scholarly journals Approaches for enhancing information sharing between government and communities in Western Cape

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Murendeni Nelwamondo ◽  
James K. Njenga
Keyword(s):  
Information Sharing ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Computer Training ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Government

Background: The Western Cape Provincial Government uses digital intermediaries to facilitate information sharing between individuals, communities and the government. Digital intermediaries are shared facilities where communities can visit and have access to information and communication technology (ICT) and the internet. Communities benefit economically, socially and politically by using free access to ICT and the internet from intermediaries’ facilities to share information with the government. There seem to be disparities between the roles of the different stakeholders in information sharing. These disparities often result in poor communication between the government and communities, and also poor government services delivery.Objectives: This research investigated how intermediaries can enhance information sharing between government and communities in the Western Cape Province.Method: This study adopted a qualitative research approach by using semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling was used to collect qualitative data from 15 participants from different intermediaries’ staff in the Western Cape Province. A narrative analysis approach was used to analyse the data.Results: The study found that intermediaries intermediate between communities and the government by providing free access to ICTs, provide basic computer training and access to computing resources and serving as an information hub. The study also found that operating hours, lack of resources, skilled staff and communication challenges adversely affect information sharing.Conclusion: This study recommended that intermediaries are supported to increase the number of resources and facilities and the number and levels of training in the province to cater for more communities. This study further recommended an increase on operational hours, and communication channels between the government and intermediaries.

scholarly journals An Overview of Internet Developments and their Impact on E-Government in South Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goonasagree Naidoo ◽  
S. Singh ◽  
Niall Levine
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Department Of Justice ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Efficient System ◽  
Government Sector ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
The Government

The usage of the internet has grown over recent years in South Africa but at a very slow rate. This is the result of several challenges facing the growth of the Internet in South Africa. These challenges are mostly related to the lack of infrastructure for the Internet, high cost of computer technology and service provider challenges. The paper provides an overview of the Internet usage and its impact on E-Government in South Africa. It examines regulatory issues pertaining to the Internet. It also examines Internet growth in the business and government sectors. In the government sector, the Cape Online Strategy, is an initiative by the provincial government of the Western Cape in SA, is an example of a global trend towards greater levels of interactivity between government and citizens. This initiative is an excellent example of how Web-based solutions can be used to deliver certain services to citizens. Another excellent example is an E-justice initiative undertaken by the Department of Justice. The initiative aims at promoting a more efficient system of Justice in SA. The paper also provides an overview of the challenges to Internet adoption in South Africa.

scholarly journals An Overview of Internet Developments and their Impact on E-Government in South Africa

2013 ◽  
pp. 188-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goonasagree Naidoo ◽  
S. Singh ◽  
Niall Levine
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Department Of Justice ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Efficient System ◽  
Government Sector ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
The Government

The usage of the internet has grown over recent years in South Africa but at a very slow rate. This is the result of several challenges facing the growth of the Internet in South Africa. These challenges are mostly related to the lack of infrastructure for the Internet, high cost of computer technology and service provider challenges. The paper provides an overview of the Internet usage and its impact on E-Government in South Africa. It examines regulatory issues pertaining to the Internet. It also examines Internet growth in the business and government sectors. In the government sector, the Cape Online Strategy, is an initiative by the provincial government of the Western Cape in SA, is an example of a global trend towards greater levels of interactivity between government and citizens. This initiative is an excellent example of how Web-based solutions can be used to deliver certain services to citizens. Another excellent example is an E-justice initiative undertaken by the Department of Justice. The initiative aims at promoting a more efficient system of Justice in SA. The paper also provides an overview of the challenges to Internet adoption in South Africa.

Management of Records in Adapted Buildings as Records Centres in Zimbabwe

Mousaion ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samson Mutsagondo ◽  
Getrude Maduyu ◽  
Godfrey Tsvuura
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Records Management ◽  
Personal Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Professional Management ◽  
The Government

This paper discusses the challenges of records management that arise from the use of adapted buildings as records centres in Zimbabwe, despite the advantages of using such buildings. A qualitative research approach was used as well as a case study research design. Data were collected from seven officers of the Gweru Records Centre through semi-structured interviews. Personal observation was used to triangulate findings from interviews. It was found that the use of adapted buildings as records centres was a cheaper and quicker way of establishing records centres throughout the country. However, a number of preservation, security and management challenges cropped up as the conditions of the buildings and the environment of the adapted buildings were not conducive to the proper and professional management of records. This study is important in that it explores the prospects and challenges of using adapted buildings as records centres in Zimbabwe, an area that has not been researched by many authors. This provokes archival authorities and the government to seriously consider establishing purpose-built records and archival centres.

scholarly journals Lockdowns, lives and livelihoods: the impact of COVID-19 and public health responses to conflict affected populations - a remote qualitative study in Baidoa and Mogadishu, Somalia

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorien H. Braam ◽  
Sharath Srinivasan ◽  
Luke Church ◽  
Zakaria Sheikh ◽  
Freya L. Jephcott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Authorities in Somalia responded with drastic measures after the first confirmed COVID-19 case in mid-March 2020, closing borders, schools, limiting travel and prohibiting most group functions. However, the impact of the pandemic in Somalia thereafter remained unclear. This study employs a novel remote qualitative research method in a conflict-affected setting to look at how some of the most at-risk internally displaced and host populations were impacted by COVID-19, what determined their responses, and how this affected their health and socio-economic vulnerability. Methods We conducted a remote qualitative study, using Katikati, a 1-to-1 conversation management and analysis platform using short message service (SMS) developed by Lark Systems with Africa’s Voices Foundation (AVF), for semi-structured interviews over three months with participants in Mogadishu and Baidoa. We recruited a gender balanced cohort across age groups, and used an analytical framework on the social determinants of health for a narrative analysis on major themes discussed, triangulating data with existing peer-reviewed and grey literature. Results The remote research approach demonstrated efficacy in sustaining trusted and meaningful conversations for gathering qualitative data from hard-to-reach conflict-affected communities. The major themes discussed by the 35 participants included health, livelihoods and education. Two participants contracted the disease, while others reported family or community members affected by COVID-19. Almost all participants faced a loss of income and/or education, primarily as a result of the strict public health measures. Some of those who were heavily affected economically but did not directly experienced disease, denied the pandemic. Religion played an important role in participants’ beliefs in protection against and salvation from the disease. As lockdowns were lifted in August 2020, many believed the pandemic to be over. Conclusions While the official COVID-19 burden has remained relatively low in Somalia, the impact to people’s daily lives, income and livelihoods due to public health responses, has been significant. Participants describe those ‘secondary’ outcomes as the main impact of the pandemic, serving as a stark reminder of the need to broaden the public health response beyond disease prevention to include social and economic interventions to decrease people’s vulnerability to future shocks.

scholarly journals Institutional Drivers of Internet Voting Adoption in Ghana: A Qualitative Exploratory Studies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Agbesi
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Internet Voting ◽  
Voting System ◽  
The Government

Internet voting system adoption in elections can bring enormous benefits to an electoral process. Though few countries have adopted it for their legally binding elections, others have discontinued its use because of perceived vulnerabilities. But it has been argued that the benefits the internet voting system provide outweigh the perceived vulnerabilities. The main purpose of this study is to examine the drivers of the internet voting system from the organizational context. The study is purely qualitative using semi-structured interviews. The interview participants were top management of EC staff, political parties’ executives and experts who were purposively selected, and thematic analysis was used to extract patterns from the data collected. The main themes that emerged from the thematic analysis include pressure from political parties, pressure from the government, legal framework, financial readiness of EC, EC top management support, convenience, accuracy, and increase voter turnouts. The discussion of the findings and the implication of the results were discussed in the study.

scholarly journals Managing corporate identities of non-profit organisations in the social welfare sector

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lida Holtzhausen
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Identity Management ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Corporate Identity ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government

Present-day South Africa is characterised by many societal and developmental issues, such as HIV awareness and prevention, child-headed households, environmental protection, poverty alleviation, violence and victim aid. However, it is widely acknowledged that government alone cannot address these issues effectively. The role of non-profit organisations (NPOs) in addressing social and development issues is increasingly emphasised. NPOs work at grass-roots level and they can therefore, on the whole, identify societal vulnerabilities and risks earlier than the government sector. However, due to the economic recession, NPOs operate in a competitive environment where an increasing number of NPOs rely on a small number of donors and other resources. NPOs should therefore differentiate themselves from the competition in order to obtain public legitimacy and funding. Corporate identity management is important for NPOs to fulfil their role in social welfare and thus contribute to disaster risk reduction. The exploratory nature of this study dictates a qualitative research approach. Semi-structured interviews with management of five NPOs in the social welfare sector were conducted in order to provide an answer to the study’s research question: ‘To what extent do NPOs in the social welfare sector practise corporate identity management, in order to prevent and address social welfare risks?’ The research found that NPOs do not realise the full potential of managing their corporate identities. NPOs therefore do not take advantage of a strong and distinct corporate identity which would allow them to ensure their ability to assess, address, reduce and/or alleviate vulnerabilities and disaster risks.

scholarly journals Exploring the Roles, Functions and Competencies of Library and Media Teachers in Managing School Resource Centers and Supporting 21st Century Learning in Malaysian Schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Husain Hashim ◽  
Shamila Mohamed Shuhidan
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Global Knowledge ◽  
School Students ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
The Government ◽  
School Resource

21st century skills are embedded in the Malaysian school curriculum to prepare and produce knowledgeable and responsible young citizens in coping with the challenges of the global knowledge economy. The trend has an impact on the roles of school resource centers (SRC), which are currently managed by the so-called library and media teachers (LMT). As the LMTs are appointed among school teachers who need to allocate and divide their responsibilities into academic teaching and SRC management, several issues are found from literature pertaining to their overburdened teaching tasks, lack of time and inadequate library management competencies. This has caused further shortcomings in service provision including poor implementation of information literacy and reading programs for school students. A qualitative research approach is adapted to investigate the roles, functions and competencies of LMTs in managing SRCs and supporting 21st century teaching and learning in the school setting. This study uses semi-structured interviews for data collection involving five (5) LMTs who provided insightful feedback towards understanding the aforementioned issues. The findings reveal essential information with respect to the roles, functions and competencies of LMTs and also identify relevant challenges that can disrupt the provision and delivery of SRC services, facilities and programs. This requires the attention of the government and school administration to enforce a better platform that enables the LMTs to uphold their roles and functions accordingly towards enhancing the 21st teaching and learning environment in Malaysian schools.

scholarly journals The relation between innovation sources and ICT roles in facility management organizations

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 368-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada Scupola
Keyword(s):  
External Source ◽  
Facility Management ◽  
Strategic Orientation ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovation Activities ◽  
The Government

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present research findings on the relation between internal/external sources of innovation and information and communication technology (ICT) as a supporter/enabler of facilities management (FM) organizations, as well as on the strategic orientation towards open innovation of FM organizations. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a qualitative research approach. The data collection includes qualitative semi-structured interviews with key FM managers and directors and secondary material such as company brochures, reports and information provided on the participating companies’ websites. Findings – The results show that the FM organizations in the study sample are starting to develop and engage in open FM service innovations, even though they still mostly conduct closed innovation activities. The findings show that FM organizations mostly take an ambidextrous strategic orientation towards FM service innovations, while they also embrace an exploration approach. Concerning the role of ICT in FM service innovations, the study shows that in the explorative organizations, ICT was mostly an enabler, while in the ambidextrous organizations, ICT mostly supported and enabled the innovations in question. Only in two innovation instances was ICT identified as having a utility role. Practical implications – The findings of this study challenge researchers and managers to rethink how and why a strategic orientation towards innovation, the sources of innovation and the role of ICT might affect service innovation in FM organizations. One important implication for FM managers and researchers is the importance that the government might have as an external source in fostering FM service innovations, especially in light of changing environmental requirements, such as energy consumption. FM managers should also consider how they could use ICT to improve and innovate FM services and service delivery and the kind of sources (external/internal) they should use to carry out this task. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the empirical and theoretical understanding of the sources of innovation and ICT as a supporter/enabler, as well as the strategic orientation towards innovation in FM organizations.

scholarly journals Internet memes in Covid-19 lockdown times in Poland

Comunicar ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (67) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roza Norstrom ◽  
Pawel Sarna
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Participatory Culture ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Redes Sociales ◽  
Common Category ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
Ordinary Citizens

Poland was one of the countries that was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and its government imposed restrictions to combat the spreading of the virus. The Internet and social media became outlets for people’s reactions to the events that unfolded, including the lockdown. A part of this reaction came in the form of creating and sharing memes – an expression of digital participatory culture. This paper aims to analyze how Covid-19 was communicated and narrated through Internet memes and how they presented the pandemic and actors responsible for fighting it. 1,763 memes from six media platforms were analyzed using content analysis with framing elements and a comparative narrative analysis. The results show that the memes provided a form of commentary on the situation experienced by Poles. The most common category of memes was “bans and orders”, involving restrictions that were often criticized and ridiculed as pointless. The main characters within the memes were ordinary citizens, often portrayed in a comedic way as careless in regards to the virus and violating the restrictions. They were also presented as victims of the police and the government. Furthermore, the people responsible for fighting the pandemic were portrayed as incompetent and imposing needlessly severe restrictions and penalties for not abiding by them. Polonia fue uno de los países golpeados por la pandemia del Covid-19 en 2020, cuyo gobierno impuso restricciones para combatir la propagación del virus. Internet y las redes sociales se convirtieron en un escape para las reacciones de las personas a estos eventos, incluido el confinamiento. Una parte de esta reacción vino en forma de creación y difusión de memes, una expresión de la cultura digital y participativa. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo analizar cómo el Covid-19 fue comunicado y narrado a través de los memes en Internet y cómo fue presentada la pandemia y los responsables de combatirla. Fueron analizados 1.763 memes de seis medios empleando un análisis de contenidos con elementos de enmarque y análisis comparativo narrativo. Los resultados muestran que los memes fueron una forma de expresión sobre la situación vivida por los polacos. La categoría más popular fue la de «prohibiciones y órdenes», aludiendo a las restricciones que frecuentemente fueron criticadas y ridiculizadas como inútiles. El personaje principal de los memes fueron los ciudadanos, frecuentemente retratados de una manera cómica como personas irresponsables en cuanto al virus y violaciones de las restricciones. También fueron presentados como víctimas de la policía y el gobierno. Además, las personas responsables de combatir la pandemia fueron retratadas como incompetentes, al imponer restricciones y sanciones excesivamente estrictas por no obedecerlas.

Tales of challenge and resolution: narratives of women middle managers in the South African public service

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Willie Tafadzwa Chinyamurindi ◽  
Tinashe Chuchu ◽  
Eugine Tafadzwa Maziriri
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Women Managers ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Management Development ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
The South ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges and resolution tactics of women middle managers in the South African public service. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research approach using semi-structured interviews was used as a data collection technique. Narrative analysis was used with a sample of 20 women middle managers working within the South African public service. Findings Narratives of challenges faced by women middle managers in the South African public service included relational issues, with a subtle undermining of women managers, challenges rooted within the socio-cultural milieu – perversely undermining the experience of being a manager and challenges stemming from public service in general such as corruption, in turn, questioning the ability of women managers to handle such. In addressing these challenges, the women middle managers exercised three individual performative actions in response to the identified challenges. These include using direct confrontation, relying on networks for guidance and relying on indirect confrontation. Research limitations/implications Sample size challenges feature as a notable limitation including the research being conducted in only one political province of South Africa. Caution should be exercised when seeking to generalise the findings to other contexts. Practical implications Understanding the challenges and resolution tactics of women middle managers can be a useful precursor to management development interventions. Originality/value The study answers call for more processual career and management development studies that help understand not only challenges but also resolution strategies. This study illustrates both the difficulty of this and ensures opportunity for the advancement of women in management.

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