ePARTICIPATION IN NIPSS CRISIS GAME SIMULATION EXERCISE: BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

BY

TANKO AHMED fwcSnr Fellow (Security & Strategic Studies)

Research Directorate, NIPSS, Kuru

A Prologue• The digital divide remains formidable in scaling ICT-enabled opportunities for effective

leadership and development in countries lagging behind.

• In a country like Nigeria, leadership and development challenges often hinge on the lack of effective co-ordination beneficial of eParticipation.

• This paper discusses the application and practice of eParticipation in simulation exercise for leadership training in Nigeria.

• The Crisis Game, a simulation exercise, of Nigeria’s National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) provides a case study with the theme of political zoning set in 2011.

• Three major theories of structuration, institutional and actor-network are used to ascertain the significance of eParticipation in bridging the digital divide.

• Its findings include low level and inadequate utilization of ICT devices and processes for eparticipation at the highest level of leadership training in Nigeria.

• The paper recommends stronger institutionalization of ICT support; public enlightenment; collaborative research on eparticipation; and legislation for enhancing eparticipation capability in bridging global digital divide.

INTRODUCTION

‘… behind every technology is somebody who is using it and this somebody is a society …’

- Ernesto Che Guevara de La Serna (1963)

Background• The practice of eParticipation provides an avenue for

adaptation, application and utilization of ICT, as sub-set of eGovernance, in the realm of eDemocracy.

• This arrangement depicts the need for bridging existing digital gap within and across countries in global context.

• A revolutionary call for acquisition and application of technology for societal building and development came from Ernesto Che Guevara de La Serna (1963):

‘… every technology should be used to the benefit of the greatest number of people so that we can build the society of the future, no matter what name it may be called.’ - Guevara (1963)

Literature Flow

• Literature on eParticipation tends to flow in multi-access stream, allowing for group contribution and utilization, mostly intensified by international fora.

• A case in view is the Third International Federation for Information

Processing held in The Netherlands at Delft, August/September 2011, with proceedings well circulated across the globe at all levels.

• Lee and Kim (2013) recognized that growing body of literature make emphasis on eparticipation as means of facilitating greater citizen participation.

• The eGovPoliNet, The Policy Community, aims at building a global multidisciplinary digital government and policy research and practice (eGovPoliNet, 2014).

• This work contributes to a project by the eGovPoliNet on ICT-based or digital solution for governance and policy by bringing to light the need to bridge the gap in local to global digital divide – as well as filling a literature gap.

Problem Statement Nigeria is a developing country, diverse and divided, where challenges in

governance and overall democratic practices often hinge on effective co-ordination.

Imobighe (1988, p. 4) opined that Nigerian leaders are not adequately conversant with techniques of effective co-ordination.

This situation can be improved by application of ‘eParticipation’ principles and practice, particularly in leadership training for policy makers.

This paper discusses the application of eParticipation principles and practice in ‘simulation exercise’ for ‘leadership training’.

The Crisis game, a simulation exercise, of Nigeria’s National Institute for

Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) is dealt as a case study on eParticipation, with the theme of ‘political zoning’.

Aims & Objectives The paper focuses on the use of innovative instruments and technologies as solution to policy problems through eparticipation as contribution to bridging the digital divide. Its points of inquiry include:

What are the concepts and relationships of digital divide, eparticipation, simulation exercise, crisis game, leadership training and political zoning?

How eparticipation is applicable to simulation exercises?

To what extent eparticipation in leadership training can contribute to bridging the digital divide?

What recommendations can be proffered in promoting eparticipation for eGovernance in the realm of eDemocracy in Nigeria?

Significance of the Paper• The significance of this chapter is on the need to bridge the digital

divide, from personal to local, national and global eparticipation, as a subset of egovernment in the realm of edemocracy.

• Its findings and recommendations would serve to improve much

needed leadership skills for national development in Nigeria.

• It will also open grounds for scholarly and professional dialogue, understanding, and further research on the way forward in the field of eparticipation.

• It is hoped that the digital divide will close ranks from its lowest to the highest across the world, in a ‘glocal’ (and ‘locabal’)context.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Major Theories of eParticipation• Major theories associated with application of eParticipation in activities

of capacity building include the structuration, institutional and actor-network.

• These theories address how ways of doing things affect the way such things are done.

• Islam (2008) suggests a framework for an effective eParticipation model

applicable to any country targeting some essential common elements for universal applicability.

• This is based on some theories and lessons learned from e-participation practices in both developing and developed countries in the digital divide architecture.

• The triad of structuration, institutional and actor-network are explained and constructed into a thrust in the following passages.

Structuration Theory• Structural Theory suggests that human activity and

larger structure relate with each in such a way that structures are produced or altered by new ways and means (Gauntlett, 2002).

• The local to global structure of the digital divide is a construct which can be produced or altered by applied principles of eParticipation, especially associated with institutional practices.

• This is expressed in the earlier United Nations’ World Summits on Information Society sited above.

Institutional Theory

• Institutional theory asserts that institutional environment influence the development of formal structures by diffusion of innovative structures http://faculty.babson.edu.

• Captured in the process of leadership training module, the tenets of this theory combine to impart eparticipation to beneficiaries as they engage in an interactive actor-network activities or exercise.

Actor-Network Theory

• Actor-network theory treats individual objects as part of larger structure, mapping relations between things and meanings, in a network of relations (Latour, 1987, 1999 & 2005; Law and Hassard, 2005).

• A situation of simulated exercise exposes

participants to a network of relations consolidating bottom-up connectivity capable of bridging gaps in the global digital divide architecture.

Theoretical Framework• The above framework yields to the propositions that

complex situations may appear simpler than expected based on a construct view of the observer (Schidhunder, 1997; Charter, 1999; Chater & Vitany, 2003; and Dessalles, 2010).

• In this wise, the interlock of the structuration,

institutional and actor-network theories would generate principles and practice as common denominators.

• This construct in turn serves as a theoretical framework

as presented in Figure 1.

Fig 1: A ‘3 Theory’ Construct

‘3 Theory’ Construct (cont’d)

This proposition is used to test and apply the hypothesis that eparticipation can bridge the digital divide.

The interplay of these major theories attempts to validate this assumption in the case of eparticipation application to simulation exercise in leadership training in Nigeria.

A Hypothesis

Seen from the above theoretical prospect, the interlocking theories tend to generate principles and practices for application of eParticipation.

Thus, this paper hypothesizes that: eparticipation application to simulation exercise for leadership training enhances

the bridging of digital divide.

METHODOLOGY

Desk & Library

Focused Group

Empirical Data

Systematic application

A Modal Mix

The paper operates in a mixture of theoretical,

methodological, empirical and analytic modes.

CONCEPTUAL DISCOURSE

Key Terms: Digital Divide eParticipation

Simulation Exercise Crisis Game

Leadership Training Political Zoning

Digital Divide• Digital divide denotes the inequality of access to ICT or

difference in opportunities available to people who have access and those who do not.

• The term applies more to inequalities between individuals, households, businesses and geographical areas at different socio-economic and other demographic scale categories (Norris, 2001; Patricia, 2003; and US-NTIA, 2004).

• Global Digital Divide however, applies at the scale of nations

as units of analysis, referring to gap between developing and developed countries (Chinn & Fairlie, 2004).

eParticipation

• The letter ‘e’ signifies ‘electronic’, relating to computer application, use, access or practice. Participation refers to the act of taking part in joint activities for the purpose of reaching a common goal.

• eParticipation involves the adaptation, application and

utilization of modern ICT equipment, practices or processes in activities.

• The term is generally defined as ‘ICT-supported

participation in processes involve in government and governance (Avdic et al, 2007), including administration, service delivery, decision making and policy making.

Simulation Exercise

• Simulation exercise is a training exercise in which participants perform same or all of the actions they would take in the event of plan activation http://securemediastorage.co.uk/glossary .

• Trends in training and education are replacing formal and extensive theoretical development with simulation exercises that develop ideas based on practical real world situation (Biehler, 1985; Gordon and Gordon, 1992; Hogg, 1992; and Moore, 1992).

• In some instances, entire course modules are zeroed into

simulation exercises for more practical benefits (Lipson, 1997).

• This is demonstrated in the NIPSS SEC module in which the Crisis Game simulation exercise is introduced to inculcate leadership skills to its participants (Imobighe, 1988 p. 4).

Crisis Game

• Crisis games are aspects of crisis management training in which participants deal or work through simulated crises to learn how to solve or cope with problems as they arise.

• The purpose of Crisis Game at NIPSS is to simulate a crisis situation in order to equip Participants of the Senior Executive Course with skills to manage and resolve real life crises.

• It is a decision making tool designed for use by policy makers whose decisions usually have far reaching effects on the polity.

• The convener of the NIPSS Programme, Imobighe (1988) elucidated that ‘crisis game is to strategic studies what clinical work is to the study of medicine’ (p. 5).

Crisis Game (cont’d)• Crisis Games, as simulation exercises, are conducted for purpose

of governance and policy modelling with local-to-global implications.

• An example is the Unified Quest simulations conducted by the United State Army War College with participants ranging from military officers to professors.

• Gardner (2008) reported a fictitious Nigerian scenario set in 2013 depicting a near collapse of government as rival factions vie for power.

• This was not irrelevant to the theme of ‘political zoning’ adopted

for the NIPSS Crisis Game 2011.

Political Zoning• The word political concerns balance in power relationship especially in a

group, organization or country; and zoning refers to the principle of using sub-sections of particular area, like a country, for purposes of rational or rotational benefits.

• Political Zoning embraces allotment, ration, rotation, or sharing of offices or positions among contending interests within or among groupings like political parties and institutions of governance.

• In Nigeria, zoning carries an extensive usage from the inception of the

country to the present six geo-political zones structure on which the current debate on zoning is staged.

• The issue of zoning is critical in the general schemes and activities of governance in Nigeria, and a delicate subject, not easy to contain – thus fit for NIPSS Crisis Game.

Leadership Training

Leadership training or leadership development refers to any activity that enhances the quality of leadership within an individual or organization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership_training.

Leadership development is defined as an intentional effort to provide leaders and emerging leaders with opportunities to learn, grow and change, with skills to function effectively www.hillconsultinggroup.org

Leadership Training at NIPSS• Within the NIPSS Senior Executive Course is the Crisis Game

described as ‘crisis game simulation’ and considered as the ‘crowning event’ of the programme (Imobighe, 1988).

• In the same vein, Imobighe (1988) assessed Nigerian crops of leaders and pronounced that:

‘… it has not been evident that the country’s leaders are adequately conversant with the techniques of crisis management. In most case, they have relied on chance; and hardly were their responses based on any thorough and systematic appreciation of the mechanics for handling the relevant events’ (Pp. 3-4)

APPLICATION OF ePARTICIPATION IN

SIMULATION EXERCISE

Digital Opportunity Index• The Digital Opportunity Index (DOI) operates on an e-index based on

internationally accepted ICT indicators.

• The DOI is a standard tool for assessment of ICT performance within and across countries. These indicators are clustered into three main headings of opportunity, infrastructure and utilization applicable to the principles and application of eparticipation.

• For example, simulation exercises are administered on selected themes in scenarios activated by subjects, attributes, means, intensity and purpose for which they are staged.

• The exercises are designed to simulate state-of-play environment with briefs, timeframe, roles, locations, tempo and equipment similar to those encountered in real life.

Features of eParticipation Application

• Individual or institutional participants, as subjects of simulation exercise, include persons or agencies charged with responsibilities for decision and policy making and implementation.

• They bring forth the attributes of group dynamics in governance; utilization of the means through available equipment and skills; face the intensity of interactivity; and purpose of justified actions.

• The application of eparticipation to simulation exercise involves the use of modern ICT equipment, principles, practices and processes as tools.

Tools of eParticipation in Simulation Exercise

• Simulation exercises are supported with tools ranging from ordinary electronic gadgets like television sets, radio equipment, recorders, cameras and other audio visual aids to higher and more sophisticated computer-based applications.

• They include networking, Internet and systems like the Web 2.0., which allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue in real time http://scholar.googleusercontent.com.

• DiNucci (1999, Pp. 221-222) described this methodology as ‘the ether (or space) through which interactivity happens’.

Examples of eParticipation Applications

• These tools of eparticipation provide the architecture for real-time simulation exercises.

• An example is the European Union’s ‘Seventh Framework

Programme (FP7) or ICT Challenge 7 in support of governance and policy modelling http://cordis.europa.eu .

• Other examples include simulation exercises like the US

Army War College ‘Unified Quested’ earlier cited, which employ the use of tools and processes similar to requirements for the Crisis Simulation Games of leadership training module at NIPSS.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR

POLICY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES (NIPSS), KURU -

NIGERIA

The NIPSS• The NIPSS is the premier leadership training institution in

Nigeria with dual mandate of policy research and training of senior executives.

• The emergence of NIPSS as a government ‘think tank’ was associated with the need to coordinate the ever-increasing complexity in government activities (Eleazu, 1978 p.5-7).

• Participants going to NIPSS include professionals at the apex of their various careers spread across public and private sector.

• The participants were subjected to rigours of leadership training module on strategic studies, policy analysis, public administration, fieldwork and crowned with a Crisis Simulation Game.

NIPSS Crisis Game• The NIPSS Crisis Simulation Game is conducted by an expert

as Convener and assisted by a Planning and Monitoring Committee supported by a logistics secretariat.

• The game is not a drama, so no script is necessary, but players are briefed on a theme, rules, roles and units’ allocation and scenario.

• Participants are encouraged to show commitment and dedication in making the event as real as possible.

• To accomplish all these, both organizers and players are encouraged to employ equipment, particularly electronic gadgets for enhancement of performance.

NIPSS Crisis Game (cont’d…)• At its initial stages, the NIPSS Crisis Game was supported with

primary electronics like microphones, cameras, television sets, recorders, video players and public address systems.

• The trend in electronic advancement and easier access to services and processes brought in new equipment like mobile or smart phones, computers platforms, social media and the internet capable of enhancing eparticipation.

• An assessment of the NIPSS Crisis Game 2011 on application of principles and practice of eparticipation would determine its level on the global digital divide architecture and the way to bridge it.

An Assessment

• The global digital divide architecture portrays developed countries with higher and more advanced computer literacy than developing countries.

• Equipment and applications used in the NIPSS Crisis Game are inferior to the more advanced Web 2.0 employed in similar exercises in developed Europe and America.

• The US Army War College ‘Unified Quest’ game, for example, employs the best, highest and most efficient means for achieving desired effect (Gardner, 2008).

Assessment (cont’d…)A Focused Group interview with the NIPSS ICT Unit the following facts were revealed:

Course Participants and staff were excited with the roles, tempo and process of the game, but lack computer skills;

The game could have been better if adequate equipment and practices are provided;

No deliberate effort was made to provide higher equipment and special skills for upgrading of the Crisis Game programme;

Those in charge of budgeting do not take computerization of the institute very critical; and

The use of individual initiatives for use of smart phones, data mining software, and new methods were not logically pursued.

Assessment (cont’d…)

These predicaments were compounded by low computer literacy of 50% amongst both Participants and staff of NIPSS, likened to a Catch-22 impasse.

This outcome, emanating from the lower skills of both the players and organizers, add up to amplify the gap in digital divide from the bottom level of the Institute to the highest world standard level, which is still bridgeable.

FindingsMajor findings associated with the above assessment indicate the manifestation of the structuration, institutional and actor-network theories used in the work, as follows: A gap has been established as proof of global digital divide architecture and the

existence of a threshold, from which efforts on bridging can be implemented. This proofs that structures are produced or altered by new ways and means, concordance to the structuration theory;

The NIPSS staff and Course participants are willing and eager to improve eparticipation in the Crisis Game process by diffusion of innovative structures subject to environmental influence in the assumptions of institutional theory; and

However, lost opportunities for bridging the digital divide were at the same time incurred due to lack of initiative and willingness to change, on the side of the Conveners of the NIPSS Crisis Game, exhibiting weaknesses in network of relationships associated with the actor-network theory.

CONCLUSION

Summary• This paper sets out to discuss the application of

eparticipation principles and practice to simulation exercise in leadership training in Nigeria.

• It analyzed the NIPSS Crisis Game for leadership training in Nigeria and outlined some challenges and opportunities.

• The paper employs three major theories of structuration,

institutional and actor-network to ascertain the significance of eParticipation for leadership capacity building.

• Its findings include low level and inadequate utilization of ICT equipment and processes for eparticipation at highest level of leadership training in Nigeria.

Conclusion• What appeared to be like a local ‘sink hole’ in loss of

opportunity for eparticipation application in the NIPSS Crisis Simulation Game may be the nucleus of a ‘black hole’ in global context.

• The work concludes that the opportunities in eparticipation, egovernment and edemocracy can expand e-applications from local to global spheres.

• In these ways and means, the bridging of the gap in digital divide, is feasible and will make the entire world a better place.

• That is, the bridging of digital divide requires deliberate, but systemic eparticipation at the lowest point for -

‘behind every technology is somebody who is using it and this somebody is a society’.

Recommendations eParticipation should be made accessible by global Centres of activities in

more developed countries, to enhance vertical and horizontal coverage across the world;

Local efforts in eGovernance should be intensified by less developed countries through basic and systematic eparticipation at individual, local, national, regional and global levels;

Individual citizens, particularly government officials, should be encouraged and provided with eparticipation skills for improved performance and general betterment of society;

Domestication and enactment of legislations and conventions on eParticipation, eGovernance and eDemocracy would enhance efforts at local, national, regional and global levels; and

The UN, the African Union, the ECOWAS, and other global efforts like the eGovPoliNet should continue to be involved in the promotion of eparticipation at the grassroots.

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