A Brief History of Mobile Telecommunication in Europe

Since the introduction of mobile telephony in the early fifties in Europe, US and Japan the demand for this service exploded. It seems that the latent demand for mobile telecommunication services for decade's continued to be very strong. Since the introduction of cellular technology the capacity of the services increasingly became able to meet the massive demand. Next and future generations of mobile telecommunication technologies bring increased transmission speed and more versatile services. This forces network operators to organise multi- sourced information flows supplied by service providers to increase the network effect of the system instead of providing the network infrastructure and leave the content to the users as in pure voice telephony. The drivers and inhibitors behind the emergence and recent developments of mobile telecommunications systems in Europe are highlighted in this paper. Liberalisation of the telecom markets in Europe drove new entrants to the market and curbed excessive pricing. However, in recent years the lack of challenging service is the main cause for the wavering development of newer generations of mobile telecommunication services.Telecommunications, Market Structure, Production, Pricing, Technological Change, Economic History, Europe

From publishers to self-publishing: The disruptive effects of digitalisation on the book industry

This paper explores the structure of the book publishing industry postdigitalisation. We argue that the introduction of successful e-book readers has belatedly given digitalisation the characteristics of a disruptive technology by making self-publishing a serious option for authors. This has been supported by the entry of new types of intermediaries and the strengthening of others. These changes have reduced the overall complexities for an author to get a book self-published. As a result, a larger share of the surplus from the book industry is likely going to authors, explaining the significant increase in the supply of books. The potential over-supply of books has created a new problem by making consumer search more difficult. We argue that digitalisation has shifted the potential market failure from inadequate supply of books to asymmetric information about quality. It remains to be seen whether the market will provide appropriate intermediaries to solve the associated asymmetric information problem and, if not, what appropriate interventions should be contemplated

THE CHANGING INFORMATION NEEDS OF FARMERS IN THE U.S. AND EUROPE

Both policy and market forces are causing unprecedented changes in agricultural structure and management in both the United States and in Europe. These changes will have profound impacts on the role of universities and extension services who provide information and education to farmers. This paper discusses some of the emerging and anticipated changes in information content and delivery in both the US and the EU. Some of the primary issues US agricultural producers will need to address as a result of the changes in the agricultural industry and policy include: strategic positioning, transferring management capabilities, frequent performance monitoring, evaluating new technology, monitoring external factors, managing information, and accountability. The information needs of farmers in Europe are closely linked to the evolution of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union. The general agricultural policy framework is briefly presented in the paper. Price reduction, agri-environmental measures enhancement, and rural development policy are the most important elements of CAP reform. European agriculture is in the midst of major changes, mostly started in 1992, but destined to continue and increase in the near future. Different approaches to manage the agricultural sector involve the need for a different information system for farmers. It means not only new content in information, but also new ways to inform and do technical assistance. The primary information needs out are: farm management, risk management, EU programs and measures, quality production, low input and organic farming, marketing and advertising management, new technology introduction, structural adjustment funds management, investment decisions, rural tourism and recreational activities management. European agriculture is on the path to large and challenging changes. There is no way for farmers alone to manage these changes, and remain competitive in the market. Providing information has become the most important part of the extension activity. Information must include training sessions, demonstrations in the field, and assessment, together with the farmers, of the activities and the results obtained. There are many similarities in the farm management information needs of farmers in the US and EU. A critical factor for the Extension Services in the future is to adjust rapidly to the changes, and quickly develop new content and delivery plans for farmers' training. The challenge for universities and extension services to respond to the information needs will strain their resources. Collaborative efforts between our institutions may prove more valuable as faculty attempt to develop research and educational programs relevant to the emerging information needs. In addition, cooperation with the growing private sector agricultural education programs will probably be essential if public education and information delivery systems are to remain relevant.Farm Management,

Telecommunication Infrastructure Development and Economic Growth: A Panel Data Approach

World is going to be global village due to the introduction of new and advanced technology and new innovations in technology make it more possible day by day. The widely spread economic activities both in real as well as in credit market is possible when they use advance technology to communicate. This is a fact that the world is rapidly moving towards an economic system based on the continuous and ubiquitous availability of information. Developing countries try to maintain and develop their technology in such a way that they can become a part of this global village. Recent developments in telecommunication technology have been an important tool to exchange the information to develop a sharp and valuable commodity market. During 21st century to move into post-industrial, information based economic growth, countries and sector try to equip themselves with the necessary telecommunication system. A modern telecommunication infrastructure is not only important for economic growth but also to connect domestic market of commodities as well as credit with international commodity and financial markets. This would develop the smooth flow of foreign investment, positive value of net exports, increase the value addition in GDP of an economy etc. Once the industrial and agriculture development was considered to be a best tool to enhance economic growth of a country, every country gave more importance to these sectors in its plans and policies, but now the trend has changed because the advancement and development of these two major sector of an economy sustain on the development of other factors, the role of service sector, advancement in technology, and the contribution of foreign sector in economic growth by different ways increases, and the major area of interest for foreign sector or investment was service sector and still it is, countries with the existence of GATS, started to privatise their set up, and after realising the importance of communications, the telecommunication sector is now on their main priorities. With the advancement of telecommunication services, a new market mechanism, low cost structure and expanded value chain of firms is possible [Kambil and Short (1994)], on other hand in developing countries, the average price of agricultural commodities is high in the area where there is telephone facilities available than the area where there is no facilities to communicate [Bayes, et al. (1999)]

Photovoltaic Energy to Face an Earthquake

The application of photovoltaic technology is necessary to reduce the harmful effects of an intense earthquake in the city of Portoviejo. It is based on the information obtained about the occurrence of the earthquake on April 16 and considering data from other events of the same nature occurred in the territory, an assessment of the seismic risk for the city and by characterization of one of the zones is made subject to danger, the introduction of photovoltaic luminaires is proposed in order to provide certain strengths that can facilitate the work of the first urgency in the rescue and urgent repair of breakdowns, as well as the evacuation of the population to safer areas especially at night. An analysis is made of the technological structure of photovoltaic luminaires and the prices they have in the market, both internally and Internationally

Information technology tools in corporate knowledge management

Motivation: Knowledge management is currently one of the most important factors determining the company’s market position. It depends not only on the skilful use of resources, but also on obtaining a synergistic effect. To manage knowledge, managers must possess not only the appropriate resources of knowledge, but also must have determined management structure with the assistance of the IT (information technology) tools.Aim: The purpose of the article was to present how the modern enterprise knowledge management process is supported by information technology. For this purpose, was summarized selected indicators characterizing the use of ICT in various types of enterprises in the country. It assumed that it is important not only the equipment the companies with information technology tools, but also the degree of use of these tools.Results: Usage of ICT in Poland reaches ratios much lower than the average for the European Union. Large differences in the use of information technology occurs in individual groups of companies. Larger companies have reached a much higher degree of saturation of IT tools than smaller objects. For example, the number of Polish enterprises with computers was 94.7%, in the case of large companies it is 99.8%. Even greater discrepancy relates to access to the Internet. You may also notice differences in each province. Introduction of modern technologies related to computer science and computers (eg. cloud computing, big data, social media, e-commerce etc) enables effective knowledge management in companies. The indicators show that the management team appreciates the importance of knowledge and consistently invests for its development

Managing channel conflict during the development of online retailers in Albania

The article aims to study the development of the electronic marketing channels in retail industry in Albania, taking a closer look to the development of e-commerce platforms. The tremendous growth of the online world in the recent years created the proper structure for the development of the online business concept in the Albanian market. A great help at this regard, relates with the power of the customer to adapt to the online social networks and platform. As well, the increase of the smartphone technology led to the evolution and time of using the online world and social media. E-commerce development is one of the biggest opportunities for the retailers, which from the other side includes also big challenges. Perhaps the greatest impact is in the area of channel management. This paper, aims to study the possible effect of the introduction of an e-commerce platforms, considered as an electronic marketing channel, into an already developed structure of retail chain in the Albanian marketing. The study provides, information how to proactively manage the conflict within the different subunits of the retail chain

A content analysis of SOLO-levels in different computer programming courses in higher education

The dynamic development of technology and the labour market changes the requirements of today's education and the dissemination of knowledge. Information technologies (IT) and digital competencies (DC) are no longer knowledge just for the few that study Computer Science (CS), but it has become a part of common knowledge for every citizen. By using content analysis, this article will examine the developed content of two different “introduction to programming” courses from two different higher education institutions. Both institutions introduce programming to students outside of CS. This study aims to describe how the developed content of these courses aims to reach the different levels of learning outcomes, by using the framework Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome taxonomy (SOLO-taxonomy) developed by Biggs and Collis (1982). The results of the study show that introduction to programming courses in different professions have a different understanding of what programming is, or what it consists of. The courses about “introduction to programming” are planned and executed within its fields, which gives the students a different perspective on what programming is, compared to the average IT or CS course. This means that the term “good programming skills” is different for a teacher, engineer, or computer scientist because of their unique goals and motivations for why they learned to program in the first place

From publishers to self-publishing: disruptive effects in the book industry

This paper explores the structure of the book publishing industry post digitalisation, analysing the choices of the publishers and authors. The introduction of successful e-book readers has belatedly given digitalisation the characteristics of a disruptive technology by making self-publishing a serious option for authors. This has been supported by the entry of new types of intermediaries and the strengthening of others. These changes have reduced the general requirements for an author to get a book self-published. As a result, a larger share of the surplus from the book industry is likely to go to authors, explaining the significant increase in the supply of books. The potential oversupply of books has created a new problem by increasing competition and making consumer searches more difficult. We argue that digitalisation has shifted the potential for market failure from an inadequate supply of books to asymmetric information about quality. It remains to be seen whether the market will provide appropriate intermediaries to solve the asymmetric information problem

CARMA : complete autonomous responsible management agent (system)

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology.The continuing expansion of telecommunication service domains, from Quality of Service guaranteed connectivity to ubiquitous cloud environments, has introduced an ever increasing level of complexity in the field of service management. This complexity arises not only from the sheer variability in service requirements but also through the required but ill-defined interaction of multiple organisations and providers. As a result of this complexity and variability, the provisioning and performance of current services is adversely affected, often with little or no accountability to the users of the service. This exposes a need for total coverage in the management of such complex services, a system which provides for service responsibility. Service responsibility is defined as the provisioning of service resilience and the judgement of service risk across all the service components. To be effective in responsible management for current complex services, any framework must be able to interact with multiple providers and management systems. The CARMA framework proposed by this thesis, aims to fulfil these requirements through a multi-agent system, that is based in a global market, and can negotiate and be responsible for multiple complex services. The research presented in this thesis draws upon previous research in the fields of Network Management and Cloud service management, and utilises agent technology to build a system that is capable of providing resilient and risk aware management of services comprised of multiple providers. To this end the research aims to present the architecture, agent functionality and interactions of the CARMA system, as well as the structure of the marketplace, contract specification and risk management. As the scope and concepts of the proposed system are relatively unexplored, a model and simulation were developed to verify the concepts, explore the issues, assess the assumptions and validate the system. The results of the simulation determined that the introduction of CARMA has the potential to reduce the risk in contracting new services, increase the reliability of contracted services, and increase the utility of providers participating in the market