Towards a digital money structure for illiterate users

In developing countries, although money is becoming digital in the form of mobile money, it is not easily used by millions of illiterate users in their everyday transactions. Digitization of material money thus poses a challenge to many users. Existing mobile money systems and platforms represent money in terms of simple numbers, like 13, 50, 0.78, 23.64, 80 etc. This way of money representation is almost unusable by illiterate users, unless they depend on others' help. The literature has overlooked the different metadata inscribed on material money (like icons or images, colour, security means, and serial numbers etc). However, these metadata enable illiterate users to identify different currency notes. The material properties of money bills also enable illiterates do simple maths like addition, subtraction, division, and counting. However, current mobile money solutions have not considered money bill's metadata. Such absence of metadata made money bill identification and transactions difficult for illiterates. The work described in this paper uses the theory of digital objects and theory of non-material technological objects and presents a theoretical presentation for the structure of digital money, to be used in digital ecosystem

Evaluating usability of cross-platform smartphone applications

The computing power of smartphones is increasing as time goes. However, the proliferation of multiple different types of operating platforms affected interoperable smartphone applications development. Thus, the cross-platform development tools are coined. Literature showed that smartphone applications developed with the native platforms have better user experience than the cross-platform counterparts. However, comparative evaluation of usability of cross-platform applications on the deployment platforms is not studied yet. In this work, we evaluated usability of a crossword puzzle developed with PhoneGap on Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. The evaluation was conducted focusing on the developer's adaptation effort to native platforms and the end users. Thus, we observed that usability of the cross-platform crossword puzzle is unaffected on the respective native platforms and the SDKs require only minimal configuration effort. In addition, we observed the prospect of HTML5 and related web technologies as our future work towards evaluating and enhancing usability in composing REST-based services for smartphone applications

A Mobile Money Solution for Illiterate Users

Existing mobile money platforms have text based interfaces and target literate people. Illiterate people, without the assistance of literate individuals, cannot use such platforms. Applying user-centered requirements gathered in an Ethiopian context, this paper presents the design and development of a mobile money solution that targets illiterate people. Particular emphasis is given to how illiterate users deal with cash money in their everyday life and how such practices can be mapped into financial technology design. Given the ubiquity of mobile telephony in Africa, our solution is based on the widely available, relatively inexpensive and open source Android mobile web platform. The proposed system enables illiterate individuals to count money bills, while providing the facility to accept and make payments. In so doing, we provide an example of how a pervasive technology such as smartphones can empower a hitherto often neglected user category of illiterate users

Comparative study on current trading system and online trading: the case of Ethiopia commodity exchange

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange [ECX] is an organized market place that brings buyers and sellers to trade standardized contracts using its floor based trading system. The fundamental factors to establish successful commodity exchange includes having an efficient and robust trading platform. The focus of this research is to analyze the economic significance and limitations of the current trading system and assess the prospects and challenges of online trading and factors affecting its feasibility of implementation in ECX. The study used a mix of quantitative and qualitative research method to collect and analyze data relevant for the study. Questionnaire and in-depth interview were used to gather relevant data for the study. The study collected data from 375 members and clients out of which 279 are found to be good for analysis. In-depth interview was conducted with experts. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The study found that there is significant capacity problem with major skills gap with traders. The current system has its own significance in balancing the power of negotiation of traders by disseminating reliable data, and limitations in lack of market integrity, poor price discovery mechanisms and limitations in session and ticket writing times. It also found that there is good perception towards online trading system. Moreover, the exchange expects transparency, greater market oversight, market integrity and more commodities by deploying online trading system and challenges mainly infrastructural problems, and capacity of traders. Based on the findings, the paper recommends deploying an integrated surveillance system, reasonable allocation of session time, awareness on rules, in-depth training of staff and traders and building a redundant system were recommended for both trading systems accordingly.Keywords: Ethiopia Commodity Exchange [ECX], Floor Based Trading, Online Tradin

To pay or not to pay? : Cost information processing in the valuation of publicly funded healthcare

Acknowledgments We thank all participants who took part in the study and three anonymous reviewers for their comments on the paper. The design of the discrete choice experiment on which this paper draws was shaped by a team that included, alongside two of the authors, Professor Chris Burton, Professor Vikki Entwistle, Professor Christine Bond, Dr Terry Porteous and Dr Alison Elliott. Funding sources The original DCE study was funded by the Health Foundation. This work has been funded by the University of Aberdeen and the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates. These sponsors were not involved in the study design, data analysis and writing of the article. The information and views set out in the article are those of the authors.Peer reviewedPostprin

Weighting or aggregating? Investigating information processing in multi‐attribute choices

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The design of the choice experiment on which this paper draws was shaped by a team that included, alongside two of the authors, Professor Chris Burton, Professor Vikki Entwistle, Dr Terry Porteous and Dr Alison Elliott. The original CE study was funded by the Health Foundation. The University of Aberdeen and the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates fund the Health Economics Research Unit (HERU). The kidney transplantation choice experiment study was funded by the “Progetto di Ateneo KIDNEY” from the University of Padua (Italy). We would like to thank Daniel Rigby (The University of Manchester), Jürgen Maurer (Université de Lausanne), Giacomo Pasini (Ca' Foscari University of Venice), and Luca Corazzini (Ca' Foscari University of Venice) for their helpful comments. Funding: Health Foundation. Grant Number: THF 7264Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring in Ethiopia: Analysis of case reports, 2002-2007

Background: Ensuring the health and safety of the public from adverse reaction of drugs is paramount. Adverse Drug Reactions Monitoring (ADRM) is a system that is put in place to ensure the health and safety of the public from adverse reactions of drugs. It heavily relies on health professionals (HPs) reporting of adverse events of drugs to drug regulators, in Ethiopia to the Drug Administration and Control Authority (DACA). The processed information, based on reported cases, is used to improve evidence based practice and underpins decisions to mitigate drug safety issues by drug regulators. However, the effectiveness of the ongoing ADRM system in Ethiopia in terms of its detection has never been evaluated.Objective: To explore the magnitude of ADRM and suggest some practical improvement in Ethiopia.Methods: The study analyzed the number of adverse drug reaction case reports received by DACA in a period of six years (2002 – 2007GC). All cases reported over the study period were included for analysis. Descriptive analysis was carried out to estimate the prevalence of adverse drug reactions and to assess their trend over the study period. To assess the strengths and weakness of the ongoing national ADRM, cases were analyzed by their location, time of occurrence, type of the health professional who made the case reports, drugs implicated, clinical manifestations and age of subjects affected.Results: A total of 249 ADR cases were reported between 2002 and 2007. An average of 0.5 ADR cases per million populations were reported annually. The majority (36%) of all the cases were for 31 to 40 years of age. Cases were reported mainly (63%) from health facilities in the capital city. Physicians made 76% of all cases reported. Antiretroviral drugs were implicated in 70% of the cases reported. The most widely adverse events reported were dermatological disorders.Conclusions: The level of ADR case reporting is very low showing the need to address major constraints of ongoing ADR monitoring. Thus, comprehensive measures aimed at improving under-reporting and effectiveness of ADRM should be instituted. [Ethiop. J. Health Dev. 2011;25(2):168-173

Study on knowledge, attitude and dog ownership patterns related to rabies prevention and control in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The study was conducted from May 2003 to August 2003 in Addis Ababa with the objective of understanding the distribution of stray and owned dogs, dog ownership patterns and attitudes of people towards rabies and its prevention and control methods. A total of 2390 households were selected from 6 Sub Cities of Addis Ababa using stratified random sampling and were interviewed using structured questionnaires. From the total households interviewed, 969 (40.5%) of them were known to own one or more dogs, and the total number of owned dogs was estimated to be 225,078. Male dogs make up 1042 (78.4%) of the total owned dogs. Almost half of all the dogs 463 (47.8%) were tied only for some time during the day whereas 320 (33.1%) of the dogs were not tied at all and freely move from place to place and contribute to high dog bites in human beings and for the widespread occurrence of canine rabies in Addis Ababa. Six hundred fifty five (67.6%) of the interviewed households who owned dogs had a well fenced house. Most of the owned dogs 856 (88.4%) get their food from their owners and only 321 (33.3%) of the owners reported that they let their dogs to be vaccinated while the majority of the owners 644 (66.5%) do not let their dogs vaccinated regularly. A significant proportion of the interviewed households 2,323 (97.2%), (P < 0.05) indicated that they have the knowledge that dogs, cats and other animals can transmit rabies to humans and 1,752 (73.4%) of the households replied that rabies can be transmitted through bite, scratch and lick to open wounds. Analysis of the list of 2400 post exposure human antirabies treatments recorded at the EHNRI Zoonoses Laboratory from February 2002 to October 2003 showed that the most common animals involved in biting people were dogs. A total of 2198 (91.6%) people were bitten by dogs during the same period and most of them, 2053 (85.5%) were bitten on their hands and legs. All the above data indicated the need for a strong and coordinated rabies control activities to be conducted in the city

Towards augmenting multimedia QoE with wearable devices: Perspectives from an empirical study

Wearable technologies and devices, including fitness trackers, smart watches, glasses, headgear and smart jewelry have been on the rise and are trending in the consumer market. Nonetheless, some wearable technologies have proven to be more successful and better received than others. The reasons behind this could be how users feel about the functionalities, features, aesthetics of wearables and their overall experience that are rarely considered. To address this, we present the results of an empirical study in which the Quality of Experience (QoE) and perceived usability of two wearable devices - a haptic vest and a heart rate monitor band – whilst watching multimedia content were explored. Results show enhanced user QoE when wearable devices were employed. Moreover, the usability and comfort of the two devices received positive feedback from users. However, participants were not so keen in wearing the devices regularly and in public.European Unio

Using eye tracking and heart-rate activity to examine crossmodal correspondences QoE in Mulsemedia

Different senses provide us with information of various levels of precision and enable us to construct a more precise representation of the world. Rich multisensory simulations are thus beneficial for comprehension, memory reinforcement, or retention of information. Crossmodal mappings refer to the systematic associations often made between different sensory modalities (e.g., high pitch is matched with angular shapes) and govern multisensory processing. A great deal of research effort has been put into exploring cross-modal correspondences in the field of cognitive science. However, the possibilities they open in the digital world have been relatively unexplored. Multiple sensorial media (mulsemedia) provides a highly immersive experience to the users and enhances their Quality of Experience (QoE) in the digital world. Thus, we consider that studying the plasticity and the effects of cross-modal correspondences in a mulsemedia setup can bring interesting insights about improving the human computer dialogue and experience. In our experiments, we exposed users to videos with certain visual dimensions (brightness, color, and shape), and we investigated whether the pairing with a cross-modal matching sound (high and low pitch) and the corresponding auto-generated vibrotactile effects (produced by a haptic vest) lead to an enhanced QoE. For this, we captured the eye gaze and the heart rate of users while experiencing mulsemedia, and we asked them to fill in a set of questions targeting their enjoyment and perception at the end of the experiment. Results showed differences in eye-gaze patterns and heart rate between the experimental and the control group, indicating changes in participants’ engagement when videos were accompanied by matching cross-modal sounds (this effect was the strongest for the video displaying angular shapes and high-pitch audio) and transitively generated cross-modal vibrotactile effects.<?vsp -1pt?