The Influence of Values on the Intention and Usage of Mobile Phone Technology:a Case of Tanzanian SMEs

Mobile phone technology has been relied upon in performing a number of activities in the SMEs. In less developed regions, computing infrastructures are very poor thereby depending highly on mobile phones. The improvement of technology in the mobile phones has seen more applications and services being accessed through them. This gives SMEs, especially in developing countries, a preferable alternative to desktop computing technology. However, to maximise the usability of mobile phone technology in SMEs context, key factors which influence users’ perception on its acceptance need to be explained clearly. This study explains the factors influencing employees’ intentions and use of mobile phone technology in SMEs, by extending the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with values. The analysis results show that the values of mobile phone technology in SMEs have an impact to the behaviour intention to use. This suggests that stakeholders specifically vendors, policy makers, managers and mobile network operators should take their part in handling the challenges and enforcing the benefits of mobile phones since they constitute to the overall intention and usage. This study uses SEM with 459 employees including managers and ordinary employees in different sectors which perform tourism activities in Tanzania. Data analysis was performed by using SEM through AMOS. Implications of the research and future studies are also highlighted in this pape

Skills Needs of the ICT Sector in Tanzania

Information and Communication Technology will play a critical role in sustaining the high growth rates experienced by African economies in the last decade. Investment in the ICT sector enables the creation of high quality jobs and acts as an enabling technology for other key industries such as agriculture, mining, finance, health and education. ‘New Software Economy’ models mean international location and company scale are less relevant and enable small organisations to compete globally in niche markets. Unlike many traditional industries which have heavy infrastructure requirements, the key resource of the ICT Sector is its people and the knowledge, skills and competencies they possess. Relatively small scale investments in developing the ICT skills of the workforce can pay rich dividends in economic returns. The transformation of Ireland from a protectionist agri-economy in the 1970’s to a present day global technology hub means the ‘Irish Experience’ is something which can be heavily drawn upon by emerging economies as they seek to develop their own ICT sectors. Tanzania has the advantage of having gone ‘straight to mobile’ and to new software economy models. It can become the software gateway to Swahili-speaking Africa, a major market of 140 million people. The massive expansion of the Tanzanian higher education system is providing a greenfield site which has the potential to produce high quality graduates with the right skillsets for the global ICT industry. This Skills Needs research was based on similar international methodologies and was undertaken in July and August 2013 through the use of online surveys of ICT companies, interviews with key informants in industry, education and government and by analysing social media and jobs websites. As such it is not trends based and can at best provide a snapshot of the state of the Tanzanian ICT Sector at this point in time. The key findings indicate that there is a significant and vibrant ICT sector in Tanzania and it is estimated that it employs upwards of 12,000 people in over 80 companies. A third of these companies have been established in the last 5 years indicating a strong ‘start-up’ culture. Almost all organisations surveyed indicated that they had hired at least one new ICT practitioner in the last 2 years with one third of these stating that they hired more than 10. Almost all organisations indicated they would have further vacancies for ICT practitioners in the next 2 years with 40% indicating that they expected 10 or more vacancies to arise. Like most countries however Tanzania is experiencing a shortage of ICT skills due to a mismatch between the needs of industry and the skills of ICT graduates. The single most important message from this report for education and training providers is that the emphasis needs to shift from what students are expected to know to what they can do. In this regard both the ICT industry and Tanzanian education institutes involved in teaching ICT skills need to come together and form a viable partnership to pave the way forward and harness the full economic potentials of ICT’s. Such a partnership ensures that education and training programmes are designed and delivered in a way which meets the needs of the ICT sector

A respecification and extension of DeLone and McLean model of IS success in the citizen-centric e-governance

Citizen-centric e-governance is an emerging approach in the case of designing and implementing the e-governance systems with the specific focus on the effectiveness. Based on this perspective, the citizens' needs and values on e-governance have to be put first to make these systems effective. This study is an attempt to explore and propose the needs and values of citizens on the e-governance systems based on the determinants of information system (IS) success in the DeLone and McLean 2003 (D&M 2003) model of IS success. After conducting a comprehensive literature review, this study proposed new determinants of e-governance success and the citizen-centric e-governance success model. This model can be considered as the respecified and extended model of D&M 2003 model of IS success in the specific context of the citizen-centric e-governance systems

Non-western contexts: the invisible half

Like many other disciplines within the broad area of social sciences (e.g., anthropology, gender studies, psychology, sociology, etc.), consumer research is also highly navigated by scholars from Western countries. This, however, does not mean, by any means, that consumer research is devoted to studying Western contexts only. As evident from the ever-increasing number of regional conferences (e.g., Asia-Pacific and Latin American conferences of the Association for Consumer Research) and non-Western students' enrolment in doctoral programs at Western universities, there are many more researchers (from non-Western countries) who are entering the field and enriching it by their colourful contributions. Yet, given the low number of publications on consumer research in non-Western contexts, it seems that our current knowledge in these societies has a long way to go to flourish. More specifically, and in the domain of consumption culture research, this gap is even further widened by the fact that the culture of consumption in such contexts is largely interpreted with reference to the 'grand narratives' of Western scholars (e.g., Foucault, Mafessoli, Bourdieu, Deleuze, Baudrillard, Nietzsche, Durkheim, Derrida, etc.). Therefore, from an ontological perspective, it seems that our existing knowledge about non-Western societies lies heavily on the 'theoretical structures' that are 'constructed' by Western philosophy as a set of ideas, beliefs, and practices (Said, 1978). As Belk (1995) reminds us, consumption culture always existed in all human societies. What makes contemporary societies different from that of our predecessors' is not the fact that consumption culture did not exist in those societies, but that consumption culture has become a prevailing feature in modern society (Slater, 1997; Lury, 1996; Fırat and Venkatesh, 1995; McCracken, 1988). Therefore, the nature and dynamics of consumption culture in each society should be studied not only against the sociocultural, historical, and economic background of a given context (Western or non-Western) but also with reference to the philosophical and epistemological viewpoints that analyse and interpret cultural practices of that society from within that culture. Addressing such issues, this paper discusses some of the key reasons for lack of theory development in the field from non-western contexts. The paper invites scholars in non-Western contexts to introduce the less articulated, and sometime hidden, body of knowledge from their own contexts into the field of marketing in general and consumer research in particular

An analysis of material consumption culture in the Muslim world

In this paper, we examine the notion of material consumption culture in Islamic societies. We differentiate between institutionalised religion and religion as culture. We contest the Orientalist portrayal of Islam as a fanatic ideology opposed to Western Modernity’s features of secularism, individualism, and pluralism. With reference to the Qur’anic text, we discuss that such qualities are embedded with Islam. We do not interpret the Qur’an from a theological perspective; rather, we seek to demonstrate the possibilities of its multiple interpretations. We argue that, in their everyday life consumption practices, Muslims (re)interpret religious guidelines in different ways and refer to Islam, as a transcendental set of guidelines, to make better sense of their cultural practices in different ways. We summarise our discussion by highlighting the importance of analysing the culture of consumption from the lens of insiders and offer directions for future research

Image-guided Placement of Magnetic Neuroparticles as a Potential High-Resolution Brain-Machine Interface

We are developing methods of noninvasively delivering magnetic neuroparticles™ via intranasal administration followed by image-guided magnetic propulsion to selected locations in the brain. Once placed, the particles can activate neurons via vibrational motion or magnetoelectric stimulation. Similar particles might be used to read out neuronal electrical pulses via spintronic or liquid-crystal magnetic interactions, for fast bidirectional brain-machine interface. We have shown that particles containing liquid crystals can be read out with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using embedded magnetic nanoparticles and that the signal is visible even for voltages comparable to physiological characteristics. Such particles can be moved within the brain (e.g., across midline) without causing changes to neurological firing

Post-Operative Functional Outcomes in Early Age Onset Rectal Cancer

Background: Impairment of bowel, urogenital and fertility-related function in patients treated for rectal cancer is common. While the rate of rectal cancer in the young (<50 years) is rising, there is little data on functional outcomes in this group. Methods: The REACCT international collaborative database was reviewed and data on eligible patients analysed. Inclusion criteria comprised patients with a histologically confirmed rectal cancer, <50 years of age at time of diagnosis and with documented follow-up including functional outcomes. Results: A total of 1428 (n=1428) patients met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final analysis. Metastatic disease was present at diagnosis in 13%. Of these, 40% received neoadjuvant therapy and 50% adjuvant chemotherapy. The incidence of post-operative major morbidity was 10%. A defunctioning stoma was placed for 621 patients (43%); 534 of these proceeded to elective restoration of bowel continuity. The median follow-up time was 42 months. Of this cohort, a total of 415 (29%) reported persistent impairment of functional outcomes, the most frequent of which was bowel dysfunction (16%), followed by bladder dysfunction (7%), sexual dysfunction (4.5%) and infertility (1%). Conclusion: A substantial proportion of patients with early-onset rectal cancer who undergo surgery report persistent impairment of functional status. Patients should be involved in the discussion regarding their treatment options and potential impact on quality of life. Functional outcomes should be routinely recorded as part of follow up alongside oncological parameters

Security Metrics for e-Healthcare Information Systems: A Domain Specific Metrics Approach

Information sharing among different healthcare organizations is critical for efficient and cost effective healthcare service delivery. Healthcare organisations with information systems need to be interconnected to ensure information exchange. Interconnectivity increases exposure to risk of damage, loss and fraud. Security and privacy of patients\u27 information are concerns of all healthcare organizations. These concerns hinder the willingness to share data across different organizations. An objective assessment of organisational security posture is required in order to build trust and confidence among different entities in the e-Healthcare ecosystem. Security metrics are a collection of several measurements taken at different points in time, compared against baseline and interpretedInformation sharing among different healthcare organizations is critical for efficient and cost effective healthcare service delivery. Healthcare organisations with information systems need to be interconnected to ensure information exchange. Interconnectivity increases exposure to risk of damage, loss and fraud. Security and privacy of patients’ information are concerns of all healthcare organizations. These concerns hinder the willingness to share data across different organizations. An objective assessment of organisational security posture is required in order to build trust and confidence among different entities in the eHealthcare ecosystem. Security metrics are a collection of several measurements taken at different points in time, compared against baseline and interpreted to reveal an understanding. Metrics provides insight, improve visibility and accountability, and can reveal the overall security posture of organisation. The current security assessment practices focus either on measuring security programme effectiveness, auditing or assessment of individual information systems components like networks and software. There are discrepancies in the way security is given meaning and quantified in several other approaches. These discrepancies affect their adoption as programmes to derive trustworthy measurable results. Several security assessment practices not sufficiently address measuring the overall security posture of an organization. For those that do, their assessment results are not meaningfully comparable among different organisations. In this paper we present an analysis of selected approaches, identifying their bias, and propose an approach for developing security metrics to be used for assessing security posture of healthcare organizations. The metrics for this approach shall not be tailored to any specific organisation to ensure comparable result