• Using ICTs to influence policy

Using ICTs to influence policy

The paper examines whether the concept of social capital can be applied to facilitate our understanding of online networks in development. The report:

• asks why knowledge and learning are important to development and development actors
• looks at knowledge and learning in development networks, arguing that these networks, now increasingly going online, have an important role to play in facilitating social learning and the development of new and improved practices
• considers whether social capital may be a concept which can be applied to facilitate this understanding.
• reviews criticisms of social capital in the development field to see if it is appropriate to apply this concept within a development context at the (meso) level of online networks
• compares three emerging approaches to considering social capital in online networks and communities outside development.

The report concludes with its own framework for analysing the formation of social capital in online development, focusing on

• Structural opportunities to share: structure of the network, including network ties, technological configuration and organisation
• Cognitive abilities to share: what people are sharing: inputs, cognitive affordances, outputs and outcomes
• Relation based motivation to share: human relationships within online networks, including bringing, bonding and linking capital.

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