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The small group subtlety of using ICT for participatory governance: A South African experience
Abstract
The greater number of government efforts to stimulate participative governance in communities using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) often fall short of expectations. In South Africa extending e-government to communities has been in the form of more and/or better equipped ICT-enabled community centres, called Thusong Service Centres. In this paper, based on action research experiences, we report outcomes of interpretive research into ICT-enabled approaches to participative governance in communities. Using the Diffusion of Innovations theory as an analytic lens, the findings reveal a subtlety that is not often mentioned in the call for participative e-governance; people from communities prefer to work in groups rather than individually. The collectiveness inclination is a common denominator of many developing countries where people choose to come together to leverage the few available resources. Individuals become apprehensive when made to work on their own using the ICT. The research reveals the necessity to re-design ICT to suit small groups as part of participative e-governance rather than the normative ICT design that suits individual work styles. Additionally, the research reveals that by working in groups, communities are more willing to accept the government initiatives that are being energised with the use of ICT. Methodologically, the research revealed the ethical issue that arises from action research in its raising of unrealistic expectations in a community.
... A escalabilidade tecnológica é a forma mais comum nos estudos de Computação e SI, por exemplo: aquisição de equipamentos; disponibilização de serviços na internet e escolhas por tecnologias mais avançadas para suportar novos processos e atender melhor os usuários. Nos estudos de Shin (2010), Twinomurinzi et al. (2012), Gil-Garcia et al. (2013) e Liu et al. (2014, destaca-se a necessidade de acesso à internet; compra de servidores e banco de dados, que são itens fundamentais para se ter infraestrutura tecnológica nas localidades. Observa-se que a escalabilidade politica ocorre principalmente por meio da atuação governamental na implementação de SIS e GE para apoiar ações sociais e melhorar o desenvolvimento econômico e social da população das localidades estudadas. ...
... Observa-se que a escalabilidade politica ocorre principalmente por meio da atuação governamental na implementação de SIS e GE para apoiar ações sociais e melhorar o desenvolvimento econômico e social da população das localidades estudadas. Na maior parte dos estudos se destaca a atuação governamental como um elemento em comum, confirmando que o governo exerce um papel importante a fim de promover o desenvolvimento social na localidade [Jaeger e Thompson 2004;Shin 2010;Twinomurinzi et al. 2012;Gil-Garcia et al. 2013;Liu et al. 2014;Al-Hujran et al. 2015;Fakhoury e Aubert 2015;Sangki 2018]. A atuação governamental ocorre por meio de escolhas políticas para priorizar o programa social em meio a outros setores do governo que disputam os recursos disponíveis, bem como pelo aporte de recursos ao projeto, a promoção de legislações que suportem o projeto e alianças com organismos internacionais. ...
... O estudo de Kaushik e Sing (2004), realizado na Índia, descreve a busca ativa de pessoas com barcos nas áreas mais recônditas. Twinomurinzi et al. (2012) observaram a necessidade de redesenhar as TIC para se adequarem a pequenos grupos locais na África do Sul. Liu et al. (2014) argumentam que o SIS estudado promoveu a confiança no governo móvel, que são frutos do ambiente social e da facilidade tecnológica de uso. ...
The Bolsa Familia Program is one of the largest income transfer programs in the world. One of its biggest challenges has been the scalability of this social program in a country with continental dimensions such as Brazil. This research work aims how CadÚnico, the information system (IS) that register and store data about the families potentially eligible to the Bolsa Familia (BF) have evolved, based on a sociotechnical research approach. Therefore, we carried out an interpretative case study supported by the Actor-Network Theory, information infrastructure and scalability concepts. Finally, for qualitative data analysis, qualitative analysis procedures based on grounded theory (GT) were used. As a result, we have identified categories of technological, political, and geographic scalability, which are interconnected and have promoted the growth of BF since its inception. Thus, we aim to contribute to the IS scientific literature by adding evidence on how the scalability of a Social Information System entails technology, people and processes in a historical, political and organizational context. Finally, we also intend to show how interpretive studies contribute to understanding technical, social and political aspects that pervade IS in the complexity of practical contexts.
... Thus, the use of ICTs should be considered functional in collaboration models (Ravishankar, 2013). Twinomurinzi et al. (2012) find that employing ICTs for the generation of PVs by improving public engagement has proven successful, particularly by developing a shared common space fostering community engagement with government. Twinomurinzi et al. (2012) demonstrate that in the communities of South Africa, ICTs have proven themselves functional in organizing the community members to gather in the same area, sharing their ideas and opinions with the government, and providing the local community with a feeling that they are appreciated. ...
... Twinomurinzi et al. (2012) find that employing ICTs for the generation of PVs by improving public engagement has proven successful, particularly by developing a shared common space fostering community engagement with government. Twinomurinzi et al. (2012) demonstrate that in the communities of South Africa, ICTs have proven themselves functional in organizing the community members to gather in the same area, sharing their ideas and opinions with the government, and providing the local community with a feeling that they are appreciated. In another related study, Karkin et al. (2018) assert that their systematic review indicates the promotion of PVs through ICTs use in a variety of ways and manners. ...
The reflection of public values (PVs) could be monitored through some indicators, like institutional social media tools. The measurement of how PVs are reflected over local social media accounts is of great importance. Studies in the relevant literature are mainly focusing on the benefits of social media presence, drivers, or barriers or attitudes and expectations on social media presence. We, in this study, focus on the evaluation of whether and how selected PVs are reflected through social media accounts of metropolitan municipalities (MMs) in Turkey. By taking participation, collaboration, and transparency as the main PVs, we have formed an evaluation metric composed of five sub-criteria for each determinant. With the help of seven public administration experts holding a Ph.D. degree to form an expert graded scheme by using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), we have employed a content analysis over Twitter accounts of 30 Turkish MMs using this expert graded scheme. We have found that Turkish MMs were found not to grasp the valuation of the selected PVs since most seem to fail to reflect them over their social media accounts to the full extent possible. Moreover, many Turkish MMs seem to have violated privacy and personal data.
... Nonetheless, Sen's developmental approach is limited for many DCs in especially two areas; it is overly individualistic by ignoring the strong collectiveness nature of DC cultures [15], and in its non-prescriptiveness. The CA is strong on values but weak on prescriptions in contrast to the traditional approaches to development [16]. ...
... The collectivist nature of people in DCs means that people without sufficient economic means often group together not only to leverage scarce economic resources but also because it is a fundamental part of their social fabric. For a DC e-skilling agenda, cognizance must be taken of the fact that people prefer to work in groups and will not suddenly prefer the individualistic modes of ICT training often offered by traditional institutions where each person sits alone on a computer [15]. There are a number of education models that allow for group learning which ICT training could borrow from such as the jigsaw classroom cooperative learning technique. ...
Skilling unquestionably plays the most practical role in creating innovations which will be financially, socially and economically sustainable in developing countries (DCs). And because we now live in an economic age dependent on knowledge and driven by the rapid and global advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), skilling in ICT is even more important. Key to participating in the knowledge-based economy is the ability to creatively and productively apply whatever ICT is within reach; to be e-skilled. While ICT has become an important national strategy in all DCs, e-skilling has not. The emphasis has primarily been on education to produce more ICT and science graduates. The irony in DCs is that more ICT graduates do not necessarily result in greater productive participation in the knowledge-based economy. The result is often unemployed ICT graduates or the increased brain-drain of ICT and science graduates to developed countries. E-skilling is clearly a new strategic problem in DCs. The productivity paradox points to the unique need for DCs to rethink e-skilling so as to create financially, socially and economically sustainable local innovations driven by ICT. While many articles appear on how DCs may participate in the knowledge-based economy, very few offer practical suggestions that are locally relevant in DC contexts. Developing a DC e-skills agenda is clearly of interest. In this paper, we draw on early efforts being undertaken in South Africa to present progressive perspectives on e-skilling in DCs based on four important provisions; a national budget for e-skills development, an environment that fosters creativity and innovation, a col-laborative platform that recognizes the collectivist nature of DCs, and a national support structure that in inclined to e-skills brain-circulation.
... The impact and effectiveness of ICT applications in rural governance can be assessed using a range of metrics (AlBar & Hoque, 2019;Walter et al., 2017). A pivotal measure is the extent to which ICT enhances participation in governance processes (Twinomurinzi et al., 2012;Viale Pereira et al., 2017). Increased participation is often seen as a hallmark of effective ICT application, as it signifies the democratisation of governance processes where rural residents have a say in the decisions that affect their lives (Grönlund & Horan, 2005). ...
The integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in rural areas holds significant potential for facilitating active participation of villagers in spatial governance processes. While previous research has primarily focused on the role of e‐participation tools in rural governance, there exists a knowledge gap regarding substantive villager participation within intricate systems. This study explores the intricate mechanism of meaningful engagement by harnessing the potential of ICT and parametric technologies. First, the concept of ‘e‐participation ecosystem’ is proposed. The concept integrates ICT, parametric technology and other relevant elements necessary to facilitate substantial participation of rural villagers in spatial governance. Subsequently, an analytical framework to examine the impact mechanism of ICT technology on the efficiency of village spatial governance is developed, building upon an evaluation of villagers' active involvement. Finally, a practical demonstration was conducted in C village to validate the positive impact of ICT on rural spatial governance. This study reveals that the successful implementation of ICT in village spatial governance necessitates a comprehensive ‘e‐participation ecosystem’ for support, as the efficacy of individual ICT technologies is limited. Additionally, it highlights that the utilisation of ICT can enhance efficiency in village spatial governance, thereby reducing participation costs for all stakeholders through a streamlined governance process. Moreover, parameterization technology plays an equally crucial role in the process of village spatial governance. By harnessing the power of parameterization technology, the efficiency of generating village spatial planning schemes can be significantly enhanced. When integrated with ICT technology, it has the potential to substantially reduce response time for all stakeholders involved.
... Given that the micro-enterprise sector is a key contributor to socio-economic growth, the South African government has tasked various governmental bodies and agencies to promote growth of this sector (Nieuwenhuizen 2019;Okon 2015). It is argued that by prioritising technology infrastructure development, sectorial growth and development as well as a greater participation in the economy will be enabled (Twinomurinzi, Phahlamohlaka & Byrne 2012). ...
Background: Since the onset of the global pandemic, unemployment has increased to new levels. As a consequence, the need to stimulate economic growth through the development of the micro-enterprise sector has become a central vehicle to decrease unemployment and stimulate economic growth. The problem, however, is that despite the potential benefits of digitisation, the micro-enterprise sector has been unable to effectively integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) into the fabric of their operations.Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the adoption and use of mobile applications for micro-enterprise operations in South Africa.Method: A quantitative methodology using a survey design was used to collect data from a sample of entrepreneurs, with 221 responses.Results: Performance expectancy (PE) and effort expectancy (EE) positively influence the micro-entrepreneurs’ behavioural intention (BI) to adopt and use mobile applications, while social influence (SI) has no impact on the same. Facilitating conditions (FC) and BI are the strongest determinants of mobile application adoption and use for micro-enterprise operations.Conclusion: All the constructs of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model showed a satisfactory level of reliability and discriminant validity, which was confirmed by testing the measurement model against two competing models. The UTAUT model is a good predictor of the intention to adopt and use mobile applications for micro-enterprise operations.Contribution: The findings provide parameters to develop a focussed strategy to catalyse the adoption and subsequent use of mobile applications among micro-entrepreneurs. It further informs initiatives to close the gap of a known reluctance in using technology among micro-enterprises.
... So we hope, building on a lot of earlier thinking [86][87] [88], to encourage the formation of a network that will promote sustainable and equitable livelihoods, activity and occupations by creating and adapting the research tools and methods that will enable activists and researchers to collaborate and develop community digital learning spaces that are based on the authentic and sensitive expression of economic, educational, environmental and cultural needs, aspirations, expectations and experiences. To summarise, one objective of our network would be to explore innovative and appropriate social research tools and techniques that might be exploited across the communities and to share ideas more generally enabling member communities to be more self-sufficient and to represent and be recognised as a more resilient, socially sophisticated and digitally articulate asset to their respective countries. ...
There is now a unique interdisciplinary opportunity to work across the various digital technology development communities, for example ICT4D and m4d, albeit with their conservative conceptions of learning, and the innovative digital learning communities breaking away from institutional e-learning formats, for example the open learning movement, at a time when many indigenous communities in the global South have considerable experience, access, ownership and familiarity with personal and social digital systems and when the decolonising movement provide the impetus and processes to develop new tools and techniques to work together for an accurate and authentic understanding of learning needs and the methods to address them. This is timely and urgent since digital technologies, produced by Anglophone global corporations and promoting the global knowledge economy, threaten fragile cultures and languages and promote the Fourth Industrial Revolution whilst in fact delivering the next wave of epistemicides. This paper sets the case for urgent, collective and coherent action.
... Studies conducted in Africa and Southeast Asia concluded that ICT alone could not improve country governance (Theworldbank, 2006;Gant, 2008;Prattipati, 2003). Effective ICT diffusion and development must also include ICT skills to enable ICT usage (Kassen, 2014;Ali et al., 2020;Twinomurinzi et al., 2012) and institutional arrangements (Sousa, 2016). ICT diffusion can improve the financial accounting system, planning, building, surveillance systems, examination and inspection (Bertot et al., 2010b). ...
... Studies conducted in Africa and Southeast Asia concluded that ICT alone could not improve country governance (Theworldbank, 2006;Gant, 2008;Prattipati, 2003). Effective ICT diffusion and development must also include ICT skills to enable ICT usage (Kassen, 2014;Ali et al., 2020;Twinomurinzi et al., 2012) and institutional arrangements (Sousa, 2016). ICT diffusion can improve the financial accounting system, planning, building, surveillance systems, examination and inspection (Bertot et al., 2010b). ...
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) supports the sharing of information to improve the Quality of Governance (QoG). Many studies found a relationship between ICT diffusion and globalization and between ICT diffusion and the Quality of Governance. This study investigates the influence of both ICT diffusion and globalization in explaining the country level QoG while incorporating gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, human capital, and government expenditure in the context of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) region. To this end, we used Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) to analyze panel data from 1984 to 2017. In contrast to research conducted in other countries, our research shows that the impact of ICT diffusion on QoG is not significant in the ASEAN region. The findings can be explained by a lack of coherent ICT-strategy among the countries and a lack of institutional mechanisms to ensure ICT efforts' effectiveness. However, the relationship between globalization and QoG is positive and significant.
... Further, the use of ICT to enhance citizen engagement in governance processes may prove challenging especially in communities where people prefer to work in groups rather than as individuals. In South Africa, for instance, research has shown that people from communities prefer to work in groups rather than individually, a common denominator of many developing countries where people choose to come together to leverage the few available resources (Twinomurinzi et al., 2012). This suggests that the use of ICT for citizen engagement in such contexts may need to be moderated to suit the local conditions. ...
Citizen engagement is one way of improving the governance of extractive resources and overcoming the resource curse. Academic research on Tanzania's extractive resource governance has shown that meaningful offline citizen engagement remains a troubling area mainly because of how it is framed by the government and the measures it takes to suppress organised community initiatives for engagement. Can government use of ICT promote citizen engagement? This paper asks one major question: how do governments deploy ICTs to create and/or constrain opportunities for active citizen engagement in extractives decision-making and governance processes? In answering this question, the paper examines how the Tanzanian government uses ICTs to engage with citizens in extractives decision-making and governance processes and whether this engagement really empowers citizens to influence resource governance decisions. The paper shows that much as the government uses ICT to inform the public about extractives development, it equally takes measures-political and legal- to ensure that meaningful citizen engagement does not evolve. This calls for a nuanced analysis of the potential role of ICT in promoting citizen engagement in governance processes.
... While figuring the process to ensure relational trust in e-participation, the model also shows the Government-to-Citizen (G2C), Citizen-to-Government (C2G) and Citizen-to-Citizen (C2C) relation as the relational partners of the process. The research on the trust models for e-participation has revealed that against the backdrop of improving trust in eparticipation, the parties of electronic services satisfy with the constructed system [59]. The prospective application, therefore, requires a design approach to develop a well-fitted prototype for the needs and expectations of the parties. ...
As information and communication technologies (ICTs) have diffused throughout the customary forms of works and services, various models, theories, and approaches have emerged and been developed to measure how and to what extent people accept technologically transformed products and services in the e-government domain. Despite the existence of applicable models regarding the acceptance and diffusion of e-government and e-participation, the current literature has failed to fully cover citizens' expectations due to factors affecting complex and organic bonds between states and citizens (i.e. trust). This study aims to discuss whether and how trust serves as an intermediary function with regard to technology acceptance models on e-government in general but e-participation in particular. This review finds (1) that it is necessary to develop a comprehensive approach for a trust-building environment regarding e-participation and (2) that trust in e-participation can be consolidated through interrelation among and within parties. CCS CONCEPTS • Applied computing → Computers in other domains → Computing in government → E-government KEYWORDS Trust Model, e-Participation, Literature Review ACM Reference format: Burcu Demirdoven, Ecem Buse Sevinc Cubuk, Naci Karkin. 2020. Establishing relational trust in e-Participation: a systematic literature review to propose a model. In
... Third, in the public sector realm, a significant academic conversation has emerged in the last decade in terms of e-governance (Valdés et al., 2011)é;Dawes, 2009;Twinomurinzi, Phahlamohlaka, & Byrne, 2012;Ojo, Janowski, & Awotwi, 2013), where, unlike ITG, the focus is on "the use of ICT to improve governance processes" (Estevez & Janowski, 2013: p. 94). These studies typically focus on eGovernment implementation (sometimes included in smart city portfolios) but don't necessarily fit the wider scope of smart city visions. ...
The institutionalisation of Smart City Functions (SCF) within local authorities creates significant IT Governance (ITG) challenges, including the need to foster a triadic alignment between the overall organization, the IT function and the SCF. Building on existing literature on ITG, smart cities, and the emerging conversation on Adaptive Governance in the public sector, the following exploratory question has been formulated for this study: How are ITG structural mechanisms implemented in city authorities to oversee and govern smart cities? To address this question, a qualitative multiple case study was carried out across three city authorities in Ireland characterised by diversity in their ITG structural arrangements to govern portfolios of smart city initiatives. From this analysis three types of ITG structural implementation are proposed named: Detached, Integrated, and Traditional. These are compared and discussed in relation to: (1) orientation of each approach; (2) decision-making authority; (3) alignment with the IT function and the overall municipal organization; and (4) the challenge perceived by the SCFs under each ITG arrangement. This research contributes to the academic conversation on adaptive governance, smart cities as well as to the broader ongoing debate on ITG in the public sector.
... It is a cumulative technological effect-a process in which attitudes are gradually being adjusted to the available means (Åström and Granberg, 2008). As the level of Internet infiltration increases, municipalities are feeling an even greater push from citizens and from societal and business organizations to provide (environmental) information, implement sustainability measures, and to include multiple stakeholders in policy processes and online services (Azad et al., 2010;Cleland et al., 2012;Al Hujran et al., 2013;Gabrys, 2014;Yigitcanlar and Lee, 2014;Paskaleva, 2014;Meijer, 2016;Twinomurinzi et al., 2012;Álvarez-Crespo, 2014). ...
This paper presents a systematic review of the literature on smart governance, defined as technology-enabled collaboration between citizens and local governments to advance sustainable development. The lack of empirical evidence on the positive outcomes of smart cities/smart governance motivated us to conduct this study. Our findings show that empirical evidence for the alleged sustainability benefits is sparse. In addition, the emerging picture is ambiguous in that it reports both positive and negative effects in respect to the sustainability achievements of smart governance. The study identifies contextual conditions of smart governance as crucial to understanding these mixed outcomes. Our paper points up the need for more empirical work and develops an agenda for researching the relationship between smart governance and sustainability outcomes.
... ICTs-led innovations are particularly found effective in engaging citizens for co-production and crowdsourcing, and are also considered within the framework of a collaboration model [39]. In a similar study, [44] finds that ICTs can successfully create PV by improving public participation, especially when they are used to develop a shared space that enhances community engagement with government. The study demonstrates that in the communities of South Africa where people are concerned about directly interacting with government, ICTs help to organize the members of the community to get together in the same area, share their ideas with the government, and feel that they are appreciated. ...
In public administration (PA) literature, there are a number of big questions regarding institutional and organizational factors. Competency formation, availability of resources and citizen empowerment [1] are among them. The importance of big questions must not rely on instrumentality; rather should focus on how and whether they have consequences and value for society [2]. The literature also questions “the paradox of publicness” [3, 4] by referring the “special status of public organization” claim of [5] and “publicness theory” of [6]. Given that public organizations have different characteristics with regard to operational processes and organizational structures operating in a particularized environment [7:6], they pursue different ends [5]. Replying to these big questions, we put forward public sector innovation (PSI) and co-creation of public values (PVs) as particularly important when contextual and conditional indicators are at the table. PVs and innovations in government may serve the government to reorganize PA as a whole through producing holistic and long-term strategies to enhance public service delivery system in a multi-actor-environment. For this we need a functional mediator, thus we employ information and communication technologies (ICTs). Through ICT-led tools, various and differentiated stakeholders can meet on a continuous base to frame the collective ground. For governments, ICTs may well be used to realize collaboration, coordination, and co-creation values that would alleviate some of the issues addressed via the big questions.
... A large number of CE researchers employed research methods that focused on relevance and used data from the field, such as case studies, action research, and Design Science Research. CE researchers have used CE methods and techniques in a broad range of application domains, including but not limited to service-oriented and enterprise architectures (e.g., [122,126]), aerospace design [112], software engineering (e.g., [3]), Internet-of-Things (e.g., [10]), deception detection (e.g., [61]), open source communities (e.g., [115]), and citizen engagement and participative governance in communities (e.g., [2,4,34,138,161]). A more detailed account of specific CE applications will be given in the section on CE field experiences. ...
Collaboration Engineering (CE) is an approach for the design and deployment of repeatable collaborative work practices that can be executed by domain experts without the ongoing support of external collaboration professionals. Since 2001, CE has been an active and productive topic of research that has attracted scientists from different backgrounds and disciplines. CE research started with studies on ways to transfer professional collaboration expertise to novices using a pattern language called thinkLets. Subsequent research focused on the development of theories to explain key phenomena, the development of a structured design methodology, training methods, technology support, design theories, and various field and experimental studies focusing on specific aspects of the CE approach. This paper details the contributions from CE research and practice based on a literature assessment of 331 publications. It extracts the key insights from the body of CE research thus far, identifies significant areas of inquiry that have not yet been explored, and looks ahead at the CE research opportunities that are emerging as our society, organizations, technologies, and the nature of collaboration evolve.
... According to the authors, this policy decision-making structures and processes are defined in order to carry out a public purpose that could not otherwise be accomplished. A large number of government efforts to foster participatory governance in ICT-enabled communities often fail to meet the desired and planned expectations, although in many communities people prefer to work collectively (Twinomurinzi, Phahlamohlaka, & Byrne, 2012). In this participatory model, interaction is considered to be constitutive of democracy itself, where the formation of opinions and political actions based on forums, groups or new virtual communities promote the development of civil society. ...
This article aims to identify strategies and barriers for the adoption of Digital Governance in the Brazilian Public Administration through the Digital Governance Policy, which is based on access to information, service provision and social participation. A qualitative exploratory research was conducted through the analysis of the policy and semi-structured interviews with 11 ICT managers from public organizations. The results identified barriers for each Digital Governance strategy, which were classified according to the literature in Structural or Cultural Barriers as well as Individual, Organizational or Strategic. The relationship of the barriers with the lack of proper Collaborative Governance was also verified, showing that Digital Governance initiatives can be either fostered or hindered by Collaborative Governance.
... ICTs-led innovations are particularly found effective in engaging citizens for co-production and crowd sourcing, and are also considered within the framework of a collaboration model (Ravishankar, 2013). In a similar study, Twinomurinzi, Phahlamohlaka, & Byrne (2012) finds that ICTs can successfully create PV by improving public participation, especially when they are used to develop a shared space that enhances community engagement with government. The study demonstrates that in the communities of South Africa where people are concerned about directly interacting with government, ICTs help to organize the members of the community to get together in the same area, share their ideas with the government, and feel that they are appreciated. ...
The literature on cutback management in public administration questions "the paradox of publicness" (Pandey, 2010; Haque, 2001) by referring the "special status of public organization" claim of Levine (1978) and "publicness theory" of Bozeman (1984). Given that public organizations have different characteristics with regard to operational processes and organizational structures (Rainey, 2009), they pursue different ends since public services have no concern about direct monetary value in general (Levine, 1978), though employing monetary tools in producing public services. During particular times, cutback management imposes various challenges on public sector organizations. Among many replying tools, we put forward public sector innovation (PSI) and co-creation of public values (PVs) as particularly important when contextual and conditional indicators are at table. Despite the separate nature of cutback management and innovation management in public administration, the public value seems to have the highest potential as an emergent concept at the intersection of these differentiated approaches. Cutback and innovation management may serve the government to reform public administration as a whole through producing holistic and long-term strategies to enhance public service delivery system in a multi-actor-environment. In this multi-actor-environment we need a functional mediator, for which we employ information and communication technologies (ICTs). Through ICT-based tools, various and differentiated stakeholders can meet on an continuous base to frame the collective ground. For governments, ICTs may well serve to engage some values as collaboration, coordination, co-creation for both inner and outer perspectives. Finding an answer to what other value(s) are at stake, or how value(s) can be gathered is not an easy task. To answer this question, we can read the situation backward as: if a government is innovative, it instinctively has a potential to create/establish value(s). If it is required to promote PSI for successful cutback management in public organizations, the initial step should be to respond whether and how the relation between value and innovation is addressed since establishing value is also innovative per se. Thus, this study aims to discuss what an innovative government is and how to frame "innovativeness" regarding government business. This discussion should give way to a simple model to visualize the innovativeness level of the government. In this model, we regard the concept of public as the administrative body. Therefore, we use two main measurements to qualify public innovativeness as "Government Capacity Growth (GCG)" and "Government Capacity Performance Growth (GCPG)". The former considers the relative digital progress of a certain government, its budget-based improvement in national level and Open Government Data (OGD) promotions in amount, quality and frequency. Within the context of GCPG, we highlight three main pillars that encourage the innovative structure of the public sector: (i) Supply-Sided Variables (S), (ii) Demand-Sided Variables (D) and Self-Sufficiency Level of Citizens (SS). GCPG evaluate the change in the quantity and quality of public services supplied within the consideration of end-user feeding. Citizens can serve to the model as a feedback mechanism for the innovative initiatives of the government to assess the rate and pace of government response so that this approach improves "citizen consultation mechanism". The ultimate goal of the innovative government would be to ensure that citizens are self-sufficient to meet their needs in public services provided by ICTs-led projections.
... Many interventions have been initiated to train these SMEs. However, many attempts have been made where these initiatives did not have the desired outcomes (Twinomurinzi, Phahlamohlaka & Byrne 2012). ...
It has long been the focus of many countries around the world to see their entrepreneurs grow and to introduce interventions to assist them, as they realise the impact these entrepreneurs have on their economies. Technology is believed to be one of the biggest tools that entrepreneurs can use to assist them in growing sustainable businesses. There is an increased need for small businesses to employ information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance their businesses as part of their countries’ socio-economic development. This, in turn, leads to an increased need for digital literacy interventions for these entrepreneurs. Many interventions have tried to assist a country’s residents to adopt ICT and enhance their digital literacy levels. However, many of these did not have the desired outcomes. Many barriers prevent these initiatives from being successful, for example difficulty in retaining the current workforce, a lack of skills and human capital development, a lack of resources, security concerns, mistrust regarding ICT and ICT service providers and a lack of trust. Data were gathered over three years (2012, 2013 and 2017) to determine whether there has been any change in the uptake of technology over time, whether technology is indeed the answer to many entrepreneurs’ problems and whether some of the barriers could be overcome. An interpretivist paradigm using a qualitative approach was employed and 193 entrepreneurs were interviewed over three years to see if there was any change in their adoption of technology, which should be the case if one recognises the pace at which technology is changing. The identified barriers no longer seem to exist for South African entrepreneurs. It emerged that technology adoption and digital literacy studies should be industry-specific and should not be based on a generic approach. Thus, digital literacy cannot be used as a broad term and needs to be focused for each sector. This article proposes that most entrepreneurs have addressed one of the main barriers. These main barriers include a lack of expertise, in-house knowledge or a one-stop shop to assist with ICT queries and problems. Most of the entrepreneurs now have access to an information technology consultant or expert who can help them to become more digitally literate. Although many new technologies are being developed, certain standard software systems, such as the Microsoft Office package, will always be used. Thus, these standard software systems should be the focus of digital literacy training interventions. These interventions should be simple and easily accessible to everyone.
... Siguiendo esta línea (Janssen y Voort, 2016a;Sivarajah et al., 2015;Twinomurinzi et al., 2012), explican que los cambios en el medio ambiente, las expectativas de la economía global y los desarrollos tecnológicos como grandes almacenes datos, análisis de datos, apertura de datos vinculados y web semántica influyen en los valores sociales, requiriendo la adaptación de mayores niveles de privacidad y ciberseguridad. La gobernanza es necesaria para tomar las decisiones necesarias y responder a estos acontecimientos, lo que plantea nuevas exigencias, requiriendo la adopción y cambio de políticas, legislaciones, sistemas e incluso estructuras internas para tratar con ellos. ...
The objective of this article is to present the results of a study related to the present state and advance of Information Technology governance and the use and practices of IT in the public entities of the capital cities of the Colombian coffee triangle. An evaluation was carried out by means of a survey, which was applied to 39 public entities of this region. The study was developed from an inductive perspective and with a descriptive exploratory and correlational study. It is concluded that IT governance with the use and appropriation of IT should advance in its consolidation and development. It is hoped that with the results presented, it will be possible to develop improvement programs between public universities and local public entities to reach the levels expected in this field.
... Siguiendo esta línea (Janssen y Voort, 2016a;Sivarajah et al., 2015;Twinomurinzi et al., 2012), explican que los cambios en el medio ambiente, las expectativas de la economía global y los desarrollos tecnológicos como grandes almacenes datos, análisis de datos, apertura de datos vinculados y web semántica influyen en los valores sociales, requiriendo la adaptación de mayores niveles de privacidad y ciberseguridad. La gobernanza es necesaria para tomar las decisiones necesarias y responder a estos acontecimientos, lo que plantea nuevas exigencias, requiriendo la adopción y cambio de políticas, legislaciones, sistemas e incluso estructuras internas para tratar con ellos. ...
El objetivo del artículo es presentar los resultados relacionados con el estado y avance del gobierno de Tecnologías de la Información (TI) y el uso y prácticas de dichas TI en las entidades públicas de las ciudades capitales del triángulo del café de Colombia. Se realizó una valoración por medio de encuesta, la cual fue aplicada a 39 entidades públicas de esta región. Se desarrolló el estudio desde una óptica inductiva y con un tipo de estudio descriptivo exploratorio y correlacional. Se concluye que el gobierno de TI con el uso y apropiación de TI deben avanzar en su consolidación y desarrollo. Se espera que, con los resultados presentados, se puedan desarrollar programas de mejoramiento entre universidades públicas y las entidades para alcanzar los niveles que se espera en este campo.
... As she rightfully states: "By acquiring this resource (the mobile device) SMEs had the power to change their current practices" (Kabanda, 2001, p. 11). Mobile phones should be seen as "a primary candidate to facilitate participation as part of an e-collaboration effort" ( Twinomurinzi, Phahlamohlaka, & Byrne, 2012, p. 210). ...
The objective of this paper was to determine the perceived barriers and motivators of mobile ICT adoption by South African micro entrepreneurs. Current research shows that mobile ICT can help ensure the success of micro enterprises. However, there are barriers and motivating factors, which influence the mobile ICT adoption rate of micro enterprises and they seem to differ between countries. Semi-structured interviews with a number of South African micro entrepreneurs were used in this study to determine the barriers and motivators relevant in a South African context. The results from this study show that each individual entrepreneur has their own subset of factors, unique to their situation and environment, which influences their ICT adoption rate. Attempts to increase the mobile ICT adoption rate amongst South African entrepreneurs therefore needs to consider the unique set of mobile ICT adoption barriers and motivators that each entrepreneur faces.
... A few researches have done for emerging countries, most of them are case studies where building and implementing e-government projects has no a common star up or road map. A recent study by the United Nations has shown that many emerging economies are making positive strides to develop their e-government capabilities [6], e-government adoption in Latin America [7], e-government development in the Caribbean, participatory governance in South Africa [8], and e-government project in Iran [9], are especial cases for egovernment initiatives, and each of these articles contributes to the understanding of e-government by focusing on particular issues related to e-government in specific parts of the world. After we cross academic research works, we come to conclude that there is no discussion of how emerging countries could implement their e-government system base on circumstance of its current state of development. ...
... In terms of method, Delphi-type facilitation (Linstone & Turoff, 2002) as a transdisciplinary method was adopted from the Collaboration Engineering (CE) literature (Twinomurinzi, Phahlamohlaka, & Byrne, 2012). The CE facilitation method is discussed further in the next section juxtaposed against a Grounded Theory method and the Delphi method. ...
The potential and promise of mobile app development depends in large part on the creative capability of the app developer. In Africa, despite the explosion of mobile phones over the last few years, there is uncertainty regarding the state and need for more relevant apps. In this paper, we draw from a focus group discussion of African based experts and decision-makers from international agencies, academia, industry and the creative industries, to scope out a research and policy agenda for mobile app development in Africa. The guiding question for the group was how to stimulate an enabling creative environment that supports local African app development. The discussion was facilitated and analysed using Delphi-type techniques from collaboration engineering. We found that the expert groups viewed local relevance, demographics (of app developers, app users and app development training organisations), app demand, innovation, the app environment, stimulants and inhibitors as the main areas to be addressed. The highest importance was regarded as understanding the app ecosystem and creating locally relevant apps. The least important was on the app demand. The results underscored the need for flexible research and policy directions for a developmental role of ICT, particularly apps, in Africa. The paper further makes a contribution to transdisciplinary research to show the effectiveness with which ICT can mediate experts from different disciplines to create new realities, while at the same time meeting rigorous methodological requirements.
... The developmental approach echoes Amartya Sen's Capabilities Approach (Sen, 1999). The Capabilities Approach (CA) is a broad development framework that has been frequently drawn upon in IS to understand the role of ICT in development (Avgerou, 2009; Twinomurinzi, Phahlamohlaka, & Byrne, 2012; Walsham, Robey, & Sahay, 2007). ...
One of the preferred approaches to solving developing country (DC) challenges such as unemployment, poverty and redundant youth is through entrepreneurship and the use of ICT. Yet integrating ICT in business often presents another unnecessary challenge for Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in DCs. In this paper we adopt a qualitative approach using the dynamic capabilities framework (DCF) to explore the role of ICT in transitioning SMME owners into entrepreneurs. The key findings suggest that younger SMME owners are more willing to innovate with ICTs yet lack the resources. The older SMME owners invest in ICT but struggle to make use of it. The research contributes to practice in suggesting how training in ICT to SMME owners, as part of stirring an entrepreneurial culture in DCs, needs to include these generational differences. For theory, the research shows that the DCF can sufficiently be used to understand growth in SMMEs in DCs.
... In South Africa, research indicated that ICT tools have an essential role in encouraging the e-collaboration between governments and citizens, and effectively facilitate the bottom-up communication where communities can express their needs in a more free and effective approach. The research work was drawn from a PhD work based on a project that aimed at enabling access to human rights through processes and web-based group support systems (Twinomurinzi et al., 2012). Salian (2002) portrayed an embedded relationship between human rights and e-government through the analysis of e-government functions and objectives, where e-government aims at enhancing information accessibility, and greater trust in e-service. ...
Electronic government is considered a vital tool for the future of good governance, better public services, and effective participation. It is important to explore the factors that are associated with the success of such phenomenon. This paper tried to utilise secondary data related to human rights as a factor associated with e-government readiness. The literature indicated the absence of tautology but indirectly indicated an expected association between e-government readiness and human rights level of adherence. The objective of the paper is to add to the body of knowledge a new factor that can predict the state of e-government readiness. The study utilised two human rights indices and the UN E-Government Readiness Index and yielded significant results on both tests. Results indicated a significant association between E-Government Readiness Index (EGRI2005&2010) and human right indices (GloHRI or CIRI-HRD-PHYSINT). Conclusions, limitations and future work are stated at the end.
What are the relationships that exist between Information and Communication technologies (ICT)-enabled citizen-government collaboration and sustainable urban development? And, how do contextual circumstances influence these relationships? This chapter is focused on answering the preceding questions in four phases.
The first phase of the chapter covers how smart governance, in the sense of ICT-enabled government-citizen collaboration to advance urban sustainability, is still rare; despite the fact of increasing a variety of collaboration-based digital instruments and the dominance of a one way information supply in citizen-government interactions. In other words, although governments promote online and offline citizen engagement and civic empowerment, in practice, they do not encourage deliberation or any broad based public-civil interactions. Therefore, ICT-supported government-citizen cooperation for collectively shaping public matters seldom occurs.
Second, this chapter explains why the evidence that smart governance contributes to sustainability is sparse and mixed. The second phase also explains why smart governance activities lead to more livable cities–cities with less social deprivation, more ecological diversity, and enhanced economic prosperity.
The third phase of the chapter covers why there is more evidence for the process effects of smart governance. In other words, this phase focuses on the solitary–particularly the social aspects, instead of assessing the sustainability in its integrated economic, social, and environmental outcomes.
Finally, the fourth phase of the chapter concludes as to why context matters: We identified specific contextual factors such as the policy domain, political-institutional (e.g., democracy, innovation, administration styles), societal (e.g., Internet reach and use in the society, trust), and socio-spatial (e.g., topography of the city, local-specific social cohesion) dimensions. These contextual factors influence the distinct components of smart governance (the role of governments and citizens as well as ICT use); and, define how local governments and citizens collaborate through new electronic resources--which in turn, determine the potential of advancing urban sustainability.
African public administrations are in an especially difficult position with respect to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), in both how they harness its benefits but also in managing potential harms. Through a narrative review of existing research, this paper synthesises findings from previous digital government implementations on the African continent, and considers the implications for AI use. The analysis is centred on the way public officials are bypassed or empowered to work with emerging technologies, and the influence of public service values on their adoption. Four concerns emerge as relevant: Integrity of recommendations provided by decision-support systems, including how they are influenced by local organisational practices and the reliability of underlying infrastructures; Inclusive decision-making that balances the (assumed) objectivity of data-driven algorithms and the influence of different stakeholder groups; Exception and accountability in how digital and AI platforms are funded, developed, implemented and used; and an expectation of Complete understanding of people and events through the integration of traditionally dispersed data sources and systems, and how policy actors seek to mitigate the risks associated with this aspiration.
The rapid growth of cities and the high frequency of crises have prompted local governments and municipalities to use evolving technologies, especially information and communication technologies, to serve citizens and attract public participation. Therefore, smart governance, one of the foundations of the smart city, was introduced as "a comprehensive socio-technical approach, which aligns the potential of technology with new styles of local government and citizen interaction, to tackle urban issues based on the principles of sustainability." However, empirical reports have contradicted theoretical studies, proving that establishing a model of smart urban governance and realizing sustainability is not as easy as writing them. Excessively optimistic attitudes about the sustainability results of the citizens' and municipalities' participation through technology, along with the available empirical evidence, led the authors to review the literature. The purpose of this study was to fill the research gaps in the scientific and experimental literature and answer the main question of the article; What is the relationship between citizens' participation through ICT, with sustainable urban development, and what are the contextual factors affecting this relationship and outcomes? In this regard, we have systematically reviewed and analyzed 90 scientific studies and practical reports in CMA 3.0 software. The results indicate that although realizing sustainability through smart governance is possible, but this requires the coordination of elements of smart urban governance (municipalities, public participation, and technology), taking into account the impact of contextual factors on the formation of this process. Because if the urban management can not direct the participation of citizens through technology based on contextual factors and towards sustainable development, smart governance will have no result other than wasting resources and imposing costs on the city's management.
Digital labour is viewed as having the capacity to drive the technological and economic development by addressing critical issues that often encountered in African countries like South Africa, such as high unemployment, low local wages, lack of local demand and others. As such, it is seen as a crucial steppingstone towards (South) Africa’s move towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). However, digital labour could also bring significant drawbacks such as exploitation of workers, unguaranteed or no remuneration. This research investigates the attitudes toward digital labour, intention to participate in digital labour; initial experiences from participating in digital labour and continued participation in digital labour practices. We propose, validate and empirically test a new integrative model, and supplement our model with qualitative findings. Digital workers’ attitudes and experiences toward digital labour did, unsurprisingly, correlate significantly with the intention and participation of people in digital labour with key aspects of digital labour pertaining to the Global South being identified. Most individuals responded positively toward their experience with digital labour, particularly based on the compensation that they expected or experienced for their digital work.
Crowdsourcing online has been popularly utilized especially among business organizations to achieve efficiency and effectiveness goals and to obtain a competitive advantage in the market. With the governments' increasing interest in using information and communication technologies for a variety of purposes, including generation of public value(s) and innovative practices, online crowdsourcing has also entered into the public administration domain. Accordingly, studies have investigated critical success factors for governmental crowdsourcing, or explored citizen participation in crowdsourcing activities in case studies. However, governmental decision to adopt online crowdsourcing as innovation has not been sufficiently examined in the extant literature. The objective of this chapter is to propose a theoretical model that explains the government adoption of crowdsourcing. Based on the review of case studies on governmental crowdsourcing, an integrated theoretical model of factors affecting government crowdsourcing decisions is developed.
The government transparency process towards society, through information for accountability purposes, is more effective with the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). ICTs have been used to provide more efficient government services and, more recently, as a basis for Digital Governance initiatives, which goes beyond electronic services and involves citizen participation. The goal of this article is to identify barriers to the adoption of strategic objectives related to transparency according to the Digital Governance Policy recently launched by the Federal Government. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers of public organizations in a Brazilian state. A set of 13 different barriers was identified, and the ones with the highest number of occurrences were institutional, information quality, complexity of tasks, lack of political support, resistance of public servants in using ICTs and lack of trust in institutions.
Public sector innovation presents an understudied field when compared to innovation in elsewhere. This void unprecedentedly grows when information and communication technologies (ICTs) are at stake. Though the presence of developments and studies are growing in recent years, there is still a continuing need to explore the notion of public values (PVs) in public administration in its possible extent. When taking ICTs as intermediary mechanisms, it is arguable that there is a void regarding the effects of public sector innovation through ICTs on PVs to be delivered. This paper addresses this vacuity by presenting a meta-analysis on this very subject by framing a particular positioning in the field through papers systematically defined according to some criteria. We found that ICT-related innovation can promote PVs mainly through transforming the relationship between government and citizens, improving democratic outcomes such as transparency and public participation, assisting in meeting collective expectations of the public, and enabling knowledge exchange and collaboration across different organizations.
Telecentres aim to bridge digital divides between rural and urban communities. In many developing countries, like Malawi, the assumption is that once telecentres are established, people will adopt them. The purpose of the study was to examine the factors influencing the use of telecentres in rural areas of developing countries by means of a case study of Lupaso Community Telecentre, in a remote region of Malawi. Following the example of a study of public computing facilities in Cape Town (Chigona & Licker 2008), the study employed Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory as a theoretical frame. Data were gathered through a mix of methodologies: questionnaires, interviews, observation, and records analysis. The study reveals that a large majority of users view the telecentre as an empowering project and are satisfied with its services. They perceive it to be improving human skills, helping the economy and strengthening the social capital of the surrounding community. However, it seems that the telecentre benefits only a small percentage of the community. Access is uneven. One surprising finding is that the centre’s Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are not the chief attraction. The factors that negatively impact on the use of the ICTs are lack of internet searching skills, frequent electricity blackouts, lack of local content, and fees charged. To fulfil their mission, it is recommended that telecentres in developing communities enhance their services with information literacy and literacy education programmes.
The purpose of this study is to review the literature on the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT), small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and poverty reduction. The first dimension looks at the role of ICT use in SMEs. The second dimension investigates how the use of ICTs by SMEs can enable poverty reduction. A systematic literature review methodology is rigorously employed to analyse the literature in order to reach conclusions. In addition, this study meticulously captures some important gaps in the current literature and proposes novel future directions of research. This paper concludes that ICTs can be used as a tool for driving socio-economic development, such as poverty reduction, by SMEs. A systematic literature review on the interaction between ICT use by SMEs and poverty reduction, as conducted in this study, has not been undertaken before. This study will benefit scholars, business owners, government and non-government agencies that focus on the development of the SME sector to understand the role of ICT use in SMEs to enable development and poverty reduction. Copyright
Governments need to play an orchestration role in delivering public services, and the adoption of information and communication technologies is essential to productivity and progress. E-government is unquestionable one of the most critical development system in developing countries, where ICT infrastructure and information society remain the great challenges to overcome. Due to institutional conditions, and compared to developed countries, longer preparation and project time are to be expected when implementing E-government in developing countries. And the delay in implementation of e-government would only cause added cost. In our suggested implementation strategy GBC, where Government (G), Business (B), and Citizens (C) are the main player in e-government system, is not necessary to wait for technology to settle in, to be embedded in administrative and bureaucratic process, we adapted existing model and implemented proportionally along with development of digitizing process, with regard to different types of e-government interactions. We call it GBC due to order of implementation strategy.
E-government involves the use of information and communications technology to facilitate government interaction with citizens, employees, businesses and other governments. E-government studies provide a platform to examine prior developments, and explore future opportunities in the field. This paper presents a theoretical model for the analysis of e-government studies and further uses a bibliometric analysis to examine constructs such as theoretical perspectives, methods, and units of analyses. We examine current trends in e-government research, and discuss emerging opportunities.
The Systematic Review was commissoned by Australia Aid. Its aim was to identify those interventions which have had impact on community accountability and inclusive service delivery. The review was guided by an understanding of community accountability that is grounded in a rights based approach and recognises the importance of community participation and giving ‘voice’ to people who are normally excluded from social engagement. It was interested in interventions directed at community accountability, enhanced processes and fiscal accountability. The results are focused on women, children, rural areas and tribal groups in Africa.
The Government of the Republic of South Africa is committed to establishing a society grounded on democratic ideals, social fairness and fundamental human rights. For this to happen, any decisions to be taken by the government need to be justified, or that for decisions that have been taken, an explanation is made to the affected people if requested. This fundamental human right, promulgated in the Promotion of the Administrative Justice Act No 3 of 2000 (AJA), is one of the primary policies that the government purposes to apply to achieve greater egalitarian governance with regard to social equality and respect for the people. In this research article, we focus on the potential of using web-based Group Support Systems (GSS) to enhance procedural fairness in administrative action of the AJA. We review the context of the research and important programs by the government, along with its use of information and communication technology to get closer to and empower the people. Considering the social focus of the research, qualitative data was collected over a period of five months using action research, case studies, observations, participant observations, semi-structured interviews and electronic logs. Using hermeneutics, the analysis reveals that web-based GSS have the potential to enhance procedural fairness in administrative action.
We present in this paper the results of three simulation exercises performed as part of a series of field studies whose object is the implementation of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. The unit of analysis of the study is the process facilitation, which in the context of the field studies and the research design, took the form of AJA awareness raising workshops and the use of a Group Support System (GSS) tool. The notion of a thinkLet was used as a basis for conducting the simulation exercises using GroupSystems. Each workshop, which included the GroupSystems simulation exercise, was treated as a single case. These guidelines are effectively used throughout the conduct of this study and to analyse the results of the simulations. The results presented here constitute a one year milestone in a longitudinal project led by the second author.
This article defines e-collaboration and provides a historical glimpse at how and when e- collaboration emerged. The discussion suggests that the emergence of e-collaboration had more to do with military considerations than with the solution of either organizational or broad societal problems. It also is argued that e-collaboration, as an area of research and industrial development, is broader than what is often referred to as computer-mediated communication. The article concludes with a discussion of six key conceptual elements of e-collaboration: (1) the collaborative task, (2) e-collaboration technology, (3) individuals involved in the collaborative task, (4) mental schemas possessed by the individuals, (5) the physical environment surrounding the individuals, and (6) the social environment surrounding the individuals.
In recent years, there has been rapid growth in the volume of research output on the topic of e-government. To understand this research better, we used content analysis of eighty-four papers in e-government-specific research outlets (two journals and one conference series). Our analytical focus took in five main aspects: perspectives on the impacts of e-government, research philosophy, use of theory, methodology and method, and practical recommendations. Normative evaluation identified some positive features, such as recognition of contextual factors beyond technology, and a diversity of referent domains and ideas. Alongside this, though, research draws mainly from a weak or confused positivism and is dominated by over-optimistic, a-theoretical work that has done little to accumulate either knowledge or practical guidance for e-government. Worse, there is a lack of clarity and lack of rigor about research methods alongside poor treatment of generalization. We suggest ways of strengthening e-government research but also draw out some deeper issues, such as the role of research philosophy and theory, and the institutional factors – particularly pressures of competition and time – that may constrain development of e-government as a research field.
In this paper, the role of participation within the domains of information system (IS) research and social development is analyzed. Specifically, we examine how the process of IS development, and the IS itself, can reflect and shape the status of social development. Traditionally, participatory design (PD) research in IS has focused on business contexts in the Western world, with minimal application to developing country settings, especially in the context of social development. This paper seeks to contribute to developing these understandings and bases its analysis on a case study of a community-based health IS in South Africa.
The case study involved the design and development of a community-based child health IS in a rural area of South Africa. Nationally, the formal district health IS in South Africa includes data only on those people who access health services through the health facilities. The premise behind developing a community-based child health IS was to include all the people living in that district in the district health IS.
Analysis of the case study reveals three ways in which traditional PD needs reconceptualization. First, it is not only the users of the IS who should participate, but also those individuals who are affected by the IS, even when those individuals have no direct interaction with the system itself. Second, whereas there is some recognition in PD literature of the need for the participation of people at different levels vertically distributed within an organization, there has been little recognition of the value of involving actors outside the organization or sector. Third, the capacity of the users and those impacted by the system needs to be developed to ensure effective participation in the IS design and development processes. These three approaches to PD in IS, whose purpose is to contribute to social development, are essential components of a participatory strategy. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Field research and laboratory experiments suggest that, under certain circumstances, people using group support systems (GSS) can be significantly more productive than people who do not use them. Yet, despite their demonstrated potential, GSS have been slow to diffuse across organizations. Drawing on the Technology Transition Model, the paper argues that the high conceptual load of GSS (i.e., understanding of the intended effect of GSS functionality) encourages organizations to employ expert facilitators to wield the technology on behalf of others. Economic and political factors mitigate against facilitators remaining long term in GSS facilities that focus on supporting nonroutine, ad hoc projects. This especially hampers scaling GSS technology to support distributed collaboration. An alternative and sustainable way for organizations to derive value from GSS lies in an approach called "collaboration engineering": the development of repeatable collaborative processes that are conducted by practitioners themselves. To enable the development of such processes, this paper proposes the thinkLet concept, a codified packet of facilitation skill that can be applied by practitioners to achieve predictable, repeatable patterns of collaboration, such as divergence or convergence.A thinkLet specifies the facilitator'schoices and actions in terms of the GSS tool used, the configuration of this tool, and scripted prompts to accomplish a pattern of collaboration in a group. Using thinkLets as building blocks, facilitators can develop and transfer repeatable collaborative processes to practitioners. Given the limited availability of expert facilitators, collaboration engineering with thinkLets may become a sine qua non for organizations to effectively support virtual work teams.
GDSS has enjoyed about a decade and a half of vigorous research activity. Throughout this time, a problem that has occupied the research community is the inconsistent research results that have been obtained. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the reason for these inconsistencies is rooted in the epistemological mode that has prevailed and to offer an alternative epistemological lens that might help advance our understanding of GDSS use and research. Using qualitative research methods and a symbolic interactionist theoretical basis, this paper examines how a particular group used a GDSS over two meetings. The findings indicate that GDSS use may result in reactions from its users that are difficult to capture using conventional methodological assumptions, thereby helping explain why past results have not been consistent. Based on these findings, a shift in focus is advocated from an emphasis on the technology to an emphasis on human interaction, one that embraces the reasons underlying past inconsistencies rather than attempting to overcome them.
Many previous papers have lamented the fact that the findings of past GSS research have been inconsistent. This paper develops a new model for interpreting GSS effects on performance (a Fit-Appropriation Model), which argues that GSS performance is affected by two factors. The first is the fit between the task and the GSS structures selected for use (i.e., communication support and information processing support). The second is the appropriation support the group receives in the form of training, facilitation, and software restrictiveness to help them effectively incorporate the selected GSS structures into their meeting process. A meta-analysis using this model to organize and classify past research found that when used appropriately (i.e., there is a fit between the GSS structures and the task, and the group receives appropriation support), GSS use increased the number of ideas generated, took less time, and led to more satisfied participants than if the group worked without the GSS. Fitting the GSS to the task had the most impact on outcome effectiveness (decision quality and ideas), while appropriation support had the most impact on the process (time required and process satisfaction). We conclude that when using this theoretical lens, the results of GSS research do not appear inconsistent.
2006 Proceedings of the conference on Information Technology in Tertiary education Presented in this paper are the results of three simulation exercises performed as part of a series of field studies whose object is the implementation of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. The unit of analysis of the study is the process facilitation, which in the context of the field studies and the research design, took the form of AJA awareness raising workshops and the use of a Group Support System (GSS) tool. The notion of a thinkLet was used as a basis for conducting the simulation exercises using Group Systems. Each workshop, which included the GroupSystems simulation exercise, was treated as a single case. These guidelines are effectively used throughout the conduct of this study and to analyse the results of the simulations. The results presented here constitute a one year milestone in a longitudinal project led by the second author
Over the past decade, Group Support Systems (GSS) has shown that, under certain circumstances, teams using GSS can be far more productive than teams who do not use GSS. However, research results are not unequivocal; they have been ambiguous, and sometimes conflicting which makes it difficult for GSS research to inform GSS practice. One cause of the conflict and ambiguity in GSS research results may be the result of focusing on a less-than-useful level of abstraction: GSS itself. This paper argues that in GSS research, the thinkLet may be a more useful unit of comparison than the GSS. A thinkLet encapsulates three components of a GSS stimulus: The tool, its configuration, and the script. Field experience shows that thinkLets may be used to create repeatable, predictable patterns of thinking among people making an effort toward a goal. To date we have documented about 60 thinkLets that map to seven basic patterns of thinking: Diverge, Converge, Organize, Elaborate, Abstract, Evaluate, and Build Consensus. Each thinkLet creates some unique variation on its basic pattern. By focusing research on thinkLets, rather than GSS, field and laboratory research may be more controllable, more replicable, and better able to inform GSS development and use.
Action research has been presented as a promising approach for academic inquiry because of its focus on real world problems and its ability to provide researchers with a rich body of field data for knowledge building. Published examples of action research, however, are hard to find in business communication literature. What are the reasons for this? I try to provide a basis for answering this question as well as helping other business communication researchers-particularly those interested in computer-mediated communication issues-to decide whether and when to employ action research. I offer a first-person, confessional tale-like account of an action research study of computer-mediated communication in groups. In order to focus on the lessons learned, my focus is on the process of conducting action research and not on empirical results. Some of the situations and related lessons discussed are somewhat surprising and illustrate the complex nature of action research. The doctoral research, conducted over four years in Brazil and New Zealand, highlights the challenges associated with action research's dual goal of serving practitioners and the research community.
Over the past decade, Group Support Systems (GSS) has shown that, under certain circumstances, teams using GSS can be far more productive than teams who do not use GSS. However, research results are not unequivocal; they have been ambiguous, and sometimes conflicting, which makes it difficult for GSS research to inform GSS practice. One cause of the conflict and ambiguity in GSS research results may be the result of focusing on a less-than-useful level of abstraction: GSS itself. This paper argues that in GSS research, the thinkLet may be a more useful unit of comparison than the GSS. A thinkLet encapsulates three components of a GSS stimulus: The tool, its configuration, and the script. Field experience shows that thinkLets may be used to create repeatable, predictable patterns of thinking among people making an effort toward a goal. To date we have documented about 60 thinkLets that map to seven basic patterns of thinking: Diverge, Converge, Organize, Elaborate, Abstract, Evaluate, and Build Consensus. Each thinkLet creates some unique variation on its basic pattern. By focusing research on thinkLets, rather than GSS, field and laboratory research may be more controllable, more replicable, and better able to inform GSS development and use.
Information systems in developing countries (ISDC) research tends to focus on the development and implementation of information technology applications and the organizational changes associated with them. This article refers this object of study of ISDC research, as 'IS innovation' to convey the notion of novelty of experiences of IS implementation and the associated changes within the organization. This article presents two perspectives regarding the nature of the IS innovation process: as transfer and diffusion and as socially embedded action and draws relevant examples from the literature on IS implementation to demonstrate them. It then discusses the four discourses formed with examples from the literature on software industries in developing countries. Finally, it argues for the need to develop theoretical capabilities for studying IS innovation in relation to socioeconomic contexts and to increase awareness and use of socio-economic development theory.
From the Publisher:A professional book that provides a context for the debate about the relationship of people and computers.
Introduction - William Foote Whyte PAR IN INDUSTRY Participatory Action Research - William Foote Whyte, Davydd J Greenwood and Peter Lazes Through Practice to Science in Social Research Participatory Action Research - Larry A Pace and Dominick R Argona A View from Xerox Participatory Action Research - Anthony J Constanza A View from ACTWU Participatory Action Research - Jose Luis Gonzalez Santos A View from FAGOR Participatory Action Research and Action Science Compared - Chris Argyris and Donald Schon A Commentary Comparing PAR and Action Science - William Foote Whyte Research, Action and Participation - Richard E Walton and Michael Gaffney The Merchant Shipping Case Co-Generative Learning - Max Elden and Morton Levin Bringing Participation into Action Research Action Research as Method - Jan Irgen Karlsen Reflections from a Program for Developing Methods and Competence Participant Observer Research - Robert E Cole An Activist Role PAR IN AGRICULTURE Participatory Strategies in Agricultural Research and Development - William Foote Whyte A Joint Venture in Technology Transfer to Increase Adoption Rates - Ramiro Ortiz Participatory Action Research in Togo - Richard Maclure and Michael Bassey An Inquiry into Maize Storage Systems The Role of the Social Scientist in Participatory Action research - Sergio Ruano Social Scientists in International Agriculture Resarch - Douglas E Horton Ensuring Relevance and Conributing to the Knowledge Base Conclusions - William Foote Whyte
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