scholarly journals Intermediation Capabilities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Ghana’s Agricultural Extension System

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Nyamwaya Munthali ◽  
Rico Lie ◽  
Ron Van Lammeren ◽  
Annemarie Van Paassen ◽  
Richard Asare ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Interactive Voice Response ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Agricultural Extension ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Extension System ◽  
Information Matching ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Information Harvesting

Information and communication technologies (ICTs), specifically those that are digital and interactive, present opportunities for enhanced intermediation between actors in Ghana’s agricultural extension system. To understand these opportunities, this study investigates the capabilities of ICTs in support of seven forms of intermediation in the context of agricultural extension: disseminating (information), retrieving (information), harvesting (information), matching (actors to services), networking (among actors), coordinating (actors), and co-creating (among actors). The study identifies the types of ICTs currently functioning in Ghana’s agricultural system, and applies a Delphi-inspired research design to determine the consensus and dissensus of researchers, scientists, and practitioners about the potential of these ICTs to support each of the seven intermediation capabilities. The findings reveal that experts reached consensus that interactive voice response (IVR) technologies currently have the highest potential to support disseminating, retrieving, harvesting, and matching. Meanwhile, social media messaging (SMM) technologies are currently seen as highly capable of supporting coordinating and, to a lesser extent, co-creating, but no consensus is reached on the potential of any of the technologies to support networking.

scholarly journals Challenges and opportunities of information and communication technologies for dissemination of agricultural information in Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-65
Author(s):  
Abebaw A. Getahun
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Agricultural Extension ◽  
Extension System ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Related Service ◽  
Information And Communication

This review paper analyses the challenge and opportunities of information and communication technologies for dissemination of agricultural information in Ethiopia. Understanding the challenges and opportunities of information and communication technologies enables to solve the problem of information problem to smallholder farmers. The data was collected, assessed and reviewed from recent secondary data sources from Central statistical agency, and scholarly articles published on the issue of information and communication technology in agriculture (ICT 4 Ag).Compared to the other sector like governance, health and education sectors, ICT-adoption in the agricultural sector has started relatively late in Ethiopia. Even though it is in infant stage, there are many agricultural ICT related service and application in Ethiopia. The current radical penetration of ICTs like mobile phone, website, social media and other internet/online services brings an immense prospect to farmers to create, share, store, process, interpret and preserve agricultural information and knowledge. ICT related agricultural extension system is the solely choice for dissemination of agricultural knowledge and information. Ethiopia is the country which has more than 65000 extension personnel for agricultural extension. But this extension system is not sustainable since it is very costly and inefficient. Thus, agricultural extension policy and intervention should focus on ICT based extension system.

scholarly journals Towards a Revolutionized Agricultural Extension System for the Sustainability of Smallholder Livestock Production in Developing Countries: The Potential Role of ICTs

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5868
Author(s):  
Obvious Mapiye ◽  
Godswill Makombe ◽  
Annelin Molotsi ◽  
Kennedy Dzama ◽  
Cletos Mapiye
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Agricultural Extension ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Extension System ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Information And Communication

The creation of commercialization opportunities for smallholder farmers has taken primacy on the development agenda of many developing countries. Invariably, most of the smallholders are less productive than commercial farmers and continue to lag in commercialization. Apart from the various multifaceted challenges which smallholder farmers face, limited access to extension services stands as the underlying constraint to their sustainability. Across Africa and Asia, public extension is envisioned as a fundamental part of the process of transforming smallholder farmers because it is their major source of agricultural information. Extension continues to be deployed using different approaches which are evolving. For many decades, various authors have reported the importance of the approaches that effectively revitalize extension systems and have attempted to fit them into various typologies. However, there is a widespread concern over the inefficiency of these extension approaches in driving the sustainability of smallholder farming agenda. Further, most of the approaches that attempted to revolutionize extension have been developed and brought into the field in rapid succession, but with little or no impact at the farmer level. This paper explores the theory and application of agricultural extension approaches and argues the potential of transforming them using digital technologies. The adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as mobile phones and the internet which are envisaged to revolutionize existing extension systems and contribute towards the sustainability of smallholder farming systems is recommended.

Technologies Disability and Inclusion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Brusell
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
Information And Communication

When modern technology permeates every corner of life, there are ignited more and more hopes among the disabled to be compensated for the loss of mobility and participation in normal life, and with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Exoskeleton Technologies and truly hands free technologies (HMI), it's possible for the disabled to be included in the social and pedagogic spheres, especially via computers and smartphones with social media apps and digital instruments for Augmented Reality (AR) .In this paper a nouvel HMI technology is presented with relevance for the inclusion of disabled in every day life with specific focus on the future development of "smart cities" and "smart homes".

Relationship between Social Media and Political Parties

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamil Demirhan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Information And Communication

This chapter analyzes the capacity of social media usage and the social media strategies of political parties that became the members of Turkish Parliament after 2011 election. The social media usage increases in parallel to the improvements in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and it becomes an important tool with its communicative functions to realize activities in social, political, and economic fields. In the globalization process, developments in ICTs and changes in the meaning of democracy have been realized parallel to each other. Politics has become more open to interaction and the participation of different actors. ICTs have created new opportunities to interaction and participation of social actors. These improvements require transformations in the role and functions of political parties. They have to arrange their programs and structures according to participative understanding of democracy and new technologies. Social media usage is seen as a requirement for political parties and party leaders for adaptation to these developments, and it is also seen as a device with its potential for realizing participation, communication, and interaction to adapt to the changes in the understanding of politics.

Relationship between Social Media and Political Parties

2015 ◽  
pp. 1196-1225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamil Demirhan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Information And Communication

This chapter analyzes the capacity of social media usage and the social media strategies of political parties that became the members of Turkish Parliament after 2011 election. The social media usage increases in parallel to the improvements in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and it becomes an important tool with its communicative functions to realize activities in social, political, and economic fields. In the globalization process, developments in ICTs and changes in the meaning of democracy have been realized parallel to each other. Politics has become more open to interaction and the participation of different actors. ICTs have created new opportunities to interaction and participation of social actors. These improvements require transformations in the role and functions of political parties. They have to arrange their programs and structures according to participative understanding of democracy and new technologies. Social media usage is seen as a requirement for political parties and party leaders for adaptation to these developments, and it is also seen as a device with its potential for realizing participation, communication, and interaction to adapt to the changes in the understanding of politics.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Duncan B. Hollis ◽  
Jens David Ohlin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
International Perspectives ◽  
National Priority ◽  
Broad Array ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Information And Communication

Election interference is one of the most widely discussed international phenomena of the last five years. Russian covert interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election elevated the topic into a national priority, but that experience was far from an isolated one. Evidence of election interference by foreign states or their proxies has become a regular feature of national elections, and election interference is likely to get worse in the near future. Information and communication technologies afford those who would interfere with new tools that can operate in ways previously unimaginable: Twitter bots, Facebook advertisements, closed social media platforms, algorithms that prioritize extreme views, disinformation, misinformation, and malware that steals secret campaign communications. Defending Democracies: Combating Foreign Election Interference in a Digital Age tackles the problem through an interdisciplinary lens and focuses on: (1) defining the problem of foreign election interference; (2) exploring the solutions that international law might bring to bear; and (3) considering alternative regulatory frameworks for understanding and addressing the problem. The result is a deeply urgent examination of an old problem on social media steroids, one that implicates the most central institution of liberal democracy—elections. This volume seeks to bring domestic and international perspectives on elections and election law into conversation with other disciplinary frameworks, escaping the typical biases of lawyers—preferring international legal solutions for issues of international relations. Taken together, the chapters in this volume represent a more faithful representation of the broad array of solutions that might be deployed, including international and domestic, legal and extralegal, ambitious and cautious.

Polish Firms' Innovation Capability for Competitiveness via Information Technologies and Social Media Implementation

2017 ◽  
pp. 191-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Androniki Kavoura ◽  
Leszek Koziol
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Company Performance ◽  
It Capabilities ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Effective Use

This chapter examines the implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as innovative tools and the use of Social Media (SM) by Polish medium and small sized companies. The chapter aims to present the scope and importance of the use of Information Technology (IT) and SM in the process of companies' functioning and management. Presentation of the results of empirical research is another important aim. Companies' assessment of IT tools and SM's effective use as a prerequisite to improve the company performance is also examined. This is an exploratory study based on a sample of 166 southern Polish firms and it adds to the scant literature on firms' internal IT capabilities to support SM. The paper makes a theoretical and practical contribution in that it brings forth the emerging theme of IT resources that small and medium-sized enterprises adapt to their processes. It further examines the SM use from these firms based on the IT technology they implement as a whole. Managerial implications for marketers are provided since findings illustrate the tendency from small and medium-sized Polish companies not to implement ICTs and SM to a full extent and they could further incorporate SM in the firms' advertising and communication campaigns. Limitations and further research are discussed.

scholarly journals Well-Being and Social Media: A Systematic Review of Bergen Addiction Scales

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko Duradoni ◽  
Federico Innocenti ◽  
Andrea Guazzini
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Qualitative Synthesis ◽  
Social Media Addiction ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Academic Search

Does social media addiction impair the well-being of non-clinical individuals? Despite the Internet being able to be considered as a promoting factor for individual empowerment, previous literature suggests that the current massive availability of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) may be dangerous for users’ well-being. This article discusses the relationship between the most used social media addiction measures (i.e., the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale—BFAS, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale—BSMAS) and well-being. A systematic review considering all the publications indexed by PsycInfo, PsycArticles, PubMed, Science Direct, Sociological Abstracts, Academic Search Complete, and Google Scholar databases was performed to collect the data. Ten of 635 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis. Overall, most of the included works captured a negative but small relationship between BFAS/BSMAS and well-being, across multiple definitions and measurement.

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