The article uses the Global Diffusion of the Internet (GDI) framework to examine Internet diffusion in Rwanda along six dimensions: pervasiveness, geographical dispersion, sectoral absorption, connectivity infrastructure, organisational infrastructure, and sophistication of use. Internet access was launched in 1996, but it was only in 2004 that significant Internet penetration occurred, when the privatisation of Rwandatel to Terracom brought in new investments and technology and the ISP market was opened to competition. Access to the Internet grew to approximately 24% of the population in 2012 or 2.7 million subscribers. Internet growth is hampered by factors which include poor resource mobilisation, unrealistic implementation plans, shortage of qualified human resources, a miniscule private sector, low level of private sector involvement and low Internet usage awareness. Despite these challenges, Rwanda has attained Level 4 (pervasive) for pervasiveness, Level 3 (broad) for connectivity infrastructure, Level 2 (controlled) for organisational infrastructure, Level 3 (highly dispersed) for geographic dispersion, Level 3 (common) for sectoral absorption and Level 3 (transforming) for sophistication of use. This limited progress is due partly to the policy focus on addressing Internet access (Vision 2020), and financial support from multilateral and bilateral agencies. Further policy and regulatory action and heightened awareness of the Internet are required to translate the statistics for GDI into greater access.
The management of electrical and electronic waste (E-waste) requires a collaborative approach against unsustainable electronic waste management. This paper attempts to assess the role of E-waste actors in regard to E-waste management sustainability by evaluating their course of action. It proposes an Ewaste management conceptual framework based on key stakeholders and validates it with 346 top government employees in strategic positions across 10 Ugandan cities. The study utilized Partial Least Square (PLS) technique, a statistical analysis method well-known under Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), for data analysis. The calculated and considered model explains 48.5% of the variance in E-waste management sustainability. The results demonstrate that E-waste handlers role (β = 0.102, t = 2.004, p<0.05), financial institutions role (β = 0.268, t = 2.024, p < 0.05), local government role (β = 0.249, t = 3.612, p < 0.05), role of media (β = 0.316, t = 6.637, p < 0.05), and producer role (β = 0.144, t = 2.845, p<0.05) have significant influence on E-waste management sustainability. However, consumer role in Ewaste (β = -0.051, t = 0.838, p > 0.01) had an insignificant influence on E-waste management sustainability, although, its importance is discussed. The attention of policymakers and waste management planners is drawn towards strengthening the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), fasttracking the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model as an E-waste management model and initiation of E-waste Web-based applications are some of the policy recommendations in this paper. This will ensure sound E-waste management practices for better public health and environmental outcomes.
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