An analysis of the current and future deployment of Information Systems and Technology at the University of the Western Cape

This is an archival work, not applicable today. However, it illustrates both the methodology that was taught at the time, and the quality of the work that was achieved by students at the time.In order to successfully deploy information technology and information systems, any organisation must have a strategy indicating where its business is going, an understanding of the information systems that will help to deliver that strategy, and the capability to deliver and exploit those information systems. It is commonly believed that UWC does not have a strategy (although we acknowledge that a draft document has been tabled at Senate since the main stage of this study concluded). There are relentless pressures to change the way that we work at UWC. Strategies will be needed at institutional and faculty levels, and new information systems will be required to support them. Much of our recent investment has been in information technology as much as it has been in information systems and services. These things are different, and it is the systems and services that deliver the benefits of an investment, not the technology

Assessing information management competencies in organisations

The history of the management of information systems includes many ideas that were intended to simplify the complexities of the management task, but there is still a great deal of wasted investment that produces no significant benefits. Much of the thinking has been rational and structured, but it can be argued that structured thinking will not solve the problems presented by the ever-increasing scope and depth of information systems, the need for improved responsiveness and agility, and the need to deal with a range of requirements that are sometimes behavioural and sometimes legislative. Three of the more frequently cited frameworks for information management (Zachman, Henderson & Venkatraman, Ward), are briefly reviewed and found to have common characteristics. They are combined into a new, simple arrangement of the central (and critically important) ideas. This new framework has been used as the basis of a survey instrument that is introduced and explained; it works at two levels - the "micro" and "macro" levels. It assesses perceptions of organisational capability to manage information well, as seen by respondents who are normally employees working in different roles with varying responsibilities. The survey instrument comes with an analysis and reporting package that is found to be suitable for the needs of busy managers, and the way in which micro and macro data is presently analysed and presented is demonstrated using data from a reference dataset, a CIO workshop, an investigation within a real estate agency and a large financial services organisation. The contribution of this work to the research programme from which it emanated is summarised and future directions briefly explained.Carnegie Corporation of New YorkInternational Bibliography of Social Science

Strategies for information management in education: some international experience

Background: Recent analysis of the management of information and communications technologies in South African education suggests strongly that there is only limited strategic thinking that might guide policy-makers, school principals, teachers, learners and suppliers of educational technologies. It is clear that here in South Africa, as elsewhere, the actual practice of technology-mediated education is driven more by the available technologies than by actual learner needs, good management principles and the wider national imperative. There might be lessons to be learned from experience elsewhere. Objectives: This article reports and analyses conversation with eight international educators in Europe, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. All are managing the impact of technology in different ways (reactive and pro-active), at different levels (pre-primary through to senior citizen), in different roles (teachers, administrators and senior managers) and in different contexts (schools and universities). Method: Open-ended conversations with educators and educational administrators in developed countries were recorded, transcribed and analysed. The qualitative analysis of the content was done in the style of ‘open coding’ and ‘selective coding’ using a qualitative content analysis tool. Results: Whilst technology is still seen to drive much thinking, it is found that that success is not derived from the technology, but from a full and proper understanding of the needs and aspirations of those who are directly involved in educational processes, and by means of a managerial focus that properly recognises the context within which an institution exists. Conclusion: Whilst this result might be expected, the detailed analysis of the findings further reveals the need to manage investments in educational technologies at different levels and in different ways.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Managing information in education: a view from South Africa

PURPOSE – A three-year study of information technology and information systems management in South Africa has delivered (amongst other things) a bibliography and a new reference model. The paper aims to discuss this issue. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – The new reference model indicates the key informational components of the education “system” that education management must acknowledge, understand and deal with. This paper presents an overview of these two principal outcomes from that research, leading to a view as to how education can be improved through better information management. FINDINGS – There is some available reported work that addresses management, or information, or education, but relatively little that brings the essence of these three domains together. The derived reference model effectively addresses a number of set objectives, hence providing a basis for improved understanding of how information can be more effectively managed in education. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – The new reference model comprises an arrangement of ideas that allows education managers to focus on a more strategic approach to their management challenges. It also provides foundations for further research. Although the study was undertaken in South Africa, it has relevance to all countries and regions where education needs improved management.Scopu

Understanding stakeholder expectations in higher education

Higher education invests heavily in information technology and information systems, with variable outcomes. Organisations in other sectors, such as engineering, the defence industry, public administration and business, have developed and adopted good practice for the choice, development and operation of software-based systems that are only sometimes understood in higher education. In order to assess the extent to which good practice might assist higher education, the four tertiary institutions in the Western Cape of South Africa were approached and a representative range of academic, administrative, technical and managerial respondents agreed to contribute to the study. Interviews were organised in two parts: the first an open conversation about their involvement with systems, and the second a structured examination of systems-related events that they considered significant. By inspection of those events, bipolar scales were developed by which respondents were able to characterise events (for example as ‘challenging’ or ‘easy’, or as ‘functional’ or ‘dysfunctional’). Respondents rated events on those scales. Repertory Grid analysis was applied so as to investigate which scales correlated with event success. 30 scales (out of 170) proved to be adequately correlated with success, and by principal component analysis they were combined to form ten ‘success scale’ groups, indicating ten areas where the deployment of good practice might be expected to lead to more effective use of improved information systems. A new Reference Model is developed that has a role to play in resolving the transitions between the domains of the Information Management Body of Knowledge (IMBOK)

Understanding IT management in Higher Education

This is a full research paper prepared for submission to an international conference. It is not yet published elsewhere.A meeting of academics concluded that the management of IT resources in education is sub-optimal and under-researched. The extent of IT-related changes indicates a need for strategic management, proper attention to the expectations of stakeholders, and careful management of the implementation of new systems. Representative role players provided both open and structured input to a study that contrasted open coding of transcribed text and structured analysis of repertory grid data. The results of the open coding were limited but the repertory grid data provided useful insight into the management of information technology and information systems in higher education. The principal findings were that the management of the scope of information systems, services and projects must be managed well, and when coupled with risk management this provides the best possibility of successful working. The controlled management of cost, value, and innovation, are revealed to be distinct areas of strategic importance