Development through the Looking Glass: the Knowledge Bank in cyberspace

• Published in: Information development Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 41 - 46
• Main Author: Wilks, Alex
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.03.2002; Bowker-Saur
• Subjects: Business information; Developing countries; Exact sciences and technology; Information and communication sciences; Information science. Documentation; Online databases; Other aspects of specialized information. Miscellaneous; Research and development; Sciences and techniques of general use; Specialized information sources; Specialized information sources (paper or electronic format); Web sites; World Bank; Bank(institution); Information source; Development; Developing countries; Portal site; Knowledge base; Economic information
• ISSN: 0266-6669; 1741-6469
• DOI: 10.1177/0266666024241212

Paper presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Information Management Working Group of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), held in Bordeaux, France from 12–14 September 2001. Since 1996 the World Bank has been parading its credentials as a ‘Knowledge Bank’. At first the Bank concentrated on building its own website. More recently it has spun off other web initiatives such as the Global Development Network, the Rapid Response privatization site, and the Development Gateway. This paper assesses the latter in the context of the Bank’s overall approach to knowledge and of other web initiatives in the development field. The Development Gateway maintains that it is a neutral vehicle for presenting research and analysis, but is in fact conceived, designed and operated in a way that systematically excludes certain voices and perspectives. Many civil society organizations have decided not to cooperate with the Gateway and instead to continue to build a plurality of spaces to post, share and aggregate information, including critical perspectives on the Bank’s knowledge agenda.