Global Cooperation and Global Dialogue in Development Research and Information

Abstract

Considers development research in the context of North-South relations. There are four key areas which lead to Northern dominance of development research: research agendas; the paradigms that frame the research; the researchers; and what happens to the outcomes of the research. The Internet facilitates more horizontal information and communications flows, and has the potential to enable dialogue between the North and the South, and from South to South. But it also facilitates faster and easier extraction of information, raw data and so-called ‘local knowledge’ from the South by the North. Internet-based global development gateways are seen as a solution to disseminating development information but such initiatives cannot lead to meaningful dialogue between North and South. By building content locally, for local use, linked to developing long-term capacity to produce, evaluate and use information, it may be possible to succeed in maintaining the links between information and action that can contribute to generating change. Includes a comment on the paper by Daniel Baudin, Executive Director of IBISCUS, France.