Summary and Conclusions

Within the context of the United Nations, numerous voices have called for greater seriousness to be applied to devcom, from Erskine Childers in 1968 to the UN General Assembly in 2004. Yet devcom remains on the periphery, the subject of occasional conferences, corridor conversations, and research papers like this one.

This research paper sought to identify some of the dominant patterns shaping the current understanding of development communications. Pulling from the reviewed literature, the researcher has presented a trend towards incorporating both the “vertical” (diffusion) approach to development communications and the more participatory perspective into a syncretic solution that involves information transfer, empowerment, and participatory communication. However, as exemplified in the survey, this trend is not yet complete and the pendulum is still heavily on the side of participatory devcom.

Looking at the roles of information (diffusion) and participation in the process of empowerment, and how that translates into human development, let us consider the following:

1. Information , the World Bank recently observed, is a prerequisite for empowerment , which it defines as “the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control and hold accountable the institutions that affect their lives.” (World Bank, 2002). Informed citizens, it adds, “are better equipped to take advantage of opportunity, access services, exercise their rights, and hold state and non-state actors accountable.”
2. Ascroft & Masilela (1994) also argue that participation drives empowerment by encouraging people to be active in the development process, to contribute ideas, take initiative, articulate needs and problems and assert their autonomy.
3. Denise Gray-Felder and James Deane (1999) emphasize that the true power of communication is to give people the confidence and conviction to own the process and the content of communication in their communities. Thus, empowerment is a prerequisite for effective participatory communication .
4. Servaes (1997, 1999) and others have continuously stressed the relationship between participatory communication and development . For them, effective participatory communication is a prerequisite for sustainable development.

A valid argument could thus be made that in most situations an effective theoretical framework for assessing the role of communications in development programs is one that includes both diffusion and participatory devcom perspectives to help meet the specific objectives in each unique development context.

Translating this argument into a language that can be understood by policy makers, however, is a difficult challenge – even more difficult than the challenge of communicating either of the two approaches to those who decide on budgets. Most of the participants in the survey conducted for this paper seemed to be of the opinion that it is far easier to demonstrate the value of devcom than its impact (at least in empirical terms). The participants in the three-week e-forum on Measuring the Impact of Communication in Development Projects and Programs reached the same conclusion: Demonstrating the precise impact of communication might be difficult, but showing the failures and waste of money and resources in projects with no communication or bad use of communication is much easier (World Bank, 2005).

In order for devcom to be effective, it needs budgetary and political support from decision-makers in development organizations. In order to secure this support, those advocating for devcom need to be both effective in executing their programmes, and effective in communicating results in terms that can be understood by those in charge – most of whom demand quantifiable evidence of impact. Since the field of devcom is populated by communications professionals, this task presumably should not be as difficult as it has been.

Not to neglect ICTs for Development

Though this study focused mostly on the more traditional approaches to diffusion and participatory devcom, the researcher recognizes that an increasingly important tool in this work involves harnessing information and communication technologies (ICTs). In the future, as the technological infrastructure in developing countries begins to expand and improve, ICTs will be increasingly used to advance both dimensions of development communication: to both diffuse information and provide a medium for participation. However, for many countries in the developing world, especially those in Least Developed Countries, this is not likely to occur for another 15 or 20 years.

While this paper was being researched and written, a natural disaster of epic proportions occurred in the Indian Ocean region. In retrospect, it appears evident that the tremendous loss of life could have been far less had an early warning system been in place. Though not directly related to the types of development communication discussed in this paper, this is ICT for development. It is also exemplary of how relatively small investments now can save lives later. A recent proposal from the government of Germany would involve 30 to 40 new monitoring stations in the region would cost an initial $52 million and could be in place in three years. 10 This pales in comparison to the cost of inaction. As of January 10, 2005 , more than $6 billion had been pledged for post-tsunami relief and reconstruction.

Though far less dramatic, the same seriousness should be applied to the rest of development communication.

The development of devcom and Weick's information systems theory

Karl Weick would possibly view the evolution of the theoretical framework of development communication as a natural process of making sense out of the practice's multiple meanings (equivocal information). His work is relevant to the evolution and application of development communication. Through his information systems theory ( Griffin , 1979), Weick tries to help organizations make sense out of the confusing messages they may be getting from their environment. Weick's approach involves the following three-stage process of social-cultural evolution: enactment, selection and retention.

Weick believes the only way to fail is to fail to act. He maintains that organizations doing anything to incorporate communications in their development actions have already taken a big step in the right direction through which they may begin to define and manage the information related to the impact of devcom.

After taking action, organizations should clarify the reasons for the actions that were taken in order to reduce uncertainty, and narrow the options. Selection, also known as retrospective sense making, allows an organization to answer basic questions of meaning. The selection step of the process involves two tools — rules and cycles. The rules are “stock responses that have served well in the past and have become standard operating procedure” (Griffen,1997, p. 268). The second tool involves cycles of the double-interact to remove equivocally. Weick says that the more equivocal the information is, the more cycles it will take to reduce the ambiguity. This could explain the various cycles of the definition of devcom, from diffusion to participation to diffusion, back to participation, gradually merging into a combination of the two for many development professionals.

Retention is where people determine which definitions of devcom will be stored for their own future use. The retention process has several additional levels that vary depending on the amount of double interacts involved. The reason many organizations fail, according to Weick, is because they are too dependent on the past and are unable to be flexible. Weick believes that when an organization retains too much information it will create more rules, thereby making it more difficult to respond to complex information. In other words, although some retention of the past is good, too much may not be. To deal with this phenomenon, Weick would advise organizations to challenge what they think they already know about development communication.