DEVELOPMENT: Nurturing information technology as a tool for democracy

DEVELOPMENT: Nurturing information technology as a tool for democracy

By Gumisai Mutume

STOCKHOLM, Jun 27 (IPS) More than 250 policymakers, development planners, information technology specialists and politicians from around the world have gathered here this week to examine how new information technologies can be used to further democracy.

The 'Democracy and the information revolution' forum brings together senior officials of the United Nations, The World Bank and the European Union, the media, non governmental organisations and academia.

It seeks to chart ways of opening political processes such as elections to the influences of the information revolution that is seeing an explosion in the use of the Internet, mobile telephones and satellite technology. Some 380 million people are estimated to have access to the Internet world-wide yet more than three quarters of these people live in industrialised nations.'

''So far the impact of the Internet upon democratisation has been significant but not apocalyptic,'' says Peter Ferdinand, director of the Centre for Studies in Democratisation at Warwick University in the United Kingdom. ''In established democracies it has made it much easier for new entrants to the political system to make their mark.''

However Ferdinand says, the Internet is ''clearly a significant long-term strategic threat to authoritarian regimes, one they will not be able to counter effectively.''

In one of a series of case studies he points to Malaysia as an example of the potential impact the Internet could have for citizen participation.

When in 1998, Malaysian prime minister Mahatir Mohammed sacked and subsequently jailed his deputy and heir apparent Anwar Ibrahim, the Internet provided opponents with an alternative channel of communication in a country where a vibrant pluralistic press is lacking.

Various web sites emerged, giving Ibrahim's supporters a forum to nurture their views against Mohammed, away from the baton sticks of the police on the streets. Electronic mail provided discussion fora around the slogan 'reformasi' - demanding a wide range of reforms and a curb in corruption.

While Mohammed's government managed to ride the storm, Ibrahim's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail went on to contest and win a parliamentary seat. Today the political climate in Malaysia remains relatively tense and Mohammed is expected to step down before the next elections in 2004, following his own announcement that he will not run.

The Internet has also been part of a human rights campaign that has increased the spotlight on the relationship between China and Tibet. Ferdinand notes that a survey of the Alta Vista Internet database shows that while there were an estimated 39,0000 Web pages devoted to Tibetan issues in February 1997, the figure has exploded to more than 400,000, many of them opposing China's alleged human rights violations against Tibetans.

''The transparency that IT can bring can truly empower people,'' notes Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andra Pradesh State in India. ''People can be in a better position to hold public officials accountable if they have access to information.''

Naidu is popularly known in his community as the 'laptop' minister because of the portable computer he bandies around wherever he goes and for his pioneering ventures to use information technology (IT) to improve the lives of the 76 million people living in his state.

The government of Andra Pradesh State is hailed as one of the first to begin using the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) for dissemination of government information. WAP is a mobile phone technology that allows the exchange of text messages.

Naidu has been behind efforts to computerise government offices and schools. He posts land records online, digitises citizen data and believes that the Internet can become ''one of the most powerful tools in the hands of an enlightened public.''

Yet the euphoria around the ability of IT to fuel the flow of information needs to be tempered with caution, notes Paula Bruening of the US based centre for democracy and technology. ''Consideration must be given to the threats to privacy raised when personal records are computerised.''

''The availability of computers and networks may result in instantaneous, unrestricted, world-wide access to digital government records,'' warned Breuning. ''Broader availability may intensify the privacy intrusion.''

These and other issues are subjects of the democrat and the information revolution forum here, hosted by the intergovernmental organisation the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).

The meeting will consider how nations can invest in IT to provide mass access. It will debate the challenges around government regulation and legislative issues arising from the spread of Its-

''The policy recommendations from the democracy forum will serve to complement and build upon a plan of action to be presented by the DOT Force,'' says Jimm Lerch, co-ordinator of the IDEA forum in statement. DOT Force is the Digital opportunity Task Force created by the Group of 8 heads of state at their Okinawa Summit in July last year.

It is made up of teams from government, the private sector and non-profit organisations and seeks to find ways to bridge the digital divide that separates the 'haves' in industrialised nations, from the 'have-nots' in the rest of the world.'

Some of the outcomes of the meeting will be taken to the nest G8 summit that begins July 20 in Genoa, Italy for inclusion on a proposed Genoa Plan of Action.