The participants in the World Summit on the Information Society, including South
Africa, have committed themselves to building the information society in their
respective countries and communities. Most countries and communities that
have benefited from the information society have been those in the developed
countries. Developing communities specifically those that are poor and rural are
expected to have unique challenges requiring specific approaches in dealing with
the problems. This study has investigated the challenges of building an
information society through utilising the Limpopo Province of South Africa as a
case study. The dissertation has, by using the Harvard Readiness Guide for the
Networked World, determined whether the Limpopo Province is ready to become
an information society. It has also identified the activities and projects that are
being undertaken within the province as well as proposing what should be done
to build the information society for development.
The research was conducted through surveying selected leaders (leaders who
are responsible for the information society implementation) within the Limpopo
Province, to respond to a self-administered questionnaire as well as conducting
content analysis of current planning documents for provincial departments and
district municipalities.
Whilst the dissertation could not determine whether it was feasible to implement
the information society in a community such as Limpopo Province, the selected
leaders were of the view that by focussing on the issues they identified, the
province could successfully build the information society. The respondents were
iv
of the view that Limpopo Province was currently not e-ready, and thus could not
be considered an information society. The study found that most of the activities
related to the information society within Limpopo Province were not coordinated
and were primarily related to e-government. Another key challenge that was
identified, despite the high mobile telephone penetration, was the lack of access
to the Internet as well as affordable connectivity. To address these and other
challenges identified in the study, a framework for implementing the information
society at the provincial level is proposed.
Keywords: information society, development, developing
countries/communities, Information and Communications Technologies, Limpopo
Province / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/4004 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Sehlapelo, Martin Collin Abner Mmapeteke. |
| Contributors | Leach, Athol. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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