Equilibrium for CMC systems' alteration &amp;#x2014; An intercultural perspective

International Journal of Electronic Government Research

2012

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Systems like large technical and operational networks are necessary in modern societies, yet they are costly and time-consuming to develop. Instead of countries and organizations having to build systems from scratch, the transfer of systems is becoming more common. Yet systems reflect the values of the societies in which they are built and of the designers who develop them. Public values differ among cultures and countries; this not only hinders the transfer of systems but results in a lack of their adoption and acceptance by the receiving country. This article investigates the case of the transfer of parliamentary webcasting/telecasting systems from the US to Pakistan to better understand the international transfer of e-government systems. Although the concept of systems transfer is simple, implementing the system within a different cultural setting was more complicated than initially anticipated. The transfer of the system was influenced by the political objectives and cultural differences. Value tensions were found, especially surrounding openness, transparency, and accountability. Hence, the authors propose broadening the perspective on the transfer and development of systems by taking value differences into consideration. Toward this purpose, a framework for designing Value Sensitive Transfers (VST) is proposed.

Section: The Role Of Values In Aid-assisted Projectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Value Sensitive Transfer (VST) of Systems Among Countries

Janssen

Hoven

International Journal of Electronic Government Research

2012

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ICTs for Information Capabilities of Parliamentary Stakeholders

E-Parliament and ICT-Based Legislation

2012

Parliaments are central institutions in democratic government systems. Parliaments in some developing countries are closed institutions. Efforts for improving the “representation function” of the closed parliaments can also result in information freedom for the citizens, members of parliaments, and other stakeholder groups. I discuss, using the concepts of Capability Approach, how different ICT interventions can assist in improving the representation function of the parliaments by expanding the information capabilities (i.e., freedom of realizing functionings of acquiring, using, and disseminating information) of parliaments, citizens, and members of parliaments. The ICT interventions discussed in this chapter include developing or enhancing parliamentary website, webcasting system, telecasting system, media center for members, resource centers for members, reporting center for external reporters, and printing press.

Aid Assisted Parliamentary Website Initiatives in Developing Countries

E-Parliament and ICT-Based Legislation

2012

Parliaments are the central institutions in the democratic forms of governments. Many parliaments, particularly in the lower middle income and low-income countries, perform poorly and tend to be closed institutions. They do not exchange timely information with the citizens. Parliamentary websites can assist the parliaments in opening up and interacting with the citizens to represent the real will of the people. Parliaments can use the websites as the means for actualizing the values of openness, transparency, and accountability. I explore a case of implementation of aid assisted parliamentary websites development initiative for four provincial parliaments of Pakistan. International development organizations may face different challenges during aid assisted parliamentary website development initiatives. I propose, by employing Information Technology Alteration Framework, that many of these challenges can be linked to the intercultural differences of values, norms, and practices between the donor and the host. This chapter also presents the lessons learned in the form of proposed solutions to overcome the challenges during the conception and implementation stages of aid assisted parliamentary website development initiatives.