M.Ing. (Transportation) / This reseach focused on a quick response transportation planning software package called QRS II which was developed by A J Horowitz at the Centre for Urban Transportation Studies, University of Wisconsin, United states of America. The programme achieves its quick response by incorporating, inter alia, a large number of default parameters within its formulation. Several of these parameters define the typical travel characteristics of the population within a study area and as such, suggest a particular socioeconomic, political, cultural and behavioral profile as existing in that area. These typical conditions may be representative of the behavior in many areas in the United States but may not adequately reflect conditions beyond that. This study has set out to determine whether the default parameters used in QRS II are different to those that would be appropriate in Black towns in areas such as the East Rand Metropolitan Transport Area (ORMET) in South Africa. Local parameter values were identified and compared with the default values in QRS II. It was found that these values were significantly different. More research is required before QRS II can be considered fully adapted to conditions in Black urban areas within a Metropolitan area such as ORMET. However, the new values suggested in this study will go a long way to improving the appropriateness of QRS II applications in South Africa.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / This research study determines designated primary school educator's use of computer technology for accomplishing teaching related tasks such as using the computer to create instructional material; administrative record keeping; to access information via CD-ROM and the Internet for best practice teaching, model lesson plans and e-mail communication. In addition, the research also investigates factors influenicing designated primary schools' ability to become ICT ready and the purposes for which primary school educators use computer technology. / South Africa

Please read the abstract (Summary) in the 00front part of this document / Thesis (DPhil (Public Administration))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA) / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to investigate the conveyancing process in South Africa with a view to identify how the process might be improved in terms of its efficiency and effectiveness. Land is an asset and still remains a valuable factor in production, even in the modern knowledge economy. In many parts of the world, land is a limited resource, therefore, in most countries, custodianship and ownership of land and landed properties generally tend to be guarded through the meticulous capturing, recording and storage of appropriate data and information. Legislative provisions for the transfer of custodianship and/or ownership require the involvement of a variety of role players in the conveyancing processes that culminate in the registration of land and associated immovable property. In some countries, the conveyancing processes tend to be complex and cumbersome. The study provides a conceptual framework for conveyancing processes based on a content-based review of land and immovable property registration systems in five countries, namely, Barbados, the Netherlands, Australia, Taiwan and South Africa. The study further investigates the South African conveyancing processes. Quantitative questionnaires were completed by six respondent groups from the conveyancing service chain, and qualitative interviews were conducted with two of the four major banks in South Africa. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. The findings were used to develop a de-bottlenecking framework for South African conveyancing. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Technology : Office Management & Technology in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University Of Technology 2007 / In this research all references to technikons relate to the present Universities of Technology. Since this study was conducted relating only to courses that offer an experiential leaming component, it is to be noted that these courses are offered mainly by the previous Technikon sector, prior to the amalgamation of technikons with certain universities and colleges. The specific research problem is defined and the background to this problem explained. Both the research problem and objectives are formulated. No efficient Management Information System for co-operative education based on web-technology currently exists in South Africa. By means of a study based on the present needs of co-operative education practitioners in South Africa, and comparing the latter to certain existing management information systems for co-operative education internationally, the objectives of the research are addressed. Initially some critical activities are identified and used to map out possible sub-systems. Literature is reviewed relating to technologies relevant to this research, such as the Web, Internet and lntranets. It outlines some information technologies available to organisations and the educational environment. The literature also highlights most of the processes within a management information system. Furthermore, it summarises the initial considerations needed to develop a management information system in this context. To focus more pertinently on the problem a management information system relating to education is investigated. Various existing management information systems in education in the UK, USA and RSA are reviewed. Specific reference is made to management information systems in general education in Australian schools. These investigations then focus on one element of education, namely co-operative education. Possible cooperative education sub-systems are mapped out from identified critical activities. These sub-systems were instrumental in developing the pilot study and the final questionnaire. The research methodology and the techniques applied to address the research objective, are discussed. Aspects such as reliability, validity, quantitative vs qualitative research, the final measuring instrument, target population, administering the questionnaire and data capturing, are addressed. The development of the questionnaires and a two-dimensional matrix of the measuring instrument are explained. The responses to the various elements on each of the questionnaires are reported on and the data is interpreted and grouped to form a synthesis. From the synthesis, conclusions and recommendations relating to all three sub-systems (students, employers and short courses), are listed. These results of the questions as reported on and the interpretations recorded are analysed. These relate to each question as well as to all the literature reviewed. The conclusions and recommendations are supported by detailed crossreferences to each chapter. Some comparison of local (South African) and international preferences is included. The main objective of this study was to develop a scientifically-established model of an adequate management information system for co-operative education, which will comply with the needs of the South African Co-operative Education. In summary then : • A survey was undertaken of good international practice, from which a set of desirable "elements", "components" or "sub-systems" was established. Hereafter they are referred to as "sub-systems". • These sub-systems were taken as the foundation for a questionnaire, where in respondents were asked to consider the importance and detail of the subsystems. • The questionnaire was reviewed for its effectiveness and completeness, refined, and then deployed to 325 respondents nationally. Internationally 77 delegates responded. • An analysis of their responses was used to develop a set of desirable characteristics of a co-operative education management information system in South Africa.

The study sought to investigate the factors influencing the contents of antiretroviral therapy (ART) reports in the Amathole Health District of the Eastern Cape Province. A qualitative and quantitative study was conducted to assess the challenges that inhibit this phenomenon. Structurally, the population consists of Amahlati and Nkonkobe sub-districts. Operational managers, information officers, professional nurses, data capturers, and administration clerks were randomly selected from sixteen facilities. Data collection was done on semi-structured interviews, questionnaires; observations were done using the probability sampling method, and the findings were analysed according to the same technique. The study revealed that the District Health Information System (DHIS) is the universal data management and reporting system which all healthcare and ART facilities are using to manage ART. However, regardless of all these universal arrangements such as the use of the DHIS to aid in reporting, the contents of ART reports from various facilities have not been uniform due to various factors. There is a lack of a reliable network to link DHIS computers across facilities. The shift from paper-based to electronic data management has caused the difficulties in the collating and management of ART data since some facilities are manual paper- based while others are automated using the modern DHIS. Lack of daily capturing and validation is a major challenge across the ART facilities. Further, there are Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs) such as AFRICARE and the IYDSA that have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the district to provide a budgetary support for staff training in data management of ART reports in the district. While the NGOs keep on assisting the ART facilities with data management, there is a lack of skills transfer. The district could not account on follow-up of ART patients from one facility to another. This is increasing the number of defaulting in ART patients, thus there is no accurate figures on retention of patients in ART Programme. The officials from ART sites tend to use their own transport to carry data from facilities to the district offices and this resulted in late submission of reports. The study thus recommends that, inter alia, data management and trainings should be done to improve data quality in reporting, a reliable computer network be installed, backed-up and maintained for data and report management in the all healthcare facilities. All the ART sites should adopt and use the automated data management system for universality and eliminating the faults of manual paper data management and reporting. This would ensure that the contents of ART reports are uniform and a true reflection of the situation on the ground towards universal access to ART and healthcare in the Amathole Health District, and South Africa at large.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the conveyancing process in South Africa with a view to identify how the process might be improved in terms of its efficiency and effectiveness. Land is an asset and still remains a valuable factor in production, even in the modern knowledge economy. In many parts of the world, land is a limited resource, therefore, in most countries, custodianship and ownership of land and landed properties generally tend to be guarded through the meticulous capturing, recording and storage of appropriate data and information. Legislative provisions for the transfer of custodianship and/or ownership require the involvement of a variety of role players in the conveyancing processes that culminate in the registration of land and associated immovable property. In some countries, the conveyancing processes tend to be complex and cumbersome. The study provides a conceptual framework for conveyancing processes based on a content-based review of land and immovable property registration systems in five countries, namely, Barbados, the Netherlands, Australia, Taiwan and South Africa. The study further investigates the South African conveyancing processes. Quantitative questionnaires were completed by six respondent groups from the conveyancing service chain, and qualitative interviews were conducted with two of the four major banks in South Africa. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the quantitative data, and content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. The findings were used to develop a de-bottlenecking framework for South African conveyancing. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

M. Tech. Business Information / Improved Data Quality Management is the desired outcome of managers for many government departments if not all. The constant use of manual systems, the utilization of legacy information systems, the results from departmental mergers and other agency acquisitions, by the South African government departments contributes significantly to poor data quality which leads to fruitless expenditure, fraud and corruption, duplication of processes, none-aligned departmental priorities and service delivery challenges. Literature reveals that there are documents that have been developed to manage the quality of data such as South African Quality Assessment Framework document, which guides and evaluates government organizations on how to achieve quality statistics focusing mainly on the meta-data; however they do not cover other dimensions of Data Quality Management. This research focuses into the strategy of Data Quality Management in government organizations and Data Quality Management tools applied using a conceptual model based on the Technology-Organization-Environment framework.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the document delivery service (DDS) at an open distance learning institution (ODL). A quantitative survey was conducted using a convenience sample (N=107) of the students registered in the Master’s programme with the College of Education (CEDU) at the University of South Africa (UNISA). Pearson’s correlational analysis was used to determine the students’ perceptions of the relationship between the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the DDS at an ODL institution. The results indicated a negative relationship between computer literacy and communication channels. Furthermore, the results indicated that information literacy skills positively and significantly predict the means of access to the Internet and library skills training predict access to information. The findings of this study show a need for future research in exploring the association between the use of ICTs and document delivery services. In order to rectify the challenge in an ODL institution, it is suggested that ODL institutions should ensure that both librarians and students possess the required skills and competencies. It is recommended that future research takes into consideration the limitations of this study. / Information Science / M. Inf.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Computer Systems.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2008 / Open source software (OSS) is becoming, increasingly, an alternative to proprietary software (PS), particularly in the global government sector. The main objective of this dissertation is to investigate the status of OSS implementation in the SA government by surveying 40 national departments and targeting Information Technology (IT) directors and managers. The contribution of this research study is an OSS implementation model (OSSI), which is proposed as a possible solution to improve the status of OSS usage in the SA government departments. In conclusion, the proposed model is evaluated against other available OSS models using the set criteria.