ICTlogy

Live notes at Cooperación al Desarrollo 2.0: I Encuentro Internacional de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación para la Cooperación al Desarrollo [Development Cooperation 2.0: I International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Cooperation for Development], in Gijón, Spain, 30 and 31 January 2008.

Keynote speech: Manuel Acevedo
The challenges of the integration of ICTs in a networked cooperation

How do we integrate ICTs in Development Cooperation? What does “networked cooperation” exactly means?

Human Development and Network Society

Human Development according to Amartya Sen: not only “physical” development, possibilities, but also capabilities, entitlements.

Network Society according to Manuel Castells: everything (society) is structured in networks, which are indeed different from hierarchical, vertical structures.

ICTs for Development

Denning: we can describe knowledge ecosystems, using the metaphor of a garden: Knowledge cannot be extracted, we have to make it grow

Labelle: ICTs for Development:

• making access easy
• helping countries to reach knowledge economy
• enabling people

Digital Divide

• access
• capacity
• relevant content

Fostering the Information Society:

• Infrastructure
• Capacity
• Services
• Content
• Education
• Health
• Work
• Commerce
• e-Government
• Other Services
• Legal Framework
• Policies

Mainstreaming ICTs in Development Cooperation

Use it in each and every aspect of the daily work in a cooperation agency or nonprofit: design, planning, project implementation and management, communication, etc.

It, hence, implies and extensive adoption of ICTs within the organization.

Issues: special attention towards ICT integration, corporate strategies about ICT4D, specialized departments about ICT4D, ICT4D project funding, etc.

Reasons to: increase efficacy; more control about performance and autonomy; stimulator and catalytic effect, using the own organization as a sandbox; to share knowledge and good practices.

Networks for Development

1-D networks: much alike hierarchies

2-D networks: coordinated; norms very important; action is mostly planned; access to information is the priority

3-D networks: nodes are to dynamize the network; no coordinators; the functioning is ad-hoc; monitoring is periodic; knowledge creation is the priority

Development networks

• corporate
• about knowledge or thematic
• around projects
• networked projects
• open source
• created by “diaspora”

3-D networks, enabling networks, are the best fit for development cooperation

Development Cooperation needs a redesign in its architecture, shifting towards networked collaboration. And same stands for projects, not only for organizations. A shift towards putting knowledge at the center would be a must. It is important to state that the network creates a network capital, which emerges from the fact of the mere existence (and intensive use, of course) of the network.

More info

• Position paper by Ismael Peña-López
• Position paper by Carlos Guadián
• Breves ideas de Manuel Acevedo
• Slides by Carlos Guadián