Expert views on stimulating mobile apps in Africa as a creative industry

The potential and promise of mobile app development depends in large part on the creative capability of the app developer. In Africa, despite the explosion of mobile phones over the last few years, there is uncertainty regarding the state and need for more relevant apps. In this paper, we draw from a focus group discussion of African based experts and decision-makers from international agencies, academia, industry and the creative industries, to scope out a research and policy agenda for mobile app development in Africa. The guiding question for the group was how to stimulate an enabling creative environment that supports local African app development. The discussion was facilitated and analysed using Delphi-type techniques from collaboration engineering. We found that the expert groups viewed local relevance, demographics (of app developers, app users and app development training organisations), app demand, innovation, the app environment, stimulants and inhibitors as the main areas to be addressed. The highest importance was regarded as understanding the app ecosystem and creating locally relevant apps. The least important was on the app demand. The results underscored the need for flexible research and policy directions for a developmental role of ICT, particularly apps, in Africa. The paper further makes a contribution to transdisciplinary research to show the effectiveness with which ICT can mediate experts from different disciplines to create new realities, while at the same time meeting rigorous methodological requirements

Mobile apps usage and dynamic capabilities: A structural equation model of SMEs in Lagos, Nigeria.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Significant knowledge exists regarding the application of dynamic capability (DC) frameworks in large firms, but their impact on smaller organisations is yet to be fully researched. This study surveyed 1162 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos in an effort to understand how SMEs in developing country contexts use mobile apps to enhance their businesses through DCs. Through the use of the covariance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) technique, the study explored the fitness of a conceptual formative model for SMEs. The model assembled 7 latent variables namely: mobile app usage, adaptive capability, absorptive capability, innovative capability, opportunity sensing ability, opportunity shaping ability and opportunity seizing ability. Subsequently, 15 hypotheses aimed at testing the relationships between the latent variables were developed and tested. The findings revealed that mobile app usage increases the adaptive, absorptive and innovative capabilities of SMEs. Absorptive capabilities help SMEs to maximise opportunities, while innovative capabilities negatively influence SMEs’ tendency to maximise opportunities. The results failed to establish a direct relationship between mobile app usage and SMEs’ ability to maximise opportunities. The research outcomes indicate that SMEs in Lagos respond to opportunities innovatively but they seldom exhibit innovation in order to create opportunities. The heterogeneous nature of SMEs complicates any clear-cut narrative as to how SMEs in Lagos should employ mobile apps to create and maximise opportunities. However, mobile apps could induce innovation and, as such, impact significantly when developed and applied to the contextual requirements of SMEs. The research revealed the untapped potential of SMEs’ mobile app usage in Lagos

Digital Transformation in Government: A Bibliometric Scoping of African Aspirations and the Realities

African countries have persistently ranked poorly in the United Nations E-Government Development index (EGDI). This study therefore sought to make sense of the nature and form of digital transformation (DX) in African governments. It used a bibliometric analysis and a critical realist lens to explore some of the underlying structures and generative mechanisms that influence DX. The key findings from 606 scholarly publications over the three decades of DX research reveals marked sharp contrasts, with South Africa dominating the research on DX, an underrepresentation of DX research from most African nations, and some influence from non-African nations, particularly the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK) and the Netherlands. These realities reflect deeper underlying structures including economic power dynamics, infrastructural disparities, and potential neocolonial influences. Challenges such as digital literacy, data sovereignty concerns, and the absence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the discourse highlight tangible obstacles. Despite these complexities, DX\u27s primary objective, improving lives and delivering efficient government services, remains integral to its potential success. The study underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of DX\u27s multi-faceted nature in Africa, advocating for future research to explore economic power dynamics, capture underrepresented experiences, address digital literacy, and integrate AI into the DX discourse

Shifting the digital skills discourse for the 4th industrial revolution

Copyright ©the Authors All rights reserved. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies: 1) bear this notice in full; and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is permissible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment of a fee. Contact [email protected] to request redistribution permission.School of Computin

Facilitating policy implementation using ICT in a development context : a South African ubuntu approach

The road of development through e-government is covered with deep potholes and dead ends. This is because Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are adopted and e-government policies are developed with a blind focus on the ICT tools and with little reflection on the contribution of ICT to development (Heeks and Bailur, 2007, p. 243, Avgerou, 2009, p. 14). To assist with this reflection Information Systems (IS) researchers are increasingly calling for the development of local contextual theory or a framework in ICT for Development (ICT4D) (Avgerou, 2009, p. 14, Madon et al., 2007, Walsham, 2003, Walsham, 1997). This thesis responds to that call by investigating the role of e-government towards development within the South African context. The means of inquiry was a three year ethnographic immersion in a longitudinal research project. The aim of the longitudinal research project was to investigate how a specialised type of ICT (Group Support Systems) can enable interaction between government and citizens in attaining specific human rights. The research project centred on creating an awareness among the public in South Africa of a newly enacted Act, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act No 3 of 2000 (PAJA). The rich data collected was analysed using Grounded Theory, resulting in a substantive theory that suggests that within the South African context e-government could contribute to development if it is used to facilitate policy implementation within the spirit of Ubuntu. The thesis delineates the journey up to the emergence of the substantive theory. The substantive theory has important implications for IS theory and IS practice. For IS theory, the substantive theory demonstrates that research on ICT4D in Africa could usefully be undertaken by following an action research strategy within a critical-interpretive paradigm. The substantive theory also suggests the importance of taking into account the contextual collaborative nature of African culture in the spirit of Ubuntu when conducting such research. For practice, the substantive theory proposes a potential framework where ICT could provide the collaborative environment or shared space in the spirit of Ubuntu for policy implementation towards development. Checked against implementation requirements on the South African policy on entrepreneurship, the substantive theory framework proves to be equally valuable.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010.Informaticsunrestricte

Maximising opportunities using mobile apps: an exploratory factor analysis of service sector micro and small enterprises in Nigeria

With the fourth Industrial Revolution highlighting the increased importance of the service sector, this research sought to understand how mobile apps influence the dynamic capabilities of service sector micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Lagos, Nigeria. The study analysed data from 388 service sector MSEs in Lagos, using exploratory factor analysis. Five factors were extracted through the maximum likelihood extraction method: mobile app usage, absorptive capability, opportunity-sensing ability, opportunity-shaping ability and opportunity-seizing ability. The resultant model suggests that mobile app usage barely increases the absorptive capability of MSEs; rather, mobile app usage strongly influences the ability to seize opportunities. In addition, absorptive capability has a strong impact on the ability to shape opportunities. The result implies that mobile app usage by service sector MSEs in Lagos deviates from the conventional views on the micro-foundations of the dynamic capability framework, which argues that sensed opportunities are first analysed (shaped) before deploying resources towards their maximisation. These findings suggest that the service sector MSEs in Lagos seldom scrutinise opportunities before deploying resources to seize them. This study contributes to information system (IS) knowledge by revealing a contextual model for investigating the use of mobile apps in service sector MSEs. It also extends IS literature on how mobile apps help MSEs to exploit business opportunities in Lagos, Nigeria. These findings can probably be generalised to other developing countries

The moderating effect of spirituality on digital government in low-income countries: a case of SMEs in Zambia

The failure of digital government in most low-income countries has often been attributed to, among many factors, culture. This paper investigated the moderating effect of the indigenous African cultural aspect of spirituality on the adoption and usage of digital government services among small and micro enterprises (SMEs). The base theory was the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). Analysis was done using structural equations modelling (SEM), applying Hayes’ process macro. The results, from 401 SMEs that participated, showed that spirituality has a significant negative moderating influence on the relationship between social influence and the intention to use digital government services. This finding suggests that spirituality, in the Zambian context, has an effect on the usage and adoption of digital government services among SMEs. The study makes a novel contribution to information systems (IS) theory by identifying the influence of an important, yet overlooked, aspect of indigenous African culture on the usage and adoption of digital government services in a low-income country. The paper makes recommendations for practice, policy and IS theory

The use of mobile apps to enhance SMEs in conditions of uncertainty: A case study from Lagos, Nigeria

While many cities are beginning to experience mass discontent from tough and declining economies, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos continue to survive despite existing mass discontent brought about by corruption, economic recessions, poor infrastructure, unemployment, poverty, and insurgency in Nigeria. This paper develops a conceptual model to make sense of how SMEs in Lagos use mobile apps as a means of survival in conditions of uncertainty. Underpinned by pragmatic philosophy, the paper draws on the theory of dynamic capabilities (DC) to develop the conceptual model. Whereas the theory of DC asserts that business could compete favourably despite unpredictable business environments through continuous sensing and seizing of opportunities, it also suggests that constructs for measuring DCs vary across contexts. The study adopted a qualitative approach to identify the absorptive, adaptive, and innovative capabilities used by SMEs in Lagos with a view to identifying the role of mobile apps. The key findings suggest that SMEs in Lagos manifest a higher degree of adaptive capabilities compared with their absorptive and innovative capabilities. Specifically, the SMEs are primarily information seekers with a flexible approach to opportunity seeking. The SMEs leverage on adaptive capabilities mainly through customer feedback and referrals, and manifest absorptive capabilities through repackaging and repricing of their offerings. The findings further reveal how SMEs primarily satisfice, and that there is a gap for better contextually appropriate apps that meet the needs of these SMEs. The paper makes a contribution to DC theory in identifying capabilities in conditions of uncertainty in an African and developing context

Prospects of collaborative consumption in the context of digital government

Rapid advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) combined with rising economic constraints are causing a change in behavior towards new forms of consumption called collaborative consumption (the sharing economy). Research on this phenomenon from the government perspective has however not received much attention. This paper therefore performed a systematic literature review to make sense of how the notion of collaborative consumption (CC) has been investigated in the digital government context, further reflecting on the implications for developing countries. The findings suggest that there is a significant research opportunity on CC in digital government settings to developing countries such as in Latin America, Africa or Australia. Specifically those developing countries are unreflectively sharing based on what developed countries consider needs to be shared. The study contributes theoretically a research agenda on CC in a digital government setting and practically on how to share public services with limited resources

FACILITATING FINANCIAL INCLUSION USING ICT: LESSONS FROM M-PESA AND E-ZWICH

Financial inclusion is a priority in most developing countries. While the inclusion approaches may differ, the primary aim remains enrolling the unbanked into the formal economy. This paper adopts Critical Realism as a lens to compare the efforts of two inclusion models; M-PESA from Kenya and ezwich in Ghana. The findings reveal that while both models do not provide the infrastructure for people to build trust, the enrolment successes of both models differ significantly