‘NGOs in the age of information’ IDS Bulletin 25 (2) 117-124

Edwards links the rise of NGOs within the development field to the emergence of the information age, and poses the question of whether NGOs have a comparative advantage in linking information, knowledge and action in an efficient and relevant way. He suggests that NGOs have a distinctive competence in this area due to three factors:

1. NGOs have direct access to fieldwork and local accounts.
2. NGOs usually have offices that span the different levels of the global system, and therefore information can flow easily between the grassroots, NGO local offices, NGO headquarters, and NGO lobbying activity in global centres.
3. NGOs’ value base implies a democratic approach to communication that emphasises openness, sharing and non-hierarchical communication channels.

NGOs rely on their distinctive competence in handling information for four main purposes. The first and second purposes concern their own management systems and strategic plans, and their processes of institutional learning. The third purpose is for advocacy. NGOs have realised that they have a far greater chance to influence government and donor policy if they are able to make systematic use of grassroots information in their advocacy work. The fourth purpose is one of accountability. NGOs face increasing pressure to evaluate the impact of their work and to stand accountable to various stakeholders, both upwards to donors and downwards to the communities in which they work. The danger with multiple accountabilities is that upwards accountability may carry more weight than downwards accountability, which in turn may result in a one-way information flow away from the field rather than in both directions.

Edwards reviews possible barriers to information use in NGOs: internal organisational obstacles; problems with representativity and the images that are used; and the gap between raw information and knowledge. Possible solutions include organisational decentralisation, viewing information as an integral part of all organisational processes, emphasising the need for information to be relevant, and taking advantage of the opportunities provided by IT.