Investigating South African Vendors’ Cloud Computing Value Proposition To Small, Medium And Micro Enterprises: A Case Of The City Of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, Lucas N. Gumbi, Ernest Mnkandla

The African Journal of Information Systems

While Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) are known to contribute significantly to economic growth and reduction of unemployment worldwide, South Africa experiences high failure rate, stagnation and limited growth of SMMEs. Cloud computing, which promises cost efficiencies for SMMEs through its unique outsourcing based business model, is emerging as a viable solution and an excellent value proposition to SMMEs. This study investigated the value proposition of cloud computing vendors to South African SMMEs. The problems addressed in this research are:

- investigating whether the concept of cloud computing and its related key terms are being comprehended by South African …

A Context-Aware Model To Improve Usability Of Information Display On Smartphone Apps For Emerging Users, Felix F. Ntawanga, Andre P. Calitz, Lynette Barnard

The African Journal of Information Systems

Smartphones have become a reliable technology for accessing information and services in rural communities. Mobile applications, such as social media and news apps running on smartphones, are no longer exclusively utilised by users in developed communities. Mobile applications are accessed in highly contextualised environments. This paper discusses a context-aware model that was implemented to improve the usability of information presented on smartphone applications for emerging users. User evaluation was conducted within a remote area in South Africa with a sample of users, most of whom did not have prior experience in using computer applications. The results of the evaluation present …

Factors Influencing The Use Of M-Banking By Academics: Case Study Sms-Based M-Banking, Gbolahan Olasina

The African Journal of Information Systems

There are several advantages with m-banking. Several related studies have shown that m-banking and indeed SMS-based mobile banking applications have become popular in many countries in Europe and America. The phenomenon remains not widely used in many others such as Nigeria. This study identified and investigated the factors that influence academics in Nigeria to use m- banking with focus on the evaluation of SMS-based mobile banking. The research model was adopted from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model (UTAUT). A survey questionnaire was administered to collect data from 150 academic staff and 350 university students of …

Ict Investment Effectiveness In The South African Post Office: Reconsidering The Approaches Of The Past 20 Years, Jan A. Meyer Phd (Pr.M), Sam Lubbe Phd, Matshwenyego T. Seabelo, Rembrandt Klopper Phd

The African Journal of Information Systems

Organisations have invested and continue to invest considerable resources in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Much of this investment is made on the basis of guarantee than an expected return will occur. This study presents the results of an empirical study of the impact of ICT investment on performance at the South African Post office (SAPO). Six years of historical data, from 2005 to 2010, were obtained from the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the SAPO and analysed. This included appropriate IT data and financial data from the organisation’s financial statements and balance sheet. ICT investments were tested against financial …

Progressive Trust Formation Within The South African Fresh Produce Industry Through The Use Of Self-Service Technologies, Justy Range, Awie C. Leonard Phd

The African Journal of Information Systems

When using self-service solutions to deliver services the challenge is to retain the trust of the end user. This is specifically the case when dealing with end users in the fresh produce market environment. This sector has not seen the adoption of self-service technologies specifically in southern Africa. In this paper we propose a model to enhance our understanding of trust formation using self-service technologies. A qualitative research approach, based on a case study was followed to create the model. This case study offers insight into how the dynamics of the product, supporting services and the technology shapes trust forming …

Usage Of Mobile Technology In Women Entrepreneurs: A Case Study Of Uganda, Mary -. Komunte

The African Journal of Information Systems

This study was motivated by the fact that despite Uganda having mobile phone service penetration of as much as 80% of its population, studies of mobile phone usage among women entrepreneurs in developing countries are still rare. Relatively little is known about women’s entrepreneurship and the mobile phone usage. Grounded in Habermas’ Critical Social Theory (CST), this paper applies the theory of emancipation to understand the usage of mobile phones among women entrepreneurs in urban and rural areas of Uganda. To select participants in the study, multi-stage and purposive sampling were used. Data was collected through questionnaire and focus group …

Promoting Ict Careers Using A South African Ict Career Portal, Andre Calitz, Candice Evert, Margaret Cullen

The African Journal of Information Systems

South Africa is experiencing an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills shortage and a limited number of scholars and students are pursuing ICT careers. The provision of a web-based ICT career information platform as an effective solution to the growing demand for skilled ICT employees is the focus of this study. The study is grounded in the network theory of social capital. The aim of the development of an ICT career portal was to provide ICT career information to scholars, students and the ICT industry. Scholars can obtain information about ICT career opportunities and determine if they qualify for specific …

A Practical Transition Of Employees Towards Information Systems Adoption: A Public Service Perspective, Johan Rossouw Mr, Trish Alexander

The African Journal of Information Systems

This paper is a case study which studies change management in the pilot study phase of the implementation of an ERP system. This system, when rolled out in its entirety, will affect all parts of the public service and all state departments of an unnamed African country. Amongst the challenges faced is the matrix structure of the public sector, with one department seen as the driver of this change. This wide scope means that particularly skillful change management is required. Nine factors that had previously been identified from research literature on change management, IS adoption models, and different people-centric approaches …

Multi-Stakeholder Assessment Of A Mobile And Temporarily Interconnected Systems Prototype: People-First Tourism, Fay Cobb Payton, Duarte Morais, Ernie Heath

The African Journal of Information Systems

While tourism has often been proposed as a mechanism for equitable and sustainable development in developing countries, most destination communities remain relegated to the role of passive “tourees” who are unable to participate in economic opportunities often controlled by tourism retail monopolies. Guided by information systems (IS) research on mobile and temporarily interconnected systems (MTIS), this work examines the ubiquitous nature of information services for users on the move. That is, users that are largely dependent on mobile telephones and temporary tourism services. Stakeholder interviews included local South African micro-entrepreneurs from under-resourced rural and peri-urban communities and other national and …

Knowledge Management And The Nigerian Culture – A Round Peg In A Square Hole?, Adeola Bamgboje-Ayodele, Leonie Ellis

The African Journal of Information Systems

Knowledge Management (KM) is a key strategy which many organizations have been leveraging upon because of its potential in achieving competitive advantage. However, factors such as the national culture can impact the efficacy of this strategy. Hence, the aim of this paper is to provide insight into how Nigerian culture influences organizational culture, which in turn influences KM practices in Nigerian organizations. Based on a post-positivist stance, this research employs a descriptive survey approach for the data collection and analysis while also incorporating Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. The findings suggest that the hierarchical nature of the society in Nigeria supports centralized …

Absorptive Capacity And Ict Adoption Strategies For Smes: A Case Study In Kenya, Joshua R A Ndiege, Marlien E. Herselman, Stephen V. Flowerday

The African Journal of Information Systems

Many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries continue to be challenged by their information technology (IT) adoption process, which is often characterized by a number of deficiencies. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of absorptive capacity (AC) in SMEs’ performance, as well as establish the correlation between SMEs’ AC and their IT adoption process. The findings of this study, obtained by measuring different dimensions of AC using Jimenez-Barrionuevo, Garcia-Morales, and Molina’s scale of 18 items, suggest that AC plays a critical role in the performance of SMEs in Kenya and that SMEs with strong …

Constructing Frugal Sales System For Small Enterprises, Oludayo O. Olugbara, Brenda N. Ndhlovu

The African Journal of Information Systems

In the current study, the authors report on the application of the design science methodology to construct, utilize, and evaluate a frugal information system that uses mobile devices and cloud computing resources for documenting daily sales transactions of very small enterprises (VSEs). Small enterprises play significant roles in the socioeconomic landscape of a community by providing employment opportunities and contributing to the gross domestic product. However, VSEs have very little access to innovative information technologies that could help them manage their challenges that are restricting their effective growth, sustainability, and participation in a knowledge economy. The results of a field-evaluation …

African E-Government Research Landscape, Jean Vincent Fonou Dombeu, Nelson Rannyai

The African Journal of Information Systems

Over the past decade, African governments have followed the worldwide trends towards establishing e-government with the aim of improving public service delivery to citizens through the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As a consequence, authors from academia, government departments and agencies, civil society, industry, non-governmental and international organizations have embarked into e-government research focusing on Africa. However, the state of the art of e-government research in Africa is poorly documented. This study analyzes the status of e-government research in Africa. A qualitative technique based on online searches and literature reviews is used to collect data that have addressed …

Identifying Critical Success Factors: The Case Of Erp Systems In Higher Education, Billy Mathias Bm Kalema Dr, Oludayo O. Olugbara Prof, Ray M. Kekwaletswe Prof

The African Journal of Information Systems

This paper reports on a study that uses a combination of techniques to formally characterize and determine the critical success factors influencing the effective usage of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, with special reference to higher education institutions. The thirty-seven ERP success factors identified from the literature are classified into: Critical, Active, Reactive and Inert categories. The classification of decision factors can generally support organizations to explore their current challenges and to adequately prepare decisions in a more participatory way for future endeavors. This study suggests a possible alternative that decision makers should take when a factor or a set …

Elearning Cost Analysis Of On-Premise Versus Cloud-Hosted Implementation In Sub-Saharan Countries, Joel Samson Mtebe, Roope Raisamo

The African Journal of Information Systems

The cost of acquiring, managing, and maintaining ICT infrastructure is one of the main factors that hinder educational institutions in Sub-Saharan countries to adopt and implement eLearning. Recently, cloud computing has emerged as a new computing paradigm for delivering cost effective computing services that can be used to harness eLearning. However, the adoption of cloud computing in higher education in Sub-Saharan countries is very low. Although there are many factors that may influence educational institutions to adopt cloud services, cost effectiveness is often a key factor. Far too little is known on how much the use of cloud computing can …

Barriers To Open Source Erp Adoption In South Africa, Leo Tome Mr, Kevin Allan Johnston Prof, Alison Meadows Mrs, Mphatso Nyemba-Mudenda Ms

The African Journal of Information Systems

Organizations in South Africa (SA) and other economically developing countries are not maximizing the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems. While the costs associated with an ERP system implementation have always been a major factor to many organizations, Open Source Software (OSS) ERP systems are available offering the benefits of an ERP system at a reduced cost to organizations. This paper investigates the adoption factors of Open Source Software Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in economically developing countries by focusing on South African organizations. Using online surveys and a focus group discussion, this empirical study found that knowledge barriers, the …

How Foss Replaced Proprietary Software At A University: An Improvisation Perspective In A Low-Income Country, John Effah, Gideon Abbeyquaye

The African Journal of Information Systems

The purpose of this study is to understand the rationale for and the process of replacing an imported proprietary higher education management software with a locally developed free and open source software (FOSS). Information Systems (IS) research on FOSS and higher education in low-income countries has focused more on teaching and learning. Less attention has thus been paid to the area of management and administration. Also, low-income country IS research on technology transfer has focused more on applications from the high-income world. Less research therefore exists on transfers between low-income countries. To address these research gaps, this study employs improvisation …

A Review Of Communication Tools And Techniques For Successful Ict Projects, Ernest Mnkandla

The African Journal of Information Systems

Practitioners have repeatedly mentioned that projects that lack effective communication are doomed to fail. Project communications management involves the generation, collection, and storage of information within a project. Project communication therefore provides vital ingredients for the go-no-go decisions in a project through the effective selection of the minimum essential things that can be done to share the collected information among the stakeholders. A fast growing way to manage software development projects is agile project management, whose focus is balancing between continuous releases of quality deliverables and frequently sharing project progress information. In this editorial, we advocate for research on the …

Genetic Algorithm Based Model In Text Steganography, Christine K. Mulunda, Peter W. Wagacha, Alfayo O. Adede

The African Journal of Information Systems

Steganography is an ancient art. It is used for security in open systems. It focuses on hiding secret messages inside a cover medium. The most important property of a cover medium is the amount of data that can be stored inside it without changing its noticeable properties. There are many sophisticated techniques with which to hide, analyze, and recover that hidden information. This paper discusses an exploration in the use of Genetic Algorithm operators on the cover medium. We worked with text as the cover medium with the aim of increasing robustness and capacity of hidden data. Elitism is used …

Africa’S Contributions To Information Systems, Richard T. Watson

The African Journal of Information Systems

Africans created the world’s first major information systems, gesturing and language. Now days, Africa is once again showing leadership in the area of frugal IS.

When My Sub-Editor Is A Nit-Picking Bot: Mediating Roles Of A Tv News Scriptwriting Exercise, Andrew Deacon, Catherine Wynsculley

The African Journal of Information Systems

Online learning activities have promised new ways to engage students. This paper describes the design and use of the NewsScripts online learning exercise over a decade. This web-based television news scriptwriting exercise is used with media students at the University of Cape Town to expose them to news scriptwriting practices. Students write a script to match a video, employing a television news writing style. The more important transformational opportunity is deepening students’ own critical media analysis skills. Our focus is how the NewsScripts design evolved and changed over time to remain part of the curriculum. Underlying the curricula of university …

Ict In Education In Africa - Myth Or Reality: A Case Study Of Mozambican Higher Education Institutions, Xavier Muianga, Henrik Hansson, Anders Nilsson, Avelino Mondlane, Inocente Mutimucuio, Alsone Guambe

The African Journal of Information Systems

In the last decade, there has been a growth in Information Communication and Technology for Education (ICT4E) in sub-Saharan Africa. Through support from local and international development agencies, several Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have engaged in introducing, implementing and supporting ICT4E. This study aims at providing a description and analysis of the current state of ICT4E implementation in HEIs in Mozambique. An exploratory study of 19 HEIs was conducted using open ended questionnaires and interviews. The results show that the country has advanced greatly in terms of design and implementation of ICT policies, as well as telecommunication. Additionally, MoReNet the …

Towards A Shared Understanding Of Emerging Technologies: Experiences In A Collaborative Research Project In South Africa, Daniela Gachago, Eunice Ivala, Judy Backhouse, Jan Petrus Bosman, Vivienne Bozalek, Dick Ng’Ambi

The African Journal of Information Systems

While the practice of using educational technologies in Higher Education is increasingly common among educators, there is a paucity of research on innovative uses of emerging technologies to transform teaching and learning. This paper draws on data collected as part of a larger study aimed at investigating emerging technologies and their use in South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to improve teaching and learning. The research employed a mixed method research design, using both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods—quantitative data from a survey of 262 respondents from 22 public HEIs in South Africa and qualitative data gathered from 16 …

Learners’ Acceptance Of The Use Of Mobile Phones To Deliver Tutorials In A Distance Learning Context: A Case Study At The University Of Ibadan, Gloria Adedoja, Omobola Adelore, Francis Egbokhare, Ayodeji Oluleye

The African Journal of Information Systems

This case study focuses on students’ acceptance of mobile phones for learning purposes within a project that aims to support and engage distance education students by using mobile phones for distance learning tutorials, rather than using technology merely to communicate information or create access to learning resources. The research design is based on Davis's Technology Acceptance Model and tests multiple hypotheses concerning the effects of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, interest in the technology and technology self-efficacy on the use of the mobile tutorials. The evidence gathered confirms that the mobile tutorials enhanced teaching and learning. However, it also …

Considering Two Audiences When Recording Lectures As Lecturecasts, Brandon I. Collier-Reed

The African Journal of Information Systems

This article presents the outcome of an investigation into the provision of lecturecasts to students. The objective was to ensure that both those who attended live lectures of a second-year engineering course and/or watched recorded versions of the lectures had an experience that supported their learning. A range of data was drawn on including the personal reflection of the lecturer of the course, questionnaires, and student interviews. The qualitative data were analysed through an inductive process that drew on the principles of grounded theory and the findings that emerged included the role of the “talking head” in recordings, balancing the …

E/Merging Across Africa: Five Papers On The Use Of Educational Technology In African Higher Education, Tony Carr

The African Journal of Information Systems

This guest editorial comments on the rapidly changing environment for the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in African Higher Education Institutions (HEI), introduces the e/merge online conferences and gives a brief introduction to the papers in the special issue.

A Roadmap For Rural Area Ict Solution Deployment: A Case Of Kgautswane Community In South Africa, Felix F. Ntawanga Mr

The African Journal of Information Systems

The need to introduce technologies in rural areas so as to capacitate communities towards overcoming various socio-economic challenges remains a priority in emerging economies. We rely on the foregoing for the investigation in the Kgautswane community in South Africa, of a range of socio-economic challenges that can be addressed through ICT. Identified challenges are further filtered for the selection of an appropriate intervention based on previous experience in the community. The appropriate challenge forms the basis for the development and deployment of an eProcurement ICT solution for small scale traders in the community with emphasis on the concept of a …

Hybrid Spread-Spectrum Tcp For Combating Fraudulent Cyber Activities Against Reconnaissance Attacks, Simon Enoch Yusuf, Olumide Longe

The African Journal of Information Systems

The inefficiencies of current intrusion detection system against fraudulent cyber activities attracts the attention of computer gurus, also known as “hackers” to exploit known weakness on a particular host or network. These hackers are expert programmers who mainly focus on how the Internet works, and they interact with each other to know its strengths and weaknesses. Then they develop advanced tools which an average attacker with little background can use to know the liveness, reachability and running service on the network. Once an attacker identifies these details, he can accurately launch an effective attack and get maximum benefit out of …

How Can African Countries Advance Their Outsourcing Industries: An Overview Of Possible Approaches, Pamela Abbott

The African Journal of Information Systems

Offshore outsourcing has become a multi-billion dollar industry with global dominance. This editorial provides an overview of offshore outsourcing and identifies factors affecting success of offshore outsourcing in low-income countries.

A Quantitative Analysis Of Business Process Reengineering And Organizational Resistance: The Case Of Uganda, Samali Violet Mlay, Irina Zlotnikova, Susan Watundu

The African Journal of Information Systems

ABSTRACT

Despite efforts by many organisations to redesign their processes, many of them have not succeeded. The main objective of the study was to analyse the extent to which organisational resistance impacts on the implementation of BPR. We used survey methodology using a questionnaire for data collection. Descriptive analysis of factors that cause resistance was conducted and results showed that only 30.4% of BPR in Uganda have been successful. The results showed that the factors that impact on BPR implementation include; users’ awareness of BPR project, level of emotional response, organisational resistance, and failure of management to create awareness among …