2016 ICT4D Conference

International Alert's research has shown that well-designed social accountability mechanisms can develop more constructive citizen-state relations and improve community capacities to resolve conflict in fragile situations. Harnessing appropriate technologies can boost the impact of these mechanisms, particularly in fragile contexts where civic space is limited.

Alert is going to pilot a such a mechanism in western Uganda - where the research was conducted - using ZenDesk and voice-recognition technology to log and record community concerns and grievances, share them with local and district government officials, and have them independently monitored and verified by our local partners. The pilot will also use pioneering voting technology using ultra low-cost hardware to allow communities to rate responses to their concerns as well as highlight which grievances they see as most important.

In the session, Jo (who conducted the research) will speak about the governance and technology context in Western Uganda, the accountability challenges currently faced by these communities, and the recommendations made by the research about what a technology-based solution can contribute.

Dan will go on to explain and demonstrate how the solution he has developed seeks to overcome some of these challenges, how and why it fits into existing societal norms around communication and citizen-state relations, and explain the challenges in deploying the technology.

Since the pilot will be in the early stages, we see this as an opportunity for audience members to provide feedback on the approach as well as find out more about how the solution could be deployed in the contexts where they work.