Browsing by Author "Mtoi, Mary"

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Development of information system for enhancing communication between members of parliament and citizens: A study of dodoma, Tanzania
(Elsevier Inc., 2026-04-12) Mtoi, Mary; Ally, Mussa; Sam, Anael; Mbelwa, Hope
In Tanzania, members of parliament rely on both traditional channels and social media to gather citizens’ concerns. However, limited access to internet-enabled devices, the unavailability of members of parliament, poor attendance at public meetings, and high internet costs create a communication gap in civic participation. Existing civic technology solutions often depend on internet-based platforms, excluding users who rely on feature phones and highlighting a technical gap in prior research and system design. This study develops a context-aware, inclusive digital communication system that bridges infrastructural and technological barriers to foster civic engagement in low-resource environments. Through a literature review, gaps in existing civic technology implementations were identified, and the system was developed using the Extreme Programming Agile Methodology to produce a hybrid platform combining a web application and a two-way messaging system. The resulting Public Participation Information System allows citizens to raise concerns offline via feature phones or online through a bilingual web application in Swahili and English. The system prioritizes accessibility for low-resource users and incorporates features such as availability scheduling, task delegation, and concern tracking. Feedback indicates that it effectively reaches under-connected populations and promotes more inclusive civic engagement. Overall, the system addresses the digital divide in civic communication and offers a scalable framework that integrates low-technology access with modern information systems to support democratic participation in resource-constrained settings.
Information system for enhancing communication between members of parliament and citizens: a study of Dodoma, Tanzania
(NM-AIST, 2025-08) Mtoi, Mary
The evolution of information systems, including the internet and smart devices, has transformed the way we communicate, access information, and connect with others. Communication between members of parliament (MPs) and citizens in Tanzania remains ineffective due to the reliance on mainly formal traditional channels such as public meetings, physical visits, local government leaders, opinion boxes, visitor books, letters, broadcast media, and social media. These methods are often hindered by poor attendance, delays, unavailability of members of parliament, high costs, and limited access to smart devices and the internet. Findings revealed that 42.9% of citizens took more than three days to submit their concerns, 30.3% had never submitted, and 69% cited MP unavailability as the main challenge, highlighting agreement from both citizens and MPs that existing methods create serious obstacles. A literature review was conducted to identify technological gaps, revealing that many proposed solutions are inaccessible to users without internet-connected devices. This study developed the Public Participation Information System (PPIS). This hybrid platform combines a web application for online users with a two-way messaging system to include those without internet access or smart devices. The two-way messaging feature ensures inclusivity and timely, interactive communication for all citizens and includes Swahili and English support, with simple SMS interactions designed to accommodate users with limited internet access and low literacy levels. Furthermore, a mixed research method was used to gather system requirements from 177 participants, including both members of parliament and citizens. Findings showed that 89.1% of citizens and 98.3% of MPs were willing to adopt the system. The PPIS improved message delivery accuracy, reduced response time, and enabled citizens to track their concerns. PPIS uniquely bridges digital divides by offering inclusive two-way communication, enhancing accessibility, accountability, and citizen participation in governance, which demonstrates readiness for pilot deployment.
Internet of Things Security in Cloud: A Review on Fog Layer Security
(IEEE AFRICON, 2023-10-31) Kimeu, Japheth; Mtoi, Mary; Riwa, Janeth; Sinde, Ramadhani
Cloud computing in IoT systems enables flexible design with distributed data, infrastructure, and resources accessible from diverse industrial settings. The tremendous rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) has posed numerous issues to the centralized cloud computing architecture which are solved by fog computing. A passive rogue fog node acting as a man-in-the-middle attack poses a significant security vulnerability in the cloud fog layer, compromising data confidentiality and making identification difficult. This survey paper proposes an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to protect the fog layer from the Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MitM/MITM/MiTM) which is present in the rogue node. Literature review methodology is employed to study various scientific articles providing a comprehensive survey of the existing security and privacy concerns in cloud computing.