ABSTRACT

A critical and comprehensive reflection of information and communication technology (ICT) is needed to prepare South Africa for the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). Through one uncommonly used theoretical framework in analysing ICT development—dramatism analysis—this article examines South Africa’s ICT development. By examining the nature and features of the development through this framework, this article highlights the multitude of South Africa’s ICT role players, the tensions among them and the unfulfilled roles from any potential hero in South Africa’s ICT drama. The analysis also exposes a shortcoming in current South African ICT literature, which privileges certain aspects of supply-side analysis over other critical supply side as well as demand-side analysis. The article finds that South Africa’s ICT development has largely been unsuccessful due to lack of strong leaders who are able to fulfil the role of a hero, which in turn impedes the country’s ability to take advantage of the opportunities and respond to the challenges presented by the 4IR.

摘要

需要对信息和通信技术 (ICT) 进行批判性和全面的反思，以使南非为第四次工业革命 (4IR) 做好准备。本文通过一个不常用的分析 ICT 发展的理论框架——戏剧性分析——考察了南非的 ICT 发展。通过通过这个框架审视发展的性质和特点，本文重点介绍了南非 ICT 角色的众多参与者、他们之间的紧张关系以及南非 ICT 戏剧中任何潜在英雄未实现的角色。该分析还暴露了当前南非 ICT 文献中的一个缺陷，即供应方分析的某些方面优先于其他关键供应方和需求方分析。