Browsing by Subject "ICT infrastructure"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Open Access
    Digital Divide: Investigating the integration of marketing and ICTs for South African retailers expanding throughout Africa
    (2019) Hill, Bethany; Chigada, Joel
    Information Communication Technologies are increasingly used in organisations’ market expansion strategies. These Information communication technologies provide organisations with opportunities such as ease of communication and movement of resources, making the entry into new markets a faster and less resource heavy process. When expanding throughout the African continent, the challenge presented in using this approach is that many African markets have underdeveloped information communication technology infrastructure. In considering this barrier, the extent to which information communication technology enables market expansion throughout the African continent is the topic which has been fully analysed and discussed. An exploratory research design and a qualitative method have been used in this study. The subjects of the data collection were three key individuals selected from a large South African retailer. These three individuals job roles spanned across the marketing and IT departments and were influential in the organisation’s expansion efforts throughout Africa. The findings of this study show that the levels of information communication technology infrastructure vary vastly from country to country on the African continent, noting South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia and Botswana as the more advanced nations with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda lagging in development. The findings also show that for retailers, the retail focused technology available in South Africa is not yet available in other African nations which causes challenges in offering the same value to consumers across the board. However, the finding show that the development of cloud-based systems has assisted in the widespread use of technologies without the need of heavy investments into physical locations.
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    Open Access
    Refactoring learning management systems for multi-device use in developing countries
    (2015) Ssekakubo, Grace; Suleman, Hussein; Marsden, Gary
    Although learning management systems (LMSs) have been widely adopted by universities in developing countries, their potential to support students' learning has not been fully exploited due to several factors. Some of the factors limiting the more successful implementation of LMSs in developing country universities have been identified and reported in this study. Most importantly, LMS implementation in developing country universities is constrained by limited institutional ICT infrastructures, Internet bandwidth and electricity outages that affect the accessibility of LMS services by the students. The main research question addressed in this study is: How can we better use the available ICTs and ICT infrastructure in developing country universities to enhance the accessibility of the LMS services by students to better support the implementation of LMSs? The research question was addressed through surveys and experimentation. Two surveys were carried out, and the findings of these surveys were useful in: understanding the current state of practice in LMS implementation in developing country universities; defining the problem; understanding the students' LMS expectations and needs; and deciding the nature of the intervention to be implemented. Through the surveys, it was established that the majority of students in the surveyed universities possessed mobile phones, most of which being internet enabled phones. The study therefore explored the possibility of enabling and enhancing mobile access for LMS services so as to enhance students' LMS accessibility through their mobile phones. The design, development, implementation and evaluation of the intervention (the mobile LMS) were achieved through a user-centred development approach that included participatory design, prototyping and user experience evaluation. An impact evaluation of the mobile LMS intervention indicated that: mobile LMS interfaces can lead to students' increased access and use of the LMS through mobile phones; students prefer streamlined mobile LMS interfaces with fewer and block-based services; with streamlined mobile LMS interfaces, students are able to get the LMS services they need on their mobile phones without the need for desktop and laptop computers and without the need for the full desktop LMS interfaces. While the streamlined mobile LMS allows the students an opportunity to more satisfactorily access the LMS services through their mobile phones, it also takes away the pressure from the constrained institutional ICT infrastructure and facilities such as computer laboratories. The design and development process of the mobile LMS intervention highlighted that students' involvement leads to creation of more usable and useful mobile LMS interfaces and that most of the students' mobile LMS needs can be achieved through a cross-platform mobile Web application.
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    Open Access
    The impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure on remote work service delivery for Administrators in South African SMEs
    (2025) Chakurira, Melinda Chakurira; Kyobe, Michael
    Adopting information and communication and technologies (ICT) infrastructures is very crucial for business sustainability but can also have detrimental drawbacks where there are limited ICT infrastructure resources to support daily technology demand. This leads to challenges like cyber risks, job dissatisfaction and may ultimately affects administrative service delivery, particularly in remote work situations. To examine the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure on remote work service delivery for administrators in South African Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), a conceptual model was developed to guide this study, and the research adopted the objectivism and positivism research philosophies. Quantitative research method was used to collect cross sectional data through an online survey involving administrators in South African SMEs. The study gathered data from 76 participants, accounting to a 76% response rate. Statistica software was then used to analyse the data and linear regression models were tested to determine the impact of ICT infrastructure on remote work service delivery. The study findings reveal that a comprehensive ICT Infrastructure enhances the remote work service delivery for South African administrators working in the Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) organisations. Furthermore, the study discovered that the administrators' remote work satisfaction positively impacts on their remote work service delivery. In addition, the study found that administrators who work in ICT Job Industries have an increased chance of enhancing their remote work service delivery, by utilizing a Comprehensive ICT infrastructure, than those who work in non-ICT Job Industries. Additionally, the study also reveals that non cyber security challenges, such as ‘connectivity'- accounting for 46% of the respondents, and team communication breakdown'-accounting for 32% of the respondents, impact remote work service delivery more than does cyber security issues. Furthermore, the general study trend shows that the most valuable use of remote work ICT tools is ‘communication' (67% of respondents), followed by ‘collaboration' (40,8% of respondents). Finally, the study reveals that gender has no impact on remote work satisfaction, however, it has impact on remote work service delivery, as the female gender experiences a decrease in remote work service delivery. This therefore suggests that they experience lower remote work service delivery as compared to their male counterparts because women spend more energy and time managing the home and taking care of others, which negatively impacts their remote work service delivery. The study recommends that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) prioritize investing in a robust ICT infrastructure that includes key tools such as mobile phones, laptops, extra screens, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), and a reliable internet connectivity. These technologies are critical for enhancing communication, collaboration, file sharing, and meetings, which are crucial components of remote work. Furthermore, the study recommends SMEs to prioritise investing in adequate power backup resources, such as solar power and uninterruptible power supply (UPS), so to address the connectivity challenge that the Administrators encounter, while working remotely. In addition, for future studies, the researcher suggests a mixed methods approach, including surveys of both employees and employers so to gain a better perspective of the phenomenon, as well as longitudinal research so to track the study's outcomes over time, considering the evolving nature of technology. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by developing the Conceptual Model: The ICT Infrastructure Impact on Remote Work Service Delivery, which can be utilised by other researchers, as well as other SMEs with interest of adopting ICT Infrastructure for remote working, specifically in developing economies. Additionally, the study's developed model, and findings support the advancement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 8 and 17, that promote sustainable growth, productive employment, technological and innovation enhancement, with emphasis on SMEs, especially in developing economies such as South Africa. Furthermore, the study also supports the South African National Development Plan 2030, that aims to invest in ICT infrastructure that supports the economy growth, as well as to develop a more comprehensive and integrated e-strategy that depicts the interconnectedness of the ICT sector in the country. Finally, the study also supports South Africa's G20 high-level priority of artificial intelligence (AI) and innovation for sustainable developments, which is also evidenced by the recent Microsoft's investment in AI infrastructure is South Africa.