[UgaBYTES] Local Content in East Africa

[Peter Burgess]

Dear Colleagues

I have written along these lines several times before. The incredible
power of modern technology is rarely deployed to create much of value.

I argue that this is because we confuse quantity of information with
the value of information ... and frequently do not understand what
information would be of most value. Worse ... we are often not sure
what we are trying to do!

Or perhaps it is that we very much know that what we are doing is to
have a job for ourselves ... and the element of social good cannot be
in the equation. So in this mode everything ends up being done so that
donors are happy and the money flow continues so that the donors renew
funding.

If the assessment of performance was all about what progress is being
made by the community ... and what it is that is making progress
possible ... then may the allocation of resources would be more
efficient. Are there any communities in East Africa that are doing
well? Which are they? What is it that has made progress possible? What
lessons can we learn? For example ... are there any communities that
have succeeded in getting malaria under control? Getting diarrhea
under control? Getting other childhood diseases under control? What is
it that made this success possible? What can be learned?

I am reminded of the socio-economic progress of Yei in South Sudan in
the late 1980s ... it would be interesting to me to compare what I
remember of Yei at that time with what is now the socio-economic
situation.

I am sure that a lot can be learned from places where there is
socio-economic success ... but this content is rarely collected and
shared. I believe it would be valuable if it could be!

Peter Burgess
____________
Peter Burgess
The Transparency and Accountability Network: Tr-Ac-Net in New York
www.tr-ac-net.org
Community Analytics (CA)
Integrated Malaria Management Consortium (IMMC)
917 432 1191 or 212 772 6918 peterbnyc at gmail.com