Impact of Cybercafes on Information Services in Uganda

Abstract

"This study assessed the impact of cybercafés on the provision of information services in Uganda. It focused on café users only. Findings revealed that 69.8 percent were in the age group of 20-39 years. Eighty-seven percent were not registered with particular cafés. Fifty-seven percent indicated they were satisfied with the service. A little over thirty percent used the Internet daily. All female respondents indicated e-mail as one of their Internet applications. The hypotheses were tested using the Chi-square statistic and resulted into retaining the first null hypothesis while the second null hypothesis was rejected.

Cybercafé use demonstrates a tremendous future for the Internet society in Uganda. The potential for meeting user needs in Uganda is high. The application of the Internet in the various disciplines and professions is hampered by low user skills, limited facilities, lack of support for the rural community, low downloading speed, high charges, and a lack of monitoring. Recommendations suggest that ICT policies be instituted and computers and the Internet be made part of the school curriculum to equip Ugandans with the necessary skills and to extend these new Internet services to the Ugandan rural community as well."

This paper assess the contribution of cybercafés in providing information services to Ugandans in areas such as education and research, trade and commerce, health and recreation. It assess the contribution of Internet cafés in helping Ugandans access digital information via the Internet. It also assessed the major type of information disseminated through cybercafés. The study details the application of the Internet is still hampered by problems like low user skills, limited facilities, lack of support for rural communities, limited bandwidth, high charges, and a lack of monitoring of content.