Author: Fabio Nascimbeni
Programme: Doctoral Programme on the Information and Knowledge Society
Language: English
Supervisor: Dr Susana Finquelievich
Faculty / Institute: Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3)
Subjects: Social Sciences, Sociology, Communication, Public Administration Government, Military affairs
Key words: Networking, Development cooperation, Social network analysis, Multi-stakeholder collaboration, Latin America, ICT for development, Knowledge society
Area of knowledge: Development Cooperation, Communication, Knowledge Society
+ Link to project
Summary
The research aims to demonstrate that some critical aspects of development cooperation can be tackled by strengthening networking within development policies and programmes, and that networking activities, if properly planned, applied, and monitored, can contribute to the long-term success of development actions. We claim that a renewed theoretical framework is needed in order to advance towards a networking-intensive paradigm of development cooperation. We also advocate the increased use of specific networking methods and tools, which are able to represent development practices in terms not only of actors, but also of networks. From a theoretical framework point of view, the main contribution is the concept of networking for development, a new way to consider networking activities within development cooperation. Within this notion, development networks, defined as open multi-stakeholder aggregations of donors, receivers and intermediaries as well as other relevant actors, should have a primary role within development activities and should do so starting from their own priorities and concerns. In order to validate the networking for development concept by using networking-specific methods and tools, we have analysed the networking history of @LIS, a European Commission funded programme that was run from 2002 to 2006 focusing on Europe-Latin America cooperation in the information society. By using social network analysis (SNA) enriched with field observation, we have explored the networking and collaboration activities that took place among the @LIS stakeholders by visualising how the network developed and by focussing on cases that explain the observed dynamics.