100K to 2M+ records
Ensuring long-term maintainability across global implementations

The real challenge was preserving architectural integrity while allowing flexibility at country level.

My Contribution

I led architecture and delivery across the entire DevInfo Data Admin application and all associated Data Exchange systems by:

Designing and owning the structural architecture of the platform
Architecting and delivering 20+ Data Exchange applications
Ensuring structured data transformation and integrity across diverse formats
Implementing consistent design patterns to improve maintainability
Establishing coding standards and structured documentation practices
Designing reusable SDKs and shared components for team-wide consistency

The outcomes included:

Approximately 60% reduction in defects
Approximately 40% improvement in development productivity

What This Shaped in Me

This experience fundamentally changed my mindset.

It marked my transition from developer to architect, and gradually toward product ownership thinking.

I began to see systems not just as code to build, but as platforms to steward.

It reinforced that:

Platform ownership extends beyond feature delivery
Governance through standards ensures long-term stability
Global systems demand structural consistency
Data integrity and scalability must be designed from the start
Architecture decisions must consider lifecycle, adaptability, and long-term impact

This phase shaped how I think about systems — not as isolated implementations, but as evolving products serving diverse stakeholders across geographies.