Understanding the Adoption of Wearable Technology in South African Organisations

Wearable technology (WT) provides new ways of performing tasks by enabling easy access to valuable information regarding the wearer and their environment. Organisations are seeking to innovate in order to gain a competitive advantage and WT has the potential to improve an organisation’s processes as well as their product/service offering. This research looks at the factors that influence an organisation’s adoption of WT. The research was performed within the South African context with a focus on organisations in the healthcare, emergency services and education industries. The results of the research were obtained using a thematic coding analysis of the qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from six different organisations. The structure of the interview questions was based on the TOETI theoretical model, a compound model using constructs from the TOE and TTF models. Of these factors, the cost of the technology itself and the level of technological readiness of the adopting organisation were revealed as the most influential negative factors, while competitive pressure and the relative advantage enabled by the technology were identified as the most influential positive factors. Some new factors were added to the model

Digital Learning: Reforming Teacher Education to Promote Access, Equity and Quality in Sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the present and future impact of digital learning on teacher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Digital learning in this report is defined as any instructional practice that uses new communication technologies effectively to improve access to and strengthen learning. The focus of the report is student-teachers and teachers. The 2015–2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly seek to substantially increase the supply of well-qualified teachers in the region, drawing on international forms of development and co-operation where necessary (Goal 4)

Can New Modes of Digital Learning Help Resolve the Teacher Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Sub-Saharan Africa, more than any other part of the world, is experiencing a crisis in finding sufficiently qualified teachers to meet the needs of expanding school systems. The professional development support provided to serving teachers is also inadequate in most countries. The most recent data on learner outcomes has revealed a worrying picture of significant under-achievement across the region. This paper argues that the teacher education and training structures of the last century will never be able to meet urgent contemporary needs. Given population growth, especially among the young, large-scale expansion of the teaching force and the associated teacher education systems will be the norm through to the middle years of the century and beyond. In this context the paper argues for a significant policy shift to expand quality teacher education and professional support at scale through a more school-based and digitally supported network model of provision. Examples of current digital programmes within the region are considered as well as the new technologies that are emerging with relevance to teacher education. The paper suggests a three-phase process through which national governments might move in making the necessary changes in policy and practice

Factors Influencing the purchase intention of Smart wearable technology

A Research Report Submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Witwatersrand University School of Economics and Business Sciences, In partial fulfilment of the requirements of a Master Degree in Marketing, May 2017The consumer market of Smart wearable technology has shown a massive growth, therefore convincing that Smart wearable technology will be the next great thing, with market analysts forecasting its market to be worth over $30 billion by 2020. However this belief is mainly driven by major new technology manufacturers to produce Smart wearable devices that commoditise cellphones, tablets, and portable computers to influence consumer purchase intention. Consumers purchase intention is crucial for every business survival, therefore cannot be overemphasised. With the increasing number of Smart wearable technology brands on the electronics market, South African consumers have to make a choice on which brands to purchase. This study examines the factors influencing the purchase intention of Smart wearable technology in South Africa, with a special focus on product quality, design, price, and consumer attitude. From the academic side, the study makes a significant contribution by exploring the impact of product price and consumer attitude on consumer purchase intention. As a result, manufacturers in the wearable technology industry may apply this study information to develop proper strategies that will help influence more people to purchase wearable devices and ensure Smart wearable technology market growth. The study data were collected through the aid of a self-administered hardcopy questionnaire, which was circulated by the researcher in the University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg. The research findings show that both consumer attitude and product price have a significant positive effect on the intention to purchase Smart wearable devices. Nevertheless, to be more precise, the effect of consumer’s attitude on purchase intention goes through the positive effect of a product design on consumer’s attitude. Both product quality and price are found to extend the effect of positivity of consumer’s attitude toward the product or brand, and the price tag of the product. These scenarios are fully supported in hypotheses one, two, and three. Although both quality and design positively influence product price, Product design is found to have an enlarging effect on product price. Generally, it can be stated that the design of a product successfully influence the price set for product.XL201

Digitalisation Practices in South-African State-Owned Enterprises: A Framework for Rapid Adoption of Digital Solutions

The dawn of the 4IR (4th Industrial Revolution) brought about numerous opportunities for digitisation of South African State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Yet, it is uncertain to what extent these SOEs are positioned to embrace 4IR opportunities and address the challenges. In this paper we investigate the value of SOEs in South Africa (SA) as a developing economy as well as important components of the 4IR and SA government initiatives to embrace the 4IR. Amongst others, Blockchain, Advanced Analytics, AI, and the IoT have been identified as important 4IR components. On the strength of a literature review, a number of propositions is defined and these together with existing technology adoption frameworks, notably the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework are used to define a digitalisation framework for 4IR adoption by SA SOEs. Key to the framework is collaboration among individuals in the 4IR. The framework is subsequently validated conceptually by linking it to the stated propositions

Media Innovation Studio Interactive Review: Volume 1

The Media Innovation Studio’s founding aim in 2012 was to work across disciplines to explore the potential of creative and digital technologies to bring about positive change. Our ‘action research’ approach is lodged in a desire to create inclusively-designed prototypes as responses to real-world issues. Originally positioned within the University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLan) School of Journalism and Media, and now part of the College of Culture and the Creative Industries, the Studio’s remit is to inhabit ‘liminal spaces’ between disciplines. It hopes to explore, research and innovate within the digital ecosystem evolving around us. The human race is more socially, economically, politically and technologically interdependent than at any time in its history. Yet, inequality, instability and unsustainability remain. Collectively, the Media Innovation Studio is trying to understand whether technology has a contribution to make to resolving this broader set of fundamental social issues. Perhaps more interestingly, we’re asking whether there are an emerging series of ideas bound up in the creation and use of Information Computing Technology as it is repurposed by global communities to support activities that make our lives better. We do not believe that technology enables everyone by magically bridging the ‘digital divide’. Nor do we believe that its use by supporters of ‘digital democracy’ is any more democratic because of the use of ICT. Instead, we have discovered through a combination of talking to people, building relationships and making things together, possibilities for change are created. Thankfully, there’s plenty of evidence to demonstrate we’re capable of this. This review shows some of our projects, approaches and methodologies which combine disruptive design techniques, traditional social science and established practice-based methods from the arts. Focussing on the last 12 months of activity, the book also incorporates earlier projects that helped shape the thinking that brought us together to create the Media Innovation Studio