Technology Strategy
How to Commission a Technology Programme You Can Hold Someone Accountable For
Nigerian organisations routinely commission technology programmes that no one can be held accountable for delivering — because the accountability framework is absent before the programme begins.
8 min read
The Accountability Vacuum
The typical technology programme in a Nigerian organisation begins with an aspiration and ends in disappointment. Not because the technology failed. Not because the vendor was incompetent. But because the accountability framework — the agreement about what success looks like, who is responsible for what, and what happens when things go wrong — was never established.
What an Accountability Framework Includes
An accountability framework for a technology programme is a set of shared agreements about outcomes, milestones, decision rights, escalation paths, and success criteria. It answers the questions that, left unanswered, create ambiguity: What does done look like? Who has authority to change the scope? What triggers an escalation? What are the consequences of a missed milestone?
The Sponsor's Role
Every technology programme requires an executive sponsor — a senior leader with the authority to make decisions, the accountability for the outcome, and the commitment to remain engaged throughout the delivery. The absence of an engaged sponsor is the single most reliable predictor of programme failure in Nigerian organisations.
Topics
- programme-management
- accountability
- nigeria