Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Permanent URI for this community

https://hdl.handle.net/10530/1

Browse

Browsing Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences by Author "Adigun, M.O."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The diffusion of social informatics in the civil service work environment in KwaZulu-Natal
    (University of Zululand, 2011) Mbatha, Blessing Thuthuka; Ocholla, D.N.; Adigun, M.O.
    ICT is a compound term that is used to refer to the convergence of a wide array of new technologies presently being developed and used in the creation, processing and transmission of information. Broadly speaking, these technologies encompass all aspects of data / information recording, handling and transmission, and include computers, telecommunications, satellites, fibre optics, video-based multimedia applications, automated speech outputs, and electronic broadcast technologies. The public services referred to in this study are government departments, and they are responsible for servicing society, devising policies, and ensuring that they are implemented. The civil servants referred to in this study are government employees. The focus of this study was to examine the use, types, interaction, and availability of ICTs in four government departments in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in the context of work productivity and creativity. In order to achieve the stated aim, the following research had to be answered: What types of ICTs are available in government departments? What problems are experienced by the civil servants in their utilization of ICTs? How can the education and training needs of the civil servants be addressed? To what extent are ICTs used by the civil servants in their work activities? What strategies and solutions can address the problems faced by the civil servants? This study adopted mixed methods where aspects of both quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed. The quantitative method was used to solicit information from the civil servants, while the qualitative approach was used in the review of different social informatics studies. The literature review was undertaken across a broad spectrum of sources including conference papers, journals, government policy documents and several Internet sources. The study used multistage probability sampling to select the elements for the survey and to achieve the desired representation from the population. Probability samples helped the researcher acquire a demonstrable degree of reliability and validity. The sampling techniques used were simple random, systematic, and stratified sampling. Simple random sampling was first used to identify government departments in the province that have considerable reach and are service intensive, namely the Departments of Arts and Culture, Home Affairs, Education, and Health. Secondly, systematic sampling was used to select suitable district municipalities. This sampling technique was used in order to increase the chances of obtaining a representative sample and to prevent bias in the selection process. The initial starting municipality in this technique was selected randomly and every second district municipality from a list was selected thereafter. The departments were selected from the following district municipalities: uMgungundlovu, uMzinyathi, Zululand, uThungulu and Sisonke. The first stage of stratified sampling consisted of the division of the service area into rural and urban based areas. In the second stage, stratification of personnel in the selected departments into top, medium and lower level management was done. This was to ensure that all the levels of management were represented in the study. In the last stage, a simple random sample was used to select the sample elements from the different levels of management. Government departments in South Africa have a well defined organogram such that the number of managers is almost equal across all departments. A sample size of 20 % of the population elements was used and this resulted in 65 personnel being selected from each ministry and a target sample of 260 managers. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. The data collected was analyzed using thematic categorization and tabulation, and the findings were presented descriptively. The findings show that a variety of ICTs have been adopted in the sector. All the civil servants surveyed indicated that they used ICTs to communicate with fellow colleagues, for spreadsheet purposes, word processing, printing, and to disseminate departmental information. The respondents’ level of interaction with some of the ICTs, such as e-mail, personal computers, Internet, printers and telephones, was very high, while the use of ICTs such as video conferencing, television and radio was very poor. The most common obstacles to the effective use of ICTs in government departments were found to be lack of skills / competence, the lack of a comprehensive ICT policy, and the lack of proper planning for the adoption and diffusion of ICTs in the sector. The civil servants particularly voiced the need for training on database searching and information retrieval. The contextual conditions that need to be adapted in order to improve the use of ICTs in government departments include the need for adequate and well structured planning; an introductory a comprehensive ICT policy that would provide sufficient frameworks for ICT development and/or use in the public sector; provision of proper and sufficient ICT infrastructure; funding for the purchase of all necessary facilities and resources for ICTs; and the training of staff on how to use ICTs. The issue of planning revealed here is very important as embarking on any new innovation requires adequate planning. Other recommendations include training sessions for civil servants so that they can use the acquired ICT knowledge and skills in their daily work and activities. Where necessary, the government should continually review the ICT training it offers to civil servants, especially considering the rate of developments in the ICT industry. A good policy would also provide sufficient frameworks for ICT development and/or use in government departments, for instance in areas of strategizing implementation, staff development and communication. Policies to foster the uptake of ICTs are insufficient. Moreover, policies specific to ICT diffusion and use will not, on their own, lead to stronger performance; they should be part of a comprehensive set of actions to create the right conditions for growth and innovation. The diffusion and adoption of ICTs in government departments require expertise at various levels. The South African government is still working on putting together a comprehensive national ICT policy that would guide ICT use in the country.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A model-based service customization framework for consumer variability management in service-oriented architectures
    (University of Zululand, 2014) Dlamini, Sandile Wilmoth; Adigun, M.O.; Tarwireyi, P.
    In today‘s service-oriented business environments, the standard Publish-Find-Bind model as embodied by the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm presents a new strong challenge in the consumption and applicability of services to its consumers. This is because services in SOA-based environments are not built and published for predefined consumers; rather they are advertised for potentially many unknown consumers. Thus, they could be (re) used by various anonymous consumers with varying requirements and business needs. Hence, to increase service applicability and efficiency in the consumption of services, as well as to stay relevant in today‘s global market economy, service providers are expected to provide services covering such a wide variety of demands. However, they are still faced and have to deal with a number of problems which need to be balanced. Consequently, this research work addresses the problem of how to deliver customizable software services, as a way to address and/or increase the applicability and efficiency in the consumption of software services. In particular, this research proposed a service customization framework called FreeCust, which exploits the feature modeling concepts or techniques from the Software Product Line Engineering (SPLE) discipline. The FreeCust framework as suggested in this research was constructed, validated, and evaluated through practical use case scenarios, proof-of-concept prototype implementations, experiments, and a comparative (static) analysis. This was to show its utility, technical feasibility, functional correctness, and business benefits. The evaluation and validation results demonstrated that the FreeCust approach has the potential or is appropriate for minimizing the complexities involved in consumers‘ service customization processes and increasing service applicability.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Towards Management Information System in public administration in Uganda
    (2006) Matovu, James; Ocholla, D.N.; Adigun, M.O.
    A study based in Uganda, examining and evaluating the theoretical and practical challenges in establishing a management information system (MIS) for public administration. The study focused on the information system at the Ministry of Health (MOH), and Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development (MFPED) in the case of Central Government; and that of local administration of five districts, namely, Arua, Bushenyi, Kampala, Masaka, and Mbale. The study involved administration of a survey questionnaire to 530 respondents as well as conducting face to face interviews with 53 respondents. This was on top of the review of the literature that included journal publications, monographs, institutional reports, and conference proceedings. Data collected was analysed using SPSS, Excel, and Epinfo software programs and was later interpreted accordingly. The findings of the study reveal that introduction of new public management, in particular, result oriented management trigger off the desire for the introduction of MIS public administration. Initial efforts towards MIS in public administration proved faulty due to lack of coordination. The effort also resulted in MIS programmes which are limited in scope as they are designed mainly for planning purposes. The steps towards review of the MIS program in 2002 aimed at establishing an integrated MIS program. The leading information needs of public administration were identified as financial management, capacity building, national policy, central government policy, economic conditions and HIV/AIDS. Despite the claim of having an MIS, the information system in place is said to be considerably lacking in the ability to supply adequate, well processed, timely, and easy to use data. The system was found to be lacking in the supply of grey literature, and value added data. Websites suffer from inadequate scope and limited currency. In-house databases by the established information system are non¬existent. The system suffers from the lack of a LAN system, meaning non-availability of online access for most people. It also surfers from undeveloped CD-ROM, and flash disk technology, meaning that information from databases is only accessible in printed form or on diskettes. The MIS programme also suffers from excessive donor dependence, resulting in the development of incompatible systems. Local governments in particular suffer from inadequate computer stock. Public administration, as a whole, suffers from inadequate computer accessories, a problem aggravated by lack of a LAN system to support resource sharing. It also suffers from inadequate computer literacy by both information resource personnel, and public administrators which then results in the under-utilisation of computer resources. To most respondents, the productivity of the MIS program is less that 30 percent of its potential. There is a need to; a) strengthen training in information management, including information gathering, knowledge management, indexing and abstracting service, information analysis and consolidation, and information repackaging; b) establish sectoral information analysis centres with legal deposit rights on government and non¬government publications, to assume management of the national websites and online databases; c) create a Ministry of Information and Communication Technology to elevate the information resource to a ministerial status; d) effect greater investment in group decision support systems as opposed to decision support systems; e) invest in information sharing networks as opposed executive information systems; f) emphasise information reporting and communication as opposed to production of decision models; g) increase government active participation in MIS programs demonstrated through independent budget lines in the national budget and lastly there is a need to integrate the various information systems into a public administration management information network (PAMIN). In conclusion, MIS for public administration is the only way to activate the critical role of information in public administration. Bearing in mind that MIS is computer based, and that the ICT industry is ever changing, the Uganda Government is faced with an uphill task of making MIS a success.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Towards the design of an energy-aware path selection metric for IEEE 802.11s wireless mesh network
    (University of Zululand, 2012) Mhlanga, Martin Mafan; Adigun, M.O.; Ntlatlapa, N.
    It is everyone’s dream to have network connectivity all the time. This dream can only be realised provided there are feasible solutions that are put in place for the next generation of wireless works. Wireless Mesh Networking (WMN) is therefore seen as a solution to the next generation of wireless networks because of the fact that WMNs configures itself and it is also self healing. A new standard for WMNs called the IEEE 802.11s is still under development. The protocol that is used by the IEEE 802.11s for routing is called Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol (HWMP). The main purpose of HWMP is to perform routing at layer-2 of the OSI model also referred to as the data link layer (DLL). Layer-2 routing is also referred to as the mesh path selection and forwarding. Devices that are compliant to the IEEE 802.11s standard will be able to use this path selection protocol. Devices that are manufactured by different vendors will therefore be interoperable. Even though significant efforts have gone into improving the performance of HWMP, the protocol still faces a lot of limitations and the most limiting factor is the small or restricted energy of the batteries in a wireless network. This is because of the assumption that mesh nodes that are deployed in urban areas tend to have no energy constraints while WMN nodes deployed in rural faces serious energy challenges. The latter relies on batteries and not on electricity supply which powers the WMN nodes in urban areas. This work, therefore, explores further the current trends towards maximising the network lifetime for the energy constrained networks. Hence the goal of this study is to design a path selection algorithm that is energyaware and optimising for the IEEE 802.11s based HWMP. The main idea is that paths with enough energy for transmission must be selected when transmitting packets in the network. Therefore, a simulation using NS-2 was carried out to assess the network performance of the proposed EAPM metric with the other metrics that have been analysed in literature including ETX. ETX has been used in WMNs but was not developed specifically for mesh. In conclusion, EAPM conserves more energy than the Multimetric, airtime link metric and lastly ETX. The simulation experiments show that EAPM optimises the energy used in the network and as a result EAPM has a prolonged network lifespan when comparing it to the rest of the metrics evaluated in this study. The results also revealed that the newly proposed EAPM exhibits superior performance characteristics even with regard to issues like end-to-end delay and packet delivery ratio.
University of Zululand