The Challenges of Information and Communications Technology Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Technology Education ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Sub Saharan

Agroecology, Information and Communications Technology, and Smallholders’ Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 1194-1208
Author(s):  
Cheng Wei
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Rural Populations ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Sustainable Rural Development ◽  
Sub Saharan

As a bottom-up, grassroots paradigm for sustainable rural development, agroecology is particularly promising for smallholders in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. However, by adopting agroecology, smallholders will be challenged to take on new perspectives and compile and integrate different sourced information to innovate. Today’s fast evolving information and communications technology in sub-Saharan Africa represents great opportunities for rural populations to enhance the adoption and success of agroecology and to address their daunting challenges simultaneously while conserving, protecting and enhancing natural resources. Agroecology combined with information and communications technology will probably be smallholders’ “precision agriculture” in many developing countries to enhance their food security and livelihood.

scholarly journals Australian Academic Leaders’ Perceptions of the Teaching–Research–Industry–Learning Nexus in Information and Communications Technology Education

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya McGill ◽  
Jocelyn Armarego ◽  
Tony Koppi
Keyword(s):  
Student Learning ◽  
Technology Education ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Potential Outcomes ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Academic Leaders ◽  
Teaching Research ◽  
Learning Research ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
Australian Universities

Strengthening the teaching-research-industry-learning (TRIL) nexus in information, communications and technology (ICT) education has been proposed as a way of achieving improvements in student learning (Koppi & Naghdy, 2009). The research described in this paper builds on previous work to provide a broader understanding of the potential outcomes associated with the TRIL nexus in relation to ICT education. It presents the results of a survey, of Australian ICT academic leaders, designed to clarify the outcomes associated with the TRIL nexus, and to investigate how the synergies associated with it can be better exploited. The results show that the benefits of strong relationships between aspects of teaching, learning, research and industry are recognized and emphasized in Australian universities, but that further action is needed to strengthen relationships with the industry component of the TRIL nexus. Recommendations to help achieve this are made.

Infrastructure and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa: An empirical analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-207
Author(s):  
Onesmus Mbaabu Mutiiria ◽  
Qingjiang Ju ◽  
Koffi Dumor
Keyword(s):  
Energy Transport ◽  
Growth Index ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Inclusive Growth ◽  
Income Disparities ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Access And Affordability ◽  
Infrastructure Services

This study provides an empirical assessment of infrastructure and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). An inclusive growth index has been constructed and then used to test the infrastructure–inclusive growth nexus. The study has also examined whether infrastructure has a distributive impact on income groups. The overall analysis employed panel data collected from 31 SSA countries over the period 2003–17. The study found a positive link between infrastructure and inclusive growth. These results were significant for energy, transport and information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructures. It was also found that poorer people gain more benefits from the listed infrastructures than the rich, which shows that infrastructure plays an important role in the distribution of income. The overall results imply that infrastructure is vital in reducing income disparities and enhancing shared prosperity in SSA. Policies for increasing access and affordability of infrastructure services are highly recommended to promote inclusion.

scholarly journals The Effects of the Catch-Up Mechanism on the Structural Transformation of Sub-Saharan Africa

Economies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ssozi ◽  
Bbaale
Keyword(s):  
Structural Transformation ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Import Penetration ◽  
International Contact ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Sub Saharan

Structural transformation is one of the processes of productivity growth urgently needed in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study uses the catch-up mechanism to analyze how international contacts and domestic absorptive capacity constraints are shaping the pattern of structural transformation in SSA. Using a two-step Generalized Method of Moments on 2000–2015 data for 29 SSA countries, the paper finds that SSA is undergoing a non-classical structural transformation led by the service sector instead of manufacturing. Import penetration, a key variable of international contact, has negative coefficients for both the agricultural and manufacturing shares of gross domestic product (GDP) but is positively associated with both the services shares of employment and GDP. A test of Kaldor’s third law finds that if growth in employment outside manufacturing is in services, it can also increase economy-wide productivity. Hence, it is the international constraints, such as import penetration and foreign direct investment, that are making the structural transformation of SSA non-classical. Services that involve transfer of skills and technology, such as international tourism and information and communications technology services exports, provide opportunities for structural change and productivity growth.

Issues with Distance Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

2009 ◽  
pp. 802-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Millham
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Government Funding ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Push Factors ◽  
Computer Based Training ◽  
Sub Saharan

What are some of the issues relevant to distance education in sub-Saharan Africa? Some of these issues relate to the ‘push’ factors of distance education in sub-Saharan Africa, which include overcrowded tertiary institutions, the need for training in a globalised high-technology world, and the problem of government funding. These ‘push’ factors seem to match the alleged advantages of distance education such as its nonrequirement of residential facilities and its ability to accommodate a flexible number of students at a low cost. It was hoped that new technology, such as computer-based training and the Internet, would provide a medium to which individualised and flexible learning materials could be supplied and which, through online interaction, a form of support for distance education learning could be provided. In this article, we focus on the particular distance education issues in sub-Saharan Africa, such as the lack of government funding and the lack of affordability by potential distance education students, as well as reasons why new technology, such as computerbased learning and online courses which are popular in the developed world, are impractical in developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa. A case study of a sub- Saharan country, Ghana, is provided to demonstrate why various distance education programmes have failed and why information and communications technology (ICT)-based training, despite its promising future, lacks the supporting infrastructure in Ghana that it requires in order to operate effectively.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document