The status of digital innovation and data security in South African Higher Education

Keywords: Higher education, digital innovation, data security, digital policies, South Africa

Abstract

Most Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa have moved teaching and learning to online platforms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this new development, the responsibility falls upon HEIs to ensure the security of their data. The policy expectation is that HEIs adopt innovative strategies to manage disruptions in teaching and learning processes. This article problematises digital innovation as a post-COVID strategy for data security in Higher Education (HE) in South Africa. It uses the Model of Enterprise Intelligence to make a case for digital innovation and the transformation of teaching and learning in South Africa. Within this conceptual framework, evidence from literature and the digital policies from 2004 to 2020 (see Table 1) were analysed to have a better understanding of digital innovation, collaboration, and transformation in South Africa. Methodologically, the article reviewed the literature, secondary data, and the South African policy document on National Digital and Future Skills Strategy (Notice 513 2020). The findings show that the status of digital innovation and data security in South African Higher Education need further review. More specifically, this review should be collaborative, eliminate a top-down approach to digital policy formulation and reduce the effect of inequality through an effective funding for poor students and institutions.

Author Biography

K. S. Adeyemo, University of Pretoria, Pretoria

Department of Education Management and Policy Studies

Faculty of Education, Groenkloof Campus

 

References

Altheide, D., M. Coyle, K. DeVriese, and C. Schneider. 2008. “Emergent qualitative document analysis.” Handbook of emergent methods, 127‒151.

Andrius, B. A., B. Putinas, and P. Ramūnas. 2006. “Developing of an intelligent enterprise staff electronic learning component.” IFAC Proceedings Volumes 39(3): 747‒752.

Avgerinou, M. D. and S. E. Moros. 2020. “The 5-phase process as a balancing act during times of disruption: Transitioning to virtual teaching at an international JK-5 school.” In Teaching, technology, and teacher education during the COVID-19 pandemic: Stories from the field, 583‒594. Waynesfield, NC, USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), 15 Jun.

Azarenko, N. Y., O. V. Mikheenko, E. M. Chepikova, and O. D. Кazakov. 2018. “Formation of innovative mechanism of staff training in the conditions of digital transformation of economy.” In 2018 IEEE International Conference Quality Management, Transport and Information Security, Information Technologies” (IT&QM&IS), 764‒768. IEEE.

Badat, S. 2020. “Reproduction, transformation and public South African Higher Education during and beyond Covid-19.” Transformation: Critical perspectives on Southern Africa 104(1): 24‒42.

Bonfield, C. A., M. Salter, A. Longmuir, M. Benson, and C. Adachi. 2020. “Transformation or evolution? Education 4.0, teaching and learning in the digital age.” Higher Education Pedagogies 5(1): 223‒246.

Bozkurt, A., I. Jung, J. Xiao, V. Vladimirschi, R. Schuwer, G. Egorov, ... and M. Paskevicius. 2020. “A global outlook to the interruption of education due to COVID-19 pandemic: Navigating in a time of uncertainty and crisis.” Asian Journal of Distance Education 15(1): 1‒126.

Buitendijk, S., H. Ward, G. Shimshon, A. H. Sam, D. Sharma, and M. Harris. 2020. “COVID-19: An opportunity to rethink global cooperation in Higher Education and research.” BMJ Global Health 5(7): e002790.

Chigona, A. and R. Dagada. 2011. “Adoption and use of e-learning at tertiary level in South Africa: A qualitative analysis.” In Global Learn, 93‒101. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

Conradie, I. 2018. “Social Policy in South Africa: The challenges of Poverty, Inequality and Exclusion.” Social Work & Society 16(2).

D’Ambruoso, L., M. van der Merwe, O. Wariri, P. Byass, G. Goosen, K. Kahn, ... and R. Twine. 2019. “Rethinking collaboration: Developing a learning platform to address under-five mortality in Mpumalanga province, South Africa.” Health Policy and Planning 34(6): 418‒429.

Department of Basic Education. 2017. Professional Development Framework for Digital Learning. https://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/Documents/Publications/Digital%20Learning%20Framework.pdf?ver=2018-07-09-101748-95. (Accessed 28 April 2023).

Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. 2013. South African Connect: South African Broadband Policy. Government Gazette, 36332. https://archive.opengazettes.org.za/ archive/ZA/2013/government-gazette-ZA-vol-574-no-36332-dated-2013-04-03.pdf. (Accessed 28 April 2023).

Department of Education. 2004. White paper on e-education: Transforming learning and teaching through information and communication technologies (ICT's). Government Gazette, 26762. https://www.gov.za/documents/white-paper-e-education-transforming-learning-and-teaching-through-information-and. (Accessed 28 April 2023).

Department of Higher Education and Training. 2019. The Third National Skills Development Strategy. Government Gazette, 42290. https://www.merseta.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ Promulgation-of-the-National-Skills-Development-Plan.pdf. (Accessed 28 April 2023).

Department of Telecommunication and Postal Services. 2017. South Africa’s National e-Strategy and Roadmap. Government Gazette, 41214. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/ 201711/41241gen886.pdf. (Accessed 28 April 2023).

Du Preez, P. and L. Le Grange. 2020. “The COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching/learning, the digital divide and epistemological access.” Unpublished paper.

Dube, B. 2020. “Rural online learning in the context of COVID 19 in South Africa: Evoking an inclusive education approach.” Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Research 10(2): 135‒157.

Economic Development Department. 2011. National Skills Accord 1. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/ngpdboeredaccordschools3.pdf. (Accessed 28 April 2023).

Gamage, K. A., E. K. D. Silva, and N. Gunawardhana. 2020. “Online delivery and assessment during COVID-19: Safeguarding academic integrity.” Education Sciences 10(11): 301.

Grundspenkis, J. 2002. “Concept of Intelligent Enterprise Memory for Integration of Two Approaches to Knowledge Management.” In Databases and Information Systems II, 121‒134. Springer, Dordrecht.

Jain, R., J. Budlender, R. Zizzamia, and I. Bassier. 2020. The labor market and poverty impacts of covid-19 in South Africa. SALDRU, Cape Town.

Jirgensons, M. and J. Kapenieks. 2018. “Blockchain and the future of digital learning credential assessment and management.” Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability 20(1): 145‒156.

Kayembe, C. and D. Nel. 2019. “Challenges and opportunities for education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” African Journal of Public Affairs 11(3): 79‒94.

Kumar, R., S. Bhalla, T. Arora, and M. Kumar. 2021. “Proliferation of Digital Education in Times of COVID19.” Available at SSRN 3832715.

Lemoine, P. A. and M. D. Richardson. 2019. “Creative disruption in Higher Education: Society, technology, and globalization.” In Educational and social dimensions of digital transformation in organizations, 275‒293. IGI Global.

Letseka, M. and S. Maile. 2008. High university drop-out rates: A threat to South Africa’s future. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.

Manda, M. I. and J. Backhouse. 2017. “Digital transformation for inclusive growth in South Africa. Challenges and opportunities in the 4th industrial revolution.” In 2nd African conference on information science and technology. Cape Town, South Africa.

Marks, A., A. A. Maytha, R. Attasi, A. A. Elkishk, and Y. Rezgui. 2021. “Digital transformation in Higher Education: Maturity and challenges post COVID-19.” In International Conference on Information Technology & Systems, 53‒70. Springer, Cham.

Mawere, T. and P. Sambo. 2021. “Technology and Its Impacts in Higher Education Post COVID-19.” Available at SSRN 3817344.

Mhlanga, D. 2020. “Industry 4.0: The Challenges Associated with the Digital Transformation of Education in South Africa.” The Impacts of Digital Transformation 13.

Mhlanga, D. and T. Moloi. 2020. “COVID-19 and the digital transformation of education: What are we learning on 4IR in South Africa?” Education Sciences 10(7): 180.

Monareng, J., A. B. Ramraj, and P. Mashau. 2020. “The rise in online learning in South African schools due to the Coronavirus pandemic.” Gender & Behaviour 18(4).

Motala, S. and K. Menon. 2020. “In search of the ‘new normal’: Reflections on teaching and learning during Covid-19 in a South African university.” Southern African Review of Education with Education with Production 26(1): 80‒99.

Mutemeri, J. and R. Chetty. 2011. “An examination of university-school partnerships in South Africa.” South African Journal of Education 31(4): 505‒517.

Nguyen, H. D., N. V. Do, N. P. Tran, and X. H. Pha. 2018. “Criteria of a knowledge model for an intelligent problems solver in education.” In 2018 10th International Conference on Knowledge and Systems Engineering (KSE), 288‒293. IEEE.

NOTICE 513. 2020. 513. “National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper of 2016: National Digital and Future Skills Strategy.” South Africa.

Oliveira, G., J. Grenha Teixeira, A. Torres, and C. Morais. 2021. “An exploratory study on the emergency remote education experience of Higher Education students and teachers during the COVID‐19 pandemic.” British Journal of Educational Technology 52(4): 1357‒1376.

Parker, G. G., M. W. Van Alstyne, and S. P. Choudary. 2016. Platform revolution: How networked markets are transforming the economy and how to make them work for you. WW Norton & Company.

Rapanta, C., L. Botturi, P. Goodyear, L. Guàrdia, and M. Koole. 2020. “Online university teaching during and after the Covid-19 crisis: Refocusing teacher presence and learning activity.” Postdigital Science and Education 2(3): 923‒945.

Ross, J. W., C. M. Beath, and M. Mocker. 2019. “Creating digital offerings customers will buy.” MIT Sloan Management Review 61(1): 64‒69.

Sawangchai, A., H. Prasarnkarn, J. Kasuma, A. G. Polyakova, and S. Qasim. 2020. “Effects of COVID-19 on digital learning of entrepreneurs.” Polish Journal of Management Studies 22(2): 502.

Singar, A. V. and K. B. Akhilesh. 2020. “Role of Cyber-security in Higher Education.” In Smart Technologies, 249‒264. Springer, Singapore.

Stiegler, N. and J. P. Bouchard. 2020. “South Africa: Challenges and successes of the COVID-19 lockdown.” In Annales Médico-psychologiques, revue psychiatrique 178(7): 695‒698. Elsevier Masson.

Teräs, M., J. Suoranta, H. Teräs, and M. Curcher. 2020. “Post-Covid-19 education and education technology ‘solutionism’: A seller’s market.” Postdigital Science and Education 2(3): 863‒878.

Thannhuber, M. J. 2006. The intelligent enterprise: Theoretical concepts and practical implications. Springer Science & Business Media.

Toquero, C. M. 2021. “Emergency remote education experiment amid COVID-19 pandemic.” IJERI: International Journal of Educational Research and Innovation (15): 162‒176.

Trcek, D. 2004. “E-business systems security for intelligent enterprise.” In Intelligent Enterprises of the 21st Century, 302‒320. IGI Global.

Tustin, D. H., M. Goetz, and A. H. Basson. 2012. “Digital divide and inequality among digital natives: A South African perspective.” African Journal of Business Management 6(31): 9140‒9150.

Van Schalkwyk, F. 2021. “Reflections on the public university sector and the covid-19 pandemic in South Africa.” Studies in Higher Education 46(1): 44‒58.

Vargo, D., L. Zhu, B. Benwell, and Z. Yan. 2021. “Digital technology use during COVID‐19 pandemic: A rapid review.” Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies 3(1): 13‒24.

Wangenge‐Ouma, G. 2010. “Funding and the attainment of transformation goals in South Africa’s Higher Education.” Oxford Review of Education 36(4): 481‒497.

Watermeyer, R., T. Crick, C. Knight, and J. Goodall. 2021. “COVID-19 and digital disruptions in UK universities: Afflictions and affordances of emergency online migration.” Higher Education 81: 623‒641.

Wereda, W. 2018. “Creating a brand of the intelligent enterprise through building relationships with stakeholders.” Modern Management Review XXIII 25(4): 247‒275.

White Paper. 2020. Digital and Future Skills Strategy. The South African Department of Communication and Digital Technologies.

Published
2023-05-20
How to Cite
Adeyemo, K. S. 2023. “The Status of Digital Innovation and Data Security in South African Higher Education ”. South African Journal of Higher Education 37 (2), 26-39. https://doi.org/10.20853/37-2-5001.
Section
General Articles