Building Accountable and Democratic Governance Institutions:

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Vikas Nath Founding President DigitalGovernance.o
rg Initiative DevNetJobs.org Initiative

• Building Accountable and Democratic Governance
  Institutions
• How is ICT changing information flows in
• Developing Countries ?

THE ROLE OF NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN
DEVELOPMENT BECOMING AN INFORMATION SOCIETY 18
October 2005, Wilton Park Conference, UK
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Information Access and Information Flows
Information ACCESS The different sources
available to individuals to seek information.
Eg from other individuals, from institutions,
from libraries, public domains and
databases. Information FLOWS The supply of
information within a society. Eg Information
flows may be restricted in some societies and
open in others.
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ICT Enhances Information Access
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ICT Enhances Information Flows
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Case A The pre- ICT situation
V Value of Service being derived by the user U
V1B
A
B
V1A
U1
C
V2C
U2
U4
V4D
U3
D
V3D
V5D
U5
USERS (5)
SERVICES (A, B, C, D)
Total Public Value of Services derived U1V1
U2V2 U3V3 U4V4 U5V5
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Case B Desired post- ICT situation
G
U6
U8
A
B
U1
U7
C
E
U2
U4
F
U3
D
U5
RURAL USERS (5)
SERVICES (A, B, C, D)
New Public Value U1V1 U2V2 U3V3 U4V4
U5V5 .. UiVj
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Some Learnings!

• ICTs enhances Information Access and Flows
• almost automatically in project designs

But if ICT has to create Politically Relevant and
Inclusive Community Networks, then there is a
need to RESHAPE the Geometry of Information
Flows within the Society.
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Guidelines for weaving Politically Relevant
Networks

• Who are our Target groups that we want to reach
  out to, through Internet?
• What are the key information needs of the
  disadvantaged community?
• What are the existing channels by which
  information reaches to the disadvantaged
  community?
• What is the weakest link in the chain of
  information flows from source to the
  disadvantaged communities?

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E-Governance Models for building Accountable and
Democratic Governance Institutions

• Wider Dissemination Model
• Critical Flow Model
• Comparative Analysis Model
• E-advocacy/ Lobbying and Pressure
  group model
• Interactive-Service Model

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Wider Disseminating Model Information Public
Domain Wider Public Domain
Wider Domain

• Laws and Legislations
• Local Govt. Offices and Officials Information
• Government Budget, Plans and Expenditures
• Key Judicial Decisions state vs. citizen
  decisions

Public Domain Information
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Examples
Brazil Official Government Website www.brazil.gov
.br South Africa Idasas Political Information
and Monitoring Service (PIMS) www.pims.org.za/moni
tor India Directory of Government
Ministries www.goidirectory.nic.in Armenia
Online forum for Democratic Participation www.foru
m.am
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Critical Flow Model Critical Information Private
Domain Wider Public Domain

• Corruption Information
• Enquiry reports, scientific research, impact
  studies commissioned
• Companys Green Ratings
• Human Rights Violations Records
• Whistle Blowing

Wider Domain
Private Domain Information
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Examples
Bangladesh Human Rights Portal
www.banglarights.net Mexico Declarenet
www.declaranet.gob.mx El Salvador Probidad
www.probidad.org India Central Vigilance
Committee www.cvc.nic.in Bloggers
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Comparative Analysis Model Information Private /
Public Domain Public / Private Domain
Wider Public Domain
Public/Private Domain
Wider Domain
Public Domain Information
Public/Private Domain
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Comparative Analysis Model

• Court Rulings / Historical Archive
• Tracking Performance Records / Financial Assets
  Growth of Ministers
• Electoral Candidates Information

• Based on Precedence Information
• (time line)
• With and Without Information

• Bringing out Best / Worst Practices
• Disaster Response
• Comparative policies- Bt Cotton Trademark
  Potatoes Campaign

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Examples
Argentina Cristal (Budget comparisons and use of
public funds) www.cristal.gov.ar Sri Lanka
Kothmale Project (Comparison of Education
Indicators) India Green Ratings of Chief
Ministers www.cseindia.org India Comparative
Learning from Disasters www.nic.in
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Mobilisation and Lobbying Model Building Allies
/ Networking Networks for Concerted Action
Virtual Community
Communities
Individuals
Real Community
Common Goal
Networks
Interest Groups
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Examples

• Planned, Directed, Strategic flow of Information
  to build strong issue-based Allies / solidarity
  to complement action in Real World.
• (often through combination of other models)
• e-Signature Campaigns
• e-Groups on Agriculture
• Zimbabwe Kubatana.net (using emails for
  lobbying)
• SMS and Mobile Campaigns- Philippines and
  Ukraine

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Service Delivery Model USER
SERVICE PROVIDER
E-Government E- debates E-ballots E-procurement
of services E-administration taxes, parking
tickets, licenses
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Examples
Brazil Citizen Services Centre Mongolia
Citizens Information Centre Nepal Municipal
Services Online www.bharatpurmun.org.np India
Bhoomi Project (Karnataka) www.revdept-01.kar.nic.
in Namibia Parliamentary website for bill
discussions www.parliament.gov.na
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For more information
www.DigitalGovernance.org

• Vikas Nath
• Founding President
• DigitalGovernance.org
• KnowNet.org Initiative
• DevNetJobs.org
• Geneva, Switzerland
• A network of over 2800 e-governance professionals
  from developing countries
• Vikas.nath_at_gmail.com or
• v.nath-alumni_at_lse.ac.uk