232 Int. J. Intercultural Information Management, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Analysing a national information strategy: a critical approach Neil McBride* Department of Informatics, De Montfort University, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK E-mail: nkm@dmu.ac.uk *Corresponding author Bernd Carsten Stahl Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University, Leicester, LE1 9BH, UK E-mail: bstahl@dmu.ac.uk Abstract: The development of ICT policies within developing countries in the past ten years has opened up a new area for study. These documents chart the ambitions of the countries for the use of ICT to promote rapid development. As such they are intercultural documents, developing at the interface between the culture of the country and western economic culture. This paper develops a critical approach to understanding these documents and studying their message. The approach involves the preparation of a critical dictionary which identifies relevant terms within the ICT policy document and reflects on their multiple meanings. The approach was applied to an Egyptian ICT policy document, Building digital bridges. A dictionary of 37 entries was developed. The dictionary, presented in full in an appendix, was used to identify critical themes in the document. Keywords: African ICT policies; critical research; Egypt; discourse analysis; intercultural information management. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: McBride, N. and Stahl, B.C. (2010) ‘Analysing a national information strategy: a critical approach’, Int. J. Intercultural Information Management, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp.232–262. Biographical notes: Neil McBride is a Reader in the Department of Informatics, De Montfort University, Leicester. His main research interests are in the development of service management in IT departments and the comparison of strategy and implementation. Bernd Carsten Stahl is a Professor of Critical Research in Technology in the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. His interests cover philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction.