Traces of desire and fantasy : the government-generated discourse on technology in post-handover Hong Kong

Information technology almost became the savior for Hong Kong in the process of recovering from the Asian financial crisis immediately after the Handover. The claims to establish and further the development of information technology were made against a certain perception of Hong Kong, in which the place in past decades had indulged in the wrong direction of labour-intensive, cut-throat production in the manufacturing industries and bubble-like speculation in the real-estate sector, and against a certain vision of the future, with more and more competition in the age of globalization, neo-liberal economies, and so on. This thesis demonstrates, firstly, how the governance of Hong Kong can be seen from the perspective of contingent articulations of dissimilar elements rather than any step-by-step progression along any necessary, objective historical path. Secondly through analyses of the governmental discourses and the business trajectory of Pacific-Century CyberWorks, the flagship group for Hong Kong’s “new-economy”, the thesis depicts the complexity and nexus of knowledge, governance, bureaucratic and financial considerations of and within the project of information technology in Hong Kong, and the mechanism by which this particular discourse is produced and circulated. Finally, comparing the discourse of Hong Kong’s early industralisation in the early 1950s, the thesis identifies the desire-creating workings of ideology in this particular discourse of information technology in Hong Kong. Also, through theoretical prisms, the thesis provides examples of how the government’s trumpeted notions of (and, probably, people’s faith in) laissez-faire, positive non-intervention are able to coexist in apparent harmony with the highly active participation of the Hong Kong SAR government in society and industry

E-commerce and its derived applications: smart card certificate system and recoverable and untraceable electronic cash.

by Liu Kai Sui.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71).Abstracts in English and Chinese.Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1Chapter 1.1 --- Security and E-commerce --- p.3Chapter 1.2 --- E-commerce: More than Commercial Activities --- p.4Chapter 1.3 --- What This Thesis Contains --- p.5Chapter 2. --- Introduction to Cryptographic Theories --- p.7Chapter 2.1 --- Six Cryptographic Primitives --- p.7Chapter 2.1.1 --- Symmetric Encryption --- p.8Chapter 2.1.2 --- Asymmetric Encryption --- p.8Chapter 2.1.3 --- Digital Signature --- p.9Chapter 2.1.4 --- Message Digest --- p.9Chapter 2.1.5 --- Digital Certificate and Certificate Authority --- p.10Chapter 2.1.6 --- Zero-Knowledge Proof --- p.11Chapter 2.2 --- The RSA Public Key Cryptosystem --- p.12Chapter 2.3 --- The ElGamal Public Key Encryption Scheme --- p.13Chapter 2.4 --- Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem --- p.14Chapter 2.4.1 --- The Algorithm of Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem --- p.15Chapter 2.5 --- Different kinds of Digital Signature --- p.16Chapter 2.5.1 --- RSA Digital Signature --- p.16Chapter 2.5.2 --- Elliptic Curve Nyberg-Rueppel Digital Signature --- p.16Chapter 2.6 --- Blind Signature --- p.17Chapter 2.7 --- Cut-and-choose protocol --- p.18Chapter 2.8 --- Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange --- p.19Chapter 3. --- "Introduction to E-commerce, M-commerce and Rich Media M-commerce" --- p.20Chapter 3.1 --- 1st Generation of E-commerce --- p.21Chapter 3.2 --- 2nd Generation of E-commerce ´ؤ M-commerce --- p.21Chapter 3.3 --- 3rd Generation of E-commerce - Rich Media M-commerce --- p.23Chapter 3.4 --- Payment Systems used in E-commerce --- p.23Chapter 3.4.1 --- Electronic Cash --- p.23Chapter 3.4.2 --- Credit Card --- p.24Chapter 3.4.3 --- Combined Payment System --- p.24Chapter 4. --- Introduction to Smart Card --- p.25Chapter 4.1 --- What is Smart Card? --- p.25Chapter 4.2 --- Advantages of Smart Cards --- p.26Chapter 4.2.1 --- Protable Device --- p.26Chapter 4.2.2 --- Multi-applications --- p.26Chapter 4.2.3 --- Computation Power --- p.26Chapter 4.2.4 --- Security Features --- p.27Chapter 4.3 --- What can Smart Cards Do? --- p.27Chapter 4.4 --- Java Card --- p.28Chapter 5. --- A New Smart Card Certificate System --- p.30Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.31Chapter 5.2 --- Comparison between RSA and ECC --- p.32Chapter 5.3 --- System Architecture --- p.33Chapter 5.3.1 --- System Setup --- p.33Chapter 5.3.2 --- Apply for a certificate --- p.34Chapter 5.3.3 --- Verification of Alice --- p.35Chapter 5.3.4 --- "Other Certificates ´ؤ the ""Hyper-Link"" concept" --- p.36Chapter 5.3.4.1 --- "Generation of the ""hyper-link""" --- p.37Chapter 5.3.4.2 --- "Verification ofAlice using the ""hyper-link""" --- p.37Chapter 5.3.5 --- Multiple Applications --- p.38Chapter 5.4 --- Security Analysis --- p.39Chapter 5.4.1 --- No Crypto-processor is needed --- p.40Chapter 5.4.2 --- PIN Protect --- p.40Chapter 5.4.3 --- Digital Certificate Protect --- p.40Chapter 5.4.4 --- Private Key is never left the smart card --- p.41Chapter 5.5 --- Extensions --- p.41Chapter 5.5.1 --- Biometrics Security --- p.41Chapter 5.5.2 --- E-Voting --- p.41Chapter 5.6 --- Conclusion --- p.42Chapter 6. --- Introduction to Electronic Cash --- p.44Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.44Chapter 6.2 --- The Basic Requirements --- p.45Chapter 6.3 --- Advantages of Electronic Cash over other kinds of payment systems --- p.46Chapter 6.3.1 --- Privacy --- p.46Chapter 6.3.2 --- Off-line payment --- p.47Chapter 6.3.3 --- Suitable for Small Amount Payment --- p.47Chapter 6.4 --- Basic Model of Electronic Cash --- p.48Chapter 6.5 --- Examples of Electronic Cash --- p.49Chapter 6.5.1 --- eCash --- p.49Chapter 6.5.2 --- Mondex --- p.49Chapter 6.5.3 --- Octopus Card --- p.50Chapter 7. --- A New Recoverable and Untraceable Electronic Cash --- p.51Chapter 7.1 --- Introduction --- p.52Chapter 7.2 --- The Basic Idea --- p.52Chapter 7.3 --- S. Brand's Single Term E-cash Protocol --- p.54Chapter 7.3.1 --- The Setup of the System --- p.54Chapter 7.3.2 --- The Withdrawal Protocol --- p.54Chapter 7.3.3 --- The Payment Protocol --- p.55Chapter 7.3.4 --- The Deposit Protocol --- p.56Chapter 7.4 --- The Proposed Protocol --- p.57Chapter 7.4.1 --- The Withdrawal Protocol --- p.57Chapter 7.4.2 --- The Payment Protocol --- p.58Chapter 7.4.3 --- The Deposit Protocol --- p.58Chapter 7.4.4. --- The Recovery Protocol --- p.59Chapter 7.5 --- Security Analysis --- p.60Chapter 7.5.1 --- Conditional Untraceability --- p.60Chapter 7.5.2 --- Cheating --- p.60Chapter 7.6 --- Extension --- p.60Chapter 7.7 --- Conclusion --- p.62Chapter 8. --- Conclusion --- p.63Appendix: Paper derived from this thesis --- p.66Bibliography --- p.6

E-government: A stakeholder relational perspective

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

Government e-services delivery requires citizens awareness: the case of Brunei Darussalam

This study examines citizens awareness and usage of government e-services. Governments use Web-based Internet applications to enhance their citizens access to government services. However, in a case study in Brunei Darussalam, it was found that the government s initiative in providing e-services in last few years has not been as successful as it could have been as the services have not been citizen-centric. This was due to the availability of e-services being unknown amongst the citizens and that a silo-based approach existed for each government ministry. One notable finding was that although the ICT literacy of Brunei citizens has rapidly improved, this has not been reflected in the citizens interaction with government. There are several challenges for citizens awareness and use of government e-services that occur on e-government initiatives. Failure in managing such problems, results in a high probability of these services becoming a white elephant , with inefficiency, wastefulness and cost overruns on e-government projects. E-government management agencies still do not have an organized citizens awareness strategy approach to managing knowledge in e-government initiatives. The proposed Government e Services Citizens Awareness Strategy (GeS-CAS) framework, incorporating communication, management and education strategies, can effectively be used to enable e-government agencies to deal with e-government projects problems and risks in an organised and efficient way. It is concluded that e-government initiatives management can be improved if the knowledge dimensions of the problems are well understood and are conveyed to the right people, at the right time and the right place, and are appropriately managed. This research has developed an integrated citizens awareness strategy Knowledge Management framework that provides a structured approach to achieving this which is easy to understand and put in to practice by e-government agencies, and can be used to solve citizen awareness problems, explore opportunities and make decisions

E-government systems success and user acceptance in developing countries: The role of perceived support quality

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Electronic government (e-Government) projects create numerous benefits and opportunities for both governments and citizens worldwide. Accordingly, the increasing interest in e-Government raises the issue of how governments can increase citizen adoption and usage of their on-line services. The successful adoption of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), the explosive increase in Internet usage and the rapid development of e-commerce in private sectors have placed pressure on public organisations to interact electronically with citizens. Conversely, the success of e-Government does not depend only on the supplier side, but also on the demand side and the willingness to adopt the on-line service. The concept of e-Government was developed and implemented initially in industrialised countries. Consequently, it should not be assumed that this concept is automatically appropriate for developing countries. Thus far, e-Government still faces major challenges as it continues to expand in developing countries. Moreover, when introducing e-Government to developing nations, it is anticipated that more effort will be necessary than in developed countries. The objective of various e-Government initiatives has moved in the past decade towards establishing services offering greater accessibility for citizens. As a result, it is necessary to examine all possible factors to explain citizens' adoption and usage of such systems. Hence, numerous models of e-Government adoption and intention to use and their extensions have been proposed and applied to empirical studies. Obviously, e-Government has occurred due to the technological revolution following the diffusion of the Internet and the success of information systems (IS) in organisations and e-Commerce. However, regardless of their success within the general IS context, the models are limited in terms of considering the diversity of users; they tend to assume that all end-users are homogeneous. The end-users of e-Government systems are more diverse than e-Commerce, with comparisons of wider layers of user groups (for example, elderly and less well-educated people) who are more likely to encounter problems while interacting with e-Government systems. IS literature confirmed that users’ technical capabilities and management support are influenced by their technical knowledge and expertise. Therefore, this research argues that perceived support quality is a new way of looking at citizens’ adoption and usage in the e-Government system’s field and a major factor of e-Government system’s acceptance, particularly in developing countries. This study is the first to examine the roles of perceived support quality and support satisfaction in the context of government-to-citizen (G2C), and it aims to advance knowledge within the field of e-Government by revealing the roles of perceived support quality and satisfaction towards behaviour intention and usage in developing countries. The proposed model builds upon Wixom and Todd’s (2005) theoretical model, which, in turn, was based on the integration of DeLone and McLean model (1992) into the technology acceptance model (TAM). The strength of the integrated model lies in its ability to guide both IT design and predict usage behaviours towards the system under investigation, and assume the overall theoretical model to maintain validity in G2C settings. Thirteen hypotheses were formulated to test the proposed research model. Behaviour intention to use e-Government services was proposed as the dependent variable, while the independent variables were information quality; information satisfaction; system quality; system satisfaction; social influence; performance expectancy; effort expectancy; perceived support quality and support satisfaction. A quantitative approach was deemed best suited to test the proposed model. Using a survey method (i.e. paper-based and an on-line survey), a total of 1252 responses was collected; however, only 628 were analysed. To test the proposed e-Government model, the state of Kuwait was chosen as the application area and the official website of Kuwait Government On-line Services (KGOS) was selected, since it offers a number of services on-line. Elements were citizens who have had prior experience with the KGOS website, and the survey was conducted from 5th August to 10th October 2010. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was selected as the statistical analysis technique with the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) software. A total of 40 percent of the variance among the factors of support satisfaction, system satisfaction, information quality, effort expectancy and performance expectancy was explained by behavioural intention to use an e-Government system. All hypotheses were supported except for one. The findings confirm the significance to the support quality perceived by citizens, and also provide insights into whether user satisfaction literature and TAMs should be integrated to explain citizens’ intention to use e-Government systems. Thus, in terms of the theoretical implications, this study highlights the significance of recognising theoretical relationships when performing empirical research in e-Government settings. Consequently, to capture both the technical aspects and the services provided on-line, a new variable was introduced and renamed ‘perceived support quality’. Additionally, the model offers managers a new perspective for dealing with e-Government adoption by signifying the importance of support quality perceived by citizens. The proposed model provides government decision-makers in developing countries with an appropriate approach to determining which factors require attention in order to reap the highest benefits from e-Governments’ projects. This suggests paying less attention to the social influence (SI) factor and consider instead improving the quality of on-line support citizens demand

Research in Global Learning: Methodologies for global citizenship and sustainable development education

Young people around the world are calling ever more urgently on policymakers to address today’s global challenges of sustainability, structural inequality and social justice. So it is little surprise that learning in a global society, understanding sustainable development and being active global citizens are increasingly popular themes for education at all levels. Educational research makes a crucial contribution to knowledge that can address the great questions of our time, with evidence from diverse studies vital if we are to build a clear picture. Research in Global Learning showcases methods and findings from early career researchers who conducted illuminating studies around the globe, specifically in Brazil, China, Ghana, Greece, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom. The studies in this volume investigate four important themes: the relationship between policy and practice; opportunities and constraints in the education system and for the role of teachers; challenges for higher education; and the perspectives of young people and students. Flexibility of approach is crucial for successful educational research in varied environments, and is on show throughout this book. Depending on context, authors used case study, quantitative and qualitative research, participatory action research, longitudinal studies and analysis of textbooks through critical discourse analysis to demonstrate how learning about global learning and sustainability can inspire learners and contribute to quality education

An exploratory study on adoption and diffusion of m-government services in the Sultanate of Oman

The thesis provides practical contributions via the m-Government Adoption Model and associated recommendations. The Researcher believes these will allow Oman's decision-makers to understand the reasons for the lack of e-Government success to date, and by implementing the m-Government critical success factors in the short- to medium-term, move towards successful e-Government in the longer term. It also makes a methodological contribution to the literature via an adoption and diffusion framework amalgamating elements from existing theories developed in the West, to investigate the prevailing situation in a developing country in respect of m-Government initiatives.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo