Despite having national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policies formulated and w... more Despite having national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policies formulated and written down, African countries are facing barriers in implementing the policy declarations. This study builds on previous studies that have looked at barriers in the whole policy cycle. Using an in-depth case of Malawi, the study analysed barriers in the policy implementation phase of national ICT policy. Data for the study comprised of semi-structured interviews and policy documents which was analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that there were barriers related to policy programs, processes, and politics. The programs barriers included inadequate resources, operational problems and differences in interests among policy actors. Process barriers were the lack of legal frameworks and political stability and legitimate policy choices. Political constraints were lack of policy championing, conflicts in goals and values assigned to policy priorities; and government popularity. The study provides insights on ICT policy implementation barriers in the context of a low-income status country.
This study is premised on the understanding that microenterprises play an important role in the s... more This study is premised on the understanding that microenterprises play an important role in the socio-economic development of developing countries. Using the case of South Africa, this paper reports on a study of the impact of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the livelihoods of microenterprises in a developing country context. The study used qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews, observations, documentary review and field notes. The findings of the study confirm that ICT use has a positive impact on the livelihoods of microenterprises. However, it was noted that ICT use in microenterprises is often curtailed by challenges beyond access and ownership of ICT. Chief among the challenges is the lack of awareness of ICT use in business activities. The study also investigated whether embedding ICT support within a business support programme would improve the chances and quality of appropriation. It was noted that the strategy did not always yield p...
COMMUNITY IN SOUTH AFRICA This paper explores the hypothesis that a consistent set of controllabl... more COMMUNITY IN SOUTH AFRICA This paper explores the hypothesis that a consistent set of controllable factors can be identified and manipulated to ensure the success of a communal computing initiative. A qualitative analysis of various stakeholders involved in the Smart Cape communal computing project in the Cape Town (South Africa) is presented. Seven specific variables were drawn from literature on the subject. The intention of the research was to explore the differential effect of each of these seven variables on the usage rate of the centres. The primary means of data collection was through structured interviews with key staff at communal computing centres and a number of users. The findings suggest that these determining factors have varying impacts on the usage of the centres. Although the research was mainly exploratory in nature, it afforded interesting personal insights to enrich and contextualise the findings. However, the research strongly supports the view that ICT-based co...
Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists 2020, 2020
Trust has significant implications in explaining technology utilisation. It influences both the i... more Trust has significant implications in explaining technology utilisation. It influences both the initial acceptance and continued use (defined as the continuum of use). However, there is dearth of literature examining how trust influences mHealth continued use and what mHealth users trust. This paper explores how trust shapes the continuum of use of maternal mHealth, thus determining their adoption and continued use. The study employed the Expectation Disconfirmation Theory and a case study approach. We collected data using interviews, focus group discussions and observations from 32 purposively sampled participants. Our results suggest that the risks and uncertainties of the maternal healthcare-seeking context play a critical role in how trust shapes mHealth continuum of use. Our findings underscore the need to mHealth designers and implementers to consider different factors that will facilitate the development of trust at the different phases of the continuum to ensure continued use.
We investigated how telecentres influence the economic empowerment of the youth in disadvantaged ... more We investigated how telecentres influence the economic empowerment of the youth in disadvantaged communities in South Africa and what factors affect their usage. For South Africa, the inequalities are greatly attributed to the apartheid government policy of segregating other races from major development activities. ICT is an enabler to development and may play a role in education, health and the economy. Interventions such as telecentres have the potential to deliver socio-economic benefits for people living in disadvantaged communities. Data for the study was collected through interviews with users of the Smart Cape and a privately-owned telecentre in Cape Town. The study used the Choice Framework as a theoretical lens. The study showed that (i) indeed the telecenters were aiding in empowering the youth living in disadvantaged communities (ii) the youth faced a number of personal, environmental and institutional challenges which limited their use and benefits from the telecenters. ...
This paper analysed moral panics on the implementation of an ICT sector regulatory system called ... more This paper analysed moral panics on the implementation of an ICT sector regulatory system called Consolidated ICT Regulatory Management System (CIRMS). The study focused on how the media reported on the events and opinions of stakeholders on the implementation of CIRMS for the ICT sector of Malawi. Media reports published between 2009 and 2012 were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that the media reported both potential benefits and threats of CIRMS. Some of the benefits included effective billing and revenue generation for the regulator. However, some of the reports indicated that the system had a potential of surveillance to record calls of mobile phone users. Some stakeholders perceived that the system would invade personal privacy which led to moral panics. The study demonstrated the unintended consequences of implementing an information system with a wider scope of stakes. Thus, managers responsible for information systems implementation should be cautious of...
Mobile instant messaging has the potential of providing the youth not only with a social space wh... more Mobile instant messaging has the potential of providing the youth not only with a social space where they can interact and bond but also with a learning environment. MXit is the most popular mobile instant messaging application in South Africa. Due to its nascency, little academic research has been done on the application. The application has drawn considerable local media interest; however, most of the media coverage has been negative. Media discourse of the application is of academic interest, since media discourse is one of the many ways through which reality is constructed. This means there is a relationship between media discourse and public opinion. Distortions in the media may misinform and engender impaired decision making amongst policymakers as well as members of the public. Discourse analysis can reveal distortions in media communication and counter misinformation. Using critical discourse analysis, we have analysed the media discourse on MXit by employing the Habermasian...
This paper presents an assessment of analytical and functional roles of information and ICT on th... more This paper presents an assessment of analytical and functional roles of information and ICT on the livelihoods of microenterprises in context of a developing country. Six cases of microenterprises were analysed. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and observations. The results confirmed that ICT supports better access to information for decision making on the livelihoods of microenterprises. However, microenterprises experienced challenges which inhibit their application of ICT in business activities. The main problems were lack of resources and access to ICTs. The study suggest the importance of understanding of the roles of information and ICTs so that appropriate solutions can be developed to mitigate some of the challenges faced by microenterprises and make them more sustainable.
A University research project sparked, followed, and analysed three processes of social and human... more A University research project sparked, followed, and analysed three processes of social and human development that unfolded in urban underserved communities in Cape Town, South Africa. The processes developed over three years through a flexible approach to outcomes connected with the use of information and communication technologies. A series of final questions drives the analysis of the evaluation of this multiple-case study. What were the processes about? What did the processes do? What did they bring about? What is the legacy of these projects? These questions are analysed through the explanation of the evolution of the case studies presented. The most important question about the intentions of the participants –researcher, external professionals and community membersconnects with their philosophical background and assumptions. Seldom stated, occasionally externalised in the approach to interventions, the reasons to participate in a project are the most likely determinants of its...
Telecentres in rural communities are mostly conceptualized by development agencies and government... more Telecentres in rural communities are mostly conceptualized by development agencies and governments as spaces that all community members can go to and access information and communication technologies. While for the technocrats the goals of establishing telecentres might be clear, the same cannot always be said about the people who live in the communities these telecentres were set up and are meant to use and benefit from the facilities. Grounded in the frame theory, this article uses textual analysis to understand the ways in which women in rural communities in South Africa and Tanzania represented the telecentres in their locales. The paper also discusses the possible implications of framing the telecentres in the manner that the women do. A key finding is that most women interviewed in this study viewed the telecentres as places for ‘Other’ people; mostly students and educated people. This paper argues that referring to the telecentres as spaces for ‘Other’ people worked to limit ...
Governments and development agencies are advocating mobile technology as a potential tool for dev... more Governments and development agencies are advocating mobile technology as a potential tool for developing and improving livelihoods, especially in developing countries where traditional technologies have failed to gain ground for wide ranging reasons. It is, therefore, understandable that the use of mobile technology in health care (mHealth) is growing in developing countries. Healthcare is one of the challenges facing developing countries, with the majority of the countries still lagging behind in most of the health related Millennium Development Goals (MDG) (Goals 4, 5 and 6). Due to the nascence of the domain, research in the domain is still in its infancy and, as such, there is little evidence to support the claims about the impact of the technology. The aim of this paper is to analyse the progress of mHealth as well as the progress of the research in the domain in developing countries. Data for the study are mHealth papers presented at the Third Mobile for Development (M4D) Conf...
BACKGROUND The growth of mobile technology in developing countries, coupled with the pressing mat... more BACKGROUND The growth of mobile technology in developing countries, coupled with the pressing maternal healthcare challenges has led to wide implementation of maternal mHealth innovations. However, reviews generating insights from implementations incorporating those from grey sources are few. OBJECTIVE We seek to review maternal mHealth implementations in Kenya with the aim of shedding light on the status of mHealth in developing countries. METHODS Using a systematic approach guided by a search strategy, a total of 1,085 citations were retrieved from both peer reviewed and grey sources. Citations were screened guided by an inclusion/exclusion criterion, and the results synthesized by categorizing and characterizing the implementations. The literature search was conducted between January and April 2019. RESULTS From a total of 16 citations comprising 17 maternal mHealth implementations, 59% were in maternal education and behaviour change communication while 24% were applied in health...
The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 2010
The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for enhancing pedagogical activities has... more The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for enhancing pedagogical activities has enormous potential to raise s tandards and increase educators ’ and learners ’ capabilities. However, research and anecdotal evidence in South Africa show that there is a low adoption rate of ICT among educators in schools and, in cases where the technology has been adopted, the impact has not been optimal. This qualitative study analyses the factors which prevent educators from using ICTs in their pedagogy. The perspectives of limited access and/or use of ICT as deprivation of capabilities provide a conceptual base for this paper. Sen’s Capability Approach has been used as a conceptual lens to examine the educators’ situation regarding integration of the technology in their pedagogy. Face-to-face interviews, with fourteen educators and two Khanya personnel, were used to gather data for the study. The findings show that personal, social and environmental factors are hindering the educat...
International Journal of ICT Research in Africa and the Middle East, 2016
This paper presents an analysis of stakeholders of the national Information and Communication Tec... more This paper presents an analysis of stakeholders of the national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy subsystem using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). The study focused on the context of a developing country, Malawi, which was analysed using qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews and policy documents. The findings showed there was diversity in the stakeholders for national ICT policy who were engaged in different roles of the policy process despite being a unitary policy subsystem. The stakeholders included officials from government departments, donors, academia, private sector organisations, the media, law enforcement agents and telecom operators. Some of the roles of the stakeholders were related to policy formulation, implementation, regulation, ICT investment, and support. The study contributes towards the literature of national ICT policy in the context of developing countries. A further study is recommended to consider the interests...
Despite having national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policies formulated and w... more Despite having national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policies formulated and written down, African countries are facing barriers in implementing the policy declarations. This study builds on previous studies that have looked at barriers in the whole policy cycle. Using an in-depth case of Malawi, the study analysed barriers in the policy implementation phase of national ICT policy. Data for the study comprised of semi-structured interviews and policy documents which was analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that there were barriers related to policy programs, processes, and politics. The programs barriers included inadequate resources, operational problems and differences in interests among policy actors. Process barriers were the lack of legal frameworks and political stability and legitimate policy choices. Political constraints were lack of policy championing, conflicts in goals and values assigned to policy priorities; and government popularity. The study provides insights on ICT policy implementation barriers in the context of a low-income status country.
This study is premised on the understanding that microenterprises play an important role in the s... more This study is premised on the understanding that microenterprises play an important role in the socio-economic development of developing countries. Using the case of South Africa, this paper reports on a study of the impact of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on the livelihoods of microenterprises in a developing country context. The study used qualitative data gathered through in-depth interviews, observations, documentary review and field notes. The findings of the study confirm that ICT use has a positive impact on the livelihoods of microenterprises. However, it was noted that ICT use in microenterprises is often curtailed by challenges beyond access and ownership of ICT. Chief among the challenges is the lack of awareness of ICT use in business activities. The study also investigated whether embedding ICT support within a business support programme would improve the chances and quality of appropriation. It was noted that the strategy did not always yield p...
COMMUNITY IN SOUTH AFRICA This paper explores the hypothesis that a consistent set of controllabl... more COMMUNITY IN SOUTH AFRICA This paper explores the hypothesis that a consistent set of controllable factors can be identified and manipulated to ensure the success of a communal computing initiative. A qualitative analysis of various stakeholders involved in the Smart Cape communal computing project in the Cape Town (South Africa) is presented. Seven specific variables were drawn from literature on the subject. The intention of the research was to explore the differential effect of each of these seven variables on the usage rate of the centres. The primary means of data collection was through structured interviews with key staff at communal computing centres and a number of users. The findings suggest that these determining factors have varying impacts on the usage of the centres. Although the research was mainly exploratory in nature, it afforded interesting personal insights to enrich and contextualise the findings. However, the research strongly supports the view that ICT-based co...
Conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists 2020, 2020
Trust has significant implications in explaining technology utilisation. It influences both the i... more Trust has significant implications in explaining technology utilisation. It influences both the initial acceptance and continued use (defined as the continuum of use). However, there is dearth of literature examining how trust influences mHealth continued use and what mHealth users trust. This paper explores how trust shapes the continuum of use of maternal mHealth, thus determining their adoption and continued use. The study employed the Expectation Disconfirmation Theory and a case study approach. We collected data using interviews, focus group discussions and observations from 32 purposively sampled participants. Our results suggest that the risks and uncertainties of the maternal healthcare-seeking context play a critical role in how trust shapes mHealth continuum of use. Our findings underscore the need to mHealth designers and implementers to consider different factors that will facilitate the development of trust at the different phases of the continuum to ensure continued use.
We investigated how telecentres influence the economic empowerment of the youth in disadvantaged ... more We investigated how telecentres influence the economic empowerment of the youth in disadvantaged communities in South Africa and what factors affect their usage. For South Africa, the inequalities are greatly attributed to the apartheid government policy of segregating other races from major development activities. ICT is an enabler to development and may play a role in education, health and the economy. Interventions such as telecentres have the potential to deliver socio-economic benefits for people living in disadvantaged communities. Data for the study was collected through interviews with users of the Smart Cape and a privately-owned telecentre in Cape Town. The study used the Choice Framework as a theoretical lens. The study showed that (i) indeed the telecenters were aiding in empowering the youth living in disadvantaged communities (ii) the youth faced a number of personal, environmental and institutional challenges which limited their use and benefits from the telecenters. ...
This paper analysed moral panics on the implementation of an ICT sector regulatory system called ... more This paper analysed moral panics on the implementation of an ICT sector regulatory system called Consolidated ICT Regulatory Management System (CIRMS). The study focused on how the media reported on the events and opinions of stakeholders on the implementation of CIRMS for the ICT sector of Malawi. Media reports published between 2009 and 2012 were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that the media reported both potential benefits and threats of CIRMS. Some of the benefits included effective billing and revenue generation for the regulator. However, some of the reports indicated that the system had a potential of surveillance to record calls of mobile phone users. Some stakeholders perceived that the system would invade personal privacy which led to moral panics. The study demonstrated the unintended consequences of implementing an information system with a wider scope of stakes. Thus, managers responsible for information systems implementation should be cautious of...
Mobile instant messaging has the potential of providing the youth not only with a social space wh... more Mobile instant messaging has the potential of providing the youth not only with a social space where they can interact and bond but also with a learning environment. MXit is the most popular mobile instant messaging application in South Africa. Due to its nascency, little academic research has been done on the application. The application has drawn considerable local media interest; however, most of the media coverage has been negative. Media discourse of the application is of academic interest, since media discourse is one of the many ways through which reality is constructed. This means there is a relationship between media discourse and public opinion. Distortions in the media may misinform and engender impaired decision making amongst policymakers as well as members of the public. Discourse analysis can reveal distortions in media communication and counter misinformation. Using critical discourse analysis, we have analysed the media discourse on MXit by employing the Habermasian...
This paper presents an assessment of analytical and functional roles of information and ICT on th... more This paper presents an assessment of analytical and functional roles of information and ICT on the livelihoods of microenterprises in context of a developing country. Six cases of microenterprises were analysed. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and observations. The results confirmed that ICT supports better access to information for decision making on the livelihoods of microenterprises. However, microenterprises experienced challenges which inhibit their application of ICT in business activities. The main problems were lack of resources and access to ICTs. The study suggest the importance of understanding of the roles of information and ICTs so that appropriate solutions can be developed to mitigate some of the challenges faced by microenterprises and make them more sustainable.
A University research project sparked, followed, and analysed three processes of social and human... more A University research project sparked, followed, and analysed three processes of social and human development that unfolded in urban underserved communities in Cape Town, South Africa. The processes developed over three years through a flexible approach to outcomes connected with the use of information and communication technologies. A series of final questions drives the analysis of the evaluation of this multiple-case study. What were the processes about? What did the processes do? What did they bring about? What is the legacy of these projects? These questions are analysed through the explanation of the evolution of the case studies presented. The most important question about the intentions of the participants –researcher, external professionals and community membersconnects with their philosophical background and assumptions. Seldom stated, occasionally externalised in the approach to interventions, the reasons to participate in a project are the most likely determinants of its...
Telecentres in rural communities are mostly conceptualized by development agencies and government... more Telecentres in rural communities are mostly conceptualized by development agencies and governments as spaces that all community members can go to and access information and communication technologies. While for the technocrats the goals of establishing telecentres might be clear, the same cannot always be said about the people who live in the communities these telecentres were set up and are meant to use and benefit from the facilities. Grounded in the frame theory, this article uses textual analysis to understand the ways in which women in rural communities in South Africa and Tanzania represented the telecentres in their locales. The paper also discusses the possible implications of framing the telecentres in the manner that the women do. A key finding is that most women interviewed in this study viewed the telecentres as places for ‘Other’ people; mostly students and educated people. This paper argues that referring to the telecentres as spaces for ‘Other’ people worked to limit ...
Governments and development agencies are advocating mobile technology as a potential tool for dev... more Governments and development agencies are advocating mobile technology as a potential tool for developing and improving livelihoods, especially in developing countries where traditional technologies have failed to gain ground for wide ranging reasons. It is, therefore, understandable that the use of mobile technology in health care (mHealth) is growing in developing countries. Healthcare is one of the challenges facing developing countries, with the majority of the countries still lagging behind in most of the health related Millennium Development Goals (MDG) (Goals 4, 5 and 6). Due to the nascence of the domain, research in the domain is still in its infancy and, as such, there is little evidence to support the claims about the impact of the technology. The aim of this paper is to analyse the progress of mHealth as well as the progress of the research in the domain in developing countries. Data for the study are mHealth papers presented at the Third Mobile for Development (M4D) Conf...
BACKGROUND The growth of mobile technology in developing countries, coupled with the pressing mat... more BACKGROUND The growth of mobile technology in developing countries, coupled with the pressing maternal healthcare challenges has led to wide implementation of maternal mHealth innovations. However, reviews generating insights from implementations incorporating those from grey sources are few. OBJECTIVE We seek to review maternal mHealth implementations in Kenya with the aim of shedding light on the status of mHealth in developing countries. METHODS Using a systematic approach guided by a search strategy, a total of 1,085 citations were retrieved from both peer reviewed and grey sources. Citations were screened guided by an inclusion/exclusion criterion, and the results synthesized by categorizing and characterizing the implementations. The literature search was conducted between January and April 2019. RESULTS From a total of 16 citations comprising 17 maternal mHealth implementations, 59% were in maternal education and behaviour change communication while 24% were applied in health...
The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 2010
The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for enhancing pedagogical activities has... more The use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for enhancing pedagogical activities has enormous potential to raise s tandards and increase educators ’ and learners ’ capabilities. However, research and anecdotal evidence in South Africa show that there is a low adoption rate of ICT among educators in schools and, in cases where the technology has been adopted, the impact has not been optimal. This qualitative study analyses the factors which prevent educators from using ICTs in their pedagogy. The perspectives of limited access and/or use of ICT as deprivation of capabilities provide a conceptual base for this paper. Sen’s Capability Approach has been used as a conceptual lens to examine the educators’ situation regarding integration of the technology in their pedagogy. Face-to-face interviews, with fourteen educators and two Khanya personnel, were used to gather data for the study. The findings show that personal, social and environmental factors are hindering the educat...
International Journal of ICT Research in Africa and the Middle East, 2016
This paper presents an analysis of stakeholders of the national Information and Communication Tec... more This paper presents an analysis of stakeholders of the national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy subsystem using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). The study focused on the context of a developing country, Malawi, which was analysed using qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews and policy documents. The findings showed there was diversity in the stakeholders for national ICT policy who were engaged in different roles of the policy process despite being a unitary policy subsystem. The stakeholders included officials from government departments, donors, academia, private sector organisations, the media, law enforcement agents and telecom operators. Some of the roles of the stakeholders were related to policy formulation, implementation, regulation, ICT investment, and support. The study contributes towards the literature of national ICT policy in the context of developing countries. A further study is recommended to consider the interests...
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