Via Global Voices, I just read this fascinating summary of case studies from Technology for Transparency. The group maps and evaluates technology projects that promote transparency, accountability and civic engagement around the world. According to the review, efforts are underway in Brazil, Cambodia, Mexico, Kenya, India, China and even Zimbabwe - all using Web 2.0 social media and mashups to shed light on shady government practices and support the power of citizens to hold their political leaders accountable.

The importance of these efforts is hard to overstate. Young World countries are often poorly served by their governments. The corruption, tribalism and brutality of petty politicians immiserates ordinary people, stifles innovation, and confounds the expression of talent. The tactic of politicians, both in government and in opposition, is to co-opt the frustration that they help create, and leave people feeling that they have no choice but to join one movement or another, even though their own voices and concerns are not heard.

These various local projects hold promise in areas where previous efforts at political reform have failed, partly because they leverage useful, widely-popular technology platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Google Maps that give power to individuals, but also because they fit with the norms of the burgeoning Net Generation whose numbers are rapidly growing across the Young World. They mobilize the appetite for change and progress inherent in a generation whose expectations have been shaped by exposure to the wider world, using channels that are harder for entrenched local interests to block or co-opt.

Most if not all of these initiatives are the result of independent entrepreneurship: innovation from the bottom up. The rapid spread of ubiquitous networks has not only given local activists and ordinary citizens the tools to address long-standing problems of governance that have hampered the social and economic development of their countries, but has also connected them to the transnational network of developers, opinion-leaders, and institutional sponsors who can provide critical support to amplify their voices.

Technology for Transparency exemplifies the kind of institutional support that these organizations need: attention and resources that nurture local innovation, not top-down, command-and-control leadership. The sophistication inherent in this effort is impressive and uplifting. The wins here may be small and local, but they point the way toward authentic progress rather than the hollow sloganeering and fake populism that usually results from efforts at government reform.