How can SMEs benefit from big data? Challenges and a path forward

Big data is big news, and large companies in all sectors are making significant advances in their customer relations, product selection and development and consequent profitability through using this valuable commodity. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have proved themselves to be slow adopters of the new technology of big data analytics and are in danger of being left behind. In Europe, SMEs are a vital part of the economy, and the challenges they encounter need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. This paper identifies barriers to SME uptake of big data analytics and recognises their complex challenge to all stakeholders, including national and international policy makers, IT, business management and data science communities. The paper proposes a big data maturity model for SMEs as a first step towards an SME roadmap to data analytics. It considers the ‘state-of-the-art’ of IT with respect to usability and usefulness for SMEs and discusses how SMEs can overcome the barriers preventing them from adopting existing solutions. The paper then considers management perspectives and the role of maturity models in enhancing and structuring the adoption of data analytics in an organisation. The history of total quality management is reviewed to inform the core aspects of implanting a new paradigm. The paper concludes with recommendations to help SMEs develop their big data capability and enable them to continue as the engines of European industrial and business success. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Online grocery retailing in Jordan: Future perspectives

Electronic commerce (e-Commerce) has been considered as the way of conducting business transactions online. The use of e-commerce technologies is widely accepted around the world since it offers organizations many opportunities to improve their performance. However, it is still skeptical that using this technology will come up with positive expectations. This study aimed at identifying the possible benefits and barriers that may affect the Jordanian grocery retailers’ decision to adopt this kind of technologies

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019

An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains

Challenges to describe QoS requirements for web services quality prediction to support web services interoperability in electronic commerce

Quality of service (QoS) is significant and necessary for web service applications quality assurance. Furthermore, web services quality has contributed to the successful implementation of Electronic Commerce (EC) applications. However, QoS is still the big issue for web services research and remains one of the main research questions that need to be explored. We believe that QoS should not only be measured but should also be predicted during the development and implementation stages. However, there are challenges and constraints to determine and choose QoS requirements for high quality web services. Therefore, this paper highlights the challenges for the QoS requirements prediction as they are not easy to identify. Moreover, there are many different perspectives and purposes of web services, and various prediction techniques to describe QoS requirements. Additionally, the paper introduces a metamodel as a concept of what makes a good web service

Online revenue model adoption in the media sector: in-depth results from an exploratory study in the Netherlands

Especially for companies in the media sector such as publishers, the Internet has created new strategic and commercial opportunities. However, many companies in the media sector are struggling with how to adapt their business and revenue model for doing profitable business online. This exploratory study goes into the success factors and the level of adoption of online revenue models by media sector companies. We use Chaffey (2002) in determining online revenue models in which we included Osterwalder’s (2001) four ‘pillars’ of business models. These four pillars cover the twelve critical success factors for e-businesses as identified by Sung (2004). This theoretical framework was used for in-depth interviews with 20 senior managers within the media sector in the Netherlands. From this, it appeared that advertising is the most used online revenue model, with targeting advertising, lead generation and a combination of content and customer profiles as most promising. Ease of use is distinguished by all senior managers as success factor. Still, in order to be successful, all factors should be applied, and this appears not to be the case. Organizations in the media sector need to invest in technical and organizational expertise by hiring the right employees with the right knowledge. Emphasis on target advertising and lead generation are most promising. A combination of content and customer profiles is a focus-point for the near future

Insurance Industry and E-Business

亀井利明教授古稀記念特

Research on the Application of E-commerce to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): the Case of India

SMEs account for a large proportion and play an important role in the development of each country in the world, including India. The globalization will bring many advantages for enterprises however SMEs will face fierce competition at the local, national and International level. In order to maintain and promote the important role of SMEs in the context of increased competition, SMEs have to change and adopt new technologies. E-commerce and digital technologies are bringing opportunities to help SMEs improve their competitiveness, narrow the gap with big enterprises thanks to their fairness and flexibility of the digital business environment.       According to UNIDO (2017), India is one of the countries successfully applying e-commerce to SMEs. Contributing to this success is the important role of the Indian government. Therefore, this paper focuses on researching the application of e-commerce to SMEs in terms of the role of government in promoting and creating an ecosystem for SMEs and e-commerce development

Yes, I know this IoT Device Might Invade my Privacy, but I Love it Anyway! A Study of Saudi Arabian Perceptions

The Internet of Things (IoT) ability to monitor our every move raises many privacy concerns. This paper reports on a study to assess current awareness of privacy implications of IoT devices amongst Saudi Arabians. We found that even when users are aware of the potential for privacy invasion, their need for the convenience these devices afford leads them to discount this potential and to ignore any concerns they might initially have had. We then conclude by making some predictions about the direction the IoT field will take in the next 5-7 years, in terms of privacy invasion, protection and awareness