Closing the Feedback Loop : Can Technology Bridge the Accountability Gap?

Gigler, Bjö ; rn-Sö ; ren ; Bailur, Savita

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: ACCESS TO INFORMATION;    ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY;    ACCOUNTABILITY;    ACTIVISM;    ANALOG;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-1-4648-0191-4
RP-ID  :  88268

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Enhanced transparency, accountability,and government or donor responsiveness to people needs areimperative to achieve better and more sustainabledevelopment results on the ground. The rapid spread of newtechnologies is transforming the daily lives of millions ofpoor people around the world and has the potential to be areal game changer for development. Improved accountabilityand responsiveness are critical for reaching the goals ofeliminating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperitywith a focus on improving the well-being of the mostvulnerable and marginalized groups in society. Within thebroader political economy context, many questions remainunanswered about the role that new technologies can play toact as an accelerator for closing the accountability gap.Within this context, this report brings together newevidence from leading academics and practitioners on theeffects of technology-enabled citizen engagement. The reportaims to address the following four main questions: how donew technologies empower communities through participation,transparency, and accountability?; are technologies anaccelerator for closing the accountability gap - the spacebetween supply (governments, service providers) and demand(citizens, communities,civil society organizations) thatmust be bridged for open and collaborative governance?;under what conditions does this occur?; and what are theexperiences and lessons learned from existing grassrootsinnovators and donor-supported citizen engagement andcrowdsourcing programs, and how can these programs bereplicated or scaled up?. The report presents a theoreticalframework about the linkages between new technologies,participation, empowerment, and the improvement of poorpeople's human well-being based on Amartya Sen'scapability approach. The book provides rich case studiesabout the different factors that influence whether or notinformation and communication technology (ICT)-enabledcitizen engagement programs can improve the delivery andquality of public services to poor communities. The reportanalyzes in depth both the factors and process of using newtechnologies to enhance the delivery of primary healthservices to pregnant women in Karnataka, India, and ofseveral community mapping and crowdsourcing programs inGuinea, Haiti, Kenya, Libya, Sudan, and other countries.