Mario Marais

Decision-making: Theory and Practice

This paper compares a number of theoretical models of decision-making with the way in which senior managers make decisions in practice. Six prominent decision-makers were interviewed about their own decision-making style, as well as their use of decision support technology. Significant variation was found in personal decision-making styles. However, some central themes emerged, such as the importance of sensitivity to the decision-making context, attention to the presentation of information, and the use of intuition. In terms of the use of decision support technology, the use of self-help tools, such as office software, was clearly favoured.

Precise determination of aluminum content in AlGaAs

The Al composition of AlGaAs has been determined by four methods: high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), reflection high‐energy electron diffraction (RHEED), photoluminescence (PL), and double‐crystal x‐ray diffraction (DCXRD). HRTEM is direct and the most accurate method because it does not involve any formula or extrapolation. Using the result obtained from HRTEM as a standard, we have calibrated the results from other methods. RHEED intensity oscillation is found to be accurate and reliable, if the growth conditions are correctly chosen. Comparing the PL results with those determined from HRTEM and RHEED, we suggest three formulas to determine the Al contents at different temperatures. We also proposed a polynomial to determine the Al concentration using the DCXRD measurement.

Digital Doorway: Social-Technical innovation for high-needs communities

The application of the Living Lab (LL) approach to social‐technical innovation to the Digital Doorway Initiative in the informal settlement of Zandspruit near Johannesburg is outlined in the context of the initiatives evolution from an educational project to a broader community innovation initiative. The relationship between different stakeholders is explored in a theoretical and practical sense as a future research and practice challenge for both the study of ICTs in society (in this case, a poor community), and the fostering of community‐driven innovation. The activity also offers a research challenge for understanding the cultural transformations that are necessary for bringing about more effective integration between technical and social‐technical viewpoints about design and research in a social context. Current and projected community‐based research activities are also outlined, including the development of a project in Australia for high‐needs indigenous communities.

Evaluating Users’ Perceptions of the Digital Doorway: A Narrative Analysis

This paper contains a report on the uses, expectations and gratifications experienced by the users of digital doorways. The researchers adopted a grounded theory approach in their analysis of 200 narratives collected from the users. The stories and the comments in the narratives were categorized according to the macro domain to which they pertained as well as the uses, expectations and gratifications of the users. Once the categories had been saturated, the researchers conducted a quantitative analysis of the findings. It showed clearly that the majority of the respondents reported usage that pertains to learning and school work. This need proved to be stronger than the need for game playing. The short-term dimension of the required educational support eclipses the more future-oriented/idealistic responses. The study postulates the theory that in access-deprived and information-poor communities the need for short-term educational solutions over-rides any other informational need.

Design for Sustainability: Rural Connectivity with Village Operators

South Africa has approximately 26500 primary and secondary schools, of which at least 17000 are in remote rural villages. None of these rural schools have any form of Internet connectivity. The same rural villages may have one health facility for every 20 schools and very few other public or community service centres. This paper presents a model that is being developed and tested in South Africa to establish rural connectivity by way of Village Operators as rural micro enterprises that build, operate and support localised network infrastructure using wireless mesh network technology. The design of the intervention focuses on sustainability and resilience in providing the connectivity service, keeping in mind the adverse conditions, limited resources, and the cultural and political contexts in which these networks have to survive. In the space where the market does not normally operate, the creation of a new ecosystem with an associated business model is being explored. The findings and learning from the first phase, in which 200 schools were connected and 15 Village Operators established, is presented.

Digital Platforms for Research Collaboration: Using Design Science in Developing a South African Open Knowledge Repository

ABSTRACT Research involving the use of information and communication technology for development (ICT4D) inhabits an interdisciplinary space characterized by various philosophies, aspirations, realities and priorities. This diversity in the ICT4D research area complicates knowledge sharing between stakeholders in the field, which may inhibit the dialog between researchers, policy-makers and practitioners and limit collaboration. The purpose of this research was to investigate information technology (IT) enabled collaboration through the design and development of a sustainable open knowledge repository (OKR) according to the design science research (DSR) paradigm. OKRs are tools used to support knowledge sharing and collaboration. The theoretical contribution of this paper lies in the sharing of insights gained into the user requirements, system features and principles for guiding the development process of an OKR for Development Informatics research in South Africa and the implications for knowledge management. The research builds on existing knowledge by applying the four-cycle DSR methodology as a systematic and reproducible method of investigating an OKR as an example of IT-enabled collaboration. The practical contribution is the artifact (OKR) developed to enable the sharing of research knowledge.

E-tourism : a survey of e-business among South African tour operators

This contribution presents the results of a pilot project on ICT usage by South African SMMEs in the tourism industry. The Electronic Business Survey (EBS) methodology which was tested for applicability in a developing country, in this case South Africa, uses qualitative indicators and quantitative estimations to measure the impacts of e-business practices. The results, based on 40 face-to-face interviews, were substantive and showed that the adapted OECD methodology could be used successfully. In the South African tourism industry, ICT significantly improves the performance of these businesses. Although ICT adoption represents a significant operational cost for the interviewed firms, it also substantially contributes to increased revenue and improved labour productivity. On balance the results are extremely positive: 44.7% of firms report increased profitability, whereas for 50% it remained the same as three years ago. Of the firms that reported increased profitability, 75% indicated ICT as a contributing factor, and 31% considered ICT as the main contributing factor. The most positive effects are attributed to the usage of the Internet to improve customer relations in conjunction with creative product offerings (customisation, product-service bundling). Findings are consistent with research applying the same methodology in Western and Eastern Europe. This includes the finding that positive effects of ICT tend to be bigger for industries in transition, supporting businesses to become internationally competitive.

An implementation readiness framework for education systems: Integrating ICT into teaching and learning

Sometimes ICT for education projects fail because the system itself is not ready for change. Traditional e-readiness tools employed in technology rollouts at schools focus on the readiness of the schools themselves, without looking at the full value chain. The implementation readiness tool was developed based on learning from ICT4RED and other ICT implementations in schools. It builds on the ICT4RED 12 Component Implementation Model and takes a systems-based approach to ensuring readiness throughout the system — looking at donor, participant and target systems to identify particular aspects that need to be measured and made provision for in ICT for Education (and ICT for Development) interventions.

Systemic levers for change towards sustainable institutionalisation of ICT in schools

Many ICT4E projects fail once the implementation team withdraws. Although there are multiple reasons for this, the problem often lies with integration of the project into the day-to-day institutional arrangements of the education system. This puts pressure on the school environment, since schools are unable to sustain the change introduced without support from their formal support systems. Although the ICT for Rural Education Development (ICT4RED) initiative was successful in integrating technology into rural schools, this success did not translate into the district and provincial levels of the educational system, since the challenges experienced in these systems were under-estimated. On completion of the initiative, a task was undertaken to retrospectively assess the factors that are critical to the integration of provincial ICT4E initiatives across provincial structures, and across different hierarchical levels of the education system. The key systemic levers for change, as well as critical issues for integration at each level, were identified. These could form the basis for the development of an integrated strategy for the introduction of changes that an e-Education system at structural, process, operational, managerial and policy levels.

Social mapping for supporting sensemaking and collaboration: The case of Development Informatics research in South Africa

Development Informatics is a multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary field encompassing various research philosophies, realities and priorities. This diversity complicates connection and collaboration between researchers in the field and that can undermine the growth and impact of Development Informatics research. The objective of this paper is to propose social mapping as a mechanism to support research collaboration through communal sensemaking. Social mapping technology is used to represent the South African Development Informatics research landscape towards identifying behavioural collaboration patterns. The data set includes the associations, collaborations and publication choices of at least 50 South African researchers. Despite the limitations in terms of scope the results demonstrate that social mapping has the potential for presenting research connections visually in a way that supports the sensemaking of the social dynamics within the society. Besides the visual representation of researcher connections to conferences and research areas the research also provides insights into the data capturing challenges for social mapping. The findings provide a point of departure towards understanding the research collaboration patterns and publications patterns that may impact Development Informatics research.