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

The Diffusion of Modern technologies in Namibia

Keywords: Namibia, Regional Development, Innovation Systems, Planning During the last decade, globalisation and modern technologies have engendered as much challenges as opportunities for economies of many states in several respects. This is especially true for less developed countries such as Namibia. With the rapid introduction of new modern technologies and speedy disposal of the old ones; many nation states face a spatial change. Hypothetically, they respond differently to this challenge. Innovation diffusion implies the questions: by what criteria and for whom? Moreover, diffusion suggests a process of making new technologies adopted or made available over a wide geographically defined area. If indeed, there is a diffusion of innovations in Namibia, how is it taking place? In the age of globalisation, is it global forces that are ‘shipping’ new technologies to Namibia? Could it be that innovations are closely tied to the education system and the country’s multicultural set-up? Or, is it people/companies on the move who carry innovations with? And, what is unique about Namibia, regarding this process? This paper is an attempt to discuss the processes of technology and innovation adoptions in the sectors of agriculture, fisheries and mining in Namibia – in the context of regional and local development. The main research questions focus on: Which factors promotes innovations and which ones impedes innovations, and how does local conditions change, accordingly developing an economy from a resource-based to an information society? This work seeks to develop a theory that considers regional and local development as an output of interacting local actors - a kind of ‘Reflective causation’ of development. According to this approach, the spatiality of innovation adoption and the process of transformation are primarily induced by a network of internal forces motivated by history. In this context, history not from a nationalist perspective but from a spatial viewpoint, forms the basis of a nation’s identity and models a country’s economic development. In addition to an earlier hypothesis, other factors: market strategy, demand conditions, structural elements and global forces do not halt development, they broaden and amplify the spatiality of development. The data, which forms the basis of my analysis, will be drawn from key informant interviews from June to September 2002 in the Republic of Namibia.

Factors Influencing the Adoption of Clinical Informatics Tools among Medical Doctors in South Africa

The adoption of clinical informatics tools is not encouraging in many developing countries and a better understanding of the factors that influence their integration is expected to promote their effective utilisation. To shed more light on this phenomenon, the study employed the use of Universal Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to identify the factors that influence the use of clinical informatics tools. The study employed a positivism research paradigm anchored on survey research design. Simple random sampling technique was used to select one hundred and five medical doctors in a tertiary hospital in South Africa. Data were collected with the use of a structured questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data collected. Findings from the study reveal that effort expectancy was related to behavioural intention to use clinical informatics (β = 0.41, p< 0.05). Also, performance expectancy was related to behavioural intention to use clinical informatics (β = 0.47, p< 0.01). The study therefore recommends that the hospital management should create conducive environment that will promote effective use of clinical informatics tools and organise training programmes for effective use of the tools. The study also sees the need for technology producers to make the tools more user-friendly. Keywords: Adoption, clinical informatics, medical doctors, UTAUT and South Afric

Investigating South African Vendors’ Cloud Computing Value Proposition to Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises: A Case of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality

While Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) are known to contribute significantly to economic growth and reduction of unemployment worldwide, South Africa experiences high failure rate, stagnation and limited growth of SMMEs. Cloud computing, which promises cost efficiencies for SMMEs through its unique outsourcing based business model, is emerging as a viable solution and an excellent value proposition to SMMEs. This study investigated the value proposition of cloud computing vendors to South African SMMEs. The problems addressed in this research are: - investigating whether the concept of cloud computing and its related key terms are being comprehended by South African SMMEs, - investigating and identifying the cloud computing applications/services that are most valuable and critical to the growth and development of South African SMMEs, - investigating and determining the main influences against adoption of cloud computing by SMMEs. Quantitative research using questionnaires was conducted and the findings of this study inter alia revealed that SMMEs in South Africa do not understand the basic key terms and concepts of cloud computing

Factors influencing branchless banking for microfinance in Sudan: Theoretical perspectives and future directions

In Sudan more than 40% live below the poverty line and getting basic financial service poses a challenge to financial institutions. Most of these unserved populations live in far-flung areas that make it difficult for microfinance institutions to reach them. But the enormous growth of mobile technology industry has created new opportunity to expand financial services to this unserved population. Branchless banking is one of the latest technologies that have been employed in different developing countries to expand financial services to the unbanked poor. Despite the potential benefits and relevance of Branchless banking to Sudan, there are still very few studies on Branchless banking in Sudan. To address this gap in the literature, this study aims to investigate the factors that are essential to the development of branchless banking in Sudan using mobile technology. This is a research-in-progress paper, the critical review of the literature so far revealed that there are essential factors for the success of branchless banking in Sudan e.g. the identification of the industry key players and their roles, the enabling regulatory environment, the infrastructure readiness and Sudanese cultural values. The paper will provide regulators and policy makers in Sudan a way forward to expedite the development of suitable Branchless banking for microfinance in Sudan

Investigating motivational factors influencing broadband adoption and usage in South African low-income households

A research report submitted In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the field of ICT Policy and Regulation to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the WitwatersrandBroadband technology has been identified as a vital contributor to socio-economic development in South Africa. Hoverer, the rate of broadband adoption and usage in low-income households is lower as compared to middle and high-income households. Although there are studies that have presented motivational factors for broadband adoption in South Africa, there is little knowledge about how these motivational factors collectively influence the adoption and usage of broadband in low-income households and how they use the technology. To address this gap, this study investigated motivational factors that influence low-income households in South Africa to adopt and use broadband. An extended Model for Broadband Adoption (MBA) was derived from literature and used to provide the basis for the theoretical and conceptual framework for this study. The researcher then followed a phenomenological approach to collect qualitative data that was analysed using a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). The findings of this study show that the participants from low-income households used broadband everyday but only for basic applications and the high cost of data hindered increased usage. The findings further suggest that attitude, normative beliefs and control factors can have both positive and negative influence on the adoption and usage of broadband by low-income households. In addition, low-income households regarded broadband as a key element towards improving their livelihood and confirmed the lack of local content in most broadband platforms. The study recommends that policy makers, regulatory authorities and broadband service providers should consider adopting models such as the MBA to advance their understanding on the interactions between low-income households and broadband, in order to develop policy interventions and products that are relevant to the lived experience of low-income households. The study emphases further the importance of expediting policies and regulations that are meant to address the high cost of data to ensure that broadband adoption and usage is inclusive of all income groups in South Africa.MT 201

An analysis of business intelligence for improved public service delivery

The public sector can be described with different types of public policies and by the services the organisations deliver to citizens. Public sector organisations are implementing e-government projects as mechanisms to enhance public service delivery. However, public sector e-government projects in developing countries are highlighted as challenging. Awards of achievement for implementing e-government projects have been noted in the South African public sector. Business Intelligence (BI) for improved public service delivery has been identified as a key tool to improve decision-making processes. Implementing BI in organisations has been revealed as complex. The study of organisational factors that influence the initiative for successful BI implementation is suggested. For this reason, the research sets out to explore the implementation of BI in the public sector in South Africa. The research was conducted through two case studies. Data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews and document collection with organisations that are implementing BI. A qualitative thematic analysis method was used to construct the major themes that emerged from the data. The research objectives were addressed by constructing three frameworks; to describe what organisational factors influence the BI initiative, the factors that influence the use of BI, and a framework describing the process of implementing BI in the public sector. The Design-Reality gap model was applied to identify risk in the BI projects. The study revealed that BI can be used as an enabler of change and improvement in public sector activities. Consolidating structures, systems and processes was identified as a precursor to implementing BI. However, the level of skills to use BI tools was highlighted as key factor in hindering BI use

Determinants of ICT Adoption Among Small Scale Agribusiness Enterprises In Somalia

The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can advance the Agricultural Business sector, particularly in a country seeking opportunities to explore the sector. There is evidence that ICT has made significant contributions to agribusiness because it allows enterprises to manage their operations, and it has major impacts on the business. However, the critical factors that motivate the adoption of new innovative technology by agribusiness enterprises are underexplored. The literature has indicated ICT adoption among small-scale agribusiness enterprises in Somalia is not fully understood. Nevertheless, this study addresses this gap by investigating the adoption of ICT among small-scale agribusiness enterprises in Somalia. The paper reports the use of the Technology, Organization, Environment (TOE) framework. An online survey has been conducted with random sampling for data collection, with 107 respondents. The respondents are from agribusiness staff and farmers from various agricultural companies in Somalia. After quantitative data analysis, the results indicated that relative advantage, complexity, top management support, and competitive pressure factors are significant contributors to ICT adoption in Somalian agribusiness enterprises, while ICT costs and vendor support are not significantly related to the adoption of ICT in agricultural business. This study concludes that ICT adoption in Somalia is inspired by insight and motivation rather than financial and external support. Understanding these factors leads to a better understanding of ICT adoption in Somalia. Additionally, it enriches the literature about the agriculture business on the African continent Keywords: Determinants, ICT Adoption, Agribusiness, Small Scale, TOE frameworkComment: 9 pages, 2 figure

African E-Government Research Landscape

Over the past decade, African governments have followed the worldwide trends towards establishing e-government with the aim of improving public service delivery to citizens through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As a consequence, authors from academia, government departments and agencies, civil society, industry, non-governmental and international organizations have embarked into e-government research focusing on Africa. However, the state of the art of e-government research in Africa is poorly documented. This study analyzes the status of e-government research in Africa. A qualitative technique based on online searches and literature reviews is used to collect data that have addressed any aspect of e-government development in Africa. Thereafter, the content analysis of the reviewed literature is performed. The results of the study show: (1) the growth pattern of Africa e-government research within a period of 10 years from 2002 to 2012, (2) the issues addressed by the researchers on e-government development in Africa, (3) the African countries and regional participation in e-government research in Africa, and (4) the affiliation and expertise of authors undertaking research on e-government in Africa. These results provide useful insights that might be of interest to African governments, industry and academia for the future development of e-government on the continent. Also included in the paper is an annotated bibliography of e-government research