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Strengthening citizen agency through ICT: an extrapolation for Eastern Africa

Citation:

Zanello, G. (2011). “Strengthening citizen agency through ICT: an extrapolation for Eastern Africa”. In Public Management Review, 13 (3), 363-382. Paper presented at Governing Good and Governing Well: The First Global Dialogue on Ethical and Effective Governance, May 28-30, 2009, Amsterdam. London: Routledge.

Work data:

ISSN: 1471-9037

Alternate URL:
pdf file http://www.hivos.nl/dut/content/download/17038/106825/file/zanello_maassen.pdf

Type of work: Communication

Categories:

Government and Public Administration | ICT4D

Abstract:

We investigated the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT, namely mobile phones) in support of citizen agency and its potential in calling authorities to account. We focused on Eastern Africa and we used a mixed methodology, which allowed us to explore the current uses of ICT to strengthen accountability and to forecast the growth of mobile phones’ adaption in that region. Evidence from both analyses suggests that there are two main areas where citizen agency and ICT can reinforce each other in bottom–up and horizontal processes: participation and engagement of citizens, and the diffusion of information.