Digital Technologies And African Societies

The integration and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in African countries is increasingly observable in various sectors of activity (banking, education, trade, etc.) despite a digital divide still relevant. ICT has become a major sector of the recent growth of a new informal economy in African cities (Chéneau-Loquay, 2008). This question has been at the heart of various international meetings. An overall positive and even utopian momentum is generally heard about the contribution of digital technologies to the development of African states. The adoption or appropriation of digital technologies by Africans is presented in many speeches by politicians or institutions involved in the field of cooperation and international development as an important issue for the development of this continent. These different considerations give rise to reflections on the following themes. - Social Media and Public Space in Africa - Challenges of the digital economy in Africa - ICT and modernization of higher education in Africa

In this paper, the structuration theory of social change is used to assess digital transformation and how it shapes social change through shifting forms of governance. The structuration theory examines human agency in effecting social change and argues that humans effect changes on their environment through their decisions which are constrained by structural constraints of rules and institutions that define their contextual social environment. Through control of the use of resources, social agents can effect change, to the degree, that their resources enable them to define the structures of social organisation. Arguing that digital transformation through digital technology adoption in African societies is exogenous, uncontrolled by the social agents who must harness their structures and resources to adapt and not necessarily shape the social change. The findings indicate that there is changing structure of governance towards platforms through which digital technologies are being integrated defining social and economic arrangements, and social reconfiguration is occurring with adverse effects and social marginalisation. This is due primarily to the physical divide and the structural limitations existing in African societies which are being exacerbated by the shifting governance of social and economic organisations embedded in the platforms. I believe this study is important as it contributes to the discussion on societal transformation and aids in understanding some issues contributing to emerging instability in societies across Africa.

African economies can benefit tremendously from the new wave of digital innovation and information technology by using it to build and maintain sustainable systems. However, the gap in the theory and practice of providing these solutions remains poorly understood and difficult to fill. Only by addressing this gap head-on can it be traversed to the greater benefit of African citizens. Digital Solutions and the Case for Africa’s Sustainable Development is a pivotal reference source that presents existing technologies and their relevant solutions and further inspires inventions and innovation to provide sustainable solutions to African problems. Highlighting a wide range of topics including artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and digital identity, this book is ideally designed for government officials, public officials, computer engineers, economists, IT specialists, entrepreneurs, researchers, academicians, and students.

This book covers various aspects of business such as Entrepreneurship, HR management, Supply chain management, Marketing, Finance, and Globalization within the Africa Context, especially as digital technology changes the African society. Private and NGOs are emerging with greater capabilities and affecting the development of Africa, and this volume explores the impact of such change. This edited volume honours the exemplary contribution of Professor William Darley to the creation and development of the Academy of African Business and Development (AABD). The book is intended for graduate students and researchers interested in business development and practices in Africa.

The theme of the Outlook 2019 is to strengthening the role of science, innovation and research uptake in service of the 2030 Agenda for SD. The volume will therefore critically examine the important role of science, innovation and research for the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and to provoke forward thinking on the role of science, innovation and research in solving global problems related to sustainability.

Africa’s Development Dynamics uses lessons learned in the continent’s five regions – Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa – to develop policy recommendations and share good practices. Drawing on the most recent statistics, this analysis of development dynamics attempts to help African leaders reach the targets of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 at all levels: continental, regional, national and local.

Digital technology covers digital information in every form. The world lives in an information age in which massive amounts of data are being produced to improve our daily lives. This intelligent digital network incorporates interconnected people, robots, gadgets, content, and services all determined by digital transformation. The role of digital technologies in children’s, adolescent’s, and young adult’s lives is significantly increasing across the world. New and emerging devices and services promise to make their lives easier as they create new ways of connecting, creating, and relaxing. They also promise to support learning at home and school by enabling ready access to information and new and exciting pathways for young people to follow their interests. Yet, alongside these conveniences come trade-offs with implications for privacy, safety, health, and well-being. Impact and Role of Digital Technologies in Adolescent Lives provides a deeper understanding of how digital technologies impact the lives of children, adolescents, and young adults; this includes the navigation of developmental tasks and the issues faced when utilizing these technologies. Covering topics such as adolescent stress, cyberbullying, intellectual disabilities, mental health, obesity, social media, and mindfulness practices, this text is essential for sociologists, psychologists, media analysts, technologists, academicians, researchers, students, non-government and government organizations, and professors.

The technological and political convergence of formerly separate communication areas is offering African countries new opportunities. However, Africa has only taken its first steps on the path toward an information society and is lagging far behind when it is compared to the Western countries. It is argued in this book that the way to go is long, difficult, and problematic. Several authors have formulated recommendations that could be helpful to walk this complicated path toward an information society in Africa.

In a world that is essentially digitizing, some have argued that the idea of the knowledge society holds the greatest promise for Africa’s rapid socio-economic transformation. Impacts of the Knowledge Society on Economic and Social Growth in Africa aims to catalyze thinking and provide relevant information on the complex ways in which the information age is shaping Africa and the implications that this will have for the continent and the world. This premier reference volume will provide policy analysts, policymakers, academics, and researchers with fresh insights into the key empirical and theoretical matters framing Africa's ongoing digitization.

The manuscript reflects on the extent to which COVID-19 influenced the education system in Africa, notably South Africa. The purpose was to document lessons learned to inform decision-making and practice while drawing conclusions for future usage.

This book, the second of two volumes, explores the challenges and opportunities presented by the increased presence of social media within African politics. Electoral processes in Africa have assumed new dimensions due to the influence of social media. As social media permeates different aspects of elections, it is ostensibly creating new challenges and opportunities. Most evident are the challenges of hate speech, misogyny and incivility. This book considers the impact of digital media before, during, and after elections, as well as authorities' attempts to legislate and regulate the internet in response. Contributions to this volume analyse social media posts, transgressive images, newspaper articles, and include case studies of Algeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Uganda. This results in the delivery of an original depiction of the use of social media in a variety of African contexts. This book will appeal to academics and students of media and communication studies, political studies, journalism, sociology, and African studies.

New technologies may have transformed human societies, but not much has been written on how they are impacting people in Africa and other developing regions, in terms of how they use technology to enhance their socioeconomic conditions in everyday life. This book critically examines these issues from theoretical, practical and policy perspectives.

One of the challenges encountered in the provision of healthcare is the inability of healthcare systems to adapt to or respond adequately to adverse events (pandemics or otherwise), especially in settings with limited resources. ICTs can be built into healthcare systems to detect and/or mitigate adverse events. The COVID-19 pandemic has showcased the opportunities that are brought forth by ICTs such as the adoption of online consultations by doctors and other innovative ways of providing healthcare despite public health regulations, travel restrictions, and fears tied to physical appointments. Beyond the COVID-19 era, there is a need to reimagine how ICTs could be adopted in healthcare to ensure resilience in the advent of any of these future adverse events. Building Resilient Healthcare Systems With ICTs highlights the various ways ICTs could assist in building resilience within healthcare systems and the various contexts in which resilience could be built within healthcare systems. It portrays practical implications of and value derived from building resilience in healthcare systems. Covering topics such as electronic health information systems, multimodal representation, and supply chain management, this book is an essential resource for healthcare executives, government officials, researchers, computer engineers, and academicians.

This book critically analyses the important role of radio in public life in post-apartheid South Africa. As the most widespread and popular form of communication in the country, radio occupies an essential space in the deliberation and the construction of public opinion in South Africa. From just a few state-controlled stations during the apartheid era, there are now more than 100 radio stations, reaching vast swathes of the population and providing an important space for citizens to air their views and take part in significant socio-economic and political issues of the country. The various contributors to this book demonstrate that whilst print and television media often serve elite interests and audiences, the low cost and flexibility of radio has helped it to create a ‘common’ space for national dialogue and deliberation. The book also investigates the ways in which digital technologies have enhanced the consumption of radio and produced a sense of imagined community for citizens, including those in marginalised communities and rural areas. This book will be of interest to researchers with an interest in media, politics and culture in South Africa specifically, as well as those with an interest in broadcast media more generally.

African newsrooms are experiencing the disruptive impact of new digital technologies on the way they generate and disseminate news. Indeed, newsrooms are being forced to adapt in various ways and there are clear dimensions of localized creativity and adaptations by journalists to the digital revolution. In the same way, the influences of digitization, Internet, and social media are changing the informational needs of readers, including how they engage with news. These developments nonetheless remain on the margins of ‘mainstream’ journalism research – very few researchers have sought to qualitatively capture the implications of developments in digital technologies on the routine practices of African journalists, especially in their ‘natural habitat’, the newsroom. In this light, this edited volume interrogates the changing ecology of newsmaking in Africa in the context of rapid technological changes in newsrooms as well as in the wider social context of news production. It brings together six contributions drawn from five countries: Egypt, Mozambique, South Africa, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, to explore practices, challenges and professional normative dilemmas emerging with the adoption and appropriation of new technologies. While the studies point to dimensions of localised new technology appropriations as defined by the complex socio-political structures in which African journalists operate, they are not rigidly confined to Africa. They are expressly in dialogue with theoretical observations largely emerging from Western scholarship. In this sense, the book goes beyond simply mainstreaming African perspectives, it engages directly with dominant theoretical observations and offers a point of departure for developing what could loosely be branded as an African digital journalism epistemology. This book was originally published as a special issue of Digital Journalism.

New technological innovations have given birth to paradigms such as robotization, increased and advanced mechanization, and dehumanization of public diplomacy around the world. Other related developments have been the acceleration and growing popularization of the smart city concept as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, which have all combined to compel almost all major industries—including diplomacy—to shift online and to be revolutionized. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Digitalization of Diplomacy explores the influences of the new ICTs, AI, and smart cultures on the conduct of public diplomacy. It further examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conduct of digital diplomacy in the world and analyzes the implications of the dynamics of ICTs and AI for teaching and research in digital diplomacy. Covering topics such as defense diplomacy, the fourth industrial revolution, and technological determinism, this premier reference source is an essential resource for diplomats, politicians, government officials, ICT developers, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

This book critically examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated digital innovation within higher education using case studies from Africa. Imagining a future for post-pandemic higher education, it analyses the challenges and opportunities of remote teaching and learning. The book explores the structural barriers around access to higher education and how these were reconfigured and amplified by technology-dependent teaching and learning. Case studies from countries across Africa provide unique insights into the challenges experienced by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, examining examples of emergent pedagogies such as online, mobile and social media-enhanced teaching, and blended learning. The chapters consider online assessment and teacher professional development, critically examining some of the benefits and structural challenges of digital technology integration in the context of pre-existing education disparities (such as students and teachers living in poverty-stricken and highly unequal societies). Offering invaluable insights into higher education in Africa, the book will be essential reading for researchers, scholars, and students in the fields of higher education study, digital education and educational technology, and African and comparative education. It will also be of interest to higher education managers and policymakers.