bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
E-Government Development in Nanhai City, China
Authors: Yongling Y.
Published: May 2011

Nanhai is a small city which belongs to Foshan City (a district can also be called a city in some cities of China) and lies in the central part of Guangdong province. It is in the hinterland of Pearl River Delta, close to Hong Kong and Macau. It was in 1995 that the city began to develop e-government. In September of 1996, it became one of the first cities that started to operate the Internet in China. Since 1999, the city had transferred into the period of Internet application. It became the national experimental field of an informalization process in 2000 and of an e-government application project and national information security project in 2001. However, since 2002, lots of problems have been appearing due to overemphasis on the construction of an information infrastructure and noticeable projects. Chinese e-government has been at the stage of a realistic period, with data shared among departments since 2000. Some weaknesses of the appraised projects have been appearing because of short service for urban development and the requirements from the city administration. Therefore, this case is just a description of the periodical success and would be a problematic case of the process of Chinese e-government.
E-Government Development Trends
Authors: Zuccarini M.
Published: May 2011

Information technology is changing the role of government, its functions, and its power. The long process of transformation of public sector organizations and the applications of computer technologies have started the talk about electronic government. In the last ten years, the debate concerning e-government has been the subject of various studies, promoting analyses, research approaches, and empirical surveys. Even so, there is still much confusion about the meaning of this term and the word e-government is often used in reference to e-voting, e-democracy, or e-administration. Therefore here we intend to provide the reader with some guidelines, trying to explain a concept that, although little more than ten years old, finds its roots in the ancient idea of the information society. We can start by saying that e-government represents just a single fragment of the broad discourse about the impact of information technologies on society. It is not an administrative experiment but a permanent part of the governmental process. According to Jane Fountain’s (2004) idea, we can define e-government as “the production and delivery of information and services inside government and between government and the public using a range of information and communication technologies” (para. 2). In this prospective, the Internet can be considered as a variable, which has been grafted onto the wider ground of factors leading to the transformation of government roles. Moving from this point, e-government will be analyzed as an intersection of two main trends. The first of these is the overall transformation of public sector organization. In this respect, the Internet variable has to be considered in the entire process of the government reinvention that made scholars talk about a major new revolution after the industrial one. The second trend is the information society development, a process that started since the 50s catching very soon the interest of governments.
Ethics of Digital Government
Authors: Kapucu N.
Published: May 2011

The Internet is at once a new communications medium and a new locus for social organization on a global basis. A digital government will allow public access to government information and services, and group participation in discussions at any time and from anywhere on the globe. Digital government is regarded as the most recent development in the evolving application of electronic information technology to the performance of government. The development and migration of the technologies, as well as applications of information technology in support of government operations are other important aspects. New policies have been passed by legislative bodies to ensure the proper management and implementations of these technologies and the systems they serve, their protection from physical harm, and the security and privacy of their information. The growth of digital government has increased governments’ ability to collect, store, analyze, and disclose private personal and organizational information (Fountain, 2001). In the rapidly evolving environments of digital technology, it is impossible to anticipate the leading-edge ethical issues. However, there are solid ethical imperatives to use these principles ethical behavior for resolution of the issues (Anderson, 2004). This article will focus on privacy and confidentiality of individual private information in digital environment.
E-Tourism and Digital Government
Authors: Buhalis D.
Published: May 2011

The recent developments in information communication technologies (ICTs) and the emergence of the Internet, in particular, as a mainstream communications and transaction media has changed the way that governments, organisations, and citizens interact and operate. These developments have changed the best operational and strategic practices for organisations on a global level and altered the competitiveness of enterprises and regions around the world. ety Technology Advisory Group (ISTAG) (2003) as “a set of properties of an environment that we are in the process of creating.” This represents a new paradigm for how people can work and live together. According to the ISTAG vision statement, humans, in an ambient intelligent environment, will be surrounded by intelligent interfaces supported by computing and networking technology that is embedded in everyday objects, such as furniture, clothes, vehicles, roads, and smart materials—even particles of decorative substances like paint. Humans will live in an ambient intelligence space in which there will be seamless interoperation between different environments—home, vehicle, public space, work, leisure space, tourism destination, and so forth. This implies a seamless environment of computing, advanced networking technology, and specific interfaces, which should be aware of the specific characteristics of human presence and personalities; adapt to the needs of users; be capable of responding intelligently to spoken or gestured indications of desire; and even result in systems that are capable of engaging in intelligent dialogue (Buhalis & O’Connor, 2005).
The EU's Use of the Internet
Authors: Shahin J.
Published: May 2011

The European Union (EU) has been one of the leading lights concerning Internet use in dealing with other public administrations and citizens. This article will argue that e-government has meant that the European Commission has been able to promote a virtual arena for pan-European activity, which has promoted action at the national and local levels in the EU. In the first instance, this article will deal with how the European Commission uses the Internet to attempt to improve its own relationship with both national public administrations and citizens in terms of the European policy-making process. Although the Internet is perceived as aiding public administrations in information and service provision, which helps to deliver better governance from an institutional governance perspective, a focus on this would only tell one half of the story. Increasing democratic participation and regaining trust in the political system at large is also an important issue for public bodies such as the European Commission to address, and this is not merely a technical process. These technical (efficiency, etc.) and democratic stages are two key parts in the process of developing an information and communication technology (ICT)-based governance agenda in the EU. In order to outline the process, this article deals with four different aspects of the European Commission’s e-policies. It makes reference to the following: 1. The Commission’s information provision, through the EU’s Europa (II) Web server; 2. The way in which the Commission has tried to interact with citizens, using interactive policy making (IPM); 3. The e Commission initiative; and 4. The way in which the Commission links member-state public administrations together, through the IDA(BC) programme. This article reveals the increasing coherence of the European Commission’s approach to using the Internet in institutional affairs. Although the Commission’s approach to using the Internet for governance was initially unstable and ad hoc, by the turn of the century, all efforts had converged around the political issues of institutional reform and better governance. This has been further enhanced by the application of the open method of coordination as one of the tools of EU governance, which has enabled the Commission to take a more informal role in implementing e-government strategies at the pan-European level. This article does not attempt to define e-government at the European level nor does it go into policy areas concerning e-government (such as research, socioeconomic inclusion, improving competitiveness, or specific e-government policy developed by the European Commission), but will contribute to a greater understanding of how the EU itself has used the Internet to promote an e-government agenda that is affecting all public administrations.
Human Factors in Public Information Systems
Authors: Sandberg K. W. , Pan Y.
Published: May 2011

News reports do not frequently mention many problems or accidents caused by human error. The specialty of human factors seeks to avoid human error by making certain that computers and all other equipment are designed to be easy to understand and use; costly human errors are thus minimised. This article provides a basic overview of the subject of human factors as it pertains to problem and error avoidance in computerised public information systems. When computer/system design does not adequately consider human capability, the performance of the computer/system and the user will be below desired levels.
Information Management in Kutch Earthquake
Authors: Sen B.
Published: May 2011

The term digital governance refers to governance processes in which information and communication technologies (ICT) play a significant role. Digital governance uses ICT to induce changes in the delivery and standards of governance services and, more importantly, in the way citizens interact and participate in the governance sphere. The role played by ICT could be wide ranging: in delivery and standards of governance services, to how people access such services, and the participation of people in the governance sphere (Digital governance.org Initiative, n.d.). Digital governance is not just another facet of governance or one more interface between citizens and government. Digital governance is a whole new opportunity, creating immense possibilities between citizens and government by redefining vision and the scope of the entire gamut of relationships (Bedi, Singh, & Srivastava, 2001). Two fundamental anchors of digital governance are local knowledge communities and citizen-centric governance.
Level-Based Development of E-Government Services
Authors: Markellou P.
Published: May 2011

As the Web is growing exponentially, the way of provision governmental information and services has been changed by the newly supplied technological capacities and digital channels. More and more governments all over the world are trying to acquire an electronic profile, in order to offer advanced services to their users (citizens and businesses). Two basic factors have significant contribution to this direction. The first considers the continuous increase of the users’ daily needs (e.g., information searching, certificate requesting). Traditionally, the completion of these tasks implies a lot of valuable time to be lost in the tracking of responsible actor and in the waiting in queues. The second one refers to the ongoing access of the users with the Internet. This new way of communication facilitates the transactions and helps in providing better public services. It is clear that e-government’s successful development and operation demands proper design, which will comprise the basis for its application. Information and communication technologies (ICT) may contribute essentially to this direction, as long as government and users adopt them under the framework of a broader reorganization of the public sector. This adaptation can be implemented gradually in levels, which will enable the unobstructed data flow from/to government and will give the opportunity to citizens and businesses to obtain the highest access to the provided governmental services. Only under these circumstances, this transition will lead to a series of strategic, administrative and operational benefits (NOIE, 2003; OGC, 2003), for example, best coverage of users’ needs, cost and time savings, and so forth. This article is intended to present a level-based approach for the development of e-government services, starting from the lowest one to the highest and more complicated. Following gradually this sequence of technological levels and incorporating with strategy, coordination, and know-how, an organization can realize the vision of e-government, provide reliable online information and services to their users and improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
Online Learning for Public Institutions
Authors: Sullivan K.
Published: May 2011

Three factors have accelerated the need for continuous learning for public administration employees: (1) improvements in information technologies that provide greater opportunities to gather, store, and transmit knowledge; (2) the increase in jobs required to produce and to manipulate knowledge; for example, the Canadian federal government estimates that 75% of its employees are knowledge workers; and (3) employee mobility is increasing, as shown by a yearly turnover of 40% of the U.S. workforce, or approximately 50 million employees. Therefore, continuous learning is becoming an important issue for employers and employees. In a survey of the 50 U.S. state governors on higher education issues, the most important issue was encouraging lifelong learning (Klor de Alva, 2000), leading to a need for learning management, where an organization controls internal and external knowledge as an important performance factor for both individuals and the organization. In the past, continuous organization learning in the public sector was associated with dedicated central learning centers. For example, the Canadian federal government’s education center for middle- and senior-level public servants, the Canada School for Public Service, had two large centers with classrooms and libraries, one with residential capacity. Most of the new knowledge obtained by public servants required large expenditures of capital and time in order to move employees and instructors away from their places of work to learn together in classrooms. Not only is this model expensive, but it also places a significant gap between learning a concept and being able to apply that concept to daily work. Online gives the learning manager a new tool that might be more cost effective (Langford & Seaborne, 2003). With the development of new information technologies, many leaders are questioning the place-bound synchronous classroom model as the best model for developing educational experiences. For example, U.S. governors’ next three important higher education issues after lifelong learning were (1) providing opportunities to obtain education anytime and anyplace via technology, (2) requiring postsecondary institutions to collaborate with business and industry in curriculum and program development, and (3) integrating on-the-job experience into academic programs (Klor de Alva, 2000). The new instructional model that is emerging delivers smaller units directly to the employee and very close to their work site or home; it is often called online education.
Open-Source Solution to Secure E-Government Services
Authors: Ardagna C. A.
Published: May 2011

Nowadays, a global information infrastructure connects remote parties through the use of large scale networks, and many companies focus on developing e-services based on remote resources and on interactions between remote parties. In such a context, e-government (e-gov) systems became of paramount importance for the public administration, and many ongoing development projects are targeted on their implementation, security, and release (Bettini, Jajodia, Sean Wang, & Wijesekera, 2002). For open-source software to play an important role in this scenario, three main technological requirements must be fulfilled: (1) the identification and optimization of de facto standards for building e-gov open-source software components, (2) the adoption of open-source techniques to secure e-gov services and (3) the standard integration of these components into an open-source middleware layer, capable of conveying a completely open-source e-gov solution. This article highlights that e-gov systems should be constructed on an open-source middleware layer, providing full public responsibility in its development. The role of open-source middleware for secure e-gov services deployment is discussed, focusing on implementing a security environment without custom programming. An alternative solution is given and consists of the adoption of a stand-alone architecture that fulfils all security requirements.
Portals for the Public Sector
Authors: Lucke J. V.
Published: May 2011

The term “portal” is traditionally associated with doors and gates. Room and front doors are used as simple entrances into a building or a room. Larger gates are constructed for the passage of vehicles. In ancient times the word “portal” was used mostly for monumentally designed entrances of buildings, castles, palaces, or cities, and triumphal arches. With the success of the World Wide Web (WWW) in the middle of the 1990s the term “portal” has a new meaning in a completely different context. Commercial providers of online services, search engines, and directories of Web-based links renamed their services as portals or starting points for the Internet. The providers of these portals were able to list their shares on stock exchanges with great success. Yahoo!, a commercial provider of directory services for the WWW, increased its share price steadily over 4 years since the initial stock exchange listing in 1996, which resulted in a true portal euphoria among investors until 2000. Merrill Lynch published a study in November 1998 about the internal use of portals and corresponding technologies in the enterprise, predicting unusually high growth rates and return on investment rates for such projects (Shilakes & Tylman, 1998). Many stock companies were able to increase their share price significantly just with the announcement of a portal strategy. Companies also began to rename their existing Web pages, online shops, and electronic markets as “portals,” entirely in the sense of superb entrances, although most of these services had no real portal functionality. Everyone just wanted to participate in the portal success. But only a few participants had an exact idea of the meaning behind the term “portal.”
Survivability Issues and Challenges
Authors: Joshi J. B.D. , Chandran S. M.
Published: May 2011

An electronic government (e-government) is essentially an amalgam of interconnected heterogeneous information systems belonging to both government agencies and public and private sectors with a goal of modernizing the government’s highly fragmented service-centric information infrastructure by improving information flow and the decision-making process (Joshi, Aref, Ghafoor, & Spafford, 2001a). The e-government environment also embeds the nation’s critical infrastructures, that are required for providing the nation’s basic services to the citizens (PDD, 1998), such as energy, telecommunications, banking and finance, and transportation facilities. The intricate connectivity of systems and their increasing dependence on IT dramatically magnifies the consequences of damages resulting from even simple system faults/accidents and intrusions, as well as natural events (fire, earthquakes, etc.), also collectively called disruptions (Ellison et al., 1997). A key challenge for such an infrastructure is to ensure continuous service availability to prevent financial losses, loss of prestige, endangerment of citizens’ lives, and disturbances in national socio-psychological structures adversely effecting governance and democracy (Ellison et al., 1997; Gibbs, 1994; Moore, Ellison, & Linger, 2001). While it is essential that the e-Government infrastructure is resilient to disruptions, an even bigger concern is the protection of critical infrastructure components within the e-government. In essence, the e-government infrastructure should have the capability to provide services in a timely manner, irrespective of disruptions, a capability known as survivability.
Third World City in the Information Age
Authors: Sinha D.
Published: May 2011

It could be one of the great paradoxes of history that the third world continues to urbanize itself at a faster pace than the developed world. At the same time, third-world cities, inevitably at the cost of the rural areas, continue to play the game of one-upmanship in proclaiming themselves the best possible hub of the information and communication technology (ICT). Such a phenomenon is natural not only because in the third world the cities are the privileged sites or spaces in which any new and progressive process or event is supposed to take root but also because the cities, the firm favorites of the policymaking elite of the third world, are supposed to be the privileged channels in the trickle-down process of development. In this process, the hinterland (the suburbs and the rural areas, mostly in that order) fall behind. Thus, a veteran scholar of third-world urbanization, T. G. McGee (1971), described third world cities either as “enclaves” (spaces meant for the elite’s games surrounded by “hostile peasantry”) or as “beachheads” (centers of modernization and catalysts for economic growth) (p. 13). However, cities in the third world are not monolithic entities enjoying exclusive occupation by elites and other privileged sections of society. Our real-life experience shows that third-world cities that are inhabited by nearly one-third of the world’s urban population provide classic and shocking contrasts in terms of playing host to affluent, powerful citizenry on the one hand and to their underprivileged, powerless counterparts—ordinary people (the middle-middle/lower-middle classes downward) on the other hand. The latter, at best, possess only the legal attributes of citizenship, and, at worst, they are devoid of even that to remain utterly marginalized if not pulverized. It is in this setting that the third-world city opens itself up to the information age and its concomitant: digital governance. This article limits itself to drawing attention to the fate of the third-world city caught in the vortex of the information age and the associated rhetoric of salvation. In the process, it reveals certain general indicative trends. It does not provide any fixed blueprint for immediate crisis solving, keeping in mind the variety that exists in third-world cities despite a substantial degree of commonality among them. However, it does endorse the view (Visvanathan, 2001) that to “understand … spaces being continually defined by development we need sharper tools for the analysis of symbolic space and the interrelationship between historical events and social phenomena, which bring space, time and culture together” (p.182).
Using Digital Hotlines in an Anti-Corruption Campaign
Authors: Saddler P. F.
Published: May 2011

Throughout the world, people are just as concerned about corruption as they are about unemployment, poverty, and physical security. Governments can support citizens in their fight against corruption by using digital hotlines to investigate wrongdoing and to strengthen fraud-prevention efforts. Best practices in managing digital hotlines can be packaged into a module that is rolled out to all units of government from the national to the local level.
Web Site Experience Analysis
Authors: Vorvoreanu M.
Published: May 2011

The Web site Experience Analysis (WEA) (Vorvoreanu, 2004) is a research protocol used to evaluate the experience of visiting a Web site. Currently, the dominant approach to Web site evaluation is usability, which is primarily concerned with ease of use (Brinck, Gergle, & Wood, 2002; Nielsen, 1993, 2000a; Nielsen & Norman, 2000; Nielsen & Tahir, 2002; Spool, 1999). While ease of use is an essential part of the experience of visiting a Web site, the Web site experience cannot be reduced to usability alone. Meanings, perceptions, and attitudes are also significant aspects of the Web site experience. Take the example of an emergency preparedness Web site such as Ready America (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2004). A usability evaluation of this Web site would assess whether information is easy to find, the site is easy to navigate, etc. WEA would take usability into consideration, but would also address other aspects of the Web site experience, asking questions such as: Did the Web site visitors understand the information? Were they persuaded? Where they scared? How likely are they to take the actions recommended? Did they perceive the Web site as credible? What are their understandings of the Web site authors’ intentions? In short, WEA taps into the communication aspect of visiting a Web site. Its purpose is to create a map of the user’s Web site experience, complete with meanings, perceptions, and interpretations.
Technology Acceptance Model
Authors: McCord M.
Published: May 2011

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) measures perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as predictors of a user’s intent to use computer technology, and their actual usage on the job. The measure first appeared in 1989, in an MIS Quarterly article by Fred Davis and in a coauthored article in Management Science(Davis, 1989; Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989). Extending the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) to technology, Perceived usefulness (U) is defined as “the degree to which a person believes a particular system would enhance his or her job performance.” Perceived ease of use (EOU) is defined as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort.” ‘Usage intentions’ (BI) was measured through self-predicted future usage and ‘user acceptance’ was measured through self-reported current usage. Although information technology is adopted to improve employee performance, these gains are often lost or diminished by users’ unwilling to accept and use the information system. Davis wanted to understand why users rejected or accepted information technologies, to better predict, explain and increase user acceptance. The TAM model has since become one of the most established models for predicting user acceptance.
The Aggression Questionnaire
Authors: Kiewitz C. , Weaver J.
Published: May 2011

We describe two short form versions of the self-report Aggression Questionnaire initially developed by Buss and Perry (1992). Often referred to as the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) the original inventory consists of 29 items that measure four aspects of trait aggressiveness – anger, hostility, verbal- and physical-aggression – that are typically used both individually and/or combined to create an overall aggressiveness index. The BPAQ is the successor of the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI; Buss & Durkee, 1957). Perhaps more appropriate for Internet-based research are the AQ-12 and AQ-15 short forms derived from two different efforts to refine the BPAQ. One effort resulted in the AQ-12 (Bryant & Smith, 2001, p. 150), which uses 12 of the original 29 AQ items. The other effort yielded the AQ-15 by drawing from a 34-item AQ revision by the same authors (Buss & Warren, 2000, pp. 13, 65) and also from the AQ-12. Comparing the AQ-12 and AQ-15 reveals almost identical items for the anger, hostility, verbal- and physical-aggression subscales. The primary difference is that the AQ-15 features an additional 3-item subscale that assesses indirect aggression. Respondents typically rate items on both inventories using a Likert-type scale. Both forms can be used with adult/adolescent and normal/abnormal populations. For children, the AQ-15 may be preferable because it has a third-grade readability level. Research has shown both inventories to be quite reliable and valid measures of aggressive tendencies in individuals.
Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension
Authors: Berry S. , Woods R.
Published: May 2011

The Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA) (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997) measures the fear people experience when interacting with others from different cultural groups. PRICA was developed by Neuliep and McCroskey who assessed that because intercultural interaction in the United States is unavoidable, communication apprehension arising form an interethnic context is more acute than other forms of communication fear. PRICA is a derivative of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24) (McCroskey, 1982), which measures communication anxiety in situational contexts (i.e., dyadic, small group, meeting, or public speaking). Intercultural communication anxiety is considered a subcategory of general communication apprehension. The 14-item PRICA instrument is a version of McCroskey’s original 24-item Likert-type PRCA instrument. While PRCA is one of the most widely accepted measures of trait communication apprehension, the PRICA instrument—designed to fit intercultural aspects—is considered more specific in its definitions than the PRCA.
Gender Role Inventory
Authors: Weaver J.
Published: May 2011

We describe a newly developed 14-item inventory designed to measure two dimensions – agency and communion – of gender role self perceptions. The Gender Role Inventory (GRI-14) emerges as a conceptual and empirical refinement of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem, 1981) offering exceptional utility for electronic-based research while overcoming questions about construct validity and psychometric adequacy inherent in the BSRI. Since its inception, the BSRI has proven a widely used tool for assessing femininity and masculinity in numerous empirical studies and, to a significant extent, has defined the nature of sex role orientation in the research literature. Despite its popularity, however, persistent questions have arisen over whether the BSRI actually measures what it claims to measure (see, for example, Choi & Fuqua, 2003; Hoffman & Borders, 2001). A highly consistent pattern emerging across a range of factor-analytic studies, for example, is (1) a single femininity factor and two or more complex masculinity factors, (2) a tendency toward inconsistent item loading across these factors (e.g., over half of the femininity subscale items do not load on the femininity factor), and (3) an unexpectedly low amount of total variance typically accounted for by the primary factors. Concerns such as these, some argue, point to an “initial lack of theoretically defined dimensions of masculinity/femininity measured by the BSRI” (Choi & Fuqua, 2003, p. 884) while others proposed that the BSRI actually measures constructs such as instrumentality and expressiveness (e.g., Bohannon & Mills, 1979; Moreland, 1978).
Dot-Com Conversion at Egghead
Authors: Lightfood William S.
Published: May 2011

Egghead Software, Inc.’s evolution from a multichannel, traditional retailer of computer software and hardware into an e-commerce-only channel parallels the rise and fall of many e-commerce ventures. At one time, Egghead had a well-defined multichannel strategy, with a direct-sales unit focused on corporate, government, and education customers (CGE); a retail-store unit focused on early adopters of computer software and hardware; and a catalog and call-center unit that targeted consumers and small businesses. Struggling to survive in the face of increased competition and declining margins, Egghead made a series of decisions to sell its CGE unit and abandon its retail stores and catalog operations, shifting all of its resources into an e-commerce strategy. This shift was cited by many journalists and analysts as a sign that e-commerce was here to stay and highlighted Egghead.com as an example that traditional retailers should follow or risk becoming obsolete (Wilde, 1999). This article reviews the history of Egghead, focusing on the decisions and events that led to its demise.
E-Business Commerce Agents and Payment Systems
Authors: Guan Sheng-Uei
Published: May 2011

In emerging outcome of the popularization of the Internet is the electronic commerce and payment systems, which present great opportunities for businesses, reduce transaction costs, and provide faster transaction time. Research has been conducted with new technologies, like mobile Internet used by business models (Baek & Hong, 2003). However, before using the Internet, it is essential to provide security in transferring monetary value over the Internet. Quite a number of protocols have been proposed for these secure payment systems, including NetBill, NetCheque, Open Market, iKP, Millicent, SET (Sherift & Serhrouchni, 1998), E-Cash (Brands, 1995), NetCash, CAFÉ (Mjolsnes & Michelson, 1997), EMV cards (Khu-Smith & Mitchell, 2002), and so forth. These systems are designed to meet diverse requirements, each with particular attributes. Automation and intelligence is another issue that poses challenges in the development of e-commerce. Agent technology has been incorporated into the area of e-commerce to provide automation and intelligence for the e-trade process. Agent is a software program, which is capable of accomplishing tasks autonomously on behalf of its user. Agents must provide highly trustworthy consistency and fault tolerance to avoid eavesdropping and fraud. Also, they should have roaming capability so as to extend their capabilities well beyond the limitations of owners’ computers. This article will discuss some related components under the Secure Agent Fabrication, Evolution, and Roaming (SAFER) architecture (Guan & Hua, 2003; Guan & Yang, 2004; Guan & Zhu, 2002; Ng, Guan, & Zhu, 2002; Zhu, Guan, Yang, & Ko, 2000) and propose an agent-based payment scheme for SAFER. Different types of electronic payment systems have been developed to meet their diverse requirements, which generally include integrity, authorization, confidentiality, availability, and reliability for security requirements (Asokan & Johnson, 1997). Payment systems can be classified in a variety of ways according to their characteristics (Dahab & Ferreira, 1998), such as the exchange model (cash like, check like or hybrid), central authority contact (online or offline), hardware requirements (specific or general), payment amount (micropayment), and so forth. Among all the available payment schemes in the market, e-cash is one of the best in terms of security, flexibility, and full anonymity. E-cash is a cash-like online system that uses electronic coins as tokens. E-cash has its unique advantages, such as flexibility, integrity, and full anonymity that cannot be found in electronic check and credit card-based systems. It uses cryptographic techniques to provide full anonymity. The agent based payment scheme for SAFER adopts some similar principles and concepts of e-cash.
E-Commerce in a Digital Economy
Authors: Sharma Sushil K.
Published: May 2011

A digital economy is a convergence of communications, computing, and information. The essential in the new economy is a structural shift from the industrial economy toward an economy characterized by information, intangibles, and services, and a parallel change toward new work organizations and institutional forms (Gronstedt, 2001; Harreld, 1998; Sharma, Wickramasinghe & Gupta, 2004; Woodall, 2000). The new economy or digital economy is based more in the form of intangibles, information, innovation, and creativity, to expand economic potential (Sharma, 2004; Tapscott, 1996, 1998) and is based on the exploitation of ideas rather than material things. The essential elements of the digital economy are: • Digitalization and intensive use of information and communication technologies (ICT); • Codification of knowledge; • Transformation of information into commodities; and • New ways of organizing work and production. This implies that extensive information and many services are available online. A widely distributed access to the networks, the intranet and Internet, and of skills to live and work in the Information Society, is the basis for the digital economy. In a digital environment, the Internet’s growth and e-commerce begins to create fundamental change to government, societies, and economies with social, economic and political implications (Boulton, Libert, & Samek, 2000; McGarvey, 2001). E-commerce has already improved business value by fundamentally changing the ways products are conceived, marketed, delivered, and supported. The relationship and interaction of various stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, strategic partners, agents, or distributors is noticeably changed. The real impact of e-commerce is its ability to reduce costs and prices and make doing business more efficient (Zwass, 1998). These savings permeate the entire value chain and impact significantly in business interactions with other businesses (Bernardes, 2000; Sharma, 2004; Sharma & Gupta, 2003a).
E-Customer Loyalty
Authors: Yeo Alvin Y.C. , Chiam Michael K.M.
Published: May 2011

Increasingly, businesses are beginning to understand the profit potential of loyal customers (Oliver, 1999). Marketers endowed with such consumers can expect repeat patronage to remain high until competitors can find a way to: (1) close the gap in attitude among brands, (2) increase the differentiation of their own brand, or (3) encourage spurious loyalty from consumers (Dick & Basu, 1994). Loyalty leads to higher retention. According to one study, a 5% increase in customer retention rates increases profits by 25% to 95% (Reicheld & Schefter, 2000). It is thus heartening to note that “one of the most exciting and successful uses of [the Internet] … may be the Internet’s role in building customer loyalty and maximizing sales to your existing customers” (Griffin, 1996, p. 50). Given its relative importance in cyberspace, it is surprising that relatively little has been done in conceptualizing and validating e-loyalty models (Luarn & Lin, 2003). Parasuraman and Grewal (2000) argue for more research pertaining to the influence of technology on customer responses, such as perceived value and customer loyalty. Besides customer trust, our study also incorporates two constructs—corporate image and perceived value—that have been poorly explored in online environments despite their recognized importance in off-line contexts. Consequently, a primary objective of this article is to discuss the impact of three constructs (i.e., customer trust, corporate image, and perceived value) on e-loyalty in a business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce context. In doing so, our model is expected to offer useful suggestions on how to manage customer trust, corporate image, and perceived value as online loyalty management tools. This article is generally divided into three sections. The first section will discuss the constructs of interest and clarify what they mean. In the second section, we will propose hypotheses explaining these relationships. And in the final section, we introduce actionable strategies for online loyalty management based on the proposed framework.
Effective Collaborative Commerce Adoption
Authors: Rowe Michelle , Cripps Helen , Burn Janice , Standing Craig , Walker Beth , Bode Shirley
Published: May 2011

Technology increasingly pervades the business world and society generally. According to Walters (2004, p. 219) “markets have globalized, technology has become all embracing, and relationships with suppliers, customers, and competitors are undergoing constant change.” These developments potentially raise considerable opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)1 to enter into the global marketplace and form “partnerships” including alliances, networks, and collaborative commerce (c-commerce) (Jarrett, 1998). Though exemplars of c-commerce exist in Australia, it has not been widely adopted by SME’s. Generally, Australian SMEs have been slow to adopt any form of electronic commerce. The primary reason given for lack of adoption amongst many small businesses is that they see no real benefit in having a Web presence, that is they perceive their businesses to be too small, or they had not factored in the on going maintenance of Web pages (ABS, 2003; van Beveren & Thomson, 2002). Fear of the unknown and lack of skills have also been suggested as reasons why the uptake of technology is less for small businesses (Barry & Milner, 2002; Darch & Lucas, 2002). If firms have been slow to embrace e-commerce, then it could explain the slow uptake of c-commerce. This article looks beyond e-commerce and suggests framework to explain c-commerce adoption.
E-Government Services Framework
Authors: Sharma Sushil K.
Published: May 2011

E-government generally refers to the delivery of national or local government information and services via the Internet or other digital means (Relyea, 2002). E-government refers to the ability of government to interact electronically with citizens, businesses, and other governmental entities. The interaction may be in the form of obtaining information, filings, or making payments, and a host of other activities via the World Wide Web (Abramson & Means, 2001; Bertucci, 2003; Sharma, 2004; Sharma & Gupta, 2002). The benefits of e-government usually include improved: quality of citizen services, internal efficiencies, law enforcement, education and information, promotion and outreach activities, safety and security, health care services and management, and involvement of citizens in the democratic process. Many believe that e-government can provide seamless services to draw agencies together, leading to more citizen-centric services (Grönlund, 2002; Gurstein, 2000; Venkatachalam, Shore, & Sharma, 2003). Many countries have decided to employ information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance delivery of government services to their citizens, and are thus at various stages of e-government implementation (Ho, 2002; Holliday, 2002; Layne & Lee, 2001; Netchaeva, 2002; United Nations & American Society for Public Administration, 2002; Sharma, 2004; Sharma & Gupta, 2002, 2003; Taylor, 2002). After examining studies conducted by various researchers on e-government models and frameworks, this article presents a holistic approach to create an e-government framework.
Electronic Word-of-Mouth
Authors: Goldsmith Ronald E.
Published: May 2011

One of the most powerful and pervasive influences on consumer behavior is variously described as “social communication,” “word-of-mouth,” “opinion leadership,” or “buzz.” These terms all refer to the effects that consumers have on each other when they communicate. The importance of off-line social communication has long been recognized by social scientists (e.g., Lazarsfeld, Berelson, & Gaudet, 1944) and especially by marketing management (Dichter, 1966; Whyte, 1954). Good word-of-mouth (WOM), the term most often used in business, is still considered to be the most effective form of promotion, so it is highly valued by marketers (e.g., Dye, 2000; Walker, 1995). The advent of the Internet and the growth of the World Wide Web, however, have given consumers an entirely new realm in which they can communicate and thus influence each other (Negroponte & Maes, 1996). That they do so with a vengeance is evidenced by the sheer amount of social communication online, by the many forms these interactions assume, and by the grudging acknowledgment by marketers and managers that this has become a vital component of e-commerce (e.g., Kirkpatrick & Roth, 2005). This article explains some of the theoretical aspects of social influence, describes the many ways social influence operates online, and suggests methods by which marketers can manage this force to benefit their brands.
History of E-Commerce
Authors: Tian Yan , Stewart Concetta
Published: May 2011

E-commerce or electronic commerce, also known as e-business, refers to the transaction of goods and services through electronic communications. Although the general public has become familiar with e-commerce only in the last decade or so, e-commerce has actually been around for over 30 years. There are two basic types of e-commerce: business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C). In B2B, companies conduct business with their suppliers, distributors, and other partners through electronic networks. In B2C, companies sell products and services to consumers. Although B2C is the better known to the general public, B2B is the form that actually dominates e-commerce in terms of revenue.1 The concept of e-commerce is related to notions of Internet economy and digital economy. All these concepts relate to the use of new information and communication technologies for economic activities, but with different focuses. Internet economy refers to the economic activities that generate revenue from the Internet or Internet-related products or services (Costa, 2001). Therefore, pre-Internet e-commerce, as will be detailed in the following section, cannot be called Internet economy. On the other hand, some activities, such as building Internet connections for commercial purposes, are a part of Internet economy, but they are not necessarily e-commerce. Digital economy is based on digital technologies such as computer, software, and digital networks. In most cases, digital economy is the same as e-commerce. However, not all activities in the digital economy are e-commerce activities. For example, purchasing computer gear from a storefront retailer is not an activity of e-commerce, although it certainly is a key component of the digital economy. Hence, e-commerce, Internet economy, and digital economy are closely related but have different concepts. E-commerce has been perhaps one of the most prevalent terms in this digital era. Although e-commerce was once looked upon simply as an expressway to wealth, it has actually transformed the way people conduct business. An historical analysis of e-commerce will provide insights into the evolution of the application of information and communication technologies in the commercial arena. Furthermore, an analysis of the evolution of e-commerce in the past as well as its present state will enable us to project future trends in e-commerce.
Integrating Conceptual Approaches to E-Government
Authors: Gil-Garcia J. Ramón , Luna-Reyes Luis Felipe
Published: May 2011

In general terms, electronic government (or digital government) refers to the selection, implementation, and use of information and communication technologies in government settings (Dawes & Pardo, 2002; Fountain, 2001; Garson, 2004; Moon, 2002). E-government research is a transdisciplinary endeavor including traditions such as public administration, public policy, management information systems, operations management, and information science. Partially because of the novelty of the concept, but also because of its multidisciplinary nature, the concept of e-government is still a work in progress. The purpose of this article is to review different definitions and conceptual approaches to electronic government, analyzing their conceptual amplitude and distinguishing characteristics. The article presents a comprehensive definition of electronic government based on current definitions and a well-established theoretical framework in public administration. The article ends with a brief discussion of some future trends in electronic government.