Disruptive Technologies, Innovation and Development in Africa


Book Description

This book examines how disruptive technologies and innovation underpin the attainment of a broader development agenda in Africa. Contributors show how distinctive forms of technological innovation can impact critical development processes. For example, disruptive technologies can deepen the ongoing democratic and governance waves in Africa, specifically in the area of contested elections. Similarly, innovations in agriculture, the environment and energy promote changes in value chain agriculture, and the use of sensors to manage e-waste and sustainable energy conservation are also transforming established practices. Furthermore, the role of disruptive technologies and innovation in education, health, financial services and the nature of paid work cannot be ignored. Individually and collectively, the authors discuss and highlight the mechanisms and initiatives that can contribute to the realization of the development goals of African countries, especially in a period where disruptive technologies are rapidly changing how things are done. As a result, this book, which represents one of the most recent systematic efforts to bring together dialogue on disruptive technologies in Africa, will be of particular use and benefit to a wide and an eclectic audience.







Public Policy and Technological Transformations in Africa


Book Description

This book examines the links between public policy and Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technological developments in Africa. It broadly assesses three key areas – policy entrepreneurship, policy tools and citizen participation – in order to better understand the interfaces between public policy and technological transformations in African countries. The book presents incisive case studies on topics including AI policies, mobile money, e-budgeting, digital economy, digital agriculture and digital ethical dilemmas in order to illuminate technological proliferation in African policy systems. Its analysis considers the broader contexts of African state politics and governance. It will appeal to students, instructors, researchers and practitioners interested in governance and digital transformations in developing countries.




Disruptive Technology: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications


Book Description

The proliferation of entrepreneurship, technological and business innovations, emerging social trends and lifestyles, employment patterns, and other developments in the global context involve creative destruction that transcends geographic and political boundaries and economic sectors and industries. This creates a need for an interdisciplinary exploration of disruptive technologies, their impacts, and their implications for various stakeholders widely ranging from government agencies to major corporations to consumer groups and individuals. Disruptive Technology: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that examines innovation, imitation, and creative destruction as critical factors and agents of socio-economic growth and progress in the context of emerging challenges and opportunities for business development and strategic advantage. Highlighting a range of topics such as IT innovation, business strategy, and sustainability, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for entrepreneurs, business executives, business professionals, academicians, and researchers interested in strategic decision making using innovations and competitiveness.




Sustainable Development, Digitalization, and the Green Economy in Africa Post-COVID-19


Book Description

This book examines sustainable development in the broader framework of Africa post COVID-19. Specifically, the book studies governance and digitalization from the perspective of natural environment management, climate change, the green economy, as well as agriculture and education. Digitalization supports the deepening of natural resource governance by assessing extractive practices, sovereign wealth funds and the emerging discourse on global warming and green economic policies. This analytical exercise will better inform economic and socio-political policies and institutions for African development. The book, against the backdrop of the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the African Union Agenda 2063, offers unique insights on digitalization, governance, the green economy, and natural resource regime in Africa post COVID-19.




Disruptive Technologies, Innovation and Global Redesign: Emerging Implications


Book Description

"This book provides case studies as well as practical and theoretical chapters on the issues surrounding disruptive technologies, innovation, and global redesign"--Provided by publisher.




Smart Innovation in Agriculture


Book Description

This book is concerned with the systemic examination of the prospects for the development of smart agriculture for sustainable development. This book substantiates the top-priority significance of smart innovation in agriculture for modern economic and ecological systems. The book not only examines the theoretical concept of smart agriculture, but also gives consideration to the rule of thumb in terms of its implementation in different countries worldwide. The book contains both fundamental and applied recommendations on the innovative technological development of smart agriculture in modern economic and ecological systems for sustainable development. The book is not limited to a single vector of development of smart agriculture, but is representative of all of them, making it possible to describe the future prospects in the fullest, most reliable and accurate manner, and to comprehensively present the directions for its development. The book has developed and applied an advanced and sophisticated methodology, the advantage of which consists in the reliance on big data with the use of datasets, which allows improving accuracy, reliability, authenticity, and coverage of results.




Examining the Rapid Advance of Digital Technology in Africa


Book Description

There are essential questions surrounding Africa's digitalization journey, including whether or not the continent can truly serve as the last frontier for socio-economic transformation through digital innovation. An examination of countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and Rwanda, which are actively pursuing digitalization, may provide some answers. To evaluate the potential implications, both real and potential, that arise from this focused pursuit, a critical analysis is necessary. Scrutiny of digital infrastructure by companies like Huawei, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and the advent of quantum computing will open new pathways to understanding and establishing promising approaches to the advancement of this region. Examining the Rapid Advance of Digital Technology in Africa offers a comprehensive exploration of the transformative power of digitalization in Africa and its implications for the continent's socio-economic development. It engages with the field of science and technology studies, linking it with socio-economic impacts and transformation, to track, analyze, understand, and critique Africa's contributions to digitalization. The chapters cover a wide range of themes, including ICTs and the business environment, education, healthcare, creative industries, media, culture, tourism, agriculture, ecology, artificial intelligence, blockchain and cryptocurrency revolution, algorithmic governance, the quantum age, and urbanization. This book is a must-read for researchers, scholars, investors, and policymakers who are interested in Africa's digital transformation, as it offers valuable insights into the latest empirical and theoretical aspects shaping the continent's ongoing digitalization.




Digital Innovations for a Circular Plastic Economy in Africa


Book Description

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest challenges of the twenty-first century that requires innovative and varied solutions. Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, this book brings together interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder perspectives exploring challenges and opportunities for utilising digital innovations to manage and accelerate the transition to a circular plastic economy (CPE). This book is organised into three sections bringing together discussion of environmental conditions, operational dimensions and country case studies of digital transformation towards the circular plastic economy. It explores the environment for digitisation in the circular economy, bringing together perspectives from practitioners in academia, innovation, policy, civil society and government agencies. The book also highlights specific country case studies in relation to the development and implementation of different innovative ideas to drive the circular plastic economy across the three sub-Saharan African regions. Finally, the book interrogates the policy dimensions and practitioner perspectives towards a digitally enabled circular plastic economy. Written for a wide range of readers across academia, policy and practice, including researchers, students, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), digital entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and multilateral agencies, policymakers and public officials, this book offers unique insights into complex, multilayered issues relating to the production and management of plastic waste and highlights how digital innovations can drive the transition to the circular plastic economy in Africa. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.




Paradigm Shift in Business


Book Description

This book discusses the socialization of business as a corporate philosophy to understand customers and stakeholders in order to motivate co-creating value-based business performance. Reviewing a wide range of literature, it analyzes emerging theories of agility in business, corporate social responsibility, social learning, and value co-creation. Divided into 5 sections, this volume deliberates upon critical success factors of firms, which include diversity and cross-functionality by managing the triple and quadruple bottom-line. It argues that timely deployment of streamlined crowd-based marketing strategies in chaotic markets enhance the effects of social innovation and reduce growing complexities in global and regional markets. Presenting new insights on developing agile business models using both aggressive (crowd-driven) and defensive (competitive) marketing strategies in the agile business models, this edited work discusses how contemporary businesses adapt to agile strategies and integrate people, profit, and corporate citizenship behavior.