50 research outputs found

    N-gram representations for comment filtering

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    CITATION: Brand, D., Kroon, S., Van der Merwe, B. & Cleophas, L. 2015. N-Gram Representations For Comment Filtering in Proceeding SAICSIT '15. Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Research Conference on South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists, Article No. 6. STIAS, Wallenberg Centre, Stellenbosch, South Africa. 28-30 September 2015. doi:10.1145/2815782.2815789.The original publication is available at http://dl.acm.org/authorize.cfm?key=N08849SAICSIT '15. Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Research Conference on South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists, Article No. 6. September 2015.Accurate classifiers for short texts are valuable assets in many applications. Especially in online communities, where users contribute to content in the form of posts and comments, an effective way of automatically categorising posts proves highly valuable. This paper investigates the use of N- grams as features for short text classification, and compares it to manual feature design techniques that have been popu- lar in this domain. We find that the N-gram representations greatly outperform manual feature extraction techniques.Publishers versio

    Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) adoption in South African SMEs

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    The advancement in technological development is now altering the conventional order in the diffusion of IT innovation from a top-down approach (organisation to employees) to a bottom-up approach (employees to organisation). This change is more notable in developed economies and has led to the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon which promises increased productivity for employees and their organisations. There have been several studies on the corporate adoption of BYOD but few have investigated the phenomenon from a small and medium enterprise (SME) perspective and from developing countries specifically. This study investigated the BYOD phenomenon in South African SMEs. The goal was to identify contextual factors influencing BYOD adoption with the purpose of understanding how these factors shaped and reshaped by SME actions. The Perceived EReadiness Model (PERM) was adopted to unearth contextual BYOD adoption factors, while the Structuration Theory was adopted as the theoretical lens from which the social construction of the BYOD phenomenon was understood. The study adopted an interpretive stance and was qualitative in nature. Data was collected from SMEs using semi-structured interviews, and analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The findings show that for BYOD to be adopted and institutionalized in an SME there needs to be organisational readiness in terms of awareness, management support, business resources, human resources, employees' pressure, formal governance, and technological readiness. Specifically, business resources, management support and technological readiness were perceived to be of the outmost importance to the success of BYOD. Environmental factors of market forces, support from industry, government readiness and the sociocultural factor are identified. Findings from the structuration analysis reports the presence of rules and resources (structures) which SMEs draw upon in their BYOD actions and interactions. It provides understanding on the guiding structures such as "no training" and "no formal governance" within which BYOD meanings are formed, and actions such as allowing employees to use their devices to access organisational resources without the fear of security breaches and data theft, are enacted. While it is true that the successive adoption of ICTs in organisation depends on the availability of a conducive formal policy, findings in the study show that SMEs used their business resources and management support as guiding structures of domination which were legitimized by internal informal verbal rules, lack of an institutional BYOD specific policy, minimal industry support; and the presences of social pressure

    Analysis of a South African cyber-security awareness campaign for schools using interdisciplinary communications frameworks

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    To provide structure to cyber awareness and educational initiatives in South Africa, Kortjan and Von Solms (2014) developed a five-layer cyber-security awareness and education framework. The purpose of the dissertation is to determine how the framework layers can be refined through the integration of communication theory, with the intention to contribute towards the practical implications of the framework. The study is approached qualitatively and uses a case study for argumentation to illustrate how the existing framework can be further developed. Drawing on several comprehensive campaign planning models, the dissertation illustrates that not all important campaign planning elements are currently included in the existing framework. Proposed changes in the preparation layer include incorporating a situational and target audience analysis, determining resources allocated for the campaign, and formulating a communication strategy. Proposed changes in the delivery layer of the framework are concerned with the implementation, monitoring and adjustment, as well as reporting of campaign successes and challenges. The dissertation builds on, and adds to, the growing literature on the development of campaigns for cyber-security awareness and education aimed at children

    The influence of ICT interventions on the performance of informal traders in the Sandton region

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    A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management specialising in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation Johannesburg, 2016The establishment and growth of informal traders in South Africa have been attributed with a considerable need and desire for these informal economies to achieve economic growth, create sustainable entrepreneurial opportunities, assist with employment opportunities, etc. A number of factors have an impact on how these informal traders can become competitive and formalised, and one of these enablers is the influence of ICT interventions by informal economies to improve business performance. The purpose of this research was to establish the perceived relationship between the influence of ICT usage by informal traders and the perceived impact on business performance. The intended objective was to assess whether the perception of ICT adoption by informal traders had a positive or negative business performance outcome. The research methodology adopted was a quantitative approach, which was guided by a positivist paradigm. The population targeted were informal traders in the Sandton region of Johannesburg, South Africa. A questionnaire was distributed to gather data. The influence of ICT and the perceived impact within informal traders in the Sandton region revealed some findings consistent with existing literature. It was the overall accepted perception that ICT adoption has a perceived positive impact on business performance, including but not limited to market share, products, and customer service, as measured in the research. A deeper analysis is required to understand why the respondents in the research overwhelmingly state that the influence of ICT adoption has a perceived positive impact on performance, market share, and product and customer service.MT201

    An empirically-based framework for ontology modularization

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    Modularity is being increasingly used as an approach to solve for the information overload problem in ontologies. It eases cognitive complexity for humans, and computational complexity for machines. The current literature for modularity focuses mainly on techniques, tools, and on evaluation metrics. However, ontology developers still face difficulty in selecting the correct technique for specific applications and the current tools for modularity are not sufficient. These issues stem from a lack of theory about the modularisation process. To solve this problem, several researchers propose a framework for modularity, but alas, this has not been realised, up until now. In this article, we survey the existing literature to identify and populate dimensions of modules, experimentally evaluate and characterise 189 existing modules, and create a framework for modularity based on these results. The framework guides the ontology developer throughout the modularisation process. We evaluate the framework with a use-case for the Symptom ontology

    ICT organisations' minimal compliance with affirmative actions regulations: case of the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) ICT sector code in South Africa

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    Research problem: Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) is a legal framework established by the South African government to eradicate racial and gender exclusionary elements from the apartheid regime. This refers to the process called economic transformation. The B-BBEE Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Sector Code is the primary regulatory instrument for regulating ICT organisations' economic transformation activities. Organisational minimal compliance with the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code is the primary obstacle to including Black people in ICT business. Minimal compliance is a compliance behaviour that looks good on the letter of the law but does not transform the intended systems. While ICT organisations have good B-BBEE certificates, the points earned in the compliance process have not been translating into transformation. In 2020, 17 years after the introduction of the B-BBEE Act, the ICT Sector Council reported that ICT organisations had not made real progress in racial inclusivity in ownership and management structures. Minimal compliance with the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code reveals a policy enforcement dilemma where compliance with regulation makes no social change. Purpose of the research: The study interrogated how contextual factors affect minimal compliance with affirmative action regulations such as the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code. The study is a response to the call for Information Systems researchers to investigate the role of ICTs in achieving social justice and the socio-technical aspects that affect ICT enterprises. Investigating these kinds of regulations in Information Systems research also reveals how ICT business interacts with aspects of the socio-political context in post-colonial contexts such as South Africa. Methodology: This is a qualitative inquiry guided by a critical research paradigm. Data was collected through interviews, observations, and document analysis in various touchpoints of the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code. We employed thematic analysis and content analysis to analyse the research data. We developed a conceptual framework that suggests that minimal compliance stems from the need to protect the achievement of organisational goals. Key findings: Factors that affect minimal compliance with the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code are the organisational perception of the policy implementation context, organisational logic of action, and organisational legitimisation. ICT organisations leverage regulatory loopholes (e.g., pointsystem compliance) in the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code to comply with it in a manner that does not add value for the beneficiaries but allows them to achieve their organisational goals. ICT organisations responded to B-BBEE regulatory requirements through two utilitarian logics (goal prioritisation and maintaining status quo). Businesses are pragmatic institutions! This phrase surfaces every time a question B-BBEE compliance comes up. When they introduced the point-system compliance, B-BBEE policymakers did not consider the granular details concerning the complexity inherent in the South African historical context that would affect Black people's involvement in the digital economy. Quantifying the involvement of Black people in the ICT sector has resulted in the commoditisation of gender and race – making the beneficiaries the means to an end through B-BBEE points. The point-system compliance mechanism is the supreme loophole of the B- BBEE policy implementation context. The point-system enforcement mechanism propels ICT organisations to protect the achievement of their economic goals while neglecting the transformation agenda. Ideological discourses such as “B-BBEE compliance is anti-FDI, BBBEE compliance is costly, and B-BBEE compliance is complex” continue to thrive as legitimisation mechanisms to justify minimal compliance behaviour and its outcome. Research contribution: The study is rich with new knowledge about ICT organisational response to affirmative action policies in post-colonial contexts. The focus on the B-BBEE ICT Sector Code revealed policy discrepancies that future policymakers may consider ensuring that transformation takes place. International actors may benefit from the study's practical contribution to B-BBEE compliance processes, and the stakeholders involved. The study contributes to theory by proposing a conceptual framework for minimal compliance behaviour. The conceptual framework proposes three factors to be considered while analysing compliance behaviour: policy implementation context, organisational logics of action, and organisational legitimisation. Through this conceptual framework, the study shows that minimal compliance behaviour is mostly viewed as a binary behaviour – compliance or noncompliance. The compliance behaviour that looks good in the letter of the law but does not solve the problems that warrant policy introduction is taken for granted. The methodological contribution of the study rests in the use of multiple data sources that provided a heterogeneous perspective on B-BBEE compliance. Moreover, a critical interrogation of compliance behaviour is instrumental in illuminating mechanisms used by dominant powers to maintain hegemony by going around the regulations

    A critical realist exploration of the culture of resistance in educational technology integration practices at a South African university

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    This thesis seeks to address a number of troubling concerns related to research and practice in the field of educational technology in South African higher education. Firstly, educational technology research has been criticised for a lack of theoretical rigour resulting in perspectives that are tightly focused mostly on practice but fail to adequately interrogate the socio-political complexities of integrating educational technology. Secondly, while research in the field has been criticised for failing to adequately contextualise the study of educational technology, it also fails to interrogate the impact of colonial legacies and Western-developed technologies on integration practices. Thirdly, there seems to be a disconnect between academics’ practices and choices with educational technology, and the expectations and assumptions of educational technologists. As such, this thesis predominantly follows inductive reasoning where literature and theory are applied to the empirical situation retrospectively in order to avoid the potential influences and biases of mostly Western-driven discourses on educational technology integration practices. Critical realism is used to ‘underlabour’ this study. This meta-theory asserts that there are multiple perspectives of an independent reality, and the work of research is to use these perspectives to draw closer to an understanding of that reality. As such, it allows me to interrogate my perspectives firstly, and secondly those of my research participants, about factors that constrain educational technology integration in the South African context through the use of theory (abstract concepts) and data (research participants’ multiple perspectives). However, critical realism is somewhat cautious in how to access this reality. Therefore, a critical ethnographic epistemology is employed to strengthen critical realism’s aim of accessing knowledge. A critical epistemology emphasises exposing hidden power structures, value judgements as well as self-knowledge and reflexivity. The thesis thus shows how a critical realist ontology could be complemented by a critical ethnographic methodology, particularly in critically-orientated research that has an emancipatory focus which seeks to uncover the socio-political context within which educational technology practices take place. A key argument is that critical realism can be employed as an ontological underlabourer for critical research because of: 1) its immanent critique of traditionally-accepted philosophies, 2) its emphasis on critique of our knowledge claims and value judgements, 3) its insistence that knowledge of the social world necessarily precedes emancipation, and 4) its different conceptions of power (oppressive power and transformatory power). This critical ethnographic research is conducted in a South African university with eight female academics. Data collection is in the form of interviews, observations and reflections, as well as informal and work-related interactions. At each data collection moment, I have had to be reflexively aware of my positionality as an educational technologist, the impact of a colonially-motivated methodology and an ethically-aware approach that seeks to put the needs of the research participants first. Critical ethnography’s meaning-making and critical realism’s abduction and retroduction are used to analyse and make sense of the data. In my attempt to contextualise the study’s findings, I first uncover structural forces and their impact on the academic role before attempting to correlate this with educational technology practices. The study’s findings point to two main structural forces in the socio-political context of South African higher education: the teaching/research tension and the elevation of one dominant culture. In terms of the teaching/research tension, the female academics in this study have to balance the urgent teaching function with the valued research function. They struggle to find this balance because of ambiguous messages from different structures, their passion for teaching, oppressive departmental dynamics and the pressures of their career trajectory. The elevation of one dominant culture is demonstrated through both oppressive cultural practices and untransformed curricula. The study shows that academics mitigate these structural constraints mostly through subtle every day resistance that seeks to mitigate their effect on both the academics and, where applicable, their students. Archer’s morphogenetic/morphostatic cycle is used retrospectively, in response to fieldwork, to conceptualise why this resistance comes about. A resistance framework developed using Archer is then used to understand educational technology choices and practices. The results of the research show that while academics are often pictured as resistant to technology as a response to different barriers, they actually often employ technology to resist structural forces. That is, with this thesis I show that there is a focus on resistance with technology rather than resistance to technology. The study shows how the research participants resist structural forces (teaching tension and dominant culture) by using technology to create safe and responsive learning spaces. As such, this thesis challenges educational technologists to re-think the way they support academics by recommending support strategies that acknowledge both the structural forces in the South African higher education context, as well as the culture of resistance, both of which impact academics’ educational technology choices and practices

    Competency maturing: a substantive theory of how senior information systems undergraduates develop their existing competencies and acquire additional competencies within an organic learning environment

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    There is a high demand for competent Information Systems (IS) / Information Technology (IT) graduates in a globalised knowledge-driven economy with rapidly evolving Information and Communication Technology (ICT). However, becoming a competent IS/IT graduate is not a once-off event because rapid technological changes require that IS/IT graduates continually strive to be up-to-date and relevant. Continuous updating of knowledge, keeping up-to-date, acquiring a diverse set of IS/IT/ICT competencies, and being competent is a problematic task globally, and requires building competencies comprising knowledge, skills, abilities and values. This thesis employs Classic Grounded Theory Methodology (CGTM) with a single case to identify the main concern of senior IS undergraduates during their learning process, and how they resolve the concern. Data were obtained from two diverse groups of senior IS undergraduate classes using multiple data collection methods, embedded in constant comparative analyses. Understanding what was going on in the substantive research area and explaining how the senior IS undergraduates' main concern was resolved was the focus of the data collection and conceptualisation. Through the single case exploratory CGTM study, the senior IS undergraduates' main concern emerged as a perceived lack of IS Competency, and the main concern was explored. A substantive theory of Competency Maturing conceptualises and explains how these students attempt to resolve their perceived lack of IS Competency. A substantive theory of Competency Maturing is a Basic Social Process (BSP) which involves engaging in learning by doing, and spontaneous learning within an organic learning environment. Three phases of the BSP of Competency Maturing are student engagement, self-awareness of competency, and self-development. This thesis recommends a Framework for a South African senior IS undergraduates' programme and offers a set of conceptual propositions developed from empirical data. The thesis makes theoretical and practical contributions to the IS education body of knowledge of student engagement, learning environment, senior IS undergraduates' curriculum development and competency development. A substantive theory of Competency Maturing is relevant to IS educators who wish to break away from traditional, teacher-centred approaches in higher education, and are willing to create learning environments where senior IS undergraduates are motivated to learn in rich, relevant and real-world contexts. The thesis contributes to IS educators who seek to understand how the learning environment and IS educational content influence and support student engagement and Competency Maturing. This thesis also offers IS educational practitioners an understanding of the educational content and a delivery style that can provide senior IS undergraduates with strong theoretical and practical foundations. The thesis's findings suggest that creating an organic learning environment can be a useful approach to developing more competent IS graduates
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