More than hope and good intentions: deploying ict projects at the edge of development

Information and telecommunication technologies (ICT) are often seen as useful tools for nation building. This perception of usefulness becomes more prominent when considering the needs of underprivileged nations. ICT implementation projects in developing countries provide the hope of being able to leapfrogging their technological and economic development. However, ICT for development projects often face significant barriers, which combine to retard, reduce or even derail the delivery of expected benefits. This paper delineates an exploratory study that is concerned with significant ICT deployments in least developed countries (LDC). This paper presents a view of contextual issues faced by ICT projects in East Timor, one of the least developed countries in the world and also one of the newest nations. We set the scene for an empirical research designed to explore (and build from) contextual tensions among key project stakeholders. Our objective is to develop a theoretical understanding of project management in extreme conditions of disparity of both power and knowledge as a consequence of heterogeneity of project stakeholders.