Conference paper on Smart Transport

The following conference paper was presented at the ACIST 2017 conference in Cape Town recently.

This paper was based on data that student Lizalise Myataza collected during her BCom honours degree. The paper looks at the transport-related mobile apps that have been developed in SADC countries and the extent to which they exhibit "smart" features. We propose a framework for evaluating the "smartness" of apps that goes beyond only evaluating technological features and incorporates the human user.

Backhouse J and Myataza L (2017). Smart transport systems in SADC countries. Proceedings of the African Conference on Information Systems and Technology, 10-11 July 2017, Cape Town, South Africa. Paper 17.

The paper can be downloaded here.

Presenting at the African Cyber Citizenship Conference

Shado Masilela presented a paper at the 2016 African Cyber Citizenship Conference held in Port Elizabeth on the 31st October and the 1st November. The paper, titled "Using personas to understand city residents' information needs and evaluate city information services" was based on the work that Shado completed for her honours during 2015.

Based on interviews with city residents, she developed a set of five personas of typical Johannesburg residents and their information needs. She then used these needs and the profile of each individual to evaluate the City's web site to see how well it was meeting the needs of the different types of residents. She identified several ways for the city to offer better information services to residents.

The paper also investigated the usefulness of the persona method for understanding information needs and provision.


The paper has been published in the conference proceedings and a copy can be downloaded here:

Backhouse J and Masilela S (2016). Using personas to understand city residents’ information needs and evaluate city information services. Proceedings of the African Cyber Citizenship Conference 2016, 31 Oct- 1 Nov 2016, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. pp.232-242.

 

Paper presented at CIRN Conference, Prato

Malefa Topo traveled to Italy last month to present a paper and a research poster titled "Explaining the Use and Non-Use of Smart Cities Services in Johannesburg: Residents’ Perspectives" at the 12th Prato Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN) conference. The paper was based on preliminary results from her master's research that examined what makes residents use or not use Smart Cities services, to try and identify ways that will ensure that all residents have the privilege of using the provided Smart City services. Preliminary results showed that existing models that explain use and non-use need to be expanded to take account of issues of awareness, access, and trust that arise in a developing country context.

Malefa Topo with her research poster

The conference, hosted by Monash University at their centre in Prato, ran from the 9th to the 11th November 2015. Topics relating to information and knowledge sharing and how the production of information and knowledge can reflect unequal distributions of power and privileges were discussed at the conference. The conference also included a workshop on ethics, diversity, and inclusion that aimed to move towards approaches that ensure that ICT facilitates social inclusion and equal privileges.

 

Malefa Topo networking with other researchers

A copy of the paper can be downloaded here:
Topo and Backhouse (2015). Explaining the use and non-use of Smart City services in Johannesburg: Residents' perspectives. Paper presented at the 12th Prato CIRN Conference 9-11 November 2015, Prato, Italy.

Paper accepted for ACIST 2015 conference

A paper by Professor Judy Backhouse, entitled Smart city agendas of African cities has been accepted for the African Conference on Information Systems & Technology (ACIST) 2015 to be held in Accra, Ghana on the 7^th and 8^th of July.

This paper investigates how African cities understand the idea of a Smart City by examining what smart city agendas are being pursued in five cities on the continent and how these agendas are informed by local realities. The paper identifies competing discourses of social inclusion and development that benefit all city residents and smart-looking cities that benefit business and the elite.

More information about the conference can be found here http://www.gimpa.edu.gh/index.php/academics/the-schools/school-of-technology/sot-events/acist-2015.html  

Paper presented at the African Cyber Citizenship Conference

Professor Backhouse attended the African Cyber Citizenship Conference (ACCC2014) held in Port Elizabeth on the 5^th and 6^th November. 

She presented a paper written jointly with Prof Cohen, examining the ways in which information systems researchers define Smart Cities and how African cities are interpreting these definitions. The paper is titled "What is a Smart City for information systems research in Africa? Review protocol and initial results."

The African Cyber Citizenship Conference is a multi-disciplinary conference that brings together researchers in philosophy, psychology, information systems, law and other disciplines to debate issues related to “Cyberspace and its impact on society”. 

The conference proceedings are available from the conference web site.

A copy of the paper is available here:

Backhouse J and Cohen J (2014). What is a Smart City forinformation systems research in Africa? Review protocol and initial results. Proceedings of the African Cyber CitizenshipConference 2014, 5-6 November, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Students present at Postgraduate Conference

Jason van Staden presents his research

Omar Ally listens to the presentations

Honours students on the Information Systems for Smart Cities in Africa project, Omar Ally, Jason van Staden and Candice Visser had the opportunity to present their research findings at the 3^rd Annual School of Economic and Business Sciences Postgraduate Conference on September 19, 2014. 

Jason van Staden presented the findings from his research that looked at the factors that influence City of Johannesburg residents intention to use local e-government. Candice Visser presented the findings from her research titled "Towards a Smart City: An importance-performance analysis of resident's service needs". Omar Ally's research looked at the service needs of young people living in Braamfontein.  

The presentations were well received and generated a lot of interest from fellow students and staff who had questions about the data collection process, the opportunity for new research, the comparisons with smart cities from across the globe, the impact websites can make on service delivery, and the city’s current  state in terms of meeting residents’ needs.

The annual Postgraduate Conference brings together over 250 postgraduate students from the School to present their research to their peers. This year's conference was held at the Protea, Parktonian Hotel in Braamfontein. 

Paper Accepted to ACCC2014 Conference

Professors Judy Backhouse and Jason Cohen have had a paper accepted for the African Cyber Citizenship Conference 2014 (http://accc2014.nmmu.ac.za/) which will be held from the 5^th to the 7^th November this year in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

 

The paper, entitled “What is a Smart City for information systems research in Africa? Review protocol and initial results” presents the initial findings of a systematic literature review of research into information systems for Smart Cities. In particular the paper analyses the ways in which a Smart City is defined by information systems researchers and investigates the possibility of a consensus definition. It also interrogates the smart city efforts of five African cities (Cairo, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lagos and Nairobi) to understand the relevance of the definitions used by researchers to practitioners.