[liberationtech] Stanford LiberationTech Seminar: Tech & Fight Against Corruption in India

[Yosem Companys]

Technology and the Fight Against Corruption in India

Vivek Srinivasan

December 4, 2014 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

at Wallenberg Theater
Bldg 160 Rm 124

Open to the public.
No RSVP required

Contact: Kathleen Barcos <kbarcos at stanford.edu>

ABSTRACT

The anger against corruption in India has led to many new experiments at 
fighting it and technology is increasingly a part of such experiments – be 
it in the form of large e-governance projects or a small grassroots 
mobilization. Some of these initiatives have led to substantial improvement 
in performance whereas others remain highly contested. In this talk, Vivek 
will discuss a few experiments by governments and by civil society and the 
debate around impact of technology in fighting corruption.

SPEAKER BIO

I joined the Liberation Technology Program as the Manager in February 2011 
after completing my Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the Maxwell School of 
Syracuse University. Prior to this, I worked with campaigns on various 
socio-economic rights in India, including the right to food, education and 
the right to information. Based on these experiences I have written (and 
co-authored) extensively on issues surrounding the right to food, including 
Notes from the right to food campaign: people's movement for the right to 
food (2003), Rights based approach and human development: An introduction 
(2008), Gender and the right to food: A critical re-examination (2006), 
Food Policy and Social Movements: Reflections on the Right to Food Campaign 
in India (2007).

In working with these campaigns, I realized the widespread disparities in 
the provision of basic public services in India. This led me examine how 
Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state, developed extensive commitment to 
providing such services to all its residents in my doctoral dissertation. 
Oxford University Press will shortly publish my book based on the 
dissertation entitled, "Delivering services effectively: Tamil Nadu and 
Beyond".

As a full-time activist, I also experimented with various IT platforms to 
make the campaigns effective. This interest brought me to the Liberation 
Technology Program at Stanford. I am currently leading a research project 
entitled "Combating corruption with mobile phones" that is in currently on 
a pilot mode in 5 states of India.

http://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/libtech/events/liberation-technology-seminar-series-john-villiasenor
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