ABSTRACT

The study aimed to assess the potential of smartphone applications for strengthening accountability in public agricultural extension services. Therefore, a smartphone application called ‘e-diary’ was developed and tested in Uganda. A Design Science Research approach was used for the development and assessment of the e-diary. Individual face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were used for data collection. Data analysis was conducted using the content analysis method. The findings indicate that smartphone applications have the potential to strengthen accountability in the public agricultural extension services by enabling remote supervision in real-time, which reduces the costs and time of supervision. However, the study also indicates that the successful implementation of such tools requires incentives such as awards of recognition. These findings contribute to the understanding of the potential role of ICTs in strengthening the management of public services (such as agricultural extension) in developing economies.

摘要

该研究旨在评估智能手机应用在加强公共农业推广服务问责制方面的潜力。因此，在乌干达开发并测试了一款名为“电子日记”的智能手机应用程序。设计科学研究方法被用于电子日记的开发和评估。个人面对面访谈和焦点小组讨论用于数据收集。数据分析采用内容分析法。研究结果表明，智能手机应用程序有可能通过实时远程监督来加强公共农业推广服务的问责制，从而降低监督成本和时间。然而，该研究还表明，此类工具的成功实施需要奖励等激励措施。