Social Equity and Integrity through ICT: A Critical Discourse Analysis of ICT Policies in Zimbabwe
The prevailing discourse on international development includes ICT as one of the main components which are essential for increasing economic growth and solving social problems. Zimbabwe has like other countries in the world adopted ICT and crafted a policy for the implementation of ICT in the country. The national ICT policy is meant to address various objectives which include creation of a society which is integrated and socially equitable. This study analyses the ICT strategy and its deliverables and makes comparison with social reality.
Research objectives
To establish how the benefits of the ICT policy are related to social equity and integrity
To analyse the capability of the ICT policy to improve social equity and integrity
To explore the extent to which the benefits of ICT comply with social reality and current ICT practises in Zimbabwe
The impact of ICT on economic growth in the developing countries: The case of Zimbabwe
The diffusion of ICT in all its various different forms has been considered to have a huge impact of creating what is essentially an information society. Significant investments are made into ICT and there is an expectation that adequate returns will be obtained from such investment. Like other developing countries, Zimbabwe has experienced an upsurge in investments in ICT without verification that the expected spinoffs were obtaining. This study will analyse the impact of ICTs on economic growth in the country.
Research objectives
To determine impact of ICT on the efficiency of resource allocation
To establish impact of ICT on investment
To analyse the impact of ICT on demand for products and services
Technology and Social Activism: An Empirical Study of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by social activists in Zimbabwe
Social movements are pathways towards augmenting democratic participation and public policy. Internet seems to have given new strength to be part of social movements particularly single-issue groups that are formed to achieve a particular social cause. Though the adoption of new media in the society in last few decades has deepened and broadened the contours of political communication, there is a lack of empirical studies discussing the practicalities of this communication and how technology and new media are appropriated by social activists and other political organisations to achieve their goals. Issues of the sustainability and effectiveness of political organisation are of particular importance in developing countries, where social activists often lack funds and expertise and are needing to find ways to take quick actions and raise large-scale awareness. This study seeks to find out how different kinds of social activists, mobilized around different types of issues and distinct types of social movements, employ information and communication technologies as a means to be informed and be mobilized for collective action.
Objectives
- To determine how various social activists in Zimbabwe are utilising ICTS
- To establish whether the appropriation of new media/tools with their different affordances is helping in constructing unique organisational forms in different Batswana social movements
- To analyse how do these specific contexts shape the appropriation of media, the development of communications forms/practices and the development of the new form of political structures in Zimbabwe
ICT Implementation in Rural Communities in Developing Countries: Case of Zimbabwe
Developing a strategic approach to ICT implementation in Zimbabwe’s secondary schools
Technology and Social Activism: An Empirical Study of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by social activists in Zimbabwe