Jan H. Kroeze

The Role of ICT within Small and Medium Enterprises in Gauteng

This article discusses the role of information and communication technology (ICT) within the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in Gauteng, a province in South Africa. ICT plays a very important role in the current knowledge economy. It is vital for SMEs to participate in this economy in order to compete and thrive in the future. The problem is that SMEs are mainly using traditional tools to stay competitive. They need to take advantage of the power of ICT in order to take on the competition, whether small, big or global. Both the traditional and the ICT tools are very important for the competitiveness of the business. The article follows a qualitative research approach and uses semi-structured questionnaires with open-ended questions as data gathering method. There are a number of reasons why an SME might not implement ICT tools, such as limited funds, lack of knowledge, lack of skilled staff and lack of tools. The article highlights the limitation that SMEs have in using ICT and make recommendations on how to overcome them.

Towards a framework for decision making regarding IT adoption

Information Technology (IT) adoption challenges facing organizations are too complex to be resolved using only one methodology. Most existing Information Technology (IT) adoption models such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) only consider individual behaviour and views on technology adoption, without providing mechanisms to accommodate multiple stakeholder perspectives in an organization. In this paper we propose an IT adoption framework, expected to assist an organization in resolving problem situations from multiple perspectives. Our framework provides mechanisms for addressing conflict of interest among stakeholders, which is rather common with IT adoption in organizations.

Ontology goes postmodern in ICT

This paper investigates the move from philosophical ontology to information systems ontologies. Ontology has traditionally been (and still is) a philosophical discipline that studies the nature of existence. In a certain time and philosophical era, there usually was only one correct or current ontology. The plural of this word did not exist, which explains the fact that academics who were trained in philosophy are often startled when they hear the plural of the word ontology for the first time. Yet, in the world of information systems, many practitioners use the plural as one of the most natural things to do. Although the term ontology has been borrowed by Information Systems from philosophy, it has been given a slightly different meaning. However, the two uses of the word are still historically and logically related. The author believes that the shift -- from singular to plural -- was made possible by the postmodern era that we live in. Like reality, knowledge and understanding have become fluid. Software development, too, did not escape the philosophical shift from modernism to postmodernism. Indeed, one may also regard the creation of information systems ontologies in a positive way as the endeavours of academics to embrace the multifaceted nature of reality by representing subsets of it. On the other hand, the danger of formal ontologies is that, although they are meant to mirror and capture reality, ontology-based software could create hyperrealities that become more real than reality because it is typical of postmodernism that real life phenomena are replaced by representations.

Guiding principles for developing adaptive software products

This paper presents an analysis of problems that are faced by software development practitioners. While communication, team management, coding and software documentation are some of the persistent problems, the first and major troubles for software practitioners is to select appropriate software development approach. This approach should allow developers to develop adaptive software products. The role of organizational culture, context, practice and concepts in developing adaptive software products is also discussed. This qualitative research study interviewed seven software development practitioners in South Africa, focusing on software developmental methods that allow the capturing of softer, human elements inherent in organizations and the accompanying problems that inhibit their inclusion in the resultant software products. The research used Grounded Theory Method, to construct a framework of requirements that must be considered when choosing a software development approach that allows the development of adaptive software products. This framework highlights the importance of employing a software development approach that is grounded in the relativistic paradigm, adopting a behavioral systems approach and adopting methods whose communication techniques and tools can capture the humanist elements that are inherent in organizational systems.

Development and implementation of an institutional repository within a science, engineering and technology (SET) environment

Parallel to the Open Source Software movement, there is an increased demand and need for free, open access to information resources. The Open Access initiative is characterized by two strategies: namely the promotion of self-archiving or, alternatively, publishing of research articles in open-access journals. The purpose of an Institutional Repository (IR) is to provide a suitable archival environment for the self-archiving of digital items. This paper provides an understanding of the complexity surrounding the implementation of an IR. Issues discussed include software selection, as well as the development, implementation and marketing of an IR. Attention is given to the development of the policies that are required by an organization and its main stakeholders. Issues such as acceptance, usage, population, and management of the repository are reported. The work that was done at the CSIR is used as a case study and the subsequent lessons learnt are used to highlight some of problems experienced and how these problems were solved. Issues that still need investigation, e.g. long-term preservation, are mentioned.

Towards a model on security challenges during closed source software to OSS migrations

Open source software (OSS) allows users and developers to, amongst others, study, modify and redistribute the source code. At the other end of the spectrum, closed source software (CSS - the antonym of OSS) disallows users and developers to access and modify any source code. This paper presents an overview of security challenges during closed source systems (CSS) to open source systems (OSS) migrations and proposes a Model to address such challenges. A comparison of OSS security and CSS security aspects, and an overview of security challenges during migrations to OSS are presented. On the strength of these comparisons, and using summative content analysis, a model to address security challenges during migrations to OSS is proposed. The model is developed through enhancements of previous models aimed at addressing security threats and protecting sensitive information during system migrations.

Using a user experience evaluation framework for eModeration

The use of eModeration (of examination scripts) can improve the efficiency of the examination moderation, while simultaneously lowering the risk of misplacing or delaying the moderation process. Despite the potential benefits of using an eModerate system in terms of optimising examination procedures, the implementation and application of such online moderation systems in the South African context is limited. Various factors could be contributing towards the resistance to the implementation and adoption of eModerate systems in higher education institutions. These factors include human factors as well as technical and organisational resistance to change. This study focuses on the human factors involved in eModeration (user experience) and attempts to answer the following research question: How can the User Experience Evaluation Framework for eModeration be utilised within the context of higher education institutions in South Africa? The research used a Design Science Research methodology, which included the design, development as well as testing of the User Experience Evaluation Framework for eModeration. This paper will report on identified issues pertaining to the User Experience Evaluation Framework for eModeration during the evaluation phase. The research was conducted at Midrand Graduate Institute (MGI), now trading as Pearson Institute of Higher Education, a private higher education institute in South Africa. The data generation methods included interviews with eModerators from different faculties within a private higher education institution. This paper makes a theoretical contribution to this area of study by identifying the problems that users might have with the implementation of the User Experience Evaluation Framework for eModeration as well as providing some insights into the user experience of eModerators.

eModeration: The Validation of a User Experience Evaluation Framework.

The effective, efficient and secure moderation of examination scripts can become challenging when the moderators are geographically dispersed. Despite innovative technological developments and the potential benefits, the use of eModeration (online moderation of examination scripts) in the South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) context is limited. Various factors contribute to the adoption of eModeration in HEIs, ranging from human factors to technical issues and organisational resistance to change. The focus of this study is on the human factors involved in eModeration (specifically the user experience) and the research is guided by the following question: What are the most important constructs in evaluating a user experience evaluation framework for eModeration within the context of Higher Education Institutions in South Africa? The research uses a design science research methodology, which includes the design, development and testing of a User Experience Evaluation Framework for eModeration, and the focus of this paper is on the validation phase. The data generation methods include interviews with management from two South African HEIs. The contribution of this paper is to propose a validated framework for evaluating eModeration in higher education and demonstrate how that can be used by managers in HEIs to guide the selection and evaluation of eModeration systems towards facilitating more effective learning environments.

A Framework to Assist Organizations with IT Adoption Governance

Evidence from the literature suggests that achieving sustainable IT adoption benefits in organizations remains a problem. The assumption of most IT adoption frameworks is that there is always consensus during IT adoption decision making in organizations. However, the different stakeholder worldviews make IT adoption decision making in organizations a challenge. This paper developed and validated an IT adoption framework to assist organizations with IT adoption governance. The validation results from case studies suggest that the framework may be useful in understanding the context IT adoption problem from a holistic approach. In addition the results from studies suggest it may be possible to influence IT adoption outcomes based on manipulating the variables of the framework components, which is a major contribution of this paper.

Probing some theoretical aspects of practitioner-based inquiry research in information systems

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) practitioners are often located in the social sciences branch of Information Systems (IS). Practitioner research comprises of research that practitioners undertake with a view to the advancement of their practice. A question arises in respect of research conducted by ICT practitioners: does practitioner-based inquiry research have a theoretical base and does practitioner-based inquiry research challenge enlightenment presuppositions based upon an empiricist epistemology? The probing and discussion of this question is the objective of this paper. In this paper, ICT practitioner-based inquiry research in organisations is discussed. Some philosophical underpinnings of practitioner-based inquiry research are probed and a reflection on practitioner-inquiry research is given. It is suggested that actively participating ICT practitioners in the IS research domain are a necessity in the workplace environment but their participation requires that the actual context in which IS practices are conducted, should be analysed. To ensure that such IS research is valid, an epistemological base is needed, for critical reflection and thoughtful action from which to draw.