bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Female Retention in Post-Secondary IT Education
Authors: Quesenberry J. L.
Published: May 2011

The historical gender stratification in technical disciplines has been an area of study for many years and researchers have concluded that women are alarmingly under-enrolled in post-secondary information technology (IT) education (e.g., Camp, 1997; Teague, 2002; von Hellens, Nielsen, Greenhill, & Pringle, 1997). One challenge facing the IT gender gap discourse is the application of theories that focus on a variety of levels of analysis (Korpela, Mursu, & Soriyan, 2001; Walsham, 2000). Recently, the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT has been proposed by Trauth (Trauth, 2002; Trauth, Huang, Morgan, Quesenberry, & Yeo, 2006; Trauth & Quesenberry, 2006, 2005; Trauth, Quesenberry, & Morgan, 2004) to explain the underrepresentation of women in the IT workforce at both the societal and individual levels of analysis. To date, the majority of the Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT research has focused on improving our understanding of the underrepresentation of women in the IT workforce.1 Hence, in an attempt to build on the theoretical foundation, this article reports on a literature survey of the influences on American women’s retention in post-secondary IT education.
Online Assessment and Instruction Using Learning Maps
Authors: Lee Jim , Tidwell-Scheuring Sylvia , Barton Karen
Published: May 2011

Online assessment, in its infancy, is likely to facilitate a variety of innovations in both formative and summative assessment. This chapter focuses on the potential of online assessment to accelerate learning via effective links to instruction. A case is made that detailed learning maps of academic progress are especially conducive to effective skill and concept diagnosis and prescriptive learning, contributing construct validity and precision to assessment results and coherence to instructional interventions. Item adaptive testing using learning maps and the paradigm of intelligent agents is discussed in the context of a vision of a seamless integration of assessment and instruction. The chapter is primarily speculative rather than technical.
Ethical Issues in Information Technology
Authors: Schultz Robert A.
Published: May 2011

Most discussions of ethics and information technology focus on issues of professional ethics and issues of privacy and security.1 Certainly these are important issues, But so are issues such as the offshoring of Information Technology (IT) jobs or the value of IT as a whole. But are they ethical issues, business issues, or economic issues?
The Desire for Privacy
Authors: Spiekermann Sarah
Published: May 2011

Using privacy and security technology becomes increasingly important in many application areas for companies as well as for consumers. However, the market for privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) is still small, especially in the private consumer segment. Due to the nature of the technology per se, little is known and can be learned about the views and motivation of those who carefully protect their transactions on the Net. Are they a niche group in the long run? Or do they hold views and have traits that promise a wider-spread adoption of PETs? This paper gives an insight into the traits and views of 5,037 customers of an anonymity service. Due to high service reputation and unchanged questions posted over 2½ years on the service’s Web site, insights could be gained on PET users’ demographic and psychographic traits. Moreover, 482 free-text comments provide a unique insight into the thoughts, feelings, and motivation for service usage.
A Method of Assessing Information System Security Controls
Authors: Pattinson Malcolm R.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a method of assessing the state of an organization’s information system security by evaluating the effectiveness of the various IS controls that are in place. It describes how the Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) methodology (Kiresuk, Smith & Cardillo, 1994) was used within a South Australian Government Agency and summarises the results of this research. The major purpose of this research was to investigate whether the GAS methodology is a feasible method of assessing the state of security of an organization’s information systems. Additional objectives of this research were to determine the suitability of the GAS methodology as a self-evaluation tool and its usefulness in determining the extent of compliance with a mandated IS security standard.
Security Issues and Possible Countermeasures for a Mobile Agent Based M-Commerce Application
Authors: Yeh Jyh-haw , Hu Wen-Chen , Lee Chung-wei
Published: May 2011

With the advent of wireless and mobile networks, the Internet is rapidly evolving from a set of connected stationary machines to include mobile handheld devices. This creates new opportunities for customers to conduct business from any location at any time. However, the electronic commerce technologies currently used cannot be applied directly since most were developed based on fixed, wired networks. As a result, a new research area, mobile commerce, is now being developed to supplement existing electronic commerce capabilities. This chapter discusses the security issues related to this new field, along with possible countermeasures, and introduces a mobile agent based solution for mobile commerce.
A Social Ontology for Integrating Security and Software Engineering
Authors: Yu E. , Liu L. , Mylopoulous J.
Published: May 2011

As software becomes more and more entrenched in everyday life in today’s society, security looms large as an unsolved problem. Despite advances in security mecha-nisms and technologies, most software systems in the world remain precarious and vulnerable. There is now widespread recognition that security cannot be achieved by technology alone. All software systems are ultimately embedded in some human social environment. The effectiveness of the system depends very much on the forces in that environment. Yet there are few systematic techniques for treating the social context of security together with technical system design in an integral way. In this chapter, we argue that a social ontology at the core of a requirements engineering process can be the basis for integrating security into a requirements driven software engineering process. We describe the i* agent-oriented modelling framework and show how it can be used to model and reason about security concerns and responses. A smart card example is used to illustrate. Future directions for a social paradigm for security and software engineering are discussed.
Information Security Risk Analysis
Authors: Goel Sanjay , Pon Damira
Published: May 2011

There is a strong need for information security education, which stems from the pervasiveness of information technology in business and society. Both government departments and private industries depend on information systems, as information systems are widespread across all business functions. Disruption of critical operational information systems can have serious financial impacts. According to a CSI/FBI report (2004), losses from security breaches have risen rapidly in recent years and exceeded $200 million in 2003. The information security field is very diverse and combines disciplines such as computer science, business, information science, engineering, education, psychology, criminal justice, public administration, law, and accounting. The broad interdisciplinary nature of information security requires several specialists to collaboratively teach the curriculum and integrate different perspectives and teaching styles into a cohesivedelivery. This chapter presents a pedagogical model based on a “teaching hospital” concept that addresses the issues introduced above. By using a specific information-risk-analysis case, the chapter highlights the basic concept of the teaching hospital and its application in teaching and learning contexts.
Secure Agent Roaming for Mobile Business
Authors: Guan Sheng-Uei
Published: May 2011

M-commerce, a new way to conduct business, is gaining more and more popularity due to the wide use of the Internet. Despite its rapid growth, there are limitations that hinder the expansion of m-commerce. The primary concern for online shopping is security. Due to the open nature of the Internet, personal financial details necessary for online shopping can be stolen if sufficient security mechanism is not put in place. How to provide the necessary assurance of security to consumers remains a question mark despite various past efforts. Another concern is the lack of intelligence in locating the correct piece of information. The Internet is an ocean of information depository. It is rich in content but lacks the necessary intelligent tools to help one locate the correct piece of information. Intelligent agent, a piece of software that can act intelligently on behalf of its owner, is designed to fill this gap. However, no matter how intelligent an agent is, its functionality is limited if it remains on its owner’s machine and does not have any roaming capability. With the roaming capability, more security concerns arise. In response to these concerns, SAFE, Secure roaming Agent For E-commerce, is designed to provide secure roaming capability to intelligent agents.
Hacker Wars
Authors: Baskerville Richard
Published: May 2011

This article develops an analytical framework for new forms of information warfare that may threaten commercial and government computing systems by using e-collaboration in new ways. The framework covers (1) strategic model, (2) strategic arena, (3) e-collaboration, and (4) ethics and law. The framework then is used to compare two recorded instances of major hacker wars that erupted in the shadow of kinetic conflicts. In both cases, the hacker war appears to have been a grassroots collaborative enterprise by loosely organized civilians with neither government control nor permission. Collaborating across networks to coordinate their attacks, such hacker wars can attack both government and commercial computer networks without warning. The analysis shows how hacker wars demonstrate characteristics found in the frameworks and that there are forms of e-collaboration that represent a potentially difficult new source of threat for globalized information systems.
The Ethics of Web Design
Authors: Cook Jack S. , Cook Laura
Published: May 2011

Web accessibility is really not a technological issue but rather a cultural problem. A Web site is said to be Web accessible if anyone, regardless of capabilities or disabilities, using any kind of Web browsing technology to visit the site has full and complete access to the site’s content and has the ability to interact with the site if required. If properly planned from the start, a Web site can be functional, accessible and aesthetically pleasing. This chapter focuses on ensuring access to information available on the Internet. The overall objective is to increase awareness of Web accessibility issues by providing rationale for why Web designers should be interested in creating accessible sites. Specifically, this chapter identifies some of the emerging digital barriers to accessibility encountered by those with disabilities. Current efforts to address these barriers legally are identified and their effectiveness for breaking down barriers is discussed. The World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C’s) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is discussed, followed by a study of the 50 most visited Web sites. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the importance of this topic and future developments.
Addressing the Central Problem in Cyber Ethics through Stories
Authors: Artz John M.
Published: May 2011

The central problem in cyber ethics is not, as many might think, how to address the problems of protecting individual privacy, or preventing software piracy, or forcing computer programmers to take responsibility for the systems that they build. These are, of course, legitimate concerns of cyber ethics, but the central problem is how you decide what the right thing to do is with regard to these issues when the consequences of any responses cannot be known in advance. Stated more clearly, the central problem in cyber ethics is - how do you establish ethical standards in a professional field that is defined by a rapidly evolving technology where the consequences of the technology and the impact of any ethical standards cannot be known in the time frame in which the standards must be established? Stories play a very important role in addressing this issue. Specifically, stories provide a means of exploring ethical issues for which the full range of consequences is not currently known. But, in order to justify this claim, a few words of explanation are in order.
Developing Country Perspectives on Software
Authors: Shen Xiaobai
Published: May 2011

This chapter looks at implications of the emerging global intellectual property (IP) regime for developing countries (DCs) and their attempts to improve their technological capabilities. It further highlights the new perspectives for DCs opened up by the emergence of non-proprietary (open source/free) software, such as Linux. A case study of the battle between Microsoft and Linux in China is used to explore the dilemmas faced by China in determining what IP regime (strict or weak) to adopt, and the threats and opportunities that either may pose for indigenous technology development. Based on the case analysis, the chapter criticizes the simplistic polarized views that have been presented of the implications of the global IP regime and of the potential of non-proprietary software. It explores some of the complex considerations about the interplay between technology strategy and IP protection for China and discusses the policy implications for China and other DCs.
Digital Government Worldwide
Authors: Melitski James , Holzer Marc , Kim Seang-Tae , Kim Chan-Gun , Rho Seung-Yong
Published: May 2011

This article evaluates the current practice of digital government in large municipalities worldwide. The study assesses 84 cities from around the world that use a five-stage e-government framework. Our research and methodology goes beyond previous research by utilizing 92 measures that were translated into the native language of each city. In addition, the assessment of each municipal web site was conducted by a native speaker of the municipality’s language between June and October of 2003. We reviewed relevant e-government literature for evaluating Web sites nationally and internationally, and discussed our sample selection, methodology, theoretical framework, findings, and recommendations. Our results indicate that Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, and Shanghai are the top five large cities for providing digital government opportunities to citizens online. Our research also suggests a difference in the digital government capabilities among the 30 developed nations belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and lesser developed (non-OECD) nations.
Evaluation of the SCM Performance in Using of Global Logistics Information Technologies
Authors: Chan Pui Yuk , Shi Xinping
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores and evaluates the performance of supply chain management (SCM) (i.e., effectiveness and efficiency) in using global logistics information technologies (GIST) (i.e., information technology [IT] and information systems [IS]) in Hong Kong firms. This chapter is organized as follows. First, previous research on the role of functional information systems for supply chain management is discussed. Next, the characteristics of information systems utilized for supply chain management are identified, based on factor analysis of sample data from 71 Hong Kong firms. Third, a conceptual model and hypothesis relating to utilization of information systems, information technology, and SCM performance will be identified. Discussion and recommendations are explained, based on the results.
Knowledge Management of E-Business Initiatives Within Two Global Organizations
Authors: Raisinghani Mahesh S.
Published: May 2011

The concept of Knowledge Management concerns the creation of structures that combine the most advanced elements of technological resources and the indispensable input of human response and decision making. This chapter addresses a very interesting topic—Knowledge Management (KM) and e-business initiatives within global organizations. It compares and contrasts the experiences of two global corporations as they have conceived and implemented KM initiatives. After in-depth secondary research on the subject, both companies developed their own KM in e-business strategy. The two case studies discussed in this chapter highlight Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), and Business-to-Employee (B2E) initiatives at these two global organizations. This provides concepts and viewpoints related to the drivers of KM, the hurdles to KM in an organization, the elements of KM philosophy and process, how KM can come to be understood as a critical part of a company’s competitive strategy, and how to deploy a sustainable KM system that suits the business needs of an organization.
Modern Technology and Mass Education
Authors: Ali Ahmed
Published: May 2011

This case study examined the effectiveness and significance of the Internet and interactive video broadcasting as instructional and communication media in a global virtual learning system. The study explored how differences in students’ technology experiences, curriculum, cultures, and access to technology influence learning and student attitude in a technology-based distance education environment. The research also investigated whether the use of online references and materials is adequate and appropriate for successful distance learning. The setting was a virtual campus that linked universities in the U.S., Australia, and Canada with learning centers in different African countries. E-mail and face-to-face interviews, observations, and Web-based surveys were utilized to collect the data. The study reveals that students had mixed perceptions about the effectiveness of technology, with positive attitudes exhibited towards interactive video and some anxiety and dissatisfaction with the use of the Internet.
Gender Differences in IT Use in the U.S. and Japan
Authors: Ono Hiroshi , Zavodny Madeline
Published: May 2011

As information technology (IT) has become more common in everyday use, so too have concerns about the digital divide—unequal access to and use of IT across demographic groups and countries. Understanding the extent and causes of the digital divide is important because IT skills have become increasingly vital to individuals’ economic success. Although IT is widely available in both the United States and Japan, there are notable gender differences in its actual usage between the two countries. In the United States, the gender gap in IT use has narrowed over time, and according to some measures, women are at least as likely as men to use computers. In Japan, however, sizable gender gaps in IT use persist. The contrasting patterns of IT use in the United States and Japan reflect differences in the structure of social organizations and institutions in the two countries. Studying gender differences in IT use across countries thus requires a nuanced understanding of the institutional context under which gender inequality is generated. Using the United States and Japan as contrasting examples, this article examines how gender differences in IT use evolve from gender inequality in broader cultural settings, particularly labor market institutions.
Scenarios for Future Use of E-Democracy Tools in Europe
Authors: Kubicek Herbert , Westholm Hilmar
Published: May 2011

Many ICT-based tools for supporting democratic participation that have been developed with public funds and applied in pilot projects have not yet achieved large-scale outreach. Optimists still believe this will happen; sceptics doubt. This chapter starts from the assumption that technological development and diffusion are largely influenced by socioeconomic conditions. It develops a contingency model for e-democracy tools and applies the scenario method for differentiating the future context of these tools. It is based on the results of a research project that described possible futures of European e-government in general and e-democracy in particular on a 10-year time horizon by using the scenario method and inputs from European experts on e-government. Out of three different scenarios, possible and plausible futures of e-democracy are described in order to analyse robust technologies that are expected to be used in all three scenarios.
Cluster-Based Input Selection for Transparant Fuzzy Modeling
Authors: Yang Can , Meng Jun , Zhu Shanan
Published: May 2011

Input selection is an important step in nonlinear regression modeling. By input selection, an interpretable model can be built with less computational cost. Input selection thus has drawn great attention in recent years. However, most available input selection methods are model-based. In this case, the input data selection is insensitive to changes. In this paper, an effective model-free method is proposed for the input selection. This method is based on sensitivity analysis using Minimum Cluster Volume (MCV) algorithm. The advantage of our proposed method is that with no specific model needed to be built in advance for checking possible input combinations, the computational cost is reduced and changes of data patterns can be captured automatically. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated by using three well-known benchmark problems, which show that the proposed method works effectively with small and medium sized data collections. With an input selection procedure, a concise fuzzy model is constructed with high accuracy of prediction and better interpretation of data, which serves the purpose of patterns discovery in data mining well.
Using Agent Technology for Company Knowledge Management
Authors: Yoon Victoria , Broome Barbara , Singh Rahul , Guimaraes Tor
Published: May 2011

Emerging agent-based systems offer a new means of effectively managing knowledge to address complex decision processes, thereby enabling solutions to many real problems that have heretofore appeared intractable. This article presents an overview of expert system and agent technologies, and shows the latter as a powerful extension of artificial intelligence for systems development. To illustrate, a system developed first using an expert system approach and then an agent-based approach is used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the agent-based approach. Last, the practical implications of a company adoption of agent-based technology for systems development are addressed.
Modeling the Free/Open Source Software Community
Authors: Madey Gregory , Freeh Vincent , Tynan Renee
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we summarize the latest results from an ongoing study examining Free/Open Source Software (F/OSS) Development communities as self-organizing systems. Using publicly available data about projects, developers, and their relationships at F/OSS hosting sites such as SourceForge, we have found the existence of several power-law relationships, which is consistent with the contention that F/OSS communities are self-organizing systems. The F/OSS community is modeled as a collection of ad hoc, social networks consisting of heterogeneous agents, self-organizing into projects and clusters of projects. A computer simulation of the F/OSS community model is developed using SWARM, an agent-based simulation toolkit. Empirical data is used to parameterize the simulation, which in turn is used to investigate a social psychological model of communication and team effectiveness in F/OSS projects.
Mobile Games
Authors: Pelkonen Tommi
Published: May 2011

This chapter analyzes the development trends in a special field within multi-channel e-business, digital games designed for mobile devices. It presents frameworks with which to analyze business models, industry positions, and strategic alliances of mobile device game developers, publishers, and telco operators. The key conclusions of the paper are that: (1) game developers should focus more throughly in the creation of excellent and value-adding game titles for consumers; and (2) mobile operators and mobile game pubishers should work actively to create a feasible business environment for market actors and to encourage consumers to consume mobile games. Furthermore, the chapter suggests that the key location in mobile entertainment is shifting gradually from Northern Europe to Asian markets.
B2B E-Business
Authors: Mockler Robert J. , Dologite Dorothy G. , Gartenfeld Marc E.
Published: May 2011

Every organization can be viewed from two perspectives. There are external processes such as procurement and sales, and internal processes such as management and operations, finance, marketing, and human resources. This article primarily focuses on external, commercial e-business processes. B2B (business-to-business) e-business is the sale of products or services, or information exchange, among two or more businesses through electronic technology, usually involving the Internet, through a public or private exchange. The following background section gives a very brief general overview of B2B e-business history. In the main thrust of this article, we discuss making the B2B decision by examining key B2B business requirements and benefits, as well as describing basic approaches to B2B e-business implementation. In the subsequent section, the article provides a future outlook for e-business.
The Role of Business Models in Developing Business Networks
Authors: Heikkila Jukka , Heikkila Marikka , Tinnila Markku
Published: May 2011

Business models have received a substantial amount of interest recently. Also, various research studies have discussed business models, especially in the context of a single company operating in mass markets. Unfortunately, these models often are not applicable for complex products or services that build on long-term knowledge about customer tastes, facilities, and skills. Especially on global markets, the asset specificity and vast geographical distances make it difficult for any single company to provide this kind of service cost-efficiently on a large scale. Instead, it calls for cooperation among multiple firms. Creation of a joint business model for a collaborative network is a necessary means by which companies can coordinate cooperation in practice. The CSOFT metamodel proposed in this chapter provides guidance for joint business model development by emphasizing customer relationship and adjustment processes needed within the network.
Personalization and Customer Satisfaction in Mobile Commerce
Authors: Hsu HY Sonya , Kulviwat Songpol
Published: May 2011

he advancement of wireless technology facilitates both consumers’ activities and business transactions. With the rapid proliferation and widespread use of mobile devices, including mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and handheld computers, mobile commerce or m-commerce is widely considered to be a driving force for the next generation of electronic commerce (e-commerce). According to Jupiter Research, the m-commerce industry is expected to be US$22 billion globally by 2005. However, to date many promising technologies—especially m-commerce applications—have failed with the notable exceptions of i-Mode service and short messaging service (SMS). Popular “i-Mode”, produced by NTT DoCoMo of Japan, is a service that enables wireless Web browsing and e-mail from mobile phones. The “i-Mode service” has been the first successful commercial introduction of 3G (third-generation) mobile applications. It exceeded expectations and acquired over 30 million profitable users in a three-year period (Cohen, 2002). One of the main goals of most operators might be building customer satisfaction and loyalty by providing one or more ‘killer apps’ to them. One way is to integrate customer relationship management (CRM) into the development of mobile services’ applications. Some firms have tried to target these applications to their customers on an individualized basis. “Personalization” may be the way to achieve that. Specifically, personalization can be regarded as the use of technology and user/customer information to match multimedia content with individual needs with the goal of producing user satisfaction. Personalization can be presented by an IP services framework that allows operators and subscribers through self-service provisioning approaches to control the types of service and applications they want and are willing to buy. The purpose of this article is to develop a deeper understanding of personalization, with an emphasis on those factors that lead to customer satisfaction and/or delight. Specifically, this article presents factors contributing to consequences derived from using personalized applications and services in m-commerce.
Opportunities and Challenges for B2B Manufacturing Firms
Authors: Penttinen Esko , Saarinen Timo
Published: May 2011

Today, many traditional manufacturing firms are focusing on their service operations, which are often seen as a better source of revenue than the first-time installations. Information and communications technology (ICT) can accelerate this process by offering efficient ways to deliver services to the customers and by allowing companies to transform their traditional product strategies to services. This chapter tells the story of a traditional component supplier that wanted to become a service firm. The transition is analyzed based on an established theoretical framework identifying efficient strategies for delivering different types of services, thus providing managers with guidelines for choosing the appropriate business model. The findings of this single case study confirm that the role of ICT as an enabler in the transition process is significant. Furthermore, the buyer’s trust in the supplier turned out to be an essential factor in developing new service-based business.
Women and Social Capital Networks in the IT Workforce
Authors: Morgan Allison J. , Trauth Eileen M.
Published: May 2011

Currently, the IT industry is experiencing explosive growth. As the need for more skilled IT workers increases, the focus on the diversity of individuals participating in IT jobs is highlighted. The under represented populations of women and minorities are being evaluated to determine ways to increase their lasting participation in the technology workforce. Although initiatives and programs have been established to recruit a more diverse labor force, the under representation persists. In an effort to address the problem of under represented populations in the IT workforce, it is necessary to evaluate the situation from a variety of angles and views. Specifically, we seek to better understand the “gender gap” in the IT workforce and the effect of social capital networks in the organization on women. Social capital can be defined as “an instantiated informal norm that promotes cooperation between two or more individuals” (Fukuyama, 1999, p. 1). Social capital among workers in the organization has been attributed to career success due to increased access to information, resources, and sponsorship (Seibert, Kraimer, & Liden, 2001). One of the ways that social capital can be gained is through participation in networks. Overall, the benefits or advantages gained through the networking process are attributed to an increase in access to and sharing of information. In this article, we consider social capital networks in the IT workforce and whether the existence of these networks assists in explaining the under representation of women in IT. Our research highlights the experiences of women practitioners and academics currently working in the IT field. Our aim is to uncover the story behind the organizational chart. In doing so, we summarize a study on women’s participation with social networks in the IT workforce presented in Morgan, Quesenberry, and Trauth (2004).
Spreading Use of Digital Cash
Authors: Kurihara Yutaka
Published: May 2011

Approximately 10 years have passed since the words such as digital cash, digital money, electronic money, and e-cash have been introduced. Progress has increased rapidly in the fields of communication and information technology (IT) and in the field of digital cash; its use and transaction volume have been increasing. However, little analysis has been done about this phenomenon especially from the academic field. The continued increase in its use is inevitable, and it is important to investigate its influence and problems from both practical and theoretical perspectives. The spread of the use of digital cash impacts economic activity and social structure. This article considers both the merits and the problems of digital cash in the modern economy. This article analyzes characteristics of relationships between digital money, financial institutions, and financial authorities; considers the relation between digital cash and financial institutions; and analyzes the relation between digital cash and monetary policy authorities.
Gender and the Internet User
Authors: Tysick Cynthia , Ehlers Cindy
Published: May 2011

Civilization has seen an explosion of information technologies over the last one hundred years. The telephone, radio, television, and Internet have entered the lives of men and women at work and home, becoming the main forms of communication and entertainment. Unfortunately, early adopters and creators of these technologies were men. Women, working primarily in the home, were not exposed to these technological innovations until husbands or fathers brought them into the home. Oftentimes, wives and daughters viewed these “contraptions” as intrusive to the harmony of the home. Therefore, in order to appeal to the widest possible audience these information technologies were adapted, mostly by corporations, to appeal to women through aesthetically pleasing design, creative programming, and product marketing (Shade, 2002). By the end of the 20th century, the television emerged as the electronic hearth. Here the family gathered, shared their day, and engaged in entertainment or debate (Tichi, 1991). Today Americans are spending less time in front of the television and more time in front of the new electronic hearth—the Internet. The average American spends close to three hours on the Internet per day, exceeding the number of hours spent watching television by 1.7 hours (Nie, Simpser, Stepaniknova, & Zheng, 2004). The Internet has followed a diffusion of innovation pattern similar to all its predecessors, beginning as a communication tool for white, male scientists to share ideas, eventually being adopted by young male “inventor-heroes” who manipulated and improved it. These improvements motivated white businessmen to use the Internet to improve profits and productivity, gather information, and entertainment. In the end the computer, and as a result the Internet, left the man’s world of work and entered the woman’s domain of the home. Slowly, over the last ten years it has made a subtle impact on the lives of American women.
A Successful ERP Implementation Plan
Authors: Lau Linda K.
Published: May 2011

This chapter commences with a brief description of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), followed by a discussion of the benefits provided by an integrated ERP system. Next, the chapter describes several critical issues that managers must consider before making the final decision to integrate all the business functions in the organization. These issues are categorized under fundamental issues, people, the organizational change process, and the different approaches to implementing ERP. A well-defined plan is the first step to a successful ERP implementation. Therefore, the chapter concludes with a flow chart, depicting many of the activities that must be included in an ERP implementation plan.
Web Systems Design, Litigation, and Online Consumer Behavior
Authors: Sherman Cherie Ann
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses recent court decisions, important to both Web site developers and corporations that restrict the software techniques that a developer may use, without legal liability for infringement. It demonstrates that e-commerce may be threatened by patents that have been recently awarded for long-existing software techniques and business methods, which are vital to the operation of most sites. The author explains that some software patents and business method patents were awarded in error because lack of a database of existing software made it difficult for patent examiners to identify whether an invention was truly new. Government and industry have taken steps to create a database of existing software and to adopt more rigorous standards for awarding these patents, which should help alleviate this problem. Nevertheless, the author contends that ultimately, consumers will experience less variety on the Web, as corporations become more aggressive in patenting Web-related inventions and asserting those patents against infringing Web sites. The author hopes to convey the benefits of conducting a legal audit for each Web site.
Semantic Composition of Web Portal Components
Authors: Jahnke Jens , Bychkov Yury , Dahlem David , Kawasme Luay
Published: May 2011

Many recently emerging component-based Web portal application platforms allow end users to compose dynamic Web dialogues on the fly. Experts predict that this paradigm will enable a class of new applications for Web-based content delivery in information-rich, agile business domains, such as health care. We present a conceptual analysis of the user-based composition paradigm currently used and argue that its usability is limited with respect to complex dynamic applications. To overcome these limitations, we present an alternative composition paradigm, which is based on a semantic model of a portal’s application domain. We evaluate this approach with an application scenario in the health care domain.
The Development and Empirical Validation of the B2E Portal User Satisfaction (B2EPUS) Scale
Authors: Tojib Dewi Rooslani , Sugianto Ly Fie
Published: May 2011

Advances in Information Technology (IT) and the rapid growth of the Internet use over the
Two Experiments in Reducing Overconfidence in Spreadsheet Development
Authors: Panko Raymond R.
Published: May 2011

This paper describes two experiments that examined overconfidence in spreadsheet development. Overconfidence has been seen widely in spreadsheet development and could account for the rarity of testing by end-user spreadsheet developers. The first experiment studied a new way of measuring overconfidence. It demonstrated that overconfidence really is strong among spreadsheet developers. The second experiment attempted to reduce overconfidence by telling subjects in the treatment group the percentage of students who made errors on the task in the past. This warning did reduce overconfidence, and it reduced errors somewhat, although not enough to make spreadsheet development safe.
PDAs as Mobile-Based Health Information Deployment Platforms for Ambulatory Care
Authors: Sargent Jason , Alcock Carole , Burgess Lois , Cooper Joan , Ryan Damian
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the broad theme of clinician-centric end-user acceptance toward the adoption of personal digital assistants (PDAs) as mobile-based health information deployment platforms within ambulatory care service settings. Personal digital assistants, ambulatory care, and point of care are defined and the interrelatedness of each discussed. Issues, controversies, and problems such as mapping existing workflows, security, and change management are identified, and solutions are suggested for the process of transforming predominantly paper-based ambulatory care systems into electronic point-of-care (ePOC) systems. A current research and development project, the ePOC PDA project, is used as a case study to highlight discussion points. The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate end-user implications and considerations when introducing ePOC systems into ambulatory care service settings and highlight ways and means of improving future levels of acceptance and support of ePOC systems for clinician end users.
Privacy Enforcement in E-Services Environments
Authors: Adams Carlisle , Barbieri Katerine
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents technological measures for privacy enforcement (techniques that can be used to ensure that an organization’s privacy promises will be kept). It gives an introduction to the current state of technological privacy enforcement measures for e-services environments, proposes a comprehensive privacy enforcement architecture, and discusses some remaining issues and challenges related to privacy enforcement solutions. The goal of the proposed architecture, aside from integrating many of the current isolated technologies, is to ensure consistency between advertised privacy promises and actual privacy practices at the e-service provider Web site so that users can have greater confidence that their personal data will be safeguarded.
Supporting Work Practice Through End-User Development Environments
Authors: Costabile M. F. , Fogli D. , Lanzilotti R.
Published: May 2011

End-user development means the active participation of end users in the software development process. In this perspective, tasks that are traditionally performed by professional software developers are transferred to end users, who need to be specifically supported in performing these tasks. We have developed a methodology that supports user work practice and metadesign, allowing experts in a domain to personalize and evolve their own software environments. In this article we illustrate how this methodology is applied to a project for the development of an interactive system in the medical domain. Physicians and their activities have been carefully analyzed through a field study that is reported in the article, in order to provide them with computer systems that may improve their work practice and determine an increase in their productivity and performance, that is, a better quality of diagnosis and medical cure, with the achievement of competitive advantage for the organization they work in.
Historical and Contemporary Perspectives of Media and Citizenship
Authors: Flew Terry
Published: May 2011

Citizenship has long been connected to communication media. Popular media have been both the relay points between the governing and the governed for purposes of developing nations and citizen identities as well as the places for articulating discontent with the unjust, illegitimate, or unpopular uses of public authority. Yet, one often struggles to find reference to the significance of media to the formation of citizenship practices and identities, particularly in mainstream political science literature. It has been largely in the field of cultural history, through the work of authors such as Benedict Anderson (1991) and Michael Schudson (1994), that a conception of citizenship is linked explicitly to the technologies and institutions of media communication.
User Involvement in E-Government Development Projects
Authors: Folstad Asbjørn , Krogstie John , Risan Lars , Moser Ingunn
Published: May 2011

User involvement in E-Government projects is presented and discussed. Different methods and practices are analyzed in relation to a differentiation between traditional government participatory practices and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Some of the user involvement practices are exemplified through two Norwegian case studies: (1) An electronic patient journal for hospital based health care and (2) an electronic post journal, where the Norwegian public (via the Norwegian press) is provided insight in public sector correspondence. User involvement methods and practices are in particular discussed with regard to the challenges of the wide range of users and stakeholders, legal limitations, and evolving goal hierarchies of E-Government projects. Future trends and research opportunities within the field of user involvement in E-Government development are identified.
E-Planning
Authors: Silva Carlos Nunes
Published: May 2011

E-planning is the e-government concept applied to urban and regional planning. It is the widespread use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially the Internet, in the planning system. A planning portal is the access point in the Internet, frequently in the context of a public digital city project. E-planning allows the municipality to carry out a new set of activities or to implement traditional procedures in a new form, due to geographical information systems, computer aided design and database systems, among other tools mentioned, for example, in Mohamed, Meng, and Abdullah (2003), Budthimedhee, Li, and George (2002), Campagna and Deplano (2004), and Harrison and Haklay (2002). E-planning corresponds, therefore, to the passage from a paper-based urban management system to one based primarily on electronic means of information and communication. But it must be seen as more than a simple transfer to a computer system of the traditional paper based routines (Mohamed et al., 2003; Parsol, 2004), requiring also the re-engineering of procedures, the development of a fully integrated ICT back office and, as Harrison et al. (2002) suggest, changes in the nature of the planning process itself. The aims of e-planning, such as more generally all the other components of e-government (for example, OECD, 2003; Pascual, 2003), are to provide better public services, more efficiently, with lower costs and, at the same time, to do that through more participative, transparent and more accountable decision-making processes. In its more basic level, the e-planning system only offers information and is, therefore, easier to implement. In its more advanced versions, where all or most of the planning services are delivered electronically, its implementation and daily management is not only a more complex task but it also involves more investment, as Couclelis (2004) notes for digital cities. According to the standards of e-Europe, the European Union (EU) initiative for the information society (CEC, 2000, 2002), the availability of public services online can be measured in relation to a framework of four levels of e-government maturity (CEC, 2004). Applying this scheme to the planning sector, we can consider that the first level—information—consists only in the publication of digital information through the Internet, with few or no capacities to interact. In the second level of maturity—interaction—users of the system can communicate directly with the planning department by electronic mail (one-way interaction); it is possible to download planning applications, for example. In the third level—transaction—users and the planning department communicate electronically with each other (two-way interaction); it is possible to process planning applications and to authenticate them. In the fourth level—integration—there is a full electronic handling of all planning functions.
Multi-Channel Delivery of E-Services in the Light of M-Government Challenge
Authors: Germanakos Panagiotis , Samaras George , Christodoulou Eleni
Published: May 2011

During the last decade, users have become accustomed to new means of service delivery in the private sector. Nowadays, users expect the same level of variety from the public sector: they want their interactions to be convenient, and they prefer to be online rather than in-line. New developments in ICT along with the growth of mobile communication allow the involved sectors to meet these challenges by re-engineering their front-end and back-end of?ce. They have developed new ways of interaction through a variety of channels allowing users to consume their services anytime, anywhere, and anyhow, restructure services that accommodate their users’ needs, and re-organize processes within and between separate administrative bodies. This chapter will examine the interaction requirements regarding a friendlier and more effective multi-channel services environment, the mobility challenges, and their apt implementation in the governmental sector placing emphasis on the technological constraints of an m-government open interoperable multi-service delivery infrastructure and the impact of its single-point of access functionality across the borders of the new digitally integrated Pan-European reality.