Browsing by Subject "government"

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    The AU, NEPAD and the Promotion of Good Governance in Africa
    (Nordic Association of African Studies, 2004) Akokpari, John
    This article argues that good governance has been elusive in much of Africa. The failure of the Organisation for African Unity (OAU) to address Africa’s developmental challenges, including the crisis of governance, led to its demise. In an attempt to promote good governance, as well as to address Africa’s post-cold war legion of challenges, the successor organisation, the African Union (AU) and its attendant development programme, the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), were established. These projects embody an innovative peer review mechanism by which African governments are assessed in terms of their progress towards good governance. Countries passing the review test would be rewarded with western aid. NEPAD, the AU and the review mechanism have exited hope because of the expectation that these would reorder governance policies in Africa. However, the article contends that in spite of the expectations and euphoria generated by these projects, they have a truncated capacity to induce good governance. This is not only due to the intrinsic contradictions in these initiatives, but also because of a confluence of factors, including the vulnerability of the projects to manipulation by African leaders, the preponderance of neo- patrimonial politics in Africa, the confusing relations between especially NEPAD and the AU, and the tendency for the G8 – Africa’s key partners – to renegade from their initial aid commitments.
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    Open Access
    Cloud Computing Benefit Realisation in a South African Public Sector: A postadoption study
    (2022) Breda, Leigh N; Kyobe, Michael
    Background: Cloud Computing is a globally evolving trend that is changing the landscape of Information Technology as we know it. The perceived benefits of Cloud adoption are spurring IT leaders to move to Cloud Computing to maintain the competitive edge, regardless of some of the challenges associated with Cloud adoption. Currently, the predominant reason for organisations to adopt Cloud Computing is the reduction of costs. However, some organisations report that they are not receiving the perceived benefits as expected pre-adoption. Despite this known fact that cost reduction is not guaranteed, organisations are expected to increase their IT spending in the future on Cloud Computing. As organisations are reporting that they are not receiving a tangible and easily measurable benefit such as cost reduction, it is imperative for organisations to measure and confirm that intangible benefits which are difficult to quantify are being received. This measured approach is essential to aid organisations in understanding the actualised benefits of Cloud Computing. Objective: Current literature predominantly focuses on the adoption of Cloud Computing with the private sector as its consumers. Minimal research has been explored with Cloud Computing postadoption, explicitly focusing on the South African public sector context. Little is known about these organisations and if they have actualised the perceived benefits from its adoption phase. Further to this, understand how these organisations have measured the degree in which they have benefited from the adoption. The purpose of this research is to contribute to knowledge regarding organisations in the public sector and what factors influence the actualisation of perceived adoption benefits postimplementation. Method: The researcher adopted a constructivism ontological stance, interpretivist epistemology, and an inductive approach to conduct this research. Qualitative data was collected in the form of 20 semistructured interviews conducted over a period of 12 months. These interviews were conducted in an organisation in the public sector that has implemented Cloud solutions already, and can provide a retrospective view of its adoption. Thematic analysis was utilised to sort the responses into categories and themes. These themes were further filtered by using a research model based on the TOE framework as the lens to structure the data. Findings: This research revealed a discrepancy in the perceived benefits of pre-adoption and the received actualised benefits of post-adoption across the organisation. This is primarily due to the lack of IT management predefining metrics to determine the degree that the adoption has benefited the organisation. Secondly, depending on the type of Cloud service and user role, benefits can vary, thus having one part of the organisation very satisfied and another area dissatisfied. Lastly, the pre-adoption factor for adoption is not necessarily a factor that influences the continued use of Cloud Computing. External factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic have shifted perceptions and organisational requirements due to the increased pressure to deliver services and work remotely. This increase in dependency on Cloud Computing altered the main factor of cost reduction, so significantly that if the Cloud would cost more, the organisation would continue its use due to the additional benefits that Cloud Computing provides.
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    Embedding open data practice: Developing indicators on the institutionalisation of open data practice in two African governments
    (2015-06) van Schalkwyk, Francois; Willmers, Michelle; Schonwetter, Tobias
    Final research report of the “Embedding open data practice: Developing indicators on the institutionalisation of open data practice in two African governments” project, which formed part of the World Wide Web Foundation’s "Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries" Phase 2 initiative. In order to address the principle question of whether open data practice is being embedded, the project undertook a comparison of government open data in South Africa and Kenya, with a particular focus on open licensing as a key indicator of openness.
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    Good news and bad: Public perceptions of crime, corruption and government
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2006) Mattes, Robert
    Idasa and Afrobarometer public opinion surveys conducted since 1994 reveal that levels of reported experiences with crime are unchanged over the past four years, but that public perceptions of overall safety and the performance of the police are actually improving. Of greatest concern is that the January-February 2006 survey found that almost half of all South Africans think that "all" or "most" police officials are involved in corruption. These are the highest rates recorded across ten different types of public servants. In contrast to the improving trends in public perceptions of crime, citizen views of corruption in the police (and other government institutions) are becoming worse.
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    Tobacco Excise Simulation Model (TETSiM)
    (2010) Van Walbeek, Corne
    Tool for tobacco control advocates and government officials considering the impact of a change in tobacco excise taxes on a number of variables. Useful simulation for considering impact of changes in tobacco excise taxes on a number of variables. By changing some of the input parameters, you can see how this affects the output values.