ICT Business Research Articles

EXPLORING CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS TO ICT ADOPTION AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IN THE WESTERN BALKAN ECONOMIES

The ICT industry in the Western Balkans presents a highly advanced and favorable sector with substantial potential to positively influence economic development. This sector has demonstrated great potential in creating new employment opportunities for young entrepreneurs, thereby positively impacting the region's export levels. Economic growth models emphasize the role of technology in maintaining productivity and economic development. This paper presents a literature review highlighting the impact of ICT on productivity within the Western Balkans (WB) and the structural convergence of the region. Utilizing secondary data and analyses from various scholars, this review explores different indicators for each country in the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The initial conclusion indicates that while the Western Balkans exhibit a tendency towards productivity convergence among themselves and towards the EU, this progress lags behind the pace of GDP per capita convergence. The impact of ICT development in the region is significant both at the firm level and in terms of overall economic growth, yet it remains behind other regions. Promoting incentives for ICT businesses and fostering innovation is crucial to enhancing the region's economic competitiveness.

Electronic Marketing Strategies and Customer Satisfaction of Commercial Banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State

The study examined the relationship between Electronic Marketing Strategies and Customer Satisfaction of commercial banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The study adopted the correlation survey research design. The target population of this study comprised of 21 registered commercial banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State gotten through the Central Bank of Nigeria. Given a population of 21 banks which is less than thirty (30), the study adopted a census approach and undertook a study of the entire 21 banks with a focus on the staff (ICT personnel, Service Managers and Business Development Managers). To generate data for the study, sixty-three (63) copies of the questionnaire were given to the twenty-one (21) registered Banks in the frame of three (3) copies per bank. The questionnaire was structured on a four (4) point Likert scale. The data collected through the questionnaire were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. From the bivariate analysis carried out, it was discovered that electronic marketing strategies showed a significant relationship with customer satisfaction of commercial banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It was revealed that content marketing showed a very strong and significant relationship with customer retention of commercial banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Also, e-mail marketing showed a moderate and significant relationship with customer retention of commercial banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The study concludes that electronic marketing strategies are significant predictors of customer satisfaction of commercial banks in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The study recommends that banks should create content on various social media platforms as this would increase customer retention and they should adopt e-mail marketing in reaching out to customers. This would increase customer patronage and retention.

Enforcement methods and influential factors of competitive intelligence ethics adoption: a case of South African ICT industry

The defining characteristic of CI practice is the implementation and strict adherence to ethical principles. While there is evidence of ongoing CI practices by corporations, critics argue that there is a dearth of scientific research on the implementation and enforcement of CI ethics. Critics contend that the absence of ethical adoption and enforcement of competitive intelligence (CI) principles has created a nebulous zone that blurs the distinction between CI and industrial espionage. The adoption and implementation of competitive intelligence (CI) ethics guarantees that companies engage in ethical and legal CI practices. It improves the standing of companies and reduces the cost of having to restore a damaged reputation. The aim of this study was to determine the level of acceptance of corporate integrity ethics in the ICT industry in South Africa. Furthermore, the objective is to evaluate the strategies employed for enforcing ethical practices and the various elements that impact the adoption of corporate integrity ethics in the ICT industry in South Africa. The research employed a quantitative approach, utilizing a web-based questionnaire to gather data from professionals working in the South African ICT business. The study discovered that South African ICT companies fully embraced CI ethics. Furthermore, the study identified seven elements that have an impact on the adoption of CI ethics, as well as multiple approaches for enforcing ethical practices. As a result, South African ICT enterprises are able to save money that would otherwise be spent on repairing their reputation after being accused of industrial espionage. Furthermore, companies should enhance and diminish aspects that have a positive and negative impact on the adoption of CI ethics, respectively.

Penguatan Legalitas Usaha Berbasis Information Communication Technology (ICT) dalam Meningkatkan Pendapatan bagi UMKM

Purpose: The specific objective to be achieved in this service activity is to assist MSMEs in Burai Village in strengthening business legality, so as to increase competitiveness. Methodology/approach: The method used to implementing community service is service and assistance in meeting needs through service assistance and education. The series of methods used consisted of lectures, demonstrations, and mentoring. Results/findings: The implementation of community service activities in Burai Village received high enthusiasm from MSME players and involved support from the Village Head, community participation, enthusiasm of the participants, and assistance by the service team. On the other hand, the obstacles in this activity involve limited training time and distance, as well as obstacles in training follow-up. The impact of this activity involves increased knowledge about ICT-Based Business Legality, increased interest in entrepreneurship, and forum for marketing products through Digital Marketing. Nonetheless, there still challenges related to the lack of ICT usage and low business capital. Phase two mentoring highlighted legality issues and the lack of ICT utilization by MSMEs. Solutions include improving knowledge of business, SWOT analysis of MSME products, and optimization of digital marketing. It is also focus on appropriate digital media channels, maintaining customer loyalty, and innovative marketing strategies. Limitation: The implementation of mentoring requires limited time, causing the results achieved to be not optimal. The legality of MSMEs in Burai Village can be achieved if the mentoring process is carried out continuously. Contribution: The community service activities in Burai showed high enthusiasm and active support from MSME actors and related parties. Although successful in increasing knowledge and interest in entrepreneurship, challenges that need to be overcome involve limited use of ICT and low business capital.

Relationship Between ICT Usage and Business Strategy Development by SME’s in Zanzibar

Relationship Between ICT Usage and Business Strategy Development by SME’s in Zanzibar

Assessment of the impact of digitalization on business development in EU countries and Ukraine

The article assesses the prospects for the development of entrepreneurial activity in the EU and Ukraine in the conditions of digitalization of the economy. A methodical approach for the analysis of the development of entrepreneurial activity in the EU countries and Ukraine in the context of the digitalization of the economy has been formed, which consists of three stages. Attention is drawn to the fact that the WDCR, NRI, GII indices combine mainly institutional, economic and technological indicators that reflect the development of regulatory and legal research base, use of ICT in business, information security. The EGDI index has a more social orientation and reflects socio-economic integration - it is designed to assess the level of development of the information society. An analysis of the dynamics of changes in entrepreneurial activity in EU countries and Ukraine in the conditions of digitalization of the economy was carried out. It was established that despite the lower level of development of digitalization in Ukraine compared to the EU countries, the development trends both in the EU as a whole and in Ukraine clearly coincide. The impact of the digital component on the development of entrepreneurial activity in EU countries and Ukraine was modeled using correlation-regression analysis. It was noted that the level of digitalization does not affect the speed of the legislative body's reaction to eliminate the deterioration of the conditions of business activity, and the establishment of index indicators only according to the adopted normative legal acts does not take into account the effectiveness of the implementation of legislative changes in the field of business activity. It was concluded that among the three variables, the e-government development index has the greatest influence on the development of entrepreneurial activity. Belgium, Croatia, Italy, Slovakia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Hungary have the greatest direct relationship between the development of entrepreneurial activity, the digital government development index, and digital competitiveness.

Cloud-based solutions used by hungarian SMEs and analysis of its effects

The wide range of technological innovations took place in the post-millennium period and later became widely available have fundamentally reshaped the relationship between ICT infrastructure and business in the life of for-profit organizations. This is particularly true for the so-called primary (value-creating) processes. These technologies that have fundamentally transformed the way business organizations operate are collectively referred to as "Industry 4.0" technologies. A significant group of these technologies are the cloud-based solutions. By using these solutions, the users can get benefits from the ICT infrastructure through a third-party service. These services can be applications made available on a specific online interface (SaaS), or various platform elements (PaaS, for example: application servers, virtual servers, etc.) or infrastructure elements such as leased computing capacity (IaaS). By using cloud-based solutions, the customer can avoid the investment needed to run the ICT infrastructure and the additional problems rooted by the operation of ICT-infrastructure. A questionnaire survey was carried out in early 2019, in which 498 respondents voluntarily participated. The survey investigated the deployment level of ICT infrastructure among SMEs in Hungary, its information security consequences and how the management of the for-profit organizations evaluate the contribution of ICT infrastructure to the success of their business. The use of different cloud-based solutions was also measured in the mentioned questionnaire. The paper presents the research results of the prevalence of use of different cloud solutions with similar studies in the region. Furthermore, it examines whether cloud solutions have individually detectable beneficial effects on business operations, and whether synergies can be identified when multiple cloud applications are used together. Based on the qualitative results of the research and their interpretation, a broader analysis has been offered.

Enabling Practical Decision Making For Sustainable Green Data Center Planning

Data centers play a crucial role in storing and processing data in today's digital age, leading to a surge in demand for sustainable green data center planning. However, implementing practical measures to achieve sustainability remains a challenge for data center managers. This study aims to aid their informed decision-making in sustainable green data center planning. Previous research has identified seven green data center key components: ICT governance, infrastructure, energy, equipment lifecycle, green technology, benchmarking, and business continuity. Subsequently, the study expanded by utilizing the FAHP method to evaluate the perspectives of various experienced data center. Those green data center components were evaluated against each other regarding the three sustainability criteria: environment, economy, and corporate. Consequently, it was discovered that infrastructure, green technology, and business continuity consistently held the highest fuzzy weight in multiple sensitivity analysis scenarios. Thus, data center managers can allocate resources based on priority rankings and adjust accordingly.

COLLEGE OF COMPUTER STUDIES ALUMNI WOMEN’S PERCEPTIONS OF WORKING IN THE ICT INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT The information and communication technology sector are taking on an increasingly significant impact on the global economy. Women are in high demand for highly qualified workers to meet the growing demand of this expanding sector. The context for this paper is the ongoing under-representation of women from the College of Computer Studies in the ICT industry, as well as the industrys complexities in retaining women, especially at senior levels. Data on the demographic composition of women from College of Computer Studies alumni in the ICT industry are presented. Furthermore, the author focuses on their domestic management and caring responsibilities, as well as the changes in their professional methods that were brought about as a direct consequence of these responsibilities. Given recent government and business discussions over work-life balance and flexible working in the ICT sector, which are partially in response to the need for a more diversified ICT workforce, these facts are highly relevant. In addition to discussing the career histories of female ICT workers, the author investigates their perspectives of compensation and benefits, working conditions, the talents they possess, and the recognition they may or may not receive in their current positions. They provide evidence of a long-hours and presenteeism culture in the ICT business, as well as gendered informal networks inside the industry. Additionally, they analyze the perspectives of female ICT workers about the industrys current and potential future image. The findings emphasize the continuous masculinization of ICT employment, as well as some of the obstacles women encounter while working in statistically and symbolically male-dominated environments. KEYWORDS: Women in ICT, Women ICT Careers, Perceptions, ICT Workforce

What Cyber Security Can Learn from Local Government

Abstract Dave Richardson MBCS, ICT and Digital Services Business Manager at Newark and Sherwood District Council, explains how local authorities can lead by example in tackling the information security challenge.

From an Environmental Viewpoint Large ICT Networks Infrastructure Equipment must not be Reused

Circular strategies must and will vary for different product groups. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will help show which is the best strategy in any given situation as not all Circular Economy initiatives lead to universal sustainability benefits. There is a misunderstanding that lifetime extension via remanufacturing and refurbishment is ecologically effective for Business’, ’to’, ’Business ICT goods like ICT network infrastructure (ICTNI) products. This is shown herein by typical relations between manufacturing and the use of environmental impact for ICTNI products as a function of the energy efficiency and lifetime of the product at hand and the next corresponding product model. Full LCA would come to the same conclusion, as the ratio between the use stage and the production stage will not change dramatically. To avoid doing very significant harm to the environment, older than 5 years ICTNI products must not be reused. The reasons are that the energy efficiency improvement rate of the following generation of most ICTNI products is constant, the lifetime is usually more than 10 years and the share of manufacturing environmental impact will be relatively low even when low environmental impact electric power is used for the operation.

The Role of ICT Business Infrastructure in The Provision of Business Development Services to Tanzanian Small and Medium Enterprises

Purpose: The study intends to investigate the usage of ICT infrastructures in the provision of Business Development Services to SMEs in Tanzania. Specifically, the paper ascertains constraints to accessing ICT Business infrastructures by SMEs and proposes strategies for improving access.
 Design/Methodology/ Approach: The study used a mixed method approach, with purposive and simple random sampling, to recruit 28 entrepreneurs and two officials from TANTRADE and BRELA. To collect data, a Likert scale questionnaire with 32 statements was used, and the data was later analyzed using SPSS, where mean and standard deviation were obtained, as well as Cronbach Alpha for content validity.
 Findings: ICT has increased the value and nature of business operations by SMEs in Tanzania through an increase in the number of customers, increasing sales and reducing costs of operation among others. Also, factors limiting ICT usage have been identified to be, a lack of ICT skills by users, Lack of enough investment in ICT infrastructures by stakeholders and other reasons such as security concerns that entrepreneurs are not sure of their privacy and trust in the internet which was accompanied with high charges of the internet to users.
 Research Limitation: This study primarily focused on SMEs in Dar es Salaam's urban settings, specifically in the Ilala municipal council.
 Practical Implication: Improving SMEs' use of ICT will result in increased sales and profitability, as well as improved entrepreneur livelihoods and contributions to national development.
 Social Implication: The study recommends policy options for improving BDS-related constraints among SMEs, such as improving ICT infrastructure and improving ICT knowledge and skills among users, which will improve local and international business for SMEs.
 Originality / Value/ Novelty: Given that earlier studies on BDS did not offer comprehensive solutions for SMEs to access Business Development Services and Support, this study also contributes to more innovative and inclusive strategies for empowering urban SMEs. Despite the fact that some of these studies are quantitative, others have only focused on officially recognized businesses, leaving the vast majority of SMEs unattended.

Implementation of ICT Continuity Plan (ICTCP) in the Higher Education Institutions (HEI’S): SUC’S Awareness and its Status

The purpose of this study was to assess the level of awareness of the management and the personnel within the academic institution and identify the implementation status of the ICTCP to the implementing SUCs. The researchers used the BCM Framework was utilized in this study as the model for identifying the level of awareness of the personnel within the institution about the ICTCP. The research respondents were the personnel employed in the different States, Universities, and Colleges (SUCs) within the province of Negros Occidental. The respondents were selected through random sampling, they were provided by a google form link to answer the survey questionnaire. A total of thirty-five (35) IT personnel were included in the study's sample size. It was found out that most SUCs have consistent ICT system uptime because they can continuously provide services; surprisingly, this is independent of an ICT business continuity plan. Most SUCs do not entirely implement their ICT business continuity plans. Lastly, it is recommended that SUCs can significantly enhance service delivery if ICT business continuity planning is taken seriously, adopted, and entirely carried out.

Оцінка розвитку цифровізації на підприємствах інформаційно-комунікаційних послуг України

This article is devoted to the current problems of the development of digitalization at enterprises of information and communication services in Ukraine, providing an assessment of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the integrative development of the ICT business. Recently, the sphere of information and communication technologies has been one of the most dynamic and developed types of economic activity in Ukraine. This market is a conductor of Ukraine’s entry into the global economic and information space. This, in turn, requires the adoption of balanced and justified management decisions and strategic directions of development, which should be based on clearly defined tasks and means of achieving them on the basis of the use of monitoring and diagnostic tools. It is defined that the development of enterprises of information and communication services of Ukraine is of strategic importance for the complementary development of all spheres of the economy of Ukraine and constitutes a platform for forcing and raising proactive business segments in general. The analysis of empirical analytical materials has made it possible to identify insufficient rates of digitalization of the Ukrainian economy compared to the rates of European countries and leading countries of the world, though domestic enterprises of telecommunication services demonstrate positive dynamics of performance results. This indicates a stable positive dynamics in the development of the information and communication sector of economic activity. It is found that the largest consumption of information and communication services occurs in the city of Kyiv, in Donetsk and Odesa regions. At the same time, digital technologies and IT products actively integrate only up to 30% of businesses into their activities. Still, the digital transformation of economic activity in the context of globalization is a key strategic task for the integrative development of enterprises.

ICT Usage In Empowering Rural Entrepreneurs In Penang, Malaysia

The use of ICT has the potential to contribute to the improvement of the business sustainability, especially for small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs), thus increasing community participation in entrepreneurship. This study was conducted to examine the relationship between ICT use practices in empowering rural entrepreneurs in Penang, Malaysia. The design of the study is quantitative in that the research instrument uses a questionnaire that has been distributed online (online survey) through Google Forms to the respondents. The sample of respondents in this study was selected using purposive and snowball samplings, which involved 158 rural entrepreneurs in Tasek Gelugor and Balik Pulau, Penang. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27.0. The results of the study found that the practice of using ICT in business, such as internet application medium (? = 0.91, p <0.05) and information sources (? = 0.19, p <0.05), is an indicator or predictor of the empowerment of urban entrepreneurs in Penang. This study can provide input to the government to formulate strategies to increase awareness among entrepreneurs about the importance of ICT, in addition to organizing programs and activities that can further improve the skills of entrepreneurs in the use of ICT.

The Nexus between Innovation and Internationalization. Evidence from a micro-level Survey of the Romanian ICT Business Sector

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to explore the nexus between innovation and internationalization (the “self-selection hypothesis”) in the behavior of business organizations operating in the ICT sector. The data was gathered from a survey of national and multinational companies in the Romanian ICT sector. The results show a significant positive influence between innovation and internationalization, although this relationship is more robust for multinational companies, due to the history and strategies of parent companies. The findings have major implications for literature, macroeconomic management, and business practice.

Predicting an ICT business process innovation as a digital transformation with machine learning techniques

ABSTRACT As digital transformation accelerates worldwide, ICT innovation capabilities are attracting attention as the core competitiveness of companies. However, ICT technologies evolve faster than other technologies, and it is difficult to predict their performance due to high uncertainty in terms of innovation characteristics. This study uses machine learning methods to predict ICT business process innovation performance and derives variables that most importantly affect performance prediction. This study used data from the 2020 Korea Innovation Survey. The main result was that the random forest model accurately predicted the ICT business process innovation performance. Among the four explanatory variables, information sources were the most critical factor in predicting innovation performance. This study provides several implications. First, it contributed to the research of technology forecasting by presenting a machine learning model that can accurately predict ICT innovation performance. Second, this study suggests that managers should actively utilise external information to engage in ICT innovation.

About The Author

About The Author

빅데이터에 기반한 공적개발원조에 관한 연구

Korea(R.O.K) is actively participating in the so-called concessional Overseas Official Development Assistance (ODA) project for developing countries. In this regard, this study examines the experience of constructing and utilizing Korea's commercial district information system based on various big data, and checks the experience under the 'Korean ODA model in the ICT sector' related to the 'ODA based on big data' of the OECD.&#x0D; Through this, this study emphasizes that the development of new ICT businesses and the expansion of added value are an opportunity to support the low-income class in recipient countries and to grow into emerging and developing countries, and also suggests that it can be a useful opportunity to enhance competitiveness. As an example for this, it examines the possibility of establishing a system for providing various information that can increase the added value of the tourism business in Kyrgyzstan.

Sustainable Development: Smart Co-Operative Management Framework

A smart co-operative refers to a co-operative that aims to apply ICT to provide better services and increase management efficiency to meet organizations’ goals through the combinations of ICT technology and business. In this paper, we propose the sustainable development smart co-operative framework, which specifically applies to all types of co-operatives which use information technology in their organization, enabling transformation to improve their services, management, and governance. In addition, we discuss ICT channel creation for improving knowledge, awareness, democracy, and the participation of members, a process in which IT contributes to the accessibility of members and communication between the co-operative, members, and stakeholders. The element design of this proposed framework has considered three key principles, which are (1) smart members, (2) the smart economy, and (3) smart governance. A smart co-operative is a term used to extend the concept of a smart city into co-operative organization to promote a sustainable development approach in the co-operative sector. Therefore, the smart co-operative combines ICT, smart concepts, co-operative business aspects, business models, and innovation. The findings suggest that the smart and sustainable development co-operative framework is suitable for co-operatives, providing a comprehensive framework for value creation through the smart co-operative concept.