Decentralized brokered enabled ecosystem for data marketplace in smart cities towards a data sharing economy

Presently data are indispensably important as cities consider data as a commodity which can be traded to earn revenues. In urban environment, data generated from internet of things devices, smart meters, smart sensors, etc. can provide a new source of income for citizens and enterprises who are data owners. These data can be traded as digital assets. To support such trading digital data marketplaces have emerged. Data marketplaces promote a data sharing economy which is crucial for provision of available data useful for cities which aims to develop data driven services. But currently existing data marketplaces are mostly inadequate due to several issues such as security, efficiency, and adherence to privacy regulations. Likewise, there is no consolidated understanding of how to achieve trust and fairness among data owners and data sellers when trading data. Therefore, this study presents the design of an ecosystem which comprises of a distributed ledger technology data marketplace enabled by message queueing telemetry transport (MQTT) to facilitate trust and fairness among data owners and data sellers. The designed ecosystem for data marketplaces is powered by IOTA technology and MQTT broker to support the trading of sdata sources by automating trade agreements, negotiations and payment settlement between data producers/sellers and data consumers/buyers. Overall, findings from this article discuss the issues associated in developing a decentralized data marketplace for smart cities suggesting recommendations to enhance the deployment of decentralized and distributed data marketplaces.publishedVersio

A managerial perspective on institutions' administration readiness to diffuse blended learning in higher education: concept and evidence

There has been rapid development in Blended Learning (BL) diffusion and prior studies mainly focused on issues related to students and lecturers in improving teaching and learning outcomes, but very few studies focused on institution’s readiness and diffusion issues. Thus, there is need for institutional-based research to guide universities, colleges, and polytechnics to strategically diffuse BL. Accordingly, this study develops a model to investigate the variables and associated factors that influence institutions' administration readiness to diffuse BL initiatives based on Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) theory and institutional BL adoption framework that comprises of mature implementation stage of BL. Quantitative research approach was employed and data was collected using online survey questionnaire from 223 e-learning administrators/managers in Malaysia universities, colleges, and polytechnics. Next, Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was employed for data analysis. Results indicate that institutional structure, resource support, technology infrastructure, management strategies, and ethical considerations are key variables that positively predict administration readiness to diffuse BL initiatives in higher education. Additional results from Importance Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) in PLS-SEM suggest that institutional structure has the strongest effect on administrators’ readiness to diffuse BL and is also the most important variable that influences BL diffusion in institutions. Theoretically, findings from this study provide insights on how institutions’ administration perception and acceptance of BL approach can be enhanced. Practically, the developed model can be employed as a readiness tool to assess institutions current state in implementing BL environment and further provides a road map for future improvement

A Green information technology governance framework for eco-environmental risk mitigation

Over the years, information technology (IT) has changed IT practitioners’ behaviours profoundly and therefore has the potential to support the shift to a sustainable organisation. Sustainability has gradually become significant to IT industries as a response to the rapid reduction of natural resources. The role and contribution of IT to sustainability has become the concern of IT industries. Green IT has become one of the latest considerations to reduce energy consuming of IT operation. IT industries are adopting novel approaches towards Green practice adoption in their governance process, but their capability to mitigate environmental risk that occurs in IT Governance process in a sustainable approach has not been successfully applied, thus there is need to develop a Green IT governance framework that can assist in mitigating environmental risk in an eco-friendly manner. Findings from this paper show that the proposed framework can assist IT practitioners implement eco-environmental risk mitigatio

Green information technology system practice for sustainable collaborative enterprise: A structural literature review

Green information technology and information system (ITIS) refer to sustainable practices that seek to prevent environmental pollution and attain sustainable development in collaborative enterprise (CE). By implementing green ITIS practices, collaborative enterprise can reduce the amount of energy used; decrease high cost incurred in their business process and also care for the long time sustainability of the environment and humanity. Therefore, the purpose of this research paper is to a carryout a structural literature review approach to review existing techniques applied to achieve sustainability and standards deployed to assist practitioners in implementing and diffusing green practices in CE. Finding from this review indicates that previously applied techniques and standards lacks the capability to support IT practitioners in making green decisions on how to implement and adopt sustainable practice in collaborative enterprise

A web deployed multi-agent based approach for student-lecturer appointment scheduling in institutions of higher learning

Institutions of higher learning such as universities have been positively influenced by the internet which has facilitated learning and teaching. Likewise, this same internet can also support student lecturer appointments, but currently students and lecturers are faced with issues such as finding free time-slot, difficulty of students to meet supervisor and issues related to managing appointment operations. Therefore, this paper develops a multi-agent architecture and a web based agent appointment scheduling system to support students and lectures in managing appointment scheduling in universities. The agent based appointment scheduling system was implemented as a web system integrated by multi-agents to facilitate students in finding free time-slot, resolving difficulty of students to meet supervisor and also addressing difficult of managing scheduled appointment records by lecturers. The applicability of the agent based appointment scheduling system was evaluated by collecting data using questionnaire from randomly selected 102 students and lectures in Malaysia universities. Furthermore, Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) was employed to analyze the questionnaire data using descriptive and exploratory factor analysis. Findings from this study reveal that the developed agent based appointment scheduling system is applicable in supporting student lecturer appointment scheduling in universities

Exploring the role of blended learning for teaching and learning effectiveness in institutions of higher learning: An empirical investigation

As the years progress there has been rapid growth in Blended Learning (BL) adoption, but only few research focused on adoption issues related to learners, academic staffs and management. Thus, research is needed to guide universities in strategically examining learners, academic staffs and management adoption of BL. Accordingly, this study develops a model to facilitate university policy makers in their decision making to assess students learning and academic staffs teaching outcome. Furthermore, this study explores on the factors that influence BL adoption in universities, through an empirical study from the perspectives of learners, academic staffs, and management. In particular, it examines the current BL practice adoption effectiveness in universities. Based on extensive review of prior studies, survey questionnaires was designed and distributed to convenience samples of 87 students, academic staffs, and management in 3 Malaysia universities to validate the developed model. Next, Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyze the survey data. Findings reveal that supportive factors, attitude, learning mode, satisfaction, course management, and ease of use positively predict the perception of learners and academic staffs’ to adopt BL. Similarly, findings suggest that the perception of management towards BL adoption is positively determined by the strategy, structure, and support factors. Moreover, findings reveal that the impact of BL on learners’ effectiveness is positively predicted by achievement, engagement, involvement, retention, and cognitive outcome. Additionally, findings suggest that the impact BL on academic staffs’ effectiveness is significantly influence by delivery, performance, evaluation, motivation. Theoretical implications from this study contribute to enhance teaching quality by enriching course management, improving learning content, and facilitate management policies towards effective BL adoption

An integrative framework to investigate the impact of blended learning adoption in higher education: A theoretical perspective

The importance of Blended Learning (BL) in institutions is momentarily increasing at all educational levels and particularly for higher education. However, relatively little research addresses students, lecturers, and administrators' readiness towards BL adoption. Although, such study would support higher education to strategically assess current state and future direction of BL. Therefore, this study develops an integrative framework based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) framework, Hexagonal E-Learning Assessment Model (HELAM), and Khan octagonal framework to investigate the impact of BL towards measuring students, lecturers and administrator's readiness and further explore on the intensity of implementation of BL impact in higher education. Survey data was collected from 87 samples from 3 Malaysia public universities. Findings from this study provide understanding of BL initiatives, and offers insights to universities on improving teaching and learning effectiveness. Besides, our findings will be valuable to improve the impact of BL implementation