Critically assessing the influence of the global digital policy industrial complex on the formulation of national digital policies: a South African perspective
Date
2021
Authors
Camngca, Ade Ed
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Abstract
Overview: Using South Africa as a case study, this report explores and critically
appraises the extent to which national digital policies are influenced by, or insulated
from, external actors, ideas, and discourses. The research examines the intersection
between global digital policy and South Africa's digital policy priorities. It has done this
to better understand how the South African government has attempted to harness the
developmental potential of digital technologies through specific policies. The research
also considers the interplay between international and intergovernmental institutions,
states of the core, epistemic communities, donors, developed nations, technology
drivers (equipment and software manufacturers) multinational corporations, and the
composition of the relationships between and within these institutions – the
bureaucracies within them, and the alliances that exist between policy networks and
institutions that might influence South Africa’s policy formulation processes. Finally,
this research report demonstrates how certain institutions influence or constrain the
extent to which the country’s digital policies are a product of national debate, reflection,
and determination.
Research Methodology: Leaning on Constructivism as a philosophical foundation,
the research method prioritised the qualitative approach. The constructivist paradigm
was used as a lens for analysing the responses from the interview respondents, who,
through their individual experiences and reflections, have constructed their own
knowledge on how the different aspects of the global digital policy industrial complex
(GDPIC) operate (defined under sections 1.2.1 and 1.2.3). In addition to analysing the
data obtained from interviews, the research also examined two policy documents and
one discussion document to showcase textual evidence of the GDPIC’s influence on
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South Africa’s digital policy formation. The documents that were analysed are the
South African National Broadband Plan- SA Connect (RSA, 2013), the National
Integrated ICT Policy White Paper (RSA, 2016) and Enabling South Africa 4.0
Becoming 4IR Ready: A Government Led Approach (Accenture & RSA, 2019).
Key Findings: The research findings reveal that the global demands of the GDPIC
have influenced two of the three documents that were examined. This has contributed
to setting up the policy, and by extension, the country, for failure. Policy failure in South
Africa has usually been ascribed to improper or no implementation. Less explored is
the idea that South Africa’s digital policies have failed because the ideas and
discourses that inform them serve the interests of the GDPIC rather than serving the
country.
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Art in ICT Policy and Regulation (MA ICTPR) to the Faculty of Humanities, School of Literature, Language & Media studies (SLLM), University of the Witwatersrand, 2021