Studies in Trade and Investment: The Development Impact of Information Technology in Trade Facilitation

It is important to lay out a framework for understanding how trade facilitation (TF) affects the movement of goods, and where information (IT) fits in. This relationship, in turn, sets the stage for locating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in international transactions. There is an increasing amount of substantial literature on TF and equally wide knowledge of IT. While it is not the intent of this chapter to survey these materials, to the extent that they are relevant to the following discussion, they will be referred to appropriately. Section A of this chapter elaborates on TF and the wide range of instruments that have been used and analyzed while section B details some actual experiences in the use of IT in TF. Section C examines small and medium-sized enterprises and IT in TF. Section D summarizes this chapter and considers the implications for inclusive growth.Trade facilitation, ICT, IT, SMEs,

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and User Experience (UX) design: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

PurposeThe aim of this article is to map the use of AI in the user experience (UX) design process. Disrupting the UX process by introducing novel digital tools such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to improve efficiency and accuracy, while creating more innovative and creative solutions. Thus, understanding how AI can be leveraged for UX has important research and practical implications.Design/Methodology/ApproachThis article builds on a systematic literature review approach and aims to understand how AI is used in UX design today, as well as uncover some prominent themes for future research. Through a process of selection and filtering, 46 research articles are analysed, with findings synthesized based on a user-centred design and development process.FindingsOur analysis shows how AI is leveraged in the UX design process at different key areas. Namely, these include understanding the context of use, uncovering user requirements, aiding solution design, and evaluating design, and for assisting development of solutions. We also highlight the ways in which AI is changing the UX design process through illustrative examples.Originality/valueWhile there is increased interest in the use of AI in organizations, there is still limited work on how AI can be introduced into processes that depend heavily on human creativity and input. Thus, we show the ways in which AI can enhance such activities and assume tasks that have been typically performed by humans

Creating Value By Object Hyperlinking Along The Consumer Buying Decision Process In The IoT Era

Within the IoT scope, a new application named ‘object hyperlinking’ has evolved. Object hyperlinking is the pervasive presence of different things or objects identified by tags, sensors, and mobile phones that can interact with each other as well as with their neighbors through unique addressing schemes for business purpose. Enabled by Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) technologies such as QR code and NFC, object hyperlinking services make it possible link any object or location to a more comprehensive and editable information. While tagging technologies have good prospects to offer more opportunities in a company’s interaction with its consumers, how this capability can be best applied and what innovative business services be created with object hyperlinking remain to be discovered. This study surveys and examines 76 projects of object hyperlinking in Taiwan and provides a framework to figure out business value and issues of object hyperlinking along the five stages of a consumer buying decision process. Based on the functionality and purpose of object hyperlinking services, this framework is conducted in dimensions of value creation, value orientation, functionality, key factor and challenges, key activities within organization, and managerial issues concerned. Some innovative business models enabled by object hyperlinking will also be introduced. The research results found that only when the information gathered by identified objects is used, analyzed, and distributed into wide business activities in term of marketing, customer service and firm level strategy planning, the effectiveness and value of object hyperlinking services can be realized at its maximum. The integration across different consumer buying decision process is also important. The more applications of object hyperlinking in different buying decisions, the more benefits will be created for customers. Managers can use the list of dimensions proposed in the framework to develop rich IoT business from enhancing service operations with object hyperlinking