Critical Perspectives on Open Development: Empirical Interrogation of Theory Construction

by Arul Chib (Editor), Caitlin M. Bentley (Editor), Matthew L. Smith (Editor)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262363334
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	02/16/2021
Series:	International Development Research Centre
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

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).

Table of Contents

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