Institutionalizing Cascading Mentorship for Sustainable ICT Upskilling in Rural Communities: A Practice-Based Theory of Change for Countryside Digital Transformation in the Philippines

This working paper presents a practice-based Theory of Change for sustainable ICT upskilling and capacity-building in rural Philippine communities. Drawing from multi-year implementation experience, policy analysis, and field validation across Local Government Units (LGUs), micro-, small-, and medium-enterprises (MSMEs), Technology Business Incubators (TBIs), and national and regional initiatives, the study examines why conventional training-centered digital programs frequently fail to achieve sustained adoption. The analysis integrates insights from engagements with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), including work under the ICT Industry Development Bureau supporting the establishment and strengthening of ICT and Innovation Councils at the local level, as well as regional MSME digitalization programs such as Go Digital ASEAN implemented by The Asia Foundation with support from Google.org and the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on MSMEs (ACCMSME). The paper identifies structural gaps in prevailing ICT capacity-building models—namely mentorship vacuums, behavioral barriers, and policy-to-practice fragmentation—and proposes the institutionalization of a cascading peer mentorship framework (“Each One Raise One”). The framework offers a scalable, inclusive, and institutionally grounded pathway toward durable countryside digital transformation aligned with national innovation and development goals.