A lot of what is discussed in the blog and in Richard’s comment sounds familiar, even in the commercial world. Very often, the definitions of completion for a project fall so short of real benefit, that the kinds of things that Richard mentions — in the commercial world, the marketing, mfg/supply chain pipeline filling, sales training, etc — is left to the functional silos to deal with. I try to move my clients to expand the notion of their project beyond the “mere” technology development that is the traditionally managed scope and to include the management of all the things necessary to “ring the cash register” in the for-profit world, or to accrue maximum benefit in the for-cause environment.

(By the way, I’m making a few assumptions, but would appreciate a bit of clarity on the ICT acronym.)

Excellent points made in project carcasses that litter the ICT-Dev landscape.

Here are some elements of a checklist I am developing for mainstreaming ICT into development.

Define Project objective: In terms of poverty reduction, what aspect of poverty does the project address? In more specific terms, how does this project relate to the millennium development goals (MDGs)? What specific indicator related to a particular MDG does it address?
Who are the poor to be targeted by this program? To what extent is it possible to identify the poor in terms of rural/urban location, region, gender, age, education attainment & health status?
What are the likely causes, as distinct from the effects, of the aspect of poverty the program is focusing on? Is it possible to rate the likely causes in order of importance? Is poor communication a cause of this aspect of poverty?
What types of interventions are most likely to be effective in breaking the causal linkages? Need to distinguish between direct, indirect and supporting interventions.
What are the information and communication needs of the targeted poor in relation to the project’s objectives and how important are they to the success of the project?
What role can ICT and other media play in delivering the information and providing channels of two-way communication?
Is there an appropriate form of ICT which can be deployed in terms of cost, support, maintenance and compatibility with existing information flows?
Does an enabling environment exist for the ICT to provide the proposed support?

Richard Curtain
Public policy consultant