An Assessment of Mobile Consumer Interest in Jamaica: Preempting a Decline in Average Revenue per User

The high density of mobile devices within the Jamaican market is seen as a precursor to a decline in average revenue per user (ARPU) in the local industry and is the primary motivation for this investigation of mobile consumers’ interest. A quantitative research was carried out in a metropolitan area to assess consumers’ interest in proposed data services to be introduced to the Jamaican mobile market and to determine the value-added properties of services that are mostly desired. The findings show that an online mobile learning game, previewing music from local artist and movies from the cinema were identified as the top three desired data services. Also, mobile applications which offer a combination of the mobile values: spontaneous needs, entertainment needs and efficiency ambitious are possible the areas of interest. The result of the research has implications for the local\regional telecommunications industry by providing recommendations on alternative services to voice

A Design Science Approach for Creating Mobile Applications

In addressing competition, telecommunications operators are faced with the challenge of creating products that lure customers from their competitors and keeping their existing customers. Researchers posit that the successful implementation and wide scale adoption of mobile commerce services is best achieved by understanding consumers’ attitude, interests and needs. The purpose of this study is to utilize the design science paradigm to address the creation of a mobile valueadded service that meet the need of consumers and to evaluate the said service for its suitability and potential adoption in Jamaica using the Technology Acceptance Model. The results suggest that consumer interest is driven by events that are related to social experiences. The evaluation of the artifact highlighted that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitude and demographic variables, age and gender, play a role in the behaviour intention to adopt the service

Examining SNS Adoption through Motivational Lens

The impact of social networking has become a focal point for Information Systems researchers; however, its potentialbenefits and impact have not been fully explored. Membership in social networks has been increasing steadily within the lastdecade but at the same time some members have abandon their accounts or use them minimally. To understand thedifferences in usage among members the adoption process needs to be evaluated. Existing adoption models evaluatedtechnology adoption from a utilitarian perspective and are deemed inadequate to evaluate social networking systems (SNS).This is because SNS are classified as social information systems whose adoption, based on the literature, should be evaluatedfrom a motivational perspective. The purpose of this research, therefore, is to propose a social information system researchmodel that will explain the adoption process of social networking and similar technologies

An Empirical Classification of Employability Skills for Entry Level IS/IT Professionals

Over the years, a number of studies have suggested various classifications of IS/IT skills for sustainable employment of IS/IT professionals. However there exists variations in findings on IS/IT skills requirement which may be due to different classification schemes applied to categorize skills. To address this problem, this paper applied factor analysis to explore the taxonomy/classification put forward by Fang, Lee and Koh [2005]. Data was collected from three main constituents: industry (job recruiters), academics and students in Jamaica. The factor analysis results created four categories, which we labeled as (1) Technical Proficiencies, (2) Application Technologies, (3) System Development and (4) Organizational and Personal Skills. These classifications were somewhat different from that proposed by Fang et al (2005). This study confirmed that “soft skills” are more important than technical skills for entry level IS/IT professionals. For future studies, we suggest comparative studies at other universities/industries on a national and international level

Using a Design Science Approach to Create and Evaluate a Social Media Crime Reporting Tool in a Developing Country: Case Jamaica

Latin America and Caribbean countries account for a considerable percentage of the homicide rate globally. The level of crime in this region has had a negative effect on growth and development. We posit that the use of social media as a crime reporting tool could have a positive impact in these economies. Therefore the purpose of this research is to use design science to create a social media crime reporting tool to be implemented in Jamaica. Over a period of eighteen months the research and development team engaged with members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to assess design requirements for this artifact. We present the preliminary results from the first interaction of the design cycle, which suggest that privacy and security risks, protecting the identity of informants, verifying evidence submission and reconciling Jamaica’s legislation with the use of the artifact are major concerns for members of the JC

Re-Engineering of the Computing Curriculum: The Case of University of Technology, Jamaica

The current literature on computing education suggests that there is a paradigm shift taking place in the discipline. Evidence of this is in the discipline’s rapid evolution and the volatility in the enrollments. This has prompted university administrations to make important strategic decisions as to how to reengineer their curriculum to remain viable, relevant and reflect innovation. This paper uses a case study approach to describe how the School of Computing and Information Technology (SCIT) at the University of Technology, Jamaica, employed a market orientation approach to reengineer its curriculum. In developing the curriculum, SCIT employed among other things; students views, international industry trends, the Joint Task Force for Computing Curricula 2005, local/regional requirements and recommendations from the School’s Advisory Committee. The intent was to provide a broader portfolio that would attract and retain a wider student population. This model curriculum program can be a blueprint for small computing programs, especially in developing countries with modest resources