Evaluation of Municipal ICT Programme

The Municipal ICT Programme in Nicaragua was funded by the Governments of Finland and Nicaragua and implemented between 2006 and 2010. The project objective was to improve and strengthen democratic processes throught the use of Information and Communication Technologies. The expert team carried out the final evaluation of the project from November 2011 to February 2012.
The Municipal ICT Programme in Nicaragua was funded by the Governments of Finland and Nicaragua and implemented between 2006 and 2010. The project objective was to improve and strengthen democratic processes through the use of Information and Communication Technologies. The political context during this period was challenging in many ways, including changes in central and local governments, in national development plans and ideologies, and in institutions related to the Programme context.

The project aimed to achieve three results:
1. Implement ICT hardware and software to improve internal communication in the 20
municipalities and between municipalities and central government entities.
2. Improve channels of citizen participation in local government, transparency and
coordination structures for local economic development.
3. Strengthen the capacities of Nicaraguan Institute of Municipal Development (INIFOM) for institutional management and support other state agencies in communication and data transfers with the municipalities.

The evaluation assessed the results, their sustainability and impact of the programme. The recommendations of the evaluation also served to assess further possibilities in ICT and development programmes in Nicaragua as well as for Finland’s development cooperation in general. Among the most important issues was to analyse the adaptability of the ICT solutions into local needs and their sustainability and provide recommendations for possible follow-up actions or future interventions.