Factors Influencing the Utilization of the Public Internet Terminal System in Two Rural Communities
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Page 1 of 12 Peer Reviewed Article Vol.10(1) March 2008 Factors influencing the utilization of the public Internet terminal system in two rural communities A. Coleman Faculty of Information & Communication Technology Tshwane University of Technology South Africa [email protected] M.E. Herselman Faculty of Information & Communication Technology Tshwane University of Technology South Africa [email protected] S.J. Jacobs Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment Tshwane University of Technology South Africa [email protected] This research investigated the factors that influence the use of the public Internet terminal (PIT) system in the Taung and Ganyesa communities. The PIT system is placed in many post offices in these communities but the service is not adequately used by these rural community members. The overall objective of this study was to investigate, develop and recommend a solution for providing the rural communities of Taung and Gyanesa with a simple and effective way to access and utilize the PIT service and the information on it. A case study approach was used for the purpose of this study which gathered a number of findings, including lack of awareness of PIT services, lack of computer skills and confidence, and fear of technology. Other findings were the overloading of information on the PIT, use of language (not the mother tongue), and the slow response of the PIT system. The findings from this study led to some recommendations and a model for PIT use inr rural communities. Key words: Information kiosk, public Internet terminals (PIT), information and communication technology (ICT) provision, rural communities Received: 19 September 2007; accepted 15 February 2008 Contents 1. Introduction and orientation Page 2 of 12 2. Problem statement 3. Defining the types of information kiosks 4. Factors hampering the use of information on Internet kiosks 5. Methodology 6. Research findings 7. Recommendations 8. Conclusion 9. References 1 Introduction and orientation Providing information to rural communities in Africa for rural development can best be achieved through information technologies, especially those of electronic network and digital storage (CTA 1996). South Africa’s rural communities are no exception. The World Bank Development Report (2000/2001) propagates that information technology (IT) can reduce poverty in Africa by increasing opportunities and enhancing empowerment of the rural poor people. To move and implement this concept of the provision of information and communication technology (ICT) for rural development, the South African government has enshrined in its ICT Charter (2004) the attempt to ensure that all its citizens have the opportunity to access and effectively use ICT. According to Jacobs and Herselman (2006), this will enable citizens to participate fully in the educational, social and economic activities and the democratic process in South Africa. To achieve this, the South African government, through the Department of Information and Communication (DoC), in partnership with the South Africa Post Office (SAPO), has rolled out public Internet terminals (PIT) in many post offices as part of the Department of Communication’s national projects (DoC 2003). The fundamental objective of PIT is to create a communication infrastructure through which the public will have access to government information and services. The public will also be empowered to have electronic access to information and communication via electronic mail. The conceptualization of the PIT project was based on the pursuit of the Department of Communication’s mission statement, which is 'to strive towards a universal service to enable ordinary people to have access, not to traditional media, but also the convenience of Information Technology' (DoC 2003). According to the ICT Charter (2004), the provision of IT services to the rural communities will create a flourishing information society that will improve the quality of life of South Africans and contribute to the economic growth of the nation. However the rural communities of Taung and Gyanesa do not effectively make use of the PIT system. The main focus of this research was to investigate, develop and recommend a solution for providing the rural communities of Taung and Gyanesa with a simple and effective way to access and utilize the PIT services and the information that are provided on the government Website on the PIT. top 2 Problem statement Owing to the growing popularity of the Internet, the government together with the SAPO has invested a substantial amount of money to set up about 700 PIT workstations (DoC 2003) at various post offices in many rural communities. These rural communities include Taung and Page 3 of 12 Ganyesa in the Bophirima Region of the North West Province in South Africa. Despite the infrastructural investment of 700 PIT workstations (DoC 2003) that have been set up in various rural post offices like Taung and Ganyesa, the problem is that people in these rural areas do not effectively use the PIT services for information and the other services that are intended to be provided by the PIT system. As these rural communities do not use the services of ICT effectively, it can create a technological chasm (Raab, Bellamy, Taylor, Dutton and Peltu 1996). With this background, therefore, the research question was: What are the factors influencing the use of the PIT system for disseminating government services and information? top 3 Defining the types of information kiosks The Department of Communications (DoC 2003) defines PIT as a public Internet terminal, that provides services such as government information, educational services, e-mails, Internet browsing and business transactions. As reiterated by Matsepe-Casaburri (2000) the links to the government’s Website provide information on aspects of regulation, legislation, welfare, support grants and rebates to the South African people. Interactive directories of various tertiary institutions are also available. Morris, Sanders, Gilman, Adelson and Smith (1995) state that a kiosk is a small rugged stand-alone structure that is often used as a news stand or band stand for commercial enterprise. Rowly (2000) defines a kiosk as a workstation that is specifically designed for public accessibility and it may stand alone or be networked to a larger computer system. Furthermore, Karcher (2001) defines an information or Internet kiosk as a stationary personal computer (PC) that is designed for public use with the unique requirements of applications, software, hardware and connectivity for the users in a particular location. In this research study, PIT was defined as a stand-alone PC, which is set up in a public place to provide information and Internet services. Considering information kiosks in more detail, Castells (1998) categorized kiosks according to their transactional power and information availability. Four types or categories of kiosks are mentioned: Type 1: Information kiosks with low transaction power and low information availability such as the kiosks at airports, railway and bus stations, which are used for purchasing tickets. Type 2: Information kiosks with high transaction power and low information availability such as the kiosks at libraries that are used for the self-scanning of books. Type 3: Information kiosks with low transaction power and high information availability such as the kiosks at railway and bus stations that are used for finding information on timetables, and the kiosks at car dealers that are used for visualizing a particular car. Type 4: Information kiosks with high transaction power and high information availability such as the kiosks that allow citizens to pay their taxes or access public information. Moerloose, Antico, Lindgreen and Palmer (2005) indicate that other types of information kiosks have appeared since then. Rowley and Slack (2003) suggest that the following dimensions of an information kiosk are useful: z Information provision and promotion z Information exchange between users and the kiosk z Commerce and sales z Strength of customer-retailer relationship that the kiosk supports. Page 4 of 12 Rowley and Slack (2003) argue that the environment, users, tasks and technology should be considered in the design of public access systems. It has been noted that information kiosks have received little media, professional or academic attention (Rowley and Slack 2003; Nicholas, Huntington and Williams 2001). Nevertheless, over the past few years information kiosks have become widespread as an interactive means of providing information to the public (Hariri, Goodyear, Anderson and Meyer 1997; Rowley 2000; Rowley and Slack 2002). The governments of many African countries are therefore exploiting the advantages of information and Internet kiosk type four to provide information to their rural communities. However, it is important that rural communities use these IT facilities adequately. top 4 Factors hampering the use of information on Internet kiosks Cecchini and Scott (2003:73) identify three critical elements of poverty reduction efforts, namely opportunity, empowerment and security, and further state that ICT is the vehicle for achieving this poverty reduction. They state that the experiences from rural India show that ICT, through the use of information kiosks, can enhance poor people’s opportunities to access government services and other useful information. However, there are factors that hamper the use of these information kiosks in our rural areas. These include