bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Model of Information Security Governance for E-Business
Authors: Fink Dieter , Huegle Tobias
Published: May 2011

This chapter identifies various levels of governance followed by a focus on the role of information technology (IT) governance with reference to information security for today’s electronic business (e-business) environment. It outlines levels of enterprise, corporate, and business governance in relation to IT governance before integrating the latter with e-business security management. E-business has made organisations even more reliant on the application of IT while exploiting its capabilities for generating business advantages. The emergence of and dependence on new technologies, like the Internet, have increased exposure of businesses to technology-originated threats and have created new requirements for security management and governance. Previous IT governance frameworks, such as those provided by the IT Governance Institute, Standards Australia, and The National Cyber Security Partnership, have not given the connection between IT governance and e-business security sufficient attention. The proposed model achieves the necessary integration through risk management in which the tensions between threat reduction and value generation activities have to be balanced.
Is Information Ethics Culture-Relative?
Authors: Brey Philip
Published: May 2011

In this article, I examine whether information ethics is culture relative. If it is, different approaches to information ethics are required in different cultures and societies. This would have major implications for the current, predominantly Western approach to information ethics. If it is not, there must be concepts and principles of information ethics that have universal validity. What would they be? The descriptive evidence is for the cultural relativity of information ethics will be studied by examining cultural differences between ethical attitudes towards privacy, freedom of information, and intellectual property rights in Western and non-Western cultures. I then analyze what the implications of these findings are for the metaethical question of whether moral claims must be justified differently in different cultures. Finally, I evaluate what the implications are for the practice of information ethics in a cross-cultural context.
Beyond Intelligent Agents
Authors: Rodriguez Walter , Zalewski Janusz , Kirche Elias
Published: May 2011

This article presents a new concept for supporting electronic collaboration, operations, and relationships among trading partners in the value chain without hindering human autonomy. Although autonomous intelligent agents, or electronic robots (e-bots), can be used to inform this endeavor, the article advocates the development of e-sensors, i.e., software based units with capabilities beyond intelligent agent’s functionality. E-sensors are hardware-software capable of perceiving, reacting and learning from its interactive experience through the supply chain, rather than just searching for data and information through the network and reacting to it. E-sensors can help avoid the “bullwhip” effect. The article briefly reviews the related intelligent agent and supply chain literature and the technological gap between fields. It articulates a demand-driven, sense-and-response system for sustaining e-collaboration and e-business operations as well as monitoring products and processes. As a proof of concept, this research aimed a test solution at a single supply chain partner within one stage of the process.
Making Decisions with Data
Authors: Swingler Kevin , Cairns David
Published: May 2011

This chapter identifies important barriers to the successful application of Computational Intelligence (CI) techniques in a commercial environment and suggests a number of ways in which they may be overcome. It identifies key conceptual, cultural and technical barriers and describes the different ways in which they affect both the business user and the CI practitioner. The chapter does not provide technical detail on how to implement any given technique, rather it discusses the practical consequences for the business user of issues such as non-linearity and extrapolation. For the CI practitioner, we discuss several cultural issues that need to be addressed when seeking to find a commercial application for CI techniques. The authors aim to highlight to technical and business readers how their different expectations can affect the successful outcome of a CI project. The authors hope that by enabling both parties to understand each other’s perspective, the true potential of CI can be realized.
EBBSC
Authors: Wang Fen , Forgionne Guisseppi
Published: May 2011

E-business is far more about strategy than technology, and the strategy of e-business is very important in today’s dynamic and competitive environment. In this article, we describe a balanced scorecard-based framework in detail and discuss its potential e-business uses. This framework enables e-business managers to plan and allocate resources more effectively and align strategic objectives with performance results. It also provides a stable point of reference for e-businesses to understand and manage the fundamental changes introduced by e-business initiatives.
A Multi-Agent Decision Support Architecture for Knowledge Representation and Exchange
Authors: Singh Rahul
Published: May 2011

Organizations rely on knowledge-driven systems for delivering problem-specific knowledge over Internet-based distributed platforms to decision-makers. Recent advances in systems support for problem solving have seen increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques for knowledge representation in multiple forms. This article presents an Intelligent Knowledge-based Multi-agent Decision Support Architecture” (IKMDSA) to illustrate how to represent and exchange domain-specific knowledge in XMLformat through intelligent agents to create, exchange and use knowledge in decision support. IKMDSA integrates knowledge discovery and machine learning techniques for the creation of knowledge from organizational data; and knowledge repositories (KR) for its storage management and use by intelligent software agents in providing effective knowledge-driven decision support. Implementation details of the architecture, its business implications and directions for further research are discussed.
Waleli
Authors: Kirwan Paul
Published: May 2011

This chapter tells the development story of Waleli, a high-tech company utilizing the latest proven developments in wireless communications to bring innovations to the market. It presents the journey of the firm through the entrepreneurial process, from initial idea right through to value creation. Furthermore, it looks at the roles and origins of network contacts and how these impact the entrepreneur’s effort to accumulate the necessary resources to establish and subsequently develop the firm. This chapter adds to our understanding of network activity in the entrepreneurial process and as a real life case has relevance to both potential and practicing entrepreneurs in that it details the trials and tribulations of the process, and academics, as it provides in depth data on the role of the network in the entrepreneurial process.
An Immune Systems Approach for Classifying Mobile Phone Usage
Authors: Yulius Limanto Hanny , Cing Tay Joc , Watkins Andrew
Published: May 2011

With the recent introduction of third generation (3G) technology in the field of mobile communications, mobile phone service providers will have to find an effective strategy to market this new technology. One approach is to analyze the current profile of existing 3G subscribers to discover common patterns in their usage of mobile phones. With these usage patterns, the service provider can effectively target certain classes of customers who are more likely to purchase their subscription plans. To discover these patterns, we use a novel algorithm called Artificial Immune Recognition System (AIRS) that is based on the specificity of the human immune system. In our experiment, the algorithm performs well, achieving an accuracy rate in the range of 80% to 90%, depending on the set of parameter values used.
Transitioning from Face-to-Face to Online Instruction
Authors: York Cindy S.
Published: May 2011

This article briefly reviews two important goals in online education: interaction and presence. These are important goals in online education because they are linked to learning and motivation to learn. The article provides guidelines and an extended example of how to design an online course in information security in a manner that will enhance interaction and presence. This article’s contribution is to provide guidelines with a corresponding extended and concrete example for those who are tasked with designing and delivering online courses. Although the guidelines and example were targeted to the field of information security, they can be readily adopted by other disciplines.
A Mobile Intelligent Agent-Based Architecture for E-Business
Authors: Weng Zhiyong
Published: May 2011

This article proposes a mobile intelligent agentbased e-business architecture that allows buyers and sellers to perform business at remote locations. An e-business participant can generate a mobile, intelligent agent via some mobile devices (such as a personal digital assistant or mobile phone) and dispatch the agent to the Internet to do business on his/her behalf. This proposed architecture promises a number of benefits: First, it provides great convenience for traders as business can be conducted anytime and anywhere. Second, since the task of finding and negotiating with appropriate traders is handled by a mobile, intelligent agent, the user is freed from this time-consuming task. Third, this architecture addresses the problem of limited and expensive connection time for mobile devices: A trader can disconnect a mobile device from its server after generating and launching a mobile intelligent agent. Later on, the trader can reconnect and call back the agent for results, therefore minimizing the connection time. Finally, by complying with the standardization body FIPA, this flexible architecture increases the interoperability between agent systems and provides high scalability design for swiftly moving across the network.
Building Consumer Trust for Internet E-Commerce
Authors: Yee George
Published: May 2011

The growth of the Internet is increasing the deployment of e-commerce B2C services within such areas as e-retailing, e-learning, and e-health. However, a major impediment to the growth of e-commerce on the Internet is the lack of consumer trust in the provider of the e-service (Van Slyke, Belanger, Comunale, 2004). This chapter presents a literature survey of recent contributions to building trust in e-commerce, followed by a description of seven ways for the B2C Internet service provider to build trust in the use of its services among consumers.
Trust in E-Commerce
Authors: Wong Loong
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the importance of trust in business-to-consumer e-commerce. The author explores the issue of trust in the development and implementation of e-commerce and focuses on the context and role of users and consumers in transactions. The author contends that trust is more than a technical consideration and emphasizes the non-technical components such as community, identity, and experiences and their relevance to e-commerce. Despite the growing ubiquity of e-commerce, analysts and commentators continue to draw our attention to the issue of trust in e-commerce transactions. In particular, stories of “hacking,” “phishing,” and illegitimate online transactions have been an on-going public and private concern. These breaches are seen as cyber crimes and detrimental to the development of an efficient and effective business practice. Resolving these breaches are costly; businesses have to outlay financial resources not only to fix the breaches but, in the eyes of their clients, such breaches call into question the efficacy, integrity, and security of these businesses, creating both disquiet and a potential shift to alternative providers. For individuals, it boils down to an invasion of privacy and a lack of trust in the integrity of business systems and practices. This chapter examines the critical import of trust in businessto- consumer e-commerce. The chapter begins by exploring the issue of trust in the development and implementation of e-commerce; in particular, it focuses on the context and the central role of users and consumers in the transaction process. I argue that this development is an evolutionary one congruent with increasing complexities and the shift towards a risk society. The author argues that there is a growing virtualization of social life and that this virtualization plays an important role in our everyday lives. In particular, it transforms our views of agency, interactionism and community, generating both new identities and new possible spheres of autonomous action. Businesses have cashed in on these developments and sought to provide users with choices and ease of use, contributing to a pervasive and critical reception to e-commerce business practices. Via their Web sites and information conveyed, we learn to trust the information we receive. As such, we tend to equate trust with information. Trust becomes no more than a technical consideration. However, trust is and cannot simply be reducible to information. Its nontechnical components—the issues of community, identity and experiences—are critically important. As such, I seek to examine these issues in this chapter and their relationships to the building of trust and consequently, their relevance to e-commerce.
A Fuzzy Logic-Based Approach for Supporting Decision-Making Process in B2C Electronic Commerce Transaction
Authors: Akhter Fahim , Maamar Zakaria , Hobbs Dave
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this article is to present an application of fuzzy logic to human reasoning about electronic commerce (e-commerce) transactions. This article uncovers some of the hidden relationships between critical factors such as security, familiarity, design, and competitiveness. We analyze the effect of these factors on human decision process and how they affect the Business- to-Consumer (B2C) outcome when they are used collectively. This research provides a toolset for B2C vendors to access and evaluate a user’s transaction decision process and also an assisted reasoning tool for the online user.
Factors Affecting Mobile Commerce and Level of Involvement
Authors: Hong Kit Yim Frederick , Ching Biu Tse Alan , Yin Wong King
Published: May 2011

Driven by the accelerating advancement in information technology (IT), the penetration of the Internet and other communications services has increased substantially. Hoffman (2000), one of the most renowned scholars in the realm of Internet research, considers the Internet as “the most important innovation since the development of the printing press.” Indeed, the omnipresent nature of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) has been a defining characteristic of the “new world” of electronic commerce (Dutta, Kwan, & Segev, 1998). There are a good number of academics and practitioners who predict that the Internet and the WWW will be the central focus of all commercial activities in the coming decades (e.g., Dholakia, 1998). In particular, Jarvenpaa & Todd (1996) argue that the Internet is alive with the potential to act as a commercial medium and market. Figuratively, discussing the business prospects of the Internet and the WWW is somehow analogous to discussing the Gold Rush of the 19th century (Dholakia, 1995). Admittedly, the close down of a lot of dot.coms since 2000 has been a concern for many people. However, the statistical figures we have up to now show that the growth pattern continues to be exponential. For example, the latest Forrester Online Retail Index released in January 2002 indicates that consumers spent $5.7 billion online in December, compared to $4.9 billion in November Forrester Research, 2002a). There is yet another sign of optimism for online shopping: The Internet Confidence Index (as released in September 2002), jointly developed by Yahoo and ACNielsen, rose 13 points over the inaugural survey released in June 2001, indicating a strengthening in consumers’ attitudes and confidence in e-commerce services (Yahoo Media Relations, 2002). Hence, we believe that the setback is only temporary and is part of a normal business adjustment. The future trend is very clear to us. Everybody, be it multinationals or small firms, should be convinced of the need to be on the Web.
Gender Discrepancies through the College Years
Authors: McDaniel Christie L.
Published: May 2011

Women made significant contributions to the beginning of the computing revolution. For example, Ada Byron Lovelace helped write the first subroutine, the women of the ENIAC age programmed the first computer during World War II, and Admiral Grace Hopper wrote the first compiler. While there have been female pioneers in the field, today men dominate the world of information technology (Riemenschneider, Armstrong, Allen, & Reid, 2004). Gürer and Camp (2002) report that many science fields hold women in low esteem, and attempt to reject them. Moreover, women are actually declining as part of the technology workforce: they made up 41% of the information technology workforce in 1996, but in 2002 that proportion was down to 35% (Cockburn, 1999). Furthermore, the number of female university students currently studying information technology and computer science will not lead to an increase of females in the profession: in 2002, only 28% of all degrees in computer and information sciences went to women (NCES, 2003); in 2003, only 19% of computer science students were female (Wilson, 2003) and only 28% of the undergraduate students in information science were female (Saye & Wisser, 2004). In a time where women make up the majority of university students (NCES, 2003), why is information technology seeing the opposite trend (Zeldin & Pajares, 2000)? There are a number of theories as to why so few women have chosen to pursue a career in technology (Acker, Barry, & Esseveld, 1990; Cooper & Robinson, 1985; Wilson, 2003; Zeldin & Pajares, 2000). Furthermore, nearly all studies on the subject have been done in the United States (Irani, 2004; Lips, 2004; Wilson, 2003) while only one study cited here explored the gender gap among university students at the University of Hong Kong (Huang, Ring, Toich, & Torres, 1998). A number of feminist researchers believe that science (including technology) has a language that is masculine in nature (Acker et al., 1990). Furthermore, since our society understands gender as binary—that is, what is masculine is not feminine and vice versa—the very nature of science leaves women out. Once women get into the IT world, they face issues of personality and confidence that differ by gender. One theory, to be explored in depth here, is that women enrolled in introductory programming courses have less confidence in themselves than do their male counterparts and that the confidence level of female students decreases significantly between secondary and post-secondary education (Lips, 2004). In addition to being shaped by their comparisons of their performance with the performance of their male peers, women’s self-confidence is likely influenced by their experience of stress in their technology-oriented courses. These influences, combined with inaccurate views of IT careers, are influential in whether or not college students decide to work towards an IT-related major or choose another discipline all together (Irani, 2004; Zeldin & Pajares, 2000).
Visual Query Languages, Representation Techniques, and Data Models
Authors: Caschera Maria Chiara , D’Ulizia Arianna , Tininini Leonardo
Published: May 2011

An easy, efficient, and effective way to retrieve stored data is obviously one of the key issues of any information system. In the last few years, considerable effort has been devoted to the definition of more intuitive, visual-based querying paradigms, attempting to offer a good trade-off between expressiveness and intuitiveness. In this chapter, we analyze the main characteristics of visual languages specifically designed for querying information systems, concentrating on conventional relational databases, but also considering information systems with a less rigid structure such as Web resources storing XML documents. We consider two fundamental aspects of visual query languages: the adopted visual representation technique and the underlying data model, possibly specialized to specific application contexts.
Enhancing UML Models
Authors: Reinhartz-Berger Iris , Sturm Arnon
Published: May 2011

UML has been largely adopted as a standard modeling language. The emergence of UML from different modeling languages that refer to various system aspects causes a wide variety of completeness and correctness problems in UML models. Several methods have been proposed for dealing with correctness issues, mainly providing internal consistency rules but ignoring correctness and completeness with respect to the system requirements and the domain constraints. In this article, we propose addressing both completeness and correctness problems of UML models by adopting a domain analysis approach called application- based domain modeling (ADOM). We present experimental results from our study which checks the quality of application models when utilizing ADOM on UML. The results advocate that the availability of the domain model helps achieve more complete models without reducing the comprehension of these models.
NetCube
Authors: Margaritis Dimitris , Faloutsos Christos , Thrun Sebastian
Published: May 2011

We present a novel method for answering count queries from a large database approximately and quickly. Our method implements an approximate DataCube of the application domain, which can be used to answer any conjunctive count query that can be formed by the user. The DataCube is a conceptual device that in principle stores the number of matching records for all possible such queries. However, because its size and generation time are inherently exponential, our approach uses one or more Bayesian networks to implement it approximately. Bayesian networks are statistical graphical models that can succinctly represent the underlying joint probability distribution of the domain, and can therefore be used to calculate approximate counts for any conjunctive query combination of attribute values and “don’t cares.” The structure and parameters of these networks are learned from the database in a preprocessing stage. By means of such a network, the proposed method, called NetCube, exploits correlations and independencies among attributes to answer a count query quickly without accessing the database. Our preprocessing algorithm scales linearly on the size of the database, and is thus scalable; it is also parallelizable with a straightforward parallel implementation. We give an algorithm for estimating the count result of arbitrary que ries that is fast (constant) on the database size. Our experimental results show that NetCubes have fast generation and use, achieve excellent compression and have low reconstruction error. Moreover, they naturally allow for visualization and data mining, at no extra cost.
E-Commerce in Developing Countries
Authors: Efendioglu Alev M.
Published: May 2011

The number of Internet users around the world has been steadily growing and this growth has provided the impetus and the opportunities for global and regional e-commerce. However, as with Internet, different characteristics (infrastructure and socio-economic) of the local environment have created significant levels of variation in the acceptance and growth of e-commerce in different regions of the world. Our research on e-commerce development in China and the findings provide insights into some of the impediments for development and use of e-commerce. In this chapter, I present and discuss our findings, and propose some strategies for successful development of e-commerce in developing countries.
How to Create a Credible Software Engineering Bachelor's Program
Authors: Frezza Stephen
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a case study in the development of a Software Engineering (SE) Bachelor’s Degree program. It outlines issues in SE program development, various means to address those issues, and explains how the issues were addressed in the initial and ongoing development of an undergraduate SE program. By using SEEK and SWEBOK as requirements sources to define what an undergraduate software engineer needs to know, the authors walk through the creation of a sample curriculum at a small, comprehensive university in the United States. Both the current and initial curricula are presented. The article discusses many items to consider in the process of planning and launching a new BSSE program, such as accreditation, curriculum guidelines, sources of information, and potential problems.
Inter-Organizational E-Collaboration in Education
Authors: Croasdaile Susanne
Published: May 2011

In the world of education, many occasions necessitate interorganizational collaboration. Geographical distance and time constraints are challenges that prevent education professionals from meeting faceto- face to complete a collaborative task, provide ongoing technical assistance, or engage in dynamic professional development. Using electronic tools to bridge distance and overcome scheduling difficulties can be effective; however, research indicates that for these endeavors to be effective, there is a need to consider the purpose, tools, participants, and support structures. This chapter presents an overview of recent research surrounding these issues and its application to electronic collaboration (or e-collaboration) between education professionals.
Capacity of an Electronic Portfolio to Promote Professionalism, Collaboration and Accountability in Educational Leadership
Authors: Dixon Kathryn
Published: May 2011

This chapter is the result of an investigation into the capacity of an electronic portfolio (e-folio) to promote reflection and collaboration in a process of educational leadership. A cohort (n=11) of volunteer aspirant and current school leaders participated in the trial of an innovative software package designed to facilitate the creation of an electronic portfolio. The research has followed the development of the volunteer group as they underwent the process of constructing an e-folio, in an effort to understand the efficacy of an electronic portfolio as a tool for demonstrating self-reflection, analysis of personal leadership, and collaborative practice. The trial members recorded their reflections regarding their experiences as leaders into their portfolios using the parameters of the “Leadership Framework” as the conceptual guide. This chapter focuses on the results of a content analysis conducted on individual reflections, which found collaborative practice as a key performance indicator in the discharge of educational leadership responsibilities.
Globalizing a Function within a Company
Authors: Rich Theresa
Published: May 2011

This case study presents the work done to develop and execute the global vision for a 24/7 matrix organization within a major multinational corporation. Following a literature review describing the opportunities and challenges of a global virtual matrix organization, it presents a McKinsey 7-S (Gluck, 1985) type analysis of this organizational change. At the time this is written, the organizational change is being implemented. The discussion is presented from the vantage point of two of the Change Management consultants that have been engaged to facilitate this work. Specifically discussed is how technology is employed as an enabling element to global collaboration working in virtual teams. While high tech is absolutely necessary to this globalization effort, equally necessary is a high touch approach to build relationships and trust across the organization.
Collaboration through Municipal Motivators
Authors: Smith James L.
Published: May 2011

This chapter reveals the common theme three rural Minnesota communities used in their collaboration efforts in to install and deliver broadband Internet as a municipal utility. The author discovered that the reason for this broadband initiative was a municipal motivator, unique to each city and not related to economic development. It is hoped that other rural communities in search of high-speed Internet, after having digested the results of this study, might conduct their own research in order to determine their true, underlying motivation for delivering improved Internet service. By agreeing on the motivator for each community, local leaders are better able to collaborate on achieving this common goal.
Cross-Layer Resource Allocation and Scheduling for Wireless Systems
Authors: Toumpakaris Dimitris , Lee Jungwon
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an introduction to cross-layer scheduling and resource allocation for wireless systems and an overview of some of the approaches and proposed algorithms. The use of scheduling is motivated by first considering the fading Gaussian channel. Then, the focus shifts to scheduling and resource allocation for cellular systems. Existing approaches for the uplink and the downlink are discussed, as well as research results relating to the fading Multiple Access and the fading Broadcast Channel. Schemes for OFDMA and CDMA systems as well as systems using multiple antenna transmission are also presented. It is hoped that this survey will affirm the improvement in performance that can be achieved by use of cross-layer approaches in the design of Next-Generation Networks.
The Adoption of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) in Managing Next Generation Networks (NGNs)
Authors: Kotsopoulos Konstantinos S.
Published: May 2011

Next Generation Networks (NGNs) will accommodate heterogeneous architectures that need to be managed in order to provide services with high QoS to the users. The complexity of NGNs will give new challenges to network operators and service providers. The aim of this chapter is to present the complexity and the problems in the NGN management plane and to introduce a new framework that will solve many problems that operators face today. This chapter is separated in two parts. The first part presents the management architecture for NGNs according to ITU-T M.3060 recommendation. The second part introduces the concept of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) for managing the Next Generation Networks.
Exploring the Virtual Team Leaders' Perspective
Authors: Konradt Udo , Hoch Julia E.
Published: May 2011

In this study we examined the perceived importance of line managers and middle managers in virtual teams, and what work roles and leadership functions are necessary to promote virtual team success and performance. Using Quinn’s (1988) competing values framework it was found that control-related roles of directors and producers were perceived to be most important. With years in a leading position, the repertoire of leadership roles needed to successfully lead virtual teams declined. Additionally, middle managers compared to line managers perceived people oriented leadership functions (i.e., mentor and facilitator roles) and flexibility-related work roles (i.e., innovator and mentor roles) as more important whereas line managers compared to middle managers perceived stability leadership functions (i.e., monitor and coordinator roles) as more important. Limitations, implications for virtual team leadership, and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Collaborative Engineering for Enhanced Producibility by Ontology-Based Integration of Design and Production
Authors: Elgh Fredrik , Sunnersjö Staffan
Published: May 2011

Many companies base their business strategy on customized products with a high level of variety and continuous functional improvements. For companies to be able to provide affordable products in a short time and be at the competitive edge, every new design must be adapted to existing production facilities. In order to ensure this, collaboration between engineering design and production engineering has to be supported. With the dispersed organisations of today combined with the increasing amount of information that has to be shared and managed, this collaboration is a critical issue for many companies. In this article, an approach for sharing and managing product and production information is introduced. The results are based on the experiences from a case study at a car manufacturer. By ontology-based integration, work within domains engineering design, production engineering and requirement management at the company was integrated. The main objectives with the integration were: support the formation of requirement specifications for products and processes, improve and simplify the information retrieval for designers and process planners, ensure traceability from changes in product systems to manufacturing systems and vice versa, and finally, eliminate redundant or multiple versions of requirement specifications.
User Satisfaction with E-Collaborative Systems
Authors: Wong Jeffrey , Dow Kevin , Turel Ofir , Serenko Alexander
Published: May 2011

E-mail is a critical component of most e-collaborative environments. This chapter describes an application of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) framework to model the antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction with e-mail systems. The ACSI framework is an established methodology in the marketing literature and appeared to be useful to assess the antecedents and consequences of individual satisfaction in many more circumstances than external customer purchases. We surveyed e-mail users to gather data to utilize in an ACSI model modified for e-mail systems. Our findings indicate that the ACSI model can yield useful insights into factors that contribute to and result from user satisfaction.
Organizational Sense of Community and Listserv Use
Authors: Blanchard Anita
Published: May 2011

This study examines how a Listserv affects its members’ sense of community (SOC) with the sponsoring organization. It was expected that the Listserv would increase members’ knowledge about and participation in the sponsoring organization department, which, in turn, would increase their SOC. The study examined Listserv members and nonmembers before and after implementation of the Listserv. As expected, Listserv membership increased knowledge and face-to-face activity, and knowledge and face-to-face activity increased sense of community. However, there was ironically no effect of Listserv membership on sense of community. These findings challenge previous theories about the development of sense of community while nonetheless demonstrating the positive effects of Listserv membership.
Digital Divide
Authors: Burtseva Liudmila , Cojocaru Svetlana , Gaindric Constantin , Magariu Galina , Verlan Tatiana
Published: May 2011

In this chapter the authors introduce the digitaldivide concept to the reader, bring its different definitions, and describe the short history of the problem. The basic figures and facts, which characterize the information and communication technologies’ usage in different countries and regions, are given as well. Also, basic indicators that allow the monitoring of the country’s advancement on the way to bridging the digital divide are stated. The main purpose for the authors was to show that the digital divide is not only (and not as much) a technical problem, but rather a social and political one. Hence, the approaches to this problem decision, both in the world community as a whole and in separate countries, are described.
E-Government, Democratic Governance and Integrative Prospects for Developing Countries
Authors: Roy Jeffrey P.
Published: May 2011

The objectives of this chapter are threefold: first, to provide a conceptual framework for understanding e-government as a set of four interrelated dimensions of public sector change; second, to consider the relevance and applicability of this framework for both developed and developing nations; and third, to explore the interface between domestic and transnational governance reforms in an increasingly digital era. The world in the twenty-first century needs a globally federated governance architecture, the design of which must include social, economic, political, and technological considerations. This strengthened focus on transnational governance systems must also be joined by the recognition of the dysfunctional nature of the present system of bilateral international assistance programs among countries. With improved governance conditions of transparency and trust transnationally — facilitated in part by a much more politically creative and aggressive use of new technologies, the resources allocated by each country across their various recipients would serve both developing nations and the world as a whole if they were pooled and coordinated through new transnational mechanisms.
Globalisation and New Technology
Authors: Caron André H.
Published: May 2011

Whether globalisation results in a “métissage” of cultures or the hegemony of one culture will depend on the analytical and social skills of those who make up our communities. The introduction of new technologies in education such as laptops, MP3s, and Ipods and the new concept of mobile learning require an examination of the teacher’s role in facilitating innovation, conveying culture, and acting as a conceptual translator. By modeling and teaching students critical and social skills, teachers can help tomorrow’s citizens to use the new flow of information to meet the challenges of globalisation.
GlobalMind
Authors: Chung Hyemin , Lieberman Henry
Published: May 2011

The need for more effective communication between people of different countries has increased as travel and communications bring more of the world’s people together. Communication is often difficult because of both language differences and cultural differences. Attempts to bridge these differences include many attempts to perform machine translation or provide language resources such as dictionaries or phrase books; however, many problems related to cultural and conceptual differences still remain. Automated mechanisms to analyze cultural similarities and differences might be used to improve traditional machine translators and as aids to cross-cultural communication. This article presents an approach to automatically compute cultural differences by comparing databases of common-sense knowledge in different languages and cultures. Global- Mind provides an interface for acquiring databases of common-sense knowledge from users who speak different languages. It implements inference modules to compute the cultural similarities and differences between these databases. In this article, the design of the GlobalMind databases, the implementation of its inference modules, as well as an evaluation of GlobalMind are described.
Social Institutional Explanations of Global Internet Diffusion
Authors: Zhao Hongxin , Kim Seung , Suh Taewon , Du Jianjun
Published: May 2011

This study attempts to examine empirically how social institutional factors relate to Internet diffusion in 39 countries. Based on nine-year crosscountry data, the analytical results show that the rule of law, educational systems, and industrialization significantly influenced the global Internet diffusion, while the economic system did not exert significant impact. Uncertainty avoidance as a national cultural phenomenon significantly inhibited the Internet diffusion. This significant and negative effect is particularly true with less developed countries (LDCs).
Watermarking and Authentication in JPEG2000
Authors: Fotopoulos V. E. , Kostopoulos I. D.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces JPEG 2000 as an application field for image authentication and the new technology of digital image watermarking. The new compression format has many unexplored characteristics that both the watermarking and the authentication communities should carefully take into account. Thus, a brief introduction to the standard is given at the beginning, discussing its structure, features, novelties, and capabilities. Following that introduction, watermarking techniques are presented, at first into the wavelet domain (the DWT is part of the JPEG2000 core), and then into the JPEG 2000 pipeline. The effects of the various standards’ parameters in this process are carefully investigated. Then, authentication mechanisms of JPEG 2000 images are described and we peek into JPSEC, part-8 of JPEG 2000 that deals with issues of watermarking and authentication.
Digital Rights Management of Images and Videos Using Robust Replica Detection Techniques
Authors: Nikolaidis Nikos
Published: May 2011

Intellectual property rights protection and management of multimedia data is essential for the deployment of e-commerce systems involving transactions on such data. Lately, replica detection or fingerprinting has emerged as a promising approach for the rights management of multimedia data. In this chapter, a review of 2 replica detection techniques is presented. The first technique utilizes color-based descriptors, an R-tree indexing structure, and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) to achieve image replica detection. The second technique is a video fingerprinting method that utilizes information about the appearances of individuals in videos along with an efficient search and matching strategy.
Digital Rights Management in Organisations
Authors: Pappa Dimitra , Gortzis Lefteris G.
Published: May 2011

With emerging technologies constantly creating new possibilities for organisations to manage their information resources, this chapter proposes a model for designing systems to control access to, and usage of, digital resources in organisations.The authors argue that Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a socio-technical challenge that requires a holistic approach. The resulting socio-technical forces model, titled SYNAPSIS, includes the following interdependent dimensions: Technology, Task, Structure, People, and Organisation External Forces, which act as interrelated forces. The application of the SYNAPSIS model can help identify complex interdependencies among the involved dimensions, as well as their evolution with time. Models, like the one proposed, may provide significant support on the underlying field.
Digital Rights Management
Authors: Golfinopoulos Christos
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the legal framework that applies to Digital Rights Management (DRM) information and Technological Protection Measures at the EU level. For this reason, the relevant legal instruments are identified and briefly described, while at the same time, an effort has been made to identify the most important points of concern that arise from the interpretation and application of the law. The review concludes by reference to the ongoing discussion over DRM designs to best incorporate the requirements of the law into technological solutions
Technology, UDL & Literacy Activities for People with Developmental Delays
Authors: Ayres Kevin M. , Langone John , Douglas Karen
Published: May 2011

As with technology, literacy is evolving. No longer is word decoding a sufficient skill for independently navigating a text rich environment. For individuals with severe developmental delays accessing literacy has always been a distant, seemingly unachievable goal. As technology has transformed what it means to be literate, it also has transformed how individuals can interact with text. Through technologymediatedinteractions with electronic text, individuals with developmental disabilities are beginning to have greater access to the world around them. While technology is no panacea for the learning difficulties these individuals exhibit, it potentially can alter how these individuals gain meaning from text. The purpose of this chapter is to explore this evolving definition of literacy in terms of technology, paired with universal design, which might allow teachers to provide students with severe developmental delays greater access and interaction with text.
Pedagogic Potentials of Multimodal Literacy
Authors: Walsh Maureen
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the changed nature of literacy within new communication contexts, the literacy that is needed for reading, viewing, responding to and producing multimodal and digital texts. Potentials for redesigning literacy pedagogy within new modes of communication are demonstrated for educational contexts. As a basis for this discussion, the author analyses classroom evidence using examples of three case studies from a research project conducted in primary schools in Sydney, Australia. In the research project teachers in several primary schools worked with the author/researcher to consider ways of redesigning literacy pedagogy within e-learning and multimodal classroom contexts. Interesting and significant changes occurred in their classroom practice. Teachers developed programs that incorporated a range of technology, including Web 2.0, and were able to maintain a balance between print-based and new literacies. Examples are presented and discussed to highlight the differences in pedagogy needed for ‘multimodal literacy’ combined with traditional literacy practices.
Teaching and Technology
Authors: Ryan Thomas G.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter technology is viewed as a tool and an enterprise that can be used to educate, change and empower people in schools and society. However, we need to remember that teaching is still a personal human journey that is influenced by many forces related to technologic change which are infused with human relations. We are duty-bound to become self-aware through the clarification of values, reflection and action research. We need to remind ourselves to look at the messages we send, and most importantly, become aware of the behaviors, modeling and leadership we provide at all levels to ensure that we drive the vision for technology and not let technology mute nor drive the humanness from either the classroom or the education system.
Scaffolding Problem-Solving and Inquiry
Authors: Fund Zvia
Published: May 2011

The study examines cognitive support for science learning in a computerized environment. The research was carried out with junior high school students, who used a problem-solving computerized environment in science. For this purpose, four support components were identified - structural, reflection, subjectmatter, and enrichment components. These components were used to construct four computerized cognitive support models based on human teaching. The effects of these support models on achievement, on cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, and on reflective behavior are compared to one another and to a control group. The results led to the construction of a theoretical-functional “Bridge Model”. The model elucidates the functions of the structural, reflective and subject-matter components upon the cognitive system, and offers an explanation of the research findings. The study and its main results are presented, as well as a theoretical description of the Bridge Model.
Good Old PowerPoint and its Unrevealed Potential
Authors: Samsonov Pavel
Published: May 2011

Though extremely popular with school teachers, PowerPoint is almost never used as an interactive tool of teaching and learning. The following chapter describes how to create interactive and fun projects in PowerPoint: reviews, interactive maps and games. The chapter is of a practical rather than of research or theoretical character. It targets in-service teachers of schools and colleges. The described techniques require only basic computer skills. A case study on the effectiveness of the techniques is described at the end of the chapter. Multiple internet resources on PowerPoint use in education are offered.