1. An ANT exploration of mParticipation in the city of
Cape Town
Laban Bagui,
CIRN Prato 2011
Andy Bytheway

2. On the Menu…
 Give you a feeling of what it is about
 Background, Research Problem, question,
aim and design
 Actor Network Theory - ANT
 Present research contribution
 Situate the research theoretically
 From CAN to CmAN
 ANT and CmAN

3. Background – Problem – Question
Background:
The boundaries between government, business and civil society
begin to blur; and the individual has an increasing ability to make
his or her feelings known using a mobile channel. Is it only
someone in government who is “listening” to real needs ? Would
it influence the decision?
Research Problem :
It seems that the potential of mobile technologies to better the
articulation of communities' needs in the processes of public
participation is not yet fully understood and not fully realised.
Research Question:
What helps or hinders Community mArticulation of Needs within
the process of public participation in government in the city of
Cape Town

4. 4
Men from Kewtown by Henk Kruger at
http://henkpix.blogspot.com/2010/06/two-local-men-from-kew-town-in-athlone.html

5. Research methodology
The methodology followed draws from an
exploratory qualitative approach to build an Actor
Network Theory (ANT) case study of Community
Mobile Articulation of Needs (CmAN) in the city of
Cape Town. Documents and literature review,
interviews, focus groups, meetings and participant
observations were performed to collect data which
was examined using content analysis; from which
interpretations were derived.

6. Research Framework
Culture and social
structure
Influence Perceptions and Influenced by Social Determine Public
Attitudes facilitation participation
Digital Divide
Individuals and Community of individuals Local government
Social environment Psychological environment Legislation, infrastructure & initiatives Process
My Research intervention level (data collection)
Social Choice; UTAUT; Culture; Human and Social Capital; TEF; Participatory governance; Legitimacy
S&CI.
Online deliberation Government decision making
Community mobile Articulation of Needs (Research suggestion)
Theoretical level Practical or empirical level My Research intervention level

7. Actor Network Theory - ANT
ANT defines the constitution of a network within a model of translation,
comprising four principal moments or stages: Problematisation, Interessement,
enrolment and mobilisation of allies (Callon, 1986).
Within the ANT framework, innovation is translated, following an inertia
generated by certain actors in the network (Tatnall & Gilding, 1999)
Problematisation is a process that defines the problem to be solved by the
emergence of the network.
Interessement is concerned with engaging with and imposing on other
actors, identities and roles defined during the problematisation
Enrolment sees aligned interests coming together.
Mobilisation happens when a stable nucleus has formed around the
proposed solution to the given problem.

8. Table V: Cape Town CmAN actors (source: Authors)
Actors Individual Community ICTs Business Government
Definition Members of a Organisation IT system for Organisation Government
community representing CmAN for profit with a Spheres and
communities stake on institutions
eParticipation
Some Inhabitant CBO Mobile phone IT industry National
Actors and relative to CSO ERP Service Government
considered in Sub-councils 16 NGO GIS providers DPLG, DPSA
the South and 17 Churches eProcurement Manufacture DOC
Africa Mosque Citizen rs DOST
context of Temples Management SITA SITA
Cape Town Office of the system (CMS) Accenture Parliament
public protector IT SAP National
South African infrastructure Gartner council of
Human rights Mobile Other Province
commission Technology industries council
C3 (health, food, Provincial
notification agriculture, Government
system transport, Local
entertainment) government
Organised Local
crime Government
staff
City council
Sub-council
Ward
Councillor

9. From CAN to CeAN
CAN CeAN
Public engagement Online Public engagement
Individual expression of needs and Online Individual expression of needs
perceptions and perceptions
Other stakeholders expression of Online stakeholders expression of
community needs community needs
Community gathering of needs or
perceptions Choice of
needs/moderation of perceptions Online community deliberation
Translation of needs (Language)
Prioritisation of needs or perception
Online submission of deliberated
Submission of needs
needs

10. GOVERNMENT COMMUNITY
Government Individual
Communication expression
•Public Engagement of needs
Government Community Other
Monitoring & evaluation gathering of stakeholders
needs specialised
views
Community
Government
deliberation on needs
Information
and opinions
•Information agencies
•Moderation/Choice of
reports
needs and opinions
•Knowledge Management
•Translation of needs
Government
Decision making
Law and Policy
•Selection of needs to be Service Delivery
fulfilled
•Prioritisation of actions Inform
•Resource allocation CAN

11. mGOVERNMENT mCOMMUNITY
Government Individual
Communication mCommunication expression
•Public Engagement of needs
Channels
Government Online Community
Government
Monitoring & Evaluation
ICT deliberation gathering of
Capabilities platforms needs
Government
Information Other
•Information stakeholders
agencies reports specialised
•knowledge views
Government Decision
Making Law and Policy
•Selection of needs to be
fulfilled Service Delivery
•Prioritisation
•Resource allocation
Inform
CeAN

12. Problematisation
The problem to be solved is the improvement of CAN using the mobile
channel in Cape Town. The solution to that problem involves providing
the government with mobile capabilities and getting the other
stakeholders to buy into the proposed solution.
A priori, the government of South Africa positioned itself as the OPP,
by setting up the rules as provided by the legal environment
described earlier. The government of the city of Cape Town inherited
that position at it level, and enacted and invested in ICT and
developed systems.

13. Interessement
• -Even though the national framework on Public Participation
provides for councillors to use any means at their disposal for
public engagement, the city policy is rather vague when it comes
to using cellphones, website, Internet and email to engage
communities
- Government transformation that will properly accommodate new
technologies and achieve the organisational and procedural
changes that are necessary for success.
- Interviewees from government mentioned resistance to investment
and pointed at difficulties experienced by some decision makers
- There is a lack of e-skills in the city
- An issue to impede the progress of adoption of the mobile
technology for CAN in the public is their perception of the
government as “ a Black hole”

14. Enrolment
Local government as the service delivery arm should foster public
participation, reaching out and opening up to all the other
stakeholders or actors of that network, via any channel available. For
many reasons evident at the interessement phase, there is still a long
way to go.
Individuals are expected to participate by submitting their views to
government whether via an organisation or on their own capacity, by
any means, electronic or not, especially for those availed by local
government. Poor perception of government, high cost of
communication, or unclear mobile communication channel are some
elements not favouring the role of that actor.
Communities which are visible through representative organisations
are expected to bring forth their needs and opinions using all legal
means that a single individual alone cannot carry. Despite a lot of
work on the ground to gather the needs, the little consideration that is
given to them hampers their significance.

15. Enrolment
Businesses are expected to accompany the whole process and to
play fair to allow underprivileged communities some space. Despite
being ready to work with local government, they perceive that they
are still not given the opportunity to make a viable business out of
carrying the community’s voice.
Technology should help to improve the collection of needs and
opinions, by allowing to realise community deliberation, by speeding
up the processing of information, by recording more information and
availing a direct link between a decision maker and each member of
the community.

16. Mobilisation
At this stage of transformation, a collective effort is needed to take
the use of mobile technologies for CAN to a broader public and gain
their acceptance of that channel as solving the issue of poor
articulation of needs. Observations did not bring important evidence
of councillors embracing the mobile and making of it an essential tool
of public engagement; but rather indicated in their attitudes how little
they are mobilised to push forward the ICT agenda.
However, it seems that problems identified above prevent further
transformational growth. Hence despite, all the good deeds
undertaken and endeavours performed, for many reasons at
interessement and enrolment, the result is very little in terms of
capability or will to mobilise more allies.

17. Conclusions
The use of mobile technologies is widely expected to be an
important feature of improving public participation in government
in the city of Cape Town, but it is found that the necessary
transformation that would enable it is far from complete.
Problematisation was achieved and provided a momentum for an
uptake, but interessement is slowing the whole process down with
various issues of transformation; Enrolment hampered by
inadequate interessment does not see all actors acting as their role
would like them to, and at the end - because of all the issues
mentioned earlier - CmAN is not yet taking off in Cape Town.

18. Further Research
Further research should look at ways to get
local government to connect with
stakeholders using mobile technologies by
extending this ANT analysis to derive a plan
for action that should lower the barriers
Community mobile Articulation of needs.

19. ?
Laban Bagui
labanbagui@gmail.com
Prof. Andy Bytheway
bytheway@mweb.co.za
Faculty of Informatics and Design
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Cape Town
South Africa