Developing capacity through co-design: the case of two municipalities in rural South Africa

Narcyz Roztocki and Piotr Soja are the accepting Editors for this paper.

ABSTRACT

In South Africa, the socio-economic development of rural communities lags the furthest. One of the factors contributing towards this is the incapacity of local municipalities to deliver basic services. This paper discusses how municipal capacity can be improved through an ICT system that is designed and implemented using co-design. In a case study of two South African rural municipalities, capacity was assessed before and after an ICT system was implemented. Using the co-design methodology, stakeholders became part of the design team. The study empirically showed that capacity increased in both municipalities after the ICT system was implemented. The resulting developmental change manifested itself in the sectors of governance, engagement, human resource management, institutional memory, and access to information. The findings showed that understanding the context and current capabilities of stakeholders and investing time in the design of the ICT system resulted in greater impact than literature previously suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• Co-design
• development
• capacity
• ICT
• rural
• municipalities
• governance
• e-governance
• service delivery

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Water Research Commission (WRC) of South Africa for supporting this research project. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to the municipalities and community members in the Eastern Cape for their support of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Carl Jacobs is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Information Systems at the University of Cape Town. His current research interests lie in e-government success and failure, particularly in redefining these concepts for the South African Water Sector, by applying Critical Systems Heuristics through the lens of the Capabilities Approach. He is a member of the iCOMMS research team, which focuses on understanding the use of ICT systems for the benefit of society. His previous publications have been in e-government, and the co-design of ICT artefacts for local municipalities in South Africa.

Ulrike Rivett is a Professor in the Department of Information Systems at the University of Cape Town. Her research contribution over the last decade has been to “connect the dots” between the academic knowledge of ICT4D and the creation of solutions that offer an innovative approach to existing problems. She heads the iCOMMS research team, which focuses on understanding the use of ICT systems for the benefit of society. Her work and publications have been in the field of mHealth, ICT4D, and ICT in the Water and Sanitation sector.

Musa Chemisto is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Information Systems at the University of Cape Town, and a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at the Islamic University in Uganda. His current research interests include IS/IT analysis and design, implications of IS use, ICT4D, M4D, and Design Science research in emerging countries. He is a member of the iCOMMS research team, which focuses on understanding the use of ICT systems for the benefit of society. He is currently pursuing IS research using qualitative and interpretive approaches. His publications have been in ICT design and use in the Water and Sanitation sector.

ORCID

Ulrike Rivett http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7708-8018

Notes

Narcyz Roztocki and Piotr Soja are the accepting Editors for this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Water Research Commission [grant number K5/2114].