A Capability Maturity Model to assess Government ICT4D Policy

The efforts of a Government to provide ICTs in a developing country are mostly well intended but not always successful. To establish why this happens can be a complex process. Influencing government initiatives are a variety of inhibitors, enablers and influences ranging from the diversity of stakeholders and their cultures and history, to skill levels, existing infrastructure, economic conditions, access, prejudice and politics, and language. All these factors need to be understood and managed before current or future initiatives can hope to be successful. To this end, the purpose of this paper was to develop a Capability Maturity Model for use as a conceptual framework to advance the understanding of researchers and practitioners of Governmental ICT4D policy, and the implementation of that policy. This paper sets up a theoretical model with four levels of maturity, each level consisting of five dimensions. Each of the five dimensions are then discussed and, finally, the use and contribution of the model is outlined.