Issues and challenges: cloud computing e-Government in developing countries

Cloud computing has become essential for IT resources that can be delivered as a service over the Internet. Many e-government services that are used worldwide provide communities with relatively complex applications and services. Governments are still facing many challenges in their implementation of e-government services in general, including Saudi Arabia, such as poor IT infrastructure, lack of finance, and insufficient data security. This research paper investigates the challenges of e-government cloud service models in developing countries. This paper finds that governments in developing countries are influenced by how the top management deals with the attention to the adoption of cloud computing. Further, organisational readiness levels of technologies, such as IT infrastructure, internet availability and social trust of the adoption of new technology as cloud computing, still present limitations for e-government cloud services adoption. Based on the findings of the critical review, this paper identifies the issues and challenges affecting the adoption of cloud computing in e- government such as IT infrastructure, internet availability, and trust adopted new technologies thereby highlighting benefits of cloud computing-based e-government services. Furthermore, we propose recommendations for developing IT systems focused on trust when adopting cloud computing in e-government services (CCEGov)

Trust Management Approach for Detection of Malicious Devices in SIoT

Internet of Things (IoT) is an innovative era of interrelated devices to provide services to other devices or users. In Social Internet of Thing (SIoT), social networking aspect is used for building relationships between devices. For providing or utilizing services, devices need to trust each other in complex and heterogeneous environments. Separating benign and malicious devices in SIoT is a prime security objective. In literature, several works proposed trust computation models based on trust features. But these models fail to identify malicious devices. This paper focuses on detection of malicious devices. In this paper, basic fundamentals, properties, models and attacks of trust in SIoT are discussed. Up-to-date research distributions on trust management and trust attacks are reviewed and idea of Trust Management using Machine Learning Algorithm (TM-MLA) is proposed for identification of malicious devices

From Personal Experience to Global Reputation for Trust Evaluation in the Social Internet of Things

Trust has been exploring in the era of Internet of Things (IoT) as an extension of the traditional triad of security, privacy and reliability for offering secure, reliable and seamless communications and services. It plays a crucial role in supporting IoT entities to reduce possible risks before making decisions. However, despite a large amount of trust-related research in IoT, a prevailing trust evaluation model has been still debatable and under development. In this article, we clarify the concept of trust in the Social Internet of Things (SIoT) ecosystems and propose a comprehensive trust model called REK that incorporates third-party opinions, experience and direct observation as the three Trust Indicators. As the convergence of the IoT and social network, the SIoT enables any types of entities (physical devices, smart agents and services) to establish their own social networks based on their owners relationships. We leverage this characteristic for inaugurating Experience and Reputation, which are originally two concepts from social networks, as the two paramount indicators for trust. The Experience and Reputation are characterized and modeled using mathematical analysis along with simulation experiments and analytical results. We believe our contributions offer better understandings of trust models and evaluation mechanisms in the SIoT environment, particularly the two Experience and Reputation models. This paper also opens important trust-related research directions in near future

Development of trust marketing in the digital society

The development of a digital society, rapid access to information sources changes the consumers' behaviour in terms of goods and services purchased online. In these conditions, the key to business development is trust: trust in web sites, information and brands represented on the Internet. Trust promotes consumers’ decision-making with regard to interaction and changes the approaches to marketing activities of business entities. The study identifies the factors that contribute to the development of trust and focuses on the importance of communication and consumer values, including the digital culture. The stages of trust marketing development, which are based on the principles of the theory of trust and consumer behaviour in a digital environment, are specified. The research was conducted with the involvement of online users through an on-line survey in April-July 2018 and included 2,038 respondents. Research questions were formed on the basis of focus groups, which included active Internet users. The research concerned Russian-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking Internet users. It reflects a certain socio-cultural environment of the Internet and gives impetus to continue the research focused on the multicultural comparison. This research gives an idea of consumers’ confidence in the digital environment and defines the conceptual aspects of developing trust marketing in relation to interaction, communication, consumer values and development stages. As the results of the study revealed, changes in consumer behaviour in the Internet environment, lack of direct contact with staff members enhance the value of trust in the company or brand. Therefore, trust marketing becomes the most demanded concept of modern marketing. According to this concept, marketing tools of enterprises in a digital society should be configured to establish trust relationships with consumers. This generates changes in the behaviour of enterprises themselves. The practical aspects of this research are to provide business stakeholders with guidance on developing trust marketing in a digital society based on consumer behaviour understanding. The social consequences of trust marketing development are the digital citizens' satisfaction with their livelihoods by increasing confidence in business and the state, minimizing the risks in the digital environment

Trust as a source of long-term adoption of e-government

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonSignificant attempts have been made by national governments to provide services and information on the Internet via information and communication technologies. However, the accomplishment of these efforts strongly depends on how the targeted users, such as citizens, trust, use and adopt such services. As a consequence, a common interest in understanding the adoption and diffusion of electronic government has emerged in both developed and developing countries. Several impediments could prevent citizens from adopting e-government services such as trust, which consider as one of the major barriers. Many citizens are reluctant to adopt e-government services due to lack of trust, and this concern are not without merit. Citizens' confidence in government and technology is a salient inducer to the wide distribution of e-government adoption. Several studies that have focused on the adoption of e-government services have suggested that trust is a cornerstone for long-term e-government adoption. Therefore, this study aims to break down the complicated concept of trust to understand the factors that build citizens’ trust and the influence of citizens’ trust on the behavioural intention to use and adopt e-government services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study focuses on understanding the impact of trust, trustworthiness and social influence on citizens’ willingness to use and adopt e-government services. In addition, it propose a model of trust that comprised of trustworthiness of government agencies, trust in the Internet, trust propensity, trust in e-government and social influence. To fulfil this aim, a quantitative research approach was employed to explore the role of citizen’s trust in e-government in Saudi Arabia, using a survey. This phase was followed by a qualitative research approach using semi-structured interviews to achieve deep understanding of any outstanding results from the conducted survey. From the data analysis, it is evident that all the exogenous variables—government ability, government benevolence and integrity, trust in Internet, trust propensity and social influence—were found to significantly affect citizens’ trust in e-government services. In addition, citizens' trust in e-government and social influence were found to be significant predictors of citizens' behavioural intentions to use e-government services. This study contributes by providing a conceptual model that is useful for studying citizen’s trust and usage behavioural of e-government services in Saudi Arabia

An Empirical Study of Factors Influencing the Adoption of Internet Banking

With rapid development of information technology, the banking industry has undergone significant operation changes over the last decade. Owing to few studies have examined the role of privacy concerns, trust and their antecedents in this issue, we consider that it is essential to identify the factors affect the adoption of Internet banking. Therefore, an empirical study was undertaken and the data of 670 responses was collected. In our attempt to bridge this gap, we found that perceived vulnerability and social awareness can significantly affect privacy concerns. In addition, perceived reputation and perceived similarity are also significant antecedents of trust, and it is consistent as prior studies in other fields. Furthermore, we found no support for the hypothesized effect of perceived size on trust as physical e-commerce. Finally, to our surprise, the negative relationship between privacy concerns and behavioral intention does not support. Therefore, bank managers can take these hypotheses into strategic considerations when they popularize the internet banking services to their customers. Since social awareness and perceived vulnerability are the personalities of the customer, banks can enhance their trust by not only reinforcing the physical reputation but also building up more similarity between physical bank and website style of internet banking. In sum, our research provide a different perspective on this critical, and we can reconsider other related factors in the further research

Digital Services and Social Stability: Evaluating The Impact from a Maqasidic Approach

During the Covid-19 epidemic, there was an urgent need for many countries to move as quickly as possible towards digital services such as e-government, e-learning and ecommerce. The positive aspects of this transformation cannot be overlooked, however, other negative effects may result from the long and medium-term of such an approach. For instance, not all governments have the ability to provide Internet access to serve the interests of their citizens. Therefore, this research will question the effects of the increasing trend towards digital services and how can they affect societal stability? Furthermore, how can these effects be dealt with from a Maqasidic perspective? To answer these questions, the researchers used the holistic approach to collect information on the subject matter and related concepts, terms and opinions related to digital services and social stability. Also, the analytical approach showed the effects of digital services on social stability with a specific focus on Maqasid Shariah. Among the most important results of the research are that: quality of information accessibility, equality, social trust, social cohesion and community engagement are the main aspects that can be affected by digital services. Therefore, moving towards digital services must be directed by Maqasid al-Shariah as a frame to maintain social stability and peace. Keywords: Digital services; social stability; Maqasid al-Shariah; e-government; e-learnin

Understanding internet banking services and customer's adoption in Iraqi public universities

There is no doubt that internet banking services adoption represents a good opportunity for developing nations to attain greater economic development and growth, where the creation of added value is driven by information, knowledge and the adoption of information and communications technology. Although a lot of researches provide evidence on the wide adoption of internet banking in developed nations, there are only limited researches in developing nations in the Middle East, specifically in Iraq. There is definitely a need in this country to identify the factors that could encourage and improve the understanding of internet banking services adoption. There is also a paucity of empirical researches on internet banking services adoption from the perspective of customers. Taking these into cognizance, this quantitative research aims to understand internet banking services adoption, by investigating the key factors that encourage customers to adopt internet banking in the Iraqi context, using the decomposed theory of planned behavior. The research framework consists of eighteen latent variables, fourteen exogenous variables (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, compatibility, trust, social recommendation, prestigious media, self-efficacy, government support, technology support, internet technology literacy, resistance to technology, perceived risk of technology, anxiety about technology and information on technology); and four endogenous variables (internet banking adoption, attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control). In order to test the framework, a quantitative approach using the survey method is employed consisting of eighty two items with a seven-point Likert scale. Based on proportionate stratified random sampling, 535 out of 800 employees submitted completed questionnaires suitable for analysis (a 66.8% response rate). Findings of this study reveal that all the research hypotheses are supported except three, namely subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and information on technology towards internet banking services adoption, implying that the decomposed theory of planned behavior is an applicable underpinning theory for clarifying the important antecedents of internet banking services adoption in the Iraqi context

Formation of the environment of confidence in sharing economy: problems of civil regulation in Russia

In digitalization, trust is a necessary factor in economic and social development in general that determines the content of public relations and ensures their positive effect. In sharing economy, due to the specifics of the emerging relations, the issue of creating a digital environment of trust is especially relevant. The objective of the research is to determine the directions for improving the mechanism of civil law regulation of certain aspects of the collective use of goods and services, including studying the possibilities of the influence of the main provisions of civil law on the provision of the necessary trust between the turnover participants; research on the transformation of legal institutions, including the protection of reputation, in the context of digitalization processes; establishment of the specifics of regulating relations on the use of blockchain and other latest technologies aimed at creating and increasing the level of digital trust in collaborative consumption of various assets. The main research methods are deduction (the study of general legal provisions and their application to some regions of collaborative consumption), induction (the study of the rules for organizing the work of specific Internet platforms in the sharing economy and the subsequent allocation of general principles). Based on the results, the effective development of the sharing economy in digitalization presupposes a high level of trust, which has several interrelated manifestations that require differentiated approaches to their legal support. In addition to trust in digital technologies and services, the security of remotely performed transactions, and the preservation of the confidentiality of personal data, trust in society is essential for the sharing economy since only those who trust are trusted

Consumer buying behaviour in online legal services

Abstract. Online legal services refer to electronic or digital legal services (in the form of software, apps, web pages, etc.) that can increase common people understanding of legal issues, access to legal information and social participation in legal related matters. By automating tasks traditionally performed only by lawyers and by making legal services available on the Internet, online legal services make the access to justice more affordable and accessible to all. In this modern context, where common consumers have the opportunity buy and use legal services completely on the internet and without the help of a traditional lawyer, it is necessary to investigate how consumers behave when they shop for legal services online. In accordance, the purpose of the research is to understand the consumer buying behaviour in online legal services, based on empirical research, contributing to the literature about online legal services; and to provide managerial implications for legal services companies about how to improve their marketing strategies and build their consumer relationships, based on the empirical findings. Therefore, the study delves into the minds of consumers to uncover their needs, motivations and intentions about online legal services, and it is the first study to investigate the consumer buying behaviour in online legal services. The research is planned focusing on the theories of consumer buying behaviour, technology acceptance and on prior research of online legal services. The empirical research is conducted using a survey questionnaire, employing a mixed-method approach. Brazil was chosen as the field for the research, because it is the world’s fifth-largest country by area and the fifth most populous, where legal services are highly demanded and where online legal services have potential to be widely utilized, although not much is known about the consumer behaviour towards them. The sample studied is 419 potential consumers of online legal services. To process the data, the author makes statistical analysis of each quantitative reply, qualitative thematic content analysis for each qualitative answer, and deeply analyse the final results of the research, developing a framework for the consumer buying behaviour in online legal services. The empirical findings show that the consumers of online legal services behave motivated by Price, Legal problem-solving capability, Convenience (Perceived ease of use), Speed, Safety, Quality and Trustability and that consumers have an overall positive attitude about online legal services, even though negative attitudes were also identified. Utilitarian needs and motivations, behavioural intention, attitude, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, information search, evaluation of alternatives, social influence, facilitating conditions, trust, perceived risk, and price value; influence and characterize the buying behaviour in online legal services and lead to the consequent consumer purchase decision. Furthermore, the buying process in online legal services follows the Five-stage buying process, but the consumer might deviate during it, because of, among other reasons, social influence and the lack of trust