A study conducted by World Wide Worx in cooperation with SANGONeT has found that South African non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are using information technology (IT) as a critical element to improve their efficiency. Three hundred IT and financial decisionmakers in South African NGOs were interviewed.

Some of the results were unexpected:

• Only 1% of respondents did not have a personal computer (PC);
• 6% had only one PC;
• 33% had more than 10 PCs in their organisation;
• 75% also used laptop computers; and
• 81% used servers in their organisations.

Whereas 66% of NGOs reported that their primary form of connection to the internet is an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line), 16% use dial-up. This makes the NGO sector similar to the SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) sector, where 55% use ADSL and 12% use dial-up.

When asked to rate their own level of technology adoption, most considered themselves to be average or above the following:

• Very basic: 10%
• Somewhat basic: 24%
• Average: 39%
• Somewhat advanced: 20%
• Very advanced: 6%

When asked to rate the whether ICTs had a positive impact on their ability to meet strategic objectives, respondents indicated the following (the numbers are lower):

• Advance human rights: 54%
• Advance developmental initiatives: 58%
• Advance training and educational initiatives: 59%
• Advance capacity-building initiatives: 50%

This means that NGO IT investment has been geared to administration rather than achieving strategic organisational objectives, and there is room to build on already substantial ICT use to support a wider range of NGO activities.