Prof Marita Turpin

Position: Associate Professor

NRF rating: C3

Office: IT Building 5-66.1

E-mail: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0002-4425-2010

Overview of my research focus areas appears below:

• Developing of 21st century skills in IS and beyond. Effective teaching of 4IR skills, IoT concepts, critical thinking and problem solving. 
• Potential benefits and disbenefits of 4IR technologies (such as IoT) in developing countries..
• The digital and platform economies.  Opportunities and challenges related to the digital economy and platform technologies, in a developing country context. 

The research domains that I investigate include the broad areas of the societal impact of disruptive technologies, teaching of 4IR/21st century skills, ICT for sustainable development.

Topics that I am actively involved in are listed below. I can support students who are committed to researching  suitable topics in one of the following areas:

• Teaching critical thinking and problem solving in the IS domain
• Teaching 4IR skills to working people with non-technology backgrounds
• Teaching platform technology and 4IR skills to graduate students
• Using critical thinking as a means to identify fake news
• Developing community resilience and sustainability through ICT4D interventions
• Societal impact of digital platform businesses and 4IR in developing countries
• Application of fair work principles to digital platform gig workers

These keywords and concepts are relevant to my research. Societal impact of disruptive technologies, digital economy, 21st century skills, critical thinking, fake news, sustainability in ICT4D.

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Dr Funmi Adebesin

 Position: Senior Lecturer 

 Office: IT Building 5-73

 E-mail: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0003-0512-016X

• ICT use in period of pandemics: The role of ICTs in the fight against COVID-19
• Digital health and 4IR. The role of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) in the transformation of healthcare.
• Social media and digital health. The influence of health social networks on health behaviour change and chronic disease management.
• Consumer health wearable devices. Use of consumer wearables for self-tracking/self-quantification, security, privacy, ethical issues around tracking of health data. 

• The role of ICTs in the fight against COVID-19.
• ICT interventions in the period of pandemics.
• The role of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) in the transformation of healthcare.
• The influence of health social networks on health behaviour change and chronic disease management.
• The influence of social media on health self-tracking/self-quantification.
• Factors leading to resistance in the use of electronic medical record (EMR) systems.
• User-centered approaches to the development of EMR systems.
• User-centered approaches to the development of consumer wearable health devices.
• Ethical, security, and privacy issues related to the use of consumer wearable health devices. 
• Legislation and policies for the protection of health data. 
• Impact of healthcare systems on healthcare professionals’ work processes.
• Management and sharing of health data.
• Usability and user experiences (UX) of consumer wearable health devices.
• Usability and user experiences (UX) of mobile apps.

Prof Tendani Mawela

Position: Associate Professor

NRF rating: Y2

Office: IT Building 5-99

E-mail: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0003-0574-3340

My research generally focuses on IS and Organizations. I take an interdisciplinary view in applying either qualitative or quantitative approaches to study the following research focus areas:

• Digital Government (E-Government). The use of information and communication technologies to support the policies and operations of government. 
• ICT for Development (ICT4D). The relation between information and communication technologies and development.
• Digital Skills (E-Skills). The skills and capabilities required to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by ICT’s and mobile technologies.

The research domains that I investigate include Public sector organizations, citizens and other e-government user communities. 

Topics that I am actively involved in are listed below. I can support students who are committed to researching  problems in one of the following areas:

• ICTs for service delivery, citizen participation and governance.
• Social media for civic engagement and political participation.
• The role of ICTs in social and financial inclusion.
• Opportunities, challenges and implications of emerging and disruptive technologies in government.
• The systematic review of Digital Government, Digital Skills and ICT4D literature.

These keywords and concepts are relevant to my research. Digital Government, e-Government, Mobile Government (m-Government), Smart Governance, Digital skills, e-Participation, e-Democracy, ICT  for  Development (ICT4D), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Digital Divide, Digital Inclusion, Social Media, Systematic Literature Reviews. 

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Dr Riana Steyn

Position: Senior Lecturer

NRF rating: Y2

Office: IT Building 5-66

E-mail: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0002-9841-2497

My research generally focuses on Entrepreneurs from an educational perspective. I focus my research on Entrepreneurial skills development and how this can be achieved through various avenues, thus focusing my research on:

• Micro-credentials (Badges) and the role they play to increase entrepreneurial skills levels
• The effect of Nano-teaching and learning on Higher education and/or entrepreneurs
• Educational technologies to increase skills development
• Entrepreneurs and the adoption of IT in their business
• IT training and skills development  needs of entrepreneurs

Topics that I am actively involved in are listed below. I can support students who are committed to researching suitable topics in one of the following areas:

• Micro-credentials (badges) to increase skills levels
• Educational technologies and teaching online
• SME and IT adoption
• Entrepreneurial IT adoption approaches
• IT training needs for entrepreneurs

These keywords and concepts are relevant to my research. IT adoption, entrepreneurs, SMEs learning approaches, Micro-credentials, Nano-teaching and learning

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Dr Tania Prinsloo

Position: Senior Lecturer

NRF rating: Y2

Office: IT Building 5-59

E-mail: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0003-1877-9115

My main research area is within ICT for Agriculture, focusing on the three Sustainable Development Goals: No Poverty, Zero Hunger and Life on Land. In this domain, I look at:

• IS in issues of (in)equality and marginalized groups.
• IS for a greener society, specifically in agriculture.
• Designs for wearable, pervasive, and ubiquitous systems and computing in agriculture.
• Ethical uses of data.
• The role of IS for climate change.
• Animal-computer-interaction.

In terms of ICT for Education, I focus on the Sustainable Development Goals Quality Education and Reducing Inequalities. Here, I focus on:

• Principles of lifelong learning.
• Different learning styles and how to accommodate students in an online environment.
• Continuous assessment vs. the traditional methods of assessment.
• Current IS teaching trends.

Finally, I am interested in developmental issues pertaining to the Global South. 

The research domains that I investigate are new technologies in development, agriculture and education.

These keywords and concepts are relevant to my research. ICT4D, ICT4Ag, ICT for Education, sustainable agriculture using technology, wearable devices in agriculture, IS and climate change, animal-computer-interaction, development in the Global South, lifelong learning, learning styles, continuous assessment, teaching trends.  

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Dr  Nita Mennega

Position: Lecturer

Office: Building IT 5-98

Email: [email protected]

ORCID: 0000-0003-0893-7810

My research generally focuses on the dynamics influencing individuals' decision to enter the Information Technology industry. I take an interdisciplinary view in applying either qualitative or quantitative approaches, or a combination thereof, to study the following research focus areas:

• IT labour market: Shortage of IT professionals, gender issues, diversity issues
• Higher Education: Information Technology qualifications - availability and uptake
• Industry readiness: Soft skills development for the workplace

Topics that I am actively involved in are listed below. I can support students who are committed to researching suitable topics in one of the following areas:

• Factors that influence students' decision to enroll for an IT degree
• Theoretical approaches to investigating the lack of diversity in the Information Technology workforce
• Perceptions of society on the IT industry
• Development of soft skills in engineering and IT students (e.g. communication skills, teamwork, project planning)

The following keywords and concepts are relevant to my research: gender and Information Technology, Information Technology career choice, graduate skills development.

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