The term, Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), pertains to programs or projects that strategically use ICTs (e.g. mobile phones, computers, and the internet) as a means toward the socio-economic betterment for the poor in developing contexts. Gaining the political and financial support of the international community and multi-national ICT private sectors (e.g. Microsoft, Intel and Hewett-Packard), development programs employing ICTs are gradually increasing. Ironically, at issue is that ICT4D has experienced phenomenal failure over the past decade. A continuous stream of scholarly effort has arisen to address the root causes of ICT4D project failure and identify essential ingredients for ICT4D project success. My dissertation is along the lines of these efforts. Special attention is given to the fact that ICT4D project proponents are increasingly partnering with heterogeneous networks of stakeholders. While the quality of ICT4D partnerships is being recognized as an important determinant of project success and failure, the current ICT4D literature lacks in-depth or systematic explanations of how ICT4D partnerships work to ensure project success. My dissertation intends to make contributions to this under-explored area of ICT4D. My dissertation is composed of three essays that offer different ways to advance understanding of ICT4D partnerships. The first essay develops a conceptual framework for classifying and evaluating ICT4D partnership research to help integrate findings and guide implementation. The framework is set out by reviewing and reframing the existing literature on ICT4D partnerships. The second essay introduces program theory as a methodological approach to identify evidence of development impact of the partnership. This program evaluation framework is then tested on a specific ICT4D project: the Aurora e-Village Project in the Philippines. The third essay recognizes a new concept in the form of the middle-range agent--a hidden but important development actor in the field of ICT4D--and theorizes the unique working condition of the middle-range agent in development contexts. The explanatory power of this proposed theory is also tested using the Aurora e-Village project. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]