A conceptual framework for value co-creation practices in C2C social commerce environment

The concepts of value creation and co-creation have been widely discussed, yet the contribution that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can make in this area is under-researched. The objective of this study is to investigate the nature of value creation and co-creation practices in C2C social commerce highlighting the role of ICT in the practices. This research in progress paper outlines the development of a framework which will be used to investigate the relationship between ICT and value creation in the C2C social commerce environment. The framework concentrates on four key elements in the co-creation of value: the role of ICT; relationships; actors; and types of value. The framework has been developed based on an extensive literature review of relevant research in the areas of Marketing and Information Systems. The intention is to test the framework on C2C social commerce sites in South East Asia

Assessing the ethical and social concerns of artificial intelligence in neuroinformatics research: an empirical test of the European Union Assessment List for Trustworthy AI (ALTAI)

open access articleEthical and social concerns are a key obstacle to the adoption of artifcial intelligence (AI) in the life sciences and beyond. The discussion of these issues has intensifed in recent years and led to a number of approaches, tools and initiatives. Key amongst them is the idea of ex-ante impact assessments that aim to identify issues at the early stages of development. One prominent example of such ex-ante impact assessment is the European Union's (EU) Assessment list for Trustworthy AI (ALTAI). This article uses the fndings of a large-scale application of the ALTAI to a large neuro-informatics project as an exemplar to demonstrate the efectiveness and limitations of the ALTAI in practice. The article shows that ex-ante impact assessment has the potential to help identify and address ethical and social issues. However, they need to be understood as part of a broader socio-technical ecosystem of AI. For ALTAI and related approaches to be useful in bio-medical research, they should be interpreted from a systems theory perspective which allows for their integration into the rich set of tools, legislation and approaches. The paper argues that ex-ante impact assessments have the best chance of being successful if seen applied in conjunction with other approaches in the context of the overall AI ecosystem

Moderating effect of religiosity on the relationship between technology readiness, trust and diffusion of e-commerce (B2C) in Sultanate of Oman

Electronic commerce has tremendously revolutionized the global economic system. Notwithstanding it has been playing a catalytic role in strengthening economies of the developing states, many countries are lagging behind in practicing electronic commerce due to numerous factors including technology readiness and trust. This study aimed to investigate the nature of relationship that exists between technology readiness, trust and diffusion of electronic while focusing on the public sector higher education institutions of the Sultanate of Oman. Furthermore, the study indented to examine the moderating effect of religiosity on the relationship between technology readiness, trust and diffusion of e-commerce. A structured questionnaire representing dimensions related to technology readiness, trust, religiosity and diffusion of electronic commerce was duly designed. Data was collected using survey method, through the distribution of the structured questionnaires to the public sector higher education institutions of Oman. The Partial Lease Square - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the hypotheses. The results indicated that technology readiness, trust and religiosity have positive effects on the diffusion of e-commerce. Additionally, the findings revealed that religiosity significantly and positively moderates the relationship between technology readiness, trust and the diffusion of electronic commerce. The results imply that all the stakeholders must call their attention to the core areas of e-commerce like technology readiness, trust and religiosity to ensure a brighter future in today’s fast moving and competitive environment. While contributing to the body of knowledge and highlighting the importance of technology readiness and trust in the diffusion process of electronic commerce, the study appropriately provides practical, managerial, educational and theological implications to the prospective consumers, governmental officials, policy- makers and the e-commerce global community. In terms of limitations, this study is confined to the impacts of technology readiness, trust and religiosity on the diffusion of (business to consumer) electronic commerce, and has targeted academicians from the public higher education institutions, as respondents. On the basis of this study, future research can be conducted in the perspective of developing countries other than the Sultanate of Oman. It would also be valuable to employ the framework in conducting comparative studies on the developing and the developed nation