Empowering Local Communities and Improving Local Government through ICT JOIN THE ONLINE DISCUSSION May 2 - May 27, 2005
"ICT can contribute to fostering empowerment and participation and making government processes more efficient and transparent by encouraging communication and information-sharing among people and organizations, and within government." (Creating a Development Dynamic). "ICTs can empower people and significantly improve local government" - statements like this are often treated cynically. Yet some communities have managed to use ICT to make their local governments more responsive, transparent, and efficient. Widespread trends toward decentralization make it crucial to learn from these communities. This discussion focuses on the question: How can ICT empower local communities and improve local governments, especially during a process of decentralization? Decentralization - the transfer of power from central to local government - has a highly questionable record. Decentralization reforms are often poorly designed and executed. As a result, local governments fail to fulfill their new responsibilities - fiscal management, strategic planning, and very basic public services degenerate. Yet many donors and citizens continue to believe that decentralization provides new opportunities for active participation of an informed citizenry that will create more responsive, transparent and effective local government. Can ICT help improve the poor record of decentralization and make the goals of decentralization a reality? Can ICT empower citizens with the information and means they need to make their governments work effectively for them? What is needed to make ICT an effective tool for good local governance? These questions are crucial to the well-being of people throughout the developing world. This discussion will seek to answer these questions with concrete examples, specific cases, experience and recommendations that can guide local communities, local governments, ICT practitioners and decentralization experts. Join the discussion and share what you know regarding: * Cases of successful decentralization efforts that have utilized ICT effectively * Challenges to introducing ICT successfully into decentralization efforts * Technology options that work - and those that don't * Cases of local governments using ICT to improve transparency, responsiveness and efficiency * Cases of citizens/civil society groups using ICT to participate more fully in local government decision-making * Technologies that have proven particularly effective in improving local government Agenda Week 1: Can ICTs support successful decentralization and improve local governance? Week 2: How can local communities (e.g., businesses, NGOs, media, schools, etc.) use ICT to participate more effectively in local decision-making? Week 3: How can local governments use ICT to improve the efficiency of service delivery to local citizens and businesses? Week 4: Where do we want local governments to be in three years, and what should we be doing now, using ICT, to help realize that goal? This discussion is sponsored by the USAID-funded DOT-COM Alliance and hosted by GKD. It will focus on "Using ICT to Empower Local Communities and Improve Local Government" for four weeks (May 2 to May 27, 2005). However, GKD is a major forum for exchange of experience and knowledge on all aspects of ICT for development, with thousands of members from over 100 countries. The ongoing GKD forum will continue after this discussion topic. ***HOW TO JOIN*** Anyone who has electronic mail with Internet access can subscribe to the discussion. To join, please send an e-mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Do *not* enter a subject. In the body of the message, type the text: SUBSCRIBE GKD Do *not* put anything after GKD. You will receive a Welcome Letter to the discussion. ***THE DOT-COM ALLIANCE*** This discussion is sponsored by the DOT-COM Alliance. The DOT-COM Alliance is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): (GDG-A-00-01-00009-00, dot-GOV; GDG-A-00-01-00014-00, dot-ORG; GDG-A-00-01-00011-00, dot-EDU). ***WORLD WIDE WEB SITES FOR THE DISCUSSION*** For those who would prefer to follow the discussion on the Web, the DOT-COM Archive (as of May 2) is available at: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html The DOT-COM Alliance website provides information about this discussion and other projects using ICT to support development: http://www.dot-com-alliance.org http://www.dot-com-alliance.com/events/discussiongroup.htm The GKD database provides an easy way to search messages of this and other GKD discussions: http://www.GKDknowledge.org ***MODERATOR*** This discussion is hosted by GKD and moderated by EDC, a nonprofit organization. ***FOR FURTHER INFORMATION*** For further information about the discussion, please contact: Janice Brodman [EMAIL PROTECTED] For further information about the DOT-COM Alliance, please contact: Barbara Fillip [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
