Realities of microenterprises’ ICT use for business activities and for acquiring online government support : a study in Western Cape Province, South Africa

This article provides findings from a study, in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, of microenterprises’ experiences and perceptions of use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for general business activities and for acquiring online government business support information. Using t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe African Journal of Information and Communication Vol. 2019; no. 24; pp. 1 - 23
Main Authors Chigona, Wallace, Malanga, Donald Flywell, Osman, Muhammad Ameer
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Portuguese
Published University of the Witwatersrand 01.12.2019
LINK Centre, School of Literature Language and Media (SLLM), Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand
LINK Centre, School of Literature Language and Media (SLLM)
Subjects
Capability approach (CA)
Communication
Computer Science, Cybernetics
Computer Science, Information Systems
Digital government
E-government
Government business support information
Government websites
Information and communication technologies (ICTs)
Information Science & Library Science
Law
Microenterprises
South Africa
Telecommunications
Western Cape
government websites
microenterprises
e-government
capability approach (CA)
government business support information
South Africa
information and communication technologies (ICTs)
digital government
Western Cape
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Summary:This article provides findings from a study, in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, of microenterprises’ experiences and perceptions of use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for general business activities and for acquiring online government business support information. Using the capability approach (CA) theoretical framework, the study analysed data from interviews with microenterprise owners and digital government experts. The study found that the microenterprises were adept in their use of ICTs in their businesses, but that they encountered problems in using online government business support information services. These problems were found to be the result of deficiencies in the online services’ content, structure, design, navigation, mobile-friendliness, language usage and bureaucratic requirements.
ISSN:2077-7205
2077-7213
2077-7213
DOI:10.23962/10539/28659