This Anti-Corruption Helpdesk brief was produced in response to a query from a U4 Partner Agency. The U4 Helpdesk is operated by Transparency International in collaboration with the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre based at the Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Query
What are the experiences and the lessons learned on the effectiveness of using ICTs for accountability? What are the experiences in fragile situations versus more stable environments?
Content
- The role of ICTs for fighting corruption: a general overview
- ICT tools for transparency and accountability
- ICT tools for social mobilisation
- Appendix: types and examples of ICT innovation for anti-corruption
Summary
E-governance has gained popularity in recent years, with many countries resorting to information communications technology (ICTs) to modernise government, increase efficiency and improve public service delivery. As an additional benefit, ICTs are also expected to reduce corruption by promoting transparency, opening government data to public scrutiny, and by automating government processes, restricting discretion of officials and limiting citizens’ interaction with gatekeepers to access key services.
Despite these high expectations and massive investments in e-government, evidence of impact is mixed and limited and there is a high rate of failure of e-government projects, due to contextual factors as well as the type of the ICT interventions. This Helpdesk answer provides an overview of recent literature on the role of ICTs and government to combat corruption in key government processes such as procurement, taxation, human resource management, open data and service delivery. It also explores the potential of ICTs and social media for citizens’ mobilisation and empowerment.
Authors
Marie Chêne, [email protected]Reviewers
Finn Heinrich, [email protected]Date
07/12/2016
