bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Automatic Speech Recognition to Enhance Learning for Disabled Students
Authors: Revuelta Pablo , Jiménez Javier , Sánchez José M. , Ruiz Belén
Published: September 2010

This chapter introduces the potential of Automatic Speech Recognition Technology (ASR) in the challenge of inclusive education. ASR technology combined with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) enhances the learning of disabled people both in and outside the classroom. In the classroom, deaf and hearing-impaired students can benefit from a real-time transcription of what the teacher is saying. Also, a real-time transcription facilitates note taking for students with visual or physical disabilities. Outside the classroom, transcription and other media files (audio, slides, video, etc.) are powerful educational resources for all students, disabled or able-bodied. Some of most relevant projects and systems around the world are described and compared in this chapter to provide updated information about ASR technology performance and its application to enhancing the learning of disabled students.
IT and MIS in Microfinance Institution Effectiveness and Sustainability Issues
Authors: Quadri S. Mohd. Najmullah , Singh Vikas Kumar , Iyengar Kishen Parthasarathy
Published: September 2010

According to a recognized survey, only 11% of the world’s 240 million poorest families are currently served by Microfinance Institution (Daley-Harris, 2002). In order to increase the outreach of MFI, institution will have to go a step further and start their operation in the rural areas. Implementing sustainable IT infrastructure in such areas is a challenge with numerous obstacles. Further, employee training also poses challenges that are unique to the microfinance industry. In this chapter, we articulate some of the challenges faced by microfinance institutions and some potential solutions with the help of real world case studies. We also propose a framework, which will help microfinance institutions implement IT based management information systems effectively.
A Case Study of Mifos Implementation at Asomi
Authors: Das Puspadhar
Published: September 2010

Mifos is an open source enterprise solution for microfinance. This chapter is a practitioner’s point of view on implementation of Mifos in an organization, based on the author’s experience in implementing Mifos at Asomi, a microfinance institution operating in the state of Assam, India. The factors to be considered in selection and implementation of Mifos are discussed. Various inputs, analyses and resources required for implementation are discussed. Any organization must have a concrete set of operational strategies that enables it to track its borrowers and loan portfolio effectively and on time in order to succeed. Wrong assumptions and choice of wrong technology may only aggravate MIS implementation. Development of technology has removed all the barriers to technologies and has enabled organizations to develop computerised systems streamlined to their operational needs and not the other way round. It is attempted to justify this by using the case of Mifos.
Predicting the Attitude toward Mobile Financial Services in Developing Countries
Authors: Shrivastava Prateek
Published: September 2010

Globally, only about a sixth of the 3 billion poor people of working age currently have access to formal financial services. This translates to 17% coverage of the market, leaving 83% under-served or “unbanked”. Addressing the needs of these people is the “self-sustaining approach” to microfinance. Mobile banking is one of the newest approaches to the provision of financial services made possible by the widespread adoption of mobile phones in low income countries. However, reports show that potential users may not be using these systems despite already being available. This study was conducted in 2008. It extends the Luarn & Lin mobile banking adoption model by adding two additional constructs: “Enhancement of image” and the “enhancement of quality of life by having access to financial service” to test the attitude toward mobile banking. In order to test these constructs, 11 hypotheses are proposed. The chapter successfully applies Luarn & Lin’s model in a new geographic and economic context. Consistent with their study, perceived usefulness, perceived credibility, perceived ease of use and perceived self-efficacy were found to be significant antecedents. Perceived financial costs, however, was found to have a positive relationship with attitude. This finding is diametrically opposite to Luarn & Lin’s study. Perceived enhancement to quality of life showed a strong relationship and Perceived enhanced image showed a weak relationship with the attitude toward mobile banking. The control group analysis showed the previously unbanked group (Mzansi) had the highest expectation of mobile banking and also found the idea most attractive. This study therefore concludes that mobile banking can indeed be a channel to reach out to low income groups.
A Technology Requirements and Governance Framework for Rural Microfinance
Authors: Kulkarni Nandu
Published: September 2010

Governments and Financial Institutions in the emerging economies have recognized the enormous untapped potential of human capital at the “Bottom of the Pyramid,” for fuelling the growth of the economy, and have identified easy access to capital as a key factor in realizing this potential. Many of the central banks and financial services trade associations are also in the process of creating a regulatory and governance framework that is conducive for financial services players to fulfil the need and the potential of this market, at the same time minimising the risks for all stakeholders. The Microfinance sector is thus seeing a rapid expansion in terms of geographical reach, and an explosive growth in terms of the number of service providers and customers. Given that Information Technology (IT) is a critical enabler for this growth, there is a large rush of IT providers eager to service this market. This brings with it (a) the risk that inappropriate or substandard IT solutions are implemented, resulting in wastage of resources, and (b) the potential for misuse and fraud. This chapter makes a case for creating an IT requirements and governance framework at a policy level, in order to ensure that the needs of this market are properly serviced, and resources are optimally and efficiently deployed, so that the benefits of Information Technology flow through to the grassroots level.
Saving through the Mobile
Authors: Morawczynski Olga
Published: September 2010

This chapter will explain how M-PESA, an application that was designed for money transfers, is being used for savings in Kenya. It uses data from a collection of financial diaries to make its arguments. These diaries captured the savings practices of fourteen M-PESA users for a period of one month. They were part of a fourteen month ethnographic study that examined the adoption, usage and impact of M-PESA in two locations: an urban slum and a rural village. The study reveals that informants held a portfolio of savings mechanisms. M-PESA was used in conjunction with the other mechanisms and held a vital place in the portfolio—somewhere between the bank and home bank. The chapter will also use the empirical findings to suggest how mobile money applications can be designed to better suit the unique savings needs of the resource poor. In particular, it will suggest that M-PESA can be much more than just a mechanism in the savings portfolio. Rather, it can act as the platform on which the entire portfolio resides.
The Use of Web 2.0 Technologies in Online Lending and Impact on Different Components of Interest Rates
Authors: Ashta Arvind , Assadi Djamchid
Published: September 2010

Microcredit interest costs remain higher than those of commercial banks in spite of significant donor funds, largely owing to transaction costs relative to small loan sizes. With the rise of Web 2.0 and online social interactivity, can these transaction costs be reduced through peer to peer lending? Peer to Peer transactions and Web 2.0 have two things in common. The first common denominator is that both of them are rather newcomers in their respective fields and growing fast. The second is that they are both based on mutual and social exchanges between people instead of intermediary based relationships. The main objective of this chapter was to investigate whether peer to peer online lending transactions are integrated to support a higher level of social interactions and associations with a promise of reducing (transaction) costs through disintermediation and risk reduction. We find that “peer to peer” lending consists of diverse websites of microcredit (Kiva, Wokai, Babyloan), social investing (MicroPlace) as well as small loans at market rates (Prosper, Zopa, Lending Club), and even lending between friends and family members (Virgin Money). The chapter studies the use of web 2.0 technologies (blogs, interactivity between lenders and buyers, peers‘ reviews and comments, peers communities and chats) in seven such online lending sites. It finds that most of the so called “peer-to-peer” lenders are in fact intermediaries between the peers (lender and borrowers) and there is little direct contact between the peers. One website used none of the web 2.0 tools. None of the websites used all the web 2.0 tools. The impact on transaction costs should therefore be very little as there is neither disintermediation nor risk reduction. A discussion of difficulties in establishing platforms in this field and directions for future research are provided.
The Role of Credit Scoring in Micro Lending
Authors: Simbaqueba Lilian , Salamanca Gehiner , Bumacov Vitalie
Published: September 2010

This chapter aims to present credit scoring as a technology meant to improve micro lending significantly. We consider that credit scoring is an advanced technology because statistical procedures, some sophisticated, are required to design powerful scorecards. In the same time, we want to show that scoring is not an elitist tool. It is not for every institution, as some prerequisites are required, but we are convinced that there is an enormous potential market for credit scoring in micro lending. Credit scoring can be efficient only in massive homogeneous markets. Microfinance usually addresses this kind of markets. This is the opportunity we want to exploit. On the other hand, quantitative measurements, required for statistical developments, suffer from the fact that micro-entrepreneurs operate mostly in the informal or semi-formal sectors. Some variables like the profit of the business or the turnover cannot be measured accurately because there is no reliable source. This is a challenge. Implementation of credit scoring and follow-up in an environment that has limited access to data infrastructure solutions could also be considered as a challenge. Here we describe in detail possible applications of credit scoring in micro lending. We explain main technical aspects and point expected benefits versus implementation and maintenance efforts. This chapter is written from the point of view of several scoring experts that develop credit scoring models for micro and SME lending on a commercial basis.
A Systemic
Authors: Lozano Carmen , Fuentes Federico
Published: September 2010

This chapter presents an application of systemic-fuzzy models to evaluate the social impact of a microcredit program. The goal of our research is to supply a complement to effectiveness indicators (traditionally based on profitability and portfolio quality) by measuring personal and family achievements, and through consideration of the economic consequences derived from microcredits. We will thus attempt to offer a more complete and transparent image of the activity of such institutions.
Microfinance from LDCS to DCS
Authors: Hettihewa Samanthala , Wright Christopher S.
Published: September 2010

Microfinance (MF) has demonstrated great success in poverty-relief in less-developed countries (LDCs) and is experiencing rapid growth and interest in developed countries (DCs). However, the current literature on DC MF leaves a general impression that DC MF is failing and its original core intent of poverty relief is being diluted by survival concerns. Descriptive analysis is used in this chapter to infer that DC MF must be redesigned to meet DC socio-economic conditions, if it is to avoid a reputation of being too poorly focused, ineffective, and inefficient for use in DCs. After demonstrating that poverty in LDCs is harsher than in DCs, this chapter reviews current-performance concerns of DC MF, discusses how it can still effectively relieve poverty in DCs, examines how regulatory and other socio-economic factors affect micro-enterprise, and concludes that MF should be refocused before DCs commit to further developing/adapting MF infrastructure.
Portal to Portaloo
Authors: Sim Jack , Dayson Karl
Published: September 2010

2.5 billion people do not have access to a toilet; instead they have no choice but to practice open defecation, having a potentially detrimental effect on their health. The chapter asks whether microfinance and IT can play a role in tackling the problem. Drawing on the experience of Grameen Telephone it is argued that this is analogous with attempts to promote the purchase of toilets, in particular the technological leap where expensive infrastructure is bypassed. Drawing on three case studies we show that such a process is underway and while there are a limited number of microfinance institutions (MFIs) engaged in this market it is insufficient to address the myriad of both organizational and cultural problems. However, the use of a prospective web portal may help create the environment for a viable market to emerge.
Peer-to-Peer Networks
Authors: Christin Nicolas
Published: September 2010

Peer-to-peer networks are one of the main sources of Internet traffic, and yet remain very controversial. On the one hand, they have a number of extremely beneficial uses, such as open source software distribution, and censorship resilience. On the other hand, peer-to-peer networks pose considerable ethical and legal challenges, for instance allowing exchanges of large volumes of copyrighted materials. This chapter argues that the ethical quandaries posed by peer-to-peer networks are rooted in a conflicting set of incentives among several entities ranging from end-users to consumer electronics manufacturers. The discussion then turns to the legal, economic, and technological remedies that have been proposed, and the difficulties faced in applying them. The last part of the chapter expands the scope of ethical issues linked to peer-to-peer networks, and examines whether existing laws and technology can mitigate new threats such as inadvertent confidential information leaks in peer-to-peer networks.
Responsibility for the Harm and Risk of Software Security Flaws
Authors: Goldschmidt Cassio , Dark Melissa , Chaudhry Hina
Published: September 2010

Software vulnerabilities are a vexing problem for the state of information assurance and security. Who is responsible for the risk and harm of software security is controversial. Deliberation of the responsibility for harm and risk due to software security flaws requires considering how incentives (and disincentives) and network effects shape the practices of vendors and adopters, and the consequent effects on the state of software security. This chapter looks at these factors in more detail in the context of private markets and public welfare.
Privacy and Public Access in the Light of E-Government
Authors: Palm Elin , Wester Misse
Published: September 2010

This chapter addresses the competing interests of privacy versus public access to information. The chapter explores the collective and individual value of privacy and public access in a manner that considers information at the macrosocial and macroethical level. By using Sweden as a case study, we exemplify the classic and irresolvable tension between issues of information availability and confidentiality, integrity, and privacy. Given that privacy and public access interests will constantly need to be rebalanced, we present the views of government officials due to their unique role in implementing this balance. We conclude with an analysis of the reasonableness of this conduct.
Online Learning Management and Learners’ Behavior
Authors: Nakayama Minoru , Yamamoto Hiroh , Santiago Rowena
Published: September 2010

Online learning has been playing a major role in university teaching across the world. For three consecutive years, the authors have surveyed bachelors and masters students who were enrolled in online courses at a Japanese university, in order to study learners‘ behavior while they are engaged in online courses. It was also their goal in this study to identify learning strategies and instructional design techniques that can contribute to the development of e-learning standards and can be applied to online course design and management. This book chapter will discuss how these issues were addressed using the survey data collected over three years, and based on the results of data analyses, provide a discussion of some guiding principles for the design and implementation of online learning.
Learning Methods in Entrepreneurial and Managerial Training
Authors: Pagliacci Mario G.R.
Published: September 2010

Knowledge Society changes enterprises, and big emphasis is given to persons and human capital. Enterprise becomes a learning organization based on scientific-technical transfer, on human and cybernetic intelligence, on information and communication technologies. Role of entrepreneurs and managers is exalted in this context; they are asked to look, to promote, to exploit, to run all spaces and subjects are able to carry knowledge. As consequence, targets, contents and methodologies of entrepreneurial and managerial training need to be revised; either in scholastic institutions - first university - or in other public and private educational organizations. The distinctive competence of entrepreneurs and managers asks that their training is focalized on relations; as consequence, inter-active teaching methods have to be adopted: learning by doing, by playing and dramatization.
Computer Hacking and the Techniques of Neutralization
Authors: Morris Robert G.
Published: September 2010

Nowadays, experts have suggested that the economic losses resulting from mal-intended computer hacking, or cracking, have been conservatively estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars per annum. The authors who have contributed to this book share a mutual vision that future research, as well as the topics covered in this book, will help to stimulate more scholarly attention to the issue of corporate hacking and the harms that are caused as a result. This chapter explores malicious hacking from a criminological perspective, while focusing on the justifications, or neutralizations, that cyber criminals may use when engaging in computer cracking--which is in the United States and many other jurisdictions worldwide, illegal.
Social Dynamics and the Future of Technology-Driven Crime
Authors: Kilger Max
Published: September 2010

The future paths that cybercrime and cyber terrorism take are influenced, in large part, by social factors at work in concert with rapid advances in technology. Detailing the motivations of malicious actors in the digital world, coupled with an enhanced knowledge of the social structure of the hacker community, will give social scientists and computer scientists a better understanding of why these phenomena occur. This chapter builds upon the previous chapters in this book by beginning with a brief review of malicious and non-malicious actors, proceeding to a comparative analysis of the shifts in the components of the social structure of the hacker subculture over the last ten years, and concluding with a descriptive examination of two future cybercrime and national security-related scenarios likely to emerge in the near future.
The 2009 Rotman-telus Joint Study on IT Security Best Practices
Authors: Hejazi Walid , Lefort Alan , Etges Rafael , Sapiro Ben
Published: September 2010

This chapter describes the 2009 study findings in a series of annual studies that the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto in Ontario and TELUS, one of Canada’s major Telecommunications companies, are committed to undertake to develop a better understanding of the state of IT Security in Canada and its relevance to other jurisdictions, including the United States. This 2009 study was based on a pre-test involving nine focus groups conducted across Canada with over 50 participants. As a result of sound marketing of the 2009 survey and the critical need for these study results, the authors focus on how 500 Canadian organizations with over 100 employees are faring in effectively coping with network breaches. In 2009, as in their 2008 study version, the research team found that organizations maintain that they have an ongoing commitment to IT Security Best Practices. However, with the 2009 financial crisis in North America and elsewhere, the threat appears to be amplified, both from outside the organization and from within. Study implications regarding the USA PATRIOT Act are discussed at the end of this chapter.
Learning in Virtual Worlds
Authors: Santos Antonio
Published: September 2010

Due to the availability of platforms like Second Life, the use of Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) for learning purposes is gaining in its adeptness around the educational realm. However, although it is a powerful technology with great possibilities for instructional purposes, we are still at the early phase of adoption and in need of a clearer understanding of how we learn within a virtual world. Particularly, we need to explore new and different ways of employing this technology to take advantage of its educational potential. Along these lines, this chapter’s main objective is to outline a set of instructional strategies framed within the situated learning paradigm to increase the quality of learning in a MUVE; and to recommend some research questions that could be used to validate the proposed instructional strategies. To accomplish this objective, first the situated learning paradigm and some of its more relevant influences will be reviewed; i.e. constructivism, Vygotsky’s theory, communities of practice, practice fields, learning communities and cognitive apprenticeship. Secondly, based on all these ideas, the instructional strategies and the recommended research questions will be presented; and finally, a conclusion and some future trends will be discussed.
Teaching in the Virtual Theatre Classroom
Authors: Schrum Stephen A.
Published: September 2010

Theatre as a discipline has long been thought of as traditional, organic, and non-technological. In performance, at least one actor performs in a space inhabited by at least one spectator, and their interaction defines the theatrical event. In the teaching of theatre, students apprentice themselves to and are taught directly by masters in the field. However, in the 21st Century, the application of digital technology to the realms of theatrical performance and teaching has augmented the production of, and the methodology behind, the teaching of the theatrical art. Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs), such as Second Life®, afford educators a rich interactive setting that both mirrors and enhances education and training in theatre, in the areas of ancient site reconstruction and student exploration of a virtual world. My teaching of a course titled Theatre Technology resulted in the development of some concepts regarding how a MUVE might be useful in theatre education.
Subject Matter Content Creation for Second Life Delivery
Authors: DeMers Michael N.
Published: September 2010

Worldwide, educators are experimenting with the myriad possibilities that Second Life and other multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) provide for teaching and learning for online courses. Some find the ability to collaborate enhanced, others see the social presence improved, more acknowledge the ease of employing role play intriguing, and a few have employed highly complex simulations as means of delivering complex material. The ability of educators to develop, test, and effectively deliver meaningful educational content within virtual worlds is often limited by the rather steep learning curve such environments present. This chapter provides first a set of basic guidelines for preparing instructors for an incremental approach to content delivery and predisposes learners for successful implementation and performance. Second, using examples from the discipline of geography, specifically my subspecialty of geographic information systems (GIS), it describes the use of some basic tools contained within Second Life for creation of active course content through small learning objects. Finally, it demonstrates real-world examples of such in-world learning objects from a laboratory-based course to illustrate how traditional course content can be transformed to hands-on exercises in the virtual environment.
Collaborative Learning through Flexible Web CVE
Authors: Barchetti Ugo , Bucciero Alberto , Mainetti Luca
Published: September 2010

This chapter describes the technological platform of the authors’ learning experiences and its evolution through the years, providing insights into the reasons that led to significant design choices and offering guidelines on how to deal with technological issues.
General Principles and Logic of Quality Management in Health and Healthcare
Authors: Bourek Aleš
Published: September 2010

The following chapter addresses the logic, principles and functionality of health and health care systems to present a framework prerequisite for revealing, understanding and implementing appropriate and adequate management interventions leading to qualitative improvement in the specified areas.
e3Health
Authors: Zvárová Jana , Zvára Karel
Published: September 2010

The chapter studies e-health applications in the frame of the broader concept of the e3Health. It shows how the scheme proposed by J.H. van Bemmel in 1984 can be used for classification of e-health applications. Apart from the electronic feature of e-health applications, the authors discuss two other features connected with health economics and environmental health. In addition, two areas of e-health applications (electronic health record and clinical guidelines) with concrete examples from the point of view of the e3Health concept are discussed.
An Information Technology Architecture for Drug Effectiveness Reporting and Post-Marketing Surveillance
Authors: Gupta Amar , Woosley Raymond , Crk Igor , Sarnikar Surendra
Published: September 2010

Adverse drug events impose a large cost on the society in terms of lives and healthcare costs. In this chapter, the authors propose an information technology architecture for enabling the monitoring of adverse drug events in an outpatient setting as a part of the post marketing surveillance program. The proposed system architecture enables the development of a web based drug effectiveness reporting and monitoring system that builds on previous studies demonstrating the feasibility of a system in which community pharmacists identify and report adverse drug events. The authors define the key technical requirements of such a monitoring and reporting system, identify the critical factors that influence the successful implementation and use of the system, and propose information technology solutions that satisfy these requirements.
Exploring Linkages between Quality, E-Health and Healthcare Education
Authors: Pate Christopher L. , Turner-Ferrier Joyce E.
Published: September 2010

This chapter explores the concept of e-health as it relates to healthcare delivery, healthcare quality and education. Although the concept of e-health is emerging and lacks clear definition, a body of literature in healthcare policy and organization has focused on many of themes and ideas that are relevant to the study of e-health. This chapter introduces several frameworks and concepts that are essential for an inquiry into the relationships between e-health and quality-related outcomes in healthcare and educational settings. This chapter addresses these relationships by discussing and defining the concept of e-health, discussing central linkages between e-health and quality-related healthcare outcomes, and highlighting key themes between health education, technology and quality.
An Evaluation of E-Learning in Healthcare
Authors: Athanasiou George , Maris Nikos , Apostolakis Ioannis
Published: September 2010

As new technologies enable a radical transformation of the learning process, new learning approaches and techniques appear, and the need for quality assurance of all learning assets emerges. Although, the existing e-learning standards have managed to cover most of the different aspects of the e-learning process, the shift to new paradigms such as collaborative and community learning sets the need for new standards. The main goal of e-learning standards is to enable and ensure interoperability and re-usability of solutions, systems, objects and processes. E-learning is an extremely useful tool for the healthcare community since it allows professionals, researchers, companies and individuals to improve their skills and expand their knowledge. However, it has faced several difficulties mainly due to the heterogeneity of educational needs. The different user groups have different requirements from e-learning, different availability and resources and consequently different quality standards. In this chapter, the authors emphasize on the quality assurance, and the community aspect of e-learning.
E-Health Communities for Learning Healthy Habits
Authors: Smedberg Åsa
Published: September 2010

There are e-health communities of many different kinds available on the Internet today. Some e-health communities are for people who need to change their established bad, or unhealthy, habits such as the ones for people suffering from overweight or smoking. To develop and maintain a healthier life-style is not an easy task to succeed with, it involves being able to change everyday situations. E-health communities can assist in this process through continuous interactions between community members. However, whether these e-health communities actively support learning depends on the ways they help community members reflect upon their habits, underlying reasons and motivational factors. In this chapter, the author presents a framework for how to evaluate these e-health communities from a learning perspective. The framework covers different types of conversation topics, ways to respond and community knowledge.
E-Health as the Realm of Healthcare Quality
Authors: Moumtzoglou Anastasius
Published: September 2010

E-health has widely revolutionized medicine, creating subspecialties that include medical image technology, computer aided surgery, and minimal invasive interventions. New diagnostic approaches, treatment, prevention of diseases, and rehabilitation seem to speed up the continual pattern of innovation, clinical implementation and evaluation up to industrial commercialization. The advancement of e-health in healthcare derives large quality and patient safety benefits. Advances in genomics, proteomics, and pharmaceuticals introduce new methods for unraveling the complex biochemical processes inside cells. Data mining detects patterns in data samples, and molecular imaging unites molecular biology and in vivo imaging. At the same time, the field of microminiaturization enables biotechnologists to start packing their bulky sensing tools and medical simulation bridges the learning divide by representing certain key characteristics of a physical system.
Alliances may Explain the Significant Growth of Biotechnology Companies in the Critical Period 1996-2001?
Authors: Bas Tomas Gabriel
Published: September 2010

The biotechnology is a very complex sector and its growth depends on many variables like intellectual properties, venture capital, clusters, public policies, alliances, amongst others. In biotechnology, the complexity surrounding alliances can be observed. The market globalization, the exorbitant costs of R&D and the rapid changes in technology, are arguably in the midst of the principal reasons that push companies to establish alliances. Biotechnology companies use this instrument to develop external features in the search for resources and missing expertise. This chapter sets out to identify whether such alliances in biotechnology companies are an advantage in themselves, sufficient for the acquisition of new capabilities and whether they help the growth of these companies. For this approach, a private database of companies (900 companies including years 1996-2001) in the two most advanced countries in this sector: United States and United Kingdom will be used.
Optimal Policy for Biopharmaceutical Drugs Innovation and Access in India
Authors: Rashmi Rakhi
Published: September 2010

In theory, patents work by providing the inventor an incentive to invent in the first place and then to disclose. Disclosure to the public is rewarded by giving the inventor a monopoly. As product patent and higher patent protection has been advocated by Art 27.1 of the TRIPs agreement on the basis that for greater innovation through transfer of technology is a necessity in developing countries like India as it provides capital to fund expensive innovations, who are otherwise not be able to fund expensive innovations on its own. On the other hand, at the same time drugs are also related with the health of the people and to take care of the health of the people is the utmost priority of any Government and there are issues like accessibility with regard to strong patent protection to biopharma products and data exclusivity. Also as per Art 7 of the TRIPs transfer of technology has to occur to the developing countries in order to promote technological innovations, which is conducive to social and economic welfare. Therefore, striking the right balance between incentive and public access creates a tension is essential. This study suggests optimal policy (Patent and other regulations) to have a balance between biopharma drugs innovation and their access in India while complying with the provisions of the TRIPs agreement by broadly categorising variables such as (1) patent policy such as the scope of biotech patents and the extent of the right in terms of breadth and length; and (2) regulatory environment such as the taxation incentive, Investment policy, Government initiative for the development of this sector etc.
Theoretical Approaches to the Marketing of Innovation in Biotechnology Firms
Authors: Bas Tomas Gabriel
Published: September 2010

The marketing of new products for new markets is uncertain and often leads to confusion. One of the many causes is the wrong use of marketing techniques for mature products whose life cycles are different, although they are very familiar. Biotechnology, with a strong component of technological knowledge and innovative cross-refers not to an industry, but rather a set of applications of intricate characteristics mainly due to genetic manipulation, which represents a particular challenge unlike other more mature or traditional product or technology. For this reason, through an innovation based marketing for new product, new customers and new markets are essential to maximize the success of this technology.
The Digital Revolution in Education
Authors: Hanewald Ria , Ng Wan
Published: September 2010

This chapter aims to provide an outline of the digital revolution and the way that mobile devices facilitate participation in the Information age. It provides readers with a broad understanding of the key developments that have emerged over the past two decades as well as the current developments in this area. New and emerging practices relating to the use of mobile technologies for learning and their underlying drivers will be explored. The interconnectivity of applications and devices that is closely linked to concepts of multiple literacies and digital citizenship will be discussed. This brief review of the emerging technology landscape allows for greater appreciation and fuller exploitation of the potential that mobile technologies hold and provides a portrayal of its topography to enable conceptualization at a macro-level.
Activity in a Mobile Learning Environment
Authors: Kekwaletswe Ray M.
Published: September 2010

The practical contribution of the chapter is the understanding of activity in mobile learning environments and how learners use awareness to model their actions for the provision of personalized learning support. The chapter is about the advancement of the human-centric approach to personalized learning through enhanced learner-to-learner interaction – where context and social presence awareness is of vital significance to how learners decide and act on a learning task. It is an expedition towards understanding the phenomenon of mobile learning, where personalized learning and support is a result of social awareness activities of learners as they traverse varied learning contexts. Mobile learning, in this chapter, is signified by mobility of learners regardless of mobile technologies. Activity Theory, which draws attention to mediated activity within a social context, is used to explore how mobile learners use context and social presence awareness to facilitate their ubiquitous social interactions.
Insights into Students’ Thinking with Handheld Computers
Authors: Ng Wan , Nicholas Howard
Published: September 2010

The handheld computer as a pedagogical tool has the capacity to enable students to demonstrate understanding through different modes of representations, for example, verbal, text, tables and graph, drawings, writing or written formulas, concept mapping and animations through Flash or Pocket Slides PowerPoint. Its impact as a motivational learning tool has been described in numerous articles. The purpose of this chapter is to describe its use as a research tool for capturing students’ thinking processes as they construct representations in science and mathematics, or solve problems in these learning areas on the handheld. By using an avi-screen capture software operating in the background to do this, the research is a non-intrusive method of capturing the verbal and screen-based (visual) elements of students’ thinking as they use the handhelds to complete individual or collaborative tasks.
Implementation of Mobile Learning at the Open University Malaysia
Authors: Peng Chng Loi , Abas Zoraini Wati , Goolamally Norlia T. , Yusoff Yuzery , Singh Harvinder Kaur Dharam
Published: September 2010

As part of its ongoing effort to offer an effective blend of learning modes, the Open University Malaysia (OUM) recently incorporated mobile learning into its blended learning model. Having enrolled more than 86,000 learners over the last eight years, OUM strives to continually improve its delivery mode for the benefit of its learners. Mobile learning is seen to be the next wave of learning given the fact that almost all OUM learners have mobile phones. A study conducted in late 2008 to determine the readiness of its learners for mobile learning indicates that about 99% of OUM respondents have a mobile phone. The readiness survey also found that majority of respondents would be ready for mobile learning within six months of the study. The chapter will highlight, among others, the introduction of mobile learning at OUM, the initial finding with the pilot implementation and recommendations for the way forward.
Formal and Informal Use of Handhelds by Australian and British Students
Authors: Ng Wan , Anastopoulou Stamatina
Published: September 2010

In this chapter, we discuss the capacity of mobile technology in facilitating young people’s ubiquitous learning and socializing, both formally and informally. We report on a study of how young adolescents (12-13 year olds) in Australia and UK use handheld computers in formal (school) and informal (home) situations and their perceptions of the usefulness of these devices for their learning. The data show that entertainment activities with the handhelds dominate both school and home for both groups of students and that there is little continuity between the activities carried out in the school and activities in the home. We argue that schools have a responsibility to bridge the home-school learning and to support these students to become self-directed learners for lifelong learning.
Research on Innovation Mechanism and Model of Logistics Enterprise
Authors: Mu Zhang , Wenli Li , Jing Luo , Xiang Ye , Congying Ren , Chengjuan Wu
Published: September 2010

As a new field in the service industry, logistics is growing rapidly and is regarded as a fundamental industry in a national economy. Its development is an important symbol of a country’s modernization and national strength. It also works as an accelerator in economic development. At the initial stage of transforming traditional logistics service to a modern logistics service in China, logistics enterprises have encountered many difficulties and problems including an imbalanced supply and demand, distempered industrial structure, faultiness of serving process and backwardness of logistics technology since 2005.Compared with developed countries, there is a great gap between Chinese logistics enterprises and advanced countries’ in the aspects of service concepts, model, and content and techniques. Therefore, based on the service innovation driving model theory, the authors analyze the integrated innovation model of logistics enterprises, logistics technology and network model, and the value-added service model. The authors select Shenzhen China Overseas Logistics Co. LTD (COL) as the empirical object to analyze its operation of technology and non-technology innovation and summarize its inner and outer driving force on promoting service innovation.
Managing Customer-Centric Information
Authors: Fellenz Martin R. , Brady Mairead
Published: September 2010

Despite many years of business-orientated information and communication technology (ICT) deployment, contemporary organisations continue to struggle with customer-centric implementation of new technologies that are profitable and contribute to sustainable service business success. This paper reviews the difficulties inherent in using ICTs to manage customer-related information, and identifies the particular challenges for customer-centric deployment of ICTs. It provides a model of different levels of customer centric information use in organizations. The authors review implications for future research in this emerging area and conclude that the challenges of ICT deployment and use must be addressed with an uncompromising focus on customer value as the central principle of both ICT design and deployment, and of information management in service organizations.
RAD and Other Innovative Approaches to Facilitate Superior Project Management
Authors: Bali Rajeev K , Wickramasinghe Nilmini
Published: September 2010

Rapid Application Development (RAD) is promising to bring many benefits and state-of-the-art uses to the discipline of software engineering. The plethora of low cost RAD tools, together with the claims made by advocates of this methodology, has lead to an explosion in the use of this technique across the field. Unfortunately, however, there has been comparatively little regard in context to the project management issues of adopting RAD methodologies on which this paper will focus.
Desituating Context in Ubiquitous Computing
Authors: Jonsson Katrin , Holmström Jonny , Lyytinen Kalle , Nilsson Agneta
Published: September 2010

Context awareness forms a core concern in ubiquitous computing and goes hand in hand with today’s extensive use of sensor technologies. This paper focuses on the use of sensors as part of remote diagnostic systems (RDS) in industrial organizations. The study shows that the process of desituating context, that is, capturing context and transferring it to another context, is critical for the successful use of the technology. The processes of capturing and transferring context are explored in industrial maintenance work through interviews with suppliers and users of RDS. To successfully manage the desituation of context, industrial organizations must find strategies of creating and managing a center of calculation, a center where the captured contexts meet and merge. To enable the long-distance control of the equipment, all data must be compiled into one manageable view without losing the specifics of the local contexts. The data collection must be designed with this in mind. Moreover, to bridge the gap between the digital and the physical world created by the new way of organizing the maintenance work, a new kind of maintenance network must be formed, one in which local technicians’ practices are reconfigured and instituted.
The Future of Personal Area Networks in a Ubiquitous Computing World
Authors: Viehland Dennis , Zhao Fei
Published: September 2010

In the future world of ubiquitous computing, wireless devices will be everywhere. Personal area networks (PANs) will enable communications between devices both embedded in the environment and mobile on vehicles and persons. This research determines the future prospects of PANs by examining (a) criteria that will lead to success, (b) barriers to implementation, and (c) key applications. An initial set of issues in each of these areas is identified from the literature. The Delphi Method is used to determine what experts believe what are the most important success criteria, barriers, and applications. Critical success factors that will determine the future of personal area networks include reliability of connections, interoperability, and usability. Important barriers that may inhibit the deployment of PAN are security, interference and coexistence, and regulation and standards. Key applications for PAN success include monitoring, healthcare, and smart things.
Towards More Socio-Culturally Sensitive Research and Study of Workplace E-Learning
Authors: Remtulla Karim A.
Published: September 2010

This article advocates workplace adult education and training researchers and scholar practitioners interested in career and technical education (CTE), adult education and technology, and who are attempting social and cultural critiques of workplace e-learning. The emphasis on the technological and artefactual in workplace e-learning research and study are not producing the expected learning outcomes from workplace adult education and training to the degree anticipated. Given increasingly global and diverse workforces, the research and study of workplace e-learning as a socio-culturally ‘negotiated’ space may be an alternate approach toward a more socially and culturally informed understanding of adult learning from workplace e-learning.
Dependency of Transport Functions on IEEE802.11 and IEEE802.15.4 MAC/PHY Layer Protocols for WSN
Authors: Sharif Atif , Potdar Vidyasagar M. , Rathnayaka A. J. D.
Published: September 2010

In WSN transport, layer protocol plays a significant role in maintaining the node’s energy budget. To find out the dependency of Transport layer on MAC/PHY layer, the authors have extensively tested various transport protocols using IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15.4 MAC/PHY protocols for WSN. For IEEE802.11 and IEEE802.15.4 with RTS/CTS ON the TCP variants has shown >80% packet delivery ratio and 5-20% packet loss, while for UDP it is around >63% and 19.54-35.18% respectively. On average 1-3% additional energy is consumed for packet retransmissions in IEEE 802.11 with RTS/CTS OFF whereas significant energy efficiency is observed in IEEE802.15.4 case. For IEEE 802.11 with RTS/CTS ON high throughput, low packet drop rate and increased E-2-E delay is observed, while for IEEE 802.15.4 improved power efficiency and jitter behavior is observed. This has led the foundation for the future development of the cross-layered energy efficient transport protocol for WSN.