Early warning characteristics of monitoring and evaluation systems on the "functionality" of municipal service delivery processes

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits School of Governance, 2017Since 1994, the new democratically elected government has embarked on a series of massive initiatives, policies and programmes to improve municipal service delivery performance. Municipalities are, however, still incapable of fulfilling their designated service delivery mandate. The preliminary study of this research discovered that the current municipal monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems, although they are legislated to serve as an early warning system (EWS), do not have essential components of an EWS and, as a result, cannot alert key players and stakeholders of developing problematic trends in municipal service delivery processes. The research examined the extent to which the current M&E system of the City of Johannesburg contains the components of an EWS. The purpose is to design and propose a model of M&E system that can serve as an EWS and enable municipalities to receive advance information about potential problems, and then to implement the necessary corrective interventions. Using a qualitative and a casestudy methodology, data were collected through observation, interviews, focus-group discussions (FGDs) and documentary study. Root cause, thematic analysis and data categorisation were used to analyse data. The findings indicate that early warning signals exist and are noticed by some officials and staff, but no mechanism or budget exists to enable them to use the knowledge (i.e., no EWS exists). An important original finding this study makes is that one of the root causes of municipal problems is the state of alienation municipal workers and managers across race and class experience, which results in silo mentality of workers, departments and sectors, and fragmentation throughout planning, functionalities, information and knowledge, as the effects of alienation on municipal performance have not been in the local government discourse. Conceptually, it argues that the M&E concept and framework need to be re-designed to encompass and build-in the concept of EWS, and, in turn, proposes a model of proactive M&E (pM&E), i.e., an M&E system integrated with EWS components, and therefore serves as an EWS. Moreover, it also suggests that concept and approach of the Weak Signals Theory (WST) is applicable in an M&E framework, but would be hard to use in “municipal” M&E systems, for three reasons: capacity constraint, political, and the multi-sectorial nature of the municipal system. ■ ii KEY WORDS Local government, Municipal service delivery processes, Municipal service delivery challenges, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), pM&E (proactive M&E), eM&E (M&E system integrated with EWS components and therefore serves as an EWS), Early Warning System (EWS), Weak Signal Theory, Alienation, Alienation in local government contextGR201

Early warning characteristics of monitoring and evaluation systems on the "functionality" of municipal service delivery processes

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits School of Governance, 2017Since 1994, the new democratically elected government has embarked on a series of massive initiatives, policies and programmes to improve municipal service delivery performance. Municipalities are, however, still incapable of fulfilling their designated service delivery mandate. The preliminary study of this research discovered that the current municipal monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems, although they are legislated to serve as an early warning system (EWS), do not have essential components of an EWS and, as a result, cannot alert key players and stakeholders of developing problematic trends in municipal service delivery processes. The research examined the extent to which the current M&E system of the City of Johannesburg contains the components of an EWS. The purpose is to design and propose a model of M&E system that can serve as an EWS and enable municipalities to receive advance information about potential problems, and then to implement the necessary corrective interventions. Using a qualitative and a casestudy methodology, data were collected through observation, interviews, focus-group discussions (FGDs) and documentary study. Root cause, thematic analysis and data categorisation were used to analyse data. The findings indicate that early warning signals exist and are noticed by some officials and staff, but no mechanism or budget exists to enable them to use the knowledge (i.e., no EWS exists). An important original finding this study makes is that one of the root causes of municipal problems is the state of alienation municipal workers and managers across race and class experience, which results in silo mentality of workers, departments and sectors, and fragmentation throughout planning, functionalities, information and knowledge, as the effects of alienation on municipal performance have not been in the local government discourse. Conceptually, it argues that the M&E concept and framework need to be re-designed to encompass and build-in the concept of EWS, and, in turn, proposes a model of proactive M&E (pM&E), i.e., an M&E system integrated with EWS components, and therefore serves as an EWS. Moreover, it also suggests that concept and approach of the Weak Signals Theory (WST) is applicable in an M&E framework, but would be hard to use in “municipal” M&E systems, for three reasons: capacity constraint, political, and the multi-sectorial nature of the municipal system. ■ ii KEY WORDS Local government, Municipal service delivery processes, Municipal service delivery challenges, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), pM&E (proactive M&E), eM&E (M&E system integrated with EWS components and therefore serves as an EWS), Early Warning System (EWS), Weak Signal Theory, Alienation, Alienation in local government contextGR201

Analysis and detection of human motion in time-frequency domain

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Decentralization of the police and its performance in four ethnic states of Myanmar

Along with democratic reforms started in 2011, police sector decentralization moved towards being a more gender and ethnic sensitive institution. Drawing on a survey, focus group discussions, and in-depth key informant interviews undertaken in Chin, Kayin, Kachin and Magway, the paper investigates effects of police force decentralization on service delivery performance in these four regions. Findings reveal that the police sector is only partially decentralized, and state governments have limited capability to manage police sectors even under limited decentralization. Challenges include resource and capacity constraints, political instability, and armed conflicts in the regions

Structure of Carbon Nanotubes in Colloidal Solutions under the Influence of a Constant Electric Field

Processes of self-organization in diffusive and limited conditions of colloidal solutions of carbon nanotubes under the influence of constant electric fields are studied. It is established that functionalized MCNT – COOH in a drop of colloidal solution is oriented in an electric field in a controllable way, which is of great practical value

Structure of Carbon Nanotubes in Colloidal Solutions under the Influence of a Constant Electric Field

Processes of self-organization in diffusive and limited conditions of colloidal solutions of carbon nanotubes under the influence of constant electric fields are studied. It is established that functionalized MCNT – COOH in a drop of colloidal solution is oriented in an electric field in a controllable way, which is of great practical value

Measurement Analysis of Specific Absorption Rate in Human Body Exposed to a Base Station Antenna by Using Finite Difference Time Domain Techniques

The system analysis of specific absorption rate (SAR) in human body exposed to a base station antenna by using finite difference time domain techniques was presented in this research works. The objectives of this work are to evaluate the knowledge and awareness about SAR among human body and mobile base station. The paper investigates the electromagnetic wave absorption inside a human body. The human body has been identified using dataset based on 2D object considering different electrical parameters.The SAR convinced inside the human body model exposed to a radiating base station antenna (BSA) has been considered for multiple numbers of carrier frequencies and input power of 20 W/carrier at GSM 900 band.The distance (R) of human body from BSA is varied in the range of 0.1 m to 5.0 m. For the number of carrier frequency equal to one and R = 0.1 m,the concentrated value of whole-body average SAR obtained by FDTD technique is found to be 0.68 W/kg which decreases either with increase of R or decrease of number of carrier frequencies. Safety distance for general public is found to be 1.5 m for number of carrier frequencies equal to one.The performance accuracy of this analysis meets the high level condition by comparing with the relevant system development in recent time