ICT in Africa : enabling a better life for all

No abstract available.http://www.tandfonline.comloi/titd202016-07-30hb201

Telecentre Users as Mediators of Empowerment of Rural Communities in Malawi

For over three decades telecentres have been promoted as a means of reducing digital exclusion. However, their relevance is inconclusive. In this paper we investigate how telecentre users empower rural communities in Malawi. We adopt a qualitative approach and report preliminary findings from users and indirect beneficiaries of one telecentre. The findings indicate that empowerment effects of telecentres go beyond users. Specifically, when users use the telecentres, they get empowered and, eventually, empower other community members by, for example, teaching ICT, sharing knowledge, and raising awareness of problems and providing solutions within communities, thus generating collective empowerment. The study further indicates that community empowerment is influenced by such factors as social connections, self-growth, and beneficiaries' willingness to receive help. However, empowerment was also beset with a series of constraints such as limited resources

ICT4D Research – Literature Review and Conflict Perspective

ICTs can positively influence development outcomes. However, ICT4D projects have achieved limited success in achieving their development objectives. In this study, we conduct a literature review of ICT4D studies conducted over the period 2006 - 2016. We find that theory linking ICT use and development impact is lacking, and that mobile devices might offer high positive impact possibilities than personal computers. We also find that studies characterize development in different ways: 1) development as expanded digital inclusion, 2) development as increased economic productivity, 3) development as expanded freedom, and 4) development as increased well-being. Across these development perspectives, however, conflict among stakeholders impacts development outcomes. By examining the literature under the lens of postcolonial theory, we find that power asymmetry among stakeholders might increase the resource dependency of beneficiary communities on donors, and might lead to the former resisting further ICT interventions

WhatsApp : creating a virtual teacher community for supporting and monitoring after a professional development programme

Abstract: The introduction and use of online social media networks in education has provided a variety of unique methodologies in support of teaching, learning and knowledge gathering. The presence of these networks have created opportunities to hear the voice of the teacher. This study explores how teachers and officials from a rural district in South Africa used the WhatsApp platform as a virtual community of practice to aid in monitoring and support after attending a professional development programme. The data used in this study was collected from the WhatsApp conversations held amongst teachers and officials. This data was analysed within the conceptual framework of social learning and social networking. The findings derived from this study show that the effective use of an online social media network to support a virtual community of practice is dependent on the participants awareness of the context within which the community exists and the willingness of the participants to accept differing views and opinions

Adoption of ICT to support rural small-holder farmers : A Systematic Review

Access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are slowly becoming more available to rural communities given a number of innovative approaches over recent years such as the implementation of Community Networks (CNs). Consequently, ICTs are able to become more meaningful in support of livelihoods of these communities, such as in agriculture production. Potential benefits to smallholder farmers include increase yields and reduced effort. However, there is very little evidence of smallholder farmers integrating ICTs into their livelihood activity. In this paper a Systematic Literature Review is used to explore the challenges faced in this sector. A total of 83 articles were initially identified, and after a screening process 28 articles were subjected to further scrutiny using a qualitative coding process. Codes were assigned to the constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. The findings indicate that effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, price value and perceived trust as factors that are potentially relevant to smallholder farmers’ intentions to adopt ICTs. The findings are important in that they inform how digital ecosystems in rural areas, post the deployment of CN network infrastructure, can become conducive for smallholder farmers to utilise ICTs

Information services provided by Maarifa Telecentres to rural communities in ASALs in Kenya

Telecentres are established to provide information, to bridge the information and digital gap, foster development and confront the requirements of the poverty stricken in remote and isolated rural areas in developing nations. The purpose of this study was to explore information services provided by two Maarifa centres to rural communities in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) in Kenya. The specific objective was to establish the information needs of ASAL communities served by Maarifa centres; to explore information services provided by Maarifa centres to ASAL communities; to analyse the challenges and prospects of Maarifa centres in the provision of information to rural communities in Kenya and to make recommendations for the improvement of information services to ASALs communities in Kenya. The study employed a multiple case study research design as an overall strategy and drew upon multiple data sources to develop a triangulation of methods. Qualitative research was administered as a predominant approach. Data was gathered through interviews from a sample of 20 respondents from each Maarifa centre: Isinya in Kajiado and Ng’arua in Laikipia counties. In addition, two focus group discussions were administered with the respondents of the two Maarifa centres. Key informants included directors and programme coordinators of Maarifa centres and government agencies who provide infrastructural support to the telecentre project. This study was informed by the Department for International Development’s (DFID’s) theoretical framework namely: the ‘Sustainable Livelihoods Approach’ (SLA) framework. The findings of this study suggest that Maarifa centres are points of Arid Lands Information  Networks (ALINs) engagement with communities living in ASALs. People appreciate Maarifa centres as places to access information, acquire ICT skills, and improve livelihood activities such as agriculture and businesses and for social communication. The challenges are mainly infrastructural such as poor connectivity and Internet access. This study revealed that Maarifa centres have solved most of the community’s information related challenges through egovernment services, e-commerce and agricultural development and knowledge creation, resulting in improved livelihoods. The study contributes to knowledge because it adopts a community-centred approach that focuses on the views of users of Maarifa centres.Keywords: Telecentres, Maarifa centres, information services, rural communities, arid lands, Kenya, economic developmen

Addressing data collection challenges in ICT for development projects

This paper equips researchers for addressing a wide range of data collection challenges experienced when interacting with marginalized communities as part of ICT4D projects in developing countries. This secondary research categorizes data collection challenges reported in multiple disciplines, and summarizes the guidance from the past literature to deal with the challenges. The open, axial, and selective coding of data collection challenges reported by the past literature suggests that it is necessary to manage scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communication, and risks for addressing the data collection challenges. This paper illustrates the ways to manage these seven dimensions using (a) the success stories of data collection in the past, (b) the lessons learned by researchers during data collection as documented by the past literature, and (c) the advice they offer for collection data from marginalized communities in developing countries

A sustainability framework for mobile technology integration in schools: The case of resource-constrained environments in South Africa

The application of mobile technology integration in schools has been widely researched. However, only a few studies have extensively examined the sustainability of mobile technology integration in resource-constrained environments. Diverse contexts and devices complicate the construction of a consolidated view of how to sustain the pedagogical practice of learning with mobile devices in these environments. The purpose of this article is to indicate how feedback from teachers and district officials informed the development of a sustainability framework for mobile technology integration in schools (SFMTIS), which originated following a literature review. Employing design science research as methodology, a sustainability framework was synthesized from the existing literature. Teachers’ views were obtained regarding the integration of mobile technology in their schools and were subsequently processed to inform the further development of the framework. Teachers who had previously participated in an initiative which introduced mobile tablet use, trained those teachers, and provided information and communication technology infrastructure to their schools, were purposively selected for the study. Department of Basic Education officials based at district offices were also interviewed for their views on sustainable integration. The findings form the basis for the proposed SFMTIS in resource-constrained environments in South Africa. Besides the refined sustainability framework, the research contributes novel insights into the differing perspectives of the teachers and the district officials, and how those can impact the sustainability of mobile technology integration in resource-constrained environments

Towards low‐cost community networks in rural communities: The impact of context using the case study of Beitbridge, Zimbabwe

Most rural communities in developing countries such as Zimbabwe are underserved and/or unserved with regard to telecommunication connectivity. Governments in developing countries are also under‐resourced to provide adequate digital infrastructure. Thus, community networks are increasingly seen as viable alternatives to bridge the infrastructure gap in Africa. However, new infrastructure interventions in developing countries face many challenges including complex interventions stemming from complex policies inserted into complex sociopolitical environments. The success of community networks in other African countries prompts this investigation into the potential of transferring the community network approach to Zimbabwe. The objective of this article is to frame how context impacts development of digital infrastructure. Zimbabwe's telecommunication regulatory framework is on the verge of countenancing the development of community networks, and for this reason, there is need for research to inform would‐be investors, policy makers, and other stakeholders such as academia, NGOs, and communities themselves, on how the sociopolitical and economic environment impact these efforts. This is important because successful deployment of a community network may result in improved community development, eg, in food security, health, and education

Re examining the multidimensional poverty index of South Africa

The persistently high level of poverty remains one of the main socio-economic issues in South Africa since the democratic transition in 1994. Many South Africa studies focused on using money-metric measures to examine poverty levels and rates, but in recent years there has been an emergence of studies that examined multidimensional non-money metric poverty. Nonetheless, some poverty indicators are still ignored. Thus, this study re-examined the extent of multidimensional poverty in South Africa with the derivation of a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) by considering the various overlooked indicators