Browsing by Author "Craffert, Leona"

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    Exploring the access, usage and perceptions of ICT of women in marginalised communities in South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Pokpas, Carlynn; Craffert, Leona
    The experiences and perceptions of ICT access and usage by women in marginalised South African communities is sorely under researched. Where information from a gender-based perspective reflecting potential digital gender disparities exists, it is typically a statistical view of the ICT landscape (largely reflecting access). Exploration of the complex underlying socio-cultural factors affecting women’s ICT usage is under-represented. There is an urgent need to hear women’s own voices and perspectives on such intricate and often obscure subject matter. This research has aimed to bring traditionally overlooked perspectives to the fore by exploring the experiences and perceptions of women in marginalised South African communities regarding ICT access and usage. This qualitative study, guided by a feminist phenomenological perspective, focused on the individual lived experiences of twelve women living in three marginalised areas of the Western Cape of South Africa. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analysed through the Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. The findings showed that the women had strong attachments to ICT and had integrated it into their own individual contexts, to fit their needs and activities. ICT had been interwoven into various social, economic, educational, political, cultural, recreational and spiritual dimensions of life. A range of factors emerged as having influence on women’s digital participation. Some of the more significant barriers were digital skills and confidence, poor social support systems, affordability of ICT, awareness of personally beneficial opportunities, time constraints, resistance from a male partner and poor literacy. Additionally, the women lived in highly gendered environments, with sociallyconstructed gender norms, roles and identities, which had a strong influence on digital experiences and perceptions. This socio-cultural gender inequality was fundamental in the time constraints, and in the power dynamics and resistance women faced from male partners. Findings indicated that gender identities and traits disadvantage females in the digital context, for example ideas of femininity being viewed as conflicting with a perceived ‘dirty’ ICT field. Detrimental perceptions associating sophisticated ICT activity with males were reportedly prevalent in the communities and some of the women interviewed subscribed to the essentialist theory which considers men inherently better suited to technology. These findings have important implications for policies and practices in view of enhancing the digital inclusion of women in marginalised South African communities. Recommendations towards this end are outlined, specifically centred on gendersensitive approaches in the planning and implementation of digital inclusion initiatives.
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    Exploring the access, usage and perceptions of ICT of women in marginalised communities in South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Pokpas, Carlynn; Craffert, Leona; Van Audenhove, Leo
    The experiences and perceptions of ICT access and usage by women in marginalised South African communities is sorely under researched. Where information from a gender-based perspective reflecting potential digital gender disparities exists, it is typically a statistical view of the ICT landscape (largely reflecting access). Exploration of the complex underlying socio-cultural factors affecting women’s ICT usage is under-represented. There is an urgent need to hear women’s own voices and perspectives on such intricate and often obscure subject matter. This research has aimed to bring traditionally overlooked perspectives to the fore by exploring the experiences and perceptions of women in marginalised South African communities regarding ICT access and usage. This qualitative study, guided by a feminist phenomenological perspective, focused on the individual lived experiences of twelve women living in three marginalised areas of the Western Cape of South Africa. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analysed through the Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. The findings showed that the women had strong attachments to ICT and had integrated it into their own individual contexts, to fit their needs and activities. ICT had been interwoven into various social, economic, educational, political, cultural, recreational and spiritual dimensions of life. A range of factors emerged as having influence on women’s digital participation. Some of the more significant barriers were digital skills and confidence, poor social support systems, affordability of ICT, awareness of personally beneficial opportunities, time constraints, resistance from a male partner and poor literacy. Additionally, the women lived in highly gendered environments, with sociallyconstructed gender norms, roles and identities, which had a strong influence on digital experiences and perceptions. This socio-cultural gender inequality was fundamental in the time constraints, and in the power dynamics and resistance women faced from male partners. Findings indicated that gender identities and traits disadvantage females in the digital context, for example ideas of femininity being viewed as conflicting with a perceived ‘dirty’ ICT field. Detrimental perceptions associating sophisticated ICT activity with males were reportedly prevalent in the communities and some of the women interviewed subscribed to the essentialist theory which considers men inherently better suited to technology. These findings have important implications for policies and practices in view of enhancing the digital inclusion of women in marginalised South African communities. Recommendations towards this end are outlined, specifically centred on gendersensitive approaches in the planning and implementation of digital inclusion initiatives.
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    Social support for digital inclusion of women in South African townships
    (Elsevier, 2022) Keating, Carlynn; Van Audenhove, Leo; Craffert, Leona
    Despite strong evidence of its critical role in facilitating digital inclusion, social support – the emotional, instrumental and informational aid received from support networks to assist an individual’s use of digital technologies – remains an unexplored area of research in low-resourced South African communities. By drawing on the ‘Typology of digital social support’ framework, this paper presents rich insights into the intricacies of the underlying motivations, behaviour and help-seeking processes in the digital engagement of women in South African townships. The findings show that the women had the strong social embeddedness necessary for digital support and relied on a range of nuanced and cross-cutting support-seeking strategies, including formal and particularly informal support channels and, to a lesser extent, self-learning. This qualitative phenomenological study relies on in-depth individual interviews with a small sample of women in three South African townships. In revealing potential disparities between social support in developed and developing regions, the study affirms the need to prioritise further South African research and the development of theoretical frameworks grounded in local realities.
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    Strategies, practices and skills for competitiveness in the digital economy: a perspective on large companies in South Africa
    (University of the Western Cape, University of Stellenbosch Business School & Ikamva National e-Skills Institute (iNeSI), 2014) Craffert, Leona; Ungerer, Marius; Visser, Kobus; Morrison, John; Claassen, Walter
    The impact of the digital developments of our time - new digital devices, new software, and new areas of applications - can be felt in more and more areas of life and work. In fact, in some areas of business the impact is transformational, changing an area or business sector to such an extent that it is hardly recognisable from what that area was like a decade or more ago. Business introduced information and communication technologies (ICTs) to automate certain processes, to achieve economies of scale (and the benefits associated with that) to involve both suppliers and customers, etc. The introduction of digital mobile devices (especially smartphones) over the past eight to ten years, and the current ubiquitous presence of these devices, brought about more changes to users' interaction with suppliers. Not only do these devices lead to improved communication with business and within business, but increasingly so in the areas of business these devices are used to establish new relationships with customers, both existing ones and potentially new ones. In such an increasingly hyperconnected world, employees become participants in a world beyond the boundaries of companies, thereby being in a position to gauge sentiments outside, to influence opinions and to make a contribution to the positioning of companies. A key factor that has to be taken into account is the wider availability of technology to all players in the ecosystem within which business functions, including the competition. Cloud-based services enable rapid deployment of services and scalability according to need. Just as access to technology, especially in the form of digital technology, holds the possibility of innovation for existing businesses, the same technology also creates the possibility for disruptive innovation and for new competition in the market. “Digital disruption describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves 'up market,' eventually displacing established competitors”1. Some commentators, as argued by Wladawsky- Berger2, refer to this changing scenario of access to cloud-based services as one characterised by “new economies of unscale”, a situation that could turn into a major disruption for established companies.
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    Using social media to support community development: A case study of e-inclusion intermediaries in underprivileged communities of South Africa
    (IEEE, 2019) Katunga, Natasha; Njenga, James; Craffert, Leona
    For many marginalized community members e-inclusion intermediaries (e-IIs) are the only accessible and affordable option to access computers and the Internet, yet their use of the provided ICTs is low. This is due to a lack of awareness about e-IIs and ICTs benefits. To create awareness and promote the use of ICTs by community members e-IIs need more effective communication strategies that share information. Social media can be effective in this regard, yet many e-IIs do not utilize their potential. This paper presents findings of a qualitative study that investigated how selected e-IIs in South Africa communicate using social media. The study found that social media can facilitate communication for development by enabling low-cost, participatory communication approaches that build networks to share information, resources and create awareness. Social media are however only effective if they are appropriate for the target audience and used strategically to achieve clear communication objectives.