Closing the Feedback Loop: Can Technology Amplify Citizen VoicesVictoria Cabral
Overall, evidence suggests that technology can support civic engagement through the creation of new avenues for citizen participation, but the open question is - How we use these tools to best achieve outcomes? For inclusive participation, citizen feedback mechanisms should ideally adopt a combination of new technologies (Internet and mobile phones) for expansive reach, older technologies (community radio), and no-tech approaches (in-person consultations). Furthermore, it is imperative for the architecture of feedback mechanisms to situate the choice of technology and platform within a broader discussion of citizen feedback as a set of interlinked and mutually reinforcing components.
In September 2013, the World Bank launched the second Zambia Economic Brief, entitled Zambia’s Jobs Challenge: Realities on the Ground. The intention of the brief was to present data and analysis relating to jobs and unemployment in Zambia, and in a manner that might stimulate further public discussion. The report was intentionally written more as a diagnosis of the problem than it was a prescription of how that problem should be addressed.
In presenting these findings among others, our intention was to use the report to start a series of public discussions and debates that would endeavor to draw out Zambian solutions to the problems reflected in the data.
The response was overwhelming. The Universities’ television debate competition was not only exciting but it was also thought provoking. Equal to the task, was the nationwide writing competition whose results are featured in this edition of home-grown Zambian response to the facts and figures shared in the Zambia Economic Brief.
The featured writers comprise students from across Zambia who were competitively selected as part of the ‘Think Jobs’ writing competition. They were trained to write articles that tackled economic subjects in a manner accessible to a public audience. They were then invited to write their own response pieces on the topic of jobs and unemployment in Zambia. The best writers have been offered an internship at the World Bank.
The Magazine has been compiled by the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit of the World Bank Office in Lusaka. Funding for this project was provided by the World Bank, as part of their broader aim to facilitate public debate on issues of development. The World Bank project team included Ms Kundhavi Kadiresan, Ms Kate Bridges, Ms Victoria Cabral, Ms Hellen Mungaila, Ms Ngao Mubanga, Mr Mupuwaliya Mupuwaliya, Mr Praveen Kumar, Mr Asumani Guloba and Mr Jumbe Ngoma.
Closing the Feedback Loop: Can Technology Amplify Citizen VoicesVictoria Cabral
Overall, evidence suggests that technology can support civic engagement through the creation of new avenues for citizen participation, but the open question is - How we use these tools to best achieve outcomes? For inclusive participation, citizen feedback mechanisms should ideally adopt a combination of new technologies (Internet and mobile phones) for expansive reach, older technologies (community radio), and no-tech approaches (in-person consultations). Furthermore, it is imperative for the architecture of feedback mechanisms to situate the choice of technology and platform within a broader discussion of citizen feedback as a set of interlinked and mutually reinforcing components.
In September 2013, the World Bank launched the second Zambia Economic Brief, entitled Zambia’s Jobs Challenge: Realities on the Ground. The intention of the brief was to present data and analysis relating to jobs and unemployment in Zambia, and in a manner that might stimulate further public discussion. The report was intentionally written more as a diagnosis of the problem than it was a prescription of how that problem should be addressed.
In presenting these findings among others, our intention was to use the report to start a series of public discussions and debates that would endeavor to draw out Zambian solutions to the problems reflected in the data.
The response was overwhelming. The Universities’ television debate competition was not only exciting but it was also thought provoking. Equal to the task, was the nationwide writing competition whose results are featured in this edition of home-grown Zambian response to the facts and figures shared in the Zambia Economic Brief.
The featured writers comprise students from across Zambia who were competitively selected as part of the ‘Think Jobs’ writing competition. They were trained to write articles that tackled economic subjects in a manner accessible to a public audience. They were then invited to write their own response pieces on the topic of jobs and unemployment in Zambia. The best writers have been offered an internship at the World Bank.
The Magazine has been compiled by the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit of the World Bank Office in Lusaka. Funding for this project was provided by the World Bank, as part of their broader aim to facilitate public debate on issues of development. The World Bank project team included Ms Kundhavi Kadiresan, Ms Kate Bridges, Ms Victoria Cabral, Ms Hellen Mungaila, Ms Ngao Mubanga, Mr Mupuwaliya Mupuwaliya, Mr Praveen Kumar, Mr Asumani Guloba and Mr Jumbe Ngoma.
Mainstreaming Governance in Country Programs: Insights from the Governance Pa...Victoria Cabral
The Magazine has been compiled by the Poverty Reduction and
Economic Management Unit of the World Bank Office in Lusaka.
Funding for this project was provided by the World Bank, as part of
their broader aim to facilitate public debate on issues of development.
The World Bank project team included Ms Kundhavi
Kadiresan, Ms Kate Bridges, Ms Victoria Cabral, Ms Hellen
Mungaila, Ms Ngao Mubanga, Mr Mupuwaliya Mupuwaliya, Mr
Praveen Kumar, Mr Asumani Guloba and Mr Jumbe Ngoma.
Mainstreaming Governance in Country Programs: Insights from the Governance Pa...Victoria Cabral
The Magazine has been compiled by the Poverty Reduction and
Economic Management Unit of the World Bank Office in Lusaka.
Funding for this project was provided by the World Bank, as part of
their broader aim to facilitate public debate on issues of development.
The World Bank project team included Ms Kundhavi
Kadiresan, Ms Kate Bridges, Ms Victoria Cabral, Ms Hellen
Mungaila, Ms Ngao Mubanga, Mr Mupuwaliya Mupuwaliya, Mr
Praveen Kumar, Mr Asumani Guloba and Mr Jumbe Ngoma.
