Efficiency ranking of the OECD member states in the area of telecommunications: A composite AHP/DEA study

The purpose of this work is to compare and then rank all (30) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member states as regards telecommunications efficiency. The required data series come from OECD's Telecommunications Database 2005. Two quantitative instruments have been employed: analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). Pair-wise country performance evaluation has been constructed at four levels by means of AHP. A two-dimensional analysis for assessing country efficiency in telecommunications has been carried out using both AHP and DEA. The overall analysis points to four different efficiency groups; each group occupies one of four possible quadrants. Eight countries have been found efficient on both dimensions of the productivity-revenue plane: they form the overall efficiency frontier and serve as benchmarks for the rest of the countries. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the results obtained, with an emphasis on the requirements for improving the efficiency of the countries lagging behind their respective benchmarks. The numerical examples given illustrate the effort required by these less efficient countries towards achieving full efficiency. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Evaluation of publicly-funded research in greece: A time-level analysis of the information technology sector

The formulation of research policy in Greece has its roots in the late 1970s. The behaviour is examined of nation-wide research programmes that have been applied over the last decade, in particular in the Information Technology sector; other important R&D sectors are partially covered, to show significant differences. The methodology used is based on information available to the authors through official sources, and the adopted modelling scheme makes use of techniques of multi-dimensional statistics. It is concluded that, during the initial period of the creation of the Greek R&D system, Information Technology presents itself as one of the best organised sectors, showing a maturity in the conduct of research and a high potential for the future. © Beech Tree Publishing 1994

Evaluation of publicly-funded research in greece: A time-level analysis of the information technology sector

The formulation of research policy in Greece has its roots in the late 1970s. The behaviour is examined of nation-wide research programmes that have been applied over the last decade, in particular in the Information Technology sector; other important R&D sectors are partially covered, to show significant differences. The methodology used is based on information available to the authors through official sources, and the adopted modelling scheme makes use of techniques of multi-dimensional statistics. It is concluded that, during the initial period of the creation of the Greek R&D system, Information Technology presents itself as one of the best organised sectors, showing a maturity in the conduct of research and a high potential for the future. © Beech Tree Publishing 1994

Near-optimal analysis of homogeneous central-server queueing networks

The problem of achieving near-optimality in homogeneous central-server queueing networks is investigated by means of a composite approach based on approximate operational analysis and goal programming procedures. A near-optimal solution is shown to exist: this includes the expected overall waiting time, the overall throughput rate, as well as the distribution of queue length values. The need to maintain a balanced network flow and the desire to minimize the overall waiting time are expressed as complimentary objectives. Numerical results, based on past measurements from a multi-server computing facility, indicate that the performance gains obtained by the application of the present methodology are quite significant throughout the network's feasible population scale. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Evaluating productive efficiency in telecommunications: Evidence from Greece

Many public telecommunications organizations (PTOs) in the OECD domain, and especially in Europe, have central administrations and maintain regional network infrastructures. Using the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) as an example PTO, we investigate the productive efficiency of the OTE's regional network and suggest actions for improving present operational inefficiencies. Such actions are necessary for enhancing policies and management practices in the field of telecommunications in Greece. The evaluation methodology presented in this study, which is based on standardized measurements, could also be applicable to other PTOs with regional infrastructures

Implementation of advanced telecommunications and services in the Greek academic and research environment: Main issues and results

Efforts for the introduction within the Greek academic-research domain of telecommunication infrastructures based on international standards date back to the early 1980s. Today, the focus is on the deployment of high-performance networks capable of supporting advanced telematic applications such as distance learning, teletraining, and telemedicine. Recent efforts aimed at the implementation of advanced telecommunications and telematic services considered important for Greece are examined in this paper. These efforts are within the framework of activities for the realization of the European information superhighway. It is concluded that the benefits obtained to date for the academic and research community in Greece are significant; further, the experience obtained is expected to produce, in the course of time, multiplicative benefits across wider sections of the Greek society

Efficient storage allocation for processing in backlog-controlled queueing networks using multicriteria techniques

Problems of efficient storage allocation arise in many real situations in which there exists competition for the use of available resources. In the present study, the problem of allocating efficiently waiting space for processing in closed queueing networks which support external backlog is investigated by a composite methodology based on operational (i.e. non-stochastic) queueing theory and multicriteria techniques. The usefulness of the methodology adopted is demonstrated in the field of computer communications for networks with arbitrary topology. For such networks, the above methodology can be implemented in a series of specific steps

Comparing the operational efficiency of the main European telecommunications organizations: A quantitative analysis

There are today many operators competing within the European telecommunications market. For these operators, efficiency should be considered as a key element for achieving greater revenue and enhancing market position. In this paper, comparison is made of the main European public telecommunications organizations (PTOs) in terms of their operational efficiency using data envelopment analysis, a well-known quantitative technique from operational research. The analysis is based on data provided in the edition (Communications Outlook, 1999, OECD Publication Service, Paris). The main conclusion is that full operational efficiency can equally be achieved by PTOs with large revenues as well as by others with medium and smaller revenues. Also notable is the presence of certain PTOs with full efficiency ratings which are considered here as models or benchmarks for the less efficient organizations. Finally, some implications of the findings for telecommunications management are examined at the end of this paper. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Efficiency ranking of the OECD member states in the area of telecommunications: A composite AHP/DEA study

The purpose of this work is to compare and then rank all (30) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member states as regards telecommunications efficiency. The required data series come from OECD's Telecommunications Database 2005. Two quantitative instruments have been employed: analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). Pair-wise country performance evaluation has been constructed at four levels by means of AHP. A two-dimensional analysis for assessing country efficiency in telecommunications has been carried out using both AHP and DEA. The overall analysis points to four different efficiency groups; each group occupies one of four possible quadrants. Eight countries have been found efficient on both dimensions of the productivity-revenue plane: they form the overall efficiency frontier and serve as benchmarks for the rest of the countries. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the results obtained, with an emphasis on the requirements for improving the efficiency of the countries lagging behind their respective benchmarks. The numerical examples given illustrate the effort required by these less efficient countries towards achieving full efficiency.Analytic hierarchy process Data envelopment analysis Production and revenue efficiency Telecommunications Benchmarking Policy requirements OECD area