2,684 research outputs found

    The Effects of Internet on Rural-to-Urban Migrating Intentions of Young Villagers: Evidence from Rural Indonesia

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    Indonesian’s government attempts to build internet infrastructure covering all rural areas of which most internet users are young. Youths refer to a generation who intuitively able to operate internet device and are supposed to take an important decision about their future careers, occupations, and living places. This study aimed to identify effects of internet on rural-to-urban migrating intentions of rural youths. The Structural Equation Model-Partial Lease Square (SEM-PLS) approach was applied. This study involved 866 of 15 to 24 years villagers of Tumpukrenteng Village, Malang Regency. This village reflects an ordinary village which is characterized high rural-to-urban migration. A randomized of 213 respondents were taken but 193 respondents were analyzed due to internet users. The independent variables covered internet infrastructure, internet usage, collecting information on prospective destination activity, and the dependent variable covered migrating intention. The results demonstrated that internet accelerated young villagers’ rural migrating intention. Internet allowed their users to access information of prospective destination. This research suggested young villagers to apply internet into economic benefits activity, such as e-commerce and to reduce adverse impacts of internet usage and rural youth’s emigration

    Meeting Europe’s Connectivity Challenge. The Role for Community Networks. CEPS Special Report, 4 July 2018

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    More than 3.5 billion people use the internet today, up from a mere 738 million in 2000, according to a new report from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). That’s about half the world’s population. But what about the other half? While the ITU says that most of the world’s other internet-less users will be connected by traditional internet service providers (ISPs), many remote and rural regions risk remaining without access – unless they connect themselves. This digital divide exists even in developed Europe, where governments are pouring billions of euros into high-speed internet networks. Community networks can help fill the gap. Built and operated by people from within the community working together and combining their efforts, these networks complement traditional access networks. They provide local access in areas where commercial operators do not find it economically viable to operate. Given the challenges with economic viability in underserved areas, it is crucial to build a sound business model to ensure the sustainability of these projects. Community Networks must overcome serious regulatory, political and commercial hurdles. Regulation is often inadequate – or inappropriate. Needed spectrum remains expensive or unavailable. In response, the European Commission has given its support for these bottom-up projects, recognising Community Networks as one of the four main investment models for bringing internet coverage throughout the continent This paper looks at the challenges and opportunities involved in setting up, maintaining and expanding operations of Community Networks within the European Union and elsewhere in Europe. Based on personal interviews with officials in Brussels as well as telephone conversations with leaders of Community Networks throughout Europe, it draws lessons learned from a selection of projects ranging from Spain in the West to the Republic of Georgia in the East

    An Investigation of Online Navigation Patterns of Consumers Across Cultures

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    Researchers have been interested in understanding the online purchase intentions of consumers. It’s interesting to see why consumers differ in the way they navigate the Internet. However, it’s still not very well explored as to what role a country\u27s cultural variables play in online purchase behavior of its users. The goal of this dissertation is to identify the determinant variables of online buying behavior of users from different cultural environments. Hofstede\u27s cultural dimensions are used to understand some of the differences. This study also conceptualizes attitudes toward search on mobile devices vs. desktops. The search behavior on mobile devices is analyzed based on demographic profiles of the e-shoppers. In Chapter 1, the background of the research is set by looking into the web adoption patterns for multiple needs, and the distinction is made between the users’ behaviors focused on actual use of the services offered versus the internet access for general purpose i.e., without any specific service in mind. This helps segment the consumers based on demographic variables and the social context of the user. The primary factors affecting the internet penetration rate in different countries are looked into too. This gives an important perspective of the key foundation of the e-commerce industry i.e., access to Internet to the populace — which forms the superset of potential buyers. The effects of high education, per capita income and telephone connectivity are explored. It\u27s intuitive to see that credit card penetration level will have a positive correlation with the online purchase rate. In this research, it is found that countries with low credit card penetration have less e-commerce even though the cash on delivery option is available there. In chapter 2, the consumer behavior in different countries is analyzed through the lens of Hofstede\u27s cultural dimensions – Uncertainty avoidance (UAI), Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity (MAS) and Long-term orientation (LTO). We use the browsing behavior data of the top 5 e-commerce websites of 45 countries obtained through the Alexa website. In order to approach a conceptualization of cultural dimensions with regards to the web, we work with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and consider how cultures might affect user interface design. It is found that consumers from countries that are high on uncertainty avoidance search for longer durations. In addition to that, consumers from countries high on collectivism are more likely to come to a shopping website from social media websites as compared to that from search engine websites. With the data collected from Globalwebindex platform, the online purchasing drivers for 36 countries are also explored and it is found that the social network\u27s influence on purchase decision is more for countries with low IDV scores and the chances to buy on social network are less for users of high IDV countries. Similarly, we find that users from countries with low UAI and high IDV are more likely to use private browsing window during the online purchase as it protects the users\u27 browsing behavior data on e-commerce websites. And it\u27s also found that users from countries low on IDV are more likely to write post-purchase online reviews. The results support the conjecture that examining the cultural dimensions and customers\u27 attitudes for online shopping is critically important for e-commerce players intending to make their mark in the global arena. They should consider these different types of online buying behaviors when it comes to web design. In chapter 3, we attempt to model consumer choice behavior towards web search engines, taking into account users\u27 demographic and cultural dimensions too. The factors that contribute towards the choice of a consideration set of web search engines are explored—using consideration set theory. The choice of the number of web search engines is modeled, taking into account three different categories of variables i.e., ‘who’ – which includes consumer characteristics including cultural dimensions, ‘what’ – which includes information search characteristics and ‘why’ – which includes attitudinal characteristics. Results of the study indicate that \u27Age\u27 and \u27Uncertainty Avoidance\u27 have significant effect on choice of number of search engines by consumers. Attitudinal characteristics don\u27t contribute significantly towards explaining the choice behavior towards web search engines but information search parameters are significant in that regard. In chapter 4, the roles of uncertainty avoidance and the demographic variables are identified in online purchase behavior of mobile-only-internet-users (MOIU) vs. desktop-internet users. It is found that the countries with high IDV scores have higher percentage of MOIU and UAI has no effect irrespective of the fact that internet access with mobile devices offers less data privacy. The more individualistic nations have better infrastructure, they have more opportunities to use other mobile devices like iPad and laptop to access the Internet. So, they are less likely to be mobile only. The effect of income per capita on a PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) basis has no significant effect on MOIU. An explanation for it could be the one mentioned above—the required infrastructure not being in place for potential users to access the Internet on desktops. In addition to that, it is found that the effect of IDV scores and the age of users— on MOIU number—are significant too. Also, the young users, aged between 25 – 35 years, are much more likely to fall into the MOIU category, irrespective of which country they are from. In chapter 5, we conclude with our findings and identify the limitations and the future research directions

    Information and telecommunications project for a digital city: a brazilian case study

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    Making information and telecommunications available is a permanent challenge for cities concerned to their social, urban and local planning and development, focused on life quality of their citizens and on the effectiveness of public management. Such a challenge requires the involvement of everyone in the city. The objective is to describe the information and telecommunications project from the planning of a digital city carried out in Vinhedo-SP, Brazil. It was built as a telecommunications infrastructure of the kind of "open access metropolitan area networks" which enables the integration of citizens in a single telecommunications environment. The research methodology was emphasized by a case study which turned to be a research-action, comprising the municipal administration and its local units. The results achieved describe, by means of a methodology, the phases, sub-phases, activities, approval points and resulting products, and formalize their respective challenges and difficulties. The contributions have to do with the practical feasibility of the project and execution of its methodology. The conclusion reiterates the importance of the project, collectively implemented and accepted, as a tool to help the management of cities, in the implementation of Strategic Digital City Projects, in the decisions of public administration managers, and in the quality of life of their citizens3119811

    Case of Indonesia

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    학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 공과대학 협동과정 기술경영·경제·정책전공, 2023. 2. 황준석.The rapid development of digital technology and the use of information in productive processes cause structural changes in the economy in the current situation of Industry 4.0. (Neves et al., 2020) As a result of digital transformation, smart cities emerge as a type of interaction among technological, organizational, and political innovations. Innovation in mobility and transportation as an effect of smart city development, like ride-hailing, car-sharing, car-pooling, Mobility as a Service, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and so on, seems to be a panacea for mobility issues (J. Lee et al., 2020a). Unfortunately, most innovation is not supported by policy and regulation. The public transport authorities frequently may take less time to regulate to enable the smart mobility concept, and like many other public authorities, transport authorities' bureaucracy may slow down the penetration of mobility innovation (Kamargianni & Matyas, 2017a) The overpopulated city will face difficulties in providing adequate transportation in implementing smart mobility agenda, mainly because the lack of public transportation cannot be solved only by expanding the road and building new transportation infrastructure. This study aims to understand the smart mobility characteristic to facilitate a strategic goal in creating public value based on citizen expectations. The study focuses on the case of Indonesia. Two essays were conducted through an in-depth literature review to achieve this objective. The first essay investigated smart mobility characteristics and factors, where expert judgment and opinion were used to categorize the most important criteria. The result is to help government design a strategy to implement smart urban mobility in Indonesia's new capital. At the same time, the second essay focused on the citizen satisfaction expectations for smart mobility. Both results will combine to fill the gap between government and citizens expectations for future urban mobility in the new capital of Indonesia.디지털 테크놀로지의 급속한 발전과 생산적인 프로세스에서의 정보 사용은 산업 4.0의 현재 상황에서 경제의 구조적 변화를 야기합니다. (Neves 등, 2020) 디지털 전환의 결과로, 스마트 시티는 기술, 조직 및 정치적 혁신 사이의 상호작용의 한 형태로 나타납니다. 스마트 시티 개발의 효과로서 승차감, 카셰어링, 카풀링, 서비스로서의 모바일성, 전기차, 오토노마스 차량 등 이동성·교통의 혁신은 이동성 문제의 만병통치약으로 보인다. (J. Lee 등, 2020a) 불행히도 대부분의 혁신은 정책과 규제에 의해 뒷받침되지 않습니다. 대중교통 당국은 스마트 이동성 개념을 활성화하기 위해 규제하는 데 시간이 적게 걸릴 수 있으며, 다른 많은 공공 기관과 마찬가지로 교통 당국의 관료주의는 이동성 혁신의 보급을 지연시킬 수 있다. (카마르지안니 & 마티아스, 2017a) 인구과잉 도시는 스마트 모빌리티 어젠다를 이행하는 데 있어 적절한 교통수단을 제공하는 데 어려움을 겪을 것이다. 그 주된 이유는 도로를 확장하고 새로운 교통 인프라를 구축하는 것만으로 대중교통의 부족을 해결할 수 없기 때문이다. 본 연구는 스마트 모빌리티 특성을 파악하여 시민의 기대치를 바탕으로 공공 가치를 창출하는 전략적 목표를 촉진하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 이 연구는 인도네시아의 사례에 초점을 맞추고 있다. 이 목적을 달성하기 위해 두 편의 에세이가 심층적인 문헌 검토를 통해 수행되었다. 첫 번째 에세이에서는 스마트 모빌리티의 특성과 요인을 조사했으며, 전문가의 판단과 의견이 가장 중요한 기준을 분류하기 위해 사용되었다. 그 결과 정부는 인도네시아의 새로운 수도에서 스마트한 도시 이동성을 구현하기 위한 전략을 설계할 수 있게 되었다. 동시에, 두 번째 에세이는 스마트 모빌리티에 대한 시민 만족 기대에 초점을 맞췄다. 두 결과 모두 새로운 수도 인도네시아의 미래 도시 이동에 대한 정부와 시민들의 기대 차이를 메우기 위해 결합될 것이다.Chapter 1. Introduction 10 1.1 Research Background 10 1.2 Indonesia New Capital Feasibility 12 1.3 Problem Description 16 1.4 Research Objectives 20 1.5 Research Questions 20 1.6 Research Outline 21 1.7 Contribution 22 Chapter 2. Smart City Initiatives Trends and Future Urban Mobility: A Literature Review 25 2.1 Smart City Development 25 2.2 Smart City Concept 26 2.2.1 Smart City Definition 28 2.2.2 Smart City Initiatives Trends 33 2.3 Future Urban Mobility Concept 34 2.3.1 Pedestrian and Walkability 37 2.3.2 Parking Management System 39 2.3.3 Innovative Mobility Services 40 2.3.3.1 Mobility as a Service (MaaS) 40 2.3.3.2 Automated Mobility on Demand (AmoD) 43 2.4 Public Value and Citizen Engagement 45 Chapter 3. Investigating Characteristics and Factors of Smart Mobility Project 48 3.1 Introduction 48 3.2 Literature Review 50 3.3 Research Methodology 59 3.3.1 Methodology Approach 59 3.3.2 Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) 60 3.4 Data Collection 62 3.5 Smart Mobility Characteristics 66 3.5.1 Accessibility 66 3.5.2 ICT/Technology 67 3.5.3 Infrastructure Availability 69 3.5.4 Delivery Channel 70 3.6 Smart Mobility Factors 71 3.6.1 Political & Regulatory 71 3.6.2 Socio-Economic 72 3.6.3 Digital Divide 73 3.7 Analysis Results 74 3.7.1 Characteristics Analysis Result 74 3.7.1.1 Characteristics Main Criteria Analysis 74 3.7.1.2 Characteristics Sub-Criteria Analysis 75 3.7.2 Factor Analysis Result 78 3.7.2.1 Factor Main Criteria Analysis 79 3.7.2.2 Factor Sub-Criteria Analysis 79 3.8 Analysis Result Summary and Discussion 81 3.8.1 Analysis Result Summary 81 3.8.2 Discussion 82 Chapter 4. Investigating Citizen Satisfaction Expectation on Future Mobility:Case of Indonesia 85 4.1 Introduction 85 4.2 Model Establishment and Hypothesis Development 89 4.3 Citizen Satisfaction Expectation 94 4.4 Safety and Security 95 4.4.1 Transport & Transit Safety 96 4.4.2 Transport & Transit Security 97 4.5 Comfort & Convenience 97 4.5.1 Public Transport and Density 98 4.5.2 Accessibility 99 4.5.3 Social Equity 99 4.5.4 Information 100 4.5.5 Comfort and Amenities 100 4.6 Government and Citizen Engagement 101 4.6.1 Vision & Strategy 102 4.6.2 Citizen Participation 103 4.6.3 Government Service & Transparency 103 4.7 Research Methodology 104 4.7.1 Structural Equation Model (SEM) 105 4.7.2 Covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM) and Partial Least Square SEM (PLS-SEM) 105 4.8 Survey and Data 107 4.9 Analysis Result 109 4.9.1 Measurement Model – Lower Order Construct 109 4.9.2 Indicator Reliability 110 4.9.3 Collinearity 112 4.9.4 Reliability Analysis 114 4.9.5 Convergent Validity 115 4.9.6 Discriminant Validity 116 4.9.7 Validating Higher Construct 124 4.9.8 Bootstrapping 124 4.9.9 Structural Model 125 4.10 Analysis Result Summary and Discussion 128 Chapter 5. Discussion and Policy Implication 131 5.1 Discussion 131 5.1.1 Availability, Accessibility, and Equity 134 5.1.2 Political and Regulatory Factors 135 5.1.3 The Digital Divide and Citizen Engagement 136 5.2 Policy Implication 137 5.3 Limitation & Future Research 139 Bibliography 141 Appendix 1: Smart Mobility Characteristics Questionnaire 167 Appendix 2: Smart Mobility Factors Questionnaire 177 Appendix 3: Citizen Satisfaction Expectation Questionnaire 184 Abstract (Korean) 191박

    Greek corporate strategies in the Balkans: the consequences of post1989 reforms for investment and trade

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    The thesis deals with the Greek business activity in response to the reforms that were initialed in Eastern Europe in 1989. The focus is on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a major corporate strategy of Greek firms. The thesis attempts to explain (he novel phenomenon Greek FDI. The aim of the thesis is to contribute in the understanding of the Greek FDI phenomenon, examine the nature and the process of Greek FDI, and evaluate the consequences for the Greek economy

    Social dimensions of public large-scale wi-fi networks: the cases of a municipal and a community wireless network

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    Wireless networks play an increasingly important role in today’s mobile and interconnected society. People use mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets or portable game consoles on a regular basis to interact, retrieve and share information, and to orient and entertain themselves. However, in order to be fully performant these devices need to be connected to the Internet. Thanks to very good broadband penetration in Switzerland, this is not so much an issue in private homes and offices where local Wi-Fi networks allow mobile devices to connect to the Internet. Nonetheless, in public spaces, good working wireless networks, even though increasing, are still not very frequent and generally cover only limited areas. Alternative, provider- centered mobile data (3G/4G/LTE) is still expensive especially for visitors because of high roaming rates but also for Swiss people, whose majority still did not have unlimited data contracts in 2016. Public large-scale wireless networks can thus play an important role in providing Internet connectivity to people on the go. This dissertation studies two different approaches to the provision of Wi-Fi broadband connectivity in public spaces: on the one hand, municipalities providing Wi-Fi access in some areas of the city through so-called Municipal Wireless Networks (MWN), and on the other hand, communities with members sharing part of their home broadband connection with other community members, building so-called Community Wireless Networks (CWN). Wireless communities can either be purely self-organized (pure wireless communities) or have a for-profit company managing the community (hybrid communities). While existing studies have analyzed business and ownership models, technical solutions and policy implications of public wireless networks, this research is interested in their social dimensions, focusing on the role of individuals using and contributing to these networks. To do so, two main research goals are addressed: 1) understanding what motivates people to join and actively participate in a hybrid CWN and what hinders them from doing so, and 2) understanding who the users of a MWN are and how they use the network in order to identify various user types and usage practices, which will in turn help municipalities design networks that address the needs of various users. In order to study users’ motivations and concerns for joining and actively participating in a hybrid wireless community, the Fon community (Fon, 2018b) has been analyzed, which at the time of this study was the largest worldwide hybrid CWN. A mixed research approach has been applied. First, an existing model on motivations in pure communities (Bina & Giaglis, 2006a) has been adapted with the help of semi-structured exploratory interviews of 40 Swiss Fon members and then refined through a quantitative online survey addressed to Swiss and foreign Fon members. The resulting model shows which motivations attract members to the community, and which concerns have a dissuasive function. In a second step, 268 valid survey answers have been used for structural equation modeling (SEM) in order to assess which motivations actually result in a higher level of active participation. In order to analyze usage and users of a MWN, the “WiFi Lugano” MWN of the city of Lugano has been chosen. Lugano is located in the Italian-speaking southern part of Switzerland, is a popular tourist destination and the region’s economic capital. In collaboration with the electricity company in charge of implementing the Wi-Fi network (Aziende Industriali Luganesi – AIL), technical network data (log-data) and user-provided information – users were asked to fill-in a short survey after they logged-in to the network – have been collected and analyzed in combination (the two data sets have been merged). In a first step, usage profiles of leisure tourists, business travelers and residents have been created and described applying descriptive statistics to data of three summer months (June – August 2013). In a second step, cluster analysis has been applied to one-year data (June 2013 – May 2014), in order to identify relevant groups of users. Outcomes suggest that in a hybrid CWN, members are motivated to join the community mainly by a mix of utilitarian (e.g. getting free Internet access) and idealistic motivations (reciprocity and altruism), while intrinsic and social motivations are less important. This confirms that motivations are similar to those in pure CWNs but have different weights. In fact, in pure CWNs, intrinsic and social motivations seem to be stronger while in hybrid CWNs, utilitarian motivations prevail. Two types of active participation have been identified in the Fon community, each one driven by a different mix of motivations: “participation by sharing” – putting effort into actively sharing one’s own Internet connectivity – is mainly driven by idealistic motivations related to community values and reciprocity, while “social participation” – being socially involved in the community by interacting with and helping other community members – is driven by social (communicating, learning from each other) and technical reasons (experimenting with technologies). Surprisingly, utilitarian motivations do not have a significant effect on either of the two participation types, even though they are the most relevant ones in attracting new members. With regard to the MWN “WiFi Lugano”, five different usage practices have been identified: two business-oriented ones (“E-mailer” and “Mobile-worker”), two tourism-oriented ones (“Tourism information seeker” and “Always-on traveler”), and one corresponding to the practices of locals (“Local social networker”), each one having different characteristics. The “WiFi Lugano” network thus acts as a business, tourism, and social inclusion enabler, actively favoring various eGovernment relationships: government to business (G2B), government to visitors (G2V), and government to citizens (G2C). Based on these outcomes it has been possible to define a series of suggestions to help cities take advantage of their MWNs and improving them accordingly. Cities could for example provide different landing pages to different publics in order to promote the city in a targeted way, ensure a high quality service of their MWNs, use the Wi-Fi networks to promote tourist attractions and vice-versa (e.g. mark Wi-Fi areas on city maps, build Wi-Fi areas near to tourist attractions, and provide a description of the attraction on the Wi-Fi network’s landing page), share the network with small businesses in the area and extend the reach of the network to relevant areas
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