"Good Enough" service delivery?

I just came across a wonderful video on YouTube (posted below) by Professor Michael Wesch from KSU about Web 2.0 and the need to re-think our conception of the Internet and its governance given that it is rapidly evolving into something new, a global repository of human knowledge being dynamically manifested by billions of people every day. (Something like that!) Really, watch the video (it's got great music, too) to get the feel for what he is saying.



In any case, he mentioned something in his description about Web 2.0 and the "eternal beta". Intrigued, I googled the phrase and came across an interesting post on another blog, The Good Enough Movement and the Eternal Beta. Published over 3 years ago, the article talks about a new form of web deployment that has changed the IT world, where software is essentially release in beta form (like Flickr) because it is "good enough" for end users. There's an extended discussion there beyond the scope of this blog, but interesting if you are into web architecture and all that.

The interesting thing for me was that it related to work I've read and cited by Professor Merilee Grindle of Harvard around the concept of Good Enough Governance. There's a great PowerPoint by Professor Grindle available on the web that summarizes the concept.

Similar to the eternal beta, Grindle questions this authoritative notion of developing country government having to get governance exactly right, and by extension enforcing that in foreign policy, aid and so forth. Perfect governance (does that exist??) is criticized as an overly-ambitious and distracting agenda that gets in the way of figuring out how to make things work for people all over the world. The old good governance paradigm gives 3rd World governments a list of things they must get right without, as the PowerPoint lists, regard to prioritization, sequencing, and feasibility.

When it comes to delivering water, sanitation, energy and other basic services that billions around the world still lack, we need to build on what exists, do more of what works, and prioritize based on people's needs and demands (here is where democracy comes into play)... In essence, we should be pushing an "eternal beta" model of governance that is constantly being refined and improved by the input of its users (the populace) rather than authoritative, hierarchical models of what should be, far removed from the every day reality of people on the ground.

What I'm saying is potable water and adequate sanitation can be and is being delivered in myriad ways and we should support those efforts on the ground.