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are working to generate income for communities through promoting the
sale of local produce and handicrafts or encouraging tourism.
It is important to emphasize that
the transformational processes which
led to the outcomes described did not simply occur spontaneously - rather,
leadership and facilitation were frequently crucial catalysts for action and
for sustaining momentum in the projects. In several of the case studies, it is
evident that one particular individual or small group has championed the
cause and put in considerable personal effort to achieve success for the ini-
tiatives e.g. in setting up online surgeries for young people to engage with
elected councillors and local council staff in Kingston, UK, in establishing
'America Speaks' to engage communities in debate and planning in the
US, and in setting up schemes to support increased ICT-enabled commer-
cial activity e.g. Nepal Wireless, and Jhai Foundation. K-Net is notable for
the leadership of local chiefs and their clear vision of future ICT-enabled
possibilities for their communities.
6.3 Conclusions
In this chapter we have presented a multi-dimensional model of citizen en-
gagement, which reveals the richness and complexity of the process and
the many benefits to be gained. This model extends current perspectives
for analyzing citizen engagement which have tended to focus on the level
of participation and/or the way in which technology is used in the process.
It identifies a range of characteristics which not only enable a more com-
prehensive description of citizen engagement/participation initiatives but
also offers powerful insights into the conditions for success of such initia-
tives.
It is evident that successes in civic participation - whether in impover-
ished communities in the developing world or in leading developed na-
tions - are underpinned by the development of skills and capabilities of
the participants. Therefore a key message for governments internationally
who are concerned to promote participation and engagement of their citi-
zens in democratic process and in civic society, is that investment in ca-
pacity building is the crucial route to empowering citizens to improve all
aspects of their quality of life. The use of ICT is a powerful enabler in
achieving this but will not of itself deliver more than limited and transient
change. Significant and more lasting change and improvement comes
through e-enabled new opportunities for economic activity, through un-
derstanding local governance, and learning how to have influence and ex-
ercise democratic rights. These outcomes empower people as stakeholders
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