Towards a Needs-ICTD Strategy Alignment Framework

Access to ICTD projects has increased over the years; however, it has not significantly changed the lives of the communities they are involved in. The cause of this discrepancy is the gap that exists between the reality of the community and its needs, and the ICTD strategy of the project. Through understanding and relaying the needs and reality of the community, projects can effectively develop their strategy to suit the needs of the community. However, the solutions that are provided are often commonly developed without the needs of these communities being sufficiently investigated beforehand. Some of the reasons why ICTD centres or projects have failed include: an inappropriate technological approach that is not developed in accordance with the available resources, mismatches of Information Systems (IS) and local realities, incomplete/abandoned projects; projects failing to meet objectives or which fail to satisfy key stakeholders; and projects which cannot be sustained. As a result, the ICTD strategy of the project is not aligned well with the needs and development objectives of the community. Consequently, when an impact assessment is conducted it is often found that the intended effects are not directly linked to the needs of the community or what the community had hoped to gain from the ICTD initiative. This research paper proposes a framework to support the alignment of ICTD strategy, with needs of rural communities, hence providing a foundation that supports the identification and formulation of relevant impact assessment indicators. The Needs-ICTD Strategy Alignment framework is composed of eight main components that describe the alignment process. These components include: collaboration between internal and external stakeholders, understanding the development of the community, conducting baseline studies, the needs assessment, the ICTD strategy, linking of the needs-ICTD strategy, and lastly the identification of impact indicators.