Dear GKD members,
We appreciate the opportunity to address some of the issues raised by the
Bretton Woods Project in its April 2001 brief on the Development Gateway
entitled "A Tower of Babel on the Internet? The World Bank's Development
Gateway" and posted last week in the GKD electronic discussion. It is
important to state that we welcome these latest comments on the Gateway
from Bretton Woods Project and other organizations, as this promotes
useful and constructive debate on the Development Gateway and on the use
of information and communications technology more broadly. The Internet is
still a largely uncharted space requiring a good deal of exchange and
analysis by a wide variety of people in order to understand its pitfalls
and more fully grasp its potential.
Below are comments on the most important points raised by Bretton Woods
Project in their brief. For a more comprehensive discussion of the
policies and features of the Development Gateway Portal and the
Development Gateway Foundation, please refer to the FAQs (Frequently Asked
Questions) document located in the "About Us" section of the Gateway
(http://www.developmentgateway.org/aboutus/keydocs).
Ongoing contact with Bretton Woods Project
The Gateway team has had ongoing contact with the Bretton Woods Project
staff, with our latest meeting in March, and we consider this exchange
useful. While we don't agree with some of the concerns and interpretations
drawn by Bretton Woods Project, we do find some of the analysis concerning
the difficulties of building and managing a global portal thoughtful. The
issues of managing content while striving to both ensure quality and
plurality or how to successfully publish in many languages simultaneously,
are challenges which all portals of this nature face, including those
operated by civil society organizations (CSOs). These and other challenges
are certainly debated constantly within the Gateway team, and we welcome
the input and lessons learned from others who are also working on IT for
development. We are pleased to note that Bretton Woods Project posted
their brief on the Development Gateway site itself (on the global NGO
Page), and hope that it will generate some discussion there as well.
Providing Visibility to Southern Voices
The Development Gateway is not only committed to addressing the growing
digital divide, but many of its innovative design features are precisely
geared to providing visibility to Southern development experiences and
voices. The Gateway team is actively pursuing collaboration with CSOs in
developing countries to manage content, and has already established
partnerships with such organizations as TARAhaat and Fondo Indígena. It is
also supporting civil society ICT initiatives such as the sub-site by the
NGO Working Group of the World Bank in the Eastern/Central Europe Region
and the independent NGO portal in Latin America being established by ALOP.
Further, its open-source and XML-based software allow users across the
world to post resources, retrieve data, and participate in online
discussions. Finally, the Country Gateways, which are being established in
Latin America, Africa, and Asia, will promote local information sharing
and ICT capacity-building in developing countries. These 32 Country
Gateways are being established by consortia composed of dozens of local
organizations from the academic, private sector, and civil society, and
governmental sectors. (See the "Contributors" page in the "About Us"
section of the Gateway for a complete list of organizations.)
Dominating the Internet?
The Development Gateway does not see itself as the one "super-site" on
development issues, but rather an additional platform among the numerous
existing portals geared to sustainable development. What makes the Gateway
unique is its commitment to bringing diverse sectors (government, civil
society, private sector) together, and its network of country-based
portals, which will allow for more fluid interaction between local,
regional, and global levels. The notion that the Gateway could in some way
dominate or control development information on the Internet -- even if
this were its intention, which it is not -- simply does not stand up to
the origins and decentralized nature of the medium. Further, the Gateway
will not compete with existing development portals or siphon off funds now
being destined for civil society Internet efforts. The Development Gateway
Foundation, when established in the later half of 2001, will leverage new
funding for the ICT field, including providing small-grant funding to
civil society in collaboration with infoDev. In short, the Development
Gateway will only be deemed successful if it can enhance
inter-connectivity among existing Internet portals/networks and leverage
greater resources for government, civil society, and donor agency ICT
initiatives.
Experimental Nature of the Gateway
Reflecting the experimental nature of the Internet, the Gateway initiative
has been characterized by a "learning by doing" approach, which is
analyzing different architecture models, experimenting with different
software applications, testing different content management approaches,
and piloting several institutional partnership approaches. Throughout the
process we have spoken to a diverse range of interlocutors and learned
from the experience of other similar ICT initiatives, including from the
extensive civil society experience in this field. Unlike what is portrayed
by the Bretton Woods Project brief, decisions about the Gateway design and
governance structure are not "set in stone", and new approaches will
continue to be explored and changes made as the project moves forward.
Indeed, many significant changes have already been adopted as a result of
the feedback we have received (see below).
Responding to Feedback
The Gateway has actively sought feedback from a broad range of
stakeholders in government, civil society, and the private sector. During
2000 the team held over a dozen meetings with leading CSO networks in
North America, Europe, and Latin America, and held several electronic
discussions such as the 7-week discussion hosted by GKD. The Gateway has
responded to the feedback received -- both positive and negative -- by
being open and frank, and by constantly reviewing the concept and design
in light of comments and suggestions. The Gateway's key documents
(business plan, concept note, consultation meeting notes), implementation
timetable, and names of our partner organizations are posted on our site
(see "About Us" section). Further, as a response to this feedback the
Gateway team has adopted a series of needed changes into its technology,
editorial policy, and governance structure. These include evolving to a
more decentralized architecture and testing of autonomous sub-sites;
moving from an individual to an institutional model of guided pages;
appointing an external Editorial Advisory Committee; and establishing a
multi-stakeholder Gateway Foundation.
Decentralized Content Management Through Partnerships
The Gateway is piloting several models of decentralized content management
on its topic pages. Initially it began with an individual topic guide
approach, but in order to ensure greater diversity and attract greater
institutional collaboration, the Gateway has increasingly been partnering
with organizations from civil society and the donor community. These
organizations select advisors for their pages, manage the content posted
on their site, and select which resources to highlight. Such partner
organizations have also assisted the Gateway in determining the taxonomy
of topic and sub-topic pages as this has evolved over time, in order to
capture crosscutting themes such as gender and ensure a more holistic view
of development. This decentralized content management approach brings a
good measure of diversity and ensures that recognized practitioners in the
development field set the quality standards.
In conclusion, there is no doubt that launching and maintaining a portal
such as the Gateway is a challenge. But we feel that while it is
ambitious, it is not beyond reach, and could be a valuable tool in the
fight against poverty. The issues of technological design, editorial
policy, taxonomy definition, content management, and governance structure
are complex and require a thoughtful and collaborative approach. For this
reason, the Gateway team has consulted openly and widely with civil
society, government, and the private sector, and has made available major
background and policy documents. The Gateway is a work in progress and the
feedback received has been instrumental in assessing underlying notions,
introducing needed design changes, and fine-tuning specific features. The
active participation of CSOs representing different constituencies and
issues, particularly from the developing world, will help the Gateway to
reach its full potential. We thus invite civil society organizations to
work with us on the Gateway initiative by registering on the site,
searching data, contributing content, participating in electronic
discussions, monitoring the Gateway, sending us feedback, serving as topic
guides and advisors, and collaborating on pilot ICT initiatives.
For additional information on these issues and how the Gateway is working
with civil society please visit our site or
(http://www.developmentgateway.org/) or contact John Garrison at:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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John Garrison
Civil Society Specialist
Development Gateway
1776 G St. N.W. Room G2-024
Washington DC 20433
PHONE: (202) 473-4742 / FAX: (202) 522-7479
EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WEB: www.worldbank.org/gateway
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