Browsing by Author "Thinyane, Hannah"

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    Building Foundations before Technology: An Operation Model for Digital Citizen Engagement in Resource Constrained Contexts
    (Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited, 2017-06-13) Pade-Khene, Caroline; Thinyane, Hannah; Machiri, Mwazvita
    Citizen engagement in developing countries is seen as a ‘game changer’ for development, as citizens can play a key role in contributing to service delivery decisions that hold government accountable for their actions. Recently, there has been a drive to adopt digitally innovative approaches to support social accountability monitoring in developing countries. This is especially pertinent with the growing use of technology, specifically mobile technology, where in some rural areas it is estimated that approximately 80% of the population own a mobile phone. However, digital citizen engagement in developing countries is more complex than imagined, as such initiatives are faced with a lack of awareness of civic rights and education, despondency among citizens based on a lack of effective channels to hold government accountable, a lack of government responsiveness, and a lack of capacity to use and apply innovative approaches effectively. This paper presents a case study of a digital citizen engagement project called MobiSAM (Mobile Social Accountability Monitoring), which uses mobile technology to support two-way communication between citizens and local government, on basic service delivery issues. The operation model of MobiSAM is based on five key components which include: building government responsiveness and citizen engagement capacity, stakeholder engagement, iterative and incremental technology development, citizen education and training, and comprehensive evaluation for learning throughout the project. What is unique about this project is that it has evolved from lessons learned in phase 1.0 after 4 years of operation, to phase 2.0 that was initiated in 2016, hence building on lessons learned and reflecting on successful and challenging aspects. The operation model is not static, as it evolves as the project team learns to operate within the uncertain context. The lessons learned from the MobiSAM approach can be used to support the implementation of digital citizen engagement initiatives in similar global contexts.
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    Communicative Ecologies and Mobile Phones: Forging a Way to Increased Citizen Engagement
    (Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited, 2017-06-13) Thinyane, Hannah; Siebörger, Ingrid; Khene, Caroline; Mthoko, Hafeni
    Over the past decades there has been a worldwide shift towards calls for greater transparency and accountability in government. As part of this shift, the way citizens and the state interact with each other has evolved from the traditional top-down governance that has been popular until quite recently, to include more bottom-up governance where citizens initiate interactions with the state. At the same time there has been much discussion amongst academics about the potential of using technology to facilitate greater interaction between these two parties. This paper describes the MobiSAM project, reflecting on the five year research intervention in a small municipality in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It reflects on the results of two surveys (2014 and 2016) that were undertaken to understand citizens’ access to and use of technology, and participation in local government, to highlight key changes in these areas. It uses the concept of communicative ecologies to identify existing networks within communities and map current communication patterns, enabling digital citizen engagement efforts to be embedded in the existing information and communication structure. The paper then draws from these findings to show how the surveys informed the redesign of the MobiSAM intervention to meet the changing needs of citizens and the municipality.
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    The Siyakhula living lab: a holistic approach to rural development through ICT in rural South Africa
    (IGI Global, 2012) Pade-Khene, Caroline; Siebörger, Ingrid; Thinyane, Hannah; Dalvit, Lorenzo
    Rural development and poverty alleviation are a priority for development in South Africa. Information and knowledge are key strategic resources for social and economic development, as they empower rural communities with the ability to expand their choices through knowing what works best in their communities. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) act as tools which enable existing rural development activities. The Siyakhula living lab (SLL) aims to develop and field-test a distributed, multifunctional community communication platform, using localization through innovation, to deploy in marginalized communities in South Africa. The project exists as research collaboration between the Telkom Centres of Excellence at the University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University. Its current pilot operates in the Mbashe municipal area, which is a deep rural area located along the wild coast of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The Dwesa-Cweba Nature Reserve acts as a chief asset in the community, which contributes to tourism development. However, the community is currently not actively involved in tourism development; but potential exists in local arts, crafts, and authentic heritage tourism. Therefore, the SLL aspires to empower the community with appropriate communication technology skills to actively support tourism development and other complementary development activities, such as, education. The lessons learned and applied in the project’s current pilot stage identify techniques and approaches that aim to promote the effectiveness and sustainability of the ICT project in a rural context. These approaches and techniques are viewed and described from social-cultural, institutional, economic, and technological perspectives.