Information technology strategies for Africa's survival in the twenty‐first century: IT all pervasive

Abstract

This paper discusses the status of information technology (IT), at national, organisational and individual levels, as we approach the twenty-first century. The paper is written within the context of developing countries, particularly Africa, and identifies some of the common problems and constraints militating against effective IT adoption and utilisation in these countries, such as low IT literacy, inadequate human resource capacity for IT development, inadequate information and communication infrastructures, absence of action oriented national IT policies, poor IT delivery by vendors, lack of co-operation among and within countries, etc.The paper asserts that in the twenty-first century, IT will inevitably pervade all aspects of our lives and, as such, there is need to prepare ourselves at national, organisational and individual levels. Strategies for such preparation are suggested. The paper cites some success stories in harnessing IT for socio-economic development with reference to the area of networking and its impact on some areas such as health care and academic research in Africa. The paper notes, however, that a more significant success rate has been in IT applications of a smaller scale, such as applications at corporate levels and in government. Some of these examples are cited.The paper concludes that all indicators show that IT is going to be a major driving force of socio-economic development, and that those not yet participating in the IT revolution should prepare to do so soon otherwise they will not reap the benefits of being part of the 'global information system'.

The needs and challenges of Information Systems education — the case of Nigerian Universities

“…The first is the classical one of analyzing the conditions in developed countries, and then replicating and modifying them in developing countries. As Moyo (1996) and Korpela (1996) argue this approach may fail due to diverging socioeconomic and cultural differences in developing countries. They discuss an approach in which conditions in both developed and developing countries are analyzed, similarities and differences are assessed, and policies are formulated to transfer technology on the basis of local needs and capabilities.…”

“…As A vgerou (1996) says, the very common practice of developing countries to export software programming work is not a very longlasting phenomenon while the real IS expertise demands skills and knowledge to analyze both organizational and business conditions, and the capabilities of IT to make effective Information Systems. Moyo (1996) recommends that managers be more responsible for mapping IT strategies for their organizations while the managers' lack of IT understanding seems to be a drawback for organizations in developing countries. This means that besides IT education curriculum development for long-term human resource development, universities and other professional institutions need also to develop Executive Education programs for African managers Naturally the model IS curriculum discussed here cannot be transferred directly to African countries without changes because the model is developed to suit primarily organisations in the Western countries.…”

“…3.1 Selected approach for developing policies Moyo (1996) describes two alternative approaches to formulating IT-related policies for developing countries. The first is the classical one of analyzing the conditions in developed countries, and then replicating and modifying them in developing countries.…”

“…They also need to ensure that IT adoption and use should not only be geared to IT procurement but also to capacity building in IT, i.e., indigenous IT industry and human resource development. In addition, research which supports the development of Information Systems that address the distinctive needs of developing countries needs to be addressed (Moyo, 1996). The design, use and management of IT need a carefully-planned educational infrastructure which should reflect the needs and opportunities of each developing country.…”

The feasibility of ICT diffusion and use amongst rural women in South Africa

“…For instance, while Kenny (1995) argues that access to ICTs is dependent on education and income distribution, Moyo (1996) stressesthe inevitability and pervasion of IT in all sectors of the economy. Some authors like Chowdhury in Adeya (2002: I ) are of the opinion that "the poor cannot eat high-speed Internet", others like Barlow in Adeya (2002: I) maintain that "Africa should skip industrialism entirely and leap directly into the information era".…”