Writing retreat 2016

Research writing is difficult, especially for students to master. Students on the Smart Cities project recently enjoyed a week-long writing retreat where they worked on their final research reports alongside staff who were working on research articles. Students had completed their data collection and analysis and were putting the results into their final reports.

Honour's students Kundai Mutseyekwa, Brian Opheelwane and Letlotlo Kothane make the hard work look easy

The pleasant surroundings and good food, away from campus, helped to keep everyone motivated and energised, while supervisors were present to answer questions, read and give input along the way. All of the honour's students on the project have since completed and submitted their research reports.

Tom Grace, Bonolo Motsepe, Kundai Mutseyekwa and Prof Jason Cohen enjoy lunch under the trees.

Honours student projects for 2016

The honours students on the project have finalised their research proposals for 2016. Here they each describe their research...

Isa Osmany

Big Data Applications in Smart Cities: A Delphi Study of Components and Challenges to Implementation

This research intends to carry out an exploratory study aimed at identifying the main challenges and key components required to design, develop, and implement smart city applications which utilize big data. A Delphi study consisting of two rounds will take place. In the first round, experts in big data and smart cities will be used to identify the key required components and main challenges. In the second round, these components and challenges will then be rated, according to their importance, and ranked in descending order.

Bonolo Motsepe

South African municipal websites: examining website maturity and the relationship with human development indicators

A smart city is a city which encompasses many different aspects. It makes use of ICT tools and applications to provide better access to and delivery of government services. These services extend across the domains of natural resources and energy, transport and mobility, buildings, living, government, as well as the economy. E-Government initiatives, which form a part of smart city projects, use ICT tools and applications to improve service delivery to society. Local governments in South Africa are implementing smart city initiatives, e-government initiatives as well as poverty alleviation programmes to improve living conditions. The maturity of e-government is dependent on the presence of certain of website features. Website maturity is accelerating in the public sector, with a special focus on functionality and performance, and municipalities have moved away from static dissemination of information.

My study aims to investigate the current state of e-government maturity in South Africa, and examine the relationship maturity has with human development indicators. To achieve this, I employ a purposive sampling of 26 municipal websites. The research is quantitative and descriptive in nature and follows a positivist paradigm. The outcome of this paper will be the current state of e-government in South Africa, and the relationship of e-government maturity with human development indicators. Recommendations will be made on the improvements required for progressive e-government.

Letlotlo Khoathane

Ecosystem factors that impact the implementation of smart city services

Smart cities are a relatively new phenomenon in Africa and little research has been carried out in this context. Therefore identifying factors that contribute towards a smart city ecosystem is significant to understand how smart city services can be implemented within South Africa. The identification of ecosystem factors that have an impact on smart city service implementation can substantially contribute towards understanding which factors to focus on to ensure a greater chance of successful smart city services implementation within the City of Johannesburg. With this understanding, organisations that have a vested interest in smart services can be prepared in dealing with the complexities of implementing smart services and further know how to go about fostering innovation within the city. This research therefore proposes a framework that explores 6 dimensions which are suggested to encompass smart city ecosystem factors. The model is tested using a quantitative approach and makes use of a close-ended field survey. An electronic survey will be distributed to 400 potential respondents in order to gain at least 80 useful responses. The research makes use of regression analysis to establish the extent to which the proposed factors impact the successful implementation of smart city services in the City of Johannesburg.

Lizalise Myataza

A study of data science use for informated transport services within Southern African Development Community countries

In order to achieve a successful transportation sector, it is imperative for a country to have decent transport infrastructure and services. However, this is not the case as many African countries are still grossly underdeveloped with regards to transportation. The idea of smart cities is a much debated topic in terms of what qualifies as smartness for smart cities, and how this can be achieved. The general consensus by authors is that smart cities can enhance the quality of life and transform the transportation industry by providing informated transport services to create an informated living experience. In addition, the emergence of data science brings high hopes for enhancing smart cities due to its capability to transform city life by utilizing big data to provide increased sophistication, in-depth and real time knowledge and management of a city on a larger scale. The research studies the concept of creating smart cities through the provision of informated transport services using data science technologies, specifically in SADC countries.

This research is an exploratory study underpinned by a qualitative methodology. A study is conducted across informated service providers in African cities and the findings are reflected in the research report. The purpose of the study is to determine what informated transport services are offered in SADC countries, identify the providers of such services and establish to what extent informated transport services are supported by data science. The research explores the initial steps for futures studies that may assess the impact of data science use in smart informated services.

Kundai Mutseyekwa

Influential factors for corporations to invest in smart city initiatives as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes in South Africa

The study examines the factors that influence public limited companies and multinational companies to invest in smart city initiatives in South Africa as part of their corporate social responsibility programmes. The study is conducted in South Africa and focuses on corporate social responsibility and smart cities. It aims to fill a gap in our understanding of corporate social responsibility and smart cities: Why do corporations invest in smart city initiatives? The study will provide guidance to stakeholders who are seeking funding from corporations for smart city initiatives. Stakeholders will understand the factors that influence corporations to fund smart city initiatives as part of their social responsibility programmes. This study will be a contribution to academia and to practice.

Brian Pheelwane

Factors influencing the adoption of smartphone applications in the context of a smart city’s e-services

This research focuses on the adoption of smartphone applications (smart city apps), which will assist citizens to access and utilise the services provided by the City of Johannesburg. The factors that influence the adoption of smart city e-services are investigated for further knowledge on how these services can enhance quality of life and to explore challenges in the implementation and adoption of smartphone applications to deliver services efficiently to the city’s residents. This research is underpinned by Rogers 1995 Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT). The theory will be explored for knowledge that can assist the City in enhancing its smart city status, through the use of e-services.

Welcome to the 2016 honours students

The project welcomes a new batch of information systems honours students for 2016.

They are, from left, Brian Opheelwane, Lizalise Myataza, Letlotlo Khoathane, Bonolo Motsepe and Isa Osmany. Lizalise, Letlotlo, Bonolo and Isa are recipients of NRF bursaries for the project.

Kundai Mutseyekwa has also joined the team, but was not available for the photo shoot.

The honours students are hard at work developing their research proposals and we will post information about their research here soon.

Honours students' research projects for 2015

The following research projects are being undertaken by our honours students this year:

Yaseen Patel: Readiness of Library Users for Smart City: A Study of Self-Perceived e-Skills and Actual e-Skills

The context of this study involves the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) upgrades, including computer and broadband in city libraries in an effort to develop Johannesburg into a ‘Smart City’. This solves the issue of access, however, the success of these initiatives depends on the level of participation from residents of Johannesburg. The participation levels depend on the level of e-Skills residents possess. e-skills are defined as the ability to make use of ICTs. Prior research claims that self-reported e-skills are high, but it is uncertain to what extent self-reporting is reliable.

This will be a descriptive study following a quantitative study method using a positivist paradigm. The sample population will be residents who make use of the city library, particularly the main library in Market Street. The data collection procedure will consist of two parts. First the participants will answer a cross-sectional survey questionnaire about their self-perceived e-skills. A short subsequent test will evaluate their  actual e-skills by assessing how participants interact with elements of e-government websites, such as downloading a city budget PDF document. The results will be statistically analysed to determine the correlation between self-perceived e-skills and actual e-skills. The strength of the correlation will determine the reliability of self-reports.

This research will contribute to determine whether library users are ready for ICT upgrades which will be significant in determining if future initiatives will be successful. Finally, this will contribute to establishing whether self-reported skills can be trusted.

Preshlen Reddy: Adoption of Smart Technologies by City Residents and Effects on Quality of Life

Advances in modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have given people extra levels of comfort, enjoyment and convenience. This allows people to perform tasks in their daily lives much more effectively and which could allow for an enhanced quality of life. This may be particularly so with mobile devices and ‘’apps’’ which together constitute Smart Technology. Improving the quality of life of city residents through Smart Technologies is an important objective for Smart Cities. However, there is no evidence as to whether residents who make greater use of these technologies experience a better quality of life in developing city contexts than residents without such access.

Therefore, understanding how Smart Technologies allow residents to access city services and tailor outcomes to their needs and how this influences their quality of life is a research problem in need of attention. Moreover, past literature has not sufficiently explored (1) the factors that influence the adoption of Smart Technology, or the extent to which these particular factors are applicable in developing city context, and (2) the extent to which such adoption influences the degree to which residents experience an increased quality of life. The adoption of Smartphone Technology by residents is important to the success of any Smart Technology initiative in the Smart City context. It is critical to also understand the factors that affect the adoption of Smartphone Technology.

Shado Masilela: Understanding residents: Constructing personas for the City of Johannesburg website

I propose to conduct a study to understand the information needs of the residents within Johannesburg that can be addressed by using Information and Communication Technology (ICT). My study is in response to the emergence of Smart Cities in Western and Asian nations, where South Africa and other African nations have begun to develop their own Smart Cities. This development of African Smart Cities faces challenges unique to the continent. One main challenge that is to be researched within my study is the complex nature of residents within Johannesburg where I will focus on their information needs in relation to their residence in the metropolitan municipality of the City of Johannesburg. The types of information needs include but are not limited to information regarding utilities, property, the local government along with amenities and services available within the city. The specific form of an ICT that aims to fulfil the information needs of Johannesburg’s residents is the official City of Johannesburg website (http://joburg.org.za/) and my study will assess whether  the information needs of residents, that are to be empirically found through the study, can be fulfilled through the services offered through this website. The information needs are to be aggregated and personas constructed including the residents’ motivation and ability to use ICTs generally and specifically regarding the City of Johannesburg website.

My research will contribute to evaluating the effectiveness of constructing personas for understanding residents and also to furthering the development of the City of Johannesburg as a world class African Smart City.

Kalaela Gold: Improving government e-Service delivery: Evaluating the impact of user expectations, derived from personas, on resident satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is considered paramount in the private sector as organisations aim to design service offerings that will continue to be used by their customers. The same is true of the public sector, such as government services provided to its residents. In order for residents to be satisfied with government services, those services must match the residents’ expectations. It is challenging for practitioners who design and develop government e-services to predict resident expectations. Persons – which are used to facilitate user experience design – may be used as a communication tool to guide development in the understanding of residents’ expectations.

Therefore, the purpose of my study is to initially develop a set of personas that represent residents of Johannesburg who use or have an interest in using the e-service on the City of Johannesburg’s website. The expectations of actual users will be derived from the personas. User expectations of the e-services will be used to evaluate the resident satisfaction of the e-services on the City of Johannesburg’s website. A quantitative approach will be taken to develop the personas and to assess resident satisfaction.

The personas constructed in the study may aid the developers of the City of Johannesburg’s website in understanding expectations from users in order to modify existing e-services or develop new services. However, if it is found that residents are generally satisfied, a low adoption rate may be due to the lack of knowledge of the government e-services. Marketing practitioners may use the information in the personas to develop marketing plans in order to spread the knowledge of the existence of the e-service. Resident satisfaction is vital for continued use of the government e-service and contributing to the continued success of Smart Cities.

Mosi Huma: Connect Living: A study of the Effects of Digital Connectedness on the Quality of Life of Smart City Residents

“Smart Cities” has no clear definition as it is dependent on the context the term is used in, however, most Smart City initiatives make use of Information and Communications Technology to provide residents with satisfactory living. Based on the large use of Information and Communications Technologies, a study on the effects of these technologies is needed. This is conducted by assessing the effects of digital connectedness on the quality of life of Smart City residents and is made possible through the large amount of data obtained by the Gauteng City Regional Observatory (GCRO) over the periods 2011 and 2013. The study will assess the effects of connectedness and investigate if other demographic factors are involved in affecting resident’s quality of life. The literature review has allowed for the formation of a model based on the theoretical foundation of satisfaction theory, components of connectedness and theories of quality of life. Literature relating to connectedness in a Smart City context is limited, therefore this study should add to the body of knowledge for research purposes and also contribute to future Smart City initiatives in South Africa. A quantitative approach to research shall be taken as the study is interested in the measurement of observational criteria. As we are dealing with residents from the ten Smart Cities that compose the Gauteng region, a large population is used and interview surveys are used as a method of data collection because this method attains the necessary data with less bias from the respondent.

Welcome to 2015 honours students

We have five Bachelor of Commerce Honours students joining the project team for 2015.

They are (from left) Yaseen Patel, Shado Masilela, Preshlen Reddy, Kalaela Gold and Mosi Huma. Yaseen and Shado are the recipients of the 2015 honours bursaries funded by the National Research Foundation.

Welcome to the team!