South African ICT4D papers 2003 - 2016

Abstract

Title: Collaboration towards a more inclusive society: the case of South African ICT4D researchers Abstract. Information and Communication for Development (ICT4D) research involve multiple development paths and heterogeneous possibilities that coexist in different development contexts yet there is the common goal of making a better world with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) though inclusion. Achieving this common goal involves collaboration on various knowledge sharing-related activities, including reviewing, examining, supervision, publishing and writing research proposals with other researchers. We refer to this process of knowledge sharing for maintaining and advancing the body of extant knowledge as research collaboration. In this study, scholarly collaboration in the contexts of South African ICT4D researchers was investigated using a mixed method approach. Firstly, the top three ICT4D journals namely EJISDC, ITD and ITID were selected. A quantitative analysis of South African research collaboration between 2003 and 2016 were conducted to determine the existing research collaboration patterns of South African ICT4D researchers. Of the 1064 articles published between 2003 and 2016 in EJISDC, ITD and ITID combined, 103 (9.68%) articles were contributed by 193 South African authors, with 23 (22.33%) single authored articles and 80 (77.66%) multi authored. The results show that most papers were co-authored, mostly through intra-institutional collaboration with limited inter-institutional collaboration between South African authors or between South African and other African authors. The existing international research collaboration patterns show that South African authors collaborate most frequently with the global north. Secondly, we conducted interviews with the South Africa authors identified as inter-institutional collaborators to understand the drivers, barriers and incentives. We abstract those into policy statements that identify the basic constructs and explore the forces that inhibit research collaboration while also identifying the drivers that incentivize collaboration. We report and generalize our findings, discuss the practical implications, and identify opportunities for future research.