Enterprise Collaboration Network for Transport and Logistics Services

Part 10: Collaboration Platforms; International audience; The development of the Single Window concept (unique access/contact point for composite services) for the multimodal door-to-door freight transport management is a complex endeavour that is being addressed by the European MIELE project. Led by port authorities, the project identified the need for a novel strategy to foster collaboration among stakeholders with a diversity of processes and technology. The multimodal perspective requires a convergence and thus collaboration of maritime, railway, road, and air transport facilities as it is the case for the need of traffic information for a real-time (re)planning if some accident is hindering the current route. This requires that traffic information from different operators is integrated into the freight transport routing planner. Furthermore, a unified coordination and operations management of the existing business processes is lacking. To integrate such contexts, an open enterprise collaboration network (ECoNet) infrastructure is presented and discussed. Document type: Part of book or chapter of boo

Enterprise Collaboration Network for Transport and Logistics Services

Part 10: Collaboration Platforms; International audience; The development of the Single Window concept (unique access/contact point for composite services) for the multimodal door-to-door freight transport management is a complex endeavour that is being addressed by the European MIELE project. Led by port authorities, the project identified the need for a novel strategy to foster collaboration among stakeholders with a diversity of processes and technology. The multimodal perspective requires a convergence and thus collaboration of maritime, railway, road, and air transport facilities as it is the case for the need of traffic information for a real-time (re)planning if some accident is hindering the current route. This requires that traffic information from different operators is integrated into the freight transport routing planner. Furthermore, a unified coordination and operations management of the existing business processes is lacking. To integrate such contexts, an open enterprise collaboration network (ECoNet) infrastructure is presented and discussed. Document type: Part of book or chapter of boo

A Global Review of Innovative Practices in Regional SME Exporting Strategies and Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

This Co-Learning Plan describes findings from the MSU Center for Community and Economic Development based on research conducted at a global scale to identify innovative practices in regional exporting strategies and foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains

Competition Law and Economic Regulation

Shaping markets through competition and economic regulation is at the heart of addressing the development challenges facing countries in southern Africa. The contributors to 'Competition Law And Economic Regulation: Addressing Market Power In Southern Africa' critically assess the efficacy of the competition and economic regulation frameworks, including the impact of a number of the regional competition authorities in a range of sectors throughout southern Africa. Featuring academics as well as practitioners in the field, the book addresses issues common to southern African countries, where markets are small and concentrated, with particularly high barriers to entry, and where the resources to enforce legislation against anti-competitive conduct are limited. What is needed, the contributors argue, is an understanding of competition and regional integration as part of an inclusive growth agenda for Africa. By examining competition and regulation in a single framework, and viewing this within the southern African experience, this volume adds new perspectives to the global competition literature. It is an essential reference tool and will be of great interest to policymakers and regulators, as well as the rapidly growing ecosystem of legal practitioners and economists engaged in the field

The use of mobile phones for human rights protection: the experiences of Zimbabwean Human Rights Non-Governmental Organisations

New technologies are emerging as a key part of the struggles for social change. In Africa, social change activists are increasingly relying on mobile phones to organise and mobilise protests for social change and to protect citizens from violence. Zimbabwe has experienced a long history of human rights violations stretching from the times of Rhodesia to post-coalition years. The violations have been in various forms, including the use of physical force and the constriction of political, media and electoral spaces. Human Rights NGOs, as part of civil society, have challenged the state over the violations in various ways, including through traditional and new media channels. Using case studies, namely the Zimbabwe Peace Project, (ZPP), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA, Zimbabwe) and the Election Resource Centre (ERC), the research investigates the potential of the mobile phone as a tool for contesting the constriction of media freedom, information access, freedom of expression and citizens’ right to human dignity, to life, political choice and free movement and association. The research is based on findings from interviews conducted between 2014 and 2016 with Zimbabwean human rights activists as well as from document analysis. The study established that the phone is a key tool through which NGOs and community activists (or volunteers) are offering protection to citizens by documenting, reporting and disseminating evidence of violence. It is also playing a significant role in legal interventions for victims of violence. Further, the device is empowering citizens to educate themselves about voting and mobilising for elections. Mobile technology is also facilitating the production of community media which is giving marginalised communities voices and opportunities to contribute towards, or participate in local and national dialogue and development. Equally important, it is opening pathways through which NGOs and human rights defenders are able to challenge state institutions that undermine the rule of law and justice. Finally, the study also established that in the face of legal, surveillance, interception and censorship strategies by the state, NGOs are mobilising networks, collaborative campaigns and circumvention and mobile-phone-mediated education and information tools to counter these strategies and tactics. The research is thus significant in terms of struggles from below in the context of new technologies for human rights and democratisation

The Digitalization of Development: Understanding the Role of Technology and Innovation in Development through a Case Study of Kenya and M-Pesa

This thesis analyzes the connection of mobile phone technology to increased economic development in Kenya. Drawing on previous research, I first examine the state of development by analyzing social, political, and economic factors in Kenya in 2007/2008. I then examine the role of technology on these development factors in Kenya by focusing on the rapid rise of mobile money platform M-Pesa and the rise of decentralized banking. This thesis finds that M-Pesa’s success stems from the failure of public trust in traditional institutions, collaboration between the public, private, and nonprofit sector, initial lack of regulation to promote innovation, and heavy consumer testing to create the best product-market fit. Additionally, in comparison to other sub-Saharan countries, Kenya’s institutions have more willingly allowed for nontraditional methods of investment and aid. While none of these results are entirely conclusive, evidence suggests that the rise of mobile money and technological innovation has attributed heavily to economic development into 2018, but that social and political development factors are still restrained. Ultimately, technology is not the solution to all factors of cyclical poverty, but it can create new approaches to previously neglected development constraints

Descriptive Mapping of the Use of Digital Cash Transfer Modalities

The scale-up of Cash and Voucher Assistance is catalysing rapid change in the humanitarian sector. In particular, the use of digital payments or e-transfers in humanitarian settings has increased significantly in recent years. This rapid literature review collates evidence from academic, policy focussed and grey literature on the use of digital cash transfer modalities and provides a non-exhaustive descriptive mapping of some of the modalities used by selected donors and organisations. Cash transfers are one of the most heavily researched approaches in humanitarian aid, evaluations have established that they can be effective at achieving a wide range of aims. These evaluations have also appraised the relative utility of different modalities for delivery. In many humanitarian crises, goods are available, but affected populations have lost the means to buy them. In such cases, cash transfers can be provided, enabling beneficiaries to choose how to use the money, giving them the dignity of choice. A digital or e-transfer is defined as the transfer of money or vouchers from the implementing agency to a beneficiary. Such transfers provide access to cash, goods and/or services through mobile devices, electronic vouchers, or cards. The term E-transfer is an umbrella term for e-cash and e-vouchers. Card-based systems allow the beneficiary to access cash (or commodities) via ATMs or merchants, possibly without the need for a bank account. Mobile transfers are a form of cash transfer occurring over mobile networks. Modalities for digital cash transfers are diverse and multifaceted influenced by context and available technologies. Modalities may include: Card-Based Systems Mobile Phone-Based Systems: Mobile Vouchers Mobile Phone-Based Systems: Mobile Money Biometric Technology Block Chain Despite potential benefits, practical challenges remain for programmes that try to leverage commercially provided digital payments. In a humanitarian crisis, the priority is to get payments out to those affected as quickly as possible. Often in nascent markets where digital payments do not have a large user base or supporting agent infrastructure, the logistics of using digital payments can cause unacceptable delays. In light of these challenges, digital payments, if used at all, are often disbursed through closed-loop systems. These are payment platforms created abroad, often for short-term use. They do not connect recipients to an account that they can use for storing, sending and receiving funds after the humanitarian response has ended.Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO

The impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on rural livelihoods: the case of smallholder farming in Zimbabwe

This study seeks to determine the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. The study was motivated by the fact that benefits of ICT development still need to be known among rural smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. ICTs have been upheld as catalysts for the promotion of rural livelihoods the world over. The question that remains is whether ICTs in Zimbabwe promote livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Although the Government formulated the ICT policy in 2005, the benefits still need to be known among rural smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. The challenges faced by smallholder farmers include limited access to ICTs, high costs in ICT services and lack of ICT infrastructural development in the country. The challenges hindered ICT benefits that are expected to accrue to smallholder farmers. This study is significant in the view that most studies on ICT have focused on the general roles of ICT on rural development without giving particular attention to smallholder farming that has a potential of reducing poverty and promoting food security. For a theoretical lens, the Sustainable Livelihood Approach was used with special attention to Chapman et al (2001)’s information wheel. Regarding methodological issues, the study followed a qualitative research methodology guided by a secondary analysis research design. Data were collected from published reports of government, reports from the Ministry of ICT, internet, journals, newspapers and periodicals. The study established that ICTs promote livelihoods of smallholder farmers through the dissemination of vital information for improvement of agricultural productivity. From the research findings, the study proposes four main recommendations. Firstly, strengthening of ICT policy for effective smallholder farmers. Secondly, the government to organise ICT awareness campaigns directed towards rural people especially smallholder farmers. Thirdly, up scaling ICT Infrastructural development .Finally, a large-scale ICTs and livelihoods research must be commissioned in the country

Determining the social media factors that influence brand equity: a case of mobile network operations in Zimbabwe

The increased use of the internet in the past number of years has resulted in an increased global use of social media for business purposes and it is likely to continue increasing as the world continues to do business online. Businesses now have the opportunity to generate content related to their brands, products and services, share content, communicate and sell to customers through the social media platforms. The consumers also are generating a lot of online content about businesses, products and services and sharing the content through social media. The increased use of social media in business to promote brands has the potential to enhance the development of brand equity. With the increased use of social media in business in promoting and marketing brands, there was a need to determine the social media factors that influence brand equity, which was the primary purpose of this study. An empirical study was conducted, where the data were collected from Zimbabweans in Harare Province who met the requirements by means of a face-to-face self-administered questionnaire. A positivism research paradigm was used in the study. The study followed a quantitative approach in order to satisfy the research objectives of the study. A descriptive research design and survey research strategy were used in this study. Based on the research results, it was found that the mobile network consumers attach value to the mobile network operators’ businesses and their products and services to which they are exposed through the various social media tools. The study revealed that social media engagement, social media influence, social media trustworthiness, social media cost effectiveness, social media exposure, social media perceived usefulness, social media subjective norms and social media ease of use are the social media factors that primarily influence consumer-based brand equity in terms of brand awareness, brand loyalty, brand associations and perceived brand quality. The mobile network operators need to ensure that their social media platforms appeal to these needs of their customers and followers on social media to create value for their businesses, brands, and products. This is because the consumers tend to rely on the mobile network operators’ social media pages for information about the business, products and services, not only as shared by the mobile network operators, but also shared by other users of social media (the consumers)Business ManagementM. Com. (Business Management