Rationalizing Effects of Mobile Applications: A Systematic Review of Literature

This paper adapts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) process to investigate the influence of selected mobile applications on service delivery improvement and then categorizes their developmental contributions. Using conceptual categories from a framework for ICT-based development initiatives, we categorize descriptive perceptions for consequences of app implementations from literature. The two categories adopted are improved government services and enhanced internal economic activity; used in providing denoted contextual literature that relates selected apps to developmental contributions. Our literature findings provide an interpretive understanding of the significance of apps chosen towards service delivery and growth in particular sectors. The success of some apps manifested in development of new apps such as MomConnect, Mose and NurseConnect in South Africa. From the literature, we generated and tabulated themes or concepts related to the developmental contributions of the apps. However, the study was limited by inadequate theoretical literature associated with the service delivery influence of mobile apps on development - Mobile for Development (M4D). Future studies aim to develop an M4D framework for the analysis of mobile app developmental contributions.