The Panel that I participated at the Development Studies Association (DSA) Conference in Oxford, 'Power, politics and digital development' was very interesting. The discussion covered the diverse issues around digital technology and power dynamics particularly in the context of global South. Link to the papers presented - http://www.nomadit.co.uk/dsa/dsa2016/panels.php5?PanelID=4461
Convenors: Richard Heeks (University of Manchester) Mark Graham (University of Oxford) Ben Ramalingam (Institute of Development Studies)
My presentation - Institutional isomorphism and organized hypocrisy in aid information management systems (AIMS): the case of Indonesia - highlights the complexity of open aid platform, commonly referred to as aid information management systems (AIMS) that enable donors and recipient government to share geo-spatial aid data.
Conceptualizing such systems as a set of socio-technical domains in which different political and institutional interests of various stakeholders inevitably collide, my paper places emphasis on the political complexity stakeholders face surrounding AIMS implementation. Drawing upon institutional perspectives, the idea of institutional isomorphism and organized hypocrisy, the study positions the implementation of AIMS in the context of external pressures that the government confronted.
Case study in Indonesia shows that gaps between government's policy and action are the contradictory outcome of power dynamics and demands imposed on the government by stakeholders: donor countries, international development agencies, and epistemic community in aid sector. By focusing on the diverging interests of powerful stakeholders and conflicting themes interpreted, I tried to argue that an adoption of innovation systems is not mainly driven by a search for managerialistic advantage, but motivated by external institutional pressure. For future research, I hope to understand the failure of such systems and and unpack the puzzle why technology does not work for the originally expected outcomes including aid coordination.