ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Digital Platforms in Climate Information Service Delivery for Farming in Ghana

Phone-based applications, Internet connectivity, and big data are enabling climate change adaptations. From ICT for development and agriculture perspectives, great interest exists in how digital platforms support climate information provision for smallholder farmers in Africa. The vast majority of these platforms both private and public are for delivering climate information services and for data collection. The sheer number of digital platforms in the climate information sector has created a complex information landscape for potential information users, with platforms differing in information type, technology, geographic coverage, financing structures, and infrastructure. This chapter mapped the existing climate information services and examined their impact on policy and practices in smallholder farming development in Africa, with a focus on Ghana. Specifically, the chapter provides highlights of digital platforms available to smallholder farmers and agricultural extension agents, analyzes the public and/or private governance arrangements that underpin the implementation of digital climate information delivery, and assesses the potential of these platforms in scaling up the use of climate information. The chapter contributes to understanding the dynamics of climate information delivery with digital tools in Africa and suggests a future research agenda.

Source: UG
Digital preservation in the context of institutional repositories in public universities' libraries in Ghana

Long-term preservation of digital collections is an integral task for institutional repositories. It ensures that the digital intellectual output of the library is preserved for future access. Digital preservation has been recognized as a complex process, and there are still many unsolved issues which makes it a challenging task for institutional repositories. As such, this paper is aimed at identifying and discussing the issues and challenges of digital preservation facing institutional repositories in public university libraries in Ghana. The study was qualitative. Data used for analysis were drawn from respondents from public universities who had developed institutional repositories to capture, maintain and disseminate their information in the digital form. The key finding of the study was that, although the universities had established institutional repositories to capture and maintain digital collections, existing digital preservation methods and systems were inadequate and could lead to consequences such as denial of access to their digital collections or total loss of information. Recommendations based on findings included the development of comprehensive digital preservation policies to provide mandate and direction to preservation of the libraries digital collections.

Source: UG
Digital preservation: The conduit through which open data, electronic government and the right to information are implemented

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which digital preservation facilitate the implementation of electronic government, open data and the right to information. Design/methodology/approach: A case study research which chronicles the link between transparency and data availability. It makes use of a theoretical framework based on the open archival information system to analyse, explain, clarify and justify the application of open data, electronic government and the right to information. Findings: The paper argued that e-government, open data and the RTI will remain elusive if a digital preservation infrastructure is not pursued. Within the context of e-government, the paper adumbrated that government agencies can incorporate e-government legislations into their digital preservation activities, precisely because the relationship between digital preservation and e-government have always been symbiotic. It alluded to the fact that an obligation will be placed on all public authorities and private agencies covered by the RTL law to create, keep and organise an effective and efficient system of record keeping, so as to give meaning to the right to information when citizens apply for information. Practical implications: Future research should examine closely the implication of open data government within the context of digital preservation. Whilst digital preservation looks forward to the longevity of digital records and its accessibility, open data focusses on the utility of these records through online services, reuse and distribution for the purposes of transparency and citizens’ participation. Originality/value: The application of digital preservation to open data in this paper appears to be more relevant at a time when most governments of the world are striving to obtain data to fight poverty, achieve universal primary education, fight HIV and foster maternal health. Its originality can further be established from the symbiotic relationship between digital preservation and electronic government, open data and the right to information. © 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Source: UG
Digital quantification of human eye color highlights genetic association of three new loci

Previous studies have successfully identified genetic variants in several genes associated with human iris (eye) color; however, they all used simplified categorical trait information. Here, we quantified continuous eye color variation into hue and saturation values using high-resolution digital full-eye photographs and conducted a genome-wide association study on 5,951 Dutch Europeans from the Rotterdam Study. Three new regions, 1q42.3, 17q25.3, and 21q22.13, were highlighted meeting the criterion for genome-wide statistically significant association. The latter two loci were replicated in 2,261 individuals from the UK and in 1,282 from Australia. The LYST gene at 1q42.3 and the DSCR9 gene at 21q22.13 serve as promising functional candidates. A model for predicting quantitative eye colors explained over 50% of trait variance in the Rotterdam Study. Over all our data exemplify that fine phenotyping is a useful strategy for finding genes involved in human complex traits.

Source: UG
Digital Transformation Process and the Capability and Capacity Implications for Small and Medium Enterprises

This study investigates the concept of the digital transformation process and related capability implications for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted, involving eight SMEs on an e-commerce platform in Ghana. The findings show that digital transformation among SMEs follows a four-stage process of digital technology initiation, changes to functions and processes, management of the resulting skills gap, and a strategic shift, which is also driven by managerial cognition, social capital development, human capital development, and organizational capacity building. These findings resulted in an inductively-derived process framework for the digital transformation of SMEs that expands the knowledge and understanding of digital transformation for SMEs. The study also provides users of digital platforms with dynamic managerial capability strategies for achieving digital transformation and effective e-commerce platform utilization in developing economies, which are essential for research, practice, and policy.

Source: UG
A digital turn for urban management? Residents’ perception and utilisation of the digital property address system in Accra, Ghana

Rapid urbanisation and its associated challenges in Global South countries have necessitated the use of digital technologies in urban management. Key to their successful utilisation for urban management is residents’ perceptions and utilisation of these technologies. Yet, little attention has been given to this area of research. Using data gathered from a cross-sectional survey in three suburban communities, the study examined residents’ perceptions and utilisation of the digital property address system (DPAS) in Accra, Ghana. The findings revealed that residents understand the benefits of the DPAS. However, residents’ perceived benefits, usage and challenges varied by socio-demographic groups. More importantly, the findings revealed that the use of the DPAS is beset with operational difficulties and non-use by government agencies. To ensure that digital technologies such as the DPAS provide opportunities for sustainable, inclusive, and resilient development trajectories in Ghana and Africa, it is imperative that residents’ use and challenges of such technologies inform improvements in their design and implementation.

Source: UG
Digitising university libraries in Ghana: how technology is facilitating access to digital content and services

The study investigates the extent to which technological advances are affecting the development of digital libraries in universities in Ghana. Using the case study approach, interviews were conducted with university librarians and information technology (IT) officers of three public universities in Ghana. In all, six staff members (i.e., two representatives each from the three libraries at the University of Ghana (UG), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the University of Cape Coast (UCC)) were interviewed. Their views on the available information communications technology (ICT) infrastructure which would enable access to digital content and services, such as online databases, institutional repositories, online public access catalogues (OPACs) and World Wide Web (www) resources, were obtained. The findings revealed that all three universities have the basic ICT infrastructure to enable users to access digital content. However, there was restricted access to the OPAC; lack of visibility of the library website; and inadequate use of Web 2.0 tools in some of the libraries. Therefore, the study recommends the hiring of more multi-skilled librarians who would provide the necessary support for digital resources and services.

Source: UG
Digitization of Industrial Work Environments and the Emerging Challenges of Human-Digitized System Collaborative Work Organization Design

This paper discussed how the digitization of human work affect human performance of digitized work entailing both physical and mental activities, as well as the human’s social interaction entailing collaboration between the human’s and the digitized work system. It is posited that in the digitization process of the industrial work environment, the digitized system designer’s lack of knowledge about the external world of the embedded humans may result in the designer’s inability to accurately predict the outcomes of his/her decisions on work organization, especially the creation of positive collaboration and social harmony between digitized systems and humans towards enhanced productivity. It is concluded that analytic strategies for understanding the interactive work dynamics between humans and digitized systems, which can serve as key for identifying both the innovative and constraining characteristics of effective and efficient association between humans and digitized work systems towards collaborative work organization design should be developed. © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2019.

Source: UG
Digitization of local revenue collection in Ghana: An evaluation of Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)

Government institutions in Ghana have initiated the use of information technologies to accomplish their objectives. Among these institutions is the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), the local government institution that introduced the use of point of sale devices in the collection of rates in 2012. The purpose of the study was to evaluate this digital mode of rate collection at the AMA through the lenses of the concept of e‐government failure (Heeks, 2003) and the rational choice theory. Guided by the pragmatic paradigm of social research, a mixed method approach was adopted. Data consisted of recorded interviews with officials of AMA, as well as Annual Reports and Annual Composite Budgets from 2011 to 2017. It was found that the intervention was a partial failure because of its inability to block avenues for bribery and its inability to induce a significant rise in rate figures. However, the intervention had improved transparency and accountability in rate collection activities at AMA. The study also offers some recommendations for improving the effectiveness of similar interventions.

Source: UG
Digyalipopeptide A, an antiparasitic cyclic peptide from the Ghanaian Bacillus sp. strain DE2B

During the continued isolation of different bacteria from highly diverse, low human activity environments in Ghana and the subsequent characterization and biological activity studies of their secondary metabolites, we found both Gram-positive and Gram-negative Bacillus strains to be ubiquitous and widespread. One of such strains, the Ghanaian novel Bacillus sp. strain DE2B was isolat ed from rhizosphere soils collected from the Digya National Park in Ghana. Chromatographic purifications of the fermented cul ture extract of the strain DE2B, led to the isolation of a cyclic lipopeptide, digyalipopeptide A (1). Using 1D and 2D NMR data, mass spectrometry sequence tagging, advanced Marfey’s analysis, and the GNPS molecular networking we solved the full structure of digyalipopeptide A (1). We found that compound 1 is a member of a somewhat homologous series of peptides produced as a mixture by the strain containing the same amino acid sequence in the cyclic peptide backbone but differing only by the length of aliphatic fatty acid side chains. When tested against Trypanosoma brucei subsp. brucei strain GUTat 3.1 and Leishmania donovani (Laveran and Mesnil) Ross (D10), digyalipopeptide A (1) gave IC50 values of 12.89 µM (suramin IC50 0.96 µM) and 4.85 µM

Source: UG
Dimensions of Couples’ Decision-Making at Home: The Ghanian Experience

The ability of women to be final decision makers at home to a large extent is dependent on their background characteristics. The aim of this paper is to ascertain who these women are. Data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey was used to analyze women’s decision making at home. The five household decision-making variables identified include who decides how to spend respondent’s earnings and the person who usually decides on respondent’s health care. The rest are the person who usually decides on large household purchases, person who usually decides on visits to family or relatives and person who usually decides on what to do with money husband earns. Binomial logistic regression results show that generally, region of residence, educational attainment, and wealth index were likely to influence a woman’s ability to have the final say in household decision-making. For women to be the final decision makers at home, they must be educated to the highest possible level. Their engagement with their partners on matters relating to household decisions will then be from better-informed positions. The long run effect of this is that it will move their decision-making process beyond the confines of households to other levels.

Source: UG
Dimensions of Couples’ Decision-Making at Home: The Ghanian Experience

The ability of women to be final decision makers at home to a large extent is dependent on their background characteristics. The aim of this paper is to ascertain who these women are. Data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey was used to analyze women’s decision - making at home. The five household decision- making variables identified include who decides how to spend respondent’s earnings and the person who usually decides on respondent’s health care. The rest are the person who usually decides on large household purchases, person who usually decides on visits to family or relatives and person who usually decides on what to do with money husband earns. Binomial logistic regression results show that generally, region of residence, educational attainment, and wealth index were likely to influence a woman’s ability to have the final say in household decision- making. For women to be the final decision makers at home, they must be educated to the highest possible level. Their engagement with their partners on matters relating to household decisions will then be from better -informed positions. The long - run effect of this is th at it will move their decision -making process beyond the confines of households to other levels.

Source: UG
Dimensions of expatriates adjustment in distant subsidiaries: A field study of a sub-Saharan African institutional distance

This study aims to investigate the determinants of expatriates’ adjustments in distant and complex multinational subsidiaries. Using the institutional theory as a basis for expatriates’ assignments in complex subsidiaries, the work employed a sequential mixed methodology of data collection. An in-depth face-to-face interview with 21 senior expatriate executives and a quantitative survey of 204 expatriates working in various multinational subsidiaries in Ghana served as data for the work. Consequently, structural equation modeling (SEM) and content analysis were the basis of the data analysis. Findings showed host country culture plays a significant role in determining expatriate adjustment in distant subsidiaries. Findings also showed expatriates’ competence in cross-cultural communication significantly determines expatriates’ adjustment in distant subsidiaries. The work recommends intensive training of expatriates in cross-cultural communication and host cultural values and behaviors for international assignees.

Source: UG
Dimensions of expatriates adjustment in distant subsidiaries: A field study of a sub-Saharan African institutional distance

The aim of this study is to investigate the determinants of expatriates’ adjustments in distant and complex multinational subsidiaries. Using the institutional theory as a basis for expatriates’ assignments in complex subsidiaries, the work employed a sequential mixed methodology of data collection. An in‐depth face‐to‐face interview with 21 senior expatriate executives and a quantitative survey of 204 expatriates working in various multinational subsidiaries in Ghana served as data for the work. Consequently, a structural equation modeling (SEM) and a content analysis were the basis of the data analysis. Findings showed host country culture plays a significant role in determining expatriate adjustment in distant subsidiaries. Findings also showed expatriates’ competence in cross‐cultural communication significantly determines expatriates’ adjustment in distant subsidiaries. The work recommends an intensive training of expatriates in cross‐cultural communication and host cultural values and behaviors for international assignees.

Source: UG
Diplomacy of Architecture: Ghana, China and 60 Years of Spatial Engagement

Abstract Africa- Asia relations entered upon a particularly intense and mutually entangling phase in the last two decades of the twentieth century; this process continues apace in this century. To be sure these relations have a long temporal sweep. Understanding holistically contemporary Ghana-China relations, and in particular the ways in which the manipulation of space has intervened upon and shaped the interaction must be located within this temporal sweep. Methodologically this work will engage discursively with the historical and contemporary information on some of China’s key construction and architectural activities in Ghana over the last six decades with the central aim of teasing out the changes and continuities (ideological, institutional, ideational and strategic) that have marked such undertakings. This work introduces in the process the idea of diplomacy of architecture as a useful analytic lens for exploring Africa-China relations.

Source: UG
Dipo Rites of Passage and Psychological Well-being Among Krobo Adolescent Females in Ghana: A Preliminary Study

Dipo is a historical rites of passage among the Krobo in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The goal of Dipo is to assist pubertal girls in transitioning into adulthood by shaping moral values and social responsibilities, learning home management skills, and preventing risky sexual behavior. Differences in psychological distress among girls who had and had not participated in Dipo were examined in the current study. The sample included 145 adolescent females, 80 Dipo initiates and, 65 nonDipo initiates. Participants, 12 to 20 years of age, were recruited from junior and senior high schools, and administered a questionnaire with measures of psychological distress, a sex role inventory, and a measure of favorability of Dipo. Findings revealed that Dipo initiates reported significantly less psychological distress than noninitiates. Dipo initiates also reported more favorable attitudes

Source: UG
Direct and Indirect Effects of Environmental and Socio-Economic Factors on COVID-19 in Africa Using Structural Equation Modeling

Understanding direct and indirect relationships of environmental, socio-economic and climate variables and the dynamics of epidemics is key to guiding targeted public health policy and interventions. This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of environmental and socio-economic factors on the COVID-19 dynamics in Africa (54 African countries from 2019 to 2021) using SEM approach. Specifically, the study aimed to: (i) assess the performance of two SEM estimation methods (Lisrel and PLS-SEM) in relationship to sample size (100, 200, 500, and 1000) and level of model complexity (No, two, and four indirect effects) and (ii) use the most performing SEM estimation method to examine direct and indirect effects of factors influencing the number of cases and deaths of COVID-19 in Africa. The results highlight a positive spatial correlation between factors such as temperature, humidity, age, the proportion of people aged over 65, and the COVID-19 incidence. Under the control of confounding factors, Lisrel turns out to be the most performing method, identifying climate, demographic and economic factors as the main determinants of COVID-19 dynamics. These factors have a direct and significant impact on the incidence of COVID-19. An indirect relationship was also observed between economic factors and the incidence of COVID-19 through air pollutants. The results highlight the importance of considering these factors in understanding the spread of the virus to avoid further disasters.

Source: UG