ICTs for Government Transparency

Evaluation

eTransparency and Poor Communities

In my e-transparency project, what factors should I bear in mind for poor communities?

eGovernment projects in developing/transitional countries sometimes take the needs of poor communities into special consideration. This page provides a checklist of factors to be borne in mind when this happens for an e-transparency project.

Checklist of Potential Benefits for Poor Communities

The potential benefits of e-transparency projects generally are described elsewhere. Here, we look at some of the potential benefits that might be specifically delivered to poor communities. Links to case examples are provided. However, in every example, it is only potential benefits that are identified - there seem to be few, if any, e-transparency projects to date that are sustainably delivering real benefits to poor communities.

Implementation effectiveness: greater transparency about public works and related projects implemented in poor communities may increase the effectiveness of such projects.

Checklist of Problems and Design Responses for Poor Communities

The key problem faced by poor communities in relation to e-transparency (and other) projects is lack of resources. Poor communities (obviously) lack money. They also lack important competencies: literacy, computing skills, abilities to interpret data, knowledge about government processes, etc. More broadly, they lack political and social capital - the power and the connections to get heard and get results.

Design responses that have been used include the following:

 

Page Author: Richard Heeks. Last updated on 19 October, 2008.
Please contact richard.heeks@manchester.ac.uk with comments and suggestions.