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#MoreThanCode: Practitioners reimagine the landscape of technology for justice and equity (Research Action Design & Open Technology Institute report, 2018)

This report aims to include the voices of technology practitioners whose work is focused on social justice, the common good, and/or the public interest. Every day, technology practitioners in government agencies, nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities, libraries, technology cooperatives, volunteer networks, and social movement organizations work to develop, deploy, and maintain digital technology in ways that directly benefit their communities. These practitioners include software developers, designers, and project managers, as well as researchers, policy advocates, community organizers, city officials, and people in many other roles.

#MoreThanCode aims to make the voices of these diverse practitioners heard. The report’s goals are to

I. explore the current ecosystem;

II. expand understanding of practitioner demographics;

III. develop and share knowledge of practitioner experiences;

IV. capture practitioner visions and values; and

V. document stories of success and failure.

The report focuses primarily on practitioners who work in the United States.

CDAC Network webinar: Eliminating Barriers to Meaningful Participation in Humanitarian Response (online)

In this global webinar hosted by the Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) will present research examining the key barriers faced by agencies in collecting and using community feedback in humanitarian project design and the internal and external factors which can enable us to do this better. The Kenya Red Cross (KRCS) will share their experience of scaling up accountability to communities, the institutional environment that helped them achieve this, and the positive impact on community ownership and project sustainability. Finally, CDA Collaborative Learning Projects will share some key lessons they’ve learnt about how organizations can strengthen accountability to communities, drawing on the IRC and KRCS research, as well as the many studies they’ve carried out globally.

 

Exploring the potential for interactive radio to improve accountability and responsiveness to small-scale farmers in Tanzania (Making All Voices Count Research Report 2016)

What are the possibilities of using new digital technologies alongside radio to help ensure that agricultural development projects are farmer-centred, and meet the needs of the rural citizens they intend to serve? This research assesses Farm Radio International’s Listening Post – a model that combines radio and digital technologies with the aim of collecting and aggregating farmer feedback to aid decision-making and adaptive project implementation.

The Listening Post model is used by different partners who are engaged in agricultural development, research and extension projects – including nitrogen fixation from grain legumes, post-harvest storage, and promotion of disease and drought-resistant cassava. At the heart of the Listening Post is an interactive radio series focused on the theme of the project. The radio broadcasts are combined with Uliza, an interactive voice response tool for gathering and analysing feedback and questions from audience members. Farmers can vote on poll questions, leave messages for development partners and policy-makers, and request the delivery of specific information.

The research shows that linking a mobile-based crowd-sourcing tool with radio is effective at ensuring engagement from a large number of farmers, who felt it was a useful way of raising their questions and concerns to NGOs, policy-makers and experts. The model has clear potential to strengthen the chain of relationships between citizens, extension services suppliers, projects and policy-makers. It has also demonstrated its potential to collect real-time feedback from farmers that could be used to aid decision-making and improve accountability in agricultural development initiatives, helping to ensure they are more responsive to farmers.

Accountability, nation and society: the role of media in remaking Nepal (BBC Media Action Policy Briefing 2016)

The media has always played a role in shaping the nation of Nepal. Now, in 2016, as a new political settlement continues to be negotiated, that role may prove to be as important as at any time in the country’s history. Based on more than 25 interviews with leading members of Nepal’s media, government, civil society and international development communities as well as audience research carried out by BBC Media Action, this briefing explores some of the key challenges facing the Nepali media. It outlines growing concerns over politicisation and co-option, particularly of the mainstream Kathmandu-based media, as well as other economic and technological challenges facing the media. The briefing further outlines how Nepal’s historically diverse and decentralised media market is increasingly showing signs of fragmentation and discord. It also examines the role that the international development community has played in supporting the Nepali media.

Curbing corruption and fostering accountability in fragile settings – why an imperilled media needs better support (BBC Media Action Working Paper 2016)

This policy working paper draws on BBC Media Action’s own research as well as the wider sector to examine the media’s ability to hold power to account, particularly in fragile settings. The paper provides a summary of the evidence base supporting the media’s role in tackling corruption and argues that effective media support strategies require more than financial contributions. They require the development of coherent, context-specific, evidence-based strategies rooted in learning from what works and what does not. It concludes that while there have been notable investments in media from a small number of donors the development system as a whole has a poor record in in supporting this area. The paper should be of interest to decision makers in donors and other development support organisations concerned about the development costs of corruption.

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