Beyond access - Integration of ICTs in people’s lives
Abstract
Although there has been a lot of emphasis on increasing access to technology and bridging the digital divide, very little attention has been given to how ICTs have empowered people in their day-to-day activities. There is limited evidence that shows the extent to which technology has affected people beyond increased access, and more so in Africa.
With a focus on the Western Cape Province, this study provides some evidence on how people are employing ICTs in conducting activities and the effect this has on their lives. The study uses the capability approach, which allows it to put this in context and examine what people do with the ICT devices they have available to them.
This study uses data from the 2014 Household and Individual ICT Access and Use Survey conducted in the province by Research ICT Africa (RIA). This quantitative data is analysed using descriptive and empirical methods.
The study finds that social networking is the main driver of internet use, with the mobile phone being the main point of access to the internet. The decision of people to use ICT devices to conduct specific tasks is greatly influenced by the digital connectedness of their friends and their level of education.
KEYWORDS: ICTs, use, capacity, people, Western Cape
Introduction
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been a focus for many nations and evidence shows its role in enhancing development, through job creation and economic growth. However, very little attention has been given to how ICTs have empowered people in their daily activities, equipping them to make decisions and choices (Gigler, 2004). There is limited evidence that shows the extent to which technology has affected people beyond increased access, and more so in Africa. Understanding how technology is being integrated into the lives of people is therefore worth investigating.
Having access to ICTs does not necessarily or automatically translate into progress in development. It has been well documented that there is indeed a link between ICTs and development (Gillwald, Moyo, and Stork, 2013; NPC 2011; Kim, Kelly, and Raja, 2010), however this link could be affected directly or indirectly by various factors. It is important to understand how and in what ways the access and use of ICTs can influence developmental outcomes. According to Gurstein (2003), for individuals to derive the transformative benefits of ICTs, it will depend on how they integrate ICTs into their daily lives. In such, human development should be a priority in the development process. Developing the human capacity to ensure people make informed choices should be at the core of the ICT and development relationship.
The Capability Approach, which this study employs, defines development as a process of expanding the substantive freedom of an individual to achieve the lives they value (Sen, 1999). The CA assumes that well being and agency should be looked at in terms of people’s effective opportunities to undertake the actions and activities that they want to engage in, and be whom they want to be (Wang, 2015).
The issues surrounding access to technology has been the main focus of studies in Africa and research shows that access has greatly improved in the continent. However, little has been done by way of investigating whether access to technology has meant that people are becoming more accustomed to and using it to positively impact their lives.
South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP), emphasises that widespread diffusion of broadband will play a predominant role in bolstering “a dynamic, connected and vibrant information society, fostering a knowledge economy that is more inclusive, equitable and prosperous”, which is envisaged “to improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person” (NDP, 2013).
In line with the national mandate in the South African NDP, the Western Cape Government has acknowledged the importance of ICTs in social and economic development and has embarked on initiatives towards building a digital economy. The Western Cape, like the rest of South Africa is characterised by early adoption of leading-edge technologies by high-income users, while at the same time the majority of the population, the public sector, and most SMEs reflect the slower adoption patterns typical of developing countries (Gillwald, Moyo and Stork, 2013).
To achieve the digital economy, people need to be equipped to use ICTs effectively and in ways that can build their capacity and contribute to their personal, social and economic development. These are some of the issues that this study investigates.
With high mobile phone ownership rates and an increasing trend in internet use in South Africa, the study focuses on mobile phone and internet use among people living in the Western Cape province, looking at what purposes they are being used for. These will be used to assess the extent to which people use ICTs to accomplish tasks in their daily lives and what factors influence the choices they make in their use or non-use of ICTs.
Research questions
With a focus on the Western Cape Province, this study hopes to provide some evidence on how people are employing ICTs in conducting activities and the effect this has on their wellbeing, thereby contributing towards the development of policy to build a digital economy where ICTs become fully integrated in the lives of people, which is at the core of the Western Cape Government development agenda.
In order to meet this objective, the study seeks to answer the following research questions:
1. How digitally ready are people in the Western Cape to make effective use of ICTs?
2. To what extent are people in the Western Cape employing ICTs in their daily activities?
3. What factors contribute to the decisions people make to use ICTs in conducting specific tasks?
4. What are the policy implications for the Western Cape government in building a digital economy?
The Capability Approach
The capability approach developed by Sen is the framework on which the analysis in this paper is based. This approach is employed mainly because of its focus on human development and placing individuals at the centre of the development process. According to the capability approach - “the objective of both justice and poverty reduction should be to expand the freedom that deprived people have to enjoy ‘valuable beings and doings’ (Sen in Alkire, 2005, pg. 3). Having access to the necessary resources and being able to make the choices that matter to them is at the centre of Sen’s capability approach. Sen’s paper ‘The Concept of Development’ states that:
“The enhancement of living conditions must clearly be an essential - if not the essential - object of the entire economic exercise and that enhancement is an integral part of the concept of development” (Sen, 1988, pg.11).
Capability is formulated as ‘functionings (valuable beings and doings)’ and ‘freedom’ (Sen, 1999). Functioning are ‘the various things a person may value doing or being’ (Sen, 1999, pg.75) - these include being nourished, being confident, being able to travel, or taking part in political decisions (Alkire, 2005). Sen further states that capability ‘refers to a person’s freedom to promote or achieve valuable functioning - “it represents the various combinations of functions that the person can achieve” (Sen, 1992, pg.40). The definition of capability therefore combines both functioning and freedom.
As has been shown in various analyses, not all aspects of functioning may be applicable for a particular assessment. This framework allows this study to assess development from the basis of what people value - in this case, this is assessed based on what they use the ICTs they have access to for. Having access to a mobile phone or the internet can be seen as the provision of alternative means that individuals could use to achieve what they want to. This approach allows us to put this in context and examine what people do with these tools they have available to them. The analysis, using this approach will give insight into what people seem to value more in their use of mobile phones and the internet.
Enhancing peoples’ capacity
Making ICTs available and putting them in the hands of people is good and the first step in bridging the digital access gap and connecting people. Now the question remains - what next after being connected and having access. What people do with these tools is important. Further, how these ICT tools are employed to enhance peoples’ capacity to carry out day-to-day activities to improve their well being is crucial as it forms a major part of development.
The Capability Approach used as a framework for this study has several dimensions that focus on well-being and agency freedoms (Gigler, 2011). These dimensions include informational capability, economic capability, political capability, social capability and cultural capability. This study will focus on informational capability, which refers to the freedom to know where to get, inspect, organise and transmit information (Gigler, 2011); social capability, which emphasises the freedom to enhance literacy and knowledge scope and thus provide social opportunities (Heeks & Molla, 2009); and cultural capability, which refers to the capability for entertainment and leisure (Gurstein, 2003). In looking at these three dimensions of capability, the study will analyse how people are incorporating ICTs, mainly mobile phones and the internet, into their daily lives to allow them to undertake the activities they want to engage in (Sen, 1999). With a focus on specific tasks and activities, the study will also investigate the factors that influence the decisions of people to use a mobile phone and/or the internet as an option to conduct these activities.
Methodology
This study uses primary data from the 2014 Household and Individual ICT Access and Use Survey conducted in the Western Cape Province by Research ICT Africa (RIA). This survey was conducted as a baseline study to assess the access and use of ICTs in the province. The survey provides demand-side data gathered at the provincial level through the representative surveys of households and individuals. Enumerator areas (EAs) of national census sample frames were used as primary sampling units. The national census sample frame was split into four strata, to include EAs from three marginalised areas (Khayelitsha, Mitchell’s Plain and Saldanha Bay) and EAs from the rest of the Western Cape province. The random sampling was performed in four steps for households and five steps for individuals, using the 2011 Census Sample Frame from StatsSA. This was used to randomly select EAs.
This quantitative data is used in the analysis for this paper, through the form of descriptive and empirical analysis. The descriptive analysis focuses on the digital readiness of people in terms of their ownership and access of ICT devices. It also looks at various categories and demographics of individuals in relation to ICT access and ownership. The descriptives also draw out the extent of mobile and internet use among citizens, mapping the activities that are conducted the most using these ICTs. It further looks at whether the use of mobile phones and the internet has benefited users and in which areas.
The analysis also assesses the preferred method used by people to conduct and accomplish specific tasks. The findings from this are presented through descriptive and empirical analysis. The empirical analysis uses logistic regression models to investigate the factors that influence the decision to use mobile phones and/or the internet as tools to achieve specific tasks.
Whilst a study using RIA’s 2012 household survey data looks at how social capital affected an individual’s capability to use the internet for specific purposes (Wang, 2015), this study includes mobile phone use in the analysis as more people in Africa have access to mobile phones than they do to the internet and it has actually been their main tool in entering the internet domain (Stork et al., 2013).
Model
Logistic regression models for mobile phone and the internet as tools to aid people in conducting activities they engage in are estimated. Three separate models are run with the first combining the use of the mobile phone and/or the internet, the second looking at mobile phone separately and the third at internet. An index was constructed in each case based on self-reported use of either the mobile phone or the internet as an option to carry out specific tasks.
A factor analysis was conducted to identify the questions that can be grouped together. Three factors were requested, based on the design of the responses to each question: mobile phone assisted, internet assisted, socially assisted (social capital), thereby allowing the study to categorise into ICT aided and non-ICT aided means of achieving specific outcomes. These form the dependent variables depicted in Table 1.
Table 1: Dependent Variables /ICT as a tool / Characteristics of variable
ICT use (mobile phone and/or internet use) / Individual uses ICTs to accomplish a group of tasks = 1, otherwise = 0
Mobile phone use / Individual uses mobile phone to accomplish a group of tasks = 1, otherwise = 0
Internet use / Individual uses the internet to accomplish a group of tasks = 1, otherwise = 0
The influence of a range of potential explanatory variables in the choice of mobile phones and/or the internet as tools for conducting a certain task or activity are tested. Apart from the demographic variables, namely sex, age, education, income, location and employment status, variables that depict the connectedness of peers and the relationship people have within their communities are also included. These two are the main variables of interest in this study and how they are constructed and their expected influence on the use of ICTs are shown in Table 2.