Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

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Browsing Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters) by Author "Abrahams, Lucienne"

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    Socio-technical factors impacting youth perspectives on digital transformation in resource-constrained environments: A study of Diepsloot youth
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-06) Matanda, Lorraine; Ochara, Nixon Muganda; Abrahams, Lucienne
    There has been a proliferation of tech hubs in Africa, with more than 80 in South Africa, forming a foundation for more inclusive digital innovation. However, we do not sufficiently understand the relationships between tech hubs, digital inclusiveness and poverty. This study explores the sociotechnical factors influencing access and use of the Internet to achieve social inclusion in resource-constrained environments. The literature reviewed focused on social influences on digital adoption, tech hub infrastructure, digital skills, and trends in Information Communication Technologies (ICT) policies. The study’s findings are categorised into themes using the sociotechnical systems (STS) theoretical framework. Each of the seven STS theoretical components (goals, culture, people, processes, infrastructure, technology and environment) were used as a lens to explore the social and technical factors that influence the perspectives of the youth on digital transformation. These themes were then mapped to the four dimensions of the research questions (social influence of digital adoption, institutional infrastructure for access, digital skills, and ICT policies for digital enablement) to highlight key findings and interpretations of the study. Under social influences, the youth demonstrated resilience driven by a need to improve their standard of living in a challenging environment. The institutional infrastructure, designed to support youth to access digital technologies, is constrained by a lack of resources. Tech hubs are using creative ways with the limited resources to cater to all their patrons, although there is room for improvement. In terms of digital skills, four youth profiles are highlighted to demonstrate a solid existence of digital skills and pursuit of tangible outcomes among the youth. In addition, the youth want to pursue entrepreneurship, meaning that tech hubs can potentially become mass training centres for digital entrepreneurship. Finally, a review of ICT policies revealed a chasm between the ICT policy objectives and activities on the ground, pointing to a lack of implementation and monitoring of ICT policies. Acting as a platform for digital foundations, tech hubs in marginalised environments must engage policymakers and reinforce their role in digital empowerment to influence policy development. This research is located in the qualitative interpretivist paradigm. A total of 21 in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 youth, with an equal representation of male and female, and three tech hub managers. Based on the researcher's analysis, access to the Internet offers the resilient youth a view into "a new world" that make them feel they can achieve anything they want. The high literacy level among the youth puts them in good stead for digital upskilling, and they are motivated to participate in the digital economy. However, ICT policy objectives concerning universal access look good on paper, but in reality, poor people are still offline. They are still excluded.