This research assessed the state of e-government in Swaziland with special reference to government ministries and departments. The goal was to establish the extent to which the Swaziland Government has responded to the challenges and the progress made regarding the priority initiatives pertaining to e-government in the country as outlined in the work of Oyomno and Ramatlhape (2004: 45). To provide an accurate picture of e-government in the country was not an easy task due to the absence of empirical studies conducted on e-government in Swaziland. The study used the survey research strategy. The population of the study was the government ministries and departments which made 23 units of analysis. The techniques for data collection were an interview schedule, an administered questionnaire and a website evaluation form. The data was then analyzed using SPSS version 15.0 for Windows for statistical processing. The research established that the country has developed an appropriate ICT policy. This policy promises a favourable climate that would enhance the development and implementation of e-government in Swaziland. The research also disclosed that the country enjoys the requisite political will necessary to see e-government through. / Thesis (MIS)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Information and communication technology (ICT) has facilitated the implementation of e-parliament to ensure representivity, transparency, accessibility, accountability and effectiveness of parliaments. However, the shift from e-parliament to e-democracy may require parliaments to focus not only on efficiencies but also on improving the quality of interaction leading to changes in behaviour that support democracy. The study explores the current set-up in respect of the implementation of e-parliament globally, the initiatives that are being made and the challenges being experienced. It does this by examining literature regarding the latest developments in e-parliament and recent surveys on emerging utility trends. Consideration is given to particular initiatives in the African context, such as the Bungeni information management system. These are aimed at facilitating the push towards democracy that is assisted by ICT (e-democracy). A comparative analysis focusing on policies, technology, practices and organisational culture in the implementation of e-parliament, as a transitional stage towards edemocracy, is made with respect to the parliaments or chambers of the Czech Republic, India, Kenya and South Africa. The outcome of this analysis has important lessons for the use of ICT to support democracy, particularly for South Africa. It also generates a number of issues, for example the importance of knowledge management and organisational design for improving the parliament-citizen interface, which require consideration by parliaments in general. A seamless platform for facilitating engagement between parliament and the majority of citizens is designed through the adaptation of the e-business model. The platform integrates ICT infrastructure, processes and human resource in a knowledge management environment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Inligting en kommunikasie het die implementering van e-parlement gefasiliteer met die doel om verteenwoordigendheid, deursigtigheid, toeganklikheid en doeltreffendheid van die parlement te verseker. Die skuif van e-parlement na e-demokrasie kan parlement noodsaak om te fokus, nie net op doeltreffenheid nie, maar ook om die kwaliteit van interaksie te verbeter, wat weer sal lei tot gedragsverandering wat demokrasie ondersteun. Die studie verken die huidige toestand met betrekking tot die implementering van eparlement op `n internasionale skaal, die inisiatiewe wat onderneem word, en die uitdagings wat ervaar word. Literatuur wat die nuutste verwikkelinge saamvat, word ondersoek, asook onlangse opname aangaande opkomende gebruiks tendens. Dit is veral inisiatiewe in Afrika wat ondersoek word, soos byvoorbeeld die Bungeni Inligting bestuurstelsel. Dit word gedoen om die proses van demokrasie te fasiliteer wat weer deur Inligting en Kommunikasie tegnologie ondersteun word. `n Vergelykende analise wat fokus op beleid, tegnologie, praktyke en organisasie kultuur binne e-parlement, en die oorgangfase van e-demokrasie word gedoen oor die parlemente van die Tjeggiese Republiek, Indië, Kenia en Suid-Afrika. Die uitslag van die analise het belangrike lesse vir die gebruik van Inligting en Kommunikasie tegnologie om demokrasie te ondersteun, veral in Suid-Afrika. Dit genereer ook ander aspekte byvoorbeeld die belangrikheid van kennisbestuur en organisatoriese ontwerp om die parlement-burger interfase te verbeter. `n Platform wat die proses tussen die parlement en die burgers fasiliteer, is ontwerp met die aanpassing van die e-besigheidsmodel. Die platform integreer Inligting en Kommunikasie tegnologie infrastrukture, prosesse en menslike hulpbronne binne `n kennis bestuur omgewing.

An effective records management programme is a major element of the governance of any organisation. However, despite this crucial role played by records management, there is a consensus amongst researchers that many organisations, including government departments, pay little attention to the management of records. In South Africa, government departments are under legislative obligations to adopt a systematic and organised approach to the management of records. For example, the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa Act (Act No. 43 of 1996) requires government departments to develop, implement and maintain proper records management systems. The purpose of this study was to explore records management trends in the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) to establish if the Department was managing records according to legislative requirements. Data was collected through online questionnaires, physical observation and interviews with selected DPLG employees and analysed through an open source software. The key findings of the study revealed that an enormous benefit for the implementation of a records management programme is the commitment and support of top management. The study recommended that records management should be included in the performance contracts of all employees in the DPLG. The study concluded that a records management programme will only function effectively if it is developed as part of the strategic objective of the organisation. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Sxcience)

No description available.

Thesis (MPA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research study assessed records management practices in the Limpopo Department of Agriculture (LDA), with the focus being on human resources records. Human resources records management practices were assessed in four key performance areas, namely: policy and regulatory framework, storage requirements, integrity of paper-based and electronic records, and efficiency and effectiveness of the registry system. The assessment tool, as prescribed in the Best Practice Model for Keeping and Managing Paper-Based Employee Records, was used. Research findings showed that LDA's performance in terms of records management practices do not comply with the set policies and regulatory framework and that the storage conditions are insecure. Research findings were evaluated and possible strategies for improving the management of human resources records are recommended. The adoption of awareness campaigns for staff, a coordinated training programme as well as the provision of support of top management, are some of the strategies recommended. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie navorsingstudie is rekords van bestuurpraktyke in die Limpopo Departement van Landbou (LDL) geassesseer, met die fokus op menslikehulpbronrekords. Die menslikehulpbronrekords is geassesseer op grond van vier kernprestasie-areas, naamlik die beleids- en regulatoriese raamwerk, bergingsvereistes, integriteit van papiergebaseerde en elektroniese rekords, en doeltreffendheid en effektiwiteit van die registerstelsel. Die assesseringstelsel soos voorgeskryf deur die Best Practice Model for Keeping and Managing Paper-Based Employee Records is gebruik. Navorsingsbevindings het getoon dat die LDL se prestasie ten opsigte van rekordbestuurpraktyke nie voldoen aan beleide nie en dat ‟n regulatoriese raamwerk en veilige bergingstoestande nie bestaan nie. Navorsingsbevindings is geëvalueer en moontlike strategieë om die bestuur van menslikehulpbronrekords te verbeter, is aanbeveel. Die ingebruikneming van bewusmakingsveldtogte vir personeel, 'n gekoördineerde opleidingsprogrm en ook die verskaffing van steun deur topbestuur is van die strategieë wat aanbeveel word.

Between 1818 and 1824, radical printer and publisher Richard Carlile made a determined effort to disseminate copies of Thomas Paine's banned text The Age of Reason in England. Despite strict censorship laws and harsh legal penalties used to curtail previous publishers of this title, Carlile employed a number of creative techniques that kept Paine's deistic writings in print and in circulation during the Regency period. These included republishing public domain court documents when he was charged with seditious libel and reading The Age of Reason in its entirety into testimony during his trial, making it part of the public record. Copied from trial transcripts and reprinted in cheap pamphlet form, Carlile's editions of The Age of Reason would sell an impressive 20,000 copies in these formats. He managed to provide wide-scale access to a work that had been suppressed by the British government since its original publication in 1794. My paper argues that Carlile's approach to subverting Regency-era censorship of The Age of Reason provided an early test for the recognition of the public domain in British law. Instead of continuing to suppress this text, the British government acknowledged the public's right to read the text in this format, allowing Carlile to use his own court documents to continue its publication. This event paved the way for recognition of the public ownership of texts and access to public records in nineteenth-century British print culture.

This study sought to investigate the role of the National Archives of South Africa in terms of the management of the electronic records of central government. The research methodology selected for this study was descriptive research, utilising the case study approach. Two data gathering techniques were employed, that of the record and the interview methods. In utilising the record method extensive use was made of a variety of documents ranging from legislation to the manuals and internal circulars of the National Archives. After the documentary evidence had been analyzed, three nonscheduled-structured-interviews were carried out with National Archives staff. In the process of the investigation a number of findings were generated. It was established that the National Archives is responsible for managing the electronic records of governmental bodies. In order to fulfill this responsibility the National Archives has developed an electronic records management programme. This programme aims to involve the National Archives in the design and maintenance of electronic records systems, to allow the early transfer of electronic records into archival custody, and to facilitate the identification of those archival electronic records that should remain in the possession of the creating body. As a result of the literature reviewed and the interviews conducted, a number of challenges were identified with regards to the National Archives' management of the electronic records of central government. Among these were issues such as the lack of staff resources that the National Archives currently faces, the perceived low status of the National Archives within the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, and the lack of cooperation and communication between the National Archives and its client bodies or components thereof. The National Archives is attempting to deal with a number of these challenges, but it would appear as if they are adopting a reactive and overly cautious approach to the management of electronic records. While they are well informed in terms of the theory of electronic records management, they are greatly lacking in terms of practical experience. It was recommended that the National Archives address the issue of staff resources as a priority. It was further recommended that the National Archives emphasise the business benefits to be gained by governmental bodies implementing records management practices, and that the National Archives become a more active player in the broader discipline of information management. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

Abstract available in pdf file.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Electronic government holds the promises of enabling government to become more efficient in the delivery of services to the public. E-government would ultimately mean that government departments would not work in isolation from each other. The electronic environment would mean that databases would be linked and that information would be shared across all levels of government. There are a number of issues that are presently, and will increasingly in the future impact on the success of e-government. The paradox for e-government is that while this sharing of information, paints a picture of an ideal state of affairs, that would benefit both citizen and state, there could be enormous effects on privacy. These are the ability for government to compile comprehensive profiles on citizens without their knowledge or consent. Another impact on privacy is that wrong information can be linked to the wrong person thereby impacting on the identity of an individual. Data protection and record management policies and legislation are necessary to protect personal data and information. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Elektroniese regeringsdienste hou enorme voordele in om 'n meer effektiewe diens aan 'n land se inwoners te lewer. 'n E-regering stel staatsdepartemente in staat om nie meer in isolasie te werk nie, dat databasisse gekoppel en inligting op alle regeringsvlakke gedeel kan word. Daar is egter elemente in 'n e-regeringstruktuur wat 'n beduidende impak op die toekomstige sukses daarvan kan uitoefen. Die paradoks van 'n e-regering is dat hoewel dit 'n ideale prentjie skilder, dit 'n enorme impak op die privaatheid van beide die inwoners en die regering van 'n land kan uitoefen. Dit voorsien 'n geleentheid waar die regering 'n uitgebreide persoonsprofiel kan saamstel, sonder die medewete of toestemming van die persoon. 'n Verdere aspek is dat die inligting aan die verkeerde persoon gekoppel kan word, wat 'n negatiewe impak op die identiteit van so 'n persoon kan hê. Dit op sigself maak data- en dokumentbeheer, beleide and wetgewing 'n noodsaaklikheid voorvereiste vir die beskerming van persoonlike data en inligting.