This book focuses on developing a systematic approach to understanding the transformations in Africa's public sector social media landscape. Looking at the use of social media from the African public sector perspective, the authors present a comprehensive understanding of social media practices and how these could be integrated into African public sector institutions’ operational activities in order to deliver greater value for African citizens and consumers of public goods and services. Chapters explore how social media in Africa differs from traditional media use, their application in the public sector, objectives for government using social media, and how social media plays an interactive role in e-government services. Providings practical guidance on the use of social media in Africa’s public sector and governmental spaces, the book also serves as a teaching text in governance and public sector communication efforts within the African context for both undergraduate and graduate programmes.

“Public sector communication in Southern Africa cannot be understood outside the factors shaped by the region’s historical context, political transitions and, subsequently, the need for transparent and inclusive governance.” In the past decade, digital communication technologies have surged due to the fourth industrial revolution, reshaping communication dynamics with more interactive engagement and rapid feedback. These advancements in the public sector have connected stakeholders to previously inaccessible state branches in South Africa and beyond. Public sector leaders now use digital tools to bolster their brands and demonstrate servant leadership by enhancing service delivery through improved access. This book brings together diverse scholars who contribute insights that analyse the latest theories and practices in the realm of public sector communication in the digital age. It encompasses theory-driven analyses, applied methodologies, and case studies that capture the current realities in public sector digital communication in Southern Africa. EDITORS: Mandla J. Radebe is Associate Professor for Strategic Communication and Director of the Centre for Data and Digital Communication at the University of Johannesburg. Karabo Sitto-Kaunda is Associate Professor for Strategic Communication at the University of Pretoria. Elizabeth Lubinga is Associate Professor for Strategic Communication at the University of Johannesburg.

The advent of social media has had varying effects across fields, industries, and governments. As more individuals rely on this technology, its uses continue to develop and expand. Social media has forever changed the way in which politics are discussed, social movements are formed, and how governments interact with the public. To fully understand the future of social media, further study is required. The Research Anthology on Social Media's Influence on Government, Politics, and Social Movements investigates how social media is used within governments as well as the history behind the technology. The book also examines best practices, tactics, and challenges associated with utilizing social media platforms for social movements. Covering key topics such as communication, interactive technology, and social change, this major reference work is ideal for government officials, industry professionals, policymakers, administrators, business owners, managers, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

This book highlights state-of-the-art research, development and implementation efforts concerning social media in government services, bringing together researchers and practitioners in a number of case studies. It elucidates a number of significant challenges associated with social media specific to government services, such as: benefits and methods of assessing; usability and suitability of tools, technologies and platforms; governance policies and frameworks; opportunities for new services; integrating social media with organisational business processes; and specific case studies. The book also highlights the range of uses and applications of social media in the government domain, at both local and federal levels. As such, it offers a valuable resource for a broad readership including academic researchers, practitioners in the IT industry, developers, and government policy- and decision-makers.

Multilingualism and the Public Sector in South Africa contributes to the discourse on language in South Africa with a specific focus on multilingualism and the public sector. The book argues for and demonstrates the relevance of putting into place appropriate language policies to help the majority of the people of South Africa take an active part in nation-building endeavours; processes in which the public sector is key. The discussion tackles the intricacies of the public sector from a constitutional; legislative and policy; human resource and organisational culture; capital and infrastructure point of view; and builds a case for the provision of multilingual services in the public sector ? as the benchmark of public sector service provision. ?This is a very useful piece of work in terms of its contribution to the general field of language and development. The author is arguing for and demonstrating the relevance of putting into place appropriate language policies to help a majority of the people of South Africa take an active part in nation-building. This can be done through many channels, and the Public Sector is one of the key areas that need to take up this challenge... Many people, linguists included, speak of the relevance of language and multilingualism, but very few are able to illustrate it in an area of relevance such as the Public Sector. This is research that will be of interest to specialists for sure, but also to the layman simply interested in finding out more about the relevance of multilingualism to society; not just in terms of social and cultural heritage, but also in terms of its contribution to an improved economic output? Paulin DJIT�, School of Humanities and Languages, University of Western Sydney ? Australia

"This book provides research on the current actions being taken by developing countries toward the design, development, and implementation of e-government policies"--Provided by publisher.

With the rapid increase in the implementation of e-Government in Africa and across the world, the need to investigate the key bottlenecks (issues) caused by the failure of a large number of e-Government projects cannot be ignored. The main purpose of this book is to contribute to the current scholarly and intellectual discourse on different aspects of e-Government such as understanding the critical issues in design, implementation and monitoring. This book specifically intends to bring out contextual issues that hugely impact on the probability for e-Government failure or success. It also differentiates itself by carefully exploring the issue of context-awareness (informed by the local context) for e-Government design and implementation, which has not been pursued in any publication in e-Government before, although it has been used in other information computational contexts. Therefore, the many theses within this book are concerned with e-Government design approaches, implementation policies and requirements, and monitoring dimensions need to be informed by the contextual characteristics in which they are implemented. This book contributes to the body of knowledge by presenting an in-depth analysis of a case of e-Government implementation. Therefore, this book has its facts backed by intermittent reference to an empirical study done in Zambia to accentuate issues in design, adoption, usage and monitoring of e-Government projects. The case articulates the methodological issues in the design and measurement of e-Government. The use of a combination of structural equation modelling (SEM), exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and advanced techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) in investigating different aspects of e-Government in a developing country context has not been done in any previous research. The novel methodological nuances articulated in this book can go a long way toward understanding the factors explaining successful implementation of e-Government. Previous publications have used basic statistical approaches devoid of adequate scientific or statistical rigour such as descriptive statistics to arrive at factors influencing the success or failure of e-Government. Furthermore, this book contributes to the body of knowledge by emphasising the different dimensions and issues of the multidimensional perspectives of e-Government. The book explores tangible pointers for design and implementation of e-Government, giving it the thrust to potentially guide actual implementation of e-Government in African setups.

As governments around the world seek new and more effective methods of organizing their administrations, electronic government plays an increasingly more important role in governmental success. However, due to hindrances in financial and communication resources, these advantages are often overlooked. E-Government Success Factors and Measures: Theories, Concepts, and Methodologies investigates successful e-government initiatives in a modern technological environment, exploring both benefits and challenges due to various technical, organizational, social, and contextual factors. The book provides academics and professionals with concepts, theories, and current research in the arena of e-government, enabling readers to develop a broader understanding of the measures inherent in successful e-governments on a global scale. This book is part of the Advances in Electronic Government, Digital Divide, and Regional Development series collection.

Information and records management has been an important part of society for establishing procedures to effectively manage information. As technology has increased in society, this essential function has been impacted as well. With the onset of technological tools brought upon by the fourth industrial revolution, technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, big data, and more have changed the face of information and records management. These technologies and tools have paved new ways for security, efficiency in timely processes, new ways to create and process records, and other beneficial traits. Along with these advancements come new contemporary issues, leading to the need for research on how exactly information records management is functioning in modern times, the technologies brought on by the fourth industrial revolution, and both the benefits and challenges to this transition. The Handbook of Research on Information and Records Management in the Fourth Industrial Revolution showcases contemporary issues and demonstrates the value of information and records management in the fourth industrial revolution. The book provides a summary of the key activities undertaken by information and records managers as they seek to make records and information management more visible in the modern knowledge-driven society. The chapters highlight innovation, the use of information and communication technology in information and records management, best practices, challenges encountered, and how they are overcome. The target audience of this book will be composed of professionals, librarians, archivists, lecturers, and researchers working in the field of library and information science, along with practitioners, academicians, and students interested in information and records management in the 21st century.