Mobile Payments in the Netherlands: Adoption Bottlenecks and Opportunities, or… Throw Out Your Wallets

Het doel van dit onderzoek is het analyseren van de marktgrootte van mobiel betalen en de bijbehorende omzetbasis, alsmede de invoering van knelpunten, om inzicht te verkrijgen in de introductie en ontwikkeling van mobiele bankservices in Nederland. Het onderzoek beschrijft verscheidene aspecten van mobiel betalen/mobiel bankieren in Nederland. Onderwerpen als implementatie, wetgeving, geschatte businesscase, aanbevolen businessmodel, ontwikkelingsscenario’s, een SWOT - analyse van technische oplossingen, organisatorische knelpunten, een analyse van de redenen van succes en falen en openstaande problemen en uitdagingen komen aan de orde. Het voornaamste doel van het onderzoek is het trachten te beantwoorden van de vraag of er een markt voor mobiel betalen is in Nederland en een analyse geven van waarom mobiele bankservices niet succesvol zijn geweest in Nederland. Bovendien dient gemeld te worden dat de focus van dit verslag lag op microbetalingen, waar over het algemeen betalingen tot €10 onder verstaan worden.The purpose of this research report is to analyse the mobile payment market size and its revenue basis, as well as adoption bottlenecks, in view of establishing the adoption and deployment of mobile banking services in The Netherlands. The research report describes various aspects with regard to mobile payments/mobile banking in The Netherlands. Issues like implementation, regulatory framework, estimated business case, deployment scenario’s, recommended business model, a SWOT analysis of the technical solutions, organisational bottlenecks, an analysis of the reasons for success and failures, and open issues and challenges are addressed. The main aim is to try to answer the question whether there is a market in The Netherlands for mobile banking services, and providing an analysis of why M-banking services have not been so successful in The Netherlands. Furthermore, it needs to be mentioned that the focus of this paper was on micro-payments, which are generally considered to be payments of up to €10

Wireless communications in the new millennium and third generation wireless networks

At the end of the 20 century, and at the beginning of this one, wireless communications are making large advances. The new technologies are on the way to provide a high-speed, high-quality information exchange between handheld terminals, and information repositories. The so called 2,5 generation networks, using the techniques like the HSCSD1, GPRS2, EDGE3, and the 3r generation wireless systems will help the wireless world to reach those goals. In this thesis I will start from the first and second-generation wireless networks, and then look into the 2,5 generation and 3rd generation wireless communications more in detail. The latest advances in the wireless world are the main focus of this paper although a short history of wireless communications is also given. The various aspects related to 3rd generation systems will be explored in this thesis, for example the air interface discussions, its time scale, its elements like the mobile equipment, software and security, USLM4, services that will be offered, etc. In addition, the technical factors and key technologies that are likely to shape the wireless network environment of the future will be explored. This part is expected to help us to see beyond the 3rd generation

Proposed Model for Outsourcing PKI

PKI is often referred to as a pervasive substrate. This terminology is used to describe the technological layer that permeates the entirety of the organisation on which PKI services are established. From the mid 1970s when Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman published their paper New Directions in Cryptography the concept of Public Key Cryptography, for the first time, allowed two entities with no previous relationship to communicate secure information over unsecured channels. PKI provides the infrastructure that allows Public Key Cryptography to function within a hierarchical structure, providing between two entities, an acceptable level of trust. Outsourcing is the process of acquiring sources or services from an external source. With the modular structure of today's organisations it can also mean that goods and services can be procured from one segment of the organisation to another through inhouse service-supplier agreements. Outsourcing has evolved from the days of heavy industry and manufacturing in the 1960s to the total solution management of today. This dissertation brings together the concepts of both PKI and Outsourcing. It details our AB-5C Model for organisations to outsource a PKI system within the scope of the businesses strategic goals and objectives. Our proposed model takes into account the need to use existing models, procedures and practices in support of an outsourced PKI Model. These include a process or processes to ensure that any outsourced solution adds value to the organisation, and that there is a business strategy that allows the alignment of the outsourcing strategy to the organisations strategic plan

Ubiquitous Semantic Applications

As Semantic Web technology evolves many open areas emerge, which attract more research focus. In addition to quickly expanding Linked Open Data (LOD) cloud, various embeddable metadata formats (e.g. RDFa, microdata) are becoming more common. Corporations are already using existing Web of Data to create new technologies that were not possible before. Watson by IBM an artificial intelligence computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language can be a great example. On the other hand, ubiquitous devices that have a large number of sensors and integrated devices are becoming increasingly powerful and fully featured computing platforms in our pockets and homes. For many people smartphones and tablet computers have already replaced traditional computers as their window to the Internet and to the Web. Hence, the management and presentation of information that is useful to a user is a main requirement for today’s smartphones. And it is becoming extremely important to provide access to the emerging Web of Data from the ubiquitous devices. In this thesis we investigate how ubiquitous devices can interact with the Semantic Web. We discovered that there are five different approaches for bringing the Semantic Web to ubiquitous devices. We have outlined and discussed in detail existing challenges in implementing this approaches in section 1.2. We have described a conceptual framework for ubiquitous semantic applications in chapter 4. We distinguish three client approaches for accessing semantic data using ubiquitous devices depending on how much of the semantic data processing is performed on the device itself (thin, hybrid and fat clients). These are discussed in chapter 5 along with the solution to every related challenge. Two provider approaches (fat and hybrid) can be distinguished for exposing data from ubiquitous devices on the Semantic Web. These are discussed in chapter 6 along with the solution to every related challenge. We conclude our work with a discussion on each of the contributions of the thesis and propose future work for each of the discussed approach in chapter 7

Study, Analysis and Modeling of IP Multimedia systems on next generation networks providing mobile and fixed multimedia services

Not availabl

State of the art of electronic signatures

Die Sicherheit von elektronischer Kommunikation und von Transaktionen ist ein kritisches Thema heutzutage. Um Verträge online abzuschließen ist ein hoher Sicherheitsstandard notwendig und das Thema „Digitale Signatur" damit ein integrativer Bestandteil jeder digitalen Geschäftsdurchführung. In diesem Zusammenhang wurden 44 Länder untersucht, darunter alle 27 EU-Mitgliedsstaaten, 3 Bewerberländer und 14 weitere europäische Staaten und in einer strukturierten Zusammenschau in den Dimensionen rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen, technische Standards und Marktdurchdringung zusammengefasst. Um einen allgemeinen Eindruck über die aktuelle Situation in jedem Land zu gewinnen, wurde eine erste Internetrecherche gestartet, ein Fragenkatalog zusammengestellt und per e-Mail ausgesandt, sowie Kontakte mit verschiedenen Institutionen und Unternehmen aufgebaut. Die eingeholten Informationen wurden in der Studie zusammengefasst. Zum Zweck der Übersichtlichkeit wurde die Studie stark strukturiert und subjektive Interpretationen bewusst ausgelassen um die Fakten für sich sprechen zu lassen. Die Vollständigkeit der gesammelten Daten wird reflektiert in der Länderklassifikation. Um einen raschen Überblick zu erlangen wurde am Ende jeder Länderanalyse eine Tabelle erstellt, welche die Entwicklung des Landes in Bezug auf digitale Signaturstandards zusammenfasst, sowie eine Bewertung in Hinblick auf verfügbare Information und Entwicklungsstand enthält. Die aktuelle Studie demonstriert auf deutliche Art und Weise, dass es keine globale Implementierung von digitaler Signatur bis jetzt erreicht wurde, hauptsächlich durch eine technische Interoperabilität der Systeme, Prozesse und Konfigurationen, wobei die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen nicht das Hindernis sind. Es ist nicht schwer zu verstehen, dass eine grenzüberschreitende Adoption der digitalen Signatur nicht auf dies Art und Weise realisierbar ist.Today we live in an e-era, where the topic of Internet security and safety is inevitable. To realize a secure transaction and contract signing via Internet, it is necessary to give a great attention to the subject of digital signatures. In this context, 44 countries have been surveyed (27 EU member countries, 3 EU-member candidates, 14 other European countries) and a structured synopsis has been compiled in the dimensions legal framework, technical standards and market penetration. To obtain a general idea about the current state in the country, an Internet research was started. Furthermore, a list of questions was sent out via e-mail to different companies and agencies and a lot of contacts were established. The collected information was pulled together and compiled in the following study. For purpose of clarity, the study is structured in-depth and subjective interpretations are left out to let the facts speak for themselves. To gain a fast overview, tables sum up the countries development concerning electronic signature standards and rating them in regard of available information and development in different categories. The present study demonstrates quite clearly that no wide-area implementation of digital signatures has been achieved yet, mostly because of lacking technical interoperability of systems, processes and configurations, while the uniform legal framework is certainly not the barrier. It is not very hard to understand that the benefits of a broad adoption of digital signature in the European economic area cannot be realized this way

Not invented here: Power and politics in public key infrastructure (PKI) institutionalisation at two global organisations.

This dissertation explores the impact of power and politics in Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) institutionalisation. We argue that this process can be understood in power and politics terms because the infrastructure skews the control of organisational action in favour of dominant individuals and groups. Indeed, as our case studies show, shifting power balances is not only a desired outcome of PKI deployment, power drives institutionalisation. Therefore, despite the rational goals of improving security and reducing the total cost of ownership for IT, the PKIs in our field organisations have actually been catalysts for power and politics. Although current research focuses on external technical interoperation, we believe emphasis should be on the interaction between the at once restrictive and flexible PKI technical features, organisational structures, goals of sponsors and potential user resistance. We use the Circuits of Power (CoP) framework to explain how a PKI conditions and is conditioned by power and politics. Drawing on the concepts of infrastructure and institution, we submit that PKIs are politically explosive in pluralistic, distributed global organisations because by limiting freedom of action in favour of stability and security, they set a stage for disaffection. The result of antipathy towards the infrastructure would not be a major concern if public key cryptography, which underpins PKI, had a centralised mechanism for enforcing the user discipline it relies on to work properly. However, since this discipline is not automatic, a PKI bereft of support from existing power arrangements faces considerable institutionalisation challenges. We assess these ideas in two case studies in London and Switzerland. In London, we explain how an oil company used its institutional structures to implement PKI as part of a desktop standard covering 105,000 employees. In Zurich and London, we give a power analysis of attempts by a global financial services firm to roll out PKI to over 70,000 users. Our dissertation makes an important contribution by showing that where PKI supporters engage in a shrewdly orchestrated campaign to knit the infrastructure with the existing institutional order, it becomes an accepted part of organisational life without much ceremony. In sum, we both fill gaps in information security literature and extend knowledge on the efficacy of the Circuits of Power framework in conducting IS institutionalisation studies

Support infrastructures for multimedia services with guaranteed continuity and QoS

Advances in wireless networking and content delivery systems are enabling new challenging provisioning scenarios where a growing number of users access multimedia services, e.g., audio/video streaming, while moving among different points of attachment to the Internet, possibly with different connectivity technologies, e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular 3G. That calls for novel middlewares capable of dynamically personalizing service provisioning to the characteristics of client environments, in particular to discontinuities in wireless resource availability due to handoffs. This dissertation proposes a novel middleware solution, called MUM, that performs effective and context-aware handoff management to transparently avoid service interruptions during both horizontal and vertical handoffs. To achieve the goal, MUM exploits the full visibility of wireless connections available in client localities and their handoff implementations (handoff awareness), of service quality requirements and handoff-related quality degradations (QoS awareness), and of network topology and resources available in current/future localities (location awareness). The design and implementation of the all main MUM components along with extensive on the field trials of the realized middleware architecture confirmed the validity of the proposed full context-aware handoff management approach. In particular, the reported experimental results demonstrate that MUM can effectively maintain service continuity for a wide range of different multimedia services by exploiting handoff prediction mechanisms, adaptive buffering and pre-fetching techniques, and proactive re-addressing/re-binding

Study and development of a remote biometric authentication protocol

This paper reports the phases of study and implementation of a remote biometric authentication protocol developed during my internship at the I.i.t. of the C.n.r. in Pisa. Starting from the study of authentication history we had a look from the first system used since the 60ies to the latest technology; this helped us understand how we could realize a demonstration working protocol that could achieve a web remote authentication granting good reliability: to do this we choosed to modify the SSL handshake with biometric tests and we decided to use smart-cards a secure vault for the sensible biometric data involved. In the first chapter you will find a brief definition of authentication and an introduction on how we can achieve it, with a particular focus on new biometric techniques. In the second chapter there\u27s the history of authentication from the very first password system to actual ones: new token and smart card technolgies are longer stressed in order to introduce the reader to the last chapter. In the third chapter you will find the project framework, the development of our implementation choiches and the source code of the demo project