Not Just a Tool. Taking Context into Account in the Development of a Mobile App for Rural Water Supply in Tanzania
The 'eGovernance' hype around the potential of mobile phone and geoweb technologies for enhancing 'good governance' is soaring. In East Africa, the extensive use of mobile telephony adds to the imagined promises of ICT. We reflect on the assumptions made by the proponents of such...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Water Alternatives Association
2015-06-01
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| Series: | Water Alternatives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol8/v8issue2/281-a8-2-4/file |
| _version_ | 1818129266229903360 |
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| author | Anna Wesselink Robert Hoppe Rob Lemmens |
| author_facet | Anna Wesselink Robert Hoppe Rob Lemmens |
| author_sort | Anna Wesselink |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The 'eGovernance' hype around the potential of mobile phone and geoweb technologies for enhancing 'good governance' is soaring. In East Africa, the extensive use of mobile telephony adds to the imagined promises of ICT. We reflect on the assumptions made by the proponents of such tools, using our own action research project as an example. We took great care to consider context in the development of software for enhancing empowerment and accountability in rural water supply in Tanzania. However, we found that the rural water supply context in Tanzania is much more complex than the contexts for which successful mApps have been developed previously. Institutional analysis and public administration theory help to understand why. Rural water supply shows institutional hybridity, with water being at the same time a private, public and common-pool good. In addition, in accountability relations, many informal mechanisms prevail where explicit reporting is not relevant. Finally, our proposal sat uneasily with other ongoing iGovernment initiatives. We conclude that we need to consider eGovernance tools as political Apps that can be expected to trigger political responses. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:46:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bab97d43a4a14ff4a4d3c82cc458d0a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1965-0175 1965-0175 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:46:25Z |
| publishDate | 2015-06-01 |
| publisher | Water Alternatives Association |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Alternatives |
| spelling | doaj.art-bab97d43a4a14ff4a4d3c82cc458d0a52022-12-22T01:15:28ZengWater Alternatives AssociationWater Alternatives1965-01751965-01752015-06-01825776Not Just a Tool. Taking Context into Account in the Development of a Mobile App for Rural Water Supply in TanzaniaAnna Wesselink0Robert Hoppe1Rob Lemmens2University of Twente, Enschede, the NetherlandsUniversity of Twente, Enschede, the NetherlandsUniversity of Twente, Enschede, the NetherlandsThe 'eGovernance' hype around the potential of mobile phone and geoweb technologies for enhancing 'good governance' is soaring. In East Africa, the extensive use of mobile telephony adds to the imagined promises of ICT. We reflect on the assumptions made by the proponents of such tools, using our own action research project as an example. We took great care to consider context in the development of software for enhancing empowerment and accountability in rural water supply in Tanzania. However, we found that the rural water supply context in Tanzania is much more complex than the contexts for which successful mApps have been developed previously. Institutional analysis and public administration theory help to understand why. Rural water supply shows institutional hybridity, with water being at the same time a private, public and common-pool good. In addition, in accountability relations, many informal mechanisms prevail where explicit reporting is not relevant. Finally, our proposal sat uneasily with other ongoing iGovernment initiatives. We conclude that we need to consider eGovernance tools as political Apps that can be expected to trigger political responses.http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol8/v8issue2/281-a8-2-4/filemAppeGovernanceiGovernmentinstitutional analysisinformal accountability |
| spellingShingle | Anna Wesselink Robert Hoppe Rob Lemmens Not Just a Tool. Taking Context into Account in the Development of a Mobile App for Rural Water Supply in Tanzania Water Alternatives mApp eGovernance iGovernment institutional analysis informal accountability |
| title | Not Just a Tool. Taking Context into Account in the Development of a Mobile App for Rural Water Supply in Tanzania |
| title_full | Not Just a Tool. Taking Context into Account in the Development of a Mobile App for Rural Water Supply in Tanzania |
| title_fullStr | Not Just a Tool. Taking Context into Account in the Development of a Mobile App for Rural Water Supply in Tanzania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Not Just a Tool. Taking Context into Account in the Development of a Mobile App for Rural Water Supply in Tanzania |
| title_short | Not Just a Tool. Taking Context into Account in the Development of a Mobile App for Rural Water Supply in Tanzania |
| title_sort | not just a tool taking context into account in the development of a mobile app for rural water supply in tanzania |
| topic | mApp eGovernance iGovernment institutional analysis informal accountability |
| url | http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol8/v8issue2/281-a8-2-4/file |
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