OneWorld.net (U.S.)

OWSA’s Research and Analysis programme aims to improve the use of research and evidence in development policy and practice through research, advice and debate. The programme works around the themes of using evidence in policy identification, development and implementation to achieve MDGs and promotion of research for evidence-based policy.

Pro-poor ICT and MDG research The pro-poor research activity of OWSA is two-fold: a) Examining the pro-poorness of the ongoing eGovernance and ICT efforts to report and suggest alternative models; and, b) Critiquing the approaches to achieving the MDGs and suggesting how ICTs could strategically be applied to accelerate the march.

The current activities include a research project that seeks to examine the feasibility (including analysis of operational and institutional issues) in efforts aimed at reversal of e-Governance paradigm to make it participatory and user-centred rather than top-down and technology-centered. Through an action component of nearly 12 months in the field, the project seeks to examine the strength of ICTs in enabling transparency, accountability and openness in delivery of public services specifically aimed at the poor. The National Chapters of Transparency International in Croatia, Nigeria and Pakistan are implementing the project in their respective countries. OneWorld South Asia is implementing the India component and is also responsible for overall management of the project.

This is a DFID-supported pro-poor action research project. The 18-month, four-country project, running simultaneously in Pakistan, Nigeria and Croatia, besides India, aims to improve the efficiency, transparency and working of pro-poor government services in these countries through the use of ICTs.

As the implementer of the India chapter of this action research, OWSA will focus on the health sector initiatives of the India Population Project of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. We are collaborating with a Delhi-based partner NGO, Prerna, on this project.