Evaluating M-Commerce Systems Success: Measurement and Validation of the DeLone and McLean Model of IS Success in Arabic Society (GCC Case Study)

This study focused on testing and verifying the 2003 DeLone and McLean Model (otherwise known as the Information System Success [ISS] Model), which represents the achievement of success in electronic systems, including smartphone commercial applications. Previous studies indicated that the DeLone and McLean Model has not been validated experimentally in the context of m-commerce, as there exist some differences between m-commerce and e-commerce. Moreover, the ISS model, for the m-commerce field, has been highly debated in terms of constructs such as perceived usefulness and IS use. These constructs create discrepancies in the acceptance of the ISS Model for the m-commerce field, especially in communities that have different technological requirements than other global communities. Previous studies focusing on the relationship between culture and electronic systems indicated that there are differences in the communities’ requirements that will directly affect the success of those electronic systems in Arabic communities. According to previous studies, there are verification shortages in the ISS model used to evaluate the success of m-commerce systems. The ISS model consists of six dimensions, which are system quality, information quality, service quality, user satisfaction, intention to use, and net benefit. The structural equation modelling technique was applied to the data for this model, which was collected by questionnaire. Responses were gathered from 803 actual users of online purchasing systems from three Arabic Gulf countries (171 from Qatar, 246 from the United Arab Emirates [UAE], and 386 from Saudi Arabia [KSA]). According to empirical evidence on the intention to use construct, which in turn is affected significantly by system quality and information quality constructs, reusing m-commerce applications is associated with quality of systems and information requirements in commercial applications. The results of this study on Arabic society will be beneficial for many future studies, such as ones determining the target characteristics of Arabic technology users and, especially, what features can be added to increase the level of satisfaction with m-commerce applications. This paper contributes several important implications to the field and discusses the additions and limitations that should be addressed in future studies

Specifying and analysing reputation systems with coordination languages

Reputation systems are nowadays widely used to support decision making in networked systems. Parties in such systems rate each other and use shared ratings to compute reputation scores that drive their interactions. The existence of reputation systems with remarkable differences calls for formal approaches to their analysis. We present a verification methodology for reputation systems that is based on the use of the coordination language Klaim and related analysis tools. First, we define a parametric Klaim specification of a reputation system that can be instantiated with different reputation models. Then, we consider stochastic specification obtained by considering actions with random (exponentially distributed) duration. The resulting specification enables quantitative analysis of properties of the considered system. Feasibility and effectiveness of our proposal is demonstrated by reporting on the analysis of two reputation models

A Case Study for Business Integration as a Service

This paper presents Business Integration as a Service (BIaaS) to allow two services to work together in the Cloud to achieve a streamline process. We illustrate this integration using two services; Return on Investment (ROI) Measurement as a Service (RMaaS) and Risk Analysis as a Service (RAaaS) in the case study at the University of Southampton. The case study demonstrates the cost-savings and the risk analysis achieved, so two services can work as a single service. Advanced techniques are used to demonstrate statistical services and 3D Visualisation services under the remit of RMaaS and Monte Carlo Simulation as a Service behind the design of RAaaS. Computational results are presented with their implications discussed. Different types of risks associated with Cloud adoption can be calculated easily, rapidly and accurately with the use of BIaaS. This case study confirms the benefits of BIaaS adoption, including cost reduction and improvements in efficiency and risk analysis. Implementation of BIaaS in other organisations is also discussed. Important data arising from the integration of RMaaS and RAaaS are useful for management and stakeholders of University of Southampton

Web Services: A Process Algebra Approach

It is now well-admitted that formal methods are helpful for many issues raised in the Web service area. In this paper we present a framework for the design and verification of WSs using process algebras and their tools. We define a two-way mapping between abstract specifications written using these calculi and executable Web services written in BPEL4WS. Several choices are available: design and correct errors in BPEL4WS, using process algebra verification tools, or design and correct in process algebra and automatically obtaining the corresponding BPEL4WS code. The approaches can be combined. Process algebra are not useful only for temporal logic verification: we remark the use of simulation/bisimulation both for verification and for the hierarchical refinement design method. It is worth noting that our approach allows the use of any process algebra depending on the needs of the user at different levels (expressiveness, existence of reasoning tools, user expertise)

Business Integration as a Service

This paper presents Business Integration as a Service (BIaS) which enables connections between services operating in the Cloud. BIaS integrates different services and business activities to achieve a streamline process. We illustrate this integration using two services; Return on Investment (ROI) Measurement as a Service (RMaaS) and Risk Analysis as a Service (RAaaS) in two case studies at the University of Southampton and Vodafone/Apple. The University of Southampton case study demonstrates the cost-savings and the risk analysis achieved, so two services can work as a single service. The Vodafone/Apple case study illustrates statistical analysis and 3D Visualisation of expected revenue and associated risk. These two cases confirm the benefits of BIaS adoption, including cost reduction and improvements in efficiency and risk analysis. Implementation of BIaS in other organisations is also discussed. Important data arising from the integration of RMaaS and RAaaS are useful for management of University of Southampton and potential and current investors for Vodafone/Apple

Verifying security protocols by knowledge analysis

This paper describes a new interactive method to analyse knowledge of participants involved in security protocols and further to verify the correctness of the protocols. The method can detect attacks and flaws involving interleaving sessions besides normal attacks. The implementation of the method in a generic theorem proving environment, namely Isabelle, makes the verification of protocols mechanical and efficient; it can verify a medium-sized security protocol in less than ten seconds. As an example, the paper finds the flaw in the Needham-Schroeder public key authentication protocol and proves the secure properties and guarantees of the protocol with Lowe's fix to show the effectiveness of this method

CONCEPTS OF GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY APPLIED ON GOODS

The General Systems Theory is one of the most important points of view nowadays. Now, its concepts could be applied in a various number of sciences including Consumer Sciences. The complexity of the product, the different way in which it can be seen and also the exponentially diversifying assortment requires another approach to the product, through models. This approach must take into account certain particularities which do not appear in a regular modellingSystems; Theory; Electronic Commerce; The consumer science.