Semantic Web applications: a framework for industry and business exploitation – What is needed for the adoption of the Semantic Web from the market and industry

In recent years, Semantic Web (SW) research has resulted in significant outcomes. Various industries have adopted SW technologies, while the ‘deep web’ is still pursuing the critical transformation point, in which the majority of data found on the deep web will be exploited through SW value layers. In this article we analyse the SW applications from a ‘market’ perspective. We are setting the key requirements for real-world information systems that are SW-enabled and we discuss the major difficulties for the SW uptake that has been delayed. This article contributes to the literature of SW and knowledge management providing a context for discourse towards best practices on SW-based information systems

An Ontology Oriented Approach on eLearning: Integrating Semantics for Adaptive eLearning Systems

In the last decade the evolution on educational technologies forced an extraordinary interest in new methods for delivering learning content to learners. The role of technology has often been overestimated causing a myopic consideration of the critical issues in e-learning. This paper provides an initial discussion of the role of ontologies in the context of e-learning. The overall objective is to emphasize the importance of analysing a phenomenon and reveal the descriptive conceptualizations that affect the employment of technology. Ontology as a term has an intrinsic holistic character and from this point of view is quite interesting to investigate ways of understanding the phenomenon of e-learning from several perspectives. An initial clarification of term ontology is presented and the main issues are used for the description of the developmental process of the e-learning ontology entitled Mutli- Dimensional Dynamic Learning (MDL). The final conclusion balances conceptualizations and technological formulations by drilling down abstract concepts to data declarations and thus machine-readable semantics

Sustainable Smart Cities and Smart Villages Research

ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms. [There is ever more research on smart cities and new interdisciplinary approaches proposed on the study of smart cities. At the same time, problems pertinent to communities inhabiting rural areas are being addressed, as part of discussions in contigious fields of research, be it environmental studies, sociology, or agriculture. Even if rural areas and countryside communities have previously been a subject of concern for robust policy frameworks, such as the European Union’s Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy Arguably, the concept of ‘the village’ has been largely absent in the debate. As a result, when advances in sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) led to the emergence of a rich body of research on smart cities, the application and usability of ICT in the context of a village has remained underdiscussed in the literature. Against this backdrop, this volume delivers on four objectives. It delineates the conceptual boundaries of the concept of ‘smart village’. It highlights in which ways ‘smart village’ is distinct from ‘smart city’. It examines in which ways smart cities research can enrich smart villages research. It sheds light on the smart village research agenda as it unfolds in European and global contexts.

The role of open data in the transformation to Society 5.0: a resource or a tool for SDG-compliant Smart Living?

Open data are characterized by a number of economic, technological, innovative and social benefits. They are seen as a significant contributor to the city's transformation into Smart City. This is all the more so when the society is on the border of Society 5.0, i.e., shift from the information society to a super smart society or society of imagination takes place. However, the question constantly asked by open data experts is, what are the key factors to be met and satisfied in order to achieve promised benefits? The current trend of openness suggests that the principle of openness should be followed not only by data but also research, education, software, standard, hardware etc., it should become a philosophy to be followed at different levels, in different domains. This should ensure greater transparency, eliminating inequalities, promoting, and achieving sustainable development goals. Therefore, many agendas now have openness as a prerequisite. This chapter deals with concepts of open (government) data and Society 5.0 pointing to their common objectives, providing some success stories of open data use in smart cities or transformation of cities towards smart cities, mapping them to the features of the Society 5.0. We believe that this trend develops a new form of society, which we refer to as "open data-driven society". It forms a bridge from Society 4.0 to Society 5.0. This Chapter attempts to identify the role of openness in promoting human-centric Smart Society, Smart city, and Smart Living.Comment: Cite as: Nikiforova, A., Alor Flores M. A., & Lytras, M. D. (2023). The Role Of Open Data In The Transformation To Society 5.0: A Resource Or A Tool For SDG-Compliant Smart Living?. In Smart Cities and Digital Transformation Empowering Communities, Limitless Innovation, Sustainable Development and the Next Generation (pp. 219-252). Emerald Publishing Limited, ISBN: 978180455995

Mobile shopping apps adoption and perceived risks: A cross-country perspective utilizing the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

Consumer adoption of mobile shopping apps is an emerging area in m-commerce which poses an interesting challenge for retailers and app developers. In this study, we adapt the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) to investigate factors predicting consumer behavioral intention (BI) and use behavior (UB) towards mobile shopping apps, considering the impact of two manifestations of consumer’s perceived risk: Privacy Risk and Security Risk. Because cultural characteristics may moderate the impact of these risks on behavioral intention and use behavior, we conduct two studies from two consumer panels from countries with significant difference in technology use as captured by the Computer-Based Media Support Index (CMSI), namely India (high CMSI) and USA (low CMSI). For both countries, the baseline UTAUT 2 constructs predict the Behavioral Intention to use mobile shopping apps (and subsequently use behavior). However, the manifestations of perceived risk are significant only for the country with the highest CMSI score, suggesting that cultural influences play a strong role in the adoption of m-shopping. Our study has practical implications for theory as it poses the use of m-shopping apps in a cross-cultural context, suggesting that privacy and security moderate intention to use differently across cultures as predicted by the CMSI. From that perspective, it also has practical implications for consumer behavior researchers and app developers challenged with app localization as well as retailers designing mobile shopping apps for an intercultural audience

Informal learning in work environments: training with the Social Web in the workplace

The Internet and its increasing usage has changed informal learning in depth. This change has affected young and older adults in both the workplace and in higher education. But, in spite of this, formal and non-formal course-based approaches have not taken full advantage of these new informal learning scenarios and technologies. The Web 2.0 is a new way for people to communicate across the Internet. Communication is a means of transformation and knowledge exchange. These are the facts that cannot be obviated by the organisations in their training programmes and knowledge management. This special issue is devoted to investigating how informal learning changes or influences online information in Social Web and training strategies in institutions. In order to do so, five papers will present different approaches of informal learning in the workplace regarding Web 2.0 capabilities.This proyect has been funded with the support of the Lifelong Learning Program of the European Union TRAILER Project (Reference: 519141 LLP 1 2011 1 ES KA3 KA3MP) and with the support from the European Commision. Also, this work is partially supported by the Regionel Council of Education of Junta de Castilla y León through the proyect GR47. This publication only reflects the views of the authors, and the commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.Publicad

An empirical research of the effect of internet-based innovation on business value.

In recent years, much debate about the value of information technology (IT) in general and e-business in particular and has been raised. Aiming to contribute to the investigation of whether and how Internet/WWW technologies create business value, this paper develops a conceptual model, grounded on a well established theoretical foundation from the strategic management domain, the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, which analyzes web infrastructure and internet-based innovation as sources of business value. The methodology involved a large data source collected by the European e-Business Market Watch, an established e-business observatory organization sponsored by the European Commission. Results show that web infrastructure is not significantly related to business value, while on the contrary Internet-based innovation has a positive significant impact on business value. In addition, results show no significant complementarities between web infrastructure and internet-based innovation. These findings indicate that firms should be very careful when they decide to make this kind of investments, since they have to combine ‘hard’ investments in web infrastructure with ‘soft’ investments for the development of new products, services and processes exploiting the capabilities of this infrastructure.We would like to thank e-Business Watch for the support provided. We also thank Fundación Cajamurcia for the financial support.Publicad

Social networks research for sustainable smart education

Social networks research has grown exponentially over the past decade. Subsequent empirical and conceptual advances have been transposed in the field of education. As the debate on delivering better education for all gains momentum, the big question is how to integrate advances in social networks research, corresponding advances in information and communication technology (ICT) and effectively employ them in the domain of education. To address this question, this paper proposes a conceptual framework (maturity model) that integrates social network research, the debate on technology-enhanced learning (TEL) and the emerging concept of smart education

Sustainable Higher Education and Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL)

The field of education is not immune to advances in sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT). Going beyond the ICT-hype, the objective of this paper is to examine to what extent and how technology-enhanced teaching and learning (TEL) can enhance teaching and learning and, hence, turn them into levers of sustainable socio-economic growth and development. To address these questions, a multidimensional survey was developed and distributed internationally to lecturers/professors active in the field of higher education. The initial point of departure for this study was consistent with the well-referenced in the literature thesis that TEL has profound value added in view of enhancing the teaching and learning process. Yet, as the outcomes of the survey underpinning the discussion in this paper suggest, there is much more is at stake than that. Indeed, it is argued that several conditions need to be fulfilled if technology is to serve as a benefit, and not an obstacle to teaching and learning, and thus boost the delivery of quality education. This paper outlines them