Social Media and Public Policy Process in Africa: Enhanced Policy Process in Digital Age

In recent times, civic engagement in policy process has been emphasized globally but channels to facilitate public participation in policy process in Africa remain unexplored. Given the conservative nature of policy process in most of Africa countries, the study examined level of social media use for civic engagement among government/policymakers and proposed a model to enhance policy process in a digital community using Easton’s theory of political analysis. The study employed case studies, descriptive and correlation analysis covering 53 African countries. Findings revealed that social media use has taken new shape in respect of citizens’ engagement in electoral process in Africa but its use for civic engagement in policy process was very low (and below global average); that increase investment in telecommunication infrastructures is yet to have significant effect on human capital ICT literacy in Africa. Investment in ICTs should include building of human capital ICT literacy and policymakers should explore citizens’ engagement online and adjust policies to incorporate technology in sub-regional and national development plans

Human Capital and Information and Communication Technology Nexus: The South African Perspective

Despite the fact that South Africa invests a considerable amount in education and also the fact that black youth have higher educational attainment now than at any point in history, education which is seen as a process, the outcome of which is general knowledge and human capital is still facing enormous challenges. Using the bounds testing procedure, the study investigated the human capital and information and communication technology (ICT) nexus in South Africa. This was achieved by regressing investment in ICT and ICT infrastructure variables on one of the human capital variables (education). The literature review has revealed that studies on this issue using time series analysis are relatively thin in the context of South Africa. The results revealed that gross fixed capital formation (ICT equipment) has positive relationship with human capital whereas both the mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 people and fixed telephone subscriptions per 100 people have a negative relationship with human capital in South Africa. The policy implication of this study is that economic policies should recognise the importance of ICT in the development of human capital by bringing utilisation of ICT to some far-off locations within a country, to boost human capital development

Technology trap and poverty trap in Sub-Saharan Africa

Since the industrial revolution, advances in science and technology have continuously accounted for most of the growth and wealth accumulation in leading industrialized economies. In recent years, the contribution of technological progress to growth and welfare improvement has increased even further, especially with the globalization process which has been characterized by exponential growth in exports of manufactured goods. This paper establishes the existence of a technology trap in Sub-Saharan Africa. It shows that the widening income and welfare gap between Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of world is largely accounted for by the technology trap responsible for the poverty trap. This result is supported by empirical evidence which suggests that if countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were using the same level of technology enjoyed by industrialized countries income levels in Sub-Saharan Africa would be significantly higher. The result is robust, even after controlling for institutional, macroeconomic instability and volatility factors. Consistent with standard one-sector neoclassical growth models, this suggests that uniform convergence to a worldwide technology frontier may lead to income convergence in the spherical space. Overcoming the technology trap in Sub-Saharan Africa may therefore be essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and evolving toward global convergence in the process of economic development.Technology Industry,Economic Theory&Research,Achieving Shared Growth,ICT Policy and Strategies,E-Business

ICT adoption and development of E-business among SMEs in South Africa

Objectives: This paper examines ICT adoption among small hotel establishments in South Africa. The paper identifies the key ICT adoption attributes and explains how these influence ICT adoption and development of e-business among these typical SMEs in South Africa. Prior Work: The paper draws and builds on several studies on ICT adoption in small firms (Gibbs et al., 2007; Beckinsale and Ram, 2006; Zappala and Gray, 2006; Manueli et al., 2007). Notably, the paper mainly draws from the Gibbs et al. (2007) model which identifies and integrates the key ICT adoption factors that include government; environmental attributes; owner (managerial) attributes; organisational attributes; adoption attributes and social networks. Approach: This qualitative research takes a multiple case study approach highlighting the experiences of small hotel establishments in South Africa. Semi-structured interviews, observation and document analyses are used to collect data from a total of 3 case studies theoretically sampled from two locations in Johannesburg. The underlying technique in the analytical and interpretative process within the multiple case study methodology is that of epistemological bootstrapping (Archer, 1988). Results: The findings suggest internet; websites; fixed-line and mobile phone networks as the most common technologies adopted by SMEs to support their e-business operations. The results also suggest both formal and informal networks as important for ICT adoption. These are key sources of information, technology, social and business support. In addition, financial and owner manager support, including personal skills and experience are also crucial in the adoption of ICT. Power outage is identified as a major barrier across the three case studies. Government intervention is largely indirect and crucial in areas such as setting up of national ICT policy; infrastructure; dissemination of information; facilitating public-private partnerships; capacity building and power supply. Implications: The paper highlights ICT adoption and the distinctive and behavioural characteristics of SMEs operating small hotel business in South Africa. Potentially, other sectors and, SMEs in general may benefit from these insights which may also be useful to policy-makers in terms of effective policy reviews, implementation and support strategies for SMEs. Value: Although this paper only presents the findings based on SMEs in South Africa, the original doctoral project also included case studies from Botswana and Zimbabwe. The findings contribute to literature on ICT adoption among SMEs in general, but more specifically bring new insights to this area of study in developing nations within SADC. In addition, the research framework was applied within different geographical, economic, political and social contexts of the SADC countries and provided insights which suggested it was a useful framework for undertaking this research in southern Africa. Future research involving more SADC countries and other SME sectors would bring more detailed insights into ICT adoption at regional level

A human environmentalist approach to diffusion in ICT policies: A case study of the FOSS policy of the South African Government

Purpose – Through an evaluation of the information technology (IT) adoption and diffusion models and the free and/or open source policy of the South African Government, the underlying assumption is that the developmental divide between those with and those without access to technology is purely technical. This paper aims to illustrate that if Free and/or Open Source Software is to be used as a building block to bridge the “digital divide” a more social and environmental perspective, which embraces the philosophy behind the software, needs to complement the technical perspective. The human environmental model is presented as a useful alternative which, if embraced, can inform more holistic information and communication technology (ICT) policies. Design/methodology/approach – Through a review of diffusion of innovations models an alternative diffusion framework is described and applied to an interpretive open source case study in South Africa. Findings – Contemporary diffusion and innovation models are narrowly focused on IT as a purely technological linear phenomenon. This perspective also underlies many ICT policies. A more socio-technical adoption model can assist in providing amore holistic approach to ICTpolicy development. Originality/value – The application of a new innovation model, the human environmental model, to ICT policy provides a holistic framework in which the complexity of the innovation process can be reflected in policy. Such an approach to ICT policy formulation will assist with broadening the perspective of policy makers from IT as a technical solution to IT as part of a socio-technical solution and recognise the duality of the innovation process

How can I encourage multi-stakeholder narrative and reflection on the use of ICT in Teacher Professional Development programmes in Rwanda?

This is an action research enquiry into how I can improve my practice to encourage multi-stakeholder narrative and reflection on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programmes in Rwanda. I examine the complexity of the ICT-TPD landscape in the Africa Region. I describe two action research cycles in which I attempt to encourage reflection on ICT in professional development in Rwanda. In each cycle I explore the potential of an Activity Theory lens for probing the issues and examining the perspectives of the stakeholder community of teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers and researchers affiliated to national ICT in TPD programmes and initiatives. I integrate a “Most Significant Change” narrative technique to engage participants in telling stories of significant change in their practice with technology integration. Through the rigour of the action research living theory approach I come to a number of conclusions about my own values and how I actually live my values in practice as I engage with partners in discourse and reflection for mutual learning on the issues of ICT integration in Teacher Professional Development

Global Innovation Policy Index

Ranks fifty-five nations' strategies to boost innovation capacity: policies on trade, scientific research, information and communications technologies, tax, intellectual property, domestic competition, government procurement, and high-skill immigration

Using ODL and ICT to develop the skills of the unreached: a contribution to the ADEA triennial of the Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning

Innovation in technology is occurring at rapid pace thus shrinking the distances and making information and knowledge more than ever accessible to everyone irrespective of where the person resides. This paper consists of four main articles. The first one deals with technological trends. The second one focuses on the deployment and use of open and distance education mode in rural areas by documenting initiatives that embrace information and communication technologies (ICTs). Due to challenges faced in rural areas only a few success stories/cases currently exist and some of these are cited in this article. The challenges faced in the deployment of ICT enhanced ODL have been highlighted as well as the potential of developing and delivering effective and relevant ODL programmes in rural areas in order to ensure that issues of educational equity and social exclusion rural communities are adequately addressed. ICTs in ODL are perhaps the greatest tool to date for self-education and value addition to any community’s development efforts, yet poor rural communities particularly in Africa do not have the necessary awareness, skills or facilities to enable themselves to develop using ICTs. Inadequate ICT infrastructures in rural areas remain a major source for the digital divide in Africa and for under-performance of distance learners. The third one analyses the support provided to ODL learners who often encounter difficulties in completing their studies through the distance education mode due to loneliness, uncertainties and de-motivation. ICT has not been able to sufficiently support distance learners in overcoming those obstacles efficiently. An investigation regarding those learning supports has been conducted in ten distance learning institutions, along with an intensive literature review with the aim of understanding the high percentage of dropout rates of distant learners. The learners’ interactions have been scrutinized through content analysis of their synchronous exchanges, during a completely online course. After taking into account the limited technical and human resources in Africa, a technological virtual environment along with a pedagogical framework has been proposed with the aim of giving adequate educational support to them. The fourth article has explored The Open University (UK) and its efforts to use new technologies to deliver online courses to difficult-to- reach learners in prison environments. The case study analysed here is an international course (called, B201- Business Organisations and their environments) which also touches an African cohort of learners. The implications for designing and delivering online ODL to the complex unreachable environments of prisons anywhere, and particularly in Africa, have been discussed

Towards mobile learning deployment in higher learning institutions : a report on the qualitative inquiries conducted in four universities in Tanzania

Over the past two decades, mobile learning (m-learning) has been a purposeful area of research among educational technologists, educators and instructional designers whereby doubts and controversies over its relevancy and applicability have been keenly addressed. This paper explores stakeholders’ perceptions of m-learning deployment in Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs). Spe- cifically, we examine the potential of m-learning for HLIs in Tanzania and the challenges that hinder successful m-learning deployment. We adopt a comparative qualitative case study design in which four HLIs in Tanzania were purposefully selected. The study uses a combination of de- sign science research approach and qualitative methods including grounded theory, document re- views, and observation. The respondents included university lecturers, students and ICT experts, who were selected for the interviews through theoretical sampling. The transcripts were loaded, coded and analyzed in NVIVO software. The results indicate that mobiles (smartphone, tablets, laptops, feature-phones etc.) are widely used in the HLIs. Stakeholders perceive that m-learning deployment is important and useful because it improves the quality of the learning experience. The results further indicate that there are financial, pedagogical, technological, infrastructural, individuals – and policy – related challenges that hinder successful deployment of m-learning in HLIs in Tanzania, such as limited network coverage, some students ́ inability to afford mobiles, lack of qualified staff for preparation of mobile content and administration, gaps in the exist- ing policies, and faulty course design. However, our results show that participants are optimistic about the potential of m-learning in the HLIs of Tanzania. They expect that m-learning will im- prove access to learning resources, teacher-student and student-student interaction without being restricted by time or place. Thus, m-learning is considered to have the potential to address issues of crowded classrooms, expertise, access to learning materials, flexibility of the learners as well as remote connectivity.
 We recommend that HLIs should prioritize m-learning and commit resources to the success of the related projects. We also recommend that the governments and stakeholders provide policy interventions, subsidize mobile technologies, expand network coverage, build capacity within and outside HLIs, and improve digital literacy by integrating ICT education at all levels of education