Internet-based Information And Communication Technologies Research Articles

Patient and healthcare professional eHealth literacy and needs for systemic sclerosis support: a mixed methods study

ObjectivesWe engaged patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and healthcare professionals to assess electronic health (eHealth) literacy and needs relating to web-based support using internet-based information and communication technologies (ICT).MethodsWe employed...

Smart Industry: How ICT Will Change the Game!

Companies in all fields are facing a new worldwide revolution: integrating Internet-based information and communication technology (ICT) into their complete value chains. This development is often referred to as the industrial Internet of things (IIoT), smart industry (SI), or Industry 4.0. Beyond leading to more efficient and adaptive production and supply-chain processes, it also will lead to a complete new generation of always-connected products. The articles in this issue cover important issues in Internet-related innovations for smart industry.

Book Review: The Handbook of Global Online Journalism

Eugenia Siapera and Andreas Veglis (Eds.). The Handbook of Global Online Journalism. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. 528 pp.Few would dispute that new information and communication technology (ICT) is reshaping the pattern of global news consumption. According to Pew's survey Trends in News Consumption: 1991-2012 (http://tinyurl.com/8r5v7rs), for example, search- ing for news online and from digital sources continues to grow. About one-half (46 percent) of Americans say they get news online days a week or more, with about one-third (32 percent) going online for news every day.Meanwhile Internet-based ICT is also reformatting news production. Online news outlets appear to become increasingly mainstream, supplanting the media, particularly newspapers. This trend can be seen partially from the peer recogni- tion of professional achievements in online journalism. In 2010, for instance, inves- tigative journalist at ProPublica and a cartoonist at SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle's online portal, won Pulitzer Prizes for online-only editorial content for the first time in history. It is fair to say that such trends that is experiencing today have been restructuring the curriculum in education and training in higher education institutions. Although course titles vary among web, digital, interac- tive, multimedia, convergence, and the like, traditional education units have embraced the change, and more than one hundred digital/multimedia programs are offered across this country as of 2012 (http://www.mulinblog.com/ multimedia-journalism-programs/). The Handbook of Global Online Journalism, in this context, offers a timely option for students who want to keep themselves current with the online new media landscape, as well as for instructors who try to strike a fine balance between teaching theories and introducing cutting-edge practices concerning the gathering, production, dissemination, and consumption of news through Internet- based platforms globally.This edited volume features a collection of twenty-five chapters from researchers and practitioners who examine a variety of aspects related to online journalism, includ- ing theories, politics, production, practices, contents, and global contexts. The first highlight of this book is the editors' introduction that surveys the evolution of online journalism, relevant research, and theoretical strands. Borrowing ideas from the evolu- tion theory, Siapera and Veglis use the extinction and mutation of dinosaurs as a meta- phor to depict the development of online and help readers better understand the interaction between the ICT-driven changes in media environment and the advance of the modality of journalism.Trying to draw a holistic picture of the evolution of online journalism, the editors start by presenting an instructive analogy with the current fate of some of the many species of journalism (p. 2) and put forward three evolutionary possibilities (p. 4). For the first possibility, according to the editors, newspapers and print in general seem to be fading out like dinosaurs if they do not adapt to the dramatic changes taking place in mass media. Meanwhile, the main traits, values, or defining characteristics of journalism (p. 3), such as public service, objectivity, autonomy, and journalistic ethics, need to be reinterpreted through online news production against sociopolitical, economic, and technological changes. Second, traditional strives to survive by actively embracing new attributes of Internet-based communica- tion to revamp the production of news for online platforms. The particular character- istics, such as multimediality, interactivity, user-generated content, and personalization (p. 4), although not seen in traditional news production, make online fit naturally into the new media ecosystem. Then, mutation becomes possible as a higher level of evolution of online journalism. …

Moldova's internet revolution: Analyzing the role of technologies in various phases of the confrontation

In recent times we have witnessed the fundamental impacts that information and communication technologies (ICTs) have had on the outcomes of contentious political confrontations. In this paper, we analyze the role played by Internet-based and cellular ICTs in Moldova's Revolution of April 2009. Specifically, we identify what, why, and how technologies were used during various phases of the uprising. Our findings show that: 1) the protesters organized their initial mobilization through social network services (SNS) and short message service (SMS); 2) Twitter was mostly used during later phases of the revolution – the active street protests and the subsequent information war – for communication about the conflict both locally and globally; and 3) through skillful use of new Internet-based ICTs, it is possible to conduct a successful revolution without noticeable prior offline organization. Theoretical and practical implications for the use of ICTs in contentious political environments are also discussed.

Role of Internet-based information flows and technologies in electoral revolutions: The case of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution

Internet-based information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the information flows they support have played an important role in the advancement of society. In this paper we investigate the role of Internet-based ICTs in electoral revolutions. Employing a case study approach, we examine the part played by ICTs during the Orange Revolution in Ukraine (2000-2004). Roles and activities of the dissenters, as well as their associates, the incumbent authorities and their allies are analyzed with regard to Internet-based technologies during the electoral revolution in Ukraine. The case of the Orange Revolution is particularly salient, as even though only one-two percent of the Ukrainian population had access to the Internet, this was sufficient to mobilize the citizens towards an eventually successful revolution. This paper lays the groundwork for further investigations into use of ICTs by political dissenters.

Factors influencing internet-based information and communication technologies adoption among Malaysian small and medium enterprises

This paper aims to determine the factors influencing the adoption of internet-based Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Based on the extended Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) model, a questionnaire-based survey was carried out to collect data from 406 managers or owners of SMEs in the southern region of Malaysia. Inferential analyses reveal that relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability and security are significant factors influencing internet-based ICT adoption. The findings are discussed and interpreted to provide important implications to the policy makers in general and to the SMEs in particular.

Developing a framework to analyse the roles and relationships of online intermediaries

Internet-based information and communication technologies (ICTs) have offered opportunities to reconfigure supply chains. A new kind of intermediary has emerged in many industries; the cybermediary—an online intermediary that only operates in the virtual environment. Many new types of online intermediary have emerged with differing business models. As yet, there have been few attempts to describe and categorise their e-business practices or to analyse the roles that they play within their supply chains. This paper seeks to address this deficiency by addressing both the theory and practise of online intermediaries. A two-dimensional framework based on the roles of cybermediaries and their relationships between supplier and buyer in the supply chain is developed from a synthesis of the extant literature. Five roles of cybermediaries are identified: informational, transactional, assurance, logistical and customisation. Cybermediary relationships are characterised in terms of their affiliation to customers and suppliers. Case studies of three online intermediaries are presented to illustrate and test the framework. An analysis of the empirical data from these cases served to demonstrate the utility of the framework in categorising online intermediaries and offering additional understandings of the rapidly evolving world of virtual supply chains.

Theoretical and Methodological Significance of Information and Communication Technology in Educational Practice

In September 1998 the Research Network ‘ICT in Education and Training’ was initiated at the conference of the European Educational Research Association (EERA). The new network reflected the recognition and growing importance of information and communication technology (ICT) with respect to education and learning processes. ICT was, for example, expected to aid in transforming education, to better fit the learning of various types of pupils, and to assist in the prevention of school demotivation and drop-out. Moreover, ICT was assumed to help in overcoming negative consequences of organizational differences between schools and in improving learning processes and effects of learners both in and out of school. Since the initiation of this network, a stable number of more than 50 ICT-oriented contributions from all over Europe and abroad have been presented yearly at the educational conferences of EERA. Each year rather different themes and particularities can be noticed, but it also seems that some specific topics come up again and again. In my opinion these recurring themes reflect the possibility of fulfilling at least part of the original expectations and promises associated with the introduction of ICT in education and training. These issues have to do with the theoretical foundation of transformational aspects of ICT, in particular of Internet-based ICT; with various methodological aspects which are related to these transformational potentials of ICT; and the development and implementation of such aspects and potentials both in and outside school practice; and the experiences or results of these ICT-based approaches compared with more traditional educational processes and effects. To further develop such topics in the European context and to promote the possibilities of their development and realization in research and in practice, I selected some exemplary contributions to the EERA conference in 2005. The focus was on promising theoretical and methodological papers that could make the future-oriented transformation claims more concrete, as much as possible in reliable and valid ways. This includes a concentration on theoretical analysis and reflection, the necessary systemic design of education to promote and optimise learning processes and effects, the integration of multilevel organizational and managerial support facilities, and appropriate procedures to administer or monitor and evaluate learning in and outside school. Although more contributions on the 2005 conference seemed relevant, for pragmatic reasons four contributions were chosen to represent the aforementioned focus on the ‘transformation’ role of ICT in education and training. The goal of their presentation in this issue of European Educational Research Journal (EERJ) is to promote their impact and illustrative role in both the European research agenda and – possibly – forthcoming EERA conferences. In the first article Colin Harrison pays attention to what he calls ‘postmodern research and elearning’. He clarifies that, by taking another position or another view, we see other things than before, or represent the world in other ways than we were used to. The result is that we get along

Measuring the value and sustainability of internet-based ICTs in healthcare organisations

This paper deals with technology assessment of internet-based Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Healthcare Organisations (HCOs). The authors formalise an original framework that support decision making and resource allocation. The framework takes into account the recent contributions in the literature and it has been tailored to RIS-PACS systems, even if its design is generalisable to other healthcare ICTs. Two main concepts have been deployed: the 'value' of an ICT investment for a HCO and the level of 'sustainability' of this investment. Each concept has been operationalised in a set of measurable variables, allowing healthcare managers to place an internet-based ICT investment in a decisional space. Ad hoc selection criteria are suggested. Empirical data were gathered from an in detail case study on an Italian teaching HCO.

E-delivery of personalised healthcare information to intermediaries for suicide prevention

A novel use of store-forward telemedicine is described in which healthcare information is provided via internet-based information and communication technologies (ICTs) to an intermediary (a third-party observer) rather than directly to the patient to deliver suicide prevention e-healthcare. To be effective, information must be tailored specifically for each type of intermediary to enable improved decision making in interacting with the patient. The healthcare system filters data and delivers personalised healthcare information enabled by Internet-based ICTs for a specific type of user. An application to mental health is presented.

Avoiding the fate of the dotbombs: lessons from three surviving dotcom start‐ups

This paper reports on research that investigates how three start‐up dotcoms, founded at the height of the Internet boom avoided joining the many dotbombs of the subsequent crash of the Internet economy. The paper describes how the companies made use of Internet‐based information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their business operations. It draws lessons from their experiences that might be applied more generally to other dotcom start‐ups. These centre on the need to use the technology to manage business processes to meet the clearly definable needs of a targeted niche of customers. The desirability of suitable in‐house ICT expertise is stressed.

PROJECT WEBS AND NEW MODES OF ORGANISING IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR: INSIGHTS FROM AN IN-DEPTH COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY.

The article discusses a study that investigates the effectiveness of internet-based information and communication technologies (ICT) when used in construction work. The article describes the ICT pr...

Gender as a Factor in the Uptake and Use of ICTs on Family Farms in Southern Queensland, Australia

It is often suggested that farming womens increased access to technology particularly information and communication technologies (ICTs) will increase their power on the farm and in related agribusiness activities. A study of the use of ICTs on family cotton farms in southern Queensland Australia sought to discover whether tools such as cellular phones. CB radios computers fax machines and the telephone had gendered patterns of usage. An analysis of these patterns of usage applying a well-known theory of the social construction of gender and technology was carried out in the context of family cotton farms in Southern Queensland Australia. The focus of the analysis was on the gender-based division of labor and on the power relations embodied in the usage of the technologies. The study found that access to such technologies did not result in appreciable changes in womens power nor in changes to the established gender-based division of labor. It is therefore highly unlikely that Internet-based ICTs will deliver on their promises of womens empowerment particularly in family farm contexts. (authors)

Gender as a Factor in the Uptake and Use of ICTs on Family Farms in Southern Queensland, Australia

It is often suggested that farming women ’s increased access to technology, particularly information and communication technologies (ICTs), will increase their power on the farm and in related agribusiness activities. A study of the use of ICTs on family cotton farms in southern Queensland, Australia, sought to discover whether tools such as cellular phones, CB radios, computers, fax machines, and the telephone had gendered patterns of usage. An analysis of these patterns of usage, applying a well-known theory of the social construction of gender and technology, was carried out in the context of family cotton farms in Southern Queensland, Australia. The focus of the analysis was on the gender-based division of labor and on the power relations embodied in the usage of the technologies. The study found that access to such technologies did not result in appreciable changes in women ’s power, nor in changes to the established gender-based division of labor. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that Internet-based ICTs will deliver on their promises of women ’s empowerment, particularly in family farm contexts.

INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION IN THE SELECTION AND USE OF COMMUNICATION MEDIA

The ongoing revolution in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is necessitating a shift in emphasis from the traditional media to the use of multi-media interactive systems by business communicators, academics, and many professional vocations. In many areas that involve ICT use, individuals may be forced to adopt these systems as a matter of necessity. Basing on existing literature, this paper discusses the motives behind media selection and use by individuals targeted by business communicators or academics. A psychological perspective is considered that applies intrinsic and extrinsic motivational concepts to communication phenomena. The paper also tries to develop an analytical understanding of human communication-related behavior with respect to the two types of motives. Proposals are also put forward to communication policy makers and implementers in developing countries to develop appropriate techniques for motivating their targeted clients to engage themselves more actively in communication experiences involving the use of Internet-based ICTs. University of Dar es Salaam Library Journal: 2003 4(1&2): 104-120