Digital Media Offers a Revolutionary Route to Governance Reform in Developing Countries

BRISBANE, Australia - July 25, 2017 - PRLog -- Developing countries could benefit from a more collaborative approach to governance reform driven by digital technology PFMConnect's David Fellows suggests in a recent blog.

Governance of public affairs is an extensive subject, including the processes by which decisions are made, the means by which service performance is assessed, the standards of behaviour to which public servants are held, the transparency applied to government administration and the extent to which ordinary citizens are engaged in policy-making.

Developing countries to take greater ownership

The proposition advanced in the blog is that governance reform in developing countries should be more actively owned and developed through extensive collaboration between public officials in developing countries supported by others including academics and development agencies. He suggests that this is made feasible by the evolution of digital media which readily lends itself to facilitating such collaboration.

Applications include mentoring and advice; exchange of practices; sharing of performance data; collaboration in research and development projects; and even the possibility of establishing an international public service academy.

The underlying proposition is that governance reform requires ownership and ownership is best served by extensive engagement in the design process. In a previous blog covered by the World Policy Journal (also available on the PFMConnect blog site http://blog-pfmconnect.com (http://www.blog-pfmconnect.com/)) the author and colleague John Leonardo set out the case for governance reform in developing countries to reduce corruption and thereby improve economic performance and public service delivery.

David Fellows, who was a pioneer in the use of digital media for public service delivery in the UK, is Co-Principal of PFMConnect. The blog was originally carried by the Australian National University's http://devpolicy.org/international-ecollaboration-route-public-service-reform-20170720/ and is included in a slightly extended form on the PFMConnect blog site.


About PFMConnect

PFMConnect is a consultancy that supports the development of good standards of public financial management in order to improve public service delivery, extend public accountability, encourage local business development and combat corruption. Its work is principally centred on developing countries, working in cooperation with governments and other stakeholders.

For additional information about PFMConnect, please visit www.pfmconnect.com or contact david.fellows@pfmconnect.com or john.leonardo@pfmconnect.com.