Exploring a Third-Party e-Waste Recycling System under the Extended Producer Responsibility Framework in China

The rapid advance of information technologies has produced a large amount of waste of electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE). WEEE or e- waste, refers to old, end-of-life (EoL) or discarded electronic appliances. The world produces 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste annually (Electronics Take-back Coalition 2009), of which China alone contributes 2 million tons. Each year at least 6 million washing machines, 7 million TV sets, 10 million PCs and 70 million mobile phones are discarded and the number increases at the rate of more than 10 per cent each year (Hung 2007), according to the report from the resource and environment comprehensive utilization department of the State Development and Reform Commission (SDRC 2006). Discarded electronic products contain a stew of toxic metals and chemicals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and polychlorinated biphenyls (Scott 2007) and cause great harm to the environment. Recycling and reusing e-waste are thus becoming an increasingly important global issue

Faktor-Faktor Infrastruktur Teknologi Informasi Corporate di Kota Palembang

Teknologi informasi (TI) dapat diadopsi sebagai kemampuan organisasi untuk meningkatkan kinerja organisasi dalam rangka memenuhi peraturan pemerintah, meningkatkan profitabilitas, dan meningkatkan posisi kompetitif di pasar. Tujuan dari penelitian ini untuk mengembangkan model kemampuan IT berdasarkan dari kualitas infrastruktur TI, yang digunakan organisasi untuk mendukung proses bisnis. Model ini dikembangkan berdasarkan pandangan berbasis infrastruktur TI sebagai landasan teoritis dan literatur yang berhubungan dengan kinerja organisasi. Validitas model ini akan diuji menggunakan model persamaan struktural berdasarkan data yang dikumpulkan dari organisasi di kota Palembang. Data yang dikumpulkan akan di analisis dengan menggunakan perangkat lunak SPSS dan AMOS. Hasil penelitian ini diharapkan dapat mengembangkan kemampuan infrastruktur TI untuk meningkatkan kemampuan dari suatu organisasi yang digunakan untuk mengembangkan proses bisnis digitalisasi untuk berkompetisi di pasar global. Hasil penelitian diharapkan juga menghasilkan sebuah model baru mengenai infrastruktur IT yang merupakan kontribusi asli untuk literatur sistem informasi khususnya hubungan antara infrastruktur TI yang dihubungkan dengan kinerja organisas

The impact of ITIL (information technology infrastructure library) recommended practices on the IT outsourcing relationship

Over the last two decades, the outsourcing of IT services has become a popular topic for many IS researchers. Furthermore, managing IT services (both internally and externally provided) has become an emerging area for academic research, given the criticality of IT services in modern organizations. One of the better known IT service management frameworks is the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework. While there are many claims made about the relationship between ITIL and IT outsourcing, these claims still need further empirical research. Using data gathered from a preliminary focus group, this study investigates how ITIL impacts recommended practices on the success of IT outsourcing arrangement.<br /

Mobile Learning Content Authoring Tools (MLCATs): A Systematic Review

Mobile learning is currently receiving a lot of attention within the education arena, particularly within electronic learning. This is attributed to the increasing mobile penetration rates and the subsequent increases in university student enrolments. Mobile Learning environments are supported by a number of crucial services such as content creation which require an authoring tool. The last decade or so has witnessed increased attention to tools for authoring mobile learning content for education. This can be seen from the vast number of conference and journal publications devoted to the topic. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to review works that were published, suggest a new classification framework and explore each of the classification features. This paper is based on a systematic review of mobile learning content authoring tools (MLCATs) from 2000 to 2009. The framework is developed based on a number of dimensions such as system type, development context, Tools and Technologies used, tool availability, ICTD relation, support for standards, learning style support, media supported and tool purpose. This paper provides a means for researchers to extract assertions and several important lessons for the choice and implementation of MLCATs

A Machine Learning Approach for Desktop and Application Virtualization Design in Cloud Environment

In recent years, virtual desktop and virtual application is the important research topic for virtualization of cloud computing. Virtualization provides many benefits by using virtual machine software, including we can efficiently deploy and manage all of virtual system resources, and it offers the ability of high reliability, high elasticity and customization. In order to share the system and software resources, related basic knowledge show in our paper about the virtualization technology of desktop and application, and we proposed the virtual desktop and application services to offer an efficient and elastic service for cloud platform. A machine learning approach is also applied to manage resource allocation. It implements the VDaaS (Virtual Desktop as a Service) and VAaaS (Virtual Application as a Service) by developing the sharing technology for virtual desktop and virtual application with the cloud platform

A preliminary study of podcasting in developing higher edcuation institution: A South African case

Purpose - The goal of our work is to report on Podcasting experience by faculty and students in a South African Higher Education Institutions, identify issues, limitations and discuss implications for the design of future tools. Design/methodology/approach - This work consisted of two parts: semi-structured interviews with lecturers, content/curriculum developers and a student survey. Findings - Rogers‟ diffusion of innovations theory provided the framework for this research including determining how new innovations are disseminated, their rate of adoption, the five stage decision making process for adoption and the characteristics an innovation must possess to be attractive to adopters. The methodology used relied heavily on descriptive and qualitative data analyses in order to determine the current podcasting practices and experiences. Results reveal that by assuming some of the respondents are “Innovators” or “early adopters”, they are still in the early stages of the decision making process. Research limitations/implications - Some instructors who are identified as “early adopters” are experimenting with Podcasting as an add-on to existing lecture resources. However, innovations and their subsequent adoption require an understanding of lecturers‟ and students‟ perceptions, opportunities and challenges. Originality/value - Podcasting in developing HEIs and the tools therein to support the process has not been given much attention. The context of this study is the first kind of empirical research in this area. The findings from this exploratory research will be valuable for podcasting users

Introducing personal learning environments to informal learners: lessons learned from the OpenLearn case study

Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) hold the potential to address the needs of informal learners for multi-sourced content and easily customisable learning environments. This paper presents the lessons learned from a case study regarding the use of widget-based PLEs by informal learners for finding and evaluating Open Educational Resources (OER). The lessons learned from this case study have allowed the authors to detect some of the obstacles for the successful adoption of PLEs by informal learners, as well as to identify ways for overcoming these obstacles

Incident Management Process and Remedy Action Request System Analysis for Technical Support

Among many available frameworks and international standards for technical support service, Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is one of the earliest and most popular frameworks, being widely followed and implemented all over the world in both private and public sectors. Many supporting tools are designed and developed based on the processes recommended by ITIL. However if the processes are not followed by the actual business practice then such supporting tools might not fulfill the business demand as desired. This paper uses Remedy® Action Request System as an example tool to identify the possible gaps between the ITIL Incident Management process and actual business processes, and then uses the data extracted from Remedy® to evaluate an ITIL based sample SLA to demonstrate potential deficiencies caused by business deviation from ITIL processes. Countermeasures are also given based on business scenarios