Citizen Empowerment: Role of ICT in Fighting Corruption

1. Citizen Empowerment:Role of ICT in Fighting Corruption Mohammad Najeeb Azizi, Ph.D Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy Afghanistan Information Management Services (AIMS) September 24, 2013 Kabul, Afghanistan

2. New ICT for Socio-Economic-Ecological Reality Mining + Simulation Sensor networks Remote sensing Web2.0 Internet Second life Telecommunication Prediction markets Satellites GPS Social networks

3. Policy Making Decision Support through ICT Decision theater Testing of alternative solutions Data collector Mega-scale, multi-disciplinary effort is needed! Crisis observatory Political decision-making

4. Introduction

5. Corruption is consistently identified by Afghan people as one of their biggest concerns. • In 2012, TI ranked Afghanistan 174. • The Corruption indicators show Afghanistan on a negative trend, and Afghans are also bleak about progress

6. Key Message "In failed states, corruption further drives the perception of government illegitimacy, forcing the state into a vicious cycle of instability."

7. Literature Review • Corruption is said to distort standards of merit, erode the respect of law (Hamir, 1999), and result in higher public investment and lower quality of infrastructure (Schloss, 1998; Tanzi & Davoodi, 1998). • Corruption is believed to hold back political and economic advance (Klitgaard, 1994), promote the illegal export of resources, encourage obvious consumption, and generate distrust (Caiden et al.,2001). • And the list goes on.”

8. Definition • Improper use of a public or official position for private gain. • This includes offences such as bribery, embezzlement, abuse of power and nepotism. • A further distinction can be made between political or “grand” corruption on the one hand and administrative or “petty” corruption on the other.

9. ANTI CORRUPTION LANDSCAPE • Nature and causes of corruption • Areas of risk • Anti Corruption Proceedings involving bribery • Trends in Afghanistan • Anti-corruption laws • Investigation agencies dealing with corruption • Efforts to curb corruption • Dealing with extortionist government officials

10. NATURE OF CORRUPTION • Encountered by public in day to day dealings – Reported demands • General Mindset: bribe giver is victim • Motivation: avoid harm or disadvantage, rather than for gaining an advantage

11. CAUSES OF CORRUPTION General Findings: • Administrative delays • Excessive burden of regulatory functions on government • Government officials vested with personal discretion • Complex procedures in matters of importance to citizens

12. CAUSES contd… • Political patronage. Corruption in the political leadership • Administrative labyrinth. Cumbersome and dilatory administrative procedures • Lack of punishment. Corruption cases handled in a casual and clumsy manner • Social environment. Corruption accepted in the social psyche and behavior

13. AREAS OF RISK • Culture of acceptance of corruption • Excessive discretion in exercise of governmental authority • Pervasiveness of public sector • Compliance challenges due to legal and regulatory ambiguity and inconsistencies • Cash oriented economy

14. TRENDS IN AFGHANISTAN • Pressure for transparency in government • Increased public awareness of rights • Emphasis on legal and regulatory compliance • Increased use of technology in dealing with government (e-governance) • Contract focus vs. relationship focus in business • Implementation of global best practices 14

16. ICT can support democracy and human rights by enabling and expanding citizens’ social mobilization. • A better informed and active citizenry, who can put pressure on national institutions to be accountable and responsive to citizens’ needs and priorities, is a fundamental component of a functioning democracy.

17. ICT has been identified as a viable tool for diminishing corruption by enhancing transparency and accountability of government administration. • The effects of ICT/electronic services/electronic government and community on corruption is massive

18. ICT & ABUSE OF ENTRUSTED POWER • E-Government is “the use of ICT to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of government” and • “E-Government helps to increase the transparency of decision-making processes by making information accessible – publishing government debates and minutes, budgets and expenditure statements, outcomes and rationales for key decisions, and in some cases, allowing the online tracking of applications on the web by the public and press

19. ICT based actions to Combat Corruption

20. There are undeniably multiple challenges in Afghanistan concerning technology for transparency projects, such as • Poor internet infrastructure, • Technophobia, • Weak connection and high connectivity costs, • Lack of ICT policy clarity on occasions and inadequate knowledge; and • ICT personnel

21. An Example • However, even then there is a growing number of government and non-government initiatives. • Civil society has begun to move its transparency and accountability efforts online. These efforts are supported by a growing technological community

22. Access to means of communication and, in particular, to electronic communications is now seen as necessary for achieving development and, therefore, should also be considered as an economic and social right. • Governments should take responsibility for facilitating and subsidizing access to electronic media to ensure equitable enjoyment of this right, to combat poverty and corruption; and to achieve their development goals.

23. Key Message AN EMPOWERED CITIZENRY – THE BEST WAY TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

24. The Internet is providing over a billion people with unprecedented access to information and communication tools, but the vast majority of our citizens have no or limited access to the Internet. • The explosion of mobile phone access and use - there are 18 million mobile subscribers and people spend almost 10 to 20%% of their disposable income on mobile communication. • “mobile solutions give citizens a voice, bigger ears and hopefully, a chance to mobilise and act upon the information”.

25. The need to understand the challenges to reap the benefits, • Afghanistan Information Management Services (AIMS) serves as a national network supporting partners in many areas including education, health, governance and entrepreneurship.

26. While ICT is not a magic bullet when it comes to ensuring greater transparency and less corruption, • AIMS is convinced that ICT has a significant role to play as a tool in a number of important areas:

27. ICT can improve transparency in the public sector by increasing coordination, dissemination and administrative capacity of the public sectors’, as well as improve service delivery by employing user-friendly administrative systems.

28. ICT facilitates the collection of digital footprints and complete audit trail which increase the opportunity to hold individuals accountable and ultimately increase the possibility to detect corrupt practices.

29. ICT can facilitate the work of civil society organization working towards greater transparency and against corruption by supporting a mix of methods of campaigning on transparency and educating citizens on what corruption is about and their civil rights.

30. ICT can facilitate information sharing and social mobilization and ultimately provide digital platforms where citizens can report incidents anonymously

31. While there is resistance usually among some government senior officials, there are parallel to that both strong visionaries and a growing body of tech-savvy citizens willing and able to challenge that resistance.

32. The need for donors to acknowledge their part in aiding non-transparent practices and call for greater aid transparency. • Lack of transparency within international development cooperation ultimately makes it difficult for citizens to hold their own governments accountable.

33. Goals to Achieve • Management matters - the different leadership and their focus on corruption reduction. • Administrative reform must focus on whole systems, not just individual functions. Wherever there is a loophole due to some technical component missing there is an opening for corruption.

34. Corruption is an economic activity. When bribes are cheaper than fees there is a market for corruption, when fees are lower than bribes there are good chances of reducing it. • Political support makes a difference - the lack of it contributes to the failure. • Creating an “ethical ambience” among the public requires trustworthy reporting systems and prompt corrective action from government.

35. Goals to Achieve • More E-Government is better; the more services online in a country, the less corruption. The effect is considerable. • ICT has a greater positive effect than the traditional anticorruption factors (e.g. administrative reform without the development of technological support systems, free press)

36. Increased social capital (stronger social bonds) reduces corruption • This means that even though clearly several individual projects are not successful, overall balance is positive – ICT investment in E-Government pays off in terms of reduced corruption.

37. This is not TRUE!

38. Afghanistan is home to a vibrant community of ICT entrepreneurs, web companies and software developers who are responsible for mobile social networking applications, local blog aggregators and much more. Technology Conferences, meetings and workshops are fostering new developments in this space.

39. THANK YOU