A framework for building an information society for selected countries in the southern African development community

Text in EnglishIn line with the World Summit on the Information Society and with the expectation that this would enable them to advance their development and improve the lives of the population, almost all the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries had developed national information and communications technologies (ICT) policies. The purpose of this doctoral research was to investigate the theoretical underpinning(s) of the national ICT policies of the SADC countries in order to develop a theoretical framework for building an information society for development. The research employed a grounded theory design, utilising the NVivo11 software as a tool to support the analysis of the national ICT policies for the selected 12 of the 15 SADC countries, as well as the interviews of five knowledgeable informants. Content analysis and open-ended interviews were the research methods applied sequentially to develop the Capacitating Theory for Building the Information Society for Development (CaTBIS-4D) for SADC countries, which is the core of the theoretical framework that this thesis proposes. The research found that building an information society continues to remain relevant for SADC countries, and its achievement is dependent on capacitating human, infrastructure and financial factors. Significantly, the research concluded that the perceived failure of the information society project within the SADC countries is due to the arcaneness or obscurity of the recognition that development and the information society mutually reinforce upon each other such that the improvement of one contributes to the advancement in the other. Based on the research findings and conclusions, this research proposes a framework that contends that to build an information society for development, it is necessary/ crucial to capacitate the human, infrastructure and financial factors by focusing on identified economic sectors and social categories within an effective governing and implementation monitoring environment. The research recommends that as the national ICT policies within SADC countries are updated and implemented, the framework proposed in this research be utilised as a basis. Furthermore, the research recommends that the broadest range of local role-players should participate in the information society development project to ensure its endurance and relevance.Information ScienceD. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science

Investigating factors that motivate teachers to teach after normal working hours : a case study in the Capricorn district of Limpopo

The purpose of the study was to identify factors that motivate teachers to teach after hours. It was a qualitative study employing the interpretive research paradigm. The study employed a case study design of three secondary schools. Twelve teachers were purposively selected. Data was collected through focus groups and open-ended questionnaires of which thematically analyzed. Key findings revealed that teachers are motivated to teach after hours by among others their ability, pertinent PD, resources, positive environment, theories of motivation and goals set. The study concluded that these factors should be upheld. The study also recommended enough time for PD, bursaries and salary adjustments, teacher involvement in textbook requisition, excellence awards, incentivisation and goal setting.Educational Leadership and ManagementM. Ed. (Education Management

Isolation and identification of novel compounds from indigenous plants.

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The challenges of building an information society in the Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.The participants in the World Summit on the Information Society, including South Africa, have committed themselves to building the information society in their respective countries and communities. Most countries and communities that have benefited from the information society have been those in the developed countries. Developing communities specifically those that are poor and rural are expected to have unique challenges requiring specific approaches in dealing with the problems. This study has investigated the challenges of building an information society through utilising the Limpopo Province of South Africa as a case study. The dissertation has, by using the Harvard Readiness Guide for the Networked World, determined whether the Limpopo Province is ready to become an information society. It has also identified the activities and projects that are being undertaken within the province as well as proposing what should be done to build the information society for development. The research was conducted through surveying selected leaders (leaders who are responsible for the information society implementation) within the Limpopo Province, to respond to a self-administered questionnaire as well as conducting content analysis of current planning documents for provincial departments and district municipalities. Whilst the dissertation could not determine whether it was feasible to implement the information society in a community such as Limpopo Province, the selected leaders were of the view that by focussing on the issues they identified, the province could successfully build the information society. The respondents were iv of the view that Limpopo Province was currently not e-ready, and thus could not be considered an information society. The study found that most of the activities related to the information society within Limpopo Province were not coordinated and were primarily related to e-government. Another key challenge that was identified, despite the high mobile telephone penetration, was the lack of access to the Internet as well as affordable connectivity. To address these and other challenges identified in the study, a framework for implementing the information society at the provincial level is proposed. Keywords: information society, development, developing countries/communities, Information and Communications Technologies, Limpopo Provinc

Effect of optical defocus on colour perception

Daily experience shows that colour  of a very distant object cannot be accurately determined.  It is assumed that visual acuity (VA) loss is one of the factors at play in this case.  The effects of reduced VA as a result of refractive error or optical defocus on colour vision have not been examined.  Such study will dictate the need or otherwise for optical correction before assessment of colour vision.  The purpose of this study therefore, was to investigate the effects of optical defocus on colour vision in individuals with normal colour vision.  Twenty nine young adult subjects (11 male and 18 females) were included in this study. Their ages ranged from 11 to 29 years with a mean of 22.1 ± 3.4 years.  All subjects had VA of 6/6 or better and normal colour vision.  The colour vision was evaluated with the Farnsworth panel D-15 (desaturated). Each subject was optically defocused to VA of 6/24, 6/60 and 1/60(6/360) at 6 meters respectively and colour vision was assessed at each reduced VA.  At VA of 6/24, colour vision was not affected in all subjects. When the VA was reduced to 6/60, however, 15 (51%) of the subjects failed the colour vision test. When the VA was further reduced to 1/60 by optical defocus, 24 (83%) of the subjects failed the colour vision test.  It was concluded that optical defocus and reduced VA can adversely affect colour vision test findings. While VA reduction to 6/24 may not affect the colour vision results, VA of 6/60 can.  It is therefore, recommended that in clinical colour vision  testing and colour vision screening, VA should first be assessed andcompensated, especially if uncorrected VA is 6/24 or worse

'OECD VIEW' : Should South Africa fully adopt the 'OECD VIEW' of measuring the performance of the STI System?

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2011This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. ©2011 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.The Paper/Essay shows the South African Indicator s process as well as providing the needs for taking a systems approach and going beyond measures of activities, such as research and development and innovation by showing various linkages and an understanding of the dynamic changes that are taking place in the region and world economies. Finally the paper outlines the importance of South Africa having indicators that tells an African story

Teachers’ perceptions of school self-evaluation on quality teaching and learning in Mankweng, Limpopo Province

Before the dawn of democracy, the school evaluation in South Africa was racially segmented, often leading to low quality of teaching and learning. In order to curb this malady, the Department of Basic Education introduced the school self-evaluation (SSE) sometime after the demise of the apartheid system. The genesis of SSE can be traced to the passing of the National Policy on Whole School Evaluation in 2001. This study therefore sought to obtain teachers’ perceptions towards SSE and its effect on quality teaching and learning. The study was embedded in three theories namely, the goal-setting theory, the constructivist theory and the social cognitive theory. The study adopted a mixed-method design with an inclination of qualitative interpretive approach through a multiple case study design of a purposively selected sample of fifty-five participants in the Mankweng Cluster of the Capricorn District, in Limpopo Province. Semi-structured interviews, the open-ended questionnaires focus group discussions and observations (non-participant) were used to collect data. Thematic and the narrative analysis were used to iteratively analyse data. The study enhanced trustworthiness by using four aspects, namely credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Ethical considerations such as the right to withdraw, anonymity, honesty and transparency were upheld through observing some imperatives. The findings of the study revealed the importance of SSE in improving the quality of education provided there was accurate implementation. It was found that external evaluation/school inspection was necessary for sustaining the benefits of SSE. The results of the study disclosed that SSE professional development would help in boosting teacher efficacy. The SSE efficacy may then lead to improvement of quality teaching and learning. Enough time was needed for SSE training for both categories of teachers. SSE instructional leadership of the principals as teachers holding the highest position in schools was believed to be crucial as it could help in mentoring all teachers. That was found lacking due to principals’ lack of SSE knowledge since principals, never received specialised training in SSE.Educational Management and LeadershipD. Ed. (Education Management

Development of NWU soil database as a precursor for a national soil database

MSc (Environment Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom CampusThe availability of a high-quality database that captures the spatial variability of soil properties in South Africa, will promote the long-term sustainable use of soil in the country. In agriculture, data on the variability observed within a field is essential to meet the basic objectives of site-specific management of inputs, which will in turn lead to the increased profitability of crop production while protecting the environment and improving the quality of soil. In South Africa, the amount of soil information from Agricultural support organizations, commercial forestry and mining companies, government departments and academic institutions is broad, but not available outside of the holders of the data. The development of a soil database containing standardised soil information will not only contribute to the estimations of present and future soil productivity potential, in South Africa, but will also aid environmentalists in determining land and water limitations when conducting soil degradation risk assessments. The World Soil Information Services (WoSIS) and the Agricultural Research Council of Soil, Climate and Water (ARC-ISCW) point databases were chosen for SWOT analysis to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that can emerge from the development of a database, and from this the NWU soil database structure was proposed. Soil point data was collected from various sources in South Africa and recorded in the NWU soil database with the accompanying soil morphological and analytical properties. Quality control measures were performed using statistical analysis including basic quality control and outlier detection to evaluate the quality of the recorded data. As a result of the evaluation of the SWOT analysis, the NWU soil database was developed in a way that it can be used to record soil data collected from various sources, recorded in different formats and created for different purposes. The final product of the NWU soil database was composed of a total of 25 sources resulting in a total of 539 soil profiles and 1518 soil horizons. The soil data was quality controlled and used to characterise the soil based on the various soil properties recorded in the soil database. Soil data from various sources can be collected, quality-controlled and recorded in a common soil database, that is complete, comprehensible, and user-friendly. This will lead to the gradual reduction of the paucity of soil data availability in South Africa.Master

Development of NWU soil database as a precursor for a national soil database

MSc (Environment Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom CampusThe availability of a high-quality database that captures the spatial variability of soil properties in South Africa, will promote the long-term sustainable use of soil in the country. In agriculture, data on the variability observed within a field is essential to meet the basic objectives of site-specific management of inputs, which will in turn lead to the increased profitability of crop production while protecting the environment and improving the quality of soil. In South Africa, the amount of soil information from Agricultural support organizations, commercial forestry and mining companies, government departments and academic institutions is broad, but not available outside of the holders of the data. The development of a soil database containing standardised soil information will not only contribute to the estimations of present and future soil productivity potential, in South Africa, but will also aid environmentalists in determining land and water limitations when conducting soil degradation risk assessments. The World Soil Information Services (WoSIS) and the Agricultural Research Council of Soil, Climate and Water (ARC-ISCW) point databases were chosen for SWOT analysis to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that can emerge from the development of a database, and from this the NWU soil database structure was proposed. Soil point data was collected from various sources in South Africa and recorded in the NWU soil database with the accompanying soil morphological and analytical properties. Quality control measures were performed using statistical analysis including basic quality control and outlier detection to evaluate the quality of the recorded data. As a result of the evaluation of the SWOT analysis, the NWU soil database was developed in a way that it can be used to record soil data collected from various sources, recorded in different formats and created for different purposes. The final product of the NWU soil database was composed of a total of 25 sources resulting in a total of 539 soil profiles and 1518 soil horizons. The soil data was quality controlled and used to characterise the soil based on the various soil properties recorded in the soil database. Soil data from various sources can be collected, quality-controlled and recorded in a common soil database, that is complete, comprehensible, and user-friendly. This will lead to the gradual reduction of the paucity of soil data availability in South Africa.Master