Using ICT to promote governance

There is a special role for donors to play in the form of provision of resources and pro-governance strategies for improved democracy. Danida commissioned this study with the objective of:

• examining strategic opportunities for using ICT for promoting governance and democratisation efforts within development assistance; and
• exploring opportunities for ICT in the present Danish portfolio of development programmes and within the vision of the Strategy for Danish Development Cooperation

The study touches on a range of ICT technologies but its focus is the use of mobile phones, including voice calls, SMSText, mobile internet, and social media.

The report recommends that Danida embarks on several initiatives, including:

• two specific “scaling up” initiatives each working with social media in different capacities, building on existing initiatives for quick lesson learning: Transparency in the form of government open data, and evidence-based accountability via NGO/CSO community
• the funding of expansions and/or replication of existing, successful East-African ICT for governance initiatives – including Isiolo ActionAid project, Shujaaz.FM, and Twaweza – in other countries/regions
• Danida should explore the opportunities for collaborative efforts at global level, such as support of national ICT ecosystems through Infodev. The m:labs and incubation hubs have demonstrated
  success in strengthening the entrepreneurial sector, which promotes creation of ICT applications
• support of thematic ICT work through intermediaries such as Transparency International, Transparency & Accountability Initiative, and Witness
• support of open data work, including the on-going work in Kenya, through collaborative efforts with like-minded donors such as DFID, the ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, USAID, and the World Bank – possibly with the objective of establishing of joint multi-donor trust fund for open data support

In order to successfully introduce ICT in Danida’s programme work it is also recommended to focus on the strengthening of Danida’s internal capacities based on the development of policy guidelines and practical how-to notes for implementation, and also strengthen identified NGOs and CSOs to act as intermediaries in evidence-based advocacy work through targeted training programmes.