Standardization and the use of two different approaches to ICT project design and implementation

In the last decade there has been a process of continuous evolution in the theory of ICT project management and implementation that the author of this post would like to stress.

When approaching a complex issue of technology standardization in a context of developing or emerging markets, it is necessary to take into account the socio cultural factors of the region, also consider it’s current/past political and economical developments as well as it’s ability to embrace the outcome of the technology in a suitable manner.

The authors (Bra et al) suggest that two different kinds of standards have evolved in the ICT industry. They sprang up from a pure necessity to adopt ICT project management techniques to ever changing requirements of IT industry.

The two kinds of standards are: change and use standards. The former has evolved from industry’s rapid response to great need to produce tangible results faster and work more efficiently (lessen the officialdom, fasten decision making) and the latter allows more flexible interpretation of imposed standards were it is necessary. It’s all very true and does have a positive impact on the industry especially in cases where technologies need to be successfully transferred and implemented “from stage zero”.
Use case analysis of projects in Thailand, S.Africa and Ethiopia does support more flexible approach to standartization in ICT.In turn, when it comes to decision making processes and implementation of ICT projects in developing countries I believe the same rules apply here as anywhere in the world when talking about transfer of a new technology and exercise a top-down effort to foreign environment.

Recomendations

Indeed, IT industry is heavily bounded to existing implementation and development standards per se. More to say the standards are mostly not even transparent or  inter-compatible, so most of the ICT project are very much bound to one particular technological solution and do not easily “migrate” as the technologies imposed go out of date. How to avoid this reoccurring dependency in ICT?

Therefore it is necessary to start implementing technology in a more transparent manner where testing the local environment and adopting changes would happen simultaneously.Involving existing know-how and orchestrating the entire process of technology implementation according to local legislative and organisational standards may be very fruitful as technologies tend to be accepted better if it's been given sufficient exposure to local context and  usually undergo several stages of a very subjective interpretation....

Both the technology design and technology management schools in Europe as well as the US suggest that ICT users as well as implementer tend to understand and interpret technology in a very subjective way. Therefore, when given flexible standards from the very beginning  and being able to exercise a great effort of analysis of local context, ICT's in developing countries could surely deliver more result as it is now.