Critical Perspectives on Open Development Empirical Interrogation of Theory Construction

Theoretical and empirical analyses of whether open innovations in international development instrumentally advantages poor and marginalized populations.

Over the last ten years, "open" innovations--the sharing of information without access restrictions or cost--have emerged within international development. But do these practices instrumentally advantage poor and marginalized populations? This book examines whether, for whom, and under what circumstances the free, networked, public sharing of information and communication resources contributes (or not) towards a process of positive social transformation. The contributors offer both theoretical and empirical analyses that cover a broad range of applications, emphasizing the underlying aspects of open innovations that are shared across contexts and domains.

Arul Chib is Associate Professor at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Caitlin M. Bentley is a Lecturer at the Information School at the University of Sheffield and an Honorary Fellow at Australian National University's 3A Institute. Matthew L. Smith is Senior Program Specialist at the International Development Research Centre in Ottawa and coeditor of Open Development: Networked Innovations in International Development (MIT Press and IDRC).

Acknowledgments vii
Preface ix
1 Openness in International Development 1
Caitlin M. Bentley, Arul Chib, and Matthew L. Smith
I Pragmatic Approaches to Open Development
2 A Stewardship Approach to Theorizing Open
Data for Development 27
Katherine M. A. Reilly and Juan Pablo Alperin
3 Trust and Open Development 51
Anuradha Rao, Priya Parekh, John Traxler, and Rich Ling
4 Learning as Participation: Open Practices and the Production of Identities 81
Bidisha Chaudhuri, Janaki Srinivasan, and Onkar Hoysala
Reflections I
5 Stewardship Regimes within Kenya’s Open Data Initiative and Their Implications for Open Data for Development 105
Paul Mungai and Jean-Paul Van Belle
6 Changing Infrastructure in Urban India: Critical Reflections on Openness and Trust in the Governance of Public Services 115
David Sadoway and Satyarupa Shekhar
7 Learning through Participation in a Weather Information System in West Bengal, India 131
Linus Kendall and Purnabha Dasgupta
II Coevolutionary Perspectives on Open Development
8 Understanding Divergent Outcomes in Open Development 143
Andy Dearden, Marion Walton, and Melissa Densmore
9 A Critical Capability Approach to Evaluate Open Development 173
Yingqin Zheng and Bernd Carsten Stahl, with contributions from Becky Faith
10 Open Institutions and Their “Relevant Publics”: A Democratic Alternative to Neoliberal Openness 199
Parminder Jeet Singh, Anita Gurumurthy, and Nandini Chami
Reflections II
11 What Makes an Agriculture Initiative Open? Reflections on Sharing Agriculture Information, Writing Rights, and Divergent Outcomes 227
Piyumi Gamage, Chiranthi Rajapakse, and Helani Galpaya
12 Using the Critical Capabilities Approach to Evaluate the Tanzanian Open Government Data Initiative 235
Goodiel C. Moshi and Deo Shao
13 Three Problems Facing Civil Society Organizations in the Development Sector in Adopting Open Institutional Design 245
Caitlin M. Bentley
14 Conclusion 257
Matthew L. Smith, Arul Chib, and Caitlin M. Bentley
Contributors 271
Index 279