ITfC organised a workshop with the ICT for Poverty Reduction programme of UNDP’s Poverty Group based in New York on *‘ICTs for Participatory Local Development - Exploring a Systemic Approach’ in Bangalore on 9th and 10th December, 2008*.

The workshop offered a forum for researchers from five countries – Brazil, India, Philippines, South Africa and Uganda – to present their initial findings regarding a multi-country ‘ICTs for Participatory Development’ research that IT for Change is coordinating. The research aims to identify critical elements for engaging various local development actors, including local authorities, for employing ICTs systemically for participatory local development, and highlighting the policy and other institutional requirements for such engagement.

Discussions at the workshop highlighted that ‘ICTs for local development’ initiatives have shown varying degrees of promise and impact, and the very nature of ICT indicates that such impact could be increased through the adoption of a more integrated and systemic approach. Many ICT initiatives stress the issues of reach and efficiency or the issues of empowerment but do not always link the provision of ‘digitised services’ to overall local development strategies or explore ways of catalysing local development opportunities and participation that ICTs may enable in local development processes. Analogously, the imperatives of (local) development and empowerment do not always play a role in influencing the approach taken by ICT policies which are often more subject to top-down sector-based considerations and market-oriented imperatives rather than viewing ICTs as providing a platform for broad-based transformative development processes. The workshop thus centred not on ICTs and ICT applications, but on the new possibilities that may have exist for achieving local development.

Examining these issues is of central importance for leveraging the transformative potential of ICTs for local development. Senior policy makers, local development experts, and ICT experts shared insights from applied and action-oriented research, identifying constraints, entry points for change, and approaches that could enhance positive impact. The workshop facilitated the finalisation of the research outputs from each of the five countries, and also discussed the development of a customisable roadmap and toolkit for actors interested in exploring and using ICTs for participatory local development.

To read the workshop concept note click here.

To read the workshop session design click here.

To see the list of participants click here.

Presentations made at workshop:

1. South Africa
2. Philippines
3. India
   
   • NREGA
4. Brazil
5. Uganda

To read detailed workshop report click here

To read the original proposal made by ITfC to UNDP click here.