Assessing the UK policies for broadband adoption

Broadband technology has been introduced to the business community and the public as a rapid way of exploiting the Internet. The benefits of its use (fast reliable connections, and always on) have been widely realised and broadband diffusion is one of the items at the top of the agenda for technology related polices of governments worldwide. In this paper an examination of the impact of the UK government’s polices upon broadband adoption is undertaken. Based on institutional theory a consideration of the manipulation of supply push and demand pull forces in the diffusion of broadband is offered. Using primary and secondary data sources, an analysis of the specific institutional actions related to IT diffusion as pursued by the UK government in the case of broadband is provided. Bringing the time dimension into consideration it is revealed that the UK government has shifted its attention from supply push-only strategies to more interventional ones where the demand pull forces are also mobilised. It is believed that this research will assist in the extraction of the “success factors” in government intervention that support the diffusion of technology with a view to render favourable results if applied to other national settings

Examining Rural Adoption Of Broadband – Critical Realist Perspectives

Broadband infrastructure is currently being implemented throughout Australia as part of a government funded National Broadband Network (NBN). Ultimately successful universal provision will require that metropolitan installations subsidize rural adoption. It is important for the success of the project that rural adoption is maximized. This will require an understanding of the complex social, political and technical aspects affecting the adoption process for rural regions. The paper argues that critical realism can provide a useful meta-theoretical position to examine the important social and physical aspects of the adoption process. Drawing on the work of Raduescu and Vessey (2008) on critical realist explanatory frameworks, it supports using 3 commonly used critical realist frameworks to guide the examination process – that of Pawson and Tilley (2007) and Danermark et al. (2002), together with Archer’s (1995, 1998) morphogenetic model as the meta theory that underpins the examination. The frameworks and model are introduced briefly and examples provided as to how they can contribute to the examination of the rural broadband adoption process

Service delivery through mobile-government (mGov): Driving factors and cultural impacts

The mobile-Government (mGov) service system is conducted through an open network, and it is virtual. This service mode and pattern change inevitably necessitates a behavioral change in citizen attitudes and intentions. Nevertheless, this new pattern of service delivery through mGov has hardly been systematically investigated by any researchers. The objective of this current research is twofold. First, we attempt to reveal the sources of beliefs for developing intention toward the mGov (ITM) system. Then, as the second objective, we investigate cultural influence as the reason for a difference in consumer attitudes and intentions toward mGov. In this regard, the empirical study was conducted in Bangladesh and the USA, which have potential differences in the cultural traits listed by Hofstede. From our statistical analysis, we have identified the sources of beliefs for both Bangladeshi and USA consumers.We observed clear differences in sources of beliefs and their influence on attitudes leading to intention, which demonstrates support for our second objective which was designed to verify the cultural impacts on belief-attitude relations.We understand that these different sources of beliefs influence cognitive, affective, and connative attitudes toward mGov in different ways

Applying Institutional Theoretical Frameworks in MIS Research

This article investigates how Information Systems researchers apply institutional theoretical frameworks. We include theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects to explore modalities of use. After an overview of institutional concepts, we carry out a thematic analysis of journal papers on IS and institutional theory indexed in EBSCO and ABI databases from 1999 to 2009. This consists of descriptive, thematic coding and cluster analysis of this textual database. On the basis of thematic coding and cluster analysis, our findings suggest three groups of publications which represent different methodological approaches and empirical foci: descriptive exploratory approaches, generalizing approaches, and sociological approaches. We suggest that these three groups represent possible patterns of the use of meta social theories in IS research, reflecting a search for disciplinary legitimacy. This helps us analyze papers according to how they use and apply theories. We identify the organizing vision and the regulatory approach as two institutionalist intermediary concepts developed by IS researchers. Furthermore, we find that institutional theoretical frameworks have been used in direct, intermediary or combined conceptualizations. As a conclusion, we make suggestions to blend different conceptualizations, methodologies and empirical foci to enrich the use of institutionalist theories in IS empirical research. A comparison with the use of, for instance, structuration theory in IS research would also further insights into how researchers apply meta theories and may help develop IS theorization further

Heterogeneous inter-organizational social capital: the case of Faraday Partnerships for technology transfer

Given its tripartite impact on society, industry, and university, the phenomenon of university-industry partnership (UIP) has become a valuable research endeavor. However, examining UIP-related literature shows limited understanding from a social capital (SC) perspective, albeit its relevance (as UIP comprises extensive social interaction) and capacity (being an important resource latent in networks system). Likewise, it is noticeable that research on inter-organizational SC has been predominantly conducted from the perspective of homogenous organizations (i.e., have consistent expectation, mission, and culture). However, the perspective of social interaction between heterogeneous organizations (i.e., belong to different sectors thus inherently different) is limited. We address these two gaps by investigating the idiosyncrasy of SC development in the setting of UIP, as a unique context for heterogeneous inter-organizational SC. We contribute to the literature by exposing the various facets of SC dynamics as evolve in this uncommon domain. Also, we identify four factors as moderating the interaction between the three dimensions of SC that eventually influence the dual processes of technology translation and transfer

An Economic and Social Evaluation of the UK Sub-sea Cables Industry

This research report seeks to estimate the value of the UK subsea cables industry, considering its value to 1) the digital economy, and 2) the electricity industry. An initial estimate of the economic value of the UK telecommunications subsea cables industry to the digital economy values it at £62.8 billion per annum. The impact of the UK electricity subsea cables industry is smaller but still significant at £2.8 billion per annum. The economic value of the UK subsea cables industry both for the telecommunications and energy sectors is then measured in more detail using the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling approach that has increasingly overtaken the more traditional Cost Benefit Analysis approach to computing economic values. This analysis also provides estimates of the impact of changes in the industry on various sectors of the economy, as well as on the macro economy. Yet first a qualitative research methodology, namely a Comprehensive Impact Evaluation Framework is applied to identify benefits of the UK subsea cables industry to multiple stakeholders in the telecommunications and energy sectors. By identifying the relevant direct and indirect stakeholders, this ensures that the CGE models developed are as accurate as possible. The stakeholder analysis also allows us to going beyond a monetary analysis of the potential benefits of the subsea cables industry, by identifying the range of stakeholders positively impacted by the presence of the UK subsea cables industry. In the telecommunications sector there are benefits to businesses and households from better quality and speed of digital communication, as well as improved reliability of Internet connectivity. These benefits translate into improved business efficiency, improved ability to manage people and processes, as well as improved opportunities for the international communication of product and process innovations. In the electricity sector, the use of subsea cables is vital for the import and export of electricity, as well as to connect offshore electricity production to the mainland electricity grid system. Hence, subsea cables ensure improved reliability and security of electricity supplies, as well as access to international markets. Given that offshore electricity production is a vital part of renewables electricity production in the UK, this production has environmental benefits and contributes to reduced pollution and the UK’s better ability to meet pollution reduction targets. The qualitative and quantitative analyses combine to highlight the positive value of the UK subsea cables industry both on the telecommunications and electricity market sectors. The impact on the telecommunications sector is larger as was to be expected given the importance of this sector on the UK economy as a whole, while subsea cables are of importance in the electricity market predominantly in terms of electricity imports and exports, and the production of electricity from off-shore wind farms. Not only is the UK subsea cables market important in terms of its impact on the telecommunications and electricity sectors, but the quantitative analysis has highlighted the benefits of future growth in the UK subsea cables industry on UK macroeconomic variables including GDP; consumer income; capital formation; exports and imports and government revenues. Growth in the UK telecommunications subsea cables industry is likely positively to impact the UK financial and insurance sector the most, while growth in the UK electricity subsea cables industry is expected to have its greatest positive impact on the UK manufacturing industry

WiMax technology adoption by SMEs in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This research focuses on developing a framework for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) technology adoption by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). WiMax has emerged as a technology to overcome the limitations of traditional and existing broadband technologies and support a great number of organisations and consumers/citizens in providing a higher speed over substantial distances i.e. in areas that are difficult for wired infrastructure to reach. Despite all the interest in the types of broadband adoption as demonstrated by SMEs in several countries, there seems to be slow progress and lack of information supporting the decision making process for WiMax technology adoption by SMEs specifically in the context of KSA. This may illustrate that SMEs adopt WiMax technology solutions at a slower pace and make them characterised as laggards in terms of new technologies adoption. This research takes into consideration this literature gap and makes a step forward and investigates on WiMax technology adoption by SMEs in KSA with an organisational cultural view, vendors’ commercialisation strategies and government policies by analysing the normative literature related to this research. The data collection of this study was carried out in two phases including quantitative and qualitative approaches. The first phase of the research provided results indicated that, the Saudi SMEs who participated in this research are strongly dominated by clan culture and adhocracy culture. These cultures also have a positive impact on the Internet technologies adoption such as WiMax by SMEs. It is found that, the combination of clan and adhocracy cultures in Saudi SMEs is making them more likely to adopt latest Internet technologies. In the second phase, the results showed a wide difference in views among SMEs, WiMax vendors and government agencies involved in WiMax technology diffusion to SMEs in Saudi Arabia. Although WiMax technology started as an innovation that has the potential to be disruptive and could replace the widely diffused fixed wire line Internet connection, the research findings showed an interesting deviation from this path. In particular, the WiMax technology market analysis in Saudi Arabia highlighted the vendors’ tendency to treat WiMax technology as a sustaining innovation. Research findings also indicated that, the Saudi government provided funds for Information and Communications Technology‘s diffusion in the country. However, the level of awareness displayed by SMEs is persistently low. Knowledge deployment, mobilisation, innovation directive and subsidy have been emphasised by SMEs as the most important government interventions that might have an impact on WiMax adoption by them. Finally, further important issues have been uncovered by the research such as taxation, experience exchange, herd culture/bandwagon, consumer right protection and customer service in relation to the adoption of WiMax by SMEs. The perceived future prospect of these additional issues has been considered as an influence on adoption of WiMax technology by SMEs. The findings of this research can be useful to guide analysts and researchers in determining critical aspects of the complex issues involved in technologies adoption, and lead to suggestions for further valid research