Factors Affecting the Adoption of Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Literature Review

This paper synthesised the literature on the adoption of Information and Communication Technology within Africa. The purpose was to determine factors (reported by the literature) determining technology adoption and use, in Africa. The paper used the systematic literature review. The study analysed the factors descriptively. Based on the analysis, the following are the main five factors reported to affect the adoption and use of Information Technology in Africa: Lack of ICT knowledge, unreliable infrastructure, high cost of adoption, the perceived usefulness of ICT, and the perceived ease of use. The government and technology implementing organisation has the key role to ensure the adoption and use becomes successful

Information Security Challenges in the Absence of ICT in Protecting Personal and Organisational Data in Nairobi County, Kenya

There have been several cases of lost documents and misplaced or inaccurate information belonging to individuals or organisations reported in recent times at global, national and regional levels. Nairobi county is one of the regions on the spot as many people travelling or working in the city have reported lost identification documents such as certificates and licenses, whether through criminality or negligence. Furthermore, most businesses and organisations dealing with huge volumes of data need help to protect and provide accurate information. Many still need help with the pre-digital data management systems, thus risking the loss of both personal and organisational data. This paper, therefore, sought to examine the information security challenges due to the inadequate application of ICT in managing personal and corporate data and their implications on individuals and organisations in Nairobi County. The target population included employees from Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Data Networks in Nairobi headquarters offices, police officers deployed at NPS offices headquarters and members of the public. The selected target groups were known to deal with enormous data for both personnel and businesses, and the police officers were part of this study because of their mandate to help in tracking lost personal and business documents. Lastly, the researcher engaged members of the public to share their experiences of losing business and personal records. The study employed purposive and simple random sampling techniques to select the required sample of 110 participants drawn from the four groups. A structured questionnaire was administered to the sampled police officers, employees of Kenya Data Network and Kenya Revenue Authority and members of the public. The researchers interviewed key informants from the three organisations, NPS, KRA and KDA, to complement the data collected using the questionnaires. The findings established that challenges were associated with the need for more ICT in managing personal information and organisational data.The paper revealed that the need for an integrated system is a challenge to tracking missing identities or verifying the validity of provided information, thus compromising the productivity and security of businesses and institutions. Results from this study provide a solution to tracking any missing documents and correcting inaccurate personal data by adopting an integrated ICT system

Conflict Resolution in the Performance of Collaborative Governance: A Systematic Literature Review

Conflict is one of the problems that occurs when every human, organization, and the social life of the organization. Conflict can be reviewed through the root of existing problems that can be internal or can be external. The science of public administration has the right resolution in dealing with the mechanism of collaborative governance. The literature review approach applied was based on scientific journals published in the database. The database that the authors used were Scopus, Science Direct, and Taylor and Francis Group. The result of this research showed that the implementation of the proposed collaborative governance form of cooperation structure and the policy then is the creation of the community plan making. Furthermore, the types of conflicts resolved by collaborative governance in the 2015-2019 period were the source of conflicts that often occur in that period. Researchers suggested that researching collaborative governance can be developed in government so that it can be implemented in overcoming various public problems

Utilization of ICT Facilities for Enhancing Instructional Delivery of Agricultural Science in Nigerian Secondary Schools

This study examined the availability, functionality and utilization of ICT facilities for effective instructional delivery of agricultural science in Nigeria Secondary Schools. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Three research questions guided the study. The study area was North-central States of Nigeria and the population was 1706 teachers of agricultural science in secondary schools. Purposive Sampling Technique was adopted to select 853 Heads of Departments of Agriculture from the secondary schools. The researchers developed a 60-items questionnaire titled utilization of ICT facilities for instructional delivery of agricultural science (UICTFIDAS) for data collection. Three experts validated the instrument. Cronbach Alpha method was used to test the reliability and a coefficient value of 0.82 was obtained. Research question one was answered using frequencies and percentages, while mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions 2 and 3. Findings of the study revealed that most ICT facilities were not available, and the few available were not utilized because of non-functionality in most secondary schools in the study area. The study concluded that there was need for a refocus on ICT integration in the education system, which is a common trend in the millennium. Recommendations were made among which, was that government should collaborate with stakeholders in providing adequate ICT facilities, organize seminars and workshops to empower teachers with ICT knowledge and skills. In addition, school administrators should ensure utilization and maintenance of ICT facilities available in their schools

Utilization of ICT Facilities for Enhancing Instructional Delivery of Agricultural Science in Nigerian Secondary Schools

This study examined the availability, functionality and utilization of ICT facilities for effective instructional delivery of agricultural science in Nigeria Secondary Schools. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Three research questions guided the study. The study area was North-central States of Nigeria and the population was 1706 teachers of agricultural science in secondary schools. Purposive Sampling Technique was adopted to select 853 Heads of Departments of Agriculture from the secondary schools. The researchers developed a 60-items questionnaire titled utilization of ICT facilities for instructional delivery of agricultural science (UICTFIDAS) for data collection. Three experts validated the instrument. Cronbach Alpha method was used to test the reliability and a coefficient value of 0.82 was obtained. Research question one was answered using frequencies and percentages, while mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions 2 and 3. Findings of the study revealed that most ICT facilities were not available, and the few available were not utilized because of non-functionality in most secondary schools in the study area. The study concluded that there was need for a refocus on ICT integration in the education system, which is a common trend in the millennium. Recommendations were made among which, was that government should collaborate with stakeholders in providing adequate ICT facilities, organize seminars and workshops to empower teachers with ICT knowledge and skills. In addition, school administrators should ensure utilization and maintenance of ICT facilities available in their schools

The ICT Health Checkup Tool: Assessing Connectivity of the National Agriculture Research System (NARS)

In the global knowledge economy, connectivity is the oxygen for any research and development institutions such as those within the National Agriculture Research System (NARS). The need to empower the NARS to assume research and development leadership requires superior information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. Specifically, the manuscript addresses two new research questions: 1) what is the state, both quantitatively and qualitatively, of ICT at a NARS institution, and 2) what should a tool look like whereby NARS network managers can on their own benchmark and monitor the state of their ICT systems. The research team employs the case study method to measure the state of ICT connectivity for the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), a leading station within the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of Ghana. Additionally, the research team develops, describes, and applies a new assessment tool, the ICT Health Checkup, which NARS and higher education institutions can utilize. This research fills a void in the ICT for development literature, which to date provides no guidance for research institutions in the developing world as to how they are to access the connectivity they need to be able to provide scientific leadership at the national, regional, and international level. The  results quantify the gap between the needs of the researchers, support staff, and administration and the available service. Additionally, the ICT Health Checkup Tool not only shows NARS leadership their connectivity gaps, but also provides specific and measurable  benchmarks of the physical infrastructure, intranet services, and capacity of the ICT staff. Finally, the case study provides important insights as to the way forward. The case motivates the underlying economies of scale associated with ICT systems, and the need for NARS to leave the current model of individual contracts with telecom providers. Collaborating with like institutions aggregates demand, which in turn lowers the costs per unit of bandwidth. In this vein, the case study shows the value of the relatively new National Research and Education (NREN) model to bring much needed connectivity to the region’s agricultural researchers. Key words: Information and Communication Technology, connectivity, Ghana, National Research and Education Networ

The Impact of Technical Competency, Experience and Communication Skills on the Level of ICT Innovation in Tanzania

This study determined the impact of the technical competency, communication skills, and the experience of experts on the level of ICT innovation in an organisation. The study is relevant to Tanzania because the country depends on imported technological business solutions, which could be developed in the country. The study used the survey strategy, with 116 respondents representing different organisations within Tanzania. The study used the structured questionnaire as a tool for data collection. Additionally, the study conducted an analysis using inferential statistics to test hypotheses. The findings of the study concluded that the technical competency of experts, the level of communication skills and the experience of experts in dealing with complex projects significantly impacted the level of ICT innovations within Tanzania. This study recommends the improvement of the experts’ technical skills, ability to deal with complex projects, and ability to communicate their innovation needs. This improvement will contribute to the increase of innovative products among local organisations

The use of social media for academic purposes by postgraduate information studies students: a case of University of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa

The study investigated the use of social media for academic purposes by postgraduate information studies students on the Pietermaritzburg campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). The study was prompted by the recognition, as reflected in the literature, of problems associated with their use and uncertainty regarding their use in the South African context. The study was underpinned by communication theory. The study also employed a quantitative research design in the form of an online questionnaire using Google Forms. Fifty-five post-graduate students were sampled of which 51 participated, giving a response rate of 93%. Findings revealed that majority of the respondents (94%) indicated that they used social media for academic purposes, and the most used social media for such purposes was WhatsApp and Zoom, mentioned by 83% and 79% of the respondents, respectively. WhatsApp was also the most frequently used social media, followed by Google+, YouTube and Facebook. The two least used social media were Pinterest (10%) and Instagram (15%). Smartphones (96%) and laptops (88%) were the two most used methods to access social media, while 85% of respondents accessed social media for academic purposes from their homes. The main academic purposes for which respondents used social media were learning, personal research/development, personal growth and assignments. The practical implications of these findings are that students may find it difficult to cope with the disruption to their studies brought about by the global pandemic (COVID-19) as well as take full advantage of using social media for academic purposes to enhance their academic performance. Being unable to do so could have a negative effect on students’ success rate especially postgraduate students at UKZN

Evaluation of the Level of Adoption of Information and Communication Technology Resources and the Usage of Alternative Sources in Obtaining Information by Researchers of a Federal Research Institute in Nigeria

There is an increasing interest in studying the level of adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) resources by researchers of various disciplines with the effective adoption of ICTs having a proven record of significant academic, social, economic and environmental benefits. The aim of the study was to evaluate the level of adoption of ICT resources and the usage of alternatives in obtaining research information by researchers of a federal research institute in Nigeria. The research was carried out at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) Nigeria. A questionnaire was distributed to 165 researchers of the institute but usable returns totaled 114 (67%). This study revealed that FIIRO researchers utilized varying ICT resources and they had a good level of ICT competency in adopting ICT resources available to them as they carry out their work. Additionally, the institute lacked the ICT infrastructure for FIIRO researchers to fully adopt ICTs. The institute did not have internet connectivity. Considering this gap, researchers used alternative sources in the form of mobile devices, personally-provided laptops/desktops (with personal internet subscription) and internet-providing business centers (cybercafés) outside the institution’s premises to access information for their research. The study recommended that FIIRO management should provide adequate number of computers for researchers and unhindered internet connectivity for easy access to research information. This paper emanates from the doctoral thesis submitted at the University of South Africa, titled Information Needs and Information Seeking Behavior of Researchers in an industrial research institute in Nigeria

A framework for stimulating adoption of ICT in SMEs in developing countries : the case of Zimbabwe

The utilisation and adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in small to medium enterprises (SMEs) around the world have had a significant effect on most economies and have resulted in sustainable growth and prosperity. However, most SMEs in developing countries, including Zimbabwe, are still ages behind their counterparts in developed countries with regard to the application of ICTs in business processes. Literature indicates that the Zimbabwean government has failed to stimulate the adoption of ICT and its use in Zimbabwean SMEs in recent decades. A qualitative methodology was employed. This paper presents a validated and implementable ICT adoption framework that the Zimbabwean government can utilise to stimulate ICT adoption in SMEs. The research findings revealed that key factors that impact ICT adoption in Zimbabwean SMEs include a lack of government support, poor policy formulation, implementation and awareness, a lack of finances and inadequate infrastructure.https://journals.co.za/content/journal/aa_jgida12021-09-01pm2021Informatic