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Impact Case Studies from Middle Income and Developing Countries New Technologies

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Impact Case Studies from Middle Income and Developing Countries New Technologies Impact case studies from middle income and developing countries New technologies Archon Fung, Hollie Russon Gilman and Jennifer Shkabatur For more information contact: Transparency & Accountability Initiative c/o Open Society Foundation 4th floor, Cambridge House 100 Cambridge Grove London, W6 0LE, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7031 0200 www.transparency-initiative.org Copyright © 2010 Open Society Foundation. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this report or portions thereof in any form. TAI New Technology /Impact case studies from middle income and developing countries 3 Contents Executive summary 4 Introduction 7 Context and technology 8 Centralised vs. decentralised logics 8 Evolution: learning to harness context 9 1. Cases and research methods 10 Case study methods 13 2. A socio-political perspective on technological interventions 14 Socio-political context 15 Organisational strategy 16 Technological design 16 3. Transparency action cycle 17 4. Information providers and users 20 Decentralised users for service and product accountability 22 Centralised intermediaries for political accountability 23 5. Evolution and strategic learning 24 Needs and interests 25 User motivation 26 Capacity 27 Efficacy 27 6. Conclusions 29 7. Recommendations 31 Recommendation 1. Focus on interventions with incremental ambitions, not revolutionary change 32 Recommendation 2. Public sphere efforts should strive toward credibility and media partnership 32 Recommendation 3. Socially embedded designers 33 Recommendation 4. Highly explicit and iterated diagnoses and theories of change 33 Recommendation 5. Do not micro-manage or second guess 33 Annexes 34 Annex I: List of interviewees 35 About the authors 38 4 TAI New Technology /Impact case studies from middle income and developing countries Executive summary Between July and September 2010, our small research team examined seven cases of technology interventions that are attempting to increase the accountability of public and private organisations through technological transparency strategies. Based largely on prior work done by a ‘technology for transparency’ team from the blogging community organisation Global Voices, we sought cases that seemed to successfully enhance accountability, that were relatively mature and that cut across many different political contexts. These are the cases that we examined: CASE Location ISSUE FIELD VISIT Dates 2010 Cidade Democrática São Paulo, Brazil Citizen participation in local government August 8-12 Reclamos Santiago, Chile Consumer complaints August 13-19 Budget Tracking Tool Nairobi, Kenya Budget monitoring August 22-27 Ushahidi & Uchaguzi Nairobi, Kenya Election monitoring August 22-27 Mumbai Votes Mumbai, India Legislative Agenda August 2-9 Kiirti (Ushahidi) Bangalore, India Complaint Resolution August 9-13 Fair Play Alliance Bratislava, Slovakia Watchdog, Citizen Journalism, Advocacy August 13-19 Three categories of technology interventions Although we examined only seven cases, these cases can be grouped into three categories that may be of more general utility. 1. 2. 3. The first category consists of ‘home run’ A second and more common category Our third and largest category consists cases in which a technological intervention consists of interventions that complement of technological interventions that are almost by itself produces dramatic increases traditional media efforts – especially tailored to advance the very specific in accountability, because it unleashes the investigative journalism – by making agendas of particular non-governmental or latent wishes of individuals by allowing information about politicians, other governmental organisations by amplifying them to take significant actions that officials or governmental activities their capabilities and strategies. Cidade previously were impossible without the generally available. This strategy is to Democrática, the Kenyan Budget Tracking technology. This image, or type, is perhaps improve accountability by improving Tool, Uchaguzi and Kiirti all fit this pattern. the most common mental paradigm for the quality of the public sphere. The two In this category, success depends upon technological change more generally. examples examined that fit this pattern a successful marriage between particular However, only one of our cases – Reclamos are Mumbai Votes and the Fair-Play technologies and the capabilities and in Chile – fits this pattern. We feel that such Alliance. The success of these efforts efficacy of particular organisations that ‘home run’ opportunities for technological depends upon the information collected seek to utilise them. We feel that most of intervention are exceedingly rare. being taken up by journalists or political the potential for technology to have an campaigns and eventually being valuable impact on accountability will lie in this and actionable to voters. third category. TAI New Technology /Impact case studies from middle income and developing countries 5 What kinds of users? Context & technology In discussions of technological interventions for We urge those who consider technological interventions accountability and participation, it is often presumed to pay greater attention to the socio-political context in that information and communication technology (ICT) which a technological intervention is meant to increase decentralises, and that the principal users of such platforms accountability. In particular, four questions about context are individuals. We find that this is not the case. Instead, are particularly important: it is useful to differentiate between: • What are the motives and incentives of potential users • ‘Mass’ users such as citizens, consumers, residents of the technology platform? For issues concerning public of particular neighbourhoods; accountability, mass users often lack the incentives to acquire and act on information about corruption and • ‘Organisational’ users such as journalists, malfeasance or even about budget misallocations (except non-governmental organisations (NGOs), in hyper-local instances), whereas organised users such governments and corporations. as journalists and reform NGOs may be highly motivated To the extent that these platforms increase accountability, to acquire and act on this information. only two – Reclamos and Mumbai Votes – did so through • What are the capabilities of motivated users? chains of action in which the ICT interventions provided Technological platforms should be tailored to the information that was then used by ‘mass’ users. capabilities of potential users. SMS is better than the The other platforms, and even Mumbai Votes web when internet penetration is low. Kiirti, for instance, and Reclamos, were successful when various more failed to find many NGOs with the capability to utilise its centralised ‘organisational’ users acted upon the platform. information made available: • Does an ICT intervention reinforce the strategy of potential users? NGOs deploy particular strategies, and • Journalists figured largely as users of the Fair-Play Alliance, some ICT intervention may or may not fit with them. For Mumbai Votes and Reclamos; example, a report by the Carter Center on the utility of • NGOs were primary users for the Budget Tracking Ushahidi platforms notes the difficulty of combining Tool, Cidade Democrática, the Fair-Play Alliance, crowd-sourced reports with professional election Kiirti and Uchaguzi; monitoring standards. • Government was a user, at least indirectly, of Cidade • Which organisations are efficacious with respect to Democrática, the Fair-Play Alliance and Uchaguzi. accountability problems? Progress on accountability requires an organisation or coalition to possess the authority or resources to affect the problem. ICT helps when it is attached to such efficacious entities. For example, the most successful Kiirti deployment involves a transportation authority with the regulatory power to sanction problematic auto-rickshaw drivers. Uchaguzi is effective in part because it has worked with election regulatory bodies in Kenya. 6 TAI New Technology /Impact case studies from middle income and developing countries Conclusions/recommendations Recommendation 1. Recommendation 2. Recommendation 3. Funders should focus their energies The first category of ‘home runs’ – In the second category, ICT interventions on the second and third categories of dramatic gains for accountability from an succeed when they serve as (i) highly intervention. The greatest opportunities ICT intervention – is difficult to identify credible sources of information that seem to be in the third category, of and opportunities are rare. is (ii) of high interest and utility to (iii) amplifying NGO and governmental journalists and political and advocacy strategies of accountability. The second campaigns. category – improving public sphere efforts – is also important, but doing this effectively requires a deep knowledge of the particular context for journalism and political campaigning. Recommendation 4. Recommendation 5. Interventions in the third category are An accurate diagnosis of context and • Lay out (i) what their initial assessment of more likely to succeed when those who theory of action is critical to the success of the context is; (ii) what information the ICT create the technology are embedded technology for transparency interventions, platform will provide and who will provide in local NGO networks, so that they but these interventions frequently get it; (iii) who will use that information and understand the motivations
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