Access To Information Communication Technology Research Articles

The effects of digital inclusion and ICT access on the quality of life: A global perspective

The role of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) on the quality of life (QoL) has garnered much research interest recently given the pervasiveness of ICTs in our daily lives. However, whilst the evidence on the effects of ICTs in improving QoL at the individual country level is mixed, the evidence at the global level has not also been fully understood. Besides, the evidence on the linkages between ICTs, digital inclusion, and QoL has been underexplored in information systems research. Even though existing empirical research has largely provided specific results using single country data, there remains a gap in our understanding of the dual effects of digital inclusion and ICT access on QoL and the mediating role of ICT usage at the global level. This study seeks to address these by relying on secondary data from 121 countries for 2018 and structuration theory as a theoretical lens. The results from our PLS-SEM analysis show that digital inclusion and ICT access significantly influence QoL at the global level. Furthermore, our results show support for the mediating effects of ICT usage on the linkages between digital inclusion and QoL. The findings from this study provide key insights that explain how QoL may be enhanced through ICTs.

Application of multicriteria decision aid for evaluation of ICT usage in business

The different types of business management systems provide the functionality for management of business enterprises by enabling the maintaining of data about the management of all types of resources used in business. The statistical data helps us in revealing of information about the functioning of enterprises and the implementation of information communication technologies (ICT). Our research area concerns the methods for evaluation of ICT access and usage in businesses and possibilities to evaluate a variety of different types of used systems. The access and usage of ICT by business enterprises have differences and is quite complex for evaluation. Countries provide statistical data about the level of ICT usage. An approach presented by this research include some methods for multi-criteria decision support by applying the TOPSIS, AHP and SAW methods. As the case study we demonstrate the evaluation of ICT usage in small and medium enterprises of business of Lithuania in comparison with other countries. The TOPSIS method provides the structure of decision making which help to evaluate the distance between the level of ICT usage in business of some countries of EU. Empirical research results show disparities of evaluation of countries by ICT usage in business according to the dynamic perspective.

Evaluation of ICTs access, use and preferences for livelihood resilience: results from a survey of Malaysian fisher folks

ABSTRACTPurpose: This paper examined access, use and preferences of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for weather and flood risk communication towards livelihood resilience (LR) of agricultural communities.Methodology: Cross-sectional data were randomly collected from 362 fishers in east-coast Malaysia and analysed using descriptive statistics.Findings: Communication ICTs accessed are radio, television, mobile phone and social media, while fishing-based ICTs are sonar system, GPRS, echo sounder and wireless. Majority of the fisher folks uses mobile phones and social media for both weather, flood risk communication and advisory services. Preferred ICTs for advisory services are mobile phones, followed by television, while for weather and flood risks, television and social media are the most preferred.Practical Implication: Increased innovative ICTs use, especially the preferred ICTs identified can prove more effective and helpful in achieving governments’ and regional priorities of creating more flood awareness and inciting flood risks perception, hence adaptation action for LR.Theoretical Implication: This research highlights the important role ICTs plays in building LR and the relevance of using preferred communication platforms for effective communication.Originality: This paper contributes to the scarce literature on the relevance of the use of ICTs in building LR within agricultural communities while extending grassroots’ contribution towards achieving LR through expressed preferences of communication platforms.

Access–usage qualities of information technology in higher education setting

This study examined access and usage qualities as perceived by students of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) at a South African technology university. Participants were 40 randomly selected first-year (n = 20) and second-year (n = 20) students with an average age of 23 years. There were 13 female first year students and 12 female second year students. They responded to a brief survey on aspects of ICT availability and utilisation on campus. The data were descriptively analysed. Findings suggest ICT access to be influenced by cost, ownership and usage by individual interest.

The Top-Down Approach to Providing ICT Access to Rural Communities in China: Opportunities for Community Informatics

Community informatics (CI)—as practiced by Western academics and social activists—was introduced to China by a group of library and information science scholars in about 2010. But before this encounter, there was already a growing push in China to connect local communities with information communication technologies (ICTs). This work is generally known in China as community or rural "informatization." Although the new, Western-origin community informatics efforts did not completely overlook existing Chinese endeavors, they have so far done little to relate to ongoing domestic projects. This article attempts to place community informatics in relation to Chinese rural informatization programs in general, and to public access projects in particular. In the process, it examines the opportunities and challenges facing the newly imported community informatics projects. It shows that while CI brings a new perspective to Chinese endeavors, it faces a very different political, institutional, and social environment from what it has known before—one which favors a top-down approach to providing community-based ICT. This calls for prudent assessment of the relationship between CI and both rural communities and government-led projects.

Do ICTs really empower rural women? Interrogation of a Zimbabwean community ICT project

abstract This profile focuses on the work of E-Knowledge for Women in Southern Africa (EKOWISA), a Zimbabwean non-governmental organisation that encourages communities to use Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for livelihood development. The paper interrogates the assumption that ICTs empower women, the meaning of empowerment as well as the particular challenges to ICT access in rural areas (Marcelle, 2000) based on EKOWISA's Community ICT project.