Development 2 0

New ICTs pose a challenge to the standard approaches to development. New ICTs and their potentials for open (transparent, participatory and collaborative) activities invite the possibilities for a “more plural and collaborative Development 2.0” (Thompson, 2007). The Open ICT4D hypothesis argument developed here poses the same critique and possibilities to development thinking as Thompson’s Development 2.0 paradigm. The only potential difference between the two is that openness is not reliant on a particular technology, but is another expression of a movement from a vertical to a horizontal organizational structure with increasing participation of those who receive the benefits of development itself (although this appears to be what Thompson is arguing). In this way, Development 2.0 and Open ICT4D both highlight the possibility of applying more horizontal stakeholder relationships with highly distributed information and enhanced possibilities for feedback loops and coordination over distance in the management and implementation of ICT4D activities.