bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ICT and Gender Inequality in the Middle East
Authors: Gody Ahmed El
Published: May 2011

Information communication technologies (ICT) have become an effective force for accelerating political, economic, and social development, decreasing poverty, and fostering trade and knowledge; however the uneven distribution, usage, and implementation of ICT resulted in what is known as the “digital divide” between those who have access to and utilization of information resources and those who do not (Internet.com, 2004). The Middle East, with the exception of Israel, is the least ICT connected area worldwide with only 1.4% of the global share (less than half of the world average of 5.2%). ICT adoption and access in the Arab world are far from adequate; only 6% of the Arab world population uses the Internet, while the penetration rate of personal computers is 2.4%, and less than 4 % of the Arab population has access to a ground telephone line (Ajeeb, 2006; NUA, 2005). The trend of globalization forced Arab countries to realize the power of ICT as one of the most important factors in achieving sustainable growth. During the past decade, genuine efforts have been implemented by Arab governments to utilize ICT; as of May 2005, every country in the Arab world (as seen in Table 1)—except Iraq and Libya—has a clear strategy or at least a plan for promoting ICT (Dutta & Coury, 2003). In her book, Technology Strategies for Putting Arab Countries on the Cyber Map, Reem Hunaidi (2002) stated that despite Arab world efforts to utilize ICT, Arabs are still far from bridging the digital divide. Hunaidi stated that the Arab world is still scoring low on the Digital Access Index (as seen in Table 2), adding that bridging the digital divide requires commitment from all development stakeholders, not only Arab governments. The Hunaidi study concluded that development should start within the Arab society through liberating Arab human capabilities, especially those of women questioning how a society can compete in an increasingly globalized world if half of its people remain marginalized (Hunaidi, 2002). The UNDP 2004 report on human development in the Arab world added to Hunaidi’s question stating that the first step in human ICT development is to bridge the gender divide within the Arab world and make use of the latent 50% of the Arab population. The Arab world has the lowest Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) worldwide next to Sub-Saharan Africa. Nancy Hafkin and Nancy Tagger (2001), in their study “Gender, Information Technology, and Developing Countries”, stated that the degree of gender bias can be vividly seen across the Arab region. Figures indicate that Arab users constitute 4% of Internet users in comparison to 22% of users in Asia, 25% in Europe, 38% in Latin America, and 50% in the United States. Hafkin and Tagger (2001) concluded that several challenges of socio-cultural, political, economic, and education disparities need to be addressed towards advancing Arab women’s active participation in the new networked information society.
Telecentres in Low-Income Nations
Authors: Latchem Colin R.
Published: May 2011

Dial-up Internet access, wireless mobile services, cybercafés, etc., are fundamentally changing the nature of communications and knowledge and information access for millions around the globe. However, many remote, rural, and disadvantaged urban communities in low-income nations still lack access to the very ICT tools that can help to improve their lives. Many governments lack the commitment or capacity to provide the infrastructure, and many communities lack the resources or technical expertise to use the technology. For example, excluding the more developed regions of South Africa and northern Africa, only one in 250 Africans can access the Internet, compared to one out of every two persons in North America and Europe. Similar digital divides plague the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America (NUA, 2004).
Cambodian Youth Making Connections
Authors: Hutchinson Kelly
Published: May 2011

This article explores how urban Cambodian youth are creating connections and exploring the opportunities that new technology offers for their social and community development within the Khmer diaspora. It contends that these young Cambodians are using ICT to define and express themselves as both individuals and members of a distinct new cohort. This study was conducted from July-September 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as part of the Master of Arts in Communications at RMIT University. A comparison of qualitative and quantitative data allowed this study to develop a rounded profile of young Cambodians’ (aged 18-24) ICT usage habits. ICT are defined as mobile phones, SMS, the Internet, the World Wide Web and Chat. This article contends that this uptake of ICT highlights the emergence of an urban elite, a digital elite whose use of ICT is helping to define the new generation and secondly facilitate connections that build community within the Khmer diaspora.
Global Information Management Research
Authors: Tan R. Brent , Gallupe R.Brent
Published: May 2011

A growing body of knowledge is being accumulated in the area of global information management (GIM). Research in this area has grown significantly in the 1990s. Not only are established IS journals publishing an increasing amount in this area, but there are now specific journals devoted to the major issues in the development, use, and management of global information systems. However, much of this research has been limited to isolated survey studies or case studies into particular aspects of GIM. This has resulted in a rather disjointed and ad hoc development of this literature that now needs some structure to further its development. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a framework for research into GIM. It hopes to set a future direction for research in this area by challenging IS researchers to consider studying a number of potentially productive subareas of GIM that the framework has identified as being unstudied or understudied. This research framework builds on the general IS framework of Ives, Hamilton, and Davis (1980) and surveys the GIM published literature between 1990 and 2000. The application of this literature to the Ives, Hamilton, and Davis framework indicates where much GIM research has been conducted and where further research needs to be done.
Information Access in Rural Communities
Authors: Venkatesan V.S. , Eversole Robyn , Robinson Kem
Published: May 2011

The concept of ‘digital divide’ draws attention to the social context of technology usage. Current IT solutions are technology driven and are focussed on elite consumers in cities. In contrast, regional Australian communities face a number of problems such as remoteness, small population and distance. Knowledge and resource constraints also impact on these communities and businesses. Any attempt to transform regions using new information and communications technologies should take into consideration these unique factors. This chapter focuses on information access in two rural communities in Western Australia. A qualitative study followed by a quantitative phase in two regional towns explored how people access information and where information gaps lie. Results of this research suggest that, along with technical infrastructure, equal emphasis should be placed on the human/community element. Without this, regional transformation will remain mere rhetoric.
It's an M-World After All
Authors: Dholakia Nikhilesh , Rask Morten , Dholakia Ruby Roy
Published: May 2011

n this concluding chapter, we gather together the lessons emerging from the patterns of mobile commerce evident in the preceding chapters. Mobile applications, commercial and others, are based on four core CLIP functionalities — communications (C), locatability (L), information (I) exchange and payment (P) facilitation. How these capabilities are deployed depends on resources, corporate imaginations, market development and cultural and personal preferences. The chapter authors, based on their close first-hand contextual observations as well as conceptual insights,
Attack of the Rainbow Bots
Authors: Collins Samuel G. , Trajkovski Goran P.
Published: May 2011

Many in IT education—following on more than twenty years of multicultural critique and theory—have integrated “diversity” into their curricula. But while this is certainly laudable, there is an irony to the course “multiculturalism” has taken in the sciences in general. By submitting to a canon originating in the humanities and social sciences—no matter how progressive or well-intentioned—much of the transgressive and revolutionary character of multicultural pedagogies is lost in translation, and the insights of radical theorists become, simply, one more module to graft onto existing curricula or, at the very least, another source of authority joining or supplanting existing canons. In this essay, we feel that introducing diversity into IT means generating this body of creative critique from within IT itself, in the same way multiculturalism originated in the critical, transgressive spaces between literature, cultural studies, anthropology and pedagogy. The following traces our efforts to develop isomorphic critiques from recent insights into multi-agent systems using a JAVA-based, software agent we’ve developed called “Izbushka.”
Speaker Recognition
Authors: Lung Shung-Yung
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents some of the main contributions in several topics of speaker recognition since 1978. Representative books and surveys on speaker recognition published during this period are listed. Theoretical models for automatic speaker recognition are contrasted with practical design methodology. Research contributions to measure process, feature extraction, and classification are selectively discussed, including contributions to measure analysis, feature selection, and the experimental design of speaker classifiers. The chapter concludes with a representative set of applications of speaker recognition technology.
Ontologies and E-Learning
Authors: Cristani Matteo
Published: May 2011

What is an ontology? Why is this relevant to a learning environment? It is quite well-established in recent investigations on information systems that formal ontologies area crucial problem to deal with, and in fact, received a lot of attention in several different communities, such as knowledge management, knowledge engineering, natural language processing, intelligent information integration, and so on (Fensel, 2000).Ontologies have been developed in artificial intelligence to facilitate knowledge sharing and reuse. The viewpoint we adopt here is taken from the general considerations on the use of philosophical issues in artificial intelligence: “the systematic, formal, axiomatic development of the logic of all forms and modes of being” (Cocchiarella,1991). Another commonly accepted definition is that an ontology is an explicit specification of a shared conceptualization that holds in a particular context.
Computational Intelligence Techniques
Authors: Sundaram Bharat , Palaniswani Marimuthu , Shilton Alistair , Begg Rezaul
Published: May 2011

Computational intelligence (CI) encompasses approaches primarily based on artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic rules, evolutionary algorithms, support vector machines and also approaches that combine two or more techniques (hybrid). These methods have been applied to solve many complex and diverse problems. Recent years have seen many new developments in CI techniques and, consequently, this has led to many applications in a variety of areas including engineering, finance, social and biomedical. In particular, CI techniques are increasingly being used in biomedical and human movement areas because of the complexity of the biological systems. The main objective of this chapter is to provide a brief description of the major computational intelligence techniques for pattern recognition and modelling tasks that often appear in biomedical, health and human movement research.
Trust Models for Ubuitous Mobile Systems
Authors: Burmester Mike
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the notion of trust as a means to establish security in mobile ubiquitous applications. It argues that trust is an essential requirement to enable security in open network environments. In particular in wireless ad hoc environments where there is no network topology. In such environments communication can only be achieved via routes that have to be trusted. In general it may be hard, or even impossible, to establish, recall and maintain trust relationships. It is therefore important to understand the limitations of such environments and to find mechanisms that may support trust either explicitly or implicitly. We consider several models that can be used to enable trust in such environments, based on economic, insurance, information flow and evolutionary paradigms.
A Bayesian Framework for Improving Clustering Accuracy of Protein Sequences Based on Association Rules
Authors: Yin Peng-Yeng , Shyu Shyong-Jian , Huang Guan-Shieng , Liao Shuang-Te
Published: May 2011

With the advent of new sequencing technology for biological data, the number of sequenced proteins stored in public databases has become an explosion. The structural, functional, and phylogenetic analyses of proteins would benefit from exploring databases by using data mining techniques. Clustering algorithms can assign proteins into clusters such that proteins in the same cluster are more similar in homology than those in different clusters. This procedure not only simplifies the analysis task but also enhances the accuracy of the results. Most of the existing protein-clustering algorithms compute the similarity between proteins based on one-to-one pairwise sequence
A Haplotype Analysis System for Genes Discovery of Common Diseases
Authors: Kido Takashi
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces computational methods for detecting complex disease loci with haplotype analysis. It argues that the haplotype analysis, which plays a major role in the study of population genetics, can be computationally modeled and systematically implemented as a means for detecting causative genes of complex diseases. In this chapter, the author provides a review of issues on haplotype analysis and proposes the analysis system which integrates a comprehensive spectrum of functions on haplotype analysis for supporting disease association studies. The explanation of the system and some real examples of the haplotype analysis will not only provide researchers with better understanding of current theory and practice of genetic association studies, but also present a computational perspective on the gene discovery research for the common diseases.
Algorithmic Aspects of Protein Threading
Authors: Akutsu Tatsuya
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides an overview of computational problems and techniques for protein threading. Protein threading is one of the most powerful approaches to protein structure prediction, where protein structure prediction is to infer three-dimensional (3-D) protein structure for a given protein sequence. Protein threading can be modeled as an optimization problem. Optimal solutions can be obtained in polynomial time using simple dynamic programming algorithms if profile type score functions are employed. However, this problem is computationally hard (NP-hard) if score functions include pairwise interaction preferences between amino acid residues. Therefore, various algorithms have been developed for finding optimal or near-optimal solutions. This chapter explains the ideas employed in these algorithms. This chapter also gives brief explanations of related problems: protein threading with constraints, comparison of RNA secondary structures and protein structure alignment.
Document-Driven Design for Distributed CAD Services
Authors: Wang Yan
Published: May 2011

Current CAD systems only support interactive geometry generation, which is not ideal for distributed engineering services in enterprise-to-enterprise collaboration with a generic thin-client service-oriented architecture. This chapter presents a new feature-based modeling mechanism, document-driven design, to enable batch mode geometry construction for distributed CAD systems. A semantic feature model is developed to represent informative and communicative design intent. Feature semantics is explicitly captured as trinary relation, which provides good extensibility and prevents semantics loss. Data interoperability between domains is enhanced by schema mapping and multi-resolution semantics. This mechanism aims to enable asynchronous communication in distributed CAD environments with ease of design alternative evaluation and reuse, and improved system throughput and utilization
The user Agent Architecture and E-Learning in Healthcare and Social Care
Authors: Siassiakos Konstantinos M. , Papastefanatos Stefanos E. , Lazakidou Athina A.
Published: May 2011

E-learning is developing rapidly worldwide. The volume of the information that e-learning systems render grows, too. Nowadays, the critical issue is to acquire more knowledge using less time and effort. Contemporary e-learning systems, although they embody up-to-date technology, artificial-intelligence techniques, and pedagogical methods, address too flat a spectrum of users. The user agents deal with this weakness. E-learning has the potential to transform learning for healthcare and social care, supporting the aims of the National Health System Plan and raising standards of care for patients and service users across healthcare and social care. The solution proposed is based upon the user-agent architecture and confronts the individual issues of the health and social sector.
Genomic Databanks for Biomedical Informatics
Authors: Maffezzoli Andrea , Masseroli Marco
Published: May 2011

In the area of medical informatics, the recent ICT (information and communication technology) tools and systems supporting knowledge on sciences involved in the study of genes, chromosomes, and protein’s expression level in various organisms, that is genomics and proteomics, are becoming necessary to develop new prospects for the comprehension of mechanisms lying at the base of biological processes which cause a disease. This can allow more effective diagnostic and treatment methods and also personalized pharmacological therapies. At this purpose, the mutual intervention of different sciences, such as biology, medicine, engineering, informatics and mathematics, becomes an indispensable step: The development of a science embracing all these fields is identified in bioinformatics, which was conceived for the analysis, storage and processing of huge amount of biological data. The achievement of all the aforementioned operations involves the creation of the so-called genomic or proteomic databanks, which represent a major source of information on nucleotide sequences, as well as biological, clinical, physiological and bibliographical annotations related to singular sequences. There are different types of databanks based on their peculiar characteristics and features (such as primary and derivative or specialized databanks), and several ways to access data stored in these databanks; there are also specific bioinformatics databank-based tools developed to perform searching operations and to extract significant information, in order to summarize and compare gene annotations related to the causes of a disease and finally to identify a list of the most significant genes as cause of disease.
Environmental Variability and the Emergence of Meaning
Authors: Grim Patrick , Kokalis Trina
Published: May 2011

A crucial question for artificial cognition systems is what meaning is and how it arises. In pursuit of that question, this paper extends earlier work in which we show the emergence of simple signaling in biologically inspired models using arrays of locally interactive agents. Communities of “communicators” develop in an environment of wandering food sources and predators using any of a variety of mechanisms: imitation of successful neighbors, localized genetic algorithms and partial neural net training on successful neighbors. Here we focus on environmental variability, comparing results for environments with (a) constant resources, (b) random resources, and (c) cycles of “boom and bust.” In both simple and complex models across all three mechanisms of strategy change, the emergence of communication is strongly favored by cycles of “boom and bust.” These results are particularly intriguing given the importance of environmental variability in fields as diverse as psychology, ecology and cultural anthropology.
Comparison of Ten Agent-Oriented Methodologies
Authors: Numi Tran Quynh-Nhu , Low Graham C.
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides a comparison of the 10 agent-oriented software engineering methodologies presented in the preceding chapters. An evaluation framework comprising process-related, technique-related, model-related and supportive-feature criteria is used in this comparison. As each application entails a different set of requirements that indicate which evaluation criteria are the most important and should be supported by the chosen methodology, the “best” methodology is dependent on the target application. The results provide a useful framework to assist the developer in selecting the most appropriate methodology for any target application.
Prediction of the Consistency of Concrete by Means of the Use of Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Gonzalez Bele´n , Martinez Ma Isabel , Carro Diego
Published: May 2011

This chapter displays an example of application of the ANN in civil engineering. Concretely, it is applied to the prediction of the consistency of the fresh concrete through the results that slump test provides, a simple approach to the rheological behaviour of the mixtures. From the previously done tests, an artificial neural network trained by means of genetic algorithms adjusts to the situation, and has the variable value of the cone as an output, and as an input, diverse variables related to the composition of each type of concrete. The final discussion is based on the quality of the results and its possible application.
Forecasting the Stock Market with ANNs and Autonomous Agents
Authors: Castro Christiano Leite , Braga Anto^nio Pa´dua
Published: May 2011

Investment strategies usually aim at achieving maximum profitability what, according to current management theory (Refenes, Burgess, & Bentz, 1997), can be obtained by the construction of well balanced investment portfolios that seek to maximum return and minimum risks. In order to provide users with information to plan a good investment portfolio, we present an e-commerce Web site solution that enables users to estimate in advance investments return and risks. The application, which is based on computational intelligence techniques, aims at forecasting and divulging the share prices of the main companies listed in the stock market. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) (Haykin, 1999) that have been used successfully in many other financial time series applications (Braga, Carvalho, Lurdemir, Almeida, & Lacerda, 2002; Refenes, et al., 1997; Zhang, 2003) were used as the main forecasting engine of the system. Autonomous agents (Paolucci, Sycara, & Kawamura, 2003; Russel & Norvig, 1995) are responsible for collecting, on a daily basis, information regarding sale and purchase of shares. The information collected is then used by the ANN to forecast future stock market trends and closing values. The Web site offers free of charge services, such as access to forecasting charts, simulation of investments and general guidelines for buying and selling shares.
Developments in Structural Optimization and Applications to Intelligent Structural Vibration Control
Authors: Ali Sk. Faruque , Ramaswamy Ananth
Published: May 2011

The chapter introduces developments in intelligent optimal control systems and their applications in structural engineering. It provides a good background on the subject starting with the shortcomings of conventional vibration control techniques and the need for intelligent control systems. Description of a few basic tools required for intelligent control such as evolutionary algorithms, fuzzy rule base, and so forth, is outlined. Examples on vibration control of benchmark building and bridge under seismic excitation are presented to provide better insight on the subject. The chapter provides necessary background for a reader to work in intelligent structural control systems with real-life examples. Current trends in the research area are given and challenges put forward for further research.
Neo-Symbiosis
Authors: Griffith D. , Greitzer F. L.
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this article is to re-address the vision of human-computer symbiosis as originally expressed by J.C.R. Licklider nearly a half-century ago and to argue for the relevance of this vision to the field of cognitive informatics. We describe this vision, place it in some historical context relating to the evolution of human factors research, and observe that the field is now in the process of re-invigorating Licklider’s vision. A central concept of this vision is that humans need to be incorporated into computer architectures. We briefly assess the state of the technology within the context of contemporary theory and practice, and we describe what we regard as this emerging field of neo-symbiosis. Examples of neo-symbiosis are provided, but these are nascent examples and the potential of neo-symbiosis is yet to be realized. We offer some initial thoughts on requirements to define functionality of neo-symbiotic systems and discuss research challenges associated with their development and evaluation. Methodologies and metrics for assessing neo-symbiosis are discussed.
Customer Perceptions Toward Mobile Games Delivered via the Wireless Application Protocol
Authors: Shchiglik Clarry , Barnes Stuart J. , Scornavacca Eusebio
Published: May 2011

The rapid uptake and increased complexity of mobile phones has provided an unprecedented platform for the penetration of mobile services. Among these, mobile entertainment is composed of a variety of services such as ringing tones, games, gambling, and so on. Games are predicted to replace ringing tones as the main driver of mobile entertainment. This chapter contributes to the development of the mobile game industry by understanding corresponding consumer perceptions towards wireless application protocol (WAP) games. A series of focus groups were conducted to gain in-depth qualitative insight of perceptions towards WAP game services. The results indicate a number of clear areas for the delivery of successful WAP game services. WAP games were perceived as lacking complexity, but at the same time, were also seen as possessing several beneficial qualities. The chapter concludes with some recommendations and predictions regarding the future of WAP games.
B2B E-Commerce Infrastructure Success Factors for Small Companies in Developing Economies
Authors: Jennex Murray E. , Amoroso Don , Adelakun Olayele
Published: May 2011

This chapter looks into the key infrastructure factors affecting the success of small companies in developing economies that are establishing B2B e-commerce ventures by aggregating critical success factors from general e-commerce studies and studies from e-commerce in developing countries. The factors were identified through a literature review and case studies of two organizations. The results of the pilot study and literature review reveal five groups of success factors that contribute to the success of B2B e-commerce. These factors were later assessed for importance using a survey. The outcome of our analysis reveals a reduced list of key critical success factors that SMEs should emphasize as well as a couple of key policy implications for governments in developing countries.
Business Models in Open Source Software Value Creation
Authors: Seppänen Marko , Helander Nina , Mäkinen Saku
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores how the use of a business model enables value creation in the open source software (OSS) environment. We argue that this value can be attained by analyzing the value creation logic and the elements of potential business models emerging in the OSS environment, since profitable business is all about creating value and capturing it properly. Open source (OS) offers one possibility for firms that are continuously finding new opportunities to organize their business activities and increase the amount of value they appropriate according to their capabilities. Furthermore, the concept of a business model is considered a tool for exploring new business ideas and capturing the essential elements of each alternative. We propose that a general business model is also applicable in the context of OSS, and we provide a list of questions that may help managers deal with OSS in their businesses.
Consortium Agreement Template for Virtual Enterprises
Authors: Carvalho José Dinis , Moreira Nuno Afonso , Pires Luís Carlos
Published: May 2011

This chapter addresses the contractual legislation problem as an integration problem within the virtual enterprise context. In order to address the problem in a real legal platform, we create an example of a consortium agreement template based on the existing Portuguese legislation. The legislation is no more than standard procedures and guidelines to address an organization’s formalization within the legal system and society. Looking through the existing Portuguese legislation, as an example, we found a way to legally fit virtual enterprises (VEs). Moreover, we propose a consortium agreement template as a preestablished standard agreement to legally support VEs before specific legislation is created. We propose that the enterprises, when joining a market of service providers, would automatically accept this consortium agreement template in order to more rapidly become a partner in a VE as soon as business opportunities arise.
E-Commerce as Knowledge Management
Authors: McLean Rachel , Blackie Nigel M.
Published: May 2011

This chapter constructs the concept of e-commerce as knowledge management. The socially constructed approach to knowledge management is adopted. Through qualitative research, rooted in the Social Constructionist-Critical Theory paradigm, the chapter examines how consumers use the Internet in commercially related activity. Through semi-structured interviews with consumers three main themes are identified and explored (interaction with commercial organizations, consumer-to-consumer interaction, power and control in business-to-consumer interaction). The chapter concludes that the Internet facilitates the construction and sharing of knowledge amongst consumers, but appears to strengthen barriers and boundaries between consumers and companies. An illustration of how companies could effectively utilize the Internet to communicate with customers is offered in an analysis of a discussion forum.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Metrics - What's the Holdup?
Authors: Shea Timothy , Brown Ahern , White D. Steven , Curran-Kelly Catherine , Griffin Michael
Published: May 2011

Adopting a focus on CRM has been an industry standard for nearly two decades. While evidence suggests that a majority of the attempts to implement CRM systems fail, no single reason for the failures has been identified. Assuming that CRM implementation is an extension of a customer-oriented business strategy and assuming successful integration with Enterprise Information Systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, the authors contend that the lack of valid and reliable CRM metrics leads to the perception of failed CRM implementation. Only through the development, application, and use of CRM metrics can organizations hope to achieve their CRM goals.
Drivers and Barriers to Online Shopping
Authors: Riley Francesca Dall’Olmo , Scarpi Daniele , Manaresi Angelo
Published: May 2011

Through a review of the literature, this chapter focuses on three key influences on purchase behavior on the Internet: product, consumer, and retailer factors. Product characteristics and branding not only influence many consumer-related factors (e.g., the need to handle the product and risk perceptions), but also affect retailers’ strategic and tactical online decisions (e.g., the balance between off-line and online retail provision and the breadth and depth of products and brands selection). This chapter also examines how consumer-related factors (e.g., consumers’ expertise, attitudes toward the Internet, and shopping orientation) affect online purchasing and the implications for e-retailers. Finally, the chapter discusses how e-retailers marketing efforts (retailer factors) can be used to overcome the barriers to Web purchasing resulting from specific product and consumer related characteristics. Clear and easy to implement recommendations to managers are offered.
Virtual Enterprises' Accounting Difficulties
Authors: Tahinakis Panayiotis , Muylonakis John , kProtogeros Nicolaos , Ginoglou Dimitrios
Published: May 2011

The growth and expansion of enterprises into foreign markets presuppose the aggregation of financial information that includes non homogeneous elements. The purpose of this article is to present several accounting difficulties deriving from the establishment of virtual enterprises and consequently, to set some relevant management and cultural aspects. Emphasis is, also, given to the analysis of the accounting recognition and measurement difficulties deriving from recording accounting information in a virtual enterprise. In conclusion, although there are accounting, as well as, auditing problems of defined, measured and disclosed in a such a type of business, its importance will increase as the capital market grows.
An Empirical Examination of Customer Perceptions of Mobile Advertising
Authors: Lee Su-Fang , Tsai Yuan-Cheng , Jih Wen-Jang ("Kenny")
Published: May 2011

A two-stage approach is employed in order to examine the influencing factors of consumer behaviors in the context of mobile advertising. The first stage of the study evaluates the correlation relationship of consumer motives for receiving mobile advertising and their attitudes toward mobile advertising. It also investigates the relationship between consumer intentions for receiving advertisements on their cellular phones and their subsequent actions once the mobile advertising was received. A negative sentiment was revealed by cellular phone users toward mobile advertising, a signal that current practices of mobile advertising are ineffective and require a careful reevaluation on the part of mobile commerce firms. The second stage of the research validates a Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory of Reasoned Action model. It is found that positive actions on the received advertisements are significantly influenced by strong intentions; strong intentions are influenced significantly by favorable attitudes, and favorable attitudes are influenced significantly by strong motives. Implications for e-commerce application developers and marketers are discussed.
Mobile Phone Customer Type Discrimination via Stochastic Gradient Boosting
Authors: Steinberg Dan , Golovnya Mikhaylo , Cardell Nicholas Scott
Published: May 2011

Mobile phone customers face many choices regarding handset hardware, add-on services, and features to subscribe to from their service providers. Mobile phone companies are now increas-ingly interested in the drivers of migration to third generation (3G) hardware and services. Using real world data provided to the 10th Pacific-Asia Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (PAKDD) 2006 Data Mining Competition we explore the effectiveness of Friedman’s stochastic gradient boosting (Multiple Additive Regression Trees [MART]) for the rapid development of a high performance predictive model.
Partnering for Perfection
Authors: Dai Qizhi , Kauffman Robert J.
Published: May 2011

New technological innovations have made it possible for new intermediaries to create value in business processes that involve the procurement of manufacturing and services supplies. Associated with these innovations is the emergence of business-to-business (B2B) electronic markets. These act as digital intermediaries that aim to reduce the transaction costs and mitigate the risks inherent in procurement. They improve buyers’ capabilities to search for attractive prices and also serve to increase the liquidity of sellers’ products. In this chapter, the authors explore the evolution of B2B e-market firms in terms of the strategies they employ to “perfect” their value propositions and business processes for the firms. This is a critical aspect of their attractiveness as business partners for the buyers and sellers that participate in their electronic marketplaces. The key theoretical perspectives of this work are adapted from economics and strategic management. They enable the authors to construct a “partnering for perfection” theory of strategic alliances in e-procurement markets. This perspective is captured in a series of inquiries about “why” and “when” B2B e-markets are observed to form alliances. The authors carry out an innovative econometric analysis that delivers empirical results to show the efficacy of the theory in interpreting real world events. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of this work in academic and managerial terms.
Next Generation B2B Commerce Using Software Agents
Authors: Chari Kaushal , Seshadri Saravanan
Published: May 2011

Enterprises in the 21st century are striving to be agile in order to take advantage of the transient market opportunities. Enterprises are engaging in business-to-business (B2B) commerce with business partners by entering into short-term as well as long-term business arrangements using various technologies such as electronic exchanges. In order for the enterprises to be successful in their business endeavors, a key requirement is that the underlying information technology (IT) infrastructure in enterprises be intelligent and flexible enough to adapt to various changes in the market opportunities quickly. In this chapter, we first examine the information technology (IT) infrastructure requirements for intelligent enterprises in supporting B2B commerce. We then review agents technology and propose an agents-based architecture to support B2B commerce. This architecture covers electronic exchanges and enterprise systems for B2B commerce. Finally, we present some workflows to show how B2B commerce can be conducted using the agents-based architecture.
Fundamentals of Multimedia
Authors: Agnew Palmer W. , Kellerlan Anne S.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces multimedia, defined as interacting with information that employs most or all of the media: text, graphics, images, audio, and video. Students and faculty need to learn to create and use high-quality multimedia documents, including references, lecture materials, reports, and term papers. The authors provide a framework for understanding multimedia in its rapidly changing context. They discuss a wide spectrum of multimedia end-user devices that range from smart cell phones and powerful PCs to intelligent cars and homes. They also propose a vision of pervasive multimedia any time and anyplace, and discuss related issues, controversies, and problems. Typical problems are excessive complexity and a plethora of choices that paralyze many potential users. The chapter concludes with a discussion of possible solutions to major problems and probable future trends.
Click Connect and Coalesce for NGOs
Authors: White Nancy
Published: May 2011

This chapter notes the shift of focus from “online communities” to more purposeful and focused online groups, including distributed Communities of Practice (CoPs). The author identifies the value of CoPs for Non-Governmental and Non-Profit organizations, and suggests that CoPs are formed, stimulated and supported by catalysts, and are richer when contained within larger, more diffuse networks of people.
Problems and Pitfalls in the Evaluation of Adaptive Systems
Authors: Weibelzahl Stephan
Published: May 2011

Empirical studies with adaptive systems offer many advantages and opportunities. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of evaluation studies. This chapter lists several problems and pitfalls that arise when evaluating an adaptive system, and provides guidelines and recommendations for workarounds or even avoidance of these problems. Among other things the following issues are covered: relating evaluation studies to the development cycle; saving resources; specifying control conditions, sample, and criteria; asking users for adaptivity effects; reporting results. An overview of existing evaluation frameworks shows which of these problems have been addressed and in which way.
Are Information Systems' Success and Failure Factors Related? An Exploratory Study
Authors: Fowler Jeremy J. , Horan Pat
Published: May 2011

Although the discipline of information systems (IS) development is well established, systems’ failure, abandonment, and dissatisfaction with functioning systems remain widespread. This has generated a considerable amount of literature investigating the factors seen to contribute to IS success and failure. However, little attention has been given to the possible relationships among the factors most influential in IS success and failure. Therefore, we examine the development of a successful system and compare the factors associated with the system’s success against the factors most reported in the literature as being associated with systems’ failure. Project management practices may be affected by knowing whether success and failure are two sides of one coin or different in nature. The results of our exploratory study showed that four of the six factors identified by the participants in our chosen system as being the most influential in the success of the system were directly related to the factors identified from the literature as being most associated with IS failure. Although more research needs to take place, these results would suggest a considerable relationship might exist between IS success and failure factors.
An Introduction to Head Mounted Displays for Augmented Reality
Authors: Kiyokawa Kiyoshi
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces design and principles of head mounted displays (HMDs), as well as their state-of-the-art examples, for augmented reality (AR). Section 2 introduces a brief history of head mounted displays, human vision system, and application examples of see-through HMDs. Section 3 describes designs and principles of HMDs, such as typical configurations of optics, typical display elements, and major categories of HMDs. Section 4 gives typical characteristics of HMDs, such as resolution, field of view, and distortion. Section 5 describes human perceptual and health issues such as depth perception and safety. Finally, Section 6 gives conclusions with future challenges and prospects. For researchers, learners and HMD developers, this chapter is a good start point to learn basics, state of the art technologies, and future research directions of HMDs. For system developers and end-users, this chapter will give a good insight to HMDs to choose a suitable HMD for their purposes.
Developing Graduate Qualities Through Information Systems and Information Technology Literacy Skills
Authors: Monday Ann , Barker Sandra
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces role play and case study as an approach to developing graduate qualities through information systems and information technology literacy skills. It argues that a case study and role play approach provides a good vehicle to develop a student’s understanding of the graduate qualities valued by employers by developing their skills in the areas of lifelong learning, conflict resolution, problem solving, group communication, and time management. It adds to the understanding of why it is important for business students who will become end-user developers to understand the risks to an organization of poor-quality end-user-developed applications and the responsibilities that they have to their organization to adopt good working practices.
Business Graduates as End-User Developers
Authors: Barker Sandra
Published: May 2011

This investigates the introduction of ‘real-life’ scenarios with undergraduate business students to enhance their understanding of end-user development of database applications. It identifies the problems experienced with end-user development due to incomplete information, incorrect design procedures, and inadequate software knowledge. End-user development of small-scale applications by non-IS/IT professionals is becoming increasingly popular in the workplace, and it has been identified by many researchers as having some managerial risks associated with it. Conversely it has also been identified in the research that the benefits of application development by these ‘end-users’ mostly outweigh the managerial risks. By allowing access to ‘real-life’ situations, improving their information literacy skills, and identifying the design issues relevant to good database development, students will be given an insight into how businesses use and store data, and be more aware of the requirements for their future employment.
Framework for User Perception of Effective E-Tail Web Sites
Authors: Lee Sang M. , Katerattanakul Pairin , Hong Soongoo
Published: May 2011

This study presents the development of an empirically validated framework for users’ perception of effective Web sites for retail e-commerce (E-tail). In particular, we attempted to answer the main research questions: What are the major designs determining E-tail Web site effectiveness? How do these designs support Web users’ objectives in using the Web? Based on the concept of “fitness for use” and the reasons that consumers use the Web, we proposed that “effective designs for E-tail Web sites should support Web customers for their (a) information search, (b) pleasure and (c) business transactions.” Then, data were collected from a survey on 427 potential Web customers. An exploratory analysis was conducted to refine the proposed framework and to provide structure of the constructs in the framework to be validated by a following confirmatory analysis. Results suggest that the major designs determining E-tail Web site effectiveness include 16 factors, with 64 Web designs supporting the three major reasons for customers to use the Web.
Accommodating End-Users' Online Activities with a Campus Portal
Authors: Fuangvut Tharitpong , Hasan Helen
Published: May 2011

A major objective of this article is to propose a framework for development of a campus portal accommodating the end-users’ online activities, especially students who are normally considered as a major group of users for the campus portal. By summarising between the literature review in the domain of traditional information systems development methodology and Web-based information systems development methodology and the findings of the research, an appropriate model can finally be concluded and recommended, and is presented in this article. Although this article can be considered as a standalone article, it is recommended that the reader read the article entitled “The Need for a Comprehensive Methodology for Campus Portal Development.” Additionally, the complete version of this research can also be obtained from the digital thesis section of the University of Wollongong Library (http://www. library.uow.edu.au).
Authoring of Adaptive Hypermedia Courseware Using AHyCO System
Authors: Hoic-Bozic Natasa , Mornar Vedran
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes an approach to the development of an adaptive hypermedia Web-based educational system and presents the model of an AHyCo (adaptive hypermedia courseware) system. An adaptive educational system should contain not only the learning environment for students, but also the authoring environment for teachers. A user friendly authoring module should be the integral part of such a system. The authoring of adaptive hypermedia consists of the development of actual hypermedia content (lessons, tests, etc.) together with the definition of the rules for adaptation. The authoring component of an AHyCo system, described inthis chapter, includes both. By utilizing intuitive form-based user interface, it enables teachers from areas other than IT to produce and interconnect complex hypermedia content.