Tag: M-Governance

User Experience Pre-Test on M–Governance Applications

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Leveraging the extremely high mobile penetration and uptake of mobile applications across the country, iHub Research is exploring the conditions needed for successful use of mobiles that could bypass the need for physical interaction and communication.

The user experience pre-test conducted by iHub Research looked at three applications that have been developed to encourage communication with the government through mobile and web platforms. These applications enable citizens to review their leaders (Mzalendo), comment on difficulties they encounter using government infrastructure through a USSD short code *318# (Huduma), as well as monitor constituency development funds through an Android application (MsemaKweli).

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ICT for Democracy in East Africa: November News

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SMS for Human Rights
The Tanzanian Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) in November started field studies to gather user requirements. Conducted through questionnaires and interviews, the survey was undertaken in the Mwanza, Lindi and Iringa regions. The results of the study, which will go toward the features design of the mobile phone based Complaints Handling Management Information System, are due to be published during December.

 

Catalysing Civic Participation and Democracy Monitoring Using ICTS

One of the two grassroots based organisations that the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has partnered with is eKasese. Because eKasese is a local government run centre, CIPESA has experienced delays in undertaking the Western region survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPS) to determine the ICT for democracy tools used, user and non-user profiles and their [de]motivations it had anticipated to carry out this month. The KAPS study, focus group discussions and citizen journalism training have been confirmed for early December.A Wiki, as part of CIPESA’s work to champion the development of a network of CSOs, media, citizens’ groups and local governments that use and promote usage of ICTs in governance is under development here.

An analysis of Ugandan policies and practices that enhance (or undermine) eDemocracy is complete. A briefing paper for this is in its final editing stages. Circulation is expected to start in January 2012, and the paper will form the basis for an advocacy campaign targeted at the media and legislators.

CIPESA attended the November 14 – 15 2011, Euro ICT Africa Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa.

M-Governance: Exploring Conditions for Successful Mobile Governance in Kenya
iHub’s research arm completed a literature review and exploratory study. The results are available here. The team will be performing a pre-test in January 2012 to understand the usability of the current Kenyan mobile governance applications. They will be hosting a second m-governance workshop with various stakeholders from government, academia, and tech in February 2012.

iHub has submitted a paper under the eGovernment & eDemocracy theme for the IST-Africa 2012 Conference and Exhibition. The conference is due to take place from 9–11 May 2012, in Tanzania.

iHub attended the UNDP Africa Civil Society and Governance Assessments Forum on November 10 -12, 2011 in Dakar, Senegal. Some insights from the forum are in a blog post here.

Reforms through Citizen Participation and Government Accountability
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) crowd sourcing and civic participation website is under development. KHRC has also identified a service provider for its bulk SMS system. However, due to various concerns expressed about data protection, the deployment of the bulk SMS platform has been delayed until December.

KHRC attended this November’s Africa human Rights Consortium on New Media and Human Rights held in Botswana. As a result, the Commission is developing an ICT policy for the various ICT based platforms in its project. The policy will draw on these guidelines.

Promoting Social Accountability in the Health Sector in Northern Uganda
The Transparency International (TI) Uganda team is currently concentrating on the project’s social media presence (see Stop Health Workers’ Absenteeism facebook page). A blog component is being added to TI, Uganda’s website to further increase the project’s visibility. During December, TI Uganda is to determine the requirements and specifications of its short code platform. The code is to be shared with WOUGNET. TI Uganda will next month also hold a press conference and publish articles about its project.

Empowering Local People and Communities to Monitor Districts’ Service Delivery Through ICTs
The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET)’s mobilisation exercises have now covered 5 districts (Gulu, Amuru, Apac, Kore and Oyam). The next stage in the project is setting up Voluntary Social Accountability Committees (VSACs) in each district to report on poor service delivery. Once a chairperson and secretary for the committees have been identified, the committees are expected to sit monthly. Prevailing service delivery and governance issues are to be compiled as meeting minutes (without the specific details of the reporting individual) and mapped on a web platform being developed by WOUGNET’s technical team.

Other news

Preliminary program:
* Introduction. Spider and ICT4Democracy facilitator CIPESA
* Presentation. Photo gallery of m-Gov interventions in East Africa. Presenter TBC.
* ICT4Democracy panel. Moderator iHub. Panel participants: Kenya Human Rights Commission, Transparency International Uganda, WOUGNET, CIPESA, CHRAGG, iHub Research.

ICT for Democracy in East Africa: October News

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SMS for Human Rights

The Tanzanian Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) is due to undertake field studies to gather user requirements this November. The results of the study will go toward the features design of the mobile phone based Complaints Handling Management Information System.

Catalysing Civic Participation and Democracy Monitoring Using ICTS

IT support equipment has been procured for the two grassroots based centres that the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) entered into MOUs with last month. A needs assessment including survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPS) to determine the ICT for democracy tools used, user and non-user profiles and their [de]motivations is scheduled for November and December. CIPESA’s analysis of Ugandan policies and practices that enhance (or undermine) eDemocracy is also to be finalised in November.

M-Governance: Exploring Conditions for Successful Mobile Governance in Kenya

The literature review as part of iHub’s exploratory research into the successful conditions for mobile governance in Kenya is complete. The review that aims to identify a Kenyan definition of good governance is to be circulated pending final edits. A workshop to identify issues in Kenya’s governance structures with an emphasis on stakeholder roles and relationships was held at iHub on October 27, 2011. The workshop also explored ways in which technology could facilitate and potentially enhance good governance. Further information is available here. Expert interviews and pilot questionnaires are scheduled for November and December.

Reforms through Citizen Participation and Government Accountability

The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has contracted a web developer for their human rights issues crowd sourcing website. Information and work from Human Rights Networks (HURINETS) on the ground is to feed into the website using the Ushahidi crowd-map platform. One of the HURINETS working in partnership with KHRC is the KURIA Human Rights Network. The initiative, under the western region Kuria Reform Agenda Consortium, seeks to address systematic insecurity in the Kuria constituency. KURIA’s recently set up crowd mapping platform can be found here.

Promoting Social Accountability in the Health Sector in Northern Uganda

Transparency International (TI) Uganda in October held a workshop where Voluntary and Accountability Committees (VACs) members of Oyam districts were trained on how to report health worker absenteeism and poor service delivery. So far, the project has seen a slight indication of improvements in health service delivery in Lira and Oyam district. Based on arrival logs, health centre workers are recorded as reporting to work on time. For more information, visit TI’s Stop Health Workers’ Absenteeism facebook page.

Empowering Local People and Communities to Monitor Districts’ Service Delivery Through ICTs

Following the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET)’s mobilisations exercises in Gulu and Amuru districts held last month, similar exercises were undertaken in Kole, Oyam and Apac districts during October. The exercises, which involved community meetings, informed stakeholders on how ICT can enable effective service delivery. As per the project scope, the mobilisation targeted more women than men (ratio of women to men being 70:30).

Other news

  • A number of organisations have inquired about possibilities of working with the regional network and/or different projects within. Partner organisations are exploring ways in which to collaborate with the interested organisations.
  • During the upcoming International Conference on Mobile Communication for Development (M4D2012), the East African ICT for Democracy network will hold a workshop for stakeholders in the ICT for democracy field. The open session will engage practitioners in experiences and opportunities in the mobile component supporting democracy and governance.

 


 

M-Governance Exploratory Survey

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After a comprehensive literature review and an informative workshop conducted last month (October 2011), the iHub Research team ventured into the field to find out whether wananchi’s (Swahili for citizens) reality on the ground matched the theory and rhetoric. The team conducted a brief exploratory survey from November 1st – 4th, 2011. The survey was conducted to better understand Nairobi citizens’ point of view on governance in Kenya and to have a clearer picture of avenues of service delivery and government-citizen interactions that are currently occurring. This initial information will help to formulate the indicators to be studied as part of the larger M-Governance field research that is scheduled to begin January 2012.

Four locations in Nairobi were chosen for the exploratory survey based on factors such as sampling variety, ease of access, and targeted respondents: the Bishop Magua Building, the Central Business District (CBD), the Kibera slum and the University of Nairobi main campus. Two members of the team visited the sites on each of the four days with a minimum target of 15 respondents per location. The brief questionnaire contained seven open-ended questions on perceptions of governance and service delivery as well as existing and preferred channels of communication between the government and citizens. One interesting feature of the survey was that the team piloted Open Data Kit (ODK) mobile data collection software. ODK allowed the field researchers to input the questionnaire responses while in the field using a mobile phone running on Android. As soon as the phones were on Internet, the field team was then able to send the data back to a cloud server, which is accessible in real time from the office using a laptop computer. Therefore, researchers in the office were able to begin seeing and analyzing the results while the field team sent the data from various locations around Nairobi!

A major obstacle encountered was unwillingness to be interviewed, seen in all locations, but especially in the CBD. The unwillingness to give consent to be interviewed might be attributed to mistrust of strangers and fear of reprisals on talking ill about the government. This mistrust had been anticipated by the team, who, in order to counter it, worked hard to establish a rapport with interviewees and make it clear that anonymity was guaranteed. Another challenge was language translation, with most of the interviews having to be carried out in Kiswahili although questionnaires were originally written in English. Some terms in English, such as governance, are difficult to accurately translate without losing the original or intended English meaning. This challenge revealed the fact that “governance” as we know it does not exist in the culture and lingo of most Kenyan people. The closest Swahili word to “governance,” is more closely translated to “rule”, “leadership”, or “government.” Thus, there is a need to continue to develop creative instruments to highlight what “governance” means to Ken

From the brief four-day exploration, the team managed to gather the ideas of over 60 “Nairobians” on governance matters. The insights from the exploratory survey will facilitate the construction of a more “customized” and “Kenyan” framework within which to conduct the wider field research. The data is currently under analysis and additional insights will be published here as soon as analysis is complete.

ICT for Democracy in East Africa: Project Update

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Launched in May 2011, ICT for Democracy in East Africa (ICT4DemEA) is a network of organisations undertaking collaborative projects where Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is used in various ways to promote transparency, accountability and democracy. The network, with seed funding from the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (Spider) comprises of organisations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. These are the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET); Transparency International Uganda (TIU); The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA); iHub (Kenya) the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Tanzania’s Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG).

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