Dear GKD Participants, To follow on Peter Burgess's comments re the lack of value of the World Bank's website.
It seems to me that many of the comments reflect an unhappiness with the World Bank itself rather than with the website. Stated issues included unhappiness with the perceived: a) dominance of the WB in development thinking, especially in the north, b) general institutional lack of accountability, and c) lack of independent analysis of results. Taking these perceptions at face value, I would argue that instead of the web exacerbating the above issues, the WB website is in fact one of the best tools to address them. By making WB data and research, etc available to everyone w/ an internet connection, more people have access to information that allows them to do their own research, publish their own papers, and come up with their own viewpoints. So, far from consolidating a dominant viewpoint, the web in fact facilitates diverse opinions. Additionally, by publishing project and country information (including the name of the task manager), the WB enables the public to hold it and its partners accountable. Implementation of the revised disclosure policy will make even more information available. Transparency aids not only accountability, but also participation, through mechanisms such as online consultations about policies or strategies (clearly a downside here is the lack of connectivity in many areas). Lastly, the WB has an entire site devoted to evaluation of its results run by the independent OED department, see http://www.worldbank.org/oed/. While this certainly doesn't replace independent analysis by other groups (which indeed would be very useful), it certainly provides a good base for those interested in the subject. So, while I agree that there are certainly many areas for improvement in the development process and institutions, I think the web, especially the WB website, is a phenomenal tool for making it more open, responsive, inclusive, and accountable. Best regards, Katie Katie Bannon [EMAIL PROTECTED] World Bank Web Team Note: The above does not represent the view of the World Bank but is my own personal opinion. ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
