ICT for Development e-Governance and the peace agenda ICT4D Lecture 15 Tim Unwin.

ICT for Developmente-Governance and the

peace agenda

ICT4D Lecture 15Tim Unwin

“For millions of people across the world, war and violence are as much parts of daily life as are going to

school, shopping in the supermarket, or surfing the Net for people in Western Europe or North America” (Unwin, 2002)

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Outline

• War and Peace• The Governance Agenda

MDGs The UN and donor organisations

• UN e-Government• A framework for ICT in governance• Case Studies• Picture me an enemy

The use of video

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War and peace

• War and violence affect many aspects of poor people’s lives International conflicts Civil strife Domestic violence

• But what exactly is the relationship between poverty and violence?

• Many conflicts caused by interests of global capital US imperialism

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Governance and Government

• Governance The processes and systems by which a government or governor operates

• Government The institutions and people involved The dominant decision making arm of the state

• Also governance in the IT industry The processes that need to be in place for a successful project

This coalescence of usages, may help explain why e-Governance is such a prominent concept

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The governance agenda

• Peace and good governance vital to improving the lives of poor people

• The Washington consensus (Williamson, 1990) macroeconomic discipline a market economy openness to the world.

• The twin pillars of modern capitalism Free market Liberal democracy

And thus the importance of good governance Essential for enabling economic growth, and thus profit

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• The logics of growth and governance If economic growth is essential to eliminate poverty

Then it is crucial to have good governance to enable growth

• Governance is interestingly not one of the MDGs But donors keen on delivering macro-economic policy instruments see good governance as an essential enabler

And it is in target 12 of Goal 8 (the catch-all)

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• David Held has argued that there are many different kinds of democracy Yet world’s powerful nations are determined to impose one particular vision

This is surely itself not ‘democratic’ Democracy serves those in power

• This is not to deny that creating conditions that reduce conflict and violence is desirable But it is to argue that the motives for this need to be transparent

And that we need to focus on interests of the poor

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UN e-Government Readiness report 2004

“Economic and social empowerment today rests on the ability to access, gather, analyze and utilize information and knowledge to widen individual choices for political, economic, social, cultural and behavioral decisions. ICTs are the conduits which transmit information and knowledge. By integrating technology into development planning, more effective and speedy solutions can be found for economic growth and sustainable human development”

(UN e-Government Readiness report, 2004

http://www.unpan.org/egovernment4.asp)

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• e-Government readiness Based on five stages

Emerging presence Enhanced presence Interactive presence Transactional presence Networked presence

• E-Participation index Assesses the quality, relevance, usefulness and willingness of government websites for providing online information and participatory tools and services to the people

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• Top 10 e-Government readiness US 0.9132 Denmark 0.9047 UK 0.8852 Sweden 0.8741 Republic of Korea 0.8575

Australia 0.8377 Canada 0.8369 Singapore 0.8340 Finland 0.8239 Norway 0.8178

• Top 10 e-Participation UK 1.000 US 0.9344 Canada 0.9016 Singapore 0.8361 Netherlands 0.8033 Mexico 0.7705 New Zealand 0.7705 Republic of Korea 0.7705

Denmark 0.7377 Australia 0.6721

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• Examples of e-Government readiness 55th South Africa 0.4902

67th China 0.4356 86th India 0.3879 114th Uganda 0.3290 130th Zimbabwe 0.2833 136th Egypt 0.2653 140th Rwanda 0.2511

World Average 0.4127

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ICT in governance

• UN Readiness Report: ICT can help “Improve transparency and efficiency of the public sector”

“Create network links across service delivery agencies”

“Cut bureaucratic red tape” “Realize vast savings” “ICTs in the public sector can engage citizens as participants in the overall development of the future”

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ICT and ‘Good’ Governance

• ‘Good’ governance: freedoms To access information about government To be represented To vote To meet collectively

• Technologies Internet: enabling access to information Creating networks and communities Radio and TV: disseminating electoral messages

Mechanisms for ‘being heard’ and commenting on services

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WSIS - WGIG 2003-5

• Working Group on Internet Governance One of the key agendas of WSIS Tunis 2005

The terms ‘governance’ and ‘govern’ mean more than ‘government activities’

the enabling dimension includes organized and cooperative activities between different stakeholders

Internet governance encompasses a wider range of conditions and mechanisms than IP numbering and domain name administration.

But at Tunis dominated by role of US in Public policy issues around

Equitable distribution of resources Access for all Stable and secure functioning of the Internet Multilingualism

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WSIS Tunis 2005

• Considerable debate over the role of the US in ‘controlling’ the Internet

• Internet Governance ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) To retain role as manager of domain names

But creation of a new Internet Governance Forum To include government, business and civil society representation• Focus on governance, SPAM, cyber crime and privacy

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Case Studies

• Jamaica e-Governance programme• Information Kerala Mission• Lesotho 2002 elections• UPEACE

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Jamaica e-Governance programme

• Facilitation of access to information and knowledge, which forms the basis of decision making eg by way government websites, other online sources of information

• Automating tedious tasks such as filing tax forms, checking the status of applications etc.

• Providing avenues for citizens to communicate with government officials

• Providing a mechanism for advocacy on issues of public interest among disparate groups

• But issues surrounding practical delivery

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Information Kerala Mission

• Aims Innovative ICT-based knowledge societies at the grass roots level under the leadership of Local Self Governments

• Activities Samveditha web portal of 1215 local bodies in Kerala

Sanchitha repository of legislations, executive orders and promulgations

Swathantra information systems on 53 municipalities

• http://www.infokerala.org/new/

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Lesotho 2002 elections

• History of contested elections Key issue was voter registration

• 2002 elections South African company Arivia provided

Sites and software Voter registration, including capturing of biological data and fingerprints• Photograph, signature and fingerprint of each voter

Encouraged widespread acceptance of results

• But real wider issues over balance between government efficiency and citizen’s rights A global issue!

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UPEACE (University for Peace)

• UPEACE established in Costa Rica in 1980 First country in modern world to abolish its army

• Revitalized by Kofi Annan in late 1990s Worldwide programme Africa Programme launched 2002

Linking of African scholars into a knowledge network

Providing access to best international peace education

International, multicultural and multidisciplinary

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Picture me an enemy

• 1991 war in former Yugoslavia

• Documentary film told through stories Natasa, a Serbo-Croat from Croatia

Tahija, a Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim)

• http://www.visavisproductions.com/







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Conclusions

• E-Governance as being highly contested The rights of individuals and the rights of states

Considerable ethical debate

• Role of G8 and UN in promoting governance agendas And links with WSIS second phase

• ICT does have real potential to enhance transparency But will this necessarily be in the interests of poor people?

ICT for Development e-Governance and the peace agenda ICT4D Lecture 15 Tim Unwin.

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