Information Systems for Sustainable Organizations

Nowadays sustainability is a broad and complex concept, which should be applied to any significant economic activity. Sustainable development involves environmental, economic and social aspects of long-term local and global processes implying an overall progress. Various contradicting requests arise which organizations should resolve in their projects and the proper information support becomes a key factor for this. In the context of the above, the goal of this paper is to examine how information systems within the organization contribute for sustainable development by providing appropriate information services. The monitoring and reporting of the organisational impact on sustainability is constantly required both by members and business partners. Thus, sustainability can be viewed as a new dimension of information system assessment

ASPECTS OF SERVICE QUALITY AND ECOLABELLING OF ROMANIAN LODGING SERVICES

Tourism has a significant environmental, economic and socio-cultural impact, which makes it important for environmental initiatives.The Rio Earth Summit (1992) was a milestone for these initiatives, having introduced the concept of sustainable development, its major principles and recommendations of implementation. So, the ecological movement grew globally more and more by widely disseminated actions among various bodies as the governments, associations, businesses, academics, NGOs and communities.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nIn European Union eco-labelling scheme, is "a voluntary initiative to promote products and services which have the potential to reduce negative environmental impacts, as compared to the other products and services in the same product or service group, thus contributing to the efficient use of resources and a high level of environmental protection. This shall be pursued through the provision of guidance and accurate, non-deceptive and scientifically based information to consumers on such products and services". In fact this is official approach known as EU-Ecolabel Scheme, launched in 2005.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nIn general, the idea of sustainable development, and eco-attitude of many of the activities carried out in different economic sectors have been encouraged to be certified, and to adopt sustainable practices to improve their environmental practices, and to inform and educate their clients regarding their friendly-environmental policies. The tourism sector adopted all of these.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nOne by one in hospitality industry have emerged new trends, new destinations. Some of these trends are as well connected to environmental policy, eco-initiatives that certify EMS (Environmental Management System) and to use of eco-label in hospitality industry.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nFor years, the tourism sector in Romania was declared a strategic sector. Within this framework, we decided to examine this area, the specific topic of eco-labelling and quality of lodging services in Romania. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nThis paper proposes a short examination by observation of studies dedicated to lodging eco-label services and their quality based on a comparative analysis between Romanian supply of tourism \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"green services\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" and international one.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nThis study has as a result a synthetic perspective on eco-label services and some aspects on the state of art of this topic in Romanian and international context of lodging services.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nenvironmental policy, environmental management system, tourism, lodging services, quality of services, eco-labelling, Romania

Consulting in Electronic Commerce

Economic development of electronic services provide advice and many agents of existing referral systems to recommend and provide products, information and customized views of the community through a personalized interaction in real time. Distributed systems of autonomous agents are becoming increasingly important in electronic comet because the basic decisions of agents advice on trust and reputation are taken in a similar way human society. If these decisions will be like a real consumer protection, when new aspects of online consumer legislation will become useful information in advice and consulting of electronic commerce

FACTORS INFLUENCING USAGE OF MOBILE BANKING IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO

Human civilisation has entered a new stage labelled as Information Society (IS) which implies intensive use of information in all activities, exerting a major impact on economic and social aspects of human existence. IS permits access to vast amounts of information for its members, enabling a new working and knowledge paradigm! It also creates a positive environment for economic globalisation and the increase of social cohesion. From the perspective of financial services, IS has helped electronic banking, which underlies the determinants of the banking business model, with the special aspect of mobile commerce. Mobile banking is a subset of electronic banking. The aim of this research is to evaluate the state at which mobile banking is being utilised in the Republic of Kosovo, and to what extend banks are taking advantage of this aspect of banking business. A survey was conducted and results discussed as part of this research

Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town: Panasonic’s Challenge in Building a Sustainable Society

Urban utility equipment and electronic goods manufacturers are experiencing profound challenges in this age of rapid technological change. Panasonic, Japan’s leading electronics company, has also recognized the limits of its traditional product manufacturing orientation and decided to enter IT-intensive town management in view of these challenges. It has advanced a new strategy for creating sustainable communities to encourage both stakeholders and local residents to get involved. Stressing sustainability, the strategy has adopted a long-term perspective (i.e., a 100-year timeframe). Significantly, it must provide values that foster community-based sustainability and adopt a business model that ensures the economic viability of both constructing the town and managing its ongoing services. As information systems play a big part in the provision of services in the new town, the strategy requires the linking of information with technology and social aspects, quite unlike traditional manufacturing, which is solely based on technology concerns. As part of its new strategy, Panasonic defined five prominent service areas (i.e., energy, security, mobility, wellness, and community). The company thought these areas would expand and generate new value and services throughout the strategy’s timeframe

Internet Defamation as Profit Center: The Monetization of Online Harassment

Efforts to decrease the sexist aspects of online fora have been largely ineffective, and in some instances seemingly counterproductive, in the sense that they have provoked even greater amounts of abuse and harassment with a gendered aspect. And so, in the wake of a series of high profile episodes of cyber sexual harassment, and a grotesque abundance of low profile ones, a new business model was launched. Promising to clean up and monitor online information to defuse the visible impact of coordinated harassment campaigns, a number of entities began to market themselves as knights in cyber shining armor, ready to defend otherwise defenseless people whose reputations have been sullied on the Internet Of course these companies charge a fee and place particular emphasis on women who they recognize as potential clients. This article raises three concerns about these businesses. First, these companies have economic incentives to foster conditions online that perpetuate acts of online harassment, as the more harassment there is online, the greater the number of potential clients. These companies are also incentivized to create fora with hostile climates and to stir up trouble themselves. Second, these companies have economic incentives to oppose legal reforms that might enable online defamation and harassment victims to seek recourse from law enforcement agencies or through the courts. And finally, though they cloak themselves in the mantel of protectors of the innocent, their real agenda is to sell their services to wealthy corporations and individuals for far more nefarious purposes: to help bad actors hide negative information about themselves. This practice creates information asymmetries that can harm anyone who detrimentally relies on what they incorrectly assume to be the best available information and can lead to increases in the sorts of financial losses and personal vulnerability that access to unmanipulated Internet search results might otherwise reduce

Public library scenario of Ghatal Subdivision: A survey

Survey is necessary to study the various aspects of libraries that is average number of readers, number of books issued, other services available, the level of satisfaction of library ‘users’ and ‘non-users’ and about the role played by the libraries in terms of their traditional role as readership promoters as well as their new role as service and information providers and the impact of public libraries on the quality of life and economic gains of local people. There are twenty seven government registered public libraries in Ghatal Subdivision. A suitable questionnaire is being framed to collect data from each library. Detailed description has been given about the origin and development, present condition of services, user patterns, problem and prospects of public libraries in Ghatal Subdivision

Kajian Tentang Smart City: Paradigma, Kesempatan, Permasalahan Yang Ada Di Kabupaten Purworejo

In the last ten years, both academics and researchers have been interested in conducting re-search on smart city and its aspects. The results of their research are focused on one point that the leap in information technology that significantly influences the architecture, infrastructure and community patterns of information needs is fast and can be accessed anywhere. This para-digm gave birth to the concept of smart city, which is a well planned city, cost-effective commu-nity services and good governance for the welfare of society.This study aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the smart city concept that depends on geographical, environmental, economic and social constraints. This paradigm provides an overview of the six dimensions of smart city characteristics with aspects of smart living, smart mobility, smart people, smart economy, smart environment, smart government. Modern city life is part of the community in fulfilling their daily needs. People are accustomed to high mobility between cities because of work, entertainment, education, the phenomenon of urbanization and depletion of certain resources.Thanks to the development of information and communication technology, the concept of smart city now provides an opportunity for people to enjoy services, make decisions, find something new and experience many things to improve the quality of life in the smart city era

The dominant Law and Economics paradigm regarding “Intellectual Property" – a vehicle or an obstacle for innovation, growth and progress?

The term "intellectual property" is a relatively a modern term, first used in its current meaning when the UN established the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1967. Beforehand laws around the world protected various aspects of informational goods - inventions and creations - using separate legal concepts, such as copyright, patents and trademarks, which were not perceived as property rights. This linguistic aspect is by no means anecdotal or marginal as it can be argued that the term "intellectual property" constituted its contemporary meaning including the economic analysis of informational goods and services, as can be demonstrated by the recent call to treat trade secrets not as a contractual agreement but as intellectual property (Epstein, 2005). This paper focuses on the normative analysis of IP rights and criticizes the implicit shift in economic analysis of IP from the incentives paradigm, which is founded upon the public good analysis of neo-classical micro-economic theory, to the new propriety paradigm, which is intellectually founded upon the tragedy of the commons literature. It further criticizes the dominant contemporary Law and Economics writings in this field as pre-assuming information to be an object of property, overlooking its fundamental differences from physical property and thus focusing on its management and maximization of value for its "owners" rather than on its initial justifications and its social value and contribution to innovation, growth and progress.Law; intellectual property; growth; incentives