A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in 33% fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Management (in the field of Security) 23 March 2016 / The manifestation of terrorism on the African continent has increasingly become a major emerging and evolving security concern. Based on the number of incidents happening on the continent, it is evident that the approach in addressing this phenomenon needs to be rethought, restrategised and redesigned in order to maximise the effect of current counter interventions by different organisations. At the centre of terrorism is the financing thereof. The bulk of this study will focus on the financing of terrorism and how the United Nations Security Council respond to it focussing on North, West and East Africa. Results should not just address the challenges of the current environment, but should be able to stand the test of time and ensure that these horrific activities do not re-occur. In order to reach this stage, it is critical that all role-players, stakeholders and organisations work together to ensure that the crisis is addressed in the most effective way, but also, critically, managed under the umbrella of an organisation that has the capability, resources, capacity and leadership to intervene in these situations successfully. The United Nations Security Council is the one organisation that can fulfil this role. / MB2016

PhD (Business Information Systems) / Department of Business Information Systems / Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) is a never-ending challenge in complex-problem situations where multiple actors are involved. Complex-problem situations involve problems that are ill-defined, ill-structured and wicked such as terrorism. Problems of this nature usually warrant a collaborative effort between actors (organizations) with multiple skill-sets and expertise that at times might be at variance with each other. In order to address this gap, three sub-objectives were postulated from the main research objective, “To determine how optimal/effective CDM can be realized amongst counter-terrorism organizations through context-aware technologies.” Using the theory of synergetics and following deductive thematic analysis, the socio-technical nature of the terrorism problem was depicted by postulating a Digital Terrorism Ecology that consists of Open Digital Infrastructure (ODI), Digital Information Ecosystem (DIE), Digital Terrorism Enactment (DTE), Digital Capability and Digital Enslavement. Based on institutional theory and using PLS-SEM technique, Group/departmental relationships, Organizational co-operation, Organizational form, Technical infrastructure and interoperability, Information and knowledge sharing were identified as the factors influencing attainment of Optimal/effective CDM amongst counter-terrorism organizations. In order to explicate the role of context-aware technologies in enhancing CDM amongst counter-terrorism organizations, a context-aware CDM framework was developed following Design Science Research (DSR) methodology. In this study it was evident from the findings that attainment of OCDM in counter-terrorism contexts is challenging even though it is essential. Among the factors considered as possible influencers of attainment of OCDM, Organizational form (OF) was found to influence Organizational cooperation (OC) and Technical infrastructure and inter-operability (TI). Group/departmental relationships (GDR) were found to influence OF and OC. TI was found to influence OC and GDR and further, Information and knowledge sharing (IKS) was found to influence Optimal/effective CDM (OCDM). Of the three pillars of institutional theory, the regulative pillar offered more insights on issues related to rules, discourse and practice and hence the challenges of OCDM attainment. Practically, this study aims to re-orient the thinking of counter-terrorism organizations by presenting the socio-technical nature of the terrorism problem as well as explicating the role of digital technologies in terrorism. / NRF