Stakeholder workshop December 2015

The project ended the year with a stakeholder workshop on the 7^th December 2015. This was an opportunity to share our research with stakeholders and to get input from stakeholders on our research agenda for 2016. The workshop was well attended with representatives from the City, the Province and other partner organisations, and there was lively debate about the research presented as well as good ideas for future investigation.

After an update on the project progress for 2016, research was presented in two themes. The first session presented research around how a smart city contributes to quality of life. Two studies were presented, the first looking at how being digitally connected relates to quality of life and the second looking at how the use of apps benefits residents. These studies show that smart city services do contribute to quality of life.

In the second session three studies were presented looking at resident’s information needs and behaviour. The first study examined why people do or do not use smart city services that have been provided by the City. The second tested the e-skills of residents in city libraries to assess whether they are able to make use of digital services being provided. The third study presented an analysis of the types of people who use the City’s web site, analysing their information needs and how well the City’s web site meets them. These three studies all reflected on the unequal access that residents have to smart city services in Johannesburg and Gauteng.

The project team are grateful to stakeholders for their continued interest in and support of our research and look forward to future fruitful engagement. 

Links to the presentations are provided here:

Project update

Session 1 –Smart cities and quality of life

Session 2 –Resident’s information needs and behaviour

Stakeholder Workshop, October

Prof Cohen introduces the project

On the 8^th October the project hosted a workshop with stakeholders to report on our research for 2014 and get input into our agenda for 2015. The workshop was attended by representatives from the City of Johannesburg Group ICT and Information Management, City of Johannesburg Library and Information Services, Joburg Water, and the Gauteng City Regional Observatory, among others.  

Information Systems Honours students Candice Visser, Jason van Staden and Omar Ally presented their research results. Professor Backhouse presented research into how smart cities are being defined by researchers and by cities in Africa.

There was lively discussion of the student’s research results which included analyses of what residents view as important to them as well as their views of the city’s performance in these areas. This analysis makes it possible to identify areas where the city needs to prioritize service improvements, because they are really important to residents. It also makes it possible to identify areas in which the city is performing really well, but are perhaps areas that residents do not really value. This kind of research makes it possible to better target the use of resources. 

Delegates listen attentively as Ms Mpendulo of the City of Johannesburg
Library and Information Services makes a point

Stakeholders at the workshop gave input into areas that need further exploration and made generous offers of assistance in accessing information for ongoing research.