Effectiveness of risk management in the utilisation of mobile devices within local government entities in the Namakwa District, Northern Cape

Abstract

This research focuses on the effectiveness of risk management in the utilisation of mobile devices in local government entities in the Namakwa District of the Northern Cape region. The introduction of mobile devices has resulted in offices not being the only place where business is conducted, as access to the enterprise’s network is now possible with such devices. Employees have started to utilise mobile devices for business and personal use, which comes with potential risk exposure to organisations. Therefore, effective risk management practices are pivotal within such organisations. The aim of the study is to ascertain whether these organisations that permit the use of mobile device connections to their networks, are practising effective risk management, specifically pertaining to mitigation at an operational level. The research includes a literature review as well as an in-depth investigation to determine the effectiveness of risk management in the utilisation of mobile devices within these entities. A quantitative research method was applied in the study by obtaining responses from a sample of participants in the Namakwa District of the Northern Cape region, using closed-ended questions in the questionnaire, which provided the participants with a predetermined list of coded responses. The results were analysed and indicate that the majority of the respondents do utilise mobile devices in their organisations. In general, these entities make more use of laptops than any other types of mobile devices. The results indicate that these organisations also still apply the traditional approach of providing their employees with specifically approved types of mobile devices (corporate-owned device) and therefore do not support the Bring-YourOwn-Device or Choose-Your-Own-Device strategy. It was also found that these entities have implemented pockets of risk management practices; however, there is a clear indication from the results that more efforts are required to ensure improvement, specifically in terms of mitigation at an operational level.