Design Guidelines for a Gamified Indigenous Knowledge System that Promotes Awareness of Water Resources Issues

Problem Description – The current water landscape in South Africa is in a state of crisis due to a severe water shortage. In 2018, Cape Town’s “day zero” became the focus of South Africa’s water crisis. This situation was unique in the country’s water sector and the causes of this water shortage were not – high water demand or inadequate water supply. South Africa heavily relies on its rainwater levels, which are unpredictable and decreasing because of global warming. The water shortage is further worsened by citizens’ unawareness of the water shortage situation and irresponsible water usage behaviour. The water shortages problem requires an understanding of water resource issues such as water usages and conservation. Water shortages are becoming increasingly common and raising awareness thereof has been proposed as a key strategy for empowering citizens with knowledge relevant to water resource issues.Research Goal – Under the theme of sustainability, The World Development Report of 1998/99 recognised knowledge as the key to sustainable social and economic development. This knowledge should incorporate indigenous knowledge, which is unique, trustworthy, and confined to a particular culture. This study aims to design an artefact, the Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) to promote awareness of water resource issues. This IKS will be adopted and evaluated in a South African water resource context. Research Design – A consistent framework for research in IS is required to guide and guarantee significant progress in the development of an artefact. Significant progress of utilising Design Science Research (DSR) particularly in IS design research is widely adopted by researchers and practitioners. The strengths of DSR in the IS discipline are the rationale for selecting DSR as an appropriate research methodology for this paper. These strengths include employs a theoretical founded base to improve or promote knowledge; DSR tries to solve a real problem in which its solution is often conceptualised prior to designing and developing processes; and research is presented by formulated objectives and methods, whereby the objectives require a multi-methodological approach to artefact development.Research Limitations – Indigenous knowledge is an integral part of socio-economic development. However, the lack of documentation of this knowledge is the limitation of this study. Practical implications – An adoption of a social awareness mobile application of an IKS with features that informs, motivates and engages the end-users in water resource issues would provide an effective sound platform for sustainable water. Social implications – In principle, effective integration of indigenous knowledge within appropriate technologies would enhance knowledge sharing on social forums, promotes societal awareness, and ultimately improve behavioural change on water resource issues through shared social norms. Originality – While the topic of water management and sustainability is globally discussed, the role of appropriate technologies and incorporating indigenous knowledge within these technologies for promoting awareness of water resource issues is under-researched. This situation provides a significant research opportunity for exploration by sustainability researchers, to conduct their investigation on the effective role of appropriate technologies (gamification and social technologies) in designing an indigenous knowledge system that promotes awareness of water resource issues. Moreover, this design can provide useful guidelines to other researchers when developing knowledge management systems that support natural sustainability. Keywords – Awareness, Gamification, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Water Resource Issues, Social technologies, Sustainability