Gigler, Bjorn-SorenBailur, SavitaAnand, Nicole2014-09-122014-09-122014https://hdl.handle.net/10986/20113Can information and communication technologies (ICTs) empower through participation, transparency, and accountability and if so, under which conditions? Theory and practice demonstrate that technologies can empower citizens to hold governments and international donors accountable, but true accountability will only result from recognizing the gap between supply (governments, international donors, service providers) and demand (citizens, civil society organizations, communities) and considering how to bridge it from both sides. ICT-enabled initiatives have contributed to shrinking this accountability gap, yet in many cases, it remains open. In this paper, the authors develop a framework for analyzing how technologies can accelerate efforts to close the gap, which the authors call the loch ness model. The authors offer reasons why the gap remains open and put forth recommendations for closing it.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO INFORMATIONACCESS TO INFORMATION LAWACCESS TO TECHNOLOGIESACCESS TO TECHNOLOGYACCOUNTABILITYACTIVE PARTICIPATIONADVERTISINGBROADBANDBROADCASTSBUREAUCRACIESBUSINESSESCAPABILITIESCAPABILITYCAPACITY BUILDINGCATALYTIC ROLECELL PHONESCELLULAR SERVICECERTIFICATECITIZENCITIZEN ENGAGEMENTCITIZEN FEEDBACKCITIZEN INFORMATIONCITIZEN INVOLVEMENTCITIZEN PARTICIPATIONCIVIC ENGAGEMENTCIVIC LEADERSCIVIC LIFECIVIC PARTICIPATIONCIVIL SOCIETYCIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONSCOLLABORATIONCOLLECTIVE ACTIONCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIESCOMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGYCOMMUNITY MEMBERSCONNECTIVITYCONTENT CREATIONCOPYRIGHTCORRUPTION ISSUESDATA COLLECTIONDECISION MAKINGDECISION MAKING PROCESSESDECISION-MAKINGDEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONSDIGITAL AGEDIGITAL DEMOCRACYDIGITAL DIVIDEDIGITAL EXCLUSIONDIGITAL GOVERNMENTE-DEMOCRACYE-GOVERNMENTE-GOVERNMENT APPLICATIONSE-MAILE-READINESSEFFECTIVE GOVERNMENTELECTIONSELECTRONIC GOVERNMENTENABLING ENVIRONMENTEND USERSEXCHANGE OF INFORMATIONFLOW OF INFORMATIONFOREIGN AIDGENERAL PUBLICGLOBAL GOVERNANCEGOOD GOVERNANCEGOVERNMENT AGENCIESGOVERNMENT DATAGOVERNMENT INFORMATIONGOVERNMENT INFORMATION QUARTERLYGOVERNMENT OFFICIALSGOVERNMENT POLICIESGOVERNMENT SERVICEGOVERNMENT SERVICE DELIVERYGOVERNMENT TO CITIZENSGROUP MEETINGSHARDWAREHUMAN CAPACITIESHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RIGHTSHUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONSICTINCOMEINFORMATION FLOWSINFORMATION POVERTYINFORMATION SHARINGINFORMATION SOCIETYINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINNOVATIONSINSPECTIONSINSTANT ACCESSINSTITUTIONINSTITUTIONAL CHANGEINTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONSINTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONINTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONSKIOSKSLEARNINGLEGAL FRAMEWORKLEGAL SYSTEMLICENSESLIMITED ACCESSLITERACYLOCAL COMMUNITYMATERIALMEDIAMOBILE PHONEMOBILE PHONESMONITORING TOOLNATIONAL SECURITYNETWORKSNEW TECHNOLOGIESNEXT GENERATIONONLINE COMMUNITIESONLINE COMMUNITYOPEN ACCESSOPEN DEVELOPMENTOPEN GOVERNMENTORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVESPARTICIPATORY APPROACHESPARTICIPATORY PLANNINGPENETRATION RATEPETTY CORRUPTIONPHONE CALLSPHONESPHYSICAL PRESENCEPOLICY MAKINGPOLITICAL AUTHORITYPOLITICAL BARRIERSPOLITICAL COMMITMENTPOLITICAL COMMUNICATIONPOLITICAL DEBATEPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL PARTICIPATIONPOLITICAL REFORMSPOLITICAL SYSTEMPOLITICAL WILLPRIVACYPRODUCTIVITYPROGRAMSPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEWPUBLIC INFORMATIONPUBLIC PARTICIPATIONPUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERYPUBLIC SERVICESQUERIESRADIOREAL-TIME DATAREGULATORY ENVIRONMENTRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOVERNMENTRESULTRESULTSSELF-HELPSERVICE PROVIDERSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE PROVISIONSILOSSOCIAL ACTIONSOCIAL CHANGESOCIAL DEVELOPMENTTECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONTECHNOLOGY PLATFORMSTECHNOLOGY TOOLSTELECOMMUNICATIONTELECOMMUNICATIONSTELEPHONETELEVISIONTIMELY ACCESSTRADITIONAL MEDIATRANSACTIONTRANSPARENCYTRANSPARENT GOVERNMENTTRUST BETWEEN CITIZENSTRUST IN GOVERNMENTUNIVERSAL DEFINITIONUSAGE LEVELSUSE OF INFORMATIONUSERUSERSUSESYOUTH10.1596/20113