Alter ego, state of the art on user profiling: an overview of the most relevant organisational and behavioural aspects regarding User Profiling.

This report gives an overview of the most relevant organisational and\ud behavioural aspects regarding user profiling. It discusses not only the\ud most important aims of user profiling from both an organisation’s as\ud well as a user’s perspective, it will also discuss organisational motives\ud and barriers for user profiling and the most important conditions for\ud the success of user profiling. Finally recommendations are made and\ud suggestions for further research are given

Explaining intention to use the Islamic credit card: an extension of the TRA model

Abstract Purpose – The Islamic credit card is a type of banking product offered by Islamic banks. Given the importance to the Islamic credit card to Islamic banks, the study is aimed at identifying the factors determining the Malaysian bank customers’ behavioral intention to use the Islamic credit card. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the Theory of Reasoned Action (the TRA model), this study proposes a modified model to examine the acceptance factors of attitude, subjective norm and perceived financial cost within the Islamic credit card context. The study used multiple regression model in order to examine the impacts of these explanatory variables on the intention to use the Islamic credit card. The model is tested using survey data from 257 respondents. Findings – The results reveal that attitude, subjective norm and perceived financial cost significantly influence the Islamic credit card intention to use. Of these, attitude was first ranked factor explaining intention to use the Islamic credit card. Research limitations/implications – The research suffers from two limitations. The first limitation is related to the generalization of finding whilst the second limitation is related to the limited measures employed in the current work. Despite these limitations, this research is significantly contributed to the body of knowledge in the area of Islamic credit card, at least at exploratory level. Practical implications – Information gathered from the study will serve as a basis for more future works in the area of Islamic credit card. The theory developed in the current study’s model could also be generalized into other contexts of Islamic banking products and services. Practically, branch managers of Islamic banking institutions could of prime importance to extend the findings of the study for the better future planning of their Islamic credit card offerings. Originality/value – Importantly, the study extends the applicability of the TRA model into Islamic credit card context. Few studies have conducted over the years under this context in Malaysia.Islamic credit card, personal finance, Islamic bank, Malaysia

Lowering the pirate flag: a TPB study of the factors influencing the intention to pay for movie streaming services

The launch of several movie streaming services has raised new questions about how online consumers deal with both legal and illegal options to obtain their desired products. This paper investigates the factors influencing consumers’ intentions to subscribe to online movie streaming services. These services have challenged the dramatic growth in their illegal counterpart in recent years. Taking the theory of planned behavior as a starting point, we extended existing models in the literature by incorporating factors that are specific to consumer behavior in this particular field. A quantitative survey was conducted for the Italian market, and structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Attitudes, involvement with products, moral judgement and frequency of past behavior were found to be the most important factors in explaining the intention to pay for movie streaming services. The paper provides insights for policy makers and industry managers on the marketing communication strategies needed to minimize the risk of digital piracy

Toward Artificial Argumentation

The field of computational models of argument is emerging as an important aspect of artificial intelligence research. The reason for this is based on the recognition that if we are to develop robust intelligent systems, then it is imperative that they can handle incomplete and inconsistent information in a way that somehow emulates the way humans tackle such a complex task. And one of the key ways that humans do this is to use argumentation - either internally, by evaluating arguments and counterarguments - or externally, by for instance entering into a discussion or debate where arguments are exchanged. As we report in this review, recent developments in the field are leading to technology for artificial argumentation, in the legal, medical, and e-government domains, and interesting tools for argument mining, for debating technologies, and for argumentation solvers are emerging

The Effect of Information Quality on Trust in E-Government Systems

Over the past decades, the citizen–government relationship has changed. Citizens transitioned from traditional communications to interactions through e-government systems. While e-government systems expenditures increased, citizens’ trust in e-government systems was a challenge. Moreover, although the role of information quality (IQ) as a contributor to trust in information systems (IS) received some attention, such role in e-government systems received limited attention. This two-phased study was designed to uncover citizens’ perceived IQ factors, and determine their influence on trust in e-government systems. A list of e-government’s IQ characteristics was developed and validated. Citizens were surveyed on their perceived importance level of IQ characteristics and trust in e-government systems. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) based on 363 records obtained was used. Ordinal logistic regression (OLR) was used to formulate and test the predictive model. Results demonstrated two factors out of the three had a significant influence on trust. Results determined no significant gender differences

Emerging Issues in Electronic Contracting, Technical Standards and Law Reform

The explosive growth of electronic commerce transactions in recent years has added fuel to efforts to harmonize international commercial law. Organizations such as the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law are all participating in an emerging global debate concerning the changes that should be made to the form or substance of international commercial law to accommodate innovation in the technology of international trade. Many of the important legal issues raised by cross-border electronic commerce in the 1970s and 1980s have already been successfully addressed by law reform at the national level and by the work of international organizations undertaken in the 1990s. The scope of electronic commerce at that time was narrowly confined to electronic funds transfers or the exchange of data messages, and networked computer systems were massive, complex and highly secure systems. Reforms targeted at this type of electronic commerce included establishing new bodies of private law and government regulation to manage the financial risks created by electronic financial services, and the removal of barriers to the use of electronic media in commercial contracts and communications. But innovation in electronic commerce proceeds at breakneck pace, and it is unclear whether the commercial law reforms of the 1990s will be adequate to promote the rational and orderly development of global markets in the future. It is possible that changes now taking place in the electronic contracting technologies may significantly change the terms of this debate. This is because new, more powerful technologies now under development are intended to convert a considerable range of business customs and practice today performed by people into formal algorithms executed by computers. These technologies are being developed to take advantage of the great advances the Internet has made over old-style electronic commerce technologies: global reach, low barriers to entry, intuitive interfaces, and ubiquitous presence. If such new electronic contracting technologies come into widespread use, then the norms embodied in them may come to have the power to control commercial conduct in a manner normally reserved for law. Efforts to reform international commercial law may need to include mechanisms to ensure that should such economic power arise, it would be exercised in a fair manner

Towards supranational governance in EU counter-terrorism? - The role of the Commission and the Council Secretariat

New security threats have emerged as major new areas of policy development in the European Union, especially during the 'war on terror'. This paper makes two significant points that counter theoretical expectations of EU counter-terrorism. Both are derived from an analysis of empirical events of EU practice. Firstly, it argues that it is vital to analyse EU institutional actor behaviour in the process of 'constructing security threats', especially when dealing with the responses to international terrorism. Secondly, despite the importance of member states in the European Union, institutional actors such as the European Commission or the Council Secretariat are increasingly gaining in importance. The Commission can (though not always does) play a significant role in this process - the role of a supranational policy entrepreneur. Yet, it is not alone in this - the Council Secretariat can also add to the notion of policy entrepreneurship at the EU level. This argument reveals shortcomings of intergovernmental understanding of European integration in the area of counter-terrorism. The paper analyses different dimensions of EU counter-terrorism, its legal and political construction, and demonstrates the significance of supranational policy entrepreneurs in the political adoption process

Social media and public policy

Introduction: Government and public service delivery is taking place in a changed world. A significant level of social, economic and political activity is now happening on the internet.As people buy and sell goods, search for information, browse the web and share their day–to–day experiences with colleagues, friends and family through social networks, they produce an enormous amount of data.The use of this data to develop insights is growing rapidly. In the private sector it is being used to enhance decision making, understand customer behaviour, improve operational efficiency and identify new markets.The new information environment also obliges government to develop new capabilities to understand the information available and to compete for attention and influence within it.Part of the challenge in embracing the digital age is that, in the midst of rapid change, it’s very difficult to know where to place your bets. We do not yet know exactly what access to large volumes of social data will mean for our society. It certainly will not present a panacea for long–standing social problems; but it can add another dimension to our understanding of them.This report considers whether social media data can improve the quality and timeliness of the evidence base that informs public policy. Can the myriad of human connections and interactions on the web provide insight to enable government to develop better policy, understand its subsequent impact and inform the many different organisations that deliver public services?The report is based on an evaluation of available literature and interviews with 25 experts from a number of disciplines. Given that developments in this field are at such an early stage, it aims to provide helpful signposts rather than definitive answers