Table

of Contents Section1: Introduction to the Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Democratic Governance Section 2: Who is connected? Section 3: Decentralization Section 4: Electronic-Government and Successful ICT Section 5: WSIS and ICT in Practice Section 6: Who Owns/Controls the Information? Section 7: Recommendations Section 8: Conclusion Appendix A: Appendix B: Bibliography

Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Democratic Governance October 24, 2010 Nicholas Jay Aulston

Section1: Introduction to the Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Democratic Governance It is unquestionable that throughout human existence communication

technology has had a global effect on politics, economics, environment, and society. Not only have technological innovations transformed the global landscape, and how people and goods are transported, but they have also changed how people communicate with each other. Over the past couple of centuries, humans have moved from the using the printing press to cellular phones and the Internet to get messages out to the masses. All three of these technological advances have fundamentally changed how information has been amassed, maintained, and

disseminated. Today, the new tools of cell phones and the Internet are called Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). ICT consists of hardware, software, networks and media for the collection, storage, processing, transmission, and presentation of information (e.g., voice, data, text, images). Communication technologies also consist of a range of old communication media and devices, including print, telephone, fax, radio, television, video, and audio. While some new technologies have become standard in industrialized countries, many developing countries are still new adopters of cell phones and the Internet. Consider the fact that two out of every three human beings have never made a telephone call and nineteen out of twenty people in the world lack Internet access. Even with this information, there are still questions about how much of the world remains to be connected? The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) maintains data on the connectivity the worlds citizens. The ITU has defined this lack of access as the Digital Divide, which refers to the distinction among nations in their ability to access global information through ICT infrastructures. The digital divide describes the separation that exists between those who have access to cellular phones, computers, and the Internet and those who do not. While raw numbers are important, they do not tell the full story of how overcoming the barrier to information can lead to empowerment and greater access to governmental decision-making processes. This paper argues that having access to ICT and information cannot only bring more voices to and to local and global decision-making processes, but also decentralize the current power structures, whether they are governmental dictatorships or criminal enterprises. The United Nations (UN) has supported efforts to provide access and to ICTs and has spent a large amount of resources to ensure that it is supplied to the worlds populations in an equitable manner. In 2003, the UN organized the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in order to explore different ways to use ICT to increase democracy. The WSIS explored how ICT tools, like Electronic-Government (E-Gov), can bring together governments, citizens, businesses, and non- governmental organizations (NGOs).

The current power structures, as is to be assumed, will not simply surrender their advantages inherent in controlling ICT. Given that these new media technologies require a significant amount of worldwide investment in infrastructure, there has to be a considerable amount of support from the government and the private sector. It is important to consider who, in the end, will have control over the infrastructure, and subsequent information, which is required for these new technologies to operate. The advances made in ICT can be used to make advances in civic participation. The advances in participation can lead to the inclusion of more informed voices in the local and global decision-making process may be one of the most important aspects of the current technological revolution. As the worlds population continues to gain access to, and demand, these new communication technologies, they will make the democratic process more equitable and representative of all voices.