Cecilia Strand
email: cecilia.strand@im.uu.se

Mobile phones as a citizen-controlled anti-corruption tool in East Africa -a Literature Review

Keywords: Mobiles, Corruption, Transparency, Accountability, East Africa

Despite agreement amongst donors, business and political leaders concerning the negative effects of corruption, levels have not fallen in East Africa. The continued high levels of corruption, reassert the need for a better understanding if mobile phones, if prolific enough, can be an effective tool against corruption. Through a literature review of ten years M4D and ICT4D research on mobiles as a citizens-controlled tool for a) accessing government information either directly or through citizens' crowd-sourcing of information and b) mobilization to demand greater government transparency, as well as, c) instantaneous reporting of corruption in East Africa; this study attempts to gauge the status of this research field. The review included the ten highest ranking open access ICT4D journals, and six journals from parent disciplines; information system and development studies, as well as conference proceedings from the M4D conferences, and the SIG Globdev Workshops. The review concludes that earlier optimism around mobiles' potential to support citizens' counter-corruption actions, has not resulted in a significant body of research. Nor does the literature provide any substantive clues as to why this urgent topic has not been explored more fully.

Introduction

Corruption levels in East Africa, with the notable exception of Rwanda have not fallen despite significant donor attention, negative business community reviews, and repeated commitments across the political spectrum to forcefully address corruption [START_REF]People and corruption: Africa survey[END_REF]. Corruption can take on different forms, such as bribe-soliciting, where public officials demand payment in return for administrative advantages, or introducing unofficial fees for basic services that should be free [START_REF] Levine | Political corruption: The Ghana case[END_REF]. It can take on more hidden forms, such as when officials skim a portion of development assistance or government funding. Corruption also exist in the shape of nepotism, i.e., favors to ethnic or clan co-patriots. Regardless of form, corruption threatens the very core of societies as it erodes citizens' trust in institutions and willingness to contribute to them, as well as defend the same institutions. Furthermore, corruption does not affect all citizens equally. The poorest citizens, who cannot afford alternative service providers, and thus are the most dependent on basic services, are also the most likely to pay a bribe [START_REF] Justesen | Exploiting the poor: Bureaucratic corruption and poverty in Africa[END_REF]. In a region with many of the Millennium Development Goals still unmet [START_REF]East Africa overall MDG achievement[END_REF], and half of the population living below the poverty line, corruption thus hits hard. Across the region, citizens convey frustrations with high and even increasing levels of corruption [START_REF]Eastern Africa bribery index 2010-2015[END_REF]. The 2015 East Africa Bribery Index analysis, covering five sectors (police, judiciary, registry and licensing services as well as tax services), from 2010 to 2014, found that the core institutions meant to uphold the rule of law (the police and court system) sadly were the most bribe prone institution across the region [START_REF]Eastern Africa bribery index 2010-2015[END_REF]. The 2015 East Africa Bribery Index, mirror outcomes from other surveys, such as the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business, the Mo Ibrahim Index on Africa Governance, and the Transparency International's Africa report [START_REF]Eastern Africa bribery index 2010-2015[END_REF].

All countries in the region are signatories to international and regional instruments to combat corruption such as UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption. The 2015 East Africa Bribery Index report concluded that the existence of a legal framework and emergence of rudimentary anti-corruption institutions appear to have had little impact on corruption levels. This failure to deliver on past pledges to stamp out corruption and proceed with institutional reforms related to anti-corruption, with the exception of Rwanda, indicates a lack of genuine political will. Failures to deliver on past commitments and implement policies has also resulted in citizens losing faith in governments' interests in addressing corruption [START_REF]Eastern Africa bribery index 2010-2015[END_REF][START_REF] Richmond | Governments falter in fight to curb corruption: The people give most a failing grade[END_REF].

The continued high levels of corruption across the region and government failures to respond, renews the need for a better understanding of mobiles as a citizen-controlled tool to push Governments to address corruption. In short, can mobile phones, or under what specific conditions, can they be an effective citizen-controlled anti-corruption tool? Through a literature review of the past ten years (2006-2016) of ICT4D and M4D research on mobiles as a citizen-controlled tool against corruption in East African; i.e. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda; this study attempts to gauge the status of this research field. Furthermore, as corruption hits the poor the hardest, this study focuses on corruption in basic services, as opposed to corruption in connection with skimming in development assistance programs, or bribes in connection with international or domestic tender processes and business transactions.

Corruption erodes capabilities and functionings

Curbing corruption is pivotal to development. Our theoretical understanding of development is rooted in the concept 'development as freedom' by Amartya Sen [START_REF] Sen | Development as freedom[END_REF]. Sen argues that development entails individuals' having the freedom to choose the life that they have a reason to value [START_REF] Sen | Development as freedom[END_REF]. This can either be achieved by making new freedoms available or by removing 'unfreedoms'. The main concepts in the approach is capabilities and functionings. Functionings are the doings and beings of individuals and the realized achievements of individuals' choices. Capabilities are a set of potential functionings that individuals can choose from and hence, represent the extent of individual's freedoms [START_REF] Gasper | Is Sen's capability approach an adequate basis for considering human development[END_REF]. Sen lists five interlinked and interdependent instrumental freedoms that help advance the general capabilities of an individual: i) political freedoms, ii) economic facilities, iii) social opportunities, iv) transparency guarantees, and v) protective security [START_REF] Sen | Development as freedom[END_REF]. In relating the five instrumental freedoms to the concept of capabilities, functionings and development, Andrade and Urquhart [START_REF] Andrade | Unveiling the modernity bias: A critical examination of the politics of ICT4D[END_REF] developed the framework presented in fig. 1 below. Economic facilities which is the opportunity for individuals to freely sell the goods and/or services they produce. Taking part in economic activities is essential to enjoying a sustainable livelihood. Corruption create 'unfreedoms' in that the commercial activity becomes limited by the need to pay bribes to get access to the market, to get permits to conduct trade and so on. Market access and economic success, in the sense that seller makes a profit, is no longer correlated to quality and price factors. Social opportunities can be effected by corruption in that individuals are excluded from public goods and welfare systems based on unjust premises. Services that should be available to all individuals can be 'hidden' behind illegal fee-systems. For example, fees will improve access and priority to health care, education opportunities, faster transaction times for services such as to get a permit.

Transparency guarantees are the most apparent example where corruption effects individuals. According to Andrade and Urquhart [START_REF] Andrade | Unveiling the modernity bias: A critical examination of the politics of ICT4D[END_REF] transparency guarantees means that individuals can do business in good faith and in an honest environment, and "making transactions visible and represent a safeguard against corrupt practices and dishonest behavior, generally of government officials" (p.285). Corrupt systems thus create 'unfreedoms' and inequalities if the business environments and arrangements depend on social relations and bribes.

The protective security is individuals' ability to avoid destitution by relying on arrangements made by the welfare state. This relates to the "state to look after their citizens when they face ominous situations as a consequence of, say, unemployment or natural disasters" [9, p.285]. Corruption in relation to protective securities results in relief funds not reaching the poor and marginalized, or that they have to pay for aid that they are entitled to. Unreliable safety nets typically results in parallel kin-based systems that requires constant resource input.

Political liberties relate to individuals' ability to enjoy freedom of speech and assembly as well as partake in governance process by participating in various decision making processes or by periodical voting. Nepotism and cronyism, erodes government's institutions' ability to be responsive to all its citizens, and political liberties may become empty concepts.

As these instrumental freedoms are both interlinked and interdependent, government needs to deliver in all sectors to enhance citizen's capabilities. With a responsive government with a clear understanding of its status as an agent to the principle agent-the citizenry-citizens only intermittently evaluate government performance through elections. The next two sections explore how mobiles can assist citizens in performing oversight and both detect corruption and its threat to instrumental freedoms, as well as enhance citizens' ability to demand better performance and hold their government accountable.

A citizen-controlled (anti-corruption) tool in each pocket

As a result of governments' policies and active strategies of offering mobile network licenses to the highest-bidding private investors to establish a backbone infrastructure, East Africa has seen impressive growth in mobile phone access since 2000 and access rates range from 46% in Burundi to 80% in Kenya [10]. Even if the mobile phone market is controlled by commercial entities and operated on commercial grounds, relatively cheap smart phones have allowed for lower income groups to own mobile phones [START_REF] Chabossou | Mobile telephony access and usage in Africa[END_REF]. So despite access remaining unequally distributed for the foreseeable future, the proliferation of mobile technology even in lower income brackets shows the importance placed on mobile phone access and usage across income groups [START_REF] Chabossou | Mobile telephony access and usage in Africa[END_REF]. From an anticorruption perspective, access rates indicate that also the citizens most adversely affected by corruption in East Africa, are increasing connected. In short, they have access to a tool that at least, in theory, could facilitate access to government information either from government directly or through citizens' crowd-sourcing of available information and opportunities to protest and report poor service delivery.

Enlisting mobiles in the expansion of freedoms

The importance placed on transparency as a tool for improved accountability in development efforts, was clearly articulated through the 2008 launch of the International Aid Transparency Initiative, an online open access platform created by bilateral and multilateral development partners to ensure greater transparency around fiscal flows and supply development partners with the necessary information to hold governments and implementers accountable [START_REF] Davies | Who is doing what when it comes to technology for transparency, accountability and anti-corruption Practical Participation[END_REF]. Access to government information was seen as a key component in improving receiving partners and ordinary citizens' ability to hold their government accountable.

Similarly, it was suggested that mobiles could play a key role. A Swedish Development Agency report argue that there "is big potential in using mobile phones for increased participation, holding governments' accountable and promoting transparency" [13, p.53]. U4/Transparency International echoed similar sentiments, "Mobile technologies offer remarkable opportunities for promoting good governance, increasing accountability and fighting corruption allow rapid data collection and access to information and offer innovative avenues for social mobilisation and participation" [14, p.1]. World Bank together with African Development Bank [15], highlight the many and diverse expectations placed on emerging platforms and applications, when they call on African governments to take advantage of "the power of social media and exploit it to their advantage, in particular to reinforce democratic processes, drive efficiency, foster innovation, empower public sector workers and expose corruption." [15, p.17].

The basic rational behind the techno-optimistim was that mobiles would facilitate information flows and thus equip citizens with new opportunities to recognize corruption and mobilize around corruption, as well as provide opportunities to at a minimal cost instantaneously report absences of services or if the public officials requested an unlawful fee. The development industry's rhetoric resulted in significant investments into citizens' reporting though various free hotlines and text-based reporting platforms, such as World Bank's Integrity App [START_REF]World Bank introduces new integrity app at the international anti-corruption conference[END_REF], Ureport in Uganda, and Kenyan website "I paid a bribe", to mention a few [START_REF]People and corruption: Africa survey[END_REF].

Research on mobiles as a tool against corruption includes similar propositions arguing that one of mobiles' key contribution is its power to increase access and decentralizes information and thereby diminish the opportunities for public servants to engage in corruption secretly. With improved transparency citizens simply knows what type of services they are entitled to and to what cost. Increased transparency is seen as an effective anti-dote to corruption as it addresses the traditional information asymmetry between government and the citizenry [START_REF] Sturges | Corruption, Transparency and a Role for ICT?[END_REF][START_REF] García-Murillo | The Effect of Internet Access on Government Corruption[END_REF]. Mobiles can directly challenge government's traditional information monopoly and "corruption prefers the shadows and abhors transparency" [19, p.337]. Gaskin [START_REF] Gaskins | The effect of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) diffusion on corruption and transparency (a global study)[END_REF] argues that access to Internet significantly impact corruption through increased transparency, but that the diffusion of mobiles have a, although statistically significant, weaker impact on transparency. Although mobiles have a weaker impact on transparency, the study found a connection between diffusion of mobiles and a reduction in corruption. Zanello and Maassen [START_REF] Zanello | Strengthening citizen agency through ICT: An extrapolation for Eastern Africa[END_REF] argues that although ICTs have not yet reached its full potential in East Africa, based on the predicted growth of mobile phone access, information is more readily available than ever before to those who want it, and thus provide new opportunities for demanding accountability.

Mobiles as an anti-corruption tool, have also been connected to its ability to facilitate citizens taking action once they discovered corruption by providing new opportunities to report it. Bailard's [START_REF] Bailard | Mobile phone diffusion and corruption in Africa[END_REF] suggests a direct and significant correlation between higher mobile phone penetration and lower levels of corruption in Africa. The study showed, by examining 46 African countries, from 1999 to 2006, that there is validity to the claim that mobile phones have reduced corruption levels in Africa, or at least the perception of corruption. Bailard argues that corrupt officials weigh the benefits of the corrupt act against the potential cost, such as being detected and reported. Before the diffusion of mobile phones, there were very few tools in the hands of ordinary citizens that would allow them to report corruption anonymously and bring the information outside their community.

Improved opportunities to report corruption does however not automatically compel citizens to take action. A report from iHub [START_REF] Sika | ICT and governance in East Africa: A landscape analysis in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Report[END_REF] states that even if mobile applications may lessen the fear of reporting corruption, such citizen action is significantly hampered by governments' unresponsiveness and unwillingness to investigate and punish corrupt public servants. Transparency International [START_REF]People and corruption: Africa survey[END_REF] similarly finds that although almost a third of the respondents (28 %) across East Africa, identified reporting corruption as the most effective action to take to tackle corruption, only 12 per cent admitted having reported paying a bribe. Fear of the consequences, such as self -incrimination and that lack of visible outcome, i.e. government reaction and punishment of the culprit, made reporting less likely, even if modes of reporting was known and easy.

In summary, we argue that corruption creates unfreedoms for individuals in relation to all five instrumental freedoms and that mobiles could function as a tool to remove unfreedoms. We understand the causalities around mobile phones as a viable tool against corruption, as centered on their ability to a) facilitate citizens' access to government-related information, either by direct access or through citizen horizontal crowdsourcing information, b) mobilize around poor service delivery once it has been recognized, and c) facilitate reporting corruption if it occurs and thus function as a technology for accountability. Mobiles also function as a deterrent for corruption as it increases the risk of detection.

With this basic conceptual framework in place, the next question is; how has the ICT4D and M4D research field, explored and expanded the understanding of mobile phones as an effective anti-corruption tool?

Methodology

The objective with a literature review is to synthesize prior research and support the advancing of knowledge in a particular research domain [23]. This paper utilizes the leading journals-procedure and departs from Heek's [START_REF] Heeks | Do information and communication technologies (ICTs) contribute to development?[END_REF] ranking of open source ICT4D journals. The list was slightly adjusted to better fit the geographical focus of this study and subsequently one journal covering Asia was replaced by the next journal on the list. The final list comprised ten journals (Table 1). By applying the Boolean search phrase: corrupt* OR bribe AND Mobile* OR Cell phone* OR ICT AND Africa, each ICT4D journal were scanned for articles that contained items on mobiles as a tool for anti-corruption between 1st January 2006 to 30th June 2016, in Sub-Saharan Africa. After a manually scanning of 71 articles, none were found meet our inclusion criteria, i.e. mobile phones as a tool for anti-corruption in East Africa (preferably) or sub-Saharan Africa. A schematic analysis of the disqualified articles showed that most articles contained references to corruption as a general development challenge, but failed to connect it to mobile phone access, usages and practices in the focused region. As the initial literature review did not generate enough research articles, the scope of literature was expanded to cover journals which are ICT4D's "parent disciplines," namely Development and Information Systems [START_REF] Heeks | Do information and communication technologies (ICTs) contribute to development?[END_REF]. By using the SCImago ranking, the three top ranked development journals and information system journals covering international social science aspects of IS were added to the literature review (Tables 2 and3). The same Boolean search was applied. Most articles in this second sample in the parent disciplines were multi-country studies, in particular in the parent discipline Development. However, several articles in Development journals turned out to be ineligible as they focused on mobile as mobility of people, goods and services, as opposed to the intended reference to mobile phones.

Finally, to further expand the scope of the review, two peer-reviewed conference proceedings were included in the review: The M4D Conferences and the annual SIG Globdev Workshops. Both conferences, was instituted in 2008 and were thus able to provide a sufficient historical record of ICT4D and M4D research.

Results

Despite including ten years of research on mobile phones and corruption in the ten highest ranking open access ICT4D journals (Table 1) and expanding the review to include six journals from parent disciplines; development and information systems (Table 2 and 3), result in terms of number of articles remained very small. As indicated by the number of hits based on Boolean search in table 1, 2 and 3; corruption is frequently featured. But corruption is not related to mobiles or the ICT initiative that was many articles' main focus, but rather appears as a judiciously covered background factor. Furthermore, a third of the articles from the ICT4D journal sample make general statement around unspecified ICTs' potential to combat corruption by increasing citizens' access to information. But these statements are not elaborated on in the sense that the features of platform or service are divulged, or how information would support citizens' anti-corruption actions. None of the articles engage with the opportunities connected with the last five years rapid diffusion of mobiles or its potential as a citizen-controlled tool along previously explored causalities. The review of the ICT4D sample thus indicates that the topic is neglected, at least within the core ICT4D journals. Surprisingly, it was the parent disciplines' six journals that generated some input with two articles (article in last column Tables 2 and3). Even if the number is small, and unable to provide a substantively deeper understanding of mobile phones as a citizen-controlled anti-corruption tool; the two articles highlight a common theme, namely transparency as an anti-dote to corruption. Asongu and Nwachukwuy [START_REF] Asongu | The mobile phone in the diffusion of knowledge for institutional quality in sub-Saharan Africa[END_REF] argued that after analyzing 49 Sub-Saharan nations using World Bank data, that mobile phone penetration has a positive effect on good governance and that mobile phones help reduce information asymmetry and monopoly which traditionally provide elite actors with conducive conditions for bribe-soliciting and minimal risk of detection of mismanagement of public funds. In short, mobile phones removed important conditions for corruption: namely, secrecy and low risk of detection. Martin and Hill [START_REF] Martin | Saving and well-being at the base of the pyramid, implications for transformative financial services delivery[END_REF] echoing the issue of transparency in their study of the relationship between saving and well-being at the base of the pyramid, i.e., the 3 billion people who live on less than US$2.50 per day. They argue that digital financial services, often in the shape of m-banking for the poor, made financial flows visible and traceable and thus should result in "safer and speedier transactions and less corruption and theft" [26, p.415]. Both studies thus appeared to argue that mobiles address information asymmetries and secrecy, which are key conditions for corruption.

Although the body of research did more than double with the inclusion of conference proceedings the academic output remained at low levels (Table 4 and5). Furthermore, The M4D Conference included one of the earliest contributions to the field [START_REF] Vincent | Upwardly mobile: the potential to deliver social protection by cellphone -Lessons from Lesotho[END_REF]. The piece argues, "there is great potential for the use of mobile technology to deliver social protection, but that active partnerships between governments and private sector partners will be required" p.1). In techno-optimistic manner it fails to analytically engage with exactly how mobiles can address the leakages' and corruption connected with middlemen administrating 'cash in transit' in Lesotho. Thinyane and Coulson's [START_REF] Thinyane | MobiSAM: Mobile Social Accountability Monitoring in South Africa[END_REF] article describes how MobiSAM polling stations were intended to support citizens' involvement in municipality affairs and facilitate social auditing of service delivery, as well as encourage whistle-blowing and reporting of corruption. They however concluded that without political leadership at the municipal level and political will to genuinely include and engage with citizens; ICT4D and M4D interventions have little chance to deliver. The MobiSAM project was substantially revised due to structural and contextual constraints. Talukdar [START_REF] Talukdar | Mobile communications and fighting corruption[END_REF] raise similar hopes when arguing that mobiles, "can directly fight corruption through ensuring increased civic participation and promoting systematic transparency in governance and development process, and holding governments increasingly accountable" (p.250). Talukdar thus appears to suggest that mobile phones could have a key role to play in supporting civic education to build better corruption awareness and civic overseeing systems. The early years of SIG Globdev output wrongly gives the impression that the area of ICT and corruption is entirely missing. Although none of the WS papers 2008-2010 engage with the topic of mobiles as an anti-corruption tool in Sub-Saharan Africa; corruption itself is mentioned as a crippling barrier to development of ICT4D related interventions. Twinomurinzi and Ghartey-Tagoe [START_REF] Twinomurinzi | Corruption in African democratic developing countries and ICT: Apathy, anxiety and patriotism[END_REF] explores citizens from 11 sub-Saharan countries perception of their role and ability to fight against corruption. The study finds that although citizens recognize a duty to act, citizens are concerned about their personal security and question their ability to successfully challenge the powerful groups that control government. The article thus highlights an important caveat. Understanding the user's faith in the technology's ability to function as a power leverage against political and bureaucratic corruption is essential.

In 2013, A submission on the MobiSAM project [START_REF] Thinyane | MobiSAM: Mobile Social Accountability Monitoring in South Africa[END_REF] appears as a slightly reworked article. MobiSAM mobile platforms were planned to support citizens' oversight, which would lead to improved accountability of municipal employees as well as providing evidence that could be used for corrective action [START_REF] Thinyane | Stumbling at the start line: an analysis of factors affecting participation with local government in South Africa[END_REF]. The project failed as local municipal employees had little interests in supporting the development of a system that ultimately removed their discretionary powers in local affairs. The article thus highlights the formidable resistance vested interest will produce when their interests are being challenged.

Discussion

Following our argument that corruption creates unfreedoms for individuals, and that mobile phones can be used to combat corruption; empirical evidence is essential to move our assumptions from the realm of what is theoretical possible to what can be verified. Sadly, our review of mobiles as a citizen-controlled tool for fighting corruption in East Africa, did not provide us with enough research to systematically verify or discard earlier claims or hopes connected with mobiles. The "result" is thus; not much is known about the real effects of mobile phones on corruption in the region. Consequently, it could be argued that the lack of research is indicative of mobiles inability to deliver in this field. We, however argue that it is still too early to conclusively write off mobiles as an anti-corruption tool. The functions provided by a mobile phone can undoubtable be used for anti-corruption, but are not used for those purposes at any significant scale. Following Sen's reasoning that individuals are active agents of change [START_REF] Sen | Development as freedom[END_REF], we suggest greater attention should be directed towards understanding users' interpretation of mobiles in relation to their contexts. All action for change, including using a phone for anti-corruption purposes takes place in a context which contains both constraints and opportunities defined by the existing institutional arrangements and distribution of political power. Individual and collective agency are thus confined the 'political opportunity structures' [START_REF] Kitschelt | Political opportunity structures and political protest: Anti-nuclear movements in four democracies[END_REF]. According to Kitschelt [START_REF] Kitschelt | Political opportunity structures and political protest: Anti-nuclear movements in four democracies[END_REF] social actors need to discern an opportunity to mobilize for social change. A crucial dimension of political opportunity structures are thus the perceived openness or closeness of state institutions to inputs from other actors, as well as the institutional capacity to advance change. Approaching mobiles' from this perspective would move us away from technical solutions and mobiles' technical potential, which undoubtedly are plentiful, into the situated userperceived potentials. Some studies, highlight this dimension in particular, i.e., mobile's ability to counter corruption is intimately intertwined and dependent on the degree of government responsiveness and political will address corruption [START_REF]People and corruption: Africa survey[END_REF][START_REF] Sika | ICT and governance in East Africa: A landscape analysis in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Report[END_REF][START_REF] Thinyane | Stumbling at the start line: an analysis of factors affecting participation with local government in South Africa[END_REF].

More research is needed to explore citizens' evaluative mapping and interpretations of their agency in relations to the perceived opportunities to understand under which contextual conditions a mobile with its portability, simplicity, and affordability is transformed into a viable tool to fight corruption. A mobile phone, just like a Swiss army knife can theoretically be used for many different things, but it may also never be used for any of these. This study reminds us all of the dangers in prematurely assuming that a technological potential in itself will produce a particular behavior.

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. The complementary nature of capabilities and functionings to attain development [9, p.284].

Table 1 .

 1 Heeks ranking of ICT4D journals

	Name of journal

Table 2 .

 2 Parent discipline: Information systms

	Journal name	Boolean search	Papers
	MIS Quarterly	4	0
	Information Systems Research	0	0
	Journal of Service Research	1	Sub-Saharan Africa: [26]

Table 3 .

 3 ICT parent discipline: Development

	Journals	Boolean	Papers
		search
	Journal of Development Economics	6/3	0
	World Development	57/44	Multi-country study: [25]
	Economic Development and Cultural Change 4/0	0

Table 4 .

 4 M4D Conferences: 2008M4D Conferences: , 2010M4D Conferences: , 2012M4D Conferences: , 2014M4D Conferences: and 2016

	Year	No. of conf. entries	Boolean search	Papers
	2008	17	1	Sub-Saharan Africa: [27]
	2010	21	0	0
	2012	62	2	Sub-Saharan Africa: [28]
				Multi-country study: [29]
	2014	28	0	0
	2016	19	1	0

Table 5 .

 5 SIG Globdev Workshop: 2008-2015

	Year	No. of conf. entries	Boolean search	Papers:
	2008 23	0	0
	2009 19	0	0
	2010 18	0	0
	2011 21	1	Sub-Saharan Africa: [30]
	2012 18	0	0
	2013 22	1	Sub-Saharan Africa: [31]
	2014 8	0	0
	2015 13	0	0


Jyoti Choudrie
email: j.choudrie@herts.ac.uk

Efpraxia Zamani
email: efpraxia.zamani@dmu.ac.uk

Ali Al-Bulushi
email: ali.albulushi@yahoo.com

Are Online Social Networks, Leading to a 'Better World in the Omani Public Sector? A Qualitative Study

Keywords: Twitter, Online Social Networks, Public sector, Oman, The Choice Framework

. For the research approach, we employed a qualitative approach and the data collection techniques, reference to archival documents, interviews, photographic evidence and observations. The analysis was completed using the lens of interpretivism, socio-materiality along with grounded theory concepts. The study reveals that ICT4D is providing a better world for most of the citizens, but for the providers of the improved e-government services, it implies aligning local practices to the technology, which affects their home/work life balance. The contributions of this research lie in emphasising largely how the use of Twitter in Oman will lead to development. The Choice Framework selected for our understanding was adapted and led to diverse results to those mentioned in previous ICT4D studies; therefore, our research makes a contribution of understanding ICT4D in an e-government context, which was amiss in the previous frameworks. For businesses, our findings inform practitioners on the ICT Technologies areas that need attention while implementing them within an environment similar to Oman's public sector. For policymakers, this research informs of the areas that require policymakers' attention when placing their efforts where they are best served.

Introduction

A recent phenomenon causing changes in public and private sector organizations and society alike, are Online Social Networks (OSN) which is witnessing major growth especially in developing countries. Within the Middle East region, including the Gulf countries, the use of OSN has grown by 47% in the last 12 months with mobile social media up by 40%, with Qatar and United Arab Emirates ranked no 1 and 2 respectively worldwide in social media penetration, while Saudi Arabia ranked no 1 in social media growth worldwide [START_REF] Kemp | Digital In 2017: Global Overview[END_REF].

Twitter, an OSN tool is particularly growing in popularity especially in the middle east and there is a need to understand whether it can contribute to development, or, in the words of Walsham [START_REF] Walsham | Are we making a better world with ICTs? Reflections on a future agenda for the IS field[END_REF], whether "they are creating a better world in which we live?" Magro [START_REF] Magro | A review of social media use in e-government[END_REF] provided a timeline of e-government research and OSN where recommendations were made for research in the areas of objectives and strategy, categorization of e-government applications, and policy-making. Twitter's growing use as online platforms and applications warrant further research into its adoption and use. Besides being a communication channel and voice for citizens that emphasises their political views and opinions. Twitter also aligns with the need for future research in egovernment and OSN as recommended by Magro [START_REF] Magro | A review of social media use in e-government[END_REF]. By considering this issue, we attempt to explain whether Twitter does contribute towards the creation of a 'better world' to live in, or otherwise. For readers, the concept of a 'better world is drawn from "IS scholars where practitioners should be concerned with how to use ICTs to help make a better world, and everybody has the opportunity and capability to use technologies to make better lives for themselves, their communities and the world in general" [START_REF] Walsham | Are we making a better world with ICTs? Reflections on a future agenda for the IS field[END_REF].

Theoretical Background

ICT4D: A Review. ICT4D is a contentious issue in research as the notion of development in ICT4D is one that has multiple facets. For instance, when considering ICT4D Sen [START_REF] Sen | Personal utilities and public judgements: or what's wrong with welfare economics[END_REF] established that development is fundamentally about freedom. This makes participation and empowerment two essential components of contemporary theory and research about human development. Practically, ICT4D is essentially seen to be a framework for the application of tools and techniques to the practice of development. It is a multidisciplinary field within the practice of development that has benefited tremendously from the research, application and immense support from academia, the private sector and major development agencies [START_REF] Unwin | ICT4D: Information and communication technology for development[END_REF]. It can be summarised as the use of ICT to reach development objectives with their potential impact lying in the uniqueness of these new tools, such as mobile phones and World Wide Web (3W), which have revolutionised the ease with which people are able to exchange and share information across vast distances. Their potential for accumulation of searchable knowledge and information are responsible for what many are now calling the advent of the Information Age [START_REF] Castells | Materials for an exploratory theory of the network society1[END_REF]. Contrary to the physical objectives of ICT, which are fundamental to overcome limitations of existing techniques of information storing and sharing, ICT4D has a "profoundly moral agenda" that aims to empower people and communities by answering the difficult questions of not only "what should be done" in the practice of development but also "how we should do it" [START_REF] Unwin | ICT4D: Information and communication technology for development[END_REF].

The Choice Framework. To evaluate development, a Choice framework (CF) was suggested (Fig. 1) that is based on Sen's capability approach, where 'development' is defined as 'a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy' [START_REF] Sen | Personal utilities and public judgements: or what's wrong with welfare economics[END_REF][START_REF] Sen | Resources, Values and Development[END_REF]; Alsop and Heinsohn [START_REF] Alsop | Measuring empowerment in practice: Structuring analysis and framing indicators[END_REF] empowerment framework where 'individual agency' (measured by an individual's asset endowment including, 'psychological, informational, organizational, material, social, financial or human assets). Alsop and Heinsohn [START_REF] Alsop | Measuring empowerment in practice: Structuring analysis and framing indicators[END_REF] is connected with an opportunity structure' (shaped by the presence and operation of formal and informal institutions) that results in 'degrees of empowerment' (these are the existence of choice, use of choice, and achievement of choice), Alsop and Heinsohn [START_REF] Alsop | Measuring empowerment in practice: Structuring analysis and framing indicators[END_REF] and the Sustainable Livelihood Framework used by the UK Department for International Development [10] drawing on its concepts of the capital portfolio and elements of its visual representation.

We recognize and apply the CF, a tool that has been identified as suitable for ICT4D understanding. A further reason for using it is that Kleine [START_REF] Kleine | ICT4WHAT?-Using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development[END_REF] identified a limitation of the framework being applicable to the micro-level of the individual, but a recommendation made is that consideration of its use should be made at the groups of individuals, communities or nations front.

ICT4D and E-Government Research

ICT are viewed to have tremendous administrative 'potential' for governments and generally for the public sector [START_REF] Heeks | Understanding e-Governance for Development[END_REF]. This 'potential' is considered to be a natural extension of the technological revolution that has accompanied the knowledge society, which is known as electronic (e-) government. E-government has many diverse definitions, with the majority agreeing that e-government is the government's use of different ICT to provide citizens and businesses the opportunity to interact with the government. This research considers a combination of Government 2 Government and Government 2 Citizen research where the provision of ICT and placing the citizen in a central position, whether as a participant or consumer.

In the context of e-government and Oman1 research, Abanumy, Al-Badi and Mayhew [START_REF] Abanumy | e-Government Website accessibility: in-depth evaluation of Saudi Arabia and Oman[END_REF] found that the government of Oman needs to develop a set of policies and regulations to enhance the development of accessible sites and encourage the use of ICT that facilitate citizens needs in the context of e-government. Ashrafi and Murtaza [START_REF] Ashrafi | Use and Impact of ICT on SMEs in Oman[END_REF] then used a survey instrument to find that the use and impact of ICT on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Oman was still low compared to the expectations of the government. Albusaidy and Weerakkody [START_REF] Albusaidy | Factors influencing e-government implementation progress in Oman: a discussion[END_REF] findings of Oman's e-government implementation efforts revealed that e-government is still in its initial stages, with the country facing a number of challenges such as, a lack of strategy, leadership, legal and regulatory frameworks and infrastructure related issues. These studies also support the earlier view that the application of an institutional perspective is provided, but they do not reveal how an ethical consideration to the provision of government products and services to the citizen is proffered. This is better informed by considering the outcomes of government products and services to citizens, which the next section explains.

E-Government and OSN/Social Media (SM) Research

In e-government e-services research, OSN have gained importance due to their enhancing of online citizens' participation and economic revitalization in austerity times due to the OSN revolutionary business innovations and business models [START_REF] Williams | Rebooting Business and the World[END_REF]. Despite their penetration, OSN are still an enigma, which has led to varying existing definitions of the technologies with researchers utilising definitions according to the research scope. For this research, OSN are defined as "web-based services that allow individuals to (1) Construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system" [START_REF] Boyd | Social network sites: definition, history, and scholarship[END_REF]. A term synonymous with OSN is Social Media (SM) that is defined as "a group of internet-based applications that build up on the ideological and technological foundation of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content" [START_REF] Kaplan | Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media[END_REF]. Researchers interchangeably apply terms such as, SM, Web 2.0, Social Networks, Social Information Systems, Social Networking, Social Networking Sites when considering OSN, but upon closer examination they refer to OSN, which is the view that this research study follows [START_REF] Al-Badi | The adoption of social media in government agencies: Gulf Cooperation Council case study[END_REF]. With OSN/SM, the citizen's role has changed to that of a provider where citizen participation has become a key issue of consideration. In this instance, participation appears to be the key concept that explains the difference between 'old' and 'new' web technologies in the form of OSN/SM, although basic tools for interaction such as, chat and forum were also available in the early days of the 3W. What is also amiss in such studies is how the government agencies are transforming to cater to the citizens' needs, which our paper is revealing.

In e-government and OSN/SM research, an understanding of the 'global citizen' and whether this role can exist where a digital divide exists, examines citizen partici-pation at a global level as OSN reach is global. The view is held that the 'global citizen's' role can be enhanced by reducing the digital divide using OSN/SM [START_REF] Couldry | New media for global citizens? The future of the digital divide debate[END_REF]. By participating in government focused debates, ICT in general have been viewed as applications that can be used as an effective means of reducing corruption, but social attitudes can decrease the effectiveness of ICTs as an anti-corruption tool [START_REF] Shim | Anticorruption effects of information communication and technology (ICT) and social capital[END_REF], which subscribes to the ethical considerations and reveals a better world. Researchers have also attempted to understand whether citizen participation using OSN can be used to understand the transparency and corruption emerging due to e-government [START_REF] Bertot | Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies[END_REF].

Research Methodology

For this research, the framing of our research question: 'How is Oman's public sector using Twitter for development and why?" suggests a qualitative case study method is most suitable for this purpose. We also employed the interpretive research approach that involves embracing [36]'s view that "our theories concerning reality are making sense of the world and shared meanings are a form of inter-subjectivity rather than objectivity" [START_REF] Walsham | Research on information systems in developing countries: Current landscape and future prospects[END_REF]. Finally, it should be noted that the understanding for this study was approached following Orlikowski [START_REF] Orlikowski | Using technology and constituting structures: A practice lens for studying technology in organizations[END_REF] conceptualisation of the IT artefact.

Case Selection. For this research, two public sector organizations of Oman were used to compare the role of Twitter in Oman's e-government initiatives. One of the organizations is a high user of Twitter and the other, a medium-user. Further, one of the organizations is one that has more interaction with the citizens, which is Muscat Municipality (MM) and the other is the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (Ithraa) of Oman that has less interaction with citizens. Both organizations were selected for theoretical reasons as both organizations use OSN; namely Twitter, interact with citizens and provide an opportunity to determine whether OSN do provide a 'better' world, but in diverse contexts. MM Services include, building permits, naming of roads, maintenance of roads and lighting, organizing local, community and religious events, or providing public sector employees with personal details such as, salary payments. Comparatively, Ithraa is a central government organization that deals more with the business and entrepreneurial aspects affecting citizens. Their services include, informing organizations interested in investing in Oman with vital information such as, required licenses for trading in Oman, or registering organizations seeking entrepreneurship in Oman. Ithraa, therefore, will provide a comparative basis for understanding ICT4D as the two cases will allow a comparison of a local and central government department's application of an OSN.

Data Collection. Participants were selected with a view that individuals employed in key organizational positions are best suited to answer the research questions [START_REF] Elmendorf | Using key informant interviews to better understand open space conservation in a developing watershed[END_REF], would ensure diversity and provide adequate experience of the e-government project of OSN (either presently, or in the past). Specifically, snowball sampling was used that led to participants being invited informally rather than to be obtained using an organizational hierarchical system (i.e., a 'senior member of staff' command). In the latter case, there is a risk for bias; because it is typical for respondents to obey their seniors' command and provide answers aligned with the researchers' aims. The re-search team sought to ensure that no one was forced to participate and that individuals from all the organizational levels participated. We also ensured that there was theoretical saturation of the empirical material; i.e., that any additional interviews would be conducted only if they provided supplementary and substantial findings and perspectives; thus adding value to the study. Overall, this study used 19 participants of which 11 were female and 8 males. The numbers of participants was also essential to ensure that triangulation, which allowed verification and validation of the findings could be obtained. To acquire the data, semi-structured interviews that consisted of open ended questions were held.

Data Analysis. The analysis was conducted using a deductive approach, based on the Grounded Theory coding methodology, proposed by Glaser [START_REF] Glaser | The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research 26[END_REF]. Further, as this research is focused on OSN and uses on interpretivism stance, we followed the analysis technique used by Choudrie and Zamani [26]. Specifically, the coding scheme derived from Walsham [START_REF] Walsham | Are we making a better world with ICTs? Reflections on a future agenda for the IS field[END_REF] on what constitutes a 'better world with ICT4D' and the Choice frameworks proposed by Kleine [START_REF] Kleine | ICT4WHAT?-Using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development[END_REF]. For the working practices analysis the socio materiality examples provided by Orlikowski [START_REF] Orlikowski | Using technology and constituting structures: A practice lens for studying technology in organizations[END_REF] were applied. This led to the application of grounded theory approach, which was solely for the purpose of coding our material (rather than for developing our entire research design that is based on interpretivism). This allowed newly identified concepts to emerge and to be coded in terms of the extant (present in the literature) codes. This approach also allowed for the possible identification and analysis of newly emergent codes. It also facilitated the close examination of participants' opinions, perceptions and behaviours without imposing our own preconceptions onto our coding scheme.

4

Findings and Analysis

Development Outcomes

Since the main emphasis of this study is e-government, our questions and observations were focused on determining a government's provision of online products and services to citizens.

Primary Outcomes

Sen [START_REF] Sen | Personal utilities and public judgements: or what's wrong with welfare economics[END_REF] identified 'choice' as both the aim and the principal means of development, where the primary development outcome is choice itself. For this, we identified the primary development choice being the choice of ICT to include the use of various government provided internet applications and services that established interaction between citizens, the government and public sector organizations.

From our interviews, the incumbent application for the workforce was a high reliance and use of e-mail, which is still within the remit of ICT. Additionally, the government was providing an infrastructure that provided choices to the workforce between using the classic form of ICT: e-mail and novel form of ICT: the various OSN. Participants were asked: "What are the online social networks tools used in your or-ganization?" Participants from both MM and Ithraa cited using the various application choices offered by the internet.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary development outcomes depend on an individual's choice as what lives they value [START_REF] Kleine | ICT4WHAT?-Using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development[END_REF]. Examples include easier communication with personal and professional contacts, increased knowledge, more income or time saved. Easier Communication. For the analysis, unlike the CF, which was based on an individual and largely a household effort, our research employed a macro perspective and considered the individual perspective to using Twitter, which resulted in utilising Orlikowski [START_REF] Orlikowski | Using technology and constituting structures: A practice lens for studying technology in organizations[END_REF] socio-material perspective. This assisted in understanding how there was easier communication within the organization and between the organization and citizens. Due to the networks, the servers functioned for 24 hours/7 days a week. This led to the workforce working practices aligning with a feeling that they should 'be in the loop'. This led to a faster, transparent and effective communication process. However, the use of Twitter had also affected their personal lives and ultimately, the work/life balance.

Table 1. A Socio-Materiality aspect to twitter's communication processes

Level 0

Citizen raises issue/s on Twitter-content mentions a department of MM and High Position Individual (HPI) associated with the department Level 1

Feed is viewed by call center individual and HPI. Twitter service is socio-materially configured by MM Information Technology and Networks department to continually 'push' tweets' to devices.

Level 2

Message is sent to a mobile device that has an internet connection as the push facility from servers have settings sending messages 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

Level 3

Tweet is relayed on the internet and visible to members of the public Level 4

As message is 'open', it is relayed, and picked up by the department of HPI and HPI on mobile or desktop.

Level 5

HPI and department of HPI Individual view tweet and become aware of issue.

Level 6

Actions and measures to address the problem are undertaken. Socio-materiality occurs here as the team the HPI is responsible for has to lodge and complete the task using whatever means at whatever time.

Level 7

Citizen issue is addressed.

Level 8

New feed: Citizen thanks MM and HPI on Twitter

Cost Savings and an increase in income. Since Twitter is a web based service an organization does not have to endure complex, slow and expensive software integration and focus instead on the value of their offerings and mission critical tasks. In turn, this implies efficiency in terms of cost savings of the reusable, coupled software components and expensive integration. Effectiveness occurs in terms of savings in time as explained earlier, and work practices are being addressed by relevant individuals in a timely fashion. These savings should lead to an increase in the income of the government funds, which Kleine [START_REF] Kleine | ICT4WHAT?-Using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development[END_REF] referred to in the CF.

Increased Knowledge, Information and More Voice. From the interviews it was induced that citizens were happier with Twitter as it offered more knowledge of the processes that were involved in completing a particular issue that they raised. Therefore, in this respect Twitter was offering citizens a better world to live in, a world where clarity and transparency was provided. Increased knowledge was due to the workforces becoming more accountable to and aware of being under the scrutiny of citizens. The reflective nature of Twitter also meant that whereas previously citizens would e-mail the organizations, and there was no possibility of the citizens being aware of their concerns being addressed, or even attended to. With Twitter this was a possibility, which meant that citizens had become active stakeholders in the egovernment initiatives, which was not there before.

Better Governance and Improved performance. Before using Twitter, senior managers would not be held responsible in front of public eye, which is the major difference identified by the use of Twitter. Due to Twitter, a senior management person holds a 'sense of responsibility' for an action. As there is an online mention, this leads to a government person being compelled to investigate and examine the issue. This leads to the senior manager identifying other people who can complete the task. These actions are all attributed to a citizen using Twitter, which in turn assures the citizen that the issue is being dealt with in an efficient, effective and transparent manner.

Twitter use led to an indirect and informal 'name and shame' policy, which is something that may be present before, or if it was present, it was in a hushed and silent manner. Now, with Twitter, everyone and everything is clearly identified, which shows a major development in improving the working practices of the public sector. A middle level, male manager of Ithraa confirmed this: "Dealing with tweets does require a quick action and to reply back to the public…otherwise the organization image will be affected negatively if there is a delay". At a lower level, a female staff member could further identify and evaluate the impacts of OSN: "OSN saves time and makes the organization's work easier; particularly, with the information provided by the public, which most of the time includes pictures. So, interaction with the public has increased and more transparency is now available by both the organization and the public. There is also clarification because many services that members of the public thought were associated with one organization only is clear, and now they can understand the coordination needed and the time it takes to do something". For the organization at a process level, the person noted: "…work processes have become much easier and clear…but also some processes have been altered to include social media."

Personal Time and Policies. A drawback of Twitter is the imbalance caused to the work/life balance. Several participants from the middle and lower levels of MM and Ithraa commented that they had to deal with tweets after work hours. This meant that time was being taken away from their personal lives. From a socio-material perspective, this is something that is a sign of the times.

We also found that most of the workers frequently viewed their handheld device, as they chose to 'stay in touch' or to be kept 'in the loop'. This was because workers formed expectations that others will be available via their devices, as they were which led to them replying to e-mail/s and in time this leads to collective socio-material enactments. These enactments are almost continual electronic communication within the organization. In the same way, many of the middle and lower level workforce were viewing their mobile devices continuously, which led them to form expectations that their colleagues, seniors were doing the same and felt the need to reply. This enactment was being completed at any time or day, which is leading to an enacted working practice that is delineating the work/life balance of individuals.

5

Discussion, Implications, Limitations and Future Directions

This paper provided a deeper understanding of ICT4D in Oman using findings of the use and development of Twitter in two of Oman's public sector organizations. Additionally, our paper has offered rich descriptions regarding issues of how choices are made in a country that can and will lead to development. We have also illustrated 'how' and 'why' development can and will occur in different settings, and considered the issues of gender, and ethics, which have been viewed as pertinent issues to be addressed when making choices for development utilizing ICT and if an answer is to be provided to whether a better world is being obtained in the world we live. For this, the CF proposed by Kleine [START_REF] Kleine | ICT4WHAT?-Using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development[END_REF] and shown in Figure 1 was applied and addresses the question Walsham [START_REF] Walsham | Are we making a better world with ICTs? Reflections on a future agenda for the IS field[END_REF] posed on whether 'ICT4D creating a better world in which we live'. The CF also assisted in identifying not only ethical, equality, management and infrastructure' issues being addressed as development occurs, but by supporting them with rich acquired data. Discussing first the issues that require addressing when considering whether ICT4D do create a better world in which we live, our research showcases the choices that have to be made by citizens when a government provides online products and services; in this case, Twitter. From the development outcomes it was found that there is an equal and ethical perspective provided by Twitter. This was confirmed by CF and our findings. However, our study used a socio-materiality perspective provided by Orlikowski [START_REF] Orlikowski | The sociomateriality of organisational life: Considering technology in management research[END_REF] to form an understanding of the ICT4D being provided by egovernment, which is missing in CF. Our findings revealed that unlike the CF, that was based on an individual and largely a household effort, a macro and individual perspective to using Twitter in organizations, will result in the organizations' development that will lead to a better world to various individuals, but not all. A sociomaterial analysis explained that due to the networks settings, the servers functioned for 24 hours and 7 days a week. This led to the workforce in the public sector organizations working practices to change and becoming aligned with the technology patterns due to; for instance, feeling that they should 'be in the loop'. Therefore, their working practices become synonymous with the technology. In turn, this affected their personal lives and ultimately, the work/life balance.

By applying an organizational context, this study explains how better governance and improved performance of public and private enterprises can occur for the secondary outcomes, which Unwin [START_REF] Unwin | ICT4D: Information and communication technology for development[END_REF] recommends should be included in ICT4D studies. Due to Twitter features and functions, citizens could clarify and identify the departments that could manage and deal with their issues of concern, which was not possible before. Previously, individuals faced delays and confusion as information regarding correct departments would not be provided. This led to lags, confusion and in some instances, matters not being addressed. From the interviews, it was apparent that citizens were happier with Twitter as it offered more knowledge of the processes that were involved in completing a particular issue that the citizen raised. Therefore, in this respect Twitter was offering citizens a better world to live in.

Twitter also provides increased knowledge to the citizens about their concerns. Finally, in terms of the choices made between Twitter and other applications, mobility, which were identified using the three forms: spatial, temporal and contextual was explained and provided further impetus for Oman, its citizens and public sector organizations to select using Twitter. Next, when considering the agency element it was found that resources were required, which included the geographical and natural resources. In Oman, there are plentiful natural and geographical resources available that can, in turn, provide a financial base for supporting and encouraging the government's aims, visions and strategies. However, finances are not solely sufficient to ensure that all the citizens will utilize Twitter. For this, there has to be a willingness, tenacity and motivation to use the technology, which our findings showed was available. Also important for an agency was the role of support, which a network, whether, friends and family, or colleagues was pertinent as they supported, encouraged and informed each other of the benefits and drawbacks of the technologies. From the secondary data it was learnt that the Omani government has been providing measures and resources that offer one of the best health care systems in the region, which implies that healthy citizens can also utilize and improve their lives using Twitter. An important outcome that explains how ICT4D is leading to a better world is the outcome of social capital. In Kleine [START_REF] Kleine | ICT4WHAT?-Using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development[END_REF] study, social capital was high. However, from our findings, due to the transparency of Twitter, there was a reduction in personal network connections making an impact. This was also confirmed by our findings of the secondary data obtained from TLO.

In the CF, for an agency to be realized there has to be interaction with a structure, which is possible due to formal and informal laws, programmes and innovations. Our study explained how programmes are being implemented to diverse individuals, irrespective of age and gender. Women were offered education in higher education institutions and the devices to use Twitter were also being provided to various individuals, which again emphasizes equality in the emerging development occurring in Oman. Training and educational programmes and software due to agreements signed by the Omani government and large ASPs such as, Microsoft were also viewed pertinent for the structure of the CF. A final note that was made for the structure of the CF was the provision of policies that prevented the misuse of the internet and facilities proffering internet related products and services. Finally, the degrees of empowerment explained, how due to Twitter, there was an increase in available choices for the citizens when utilizing e-government and the citizens were also aware of the uses or non-uses of the choices, which revealed a sense and use of choice. Thereafter, the achievement of using the choices aligned with the earlier outcomes, showed how a better world was being provided in some instances, but not in others.

There are several emerging implications of our study. Overall, we explained and showed how ICT4D in Oman's e-government initiatives is leading to a better world, which is not about poverty and development, but has more of a moral agenda that ICT4D scholars have been seeking in ICT4D studies [START_REF] Unwin | ICT4D: Information and communication technology for development[END_REF]. When addressing the moral aspect, ethical and equality issues became apparent, which were better understood using Kleine [START_REF] Kleine | ICT4WHAT?-Using the choice framework to operationalise the capability approach to development[END_REF] CF. The CF framework can provide pillars and issues to consider, but the results of the original CF cannot apply in an e-government context as shown by our findings. There can be contradictory emerging results as our study showed. For instance, we revealed how social capital can be reduced due to the provision of an OSN, Twitter. We also utilized socio-materiality to understand how governance could, or not occur as well as address technology related issues. Heeks [START_REF] Heeks | ICT4D 2.0: The Next Phase of Applying ICT for International Development[END_REF] suggested that ICT4D studies when emphasizing the ICT4D element in their studies have more of an emphasis on the social sciences where the technology artefact than disappears. We have attempted to address this issue by utilizing socio-materiality in ICT4D studies and shown that the context, process and technology can be explained and addressed. What was also shown, is that unlike in developed countries where Twitter is used more by celebrities and world leaders to emphasize their achievements, or personal pledges. Twitter in Oman is being used at a grassroots level. This shows that culturally, the OSN has been amended to local ways; thereby supporting the views of culture researchers such as, Walsham [START_REF] Walsham | Making a world of difference: IT in a global context[END_REF], [START_REF] Walsham | Cross-cultural software production and use: a structurational analysis[END_REF], Robertson [START_REF] Robertson | Globalization: Social theory and global culture[END_REF] and Appadurai [START_REF] Appadurai | Modernity at large: cultural aspects of globalization[END_REF].

Figure 1 :

 1 Figure 1: The Choice Framework. Source: Kleine [1].

Oman was mentioned and emphasized as it is the case study context used for this study.