POLICY MANAGEMENT BRIEF NUMBER 6, FEBRUARY 1997 COOPERATING

TO

MAKE

INFORMATION

ACTIVITIES

MORE

EFFECTIVE

As aid for developing countris declines, aid agencies want their money to go further and to last longer. To do this, they are looking for ways to manage their resources more efficiently and to improve the quality and effectivenes of activities that they finance. Thus, today´s policy-makers in Europe are trying to make aid policies more coherent, they are looking for mechanisms to achieve better coordination and complementarity in the delivery of aid, and they seek to create communication systems to facilitate learning, feedback, and knowledge exchange. One way to achieve these aims is to encourage more, and more effective, collaboration among organisations that spend aid resources. The impact of this political commitment is being felt throughout the development community including in the information sector where assistance is provided to support information initiatives in developing countries. This is an area of development cooperation where agencies and individuals in Europe are very active—transferring skills (through education and training), providing advice, disseminating resources, and introducing information technologies. In Europe, however, while there are many examples of cooperative projects, a cursory survey shows a multiplicity of organisations and actors, most acting independently, and many scrambling for competitive advantage in tight funding environments. Is this the sort of collaboration that policy -makers envisage and developing countries can best benefit from?. There is a real danger that the real purposes of the collaboration -to in- crease the quality of aid to developing countries and to makes aid delivery more effective - may be lost. This Brief explores why agencies in Europe collaborate on information management projects. It looks at their motives, the management trends and pressures affecting them, and some actions to promote collaboration as a way to improve the quality of development aid. The Context - Information in Development A growth sector... For many developing countries, better access to information and data and participation in the emerging "information society" have become important aims. At different levels national, regional, communal and related systems are now seen as essential tools to be applied in areas such as food security, public sector management, scientific research, education, health, and the management of natural resources.

The donor community is also beginning to recognise the need for effective information and communication. They have begun to provide more support through information projects. They are also enhancing their own information systems to satisfy demands for more accountability, better management, and generally increased aid effectiveness. These twin demands - from developing countries and donors - have made information and its management a growth sector in development cooperation. Combined with the opportunities offered by new information and communication technologies, more and more agencies and individuals are taking part in this new and exciting area of development cooperation. The "entrance costs" (in terms of skills and technologies) to this new profession are lower than ever before and it is only a matter of time before the trend becomes a rush. .....difficult to implement... However, much of assistence and many of the projects operate in relativel uncharted areas. While much has already been done to strengthen information management capacities in developing countries, the conditions are changing and the approaches used are of questionable relevance. They need to be updated. Information systems can be costly and their appetite for resources seems insatiable. They are difficult to implement, requiring frequent ,modification, and they are usually long-term ventures committing the organisation to a course of action for several years. Furthermore, many of the "givens" of the past are being questioned. Traditional information areas such as documentation, libraries, and publishing are undergoing major changes. New information technologies and tools are launched and updated every year, demanding different skills, as well as great flexibility and adaptability. Simply to "keep up" requires substantial investment in tools and people. What is Collaboration ? in this brief, collaboration is defined as : a process in which people and arganisations work together to reach an objective or goal which, otherwise, cannoy be achieved. Two main types of collaboration are : project collaboration, in wich people and agencies agree to join forces in order to apply for project funding. The main motivation in to "win" the project in question. Structural collaboration, in wich people and agencies combine resources and expertise so they can better reach their goals. It is not just the information world that is changing. Traditional North-South cooperation in being replaced by modes that give priority to local capacity-building and ownership. As in other development need to be modified to suit the new imperatives.

...requiring collaboration in such a changing environment communication and collaboration among organisations can help ensure that donor-supported information activities are effective, are well-designed, and can be maintained by recipients. Collaboration is a way to exchange experiences and lessons, to avoid mistakes, and to benefit from past successes. It is also a way to draw on capacities, skills, and knowledge and to make sure that the beneficaries of a project benefit from the systems put in place. Motivations - Why Collaborate ? these discussions suggest that a management argument - that capacity-building efforts are more effective if they fraw on varied experiences and make use of diverse skills - is the main justification for collaboration. Ilowever, a closer look at why organisations collaborate suggests that this managerial concern for impact can be overtaken by other motives with results that are potentially more negative. Three motives... Probably the most important factors are trends in organisational environments that favour or require collaboration. At the policy level, aid managers see collaboration as an objetive to be achieved, partly through shifting patterns of funding. At the European level, funding is targeted to collaborative projects involving several EU member states. Organisations nust collaborate to obtain funds. Within organisations, the trend is towards more specialisation, less structure, more flexibility, and more reliance on consultants, networks, and partner organisations. Thesen partnershihps, emphasise sharing and borrowing of skills, ideas, and knowledge. Collaboration in becoming the rule rather than the exception. Technology also plays a part. Using informatio and communication technologies (ICT), information can easily be created, shared, distributed, and accessed across physical spaces. This facilitates collaboration and, in so doing, begins to break down organisational boundaries and barriers. It is notable that ICT´s often require collaboration by several organisations if they are to be effectively exploited for development purposes. The second motive is that collaboration makes an organisation more competitive. Organisations are encouraged to work together to achieve economies of scale and best use of limited skills and resources. Thus, to be competitive, they are looking for partners. Together, they develop joint projects, products, financial bids, and tenders. They are trying to sell their own expertise, and they hope to find complementary skills that make a project more attractive to funders. The third can be termed "natural instinct". In the information-handling pofessions, collaboration with other organisations has long been accepted as both desirable and normal. There are huge quantitics of information available and no sensible individual or

single organisation attempts to collect and store it all. Consequently, information managers form links and make arrangements to cooperate with those working in the same or complementary subject areas. ...depending on the viewpoint The importance of these motives differs according to the view taken - information users, information managers or brokers, and funding agencies have different criteria in mind. Users want to find what they want, from any source, and expect their local information "supermarker" to be a single source for much this. They expect service improvements to result from collaboration. Information brokers are under pressure - to deliver, to respond to demands, and to stretch their resources. They see collaboration as a way to this. Donor views are guided by value for money and effectiveness concerns. They want to see the added value and spillover effects of t heir support, with minimum duplication and redundancy. Increasingly, they see collaboration itself as a goal to be achieved. Together, these motives are overwhelming and organisations must collaborate to remain rlevant and in business. However, they must be careful not to lose sight of the underlying purpose of collaboration and the concerns of recipients that the aid they receive is effective. It is clear that, while collaboration is technically more feasible and politically more desirable than before, and the pressures to collaborate are growing in importance, potential collaborators still face many barriers. Ways to promote collaboration Provide information on potencial partners and their activities Secure incentive funds for cooperation Odtain top management for cooperation Convince people that cooperation is more useful than competiton Be realístic: Grand designs and global information systems are ofyen not feasible Clarify common interests and who shares them Create a mechanism to keep each other abreast oT activities and Iessons and interests Set up a virtual library on development information initiatives and experiences Mobilise political support form Brussels Break down anglophone/francophone linguístic barriers Use pilot cooperative projects to demonstrate benefits Organise meetings which bring professionals together Set up a Europe-wide discussion group or network to discuss topical issues and raise awareness of cooperative ventures Reduce bureauracy Regularly pool intelligence to provide knowledge of who's doing what Improve guidance and support from donors to encourage cooperation Set up a clearing house to provide comprehensive and current information about and

expertise in Europe Understand that it is not antí-competitive First, collaboration is difficult and time-consuming Second, it is constrained by bureaucracy within organisations, territoriality, resistance to change, a "do-it-yourself" culture, and insufficient skills, contacts and experience. Furthemore, management supports as well as budgets for collaboration hardly exist. Third, it is often difficult for collaborators to identify common interests. There are few opporunities to exchange experiences, the pool of knowledge on collaboration in the sector is small and scattered, and collaboration mechanisms are poorly-developed. Promoting Effective Collaboration In October 1996, concerned to strengthen mechanism for collaboratiion, a group of information specialists met at ECDPM to odentify "best practices" with which to improve collaboration. Several key actions stand our : 1. Gather intelligence on problems, issues, user needs, opportunities, donor interests, and projects ; 2. Seek knowledge on potential partners – their capacity, capabilities, activities, mandates, and skills ; 3. Develop skills in management, proposal preparation, facilitation, negotiation, and working tigether ; 4. Provide an enabling institucional environment with incentives to collaborate and resources with which to collaborate ; 5. Promote the use of communication mechanisms that allow organisations to share experiences and keep abreast of developments in the field ; 6. Agree on goals, objetives and clear outputs that satisfy shared or common interests ; 7. Share the ownership of an activity – both the benefits and the risks ; 8. Define clear roles for each collaborator, including task division and leadership ; 9. Involve beneficiaries to ensure that activities involve aid recipients and are based on "real" problems. Donor agencies can also promote and foster collaboration among the organisatiions that carry out aid projects, mainly through funding priorities, but also by example. Specifically, they can : Stress in documents inviting tenders for projects that bids from several organisations are particulary welcome ; Accept that multi-organisation projects are likely to deliver better products and make more efficient use of specialised skills ; Simplify the bureaucracy (and therefore up-front costs) for multi irganisational bids. Set aside specific funds for cooperative projects and products. This Brief Policy Management Briefs are intended for policy-makers concerned with aspects of development. Drawing from work of ECDPM, its partners, and its associates, the aim is to provide succinet and readable summaries of current issues in the management of development policy. This brief is bases on ideas and discussiions at a joint ECDPM and

NRI Consultation entitled "Facilitating acces to Agricultural and Natural Resource Information in the Developing World" held in Maastricht from 10-11 October, 1996. Publisher European Centre for Development Policy Management Onze Lieve Vrouweplein 21 6211 HE Maastricht, the Netherlands Phone : (31) 43 3502900 Fax : (31) 43 3502902 e-mail : [email protected] Internet Address http ://www.oneworld.org/ecdpm Layout Suzanne Cartigny Klaus Hoefsloot