Victor Mbarika ICT Weblog

ICTs Prescribed As Catalyst For African Development

By George Arrey Agbor (Originally published in Cameroon Post Monday, April 05, 2010)

Experts in Information and Communication Technologies, ICTs, drawn from some countries across the world have agreed that ICTs are not only necessary but important to stir development in Africa.
 
Cross Section of ICT Conference Participants
 
This was the overriding outcome of an international conference on ICT for Africa that held recently at the Djeuga Palace Hotel in Yaounde. The conference which was jointly organised by the Southern University, USA and the Department of Mass Communication of the University of Buea was placed under the theme: "ICT for Development - Contributions from the South."

Interview With Prof. Victor Mbarika, Pioneer President of The ICT University

Interviewed by Dibussi Tande (Originally published on Scribbles from the Den)

"A plethora of ICT experts and management scholars and practitioners have suggested the need for human capacity development in the ICT domain in developing economies. Empowering these economies to develop the right solutions with contextual and cultural relevance requires institutions to educate and train graduates to meet their contemporary needs." Prof. Mbarika

In most developing countries, Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) programs and policies almost always center around issues of accessibility, availability and affordability, with not as much attention being paid to human capacity development, which is a critical, if not indispensable, element in  harnessing ICTs for development purposes. Without qualified and well trained ICT experts, it is virtually impossible for these countries to develop viable knowledge economies. It is in a bid to address this issue that a group of visionaries decided to establish The ICT University (ICT-U) is based in Louisiana, USA, which offers ICT-based degree programs that target Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia.

To find out more about this exciting initiative, Scribbles from the Den talked to Cameroon-born Professor Victor W. Mbarika, the pioneer President of ICT-U, who is also the founding and executive director of Southern University's International Center for Information Technology and Development in Louisiana, USA, and the Editor-in-Chief of The African Journal of Information Systems. Excerpts:

International Conference on ICT for Africa 2010

It is quite opportune that Africa has something to contribute to the information age.  First, with innovations like mobile phones, we can say that Africa has not been left out. Africa is reported to be the world's single fastest-growing regional mobile market. Second, some researchers have noted that there tends to be mismatch between the realities for developing economies and assumptions of Western models of enterprise, thus as business practices evolve with their changing business environments, more research is needed to redefine existing knowledge to be consistent and applicable with the dynamic nature of the environment.

(Video) Telemedicine in India

International Director / Executive Producer Brian Hertzock Films in India. Filming case studies in the area of Telemedicine in collaboration with the Southern University ICITD.

(Video) Interview with Prof. Victor Mbarika (Part 1)

Dean Donald Andrews of SU College of Business interviews Prof. Victor Mbarika, Director of ICITD, Southern University on BRB Network TV, a TV Show in Louisiana.

 

(Video) Interview with Prof. Victor Mbarika (Part 2)

Dean Donald Andrews of SU College of Business interviews Prof. Victor Mbarika, Director of ICITD, Southern University on BRB Network TV, a TV Show in Louisiana  

 

2008 ICT for Africa International Conference

ICT for Africa is an International Conference that brings together stakeholders of the educational and industrial sectors in Africa, with the aim of reflecting on how to transfer, diffuse and adopt the Information andCommunication Technologies (ICTs) within the African context. The 2008 ICT for Africa Conference was organized by the International Center for Information Technology and Development, Louisiana, USA and ADCOME, Cameroon. These organizers were supported by a number of other US-based partners including The National Science Foundation, USA, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), theLouisiana Board of Regents, and other Cameroon-based partners like ANTIC, and AIESEC.

The conference successfully ended on the 21st of December in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Over 150 participants came from more than 15 countries in Africa and abroad to learn and share knowledge and experiences in the use of ICTs in education, business, healthcare and development. The opening ceremony was graced with speeches from Mr. Stephen Fox, Deputy Commissioner, Embassy of United States, Cameroon and Mr. Edouard Ebah Abada, Secretary General, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Cameroon. Lecturers and professors from educational institutions including Xavier University, Southern University, Aurburn University, and Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, as well as American University of Nigeria and University of Buea and University of Yaounde I in Cameroon, chaired the doctoral, panel and track sessions in conference. The VIP Summit also brought together a fine audience comprising government ministers, policy makers, university deans and chancellors. These audience included Dr. Ebote, Director, ANTIC, Cameroon; Prof. Vincent P.K. Titanji; Vice-Chancellor, University of Buea; Prof. Sammy B. Chumbow, University of Yaounde I; Prof. Terry Byrd, Aurburn University; and Prof. Michael Best, Georgia Institute of Technology.

A number of new ideas on the opportunities and challenges of using ICT in education, business, healthcare and development in Africa were shared. Recommendations and solutions from the VIP summit had a key emphasis on education and policy implementation. More importantly, partnerships with between American and Cameroonian educational institutions were established during the conference to support doctoral research in Africa. With peer reviewed paper presentations, a panel session on Telemedicine, a VIP Summit, and networking during lunch and dinner events, the 2008 ICT for Africa conference was an unforgettable educational and practice-oriented event.

      ---- To read more on   the ICT for  Africa International conference report, please  visit   http://www.ictforafrica.org/

 

ICT Africa 2008 Yaounde, Cameroon, December 19-21st 2008

"Africa missed the industrial revolution, we can't afford to stand aside and let the communication revolution go by too" Felix Houphouet Boigny

This statement, a warning since 1987 from former Ivory Coast President Felix Houphouet Boigny, to his countrymen, points to the fundamental need for African Nations to make every effort to be part of today’s information age.

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and The Louisiana Board of Regents, we are pleased to announce ICT Africa 2008. This conference will bring together a fine mix of practitioners and academicians in the area of ICTs for sustainable development.

Information Systems Research for Africa: A Renewed Focus

By Victor Mbarika and Peter Meso (Editors-in-Chief, AJIS)

Culled from the editorial of the inaugural issue of the African Journal of Information Systems.

Going to primary and secondary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa, we were taught common songs such as “London Bridge is Falling Down.” As kids we thoroughly enjoyed the songs but never knew or even cared to understand why we were singing those songs about a bridge thousands of miles away from us and in a country we (at the time) never knew anything about. Neither did we ever think about going to visit the famous London Bridge. Of course, our primary and secondary schools teachers had little choice but to teach these songs as they were part of the books used for our classes, most of which were published in England or some other Western nation.

Interplay of cost and adoption of tele-medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of tele-cardiology in Ethiopia

By Mengistu Kifle, Victor W. A. Mbarika and Pratim Datta (Information Systems Frontiers. Volume 8, Number 3 / July, 2006. 211-223)

Abstract 
...the barriers to diffusion of Tele-Medicine are not entirely technical. Cost has to simultaneously satisfy a number of stakeholders... (Anderson, Aydin and Jay, et al., 1994).

Rising costs of the provision of healthcare have been a major issue for debate in both developing and developed countries. This is especially true of very capitalistic societies such as the United States where privatization of the healthcare sector has left many with little or no affordable healthcare. The situation is even worse in developing economies.  Developing countries deal with various problems in the provision of health services and healthcare Tan et al. (E-medicine diffusion: E-medicine in Developed and Developing countries. Chapter 8 in E-health paradigm shift: Perspectives, domains and challenges. In Tan J. (Ed.), Imprint of Wiley, New York, Jossey-Bass, 2005).

Telemedicine in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of teleophthalmology and eye care in Ethiopia

Mengistu Kifie, Victor WA. Mbarika, and Pratim Datta. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST). 57. 10 (2006): 1383 - 1393.

The authors examine the need and adoption of teleophthalmology in sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia, like most sub-Saharan African countries, is faced with limited specialists and health care services. These services are often concentrated in the urban areas, leaving most of the rural population (about 70% of the country) without adequate and timely health care delivery. In Ethiopia, the ratio of ophthalmologists to the population is 1:1,200,000, resulting in inadequate delivery of ophthalmology-related health care services.

College of Business Professor Receives NSF Award

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently informed Dr. Victor Wacham Mbarika of the selection of his proposal for funding by NSF in the amount of $500,000 over a five-year period. The Human Centered Computing Cluster of NSF selected Dr. Mbarika's proposal from among many others from universities across the country.

Southern Center Aims to Aid Africa

Associated Press - July 28, 2007 7:44 PM ET

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - An assistant professor whose main area of expertise is e-business is working to help sick and needy people in Africa get medical care from doctors in Louisiana over the Internet.

Victor Mbarika -- a native of Cameroon -- is director of Southern University's new International Center for Information Technology and Development.

He says it will let village nurses send their patients' photographs and symptoms over the Internet to doctors who can make diagnoses and prescribe treatments.

Telecommunications Stakeholder Perceptions of Teledensity: A Comparison of Stakeholders in the Latin American Region to those in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Mbarika, V., Meso, P. & Musa, P. (Proceedings of the 40th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2007. Manoa: University of Hawaii)

Abstract:
Prior research has identified specific factors that hinder growth of teledensity in developing countries and specific strategies used to overcome such limitations both in Latin America and in Sub Saharan Africa. Prior research has also reported on the perceptions that telecommunications stakeholders have on how various strategies can inform and assist in the enhancement of teledensity in each of the two continental regions. This study investigates similarities and differences in the telecommunication stakeholders’ perspectives of specific strategies used to address teledensity limitations in Latin America as well as in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Cameroon Is Making Strides In ICT - Dr. Mbarika

Interviewed By Fidelis Pegue Manga [Originally published in The Post]

Cameroon-born Victor Wacham Agwe Mbarika is one of Africa's foremost experts on Information and Communication Technologies ICTs. He has been described as being in the forefront of academic research into ICT implementation in Africa, and has provided a theoretically informed framework for understanding ICTs in less developed countries. His work has focused on ICT infrastructure in Africa, and it provides an excellent base from which to begin to understand the contextual differences that dictate information systems research in less advantaged environments.

Mbarika Overseeing Old South Baton Rouge Rebirth

By CHAD CALDER (Originally Published in The Advocate)

Southern University professor Victor Mbarika, newly appointed to the board that will oversee the redevelopment of Old South Baton Rouge, stepped up to the lectern at McKinley Middle School one Tuesday night last month.

Victor Mbarika with SLU Students (c) The Advocate

His job — like that of the 14 others who’d accepted their nominations — was to tell residents a little about himself and what he wanted to focus on personally.

Africa Calling

By: Victor W.A. Mbarika and Irene Mbarika (Published in IEEE Spectrum, May 2006)

Eyes could kill me each time I walked about the streets with my handset," says Siri Nchise, a 29-year-old customer service representative for an Internet service provider in the African city of Douala, in the Littoral province of Cameroon. In the past five years, she's had three cellphones stolen. She keeps buying new ones, because they are the only practical way to connect to friends, family, and business associates.

Toward Sustainable Adoption of Technologies for Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Precursors, Diagnostics, and Prescriptions

By Philip F. Musa, Peter Meso, Victor W. Mbarika
Communications of AIS, Volume 15, Article 33

ABSTRACT
This paper proposes and merges an extension of technology acceptance model with ideas from human development research targeting least developed countries. Specifically, the paper proposes an extension of the influence of perceived user resource, which in turn was developed from the original TAM literature. It is also tied to the Information Technology literature about socioeconomic development. Our objective is to shed light on the interactions between socio-economic development needs and factors generally innate to sub-Sahara Africa and other developing countries that impede sustainable technological adoption and diffusion.

Global Diffusion of the Internet VII- Teledensity Growth Strategies for Latin America: The Case of Columbia and Ecuador

Scott McCoy & Victor Mbarika

Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 16, 2005) 26- 56.

ABSTRACT
The Internet in developing countries grew substantially in recent years. Given the large income disparities and low telephone penetration. rates in most Latin American countries, only about 4% of the region’s population can access the Internet. The International Telecommunication Union reports that teledensity (the number of telephone land-lines per 100 people) in Latin America is currently at about 10.8%. Prior research identified specific factors that hinder growth of teledensity in developing countries and specific strategies used to overcome such limitations.

The Neglected Continent of IS Research: A Research Agenda for Sub-Saharan Africa

Victor W. A. Mbarika, Chitu Okoli, Terry Anthony Byrd, Pratim Datta

(Originally published in the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Vol. 6, No.5, pp.130-170/May 2005, pp. 130-170)

Abstract
Research with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a major region within the world’s second largest continent, is almost non-existent in mainstream information systems research. Although infrastructures for information and communication technology (ICT) are well established in the more developed and industrialized parts of the world, the same is not true for developing countries. Research on developing countries has been rare in mainstream IS and, even where existent, has often overlooked the particular situation of SSA, home to 33 of the world’s 48 least-developed countries. Ironically, it is such parts of the world that can stand to gain the most from the promise of ICT with applications that would help the socioeconomic development of this region. In this study, we present the need for focused research on the ICT development and application for SSA.

SU College of Business E-Business gains global attention

By Alexis J. Alexander

The Southern University College of Business; new electronic business program is steadily gaining national and international recognition.

"The overall idea is to use e-business as a tool in developing countries," said Dr. Victor Mbarika, professor of e-commerce and databases.

In an interview with Afritec LTD, and African Communication and Telecommunication Company, Mbarika stated,

A Re-Examination of Racioethnic Imbalance of IS Doctorates: Changing the Face of the IS Classroom

By Fay Cobb Payton,  Sharon D. White and Victor Mbarika

The Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 37-51/ January, 2005

Article Abstract

There is an extremely low percentage of minority faculty in the IS field. This global trend is highly conspicuous-- a minority of blacks compared to a majority of white academics in England, a minority of Aborigines compared to a majority of white academics in Australia, a minority of blacks compared to a majority of white academics in Canada, and for the purpose of our study, a minority of Native American, Hispanic American, and African American academics compared to a majority of white academics in the United States.

Interview: Quelle chance pour le commerce électronique en Afrique ?

La problématique du commerce électronique et du développement, s'apparente à l'éternelle question de l'oeuf et de la poule. Lequel doit précéder l'autre? Autrement dit, dans notre contexte caractérisé par la carence des infrastructures, à quoi faudrait-il accorder la priorité? Pour certains la question ne mérite même par d'être posée, vu que tout nous manque (cadre reglementaire, infrastructures, plates-formes de transactions), même si par la force des choses, nous sommes entrés à l'ère des "grandes ambitions".

Pour d'autres comme le Dr Victor Mbarika, les deux doivent aller de pair, car argumente t-il, le commerce électronique crée des emplois qui génèrent des revenus, qui à leur tour entrent dans le PNB du pays; donc le commerce électronique peut aussi entraîner le développement.

Prof. mbarika at the "Africa's Brain Grain" Conference

From 19th - 22nd December 2004, Prof. Mbarika was in Nairobi, Kenya for the 2004 AFRICA'S BRAIN GAIN Nairobi Conference. Described as "A Conference for the Diaspora, Universities, Government Departments and Agencies, NGOs, Development Partners, and the Private Sector", the conference theme was "Facilitating Return of Talents to Africa through Research and Project Collaboration".

The goal of the conference was:

• To identify collaboration opportunities in trade and investments between the Diaspora and the African continent.
• To foster research project collaboration between the Diaspora and Africa-based universities, development donors, NGOs, government departments and agencies, and the private sector.
• To foster the formulation of policies that will facilitate integration of the Diaspora into the continent’s capacity development agenda.

Victor Mbarika: Le Commerce Electronique en Afrique n'est encore qu'à ses balbutiements

Interview originally appeared on www.webman-cm.net

"Le Commerce Electronique en Afrique n'est encore qu'à ses balbutiements à cause de la carence des infrastructures bancaires et de communication"

Nous ouvrons cette rubrique l'invité sur le thème du Commerce électronique et de l'enseignement en ligne avec comme pour invité Victor Mbarika. Pardon ... Dr Victor Mbarika. Car à l'âme bien née, la valeur n'attend point le nombre d'années(Site Web personnel -www.vmbarika.com).

Quel âge a notre jeune docteur ? Regardez la photo, et devinez vous même! Le plus important, c'est que ce jeune camerounais sorti à peine de l'adolescence et venant d'un pays estropié technologiquement, est l'un des experts africains dans le domaine des technologies de l'information. Il enseigne le commerce électronique dans des universités américaines (Southern University et A&M College of Business).

Mbarika: E-Commerce in Africa is still at an embryonic stage

Translated from the French original by Dibussi Tande

E-Commerce in Africa is still at an embryonic stage because of deficiencies in the banking and communications infrastructure

We are launching this guest column with a focus on E-commerce and online learning. Our guest is Victor Mbarika. Sorry ... Dr. Victor Mbarika. After all, for souls nobly born, valor doesn't await the passing of years (Personal website - www.vmbarika.com). How old is our young doctor? Take a look at the picture and make a guess! Nonetheless, what is most important is that this young Cameroonian, who is barely out of adolescence and who is from a technologically challenged country, is one of Africa's experts on Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). He teaches e-commerce at an American university (Southern University and A&M College, College of Business, Louisiana).

Victor Mbarika: A Select Bibliography

Dr. Victor Mbarika has published or presented over 55 academic and practitioner articles. The mix of his publications includes: over 20 academic journals and book chapters and  over 35 national and international conference papers. His research and publications focus particularly on IS/IT Transfer and Management in Developing Nations; Individual and Organizational Learning through Multimedia Systems; and Ethnic (Racial) Diversity Issues in Academia with a focus on Minority Doctoral Students and Minority Faculty Recruiting and Retention in IS.

Here is a sample of Dr. Mbarika's publications:

Cyberspace Across Sub-Saharan Africa: From Technological Desert Towards Emergent Sustainable Growth?

Victor W. A. Mbarika, Mike Jensen & Peter N. Meso

Communications of the ACM, 2004. Vol. 45, #12, pp. 17-21

Introduction
Over the past three decades much of the continent of Africa, and especially the Sub-Saharan region, has been viewed as technological desert [8]. Spanning over 24 million square kilometers from the Sahara in the north to the Cape Verde in South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa comprises 49 countries and is home to 659 million people [12]. With her many problems of hunger, epidemics, war, and other related socio-economic problems, the diffusion of the Internet might be the last thing to be associated with Sub-Saharan Africa. While much research has been published on the status and impact of Internet diffusion in other regions of the world [1,2,3,4], little is found in mainstream journals on the diffusion of the Internet in Africa [5], particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. An update of the status of the Internet is thus in order, along with a discussion of some inhibitors and contributors that appear to shape the diffusion of the Internet in this region.

TeleEducation in Africa: A Possible Panacea for Sub-Saharan Africa’s Educational Dilemma

Victor W. A. Mbarika

IEEE Technology and Society. Vol. 22, #4, 2004. pp. 20-26.

"A university without walls" is set to offer new hope for Africa's students who are left behind in the scramble to join the continent's limited colleges and universities. .... "We (The African Virtual University-- AVU) are offering a high-tech solution to a continent grappling with declining budgets, outdated equipment, inadequate staff and limited space for higher education,"

says Professor George Eshiwani, vice-chancellor of Nairobi's Kenyatta University, who heads AVU International [3].

The statement above represents a technological revolution that has come to provide a possible solution to the extremely low levels of education in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Teledensity Technological Growth Strategy for Africa’s LDCs

‘Viagra’ Development Strategy or Sustainable Development Strategy?—The African Telecommunications Stakeholders Speak

By Victor W. Mbarika, Patrick R. McMullen, John Warren

Proceedings of the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2001

Over-dependence of African countries on the West has been reflected in various socioeconomic dimensions. Such dependence has also been reflected in the telecommunications industry of Africa’s LDCs in a bid to solve its low teledensity (number of main telephone lines per one hundred inhabitants) problems. African LDCs are greatly behind other regions of the world in utilizing information and telecommunications technologies, which in turn, has repercussions such as the great digital divide that leaves African LDCs far behind other regions of the world. Various technological-oriented obstacles account for the low levels of teledensity in these countries.

SU College of Business starts E-Business program

BY ALEXIS J. ALEXANDER

The Southern Digest Online - September 28, 2004

"This is a unique program," said Dr. Victor Mbarika, professor of E-Commerce and Databases. "Our goal is to instruct students on becoming internationally competitive as well as becoming entrepreneurs."

The Southern University College of Business has made adjustments, not only structurally, but physically as well to contend with the demands of advancing technology.

The college is now offering an undergraduate degree in Electronic Business for the first time ever, effective the fall 2004 semester.

Victor Mbarika in Brief

Dr. Victor W. Mbarika is on faculty in the College of Business at Southern University and A&M College and is founding director of the University’s International Center for Information Technology and Development (ICITD).

He is an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consultant with various governmental and private agencies. He holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems from the U.S. International University, an M.S. in MIS from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Ph.D. in MIS from Auburn University.

Book Review: Africa’s Teledensity Problems and Strategies

Reviewed by Philip F. Musa

International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 25, No. 8, 2003

Victor W. Mbarika. Africa’s Least Developed Countries’ Teledensity Problems and Strategies: Telecommunications Stakeholders Speak.M.E. & AGWECAMS Publishers, Yaounde, Cameroon, 112 pages. ISBN: 9956-27-003-2]

The thrust of this book is on the assessment of some factors and obstacles (or constraints) that limit teledensity growth, and possible strategies for enhancing teledensity in sub-Saharan Africa. Teledensity is the average number of main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants in a given geographical entity. The data gathered and analysed in the book were from a survey of telecommunications stakeholders from the region. The stakeholders were classified either as governmental or non-governmental. Furthermore, the author classifies the stakeholders by affiliation (operators, regulators, or academia/research/development), in order to analyse the data from multiple perspectives.

Telemedicine in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Proposed Delphi Study

Victor W. A. Mbarika & Chitu Okoli

Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS’03)

By the end of 2001, an estimated 40 million people worldwide—2.7 million under age 15—were living with HIV/AIDS. More than 70 percent of these people (28.1 million) live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Anotherkiller, malaria, is responsible for as many as half the deaths of African children under the age of five. The disease kills more than one million children each year—2,800 per day—in Africa alone. As such
statistics demonstrate, the need for medical care in Sub-Saharan Africa is paramount.

Re-thinking Information and Communications Technology Policy Focus on Internet

By Victor W. A. Mbarika

The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries EJISDC (2002), 9, 1, 1-13.

The digital divide between the West and Africa seems to be drawing closer for many northern and southern African countries in terms of information and communications technology. These countries are experiencing tremendous growth in use of computers, Internet connectivity, wireless communications and many other related technologies. However, the same is not true for Africa’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs) that are still greatly behind other regions of the world in terms of the level of basic telecommunications infrastructure such as teledensity (number of main telephone lines for every one hundred inhabitants).

“Are We There Yet?”

An Exploratory Relationship between National Information Infrastructure Expenditures, Infrastructure Development, and Service-Sector Productivity

By Pratim Datta & Victor Wacham A. Mbarika

Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2004

The worldwide scramble for information expenditures in order to gain productive advantage has been an issue of interest for both national policymakers and researchers. Yet little attention has been paid towards the dimensions of the productivity process, including the time lag between investments and returns. This paper illuminates the dimensions by disaggregating information investments into
information expenditures and information infrastructure development. Based on past literature, this study uses service-sector productivity as a logical outcome of information expenditures. We contend that productivity follows a path from information expenditures through information infrastructure to
service-sector productivity.

Predictors of Growth of Teledensity in Developing Countries: A Focus on Middle and Low-Income Countries.

Victor W. Mbarika, Muhammadou M.O. Kah, Philip F. Musa, Peter Meso & John Warren

The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries (2003), 12, 1, 1-16

Investments in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) have been a major issue of concern in academia and industry. How much a country should invest in its telecommunications infrastructure so as to improve their levels of teledensity is a major challenge. This research examines investments in the telecommunications sector of low and middle-income developing countries. The findings suggest that increased investment in telecommunications infrastructure without the involvement of other socio-economic factors may not improve growth of teledensity in developing countries. The study, however, suggests a positive relationship between teledensity and other variables such as GDP per capita, telecommunications staff and length of wait times to acquire and maintain telephones. Some strategies are suggested as steps to take in order to improve the teledensity levels of the countries used in this study.

Perceived Role of Multimedia Instructional Materials on Multicriteria Technology and Engineering Decisions

Victor W. Mbarika, Chetan S. Sankar, P. K. Raju

Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education 1(2), Fall 2003

Studies have shown that it is difficult for people to deal with multicriteria decision-making situations. Information technology tools such as decision-support systems and expert systems have been developed in order to help them in such situations. Another tool that has been identified as helping managers understand complex engineering decision-making situations is multimedia instructional materials. This research investigates the perceptions of business versus engineering students on improvement of their higher-level cognitive skills when they participated in a multimedia-based case study that used an expert system to model a complex engineering and technical problem. Two groups of students, business and engineering, participated in an experiment, where they analyzed the case study and made their recommendations.

Investments in Telecommunications Infrastructure Are Not the Panacea for LDCs Leapfrogging Growth of Teledensity

by Victor W. Mbarika, Terry Anthony Byrd, Jennie E. Raymond, Patrick McMullen

JMM – The International Journal on Media Management Vol. 2 – No. III/IV – 2000

One of the major prerequisites of economic integration in a modern, complex society is the development of sound infrastructure in the telecommunications sector. The establishment of a modern, reliable, and rapidly expanding telecommunications infrastructure contributes considerably to the promotion of a variety of activities of economic expansion (World Bank Telecommunications Sector Reports, 1991). Some researchers have associated the level of a countryÕs telecommunications infrastructure to teledensity. (Saunders et al, 1994; Gille, 1986). Teledensity is used to refer to the number of main telephone lines for every one hundred inhabitants. Teledensity is also used to refer to the level of a countryÕs telecommunications infrastructure. (Saunders et al, 1994; Gille, 1986).

Teaching Philosophy & Tools

Teaching Philosophy

I believe the classroom should be a fun and relaxed environment that challenges and prompts students to actively participate in the learning process with the goal of improving their higher-order cognitive and decision making skills.