Symbols of Hope: A Case Study of Telemedicine Projects in Post Conflict Regions

This paper describes a grounded theory study of a telemedicine centre in a post-conflict region. Rich studies of Developmental ICT initiatives in developing countries generally are rare, and almost non-existent for post-conflict developing regions. The post-conflict context loads additional factors into an already complicated systems development process. The primary contribution of this paper is to set out factors present in the case organization which have received little attention previously and which were important in the successful implementation of a large scale telemedicine system in the Balkans. What emerges from this study is the symbolic nature of the project as one of the main factors which influence success. This has implications for our understanding of the dynamics of developmental ICT initiatives generally and in post-conflict, developing regions in particular.