Diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sector

This study seeks to shed some light on the types, usage and availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in four selected government departments in the KwaZulu- Natal government in South Africa. To achieve the stated aim, the study posed and then answered the following re...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Blessing Mbatha, Zandi Lesame
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2013-12-01
Series:Communicare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1638
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832593725455335424
author Blessing Mbatha
Zandi Lesame
author_facet Blessing Mbatha
Zandi Lesame
author_sort Blessing Mbatha
collection DOAJ
description This study seeks to shed some light on the types, usage and availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in four selected government departments in the KwaZulu- Natal government in South Africa. To achieve the stated aim, the study posed and then answered the following research questions: What types of ICTs are available in government departments? What is the purpose of using ICTs in government departments? What are the benefits of using ICTs in government departments? What are the ICTs that civil servants consider to be effective in improving work productivity in government departments? What are the civil servants’ recommendations for improving ICT usage in government departments? The study was informed by the diffusion-of-innovations theory. Government departments considered to be central to service delivery were targeted by means of a survey. To obtain a representative sample, a systematic sampling method was applied. The collected data were analysed using thematic categorisation and tabulation, and the findings were presented descriptively. The results indicate that a variety of ICT tools and services have been adopted in the government departments included in the survey so as to facilitate information sharing and improve communication. All the civil servants surveyed indicated that they used ICTs to communicate with fellow colleagues and to disseminate departmental information. The most popular recommendations included the need for sufficient and coherent government policies to regulate the training of staff in the utilisation of ICTs in the sector. Detailed recommendations for further study are provided.
format Article
id doaj-art-41b5d5b3306b452da3b07b0ab493c127
institution Kabale University
issn 0259-0069
2957-7950
language English
publishDate 2013-12-01
publisher University of Johannesburg
record_format Article
series Communicare
spelling doaj-art-41b5d5b3306b452da3b07b0ab493c1272025-01-20T08:57:37ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502013-12-0132210.36615/jcsa.v32i2.1638Diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sectorBlessing Mbatha0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8128-2035Zandi Lesame1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0096-1827University of South AfricaUniversity of South Africa This study seeks to shed some light on the types, usage and availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in four selected government departments in the KwaZulu- Natal government in South Africa. To achieve the stated aim, the study posed and then answered the following research questions: What types of ICTs are available in government departments? What is the purpose of using ICTs in government departments? What are the benefits of using ICTs in government departments? What are the ICTs that civil servants consider to be effective in improving work productivity in government departments? What are the civil servants’ recommendations for improving ICT usage in government departments? The study was informed by the diffusion-of-innovations theory. Government departments considered to be central to service delivery were targeted by means of a survey. To obtain a representative sample, a systematic sampling method was applied. The collected data were analysed using thematic categorisation and tabulation, and the findings were presented descriptively. The results indicate that a variety of ICT tools and services have been adopted in the government departments included in the survey so as to facilitate information sharing and improve communication. All the civil servants surveyed indicated that they used ICTs to communicate with fellow colleagues and to disseminate departmental information. The most popular recommendations included the need for sufficient and coherent government policies to regulate the training of staff in the utilisation of ICTs in the sector. Detailed recommendations for further study are provided. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1638communication technologies (ICTs)government departmentspurposebenefitscivil servantsimproving work productivity
spellingShingle Blessing Mbatha
Zandi Lesame
Diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sector
Communicare
communication technologies (ICTs)
government departments
purpose
benefits
civil servants
improving work productivity
title Diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sector
title_full Diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sector
title_fullStr Diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sector
title_full_unstemmed Diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sector
title_short Diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sector
title_sort diffusion and adoption of information and communication technologies in the public sector
topic communication technologies (ICTs)
government departments
purpose
benefits
civil servants
improving work productivity
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1638
work_keys_str_mv AT blessingmbatha diffusionandadoptionofinformationandcommunicationtechnologiesinthepublicsector
AT zandilesame diffusionandadoptionofinformationandcommunicationtechnologiesinthepublicsector