Browsing by Author "Njenga, James"

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    Communicating for development using social media: A case study of e-inclusion intermediaries in under-resourced communities
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Katunga, Natasha; Njenga, James; Van Audenhove, Leo
    South Africa is committed to accelerating the roll-out of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support development at all levels. E-inclusion intermediaries (e-IIs) are used in the country to bridge the digital divide and to create equal opportunities for citizens to benefit from using ICTs. E-IIs are established mainly in under-resourced communities by private, public and third-sector organisations to provide physical access to ICT services for free or at a very low cost. The aim of e-IIs is to make ICT services affordable for and accessible to marginalised and poor community members, who can use the ICT to support community development. The debate is ongoing regarding the contribution of e-IIs towards community development due to, in part, the lack of quantifiable evidence to support the impact that the e-IIs have on development in the communities. Furthermore, despite the existence of e-IIs in communities, there still are community members who do not use the e-IIs. This has been attributed to the lack of awareness of the e-IIs and the services they provide. This lack of awareness is often blamed on the ineffective communication strategies of e-IIs. E-IIs are accused of relying heavily on traditional communication channels and conventional mass media, which do not share information and create awareness effectively in the communities. The increased uptake of modern technologies, such as the Internet and mobile devices, in South Africa has created new opportunities to communicate with community members to share information and create awareness. Social media, for instance, which are mostly accessed through mobile devices, have made communication more accessible and inexpensive for community members with limited skills and resources. Social media have also become popular among development actors in their attempt to direct policy, create awareness and garner community members’ support for development interventions. Arguably, e-IIs could also benefit from using social media, which have become popular in some communities, to communicate with community members in order to create awareness of the e-IIs, the services they provide and the benefits of using ICTs to support community development. The investigation undertaken in this study was twofold. Firstly, the quick-scan analysis method was used to analyse fifty e-IIs. Using this method it was possible to explore the services that are provided by e-IIs as well as how e-IIs communicate with community members and other development actors. Secondly, using six in-depth case studies this study further investigated how e-IIs’ services support community development and how the e-IIs communicate for development, paying special attention to their use of social media.
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    Communicating for development using social media: A case study of e-inclusion intermediaries in under-resourced communities
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Katunga, Natasha; Njenga, James; Van Audenhove, Leo
    South Africa is committed to accelerating the roll-out of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support development at all levels. E-inclusion intermediaries (e-IIs) are used in the country to bridge the digital divide and to create equal opportunities for citizens to benefit from using ICTs. E-IIs are established mainly in under-resourced communities by private, public and third-sector organisations to provide physical access to ICT services for free or at a very low cost. The aim of e-IIs is to make ICT services affordable for and accessible to marginalised and poor community members, who can use the ICT to support community development. The debate is ongoing regarding the contribution of e-IIs towards community development due to, in part, the lack of quantifiable evidence to support the impact that the e-IIs have on development in the communities. Furthermore, despite the existence of e-IIs in communities, there still are community members who do not use the e-IIs. This has been attributed to the lack of awareness of the e-IIs and the services they provide. This lack of awareness is often blamed on the ineffective communication strategies of e-IIs. E-IIs are accused of relying heavily on traditional communication channels and conventional mass media, which do not share information and create awareness effectively in the communities. The increased uptake of modern technologies, such as the Internet and mobile devices, in South Africa has created new opportunities to communicate with community members to share information and create awareness. Social media, for instance, which are mostly accessed through mobile devices, have made communication more accessible and inexpensive for community members with limited skills and resources. Social media have also become popular among development actors in their attempt to direct policy, create awareness and garner community members’ support for development interventions. Arguably, e-IIs could also benefit from using social media, which have become popular in some communities, to communicate with community members in order to create awareness of the e-IIs, the services they provide and the benefits of using ICTs to support community development. The investigation undertaken in this study was twofold. Firstly, the quick-scan analysis method was used to analyse fifty e-IIs. Using this method it was possible to explore the services that are provided by e-IIs as well as how e-IIs communicate with community members and other development actors. Secondly, using six in-depth case studies this study further investigated how e-IIs’ services support community development and how the e-IIs communicate for development, paying special attention to their use of social media.
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    Evaluating a masters programme in health information management
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Chikware, Arthur B; Njenga, James
    The use of information, as well as the volume thereof, has grown extensively over time, and is, arguably, the most fundamental resource for informed decision-making in most organisations (Nath, 2017). In order to understand information, and its importance, it is necessary to understand its constructs. The terms, information and data, tend to be used randomly, as if they are interchangeable; however, they differ in context (Morabito, 2013).Data is considered unprocessed information that comprise raw facts, numbers or signals (Morabito, 2013). Data, in isolation, tends to lack meaning; however, meaning is achieved, when applied in a context, or setting (Cooper, 2016). The basic form of data is meaningless, until processed, consequently, becoming information (Bernstein, 2009). On the other hand, information is considered a construct of expressive facts, numbers, or signals, which are meaningful to people, or processed data that have contextual meanings (Morabito, 2013). Information description is more complicated in business, or organisational contexts, compared to the world’s common use of the word (Adeoti-Adekeye, 1997). It is considered abstract ideas, or products, characteristic of informing documents, reports and other similar means (Adeoti-Adekeye, 1997). It is an important strategic resource in organisations that can be used to portray organisational image, formulation of knowledge and informing decision making, or actions (Morabito, 2013). It is an essential component of almost all organisations’ activities, and failure to manage it could impact the vision, image, or operations, negatively (Morabito, 2013).
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    Evaluating a masters programme in health information management
    (University of the Western Cape, 2019) Chikware, Arthur Bhekimpilo; Njenga, James
    Health Information Management (HIM) is an essential health administration component for the organising, coordinating and distribution of health related information, for the benefit of all its recipients. HIM professionals combine some medical and business disciplines to perform their duties. This research was aimed at evaluating the outcomes of an academic Master’s programme in HIM, to assess whether it equiped Health Information Managers with the competences in multicultural communication, leadership and management, as well as whether it contributed theoretical knowledge about the composition of academic Masters’ programmes, and their significance towards the development of competences in HIM. The evaluation was conducted through a qualitative and quantitative survey. This approach enables the researcher to adopt an observer’s approach to the research exercise, and the participants/respondents are treated in a more equal manner. Essentially, this is done to limit the researcher’s bias, as well as encourage equal treatment of the participants/respondents.
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    The impact of information technology on reverse logistics of blood in public healthcare facilities in the Gauteng department of health
    (University of the Western Cape, 2023) Sello, Patrick; Njenga, James
    The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) estimates that over 900,000 blood units are collected yearly from 1% of the population of South Africa (SA) actively donating blood, but 40% of the donated blood is estimated to be wasted across public healthcare facilities. As a result, surgical procedures have been cancelled or postponed, putting patients' lives at risk. This waste has been attributed to poor logistics of blood products between South African National Blood Services (SANBS) and hospitals, lack of technology to facilitate the logistics of blood products, and poor infrastructure to support the return of unused blood within the regulated period. Furthermore, blood products such as red blood cells (RBC) are prone to high wastage due to patient passing before blood transfusion, patients discharged with blood already ordered and delivered, patients refusing blood transfusion due to religious affiliation, change in Hb levels before transfusion, and poor coordination between health workers that results in limited communication during delivery of medical services. This study maps the reverse logistics (RL) process for blood products in public healthcare facilities (PHF) to identify barriers to implementing the RL process in PHF and the key factors driving the waste of blood products and recommends implementing a technological solution and reverse logistics processes for the logistics of blood products to reduce blood waste. Transporting blood in brown bags and mapping current logistical processes for blood products in on-site and remote blood bank hospitals reveal gaps that prevent returning unused blood products to blood banks. This study focuses on medical professionals, where various blood products (red blood cells (RBC), fresh frozen plasma, and platelets) were identified for the research. A quantitative applied research approach was chosen as the preferred methodology, and a stratified random sampling method was used to select participants, stratify the population, and collect data from each subgroup. The key findings point to a 51% waste of RBC units in the four selected hospitals, attributed to poor infrastructure to support the return of unused blood products, unstandardised processes across the similar level of care hospitals, poor logistics processes for blood products, and inefficient communication between doctors and nurses responsible for delivering medical services. The study identifies inaccurate information because of manual processes and poor monitoring of policies and guidelines as barriers to the reverse logistics of blood products. Technology and logistics methods are suggested as mitigating effects to address the above findings and reduce blood waste during medical service delivery. The findings add to the body of academic knowledge, technology, and logistics as factors to improve the delivery of healthcare services in the public health context. They also support the recommendation that PHF uses technology to automate business processes while integrating logistics methods and models for delivering and handling blood products.
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    Understanding the factors that influence the adoption of Big Data at a government department in the Western Cape
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Bruintjies, Andre; Njenga, James
    Big Data, henceforth (BD), enables governments to produce and accumulate huge amounts of structured and unstructured data through their everyday activities. Due to the types of data produced and the volume, velocity and complexity of the data, government organisations need to find innovative ways to analyse it. Government organisations have since realised the potential to derive value from BD and, therefore, a need to adopt BD into their data activities. Currently, South African governmental organisations have not fully committed to adopting BD because they are unsure if they are adequately equipped, and additional empirical research is required to understand the salient factors that influence BD adoption.
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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.