Beyond free lunch: Building sustainable ict4D

projects can contribute to the development of national institutions and economic growth, and thus to human development. Yet, achieving these promised benefits is hindered by high project failure rates and by systems that become unsustainable after deployment. Based on rich data from an exploratory case study of a major E-government project in Timor-Leste, this paper presents important lessons for the planning and execution of large ICT projects in developing countries. The paper identifies and discusses strategies relevant to the implementation of E-government systems that contribute to achieving the delivery of sustainable ICT solutions in socially and technically challenging environments. Achieving sustainability is presented as a social-technical process that enables the effective delivery of the system and the maximisation of the technological and social outcomes. These findings are significant as they increase our understanding of critical contextual and managerial considerations needed to deliver sustainable information systems in developing countries, an area that is lacking on research.