Adapting ICT-Supported Participatory Communication Interventions to Local Context: Experiences From Togo

• In Event: New and Innovative Experimental Work in Political Communication

Abstract

This paper is adds to the debate on the contribution of ICT towards strategies to operationalize the targets of SDG 16 to ensure accountable institutions as well as responsive, inclusive, participatory decision-making at all levels. The data presented were collected during the planning and scoping phase of an ICT-based participation platform aimed at improving local governance in Togo. We combine data from a Social Network Analysis and a representative survey of 1.500 households. Based on these data we conclude that the success of an ICT-supported intervention in transforming local power structures depends on its adequate adaption to the political, social and technical environment. Specifically, we argue that decisions about the stage of the public policy cycle at which ICT-projects intervene needs to be informed by the nature of local power relations and the distribution of access to ICT and participation opportunities across different socio-economic groups of the intervention’s target population.

Authors

• Anita Breuer

• Laura Blomenkemper, National Metrology Institute of Germany

• Stefan Kliesch, German Development Bank (KfW)

• Franziska Salzer, Finance in Motion

• Manuel Schädler, Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

• Valentin Schweinfurth, GOPA Consultants (Governance and Economic Development)

• Stephen Virchow, National Metrology Institute of Germany