Going beyond Diagnostics and Planning in ICT Initiatives: limitations in the context of Malawi.

ICT initiatives that could help bridge the digital gap are being introduced at different levels in Malawi; national, organisational and departmental levels. However, the introduction of these initiatives does not always yield the desired solutions. Although the ICT benefits and outcomes are clearly diagnosed, visualised and planned, very little is actually implemented and new challenges emerge as the gap between the planning, knowledge and practice widens. This paper uses two cases to analyse the type of limitations that ultimately deter ICT initiatives from proceeding beyond the ‘diagnostics and planning’ stage. The two examples were chosen to demonstrate the contrasting limitations between a needs-driven and a donordriven ICT initiative. The paper concludes that there is need to have a more balanced hybridapproach to ensure that ICT initiatives make it to implementation.