Information technology (IT) usage is part of any modern organization be it a business, governmental or nongovernmental one. In a typical organization, investments on desktop and laptop computers, printers, telecommunication networks, database management systems and some specialized information systems (accounting, manufacturing, human resources, customer relationship, supply chain, etc) are commonplace. Bianchi et al (2021) stated that organizations have been using IT to automate and perform process integration, connecting the enterprise with customers, suppliers and distributors to obtain sustainable competitive advantage. Moreover, the pervasive use of technology has created a critical dependency on IT that demands considerable attention to IT Governance (ITG). Ghildyal and Chang (2017) argued that IT governance is an essential part of enterprise governance which is driven primarily by demand for transparency across enterprise IT related risks and protection of shareholder value. Aditya,et al(2018) also share the above view stating that in the era of digital transformation, IT risk is the main focus for top management, especially in business decision making. These clearly indicate that IT governance critically influences firm performance. Lazic et al(2011) also asserted that the fundamental importance of information technology (IT) in today’s business operations can hardly be refuted and while IT spending is constantly rising, the continuous debate surrounding the IT productivity paradox has decreased.

The world is evolving fast in terms of digital technological advancements. Nevertheless, most Malawians still lack basic digital skills. This paper starts by defining basic digital skill, learning from different frameworks through strategic document review, then justifies why basic digital skills should be introduced early in basic education institutions and be considered on the same scale of importance as traditional literacy skills. The paper then advocates for early uptake and acceptance of basic digital skills as mandatory life skills in Malawi’s basic education system and that the basic digital skills should be treated in the same level of necessity as traditional literacy skills. The paper further accentuates that the spectrum of digital skills has grown tremendously in recent years such that attaining competitively productive Information and Communication Technology (ICT)graduates requires the introduction of entry-level digital skills to be consigned further down on the Malawi national qualification framework to primary schools, adult literacy institutions and out-of-school training houses. This would, not only leave the masses of learners who drop from the education system with necessary basic digital skills to access digital information for their livelihood and lifelong learning, but also create opportunity for undergraduate university students to meaningfully engage emerging technologies. Lastly, the paper alludes that such restructuring of content would accord ICT graduates with modern skills that, not only matches the current and projected market demand of digital skills, but also adequately prepare the graduates to follow the cutting-edge of the fast-advancing digital skills continuum. This would entrench the necessary ICT-enabled resilience of Malawi as a nation.

Public Key Encryptions with Keyword Search (PEKS) scheme had been hosted for keeping data security and privacy of outsourced data in a cloud environment. It is also used to provide search operations on encrypted data. Nevertheless, most of the existing PEKS schemes are disposed to key-escrow problems due to the private key of the target users are known by the Key Generating Center (KGC). To improve the key escrow issue in PEKS schemes, the Certificate-Less Public Key Encryptions with Keyword Search (CL-PEKS) scheme has been designed. Meanwhile, the existing CL-PEKS schemes do not consider refreshing keyword searches. Due to this, the cloud server can store search trapdoors for keywords used in the system and can launch keyword guessing attacks. In this research work, we proposed Certificate-Less Searchable Encryption with a Refreshing Keyword Search (CL-SERKS) scheme by attaching date information to the encrypted data and keyword. We demonstrated that our proposed scheme is secure against adaptively chosen keyword attacks against both types of adversaries, where one adversary is given the power to select a random public key as a replacement for the user’s public key whereas another adversary is allowed to learn the system master key in the random oracle model under the Bilinear Diffie-Hellman problem assumption. We evaluated the performance of the proposed scheme in terms of both computational cost and communication cost. Experimental results show that the proposed CL-SERKS scheme has better computational cost during the key generation phase and testing phase than two related schemes. It also has lower communication costs than both related schemes.

These days, there is a growing trend towards ERP systems in Ethiopia. This in turn created an opportunity for ERP vendors to promote their products in the country. Due to large size and inherent complexity of ERP systems, organizations are strongly advised to check their readiness prior ERP system implementation. There are some prior research attempts to develop ERP pre-implementation readiness assessment models and frameworks. However, extant literature reveal that multi stakeholders’ perspective is not well considered in those prior attempts. Besides, most of the prior attempts are in the context of developed countries. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework to evaluate ERP pre-implementation readiness from multi-stakeholders perspective in developing country context. As a foundation, a set of critical success factors were identified from prior literature. Interview and survey questionnaire were used for data collection. Based on the result, an ERP pre-implementation readiness assessment framework is proposed. Feasibility assessment of the proposed framework revealed that the case company has limitations on a number of dimensions. Accordingly, recommendations are forwarded to address the identified gaps.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation continues to hold attraction from information systems enthusiasts. Perhaps due to the rising budget dedicated to the implementation in many an organization in recent times. However, understanding the critical role that ERP implementation plays in Big Data Analytics Capabilities and firm performance is lacking sufficient treatment in the literature. By applying quantitative research techniques in a case study research orientation through the use of resource-based view theoretical insights, the study takes on three key hypotheses: That ERP implementation has a positive relationship with organizational big data analytics capabilities; Big data analytics capability has a positive effect on firm performance and ERP implementation is positively related to organizational performance. Using Partial Least Squared Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM)data analysis techniques the study established a direct link between big data analytics capabilities and firm performance, and that ERP has a direct positive and significant effect on big data analytics capabilities. Lastly, it is the claim of this study that big data analytics capabilities have a direct positive and significant effect on firm performance. Part of the implications of the study highlights the need for a qualitative or even mixed method research undertakings to broaden the frontiers of our understanding in terms of ERP implementation and big data analytics capabilities in similar organizational contexts.

FinTech innovations enable the provision of financial services to many unbanked across the world by increasing access. The key role of FinTech to drive financial inclusion however suffers significant impediments including the digital divide. Nevertheless, there is paucity of elaborate theories on financial inclusion while extant literature on FinTech only identify factors that drive its acceptance and use with little attention to inhibitors such as the digital divide. Employing the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) and the model of digital inequality, this study investigates the impact of FinTech usage on financial inclusion amidst the digital divide. A structural equation modelling technique is applied to data collected from 282 respondents in a survey. The findings confirm the influence of performance expectancy and facilitating conditions on behavioural intentions as well as a positive influence of FinTech use on financial inclusion. The results also show that digital divide measured with access, resource and force moderate the use of FinTech. Significant theoretical contributions are made by the study and practical and policy implications are offered for deepening financial inclusion.

Digital transformation (DT) provides financial institutions with opportunities for growth as well as an expanded reach to a variety of market spaces. One major challenge of DT efforts is the skillset of leaders along with the lack of the commitment to drive the DT initiative. The insufficient digital leadership skills and undefined digital strategies may lead to failed DT and wasted resources. This study followed a Delphi approach to identify the critical skills necessary for leaders in financial service organizations embarking on a DT journey. Based on an initial panel of 10 experts employed in financial institutions in Namibia, the top 3 skills identified pertained to (1) assessing the real benefits of the DT initiative, (2) garnering buy-in from business colleagues for DT initiatives and (3) analysing data for meaningful conclusions. The study also identified ways in which financial institutions can develop skills for DT amongst the leadership teams.

Digitization of learning activities has introduced some notable improvements as well as some significant knowledge retention impairments. Extant theories of knowledge retention are dominated by instrumental and cognitive approaches. Relatively less attention has been paid to the smartphone appropriation which includes instrumental and cognitive approaches but transcends them. This research adopts the smartphone appropriation approach to model antecedents of knowledge retention in the context of technology-mediated learning. It synthesizes user-invited actions based on technology design, knowledge retention, looping, and unlearning. The data analysis and model testing primarily confirm smartphone appropriation in knowledge retention. Complexity of technology usage in itself does not cause an increase in cognitive load. Cognitive load increases because of the combination of smartphone appropriation and extraneous cognitive load. The proposed appropriation model of knowledge retention complements the extant ones. The theoretical contributions are discussed with their research and practical implications.

Accessing different physical objects at any time from anywhere through wireless network heavily impacts the living style of societies worldwide nowadays. Thus, the Internet of Things has now become a hot emerging paradigm in computing environments. Issues like interoperability, software reusability, and platform independence of those physical objects are considered the main current challenges. This raises the need for appropriate software engineering approaches to develop effective and efficient IoT applications software. This paper studies the state of the art of design and development methodologies for IoT software. The aim is to study how proposed approaches have been solved issues of interoperability, reusability, and independence of the platform. A comparative study is presented for the different software engineering methods used for the Internet of Things. Finally, the key research gaps and open issues are highlighted as future directions.

Health is one of the crucial elements for the development of any country and the well being as well as productivity of its citizens. Controlling and auditing the risk that may come from deploying IT for health provision is a key issue in society. This study will assess the moderating role of IT auditing on the relationship among IPLS, user satisfaction and logistics performance of health commodities in Ethiopian hospitals. Data will be collected from respondents in selected Public and Private Hospitals throughout the country using questionnaires by adopting multi stage simple sampling process(Regions, Zones, and Woredas are used to trace hospitals). The study will employ explanatory research design with quantitative approach. The data collected will be analyzed using correlation and regression analyses to investigate the effect of the independent and moderating variables on the dependent variables. The study will have significant contributions for academics, practice, policy and research.

The unexpected outbreak of the COVID pandemic has affected many people and businesses in different ways. As consumers no longer felt safe going to shopping centres they considered online shopping. In South Africa, the online retail market is in its infancy and this presents an opportunity for businesses to capitalise on the current climate. This study investigated the significance of constructs associated with online consumer purchase intention (PI) in South Africa (SA) in a Covid-19 environment. A combination of the Technology Acceptance Model(TAM)and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technlogy-2(UTAUT2)model were used as a basis for the study including COVID-19 as a situational factor. A sample of 368 South African consumers participated in the study through an online survey. The results of this quantitative study revealed that the most significant constructs in determining consumers’ online retail PI in the current environment in SA are Covid-19 and Perceived ease of use(PEOU). The moderation impact of Covid-19 was significant on risk, trust, Perceived Usefulness(PU), PEOU, and Price Value(PV). The implications of this study provide many opportunities for businesses to focus on becoming agile and innovative to drive their online sales.