An examination of the relationship between digital divide and economic freedom: An international perspective

Due to various economic, political and social reasons, the Internet usage remains relatively Iom\u3e in many countries around the world. The difference in access to new information technologies and the Internet among countries, is known as the digital divide. This is a significant economic phenomenon that warrants the attention of analysts and policy makers. Furthermore, since information technologies and the Internet have proven to be key drivers for economic growth and global trade, many nations are in danger of being marginalized. This paper examines the relationship between economic freedom as indicated by the Economic Freedom Index (EFI), proposed by Beach and O\u27Driscoll (2003) and the digital divide. By analyzing data from sixty-two countries that include variables such as the cost of Internet access, number of personal computers and phones, personal income level, and innovation capability, it is shown that EFI is significantly related to the diffusion rate of the Internet. Therefore, countries need to examine and implement economic policies that are conducive to narrowing the digital gap

Electronic Business in Saudi Organization

This paper is to shed light on the use of electronic business and mobile applications in Saudi organizations to perform their various activities. The paper examined the validity of a previous model that was found from the literature, to identify the most significant factors that affect the intention to adopt mobile electronic business within Saudi organizations. The research suggests and tests seven hypotheses on a population consists of employees in public and private sectors. Therefore, a regular random sampling procedure was used in which 256 respondents were identified.Structural equation modeling had been performed to analyze the collected data, giving more superior empirical results that led to reject five of the seven hypotheses. Results indicate that mobile electronic business features and opportunities as well as social influence both positively affect the intention to adopt mobile electronic business in Saudi organizations. Keywords: Information Systems, Organizations, Information Technology Adoption, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Phones, Mobile Electronic Commerce, Information Systems in Organizations, Information Technology, Mobile Commerce Adoption, Electronic Business, SEM

Modeling Internet Diffusion in Developing Countries

Despite the increasing importance of the Internet, there is little work that addresses the degree to which the models and theories of Internet diffusion in developed countries can be applied to Internet diffusion in developing countries. This paper presents the first attempt to address this question through modeling Internet diffusion via a set of variables from social, technical, and environmental determinants. A set of regression analyses and a radar graph are used to analyze the hypotheses. The findings suggest that the factors affecting the Internet diffusion in developed countries do not provide a good fit for modeling Internet diffusion in developing countries. Alternative approaches to modeling Internet diffusion in developing countries are suggested

Diffusion of Digital Products in Peer-to-Peer Networks

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are fast emerging as a viable and cost effective alternative for content delivery on the Internet. By offering rebates to users who share content with others, incentives can be provided to address the well-documented problem of free riding. A primary value proposition of P2P networks is their ability to scale well and facilitate fast distribution of digital products. While the fast diffusion of products in P2P networks has generated substantial interest in P2P, rigorous theoretical studies of the diffusion process have been in absence. Our paper provides one of the first analytical studies of the diffusion process in P2P networks. Starting with an analogy between P2P diffusion and epidemic diffusion, we develop a stochastic diffusion model for flat P2P networks. We find that product diffusion, in P2P networks is likely to follow classic S-shaped processes. Next, we develop a deterministic approximation that is computationally efficient. The model allows a content publisher to analyze the diffusion process, evaluate the impact of offering rebates on product diffusion and also determine the optimal rebate to offer by trading off the reduced margins with the faster diffusion of the product. Finally, we expand our study to account for generation of multiple requests and forwarding of requests in P2P networks. The analytical models presented in this paper serve as a starting point for rigorous modeling and study of content diffusion in P2P networks

Broadband adoption by SMES

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Because the benefits of broadband for businesses have been widely publicized, the UK government has tried to ensure that there is a wide and fast take-up of the technology. Initial figures showed that broadband adoption by SMEs was particularly slow and there has been little research on the use of broadband by businesses, particularly SMEs. An in-depth study into the roles and activities of the groups involved in broadband diffusion to SMEs was conducted. The innovation diffusion and social construction of technology theory were applied to develop a framework that addresses some of the issues not covered in previous literature. The research was carried out in two phases and the empirical data from these was obtained and analysed using a qualitative and interpretive approach. Whilst broadband adoption figures have picked up more recently the research results show that SMEs have not adopted broadband in its full capacity. The results show that factors including cost, quality of service, and lack of awareness might be a reason for this. Implications for policy makers and groups involved in broadband diffusion to SMEs have therefore been provided. The first phase of the research provides results that indicated that broadband has not necessarily changed the way the Internet is used by the SMEs. In the second phase, the results showed a wide if not incompatible difference among groups involved in the issues surrounding broadband diffusion to SMEs. Although the governi-nenht as provided funds for SMEs' adoption of information technology, the level of awareness displayed by SMEs is persistently low. A case is put that this may be because SMEs are unique as are their needs and so need to be targeted as individual businesses with individual needs as opposed to a 'one size fits all' solution

Security Enhanced Applications for Information Systems

Every day, more users access services and electronically transmit information which is usually disseminated over insecure networks and processed by websites and databases, which lack proper security protection mechanisms and tools. This may have an impact on both the users’ trust as well as the reputation of the system’s stakeholders. Designing and implementing security enhanced systems is of vital importance. Therefore, this book aims to present a number of innovative security enhanced applications. It is titled “Security Enhanced Applications for Information Systems” and includes 11 chapters. This book is a quality guide for teaching purposes as well as for young researchers since it presents leading innovative contributions on security enhanced applications on various Information Systems. It involves cases based on the standalone, network and Cloud environments

Digital Distance and Economic Development in Southeast Asia

In the global financial system the economic strength, competency, and development of national economies and populations is significantly affected by the availability and use of Information Communication Technology (ICT). While the wealthier, industrialized nations enjoy the widest availability and use of these key technologies, the capacity and access to ICT is limited in developing nations and least developed countries (LDCs). Consequently, the lack of technology in many Southeast Asian countries may contribute significantly to their status as underdeveloped nations with impoverished economies and populations. This study explores the extent to which key social, economic, ethnolinguistic and infrastructure indicators outlined in the model for determining factors that contribute to digital divide proposed by Kallol Bagchi (Bagchi, 2005, Factors contributing to global digital divide: Some empirical resutls) contribute to digital distance. Furthermore, this study compares the performance of these indicators in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the years 2003 and 2005. The study concludes that the majority of factors tested correlated to digital distance for both the OECD and ASEAN nations and that the performance of these factors was consistent for both years studied. However, differences in the effect of the level of secondary education, inflation, and degree of urbanization were also observed between the two groups of nations and opportunities for further research presented

Modeling and Analysis of Complex Technology Adoption Decisions: An Investigation in the Domain of Mobile ICT

Mobile information and communication technologies (ICT) promise to significantly transform enterprises, their business processes and services, improve employee productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency, and create new competitive advantages and business agility. Despite the plethora of potential benefits, however, widespread enterprise adoption of mobile ICT has not been as extensive as initially anticipated. Drawing on the extant information systems, technology management, and organizational innovation literature, this dissertation investigates the salient drivers and inhibitors of emerging ICT adoption, in general, and mobile ICT in particular, and develops an integrative ICT adoption decision framework. From this synthesis we identify four broad elements that influence an enterprise s decision to adopt mobile ICT: (1) business value, (2) costs and economics, (3) strategic alignment, and (4) enterprise readiness. The latter decision element has received only little theoretical and practical attention. In order to fill this gap, this dissertation explored the concept of enterprise readiness in further detail and identified eight key dimensions and their associated assessment indicators. Using a two-stage expert study and experimental design approach, we empirically validated these dimensions and determined their relative importance. Results indicated that leadership readiness followed by technology, data and information, and resource readiness, contributed the most to enterprise readiness for mobile ICT. The results are implemented into a web-based readiness diagnostic tool (RDT) that enables decision makers to assess an enterprise s readiness for mobile ICT. The benefits of the RDT are multifold: first, it navigates the decision maker through the complex readiness assessment space; second, it identifies potential organizational deficiencies and provides a means to assess potential sources of risks associated with the adoption and implementation of mobile ICT; and third, it enables decision makers to benchmark their level of readiness against other organizations. The dissertation concludes by highlighting both theoretical and practical implications for emerging and mobile ICT adoption management and suggesting directions for future research.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Rouse, William; Committee Member: Cross, Steve; Committee Member: Cummins, Michael; Committee Member: DeMillo, Richard; Committee Member: Vengazhiyil, Rosha

The value of e-banking services in the Egyptian environment : an integrated model

Introduction: Driving the introduction of e-banking services in Egypt are structural changes, which have intensified competition across the banking sector. The value (net benefits) of e-banking services to their suppliers lies in their ability to attract new customers and retain those interested in using them. To achieve these objectives, requires an understanding of the value management process in e-banking services specifically within the Egyptian environment.Study Problem: Extant literature lacks an integrated model of value management relevant to the e-banking services. Empirical studies addressing the value of e-banking services in terms of antecedents and consequence in general and in the Egyptian environment are limited. Moreover, customer relationship management (CRM) literature disagrees on the factors reflecting the role of the internal operating environment and overlooks the role of the external environment in affecting the ability of service suppliers to create and deliver the value of e-banking services.Aim and objectives: This study sought to develop an integrated model for managing the value of e-banking services in the Egyptian environment through the following objectives. First, to identify the antecedents (requirements) and consequence of e-banking services perceived value from the demand side of e-banking services. Second, to explore factors shaping banks' ability to create and deliver value of offered e-banking services.Paradigm and research methods: This study adopted the critical realism paradigm, an anti-positivist paradigm, which supports the exploratory and the abductive nature of this research. To identify the antecedents and consequence of e-banking services perceived value from the demand side of e-banking services, an exploratory sequential strategy, in which in-depth interviews preceded the survey phase, was conducted. To explore factors shaping the banks' ability to create and deliver the value of e-banking services, semi-structured interviews were used.Key Findings: Findings related to the demand side indicated that improving e-banking services perceived value can significantly and positively strengthen the relationship between banks and customers. Antecedents of value were identified to be a combination of the explicit involvement of service suppliers in supporting face-to-face service encounters, e-banking services quality, and the role of external environment in promoting e-banking services.The ability of banks to create and deliver value of e-banking services is affected by their positioning strategy, bank branch design, employment scheme, criteria of recruiting front-office employees, and criteria of evaluating front-office employees' performance. The nature of the Egyptian economy, output of education system and legal system development were defined as highly influential within this process.Conclusion: It could be concluded that, managing the value of e-banking services is a dynamic process between service users and service suppliers