bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Scientific Animations Without Borders and Communities of Practice: Promotion and Pilot Deployment of Educational Materials for Low‐Literate Learners around Adama (Ethiopia) by Adama Science and Technology University
Authors: Bello‐Bravo Julia , Olana Gemechu Waktola , Enyadne Lemi Guta , Pittendrigh Barry Robert 
Published: December 2017

AbstractEnsuring the success of deployment initiatives of specific programs in developing countries comes with the commitment of local, public and private institutions. Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) creates educational content for low literate learners, in their own local languages that can be deployed on video capable devices by in country groups. In other words, SAWBO creates content, for local communities of practice to use in their educational programs. Although SAWBO creates and deploys this content virtually, it is the domain of local groups to develop strategies and approaches for local and meaningful impact. Establishing partnership between local stakeholders, public and private institutions bring new opportunities to the deployment of educational materials in developing nations. In regards to this statement, the consultative group on a project entitled “Promotion and Pilot Deployment of Educational Materials for Low Literate Learners around Adama” offers a case study in commitment between participants. This paper explains the opportunities for, and challenges to, creating a community of practice and making decisions between public and private institutions leading to the deployment of educational materials in a form of animated videos around Adama City in the region of Oromia, Ethiopia. This paper presents the willingness of local, public and private institutions to enter into partnership to participate in a specific deployment of a project perceived to be beneficial for low literate learners in their communities. The report of the consultative meeting suggests that while initiatives and perceptions may differ among the different groups involved in the deployment, common goals facilitate the decision making to move forward. This paper is part of an ongoing effort to develop community of practice models, for deployment of cross‐culturally adaptable educational animations, with the intent of reproducing similar approaches in other regions of the world.
The Changing Field of ICTD: Growth and Maturation of the Field, 2000–2010
Authors: Gomez Ricardo 
Published: December 2017

AbstractWe report the results of a content analysis of 948 papers from selected peer reviewed journals and conferences published between 2000 and 2010 in the academic literature on the interdisciplinary field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD or ICT4D). Results indicate that the field has grown and matured dramatically since its early days, and traces some of the most salient shifts over time and across journals and conferences. Results indicate that the majority of the literature focuses on business and empowerment as the primary domains of ICTD work, and on ICT in general and on information systems as the most common technology objects of analysis, with a growing trend toward mobile phones. The dominant types of research questions are of descriptive, or of measurement or social change in nature, while the preferred paradigmatic stances overall are interpretivist, positivist and pragmatic. The preferred research methods are qualitative, mixed methods and quantitative. There is a predominance of technological approaches to ICTD rather than social ones, and the most frequent types of recommendations are related to more ICT infrastructure. Furthermore, most of the literature consists of studies of individual countries or of organizations, and the most frequent contributions are field studies and best practices, with a growing trend towards contributing theory and policy recommendations. This is the first‐ever comprehensive analysis of the ICTD literature across multiple sources over ten years; it offers important insights about the trends and directions of research in the ICTD field.
Rethinking Information Systems Projects Using Actor‐Network Theory: A Case of Malawi
Authors: Mpazanje Flora , Sewchurran Kosheek , Brown Irwin 
Published: December 2017

AbstractOrganisations invest heavily in Information Systems (IS) projects in the hope of realising business benefits. Yet reports persist of IS projects that all too often fail. Efforts to rescue the situation have so far yielded unsatisfactory results. A number of calls have hence been made to rethink and deepen understanding of IS project management practice. The purpose of this study is to contribute towards this rethink by exploring and describing the as‐lived experiences of stakeholders in IS projects. A case study approach was adopted wherein in‐depth analysis was carried out on an IS project executed in Malawi. Using a developing country such as Malawi as empirical source is novel, as much of the research on IS project management emanates from the developed world. Yet IS project failure is endemic in all contexts. Data was collected and analysed qualitatively using Actor‐Network Theory (ANT) as the lens of enquiry. Key findings were that (1) starting up an IS project is neither simple nor straightforward; it is lengthy and winding; (2) project objectives need not be “cast in stone”, as they may be subject to negotiations as key stakeholders are brought in; (3) project success is achieved only when stakeholder interests are strongly interwoven in the project need; (4) involving operational system end users was oddly not seen as critical in the case, and (5) the experience of the project manager will determine the extent to which formal methodologies are rigidly followed in the project. The use of an ANT lens provides for a deeper understanding of IS project processes and outcomes.
The Value of Social Media in Egypt's Uprising and Beyond
Authors: Kamel Sherif H. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractSocial media represents the emerging driving force in political transformation and change. Its different cutting‐edge platform has become invaluable for the mobilization, organization and implementation of social movements around the world. However, there is no one size that fits all. Egypt's case represents an uprising that was the result of passionate people and not of any specific social media platform. It was definitely not the social media revolution; it was the people uprising that capitalized on social media to realize a dream of a nation in providing “bread1, freedom and social justice”. There is no doubt that social media boosted the people's desire for a better future, democracy, socioeconomic and political development that was for many decades put on hold by consecutive regimes. This article highlights the clash of generations between older state power and younger citizens and the role social media played in the political transformation in the build‐up to Egypt's uprising in January 2011 and beyond.
Desperately Seeking Systems Thinking in ICT4D
Authors: Turpin Marita , Alexander P.M. (Trish) 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe ICT4D context is a complex, multi‐faceted one that needs to take into account political, cultural, economic and infrastructural factors, which often prove to be more challenging to deal with than the technological aspects. This messy context may benefit from a systems approach: Systems thinking provides a holistic view and transdisciplinary methods to describe and analyse complex situations. But to what extent has ICT4D benefited from systems thinking in the past? This paper presents a literature survey of the use of systems thinking in ICT4D. Prominent ICT4D publication outlets have been searched for any reference to systems thinking. The papers identified in the search are discussed in terms of the problems they address and the systems methods used. The results of the survey indicate not only a lack of the use of systems concepts in ICT4D, but also a fragmentedness in the application of systems concepts. The paper tries to make sense of these findings and provides a few perspectives to help interpret them. It concludes with a challenge to systems thinkers to put more effort into disseminating their work to the ICT4D research audience.
A Model for Assessing Learning Management System Success in Higher Education in Sub‐Saharan Countries
Authors: Mtebe Joel S. , Raisamo Roope 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIn recent years, there has been an increasing adoption of various Learning Management Systems (LMS) in higher education in Sub‐Saharan countries. Despite the perceived benefits of these systems to leverage challenges facing education sector in the region, studies show that the majority of them tend to fail; partially or totally. This paper presents a model for evaluating LMS deployed in Higher Education Institutions in Sub‐Saharan countries through adopting and extending the updated DeLone and McLean information system success model. The proposed model and the instrument have been validated through a survey of 200 students enrolled in various courses offered via Moodle LMS at University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The findings of this study will help those who are involved in the implementation of LMS in higher education in Sub‐Saharan countries to evaluate their existing systems and/or to prepare corrective measures and strategies to avoid future LMS failures.
Design Science Approach to Developing and Evaluating a National Cybersecurity Framework for Jamaica
Authors: Dennis Antonio , Jones Rohana , Kildare Duane , Barclay Corlane 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe cyber‐security landscape is continuing to evolve and it is therefore important for countries to understand the dynamic forces and be able to foresee the potential risks and vulnerabilities and stem them. One approach is through the development and implementation of proactive strategies, policies and procedures that is guided by a cyber‐security strategy and framework at the national level. A recent 2013 UN study revealed that a significant number of countries are without a national cybercrime strategy. This is true for countries in the Caribbean including Jamaica that are currently without a national cyber‐security strategy and framework. This has significant implications for our national security and development. This research project therefore seeks to develop and evaluate a National Cyber‐security framework, Jamaica National Cyber‐security Framework (JNCF) through the application of the Design Science methodology. JNCF incorporates international standards and best practices as a basis to aid in the protection of confidentiality, integrity and availability of national information in Jamaica and serve as a potential blue print for both the private and public sectors within Jamaica. The framework rests on due consideration for the critical assets and infrastructure, stakeholders and legislative and technical controls supported by the definition and scope of cybercrime and global best practices. We argue that these facets facilitate a sound national strategy for combatting cybercrime. Our study has implications for research, government and private sectors as it seeks to develop an artifact that is currently not in existence in Jamaica which can be used to inform the effective management of cyber‐crime and security in other developing countries.
E‐trade Facilitation in Ghana: A Capability Approach Perspective
Authors: Adaba Godfried Bakiyem , Rusu Lazar 
Published: December 2017

AbstractA growing number of countries are adopting e‐government to deliver greater operational efficiency, cost savings and transparency. The current wave of globalization and the integration of the world economy have intensified international trade volumes. Thus, the prospect of development through trade has driven some countries sub‐Saharan Africa to adopt information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly electronic data interchange (EDI) to facilitate international trade. This paper applies Amartya Sen's Capability Approach (CA) as a framework to examine the effect of an e‐government initiative intended to modernise customs operational procedures and facilitate trade. E‐trade facilitation has given individuals and businesses the opportunity to lodge import and exports declarations electronically with a single document, resulting in time and cost savings as declarations can be made electronically from any location and at any time. The paper makes a contribution by offering a useful example of the affordances of the CA for examining e‐government initiatives particularly in developing countries focusing on what people can actually do with the opportunities provided by e‐government, rather than using income‐based measures.
A Participatory GIS for Marine Spatial Planning in the Grenadine Islands
Authors: Baldwin Kimberly , Mahon Robin 
Published: December 2017

AbstractMarine spatial planning (MSP) is a strategic way of improving decision‐making and delivering an ecosystem approach to managing human activities in the marine environment. Notwithstanding the central role of human agency in these approaches, it is recognised that many times marine management has not been effective in part due to a failure to use all available sources of information and knowledge, particularly the local knowledge of the resources’ users. The transboundary Grenadine Islands, which rely heavily on the marine environment for livelihoods, provide an example of a complex system where there is a high diversity of uses and all available information is needed for effective management. We illustrate how a participatory GIS approach can be applied as a sound basis for practically incorporating an ecosystem approach within marine spatial planning initiatives. Key benefits include effective data management, increased spatial understanding and the definition of critical areas across the Grenada Bank. We found the application of a PGIS approach to support spatially‐based ecosystem‐level analyses of the Grenada Bank to be conducted and presented in ways that could be expected to increase stakeholder understanding of information generated thus supporting marine governance.
The Role of E‐commerce for the Growth of Small Enterprises in Ethiopia
Authors: Hassen Yasin Ali , Svensson Ann 
Published: December 2017

AbstractSmall enterprises strive to survive and grow in the business they are involved. They make efforts to utilize different resources and technologies available to this end as long as it is affordable and productive. Information Communication Technology or e‐commerce are among those technologies that take the front line. This paper aims to define an adoption level of e‐commerce in small Ethiopian enterprises and show that their business requirements and perceived benefits of e‐commerce are related to business growth. It takes five small enterprises involved in import and export business to perform case study research on the issue and examines their utilization level of the technology. The findings show that small enterprises in the country have low levels of e‐commerce utilization due to: (1) the scarcity of infrastructure development and expertise in the area, and (2) barriers created by government policy and bank regulations. However, this study found good understanding of the business opportunities and benefits that could be exploited from e‐commerce.
E‐Learning in Kenyan Universities: Preconditions for Successful Implementation
Authors: Tarus John K. , Gichoya David 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIn recent years, there has been significant growth in the use of e‐learning in Kenyan universities. However, despite this growth, universities in Kenya are still experiencing implementation challenges towards full utilization of e‐learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze the preconditions necessary for successful implementation of e‐learning in Kenyan universities. Data was collected through questionnaires and in‐depth interviews from 525 respondents comprising of university management, e‐learning support staff, lecturers and students who are currently using e‐learning in blended mode approach in three leading Kenyan universities. The findings reveal that successful implementation of e‐learning was dependent on three categories of preconditions namely technological components, organizational components and pedagogical components. An implication of this study is that implementation of e‐learning in Kenyan universities requires the blending of these three broad components necessary for successful implementation of e‐learning. These findings are significant in that it will widen the frontiers of knowledge and provide more insights on implementation of e‐learning in Kenyan universities.
Exploring Mobile Internet Use Among Marginalised Young People in Post‐Conflict Sierra Leone
Authors: Sam Steven 
Published: December 2017

AbstractAlthough the use of mobile internet is emerging as a new area of exploration for accessing the impact of mobile telephony on people in developing countries, study on how it is adopted and utilised in post‐conflict context is rare. This paper draws upon domestication theory and ethnographic approach to explore the adoption, popularity and use of mobile internet by marginalised young people in post‐conflict Sierra Leone. It argues that such an inquiry is important for understanding how the behavioural patterns of marginalised young people are shaped by the technology that is available to them, and equally how they shape technology to respond to their needs. While the findings reveal an increasing popularity and usage of mobile internet among marginalised young people to build communication networks, access information and entertainment content; some of the users are confronted with multiple impediments that mitigate their capabilities to access and use mobile internet productively. Notable examples of such barriers include high cost of internet enabled mobile phone, low level ICT and literacy skills and limited knowledge in the productive use of mobile internet. The paper concludes that if the potential of mobile internet is to be exploited for productive livelihood improvement, then, there is a need to respond appropriately to these challenges by providing cheaper and durable internet enabled mobile phones, create awareness and facilitate training to improve on the literacy and ICT skills of the users.
Mobile Phones and the Well‐Being of Blind Micro‐Entrepreneurs in Indonesia
Authors: Anwar Misita , Johanson Graeme 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe wide‐scale economic benefits of mobile (cell) phones for developing regions of the world have been well researched over an extended period. But the potential value of mobiles for the well‐being of specific poor groups has been overlooked. This paper reports on a project which focused on the welfare of blind masseurs in Indonesia, as representatives of three million blind people in that country. Links between the advantages of Information and Communications Technologies and human development have been presented before in papers in general terms, but very limited research has attempted to make the further link to disability and micro‐entrepreneurs, making use of the Capability Approach (CA). This paper illustrates how mobile phones impact on the well‐being of blind masseurs. Grounded theory methods are employed for the analysis of 10 interviews with blind masseurs in Makassar and Bandung, Indonesia. The discussion shows that mobile phones play significant roles in micro‐entrepreneurs’ perceived well‐being. Application of the CA shows that mobile phones facilitate beneficial ‘functionings’ that are deemed very valuable by participants.
The Alignment of Information Technology Applications with Non‐Technological Competencies of SMEs in Africa
Authors: Kyobe Michael , Namirembe Esther , Shongwe Mzwandile 
Published: December 2017

AbstractCore competencies are major drivers behind the success of many Small and Medium sized organizations (SMEs). While Information Technology (IT) can be leveraged to enhance these competencies, changes in IT and poor planning may result in core rigidities. Many SMEs experience difficulties in planning and aligning IT applications with business objectives and core competencies and limited scientific studies have been conducted to assist SMEs in this regard. The present study examined the alignment of IT applications with non‐technological competencies in South Africa and Uganda. It sought to identify those configurations of IT applications and non‐technological competencies that result in IT‐based competencies needed to ensure competitiveness in e‐commerce in the SME sector. The perspective of alignment as a gestalt was adopted. 112 SMEs were surveyed and three alignment configurations consisting of SMEs with innovative IT competencies; Operational IT competencies and adaptive IT competencies were revealed. SMEs with innovative IT competencies developed the most IT‐based competencies. They achieved this by leveraging various operational and strategic IT applications to enhance a number of non‐technological competencies.
Community Mapping in Urban Informal Settlements: Examples from Nairobi, Kenya
Authors: Panek Jiri , Sobotova Lenka 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIn the Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide, which was developed out of the United Nations Rio Conference on the Environment in 1992, community‐based mapping is identified as a best practice for locally‐based sustainability planning. According to UN‐Habitat (2012), the proportion of urban populations living in slums is highest in Sub‐Saharan Africa (61.7%); meanwhile, De Soto (2003) estimates the amount of “dead” capital at $9.3 trillion. This capital is based mainly in slums. The paper presents two community mapping projects in urban areas of Nairobi and describes the advantages and disadvantages of the different methodologies used. Second, it explores the options for slum dwellers to map the areas where they live and the benefits of such mapping. Lastly, the paper shares the authors’ visions for participatory mapping and participatory GIS, and their ideas on how to select the optimal mapping method. The authors would like to open the discussion about possible effects of community mapping on local development and unlocking the hidden potential in urban‐slum areas. Can the unlocking be achieved by acquiring spatial information about urban slums so that the inhabitants can make full use of their property? The paper discusses possible future development in the area of community mapping and invites researchers as well as practitioners to discuss whether community mapping is the key towards the sustainable development.