Communication for Transparency and Social Accountability

Abstract

Globally, huge investments are made in information and communications technology (ICT) as an undisputed and essential component of almost all activities -state and corporate. ICT-facilitated strategies are, by now, also an integral part of international development cooperation. The rapid and global spread of ICTs -particularly the Internet and mobile telephony -is making information available instantly and at low cost to a degree unprecedented in history. They can be used to seek, receive, create, and impart information by anyone, at any time, and for any purpose.By reconfiguring the relations between states and between citizens and states, the global proliferation of ICTs has caused fundamental shifts in both human's public and private life spheres, including patterns of civic engagement and governance (Chadwick 2006). Put more bluntly, the ubiquitous presence of ICTs in our lives raises key question regarding their role and influence on the values, processes, and outcomes of public bureaucracies and representative institutions, including political parties and legislatures, democratic pressure groups; social movements; and global governance institutions.The innovative use of new ICT-enabled, digital media has, for example, created new forms of citizen journalism, which give space to a diversity of voices. In this way, ICTs enhance freedom of expression and the right to information and increases the possibilities for citizens' participation in decision-making processes. ICTs are used by citizens and civil society for networking and to enhance advocacy and mobilization, locally and globally. Social network media, online communities, and mobile phones create new modes of social interaction, for example through the use of mobile phones for documentation of human rights violations, of election processes and the use of SMS for networking and mobilization The rapid and wide spread of affordable mobile telephony points thus to the role of

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