University of the Western Cape
Community-driven initiatives for the social sustainability of e-centres in the Western Cape
Abstract
dc:description.abstractE-centres ensure digital inclusion by providing access to information and communication technologies to disadvantaged communities. E-centres face sustainability challenges in their operations, which hamper their digital inclusion agenda. Literature was reviewed to identify factors that contribute to sustainability. A few case studies were evaluated to identify factors contributing to their success or failure. The study seeks to understand how community-driven initiatives can ensure the sustainability of an e-centre, using the six dimensions of social capital theory from (Grootaert, Narayan, Jones, & Woolcock, 2004) to guide the research using a qualitative research approach for data collection with semi-structured interviews as the instrument. E-centre managers, development leaders and e-centre users were interviewed from three e-centres in the Western Cape. The philosophical approach that informed the study is interpretivism as the research paradigm. A purposive sample method was used. The (Miles & Huberman, 1994) model was used to guide the data analysis process, a combination of inductive and theoretical thematic analysis used for analysis. Key findings from the study were the importance of stakeholder relationships, the running of ecentres and the influence e-centres have on communities. Regarding stakeholder relationships, it was noted that relationships amongst the various stakeholders of an e-centre have an impact on the success of the e-centre. In cases where care is not taken to foster the relationships, the e-centres suffer
Degree
thesis:*- Grantor dc:publisher.institution
- University of the Western Cape
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2024
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Authors dc:creator
-
- Sigwadi, Vuyiswa P.
- Njenga, James K.