Relevance of ICTs to Citizen Engagement for Sustainable Water Resources in the Lake Victoria Basin: Research Experience and Evaluation Framework

Among many governance challenges of water resources in developing countries are inadequate participation of communities, poor coordination of water resources institutions, inadequate transparency and accountability. One of... [ view full abstract ]

Among many governance challenges of water resources in developing countries are inadequate participation of communities, poor coordination of water resources institutions, inadequate transparency and accountability. One of several ways of improving participation and coordination is the use of appropriate technologies including integrated Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Integrated ICT solutions can play a pivotal role in engaging water resource institutions to attain sustainability goals of water resources management. They provide tools and techniques that can create a common platform for sharing information at the bottom level. They can provide many options through which community can engage in giving and receiving information regarding water resources. Despite this potential, integrated ICT solutions have not been adequately researched and evaluated against their relevance to community engagement for sustainable water resources. The research on integrated ICTs for multi-scale water resources governance was conducted within trans-boundary Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) in East Africa. The input, process and outcome dimensions of intergrated ICTs were carefully investigated and applied with close involvement of community of users in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda parts of the LVB. These dimensions are presented and discussed. Furthermore, the study is proposing a multi-theory, two dimensional framework for evaluation of relevance of integrated ICT solutions. The framework focuses on citizen participation and coordination activities of formal water resource institutions. Three theories considered in the framework are relevance theory, social theory of change and technology adoption model. This architecture is believed to complement strengths and minimize weaknesses of individual theories. This research concludes integrating ICTs for water resources governance can involve arrays of citizens, improve their participation and minimize costs. However, relevant ones have to identified using the citizen oriented framework in the context of trans-boundary water resource of a developing country.

Key words: ICT, sustainability, citizen engagement, formal institutions, water resource