The use of multipurpose community telecentres and their services in Malawi: the case of Lupaso Community Telecentre

Kapondera, Sellina Khumbo; Hart, Geneviève

doi:10.7553/82-1-1589

Cited by 14 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…In a review of empirical research on the impacts of public access to ICTs, Sey and Fellows (2011) found that young men with high socio-economic status were the predominant users of telecentres. These results are similar to the findings of other studies in Indonesia (Wijaya and Polina, 2014), Colombia (Amariles et al , 2006b) and Malawi (Kapondera, 2014; Kapondera and Chigona, 2017a, 2017b). As ICT can offer potential benefits to empower women to reach their objectives, it is important to understand the perception and usage behaviour of telecentres among rural women.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Perception, usage and barriers towards the utilisation of the Telecentre among rural women in Tanzania

Lwoga

Chigona

2019

JICES

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Purpose This paper aims to assess the usage pattern of telecentres, how rural women frame telecentres and barriers that limit use of telecentres. Further, the study examined the effects of demographic characteristics and location on telecentre usage. Design/methodology/approach The study used a sequential mixed research design in three rural districts surrounding telecentres: Kongwa, Sengerema and Kilosa districts. The study population comprised rural women who were users and non-users of telecentres. The study conducted six focus group discussions (FGDs) with 37 users and six FGDs with 36 non-users in the first phase of the study in 2014; questionnaires were administered to 90 users and 90 non-users in the second phase of the study in 2015. Findings The primary use of telecentres among users was to access internet (71.4 per cent, n = 60), followed by information and communication technology (ICT) training courses (63.1 per cent, n = 53) and secretarial purposes (63.1 per cent, n = 53). Rural women used internet for educational purposes, followed by news, information on health issues, job opportunities, social and entertainment issues. Rural women currently using internet were more likely to be better educated (ß = 1.926, p = 0.001) and have higher incomes (ß = 5.318, p = 0.021) at both bivariate and multivariate analysis. Users indicated that they faced the following barriers towards using telecentre: short duration of ICT training, frequent power outages, low speed of internet and few computers at the telecentres. Non-users were not using telecentres because of lack of ICT skills and language barriers. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence to telecentres, libraries and other rural ICT initiatives to design rural ICT services that are gender-sensitive and demand-driven.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Perception, usage and barriers towards the utilisation of the Telecentre among rural women in Tanzania

Lwoga

Chigona

2019

JICES

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“…A review of empirical research on the impacts of public access to ICTs revealed that telecenter users are primarily young men with relatively high socio-economic status and prior access to the Internet (Sey and Fellows, 2011). This finding is consistent with other studies in Asia (Wijaya and Polina, 2014) and Africa (Kapondera, 2014). Statistics also show that by 2013 fewer women (16%) in less-developing countries were using the Internet as compared to men.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The use of the Internet, however, continues to be controlled by the existing power relations in the communities, whereby women are regularly disadvantaged in terms of access to and use of these technologies (Kapondera, 2014;Sey and Fellows, 2011;Wijaya and Polina, 2014). A review of empirical research on the impacts of public access to ICTs revealed that telecenter users are primarily young men with relatively high socio-economic status and prior access to the Internet (Sey and Fellows, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics and factors that differentiate Internet users and non-users as information seekers

Lwoga

Chigona

2016

Information Development

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the information needs and information-seeking patterns of users and non-users of the Internet among rural women in Tanzania. The study used mixed research sequential design, wherein the initial qualitative phase informed the design of the cross-sectional questionnaire surveys. The study was conducted in three rural districts in Tanzania that have telecentres: Sengerema, Kongwa and Kilosa districts. In 2014, the study conducted focus group discussions (FGDs): six FGDs with 37 Internet users, and six with 36 non-users. In 2015, questionnaire surveys were administered to 90 users and 90 non-users of Internet from telecenters. The findings showed that there were similarities in the major information needs and information seeking patterns of both users and non-users of Internet, although some variations were noted. Demographic characteristics related to education level, income and number of information sources played a key role in discriminating between Internet users and non-users. This study provides empirical findings for telecenters, libraries and other rural information providers to develop and offer relevant user-centered information services that are gender sensitive, to facilitate equitable access to relevant information for rational decision-making.

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“…One of the explanations singled out for this study defined the digital divide as the gaps that exist between those who can benefit and access different ICTs and those who cannot (Singh, 2004, p. 4). Kapondera and Hart (2016) noted that the information gap transpires as a result of the lack of ICT tools, public library, cyber café, electricity and telecommunications (Vaidya & Nath, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The issues causing the digital divide in rural areas are the inabilities to use ICT tools and lack of skills. Such a lack of skills in an environment with few public libraries expands the digital divide challenges 152 (Kapondera & Hart, 2016). The digital divide challenges influencing the rural areas are low levels for application of ICT tools.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of the Legal Deposit Library in Bridging the Digital Divide: A Case Study of the Msunduzi Library in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Matlala¹

2020

REM

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In the 21st Century, the pace of globalization and the growth of Information Communication Technology (ICT) facilities, such as computers and the Internet are fuelling human advancement. The development of ICT applications plays a vital role in providing information access. Access to the Internet is not enough, but ICT applications and the intellectual knowledge, expertise and skills to use them to find relevant information and solve problems is what is essential. It is critical that people who have access are in a better position as compared to those who lack access. This gap is known as the “digital divide”. In this digital era of information, people who do not have access to the Internet are at a disadvantage. This paper examines the role of a Legal Deposit Library in managing the Digital Divide in the Pietermaritzburg area. This is informed by the idea that libraries play a significant role in helping to bridge the digital divide by providing free access to the Internet and other ICT tools to users. It is well known that the library is the only place where people can access free information through ICTs without any costs. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the collection of data. Data is therefore, obtained through self-administered questionnaires, interviews, and observation. This triangulation of methods of data collection is designed to increase the validity and reliability of the results. The findings indicated that the Msunduzi library plays a key role in the delivery of digital inclusion activities, community engagement and social inclusion. The results indicated that while the Msunduzi library has made a considerable effort to ensure provincial-wide access to ICT, which currently constitutes an effective instrument for meeting information needs, a considerable number of challenges still exist. The factors impeding easy access are unearthed in this article and therefore, the paper recommends that the public library should engage on more outreach programs in order to include more people of the communities as it is clear that, ICT tools are the requirements for accessing information and participating in the global knowledge system because the ability to access ICT tools has become important to individuals to connect economically, politically, and socially with others in the world.

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The use of multipurpose community telecentres and their services in Malawi: the case of Lupaso Community Telecentre

Cited by 14 publications

References 8 publications

Perception, usage and barriers towards the utilisation of the Telecentre among rural women in Tanzania

Perception, usage and barriers towards the utilisation of the Telecentre among rural women in Tanzania

Characteristics and factors that differentiate Internet users and non-users as information seekers

The Role of the Legal Deposit Library in Bridging the Digital Divide: A Case Study of the Msunduzi Library in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

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