Building and Sustaining Democratic and Accountable Governance Institutions using ICT
Information Access and Flow (new!)
Geometry of Information Flows (new!)
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Information Access and Information Flow
Impact of ICT on Information Access and Flow
The penetration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is constantly changing the way people interact with other individuals and institutions, and the information they acquire from them.
Impact of ICT on Information Access
The changes in "Information Access" can be analyzed along 3 dimensions:
Table: ICT and Information Access
Impact of ICT on Information Flow
The changes in "Information Flow" can be analyzed along 2 dimensions:
Table: ICT and Information Flow
Let us now try to merge the impact of ICT on Information Access and Information Flow and see how it gets reflected in the society.
The diagram below represents the impact of ICT on Information Access and Flow:
ICT has paved way for more number of inter-linkages, increase in intensity of interactions, and greater opportunity to broadcast content to distant and large public domains.
Information Access and Flows and the Governance Sphere: something is missing
Enhancing information access and flow have a significant impact on the governance processes- through catalysing the formation of knowledge societies. The inhabitants of these knowledge societies- the "Knowledge Networkers" - are more aware of events and conditions in local and global domains and can use this knowledge pro-actively and strategically for their benefit. This may include-- impacting the governance processes to make them more accountable and responsive to their constituencies or stakeholders. In absence of, or weak information access and flows, impacting governance processes is a much difficult task. Information may simply be unavailable, or sources to verify existing information may be non-existent, or it may be impossible to communicate views to build consensus for concerted action.
The various DigitalGovernance Models: Broadcasting Model, Critical Flow Model, Comparative Analysis Model, E-Advocacy Model and Interactive- Service Model described earlier are pivoted on enhancing "Information Access and Flow" to reflect the "Post-ICT Society" as one of the pillars /design parameters.
In many developing countries, Government, NGOs and UN organizations have started to invest in ICT for Development projects. Indisputably, a common design parameter for all these projects is-- enhancing information access and flows within the society. While this is an important parameter, it gets embedded into project designs- almost automatically, without any special planning. As is evident from the Tables above on the impact of ICT on Information Access and Information Flow Dimensions, use of ICT automatically leads to increase in information access and flows.
But if the benefits of ICT for Development projects are to provide benefits to the disadvantaged communities and difficult to reach communities, then there is something critical missing in the project designs. And the missing element is the "Geometry of Infomation Flows."
go to Geometry of Information Flows
DigitalGovernance.org Initiative is conceived and managed by:
www.vikasnath.org
Inlaks Fellow (2000-1),
London School of Economics, UK
Founder,
KnowNet.org Initiative
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