Information and Communications Technologies and Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policies, Practices, Trends and Recommendations

The following report discusses the use of Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) to improve access to, quality of, and delivery of secondary education within sub-Saharan Africa. It discusses the policy environment for ICTs in sub-Saharan Africa, their successes, challenges, andlessons learned, and it concludes with a broad and detailed set of recommendations for policymakers, donors, the private sector, designers, and implementers of ICTs in education programs. The report seeks to generally answer the question of how sub-Saharan African (SSA) governments can best use technology to improve access to secondary education, improve learning, strengthen management of schools and the education system, and foster innovation

Knowledge for a Sustainable World

The search for answers to the issue of global sustainability has become increasingly urgent. In the context of higher education, many universities and academics are seeking new insights that can shift our dependence on ways of living that rely on the exploitation of so many and the degradation of so much of our planet. This is the vision that drives SANORD and many of the researchers and institutions within its network. Although much of the research is on a relatively small scale, the vision is steadily gaining momentum, forging dynamic collaborations and pathways to new knowledge. The contributors to this book cover a variety of subject areas and offer fresh insights about chronically under-researched parts of the world. Others document and critically reflect on innovative approaches to cross-continental teaching and research collaborations. This book will be of interest to anyone involved in the transformation of higher education or the practicalities of cross-continental and cross-disciplinary academic collaboration. The Southern African-Nordic Centre (SANORD) is a network of higher education institutions from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Universities in the southern African and Nordic regions that are not yet members are encouraged to join

The global information technology report 2014

Executive summary When The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) and the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) were created more than 13 years ago, the attention of decision makers was focused on how to develop strategies that would allow them to benefit from what Time Magazine had described as “the new economy”: a new way of organizing and managing economic activity based on the new opportunities that the Internet provided for businesses. At present, the world is slowly emerging from one of the worst financial and economic crises in decades, and policymakers, business leaders, and civil society are looking into new opportunities that can consolidate growth, generate new employment, and create business opportunities. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) continue to rank high on the list as one of the key sources of new opportunities to foster innovation and boost economic and social prosperity, for both advanced and emerging economies. For more than 13 years, the NRI has provided decision makers with a useful conceptual framework to evaluate the impact of ICTs at a global level and to benchmark the ICT readiness and usage of their economies

International Financial Accounting Standards And The Continent Of Africa

In response to the increased globalization of both commercial and financial markets and increased frequency of corporate scandals, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has spearheaded an international initiative to standardize corporate financial reporting. This effort involves setting the standards, creating a process of adopting the standards that is tailored to the needs of each nation, overcoming the challenges of implementation that many countries face and ensuring continued observance of the standards once they are adopted. This paper focuses on the implementation of IFAC standards in the African Continent. An examination of IFAC’s mission, its membership requirements and ongoing compliance program, and its assistance to developing nations will illustrate the current status of African nations in the standardization process. The countries representing the African continent possess many promising opportunities for growth and prosperity in the global economy and also present many distinct obstacles in their effort to embrace and implement the IFAC initiative. The approach used in this paper is to examine broadly the challenges faced by the different regions within Africa. This approach takes into account political, economic, cultural and religious differences found in distinct regions within the continent

Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Botswana

Information and Communication Technologies for Development in Botswana takes an exploratory look at the use of information and communication technologies by information technology professionals in organizations. The study makes a link between the micro and macro perspectives of development. Organizations at the micro level are the vehicles of development and an understanding of how they are leveraging their available technology for development enable the gap between the micro and macro perspectives to be better understood

Strategies Information and Communication Technology Managers Use to Build Employee Competencies

The World Economic Forum (WEF) found that Botswana\u27s information and communication technology (ICT) networked readiness index (NRI) had declined from position 89 in 2012 to 104 in 2015. A decline in Botswana\u27s ICT NRI resulted in a modest gross domestic product (GDP) growth increasing from 4.2% in 2012 to 5.0% in 2015. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies ICT service provider managers use to build employee competencies to address ICT infrastructure performance deficiencies. The target population for this study consisted of over 120 managers from 2 ICT service providers located in Gaborone and Francistown in Botswana. The conceptual framework for this study was information technology (IT) competency model. Face-to-face interviews with 15 managers and a review of 12 company documents were gathered and all interpretations from the data were subjected to member checking to ensure the trustworthiness of the study findings. The thematic analyses of participants\u27 interviews and company documents resulted in the emergence of 3 common themes: developing professional employee competencies through training, promoting knowledge acquisition and skills transfer, and developing budgets for funding the development of employee competencies. Participants cited training and professional development as a reason for ICT infrastructure performance deficiencies. Social implications from this study include developing strategies business managers can use to build employee competencies to improve ICT infrastructure performance, which could result in improved services to citizens and enhanced national development, social transformation, and economic diversification

What are the requirements of a successful ERP implementation in SMEs? Special focus on Southern Africa

Many international Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems were developed based on the best practices of organizations in which they were developed. These organizations are usually large, and in developed countries. However, small organizations in other parts of the world are also implementing ERP. Implementing a system based on different practices that differ from yours is certainly bound to come with issues. The objective of the study is to identify challenges experienced by SMEs when implementing ERP systems, and to suggest requirements of achieving successful implementations in SMEs in Southern Africa. A thematic analysis methodology was used to explore identified challenges from fourteen SMEs and to identify themes within the data. The study suggested that a successful ERP implementation requires sufficient and appropriate training, reliable internet connection, involvement of end-users, change management, as well as sufficient demonstration of the prospective ERP system

Advanced Animal Track-&-Trace Supply-Chain Conceptual Framework: An Internet of Things Approach

Information and data transmission, as well as total visibility in terms of supply chain track-&-trace, is seriously lacking in current industrial logistics-&-supply-chain management activities. This paper proposes the application of RFIDs and the Internet of things’ enterprise systems architecture to, propose a low-cost feasible cloud solution. This solution would keep track of health history, birth records, ownership history and track location of each animal by using an electronic solar-powered tag instead of the current passive ear tags. This paper employs GPRS, GSM and the Google Earth function along with RFIDs to design an enhanced proposed enterprise system-architecture framework in the form of a business process model. Various areas such as e-health, e-commerce, and cloud-based manufacturing have been revolutionized by discoveries in digitized practices. Advancements in the Internet of things led to the advent of asset tracking systems, condition monitoring and various intelligent systems that exchange data over the cloud. Farmers are very vulnerable to stock theft, straying animals and high business risks due to poor animal health management practices. Existing tracking systems have high ownership costs since some of them rely on GSM network providers whose services are costly for farmers. Innovations in digitized systems continue to add more value to businesses and individuals across broad range sectors. Authors of this paper propose a low-cost intelligent animal tracking system for an African free-ranging environment. Economies worldwide are ever becoming digital and animal husbandry practices stand to benefit from this digitisation approach

Investigation of user-centred approaches to design practice in Botswana

Increased competition of product offering has led to the need to better understand the end-user, in order to create a more appropriate product. Furthermore, the ever increasing individualistic culture has led to the need for more customised products; where a New Product Development (NPD) team has to balance user needs and wants. Initial study assumptions were that the more the user involvement the better the product outcome. The aim was to investigate design awareness and use of User-centred Design (UCD) practices in full in the design industry in Botswana; and the training needs of the design industry in relation to UCD. Literature review determined the study focus areas; design awareness (DA), design practices (DP) and UCD. Best global practices were identified since there was little to no literature on UCD practice in Botswana and the researcher investigated products developed for the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). This study has been carried out from the NPD team s perspective. Data collection began with the scoping study, which provided an early overview of UCD practice utilisation in NPD; it also provided a guideline to data collection in Botswana. The survey study provided a broader overview of the use of design and UCD practices within the design industry. The interviews provided a follow-up to questions arising from the survey study and are focused on the Graphic and Advertising (GA) and Furniture and Interior (FI) industries for more in-depth analysis. The case studies were conducted to better understand how specific projects were conducted in relation to UCD practices; they also provided an evaluation mechanism for findings from previous studies. The results show case study findings correlating with findings from previous studies; the lack of documentation, heavy user involvement at the start stage of the PDP followed by the end stage. The vast majority of the participants failed to obtain product needs directly from the end-user and instead used the client as a proxy for the user. Design is viewed as an act of planning; user reaction was also viewed as the most important measure of design effectiveness. The majority of participants reported educational institutions not offering the needed skills. Two thirds of the participants did little market research; but the majority agreed user involvement in the PDP was important and that the user can effectively share ideas with the NPD team. The data was not clear as to whether, user involvement helped or hindered NPD team s creativity. The researcher s views on the user involvement in NPD have evolved to the need of an organised way for obtaining and documenting user and product needs, instead of treating the user like a co-operation partner. More case studies are expected to evolve case study questionnaire to, a tool for facilitating UCD practice use in Botswana s design industry

A mobile applications innovation ecosystem framework for Botswana

Text in EnglishThe role that locally relevant services and content can play in the development of societies cannot be underestimated. The proliferation of mobile phones in Africa’s developing countries is a significant enabler, which provides access to such locally relevant services and content. Mobile applications have the potential to support the development of the African continent through bolstering the main mechanisms of innovation, inclusion and efficiency. This has been demonstrated by instances of increased literacy, improved access to health care, banking, crowd sourcing and provision of farming and/or agricultural assistance. Successful cases of such mobile-based services include Kenya’s M-Pesa, which has allowed millions of rural people, who do not have access to traditional banking facilities, to send and receive money as well as pay utility bills and school fees. The development of similar innovative and locally relevant mobile-based solutions, which is currently considered to be in its infancy, is key to improving the lives of people in developing countries. This study identifies the essential components of an innovation ecosystem, for the development and presentation of a Mobile Applications Innovation Ecosystem Framework for Botswana. An innovation ecosystem enables effective interaction amongst entrepreneurs, companies, universities, research organisations, investors and government agencies towards maximising economic impact and potential. To gain a practical understanding of the context in which locally relevant mobile-based services can be developed, the study adopted a pragmatic research approach. Through combining the 4Cs Framework for ICT and the systems theory’s Triple Helix Model of Innovation, the study proceeded to develop the framework using a Design Science Research (DSR) methodology. DSR guided the identification of the components, which make up the mobile applications innovation ecosystem within government, industry and higher education sectors, as extracted from the literature review. This process facilitated initial framework designs, which were demonstrated to and evaluated by conveniently sampled stakeholders from relevant helices. Thereafter a synthesised framework was presented for evaluation by knowledgeable professionals from the mobile applications innovation ecosystem. The study contributes to the theoretical knowledgebase by presenting a theoretical framework for understanding ICT4D innovation frameworks and mobile applicationsSchool of ComputingPh. D. (Information Systems