Information Assurance and Corporate Strategy: A Delphi Study of Choices,Challenges, and Developments for the Future

In this article, we identified processes associated with strengthening the alignment between information assurance, information systems and corporate strategies so that organizations could more effectively address legal and regulatory challenges. Our results are based on data gathered from 43 preliminary interviews and a subsequent Delphi exercise. The Delphi panel rated these processes in terms of desirability and feasibility. After three rounds a consensus of opinion was achieved. The results of the Delphi together with some practical implications are presented.     

The Hyperlinked World: A Look at How the Interactions of News Frames and Hyperlinks Influence News Credibility and Willingness to Seek Information

Prior research has identified the influence of using hyperlinks in online information gathering. This study attempts to understand first, how hyperlinks can influence individuals' perceptions of news credibility and information‐seeking behavior. Second, the paper extends previous research by examining the interaction of hyperlinks with the content of the story. In doing so, the paper examines the influence of hyperlinks on news frames. The data for the study were collected using 2 experiments embedded in web‐based survey of participants. Findings show that hyperlinks in news stories can increase perceptions of credibility as well as information‐seeking. Results reveal the interaction of news frames in the process; hyperlinks increase participants' perception of news credibility; but only in the value‐framed condition. Implications are discussed.     

A Philosophy of Information Technology and Systems (IT & S) as Tools: Tool Development Context, Associated Skills and the Global Technology Transfer (GTT) Process

It is the intent of this paper to discuss a philosophy of Information Technology and Systems (IT & S) as tools and the impact of this philosophy on the Global Technical Transfer (GTT) process of IT & S.It is argued that IT & S by definition, are artefacts, tools that have been made, used, inherited and studied within a cultural context which encompasses economic, historical, technical and social values and assumptions which are focussed in particular skill sets. It is assumed that these skill sets are mostly in evidence in any culture that receives the IT & S tool for use in a technical transfer process. It is argued, therefore, if we understand the cultural context in which a tool is made then we will understand the skills to transfer and use such tools in an effective manner. The issue we must face as makers, users, inheritors and scholars of IT & S tools, however, is that the tool context and inherent in-built values and skill sets, may not be in evidence across all cultures. This would make the effective use of IT & S, in a global sense, a difficult and complex (if not impossible) undertaking.From this position it is argued that IT & S tools reflect the IT & S discipline, as it is these tools which embody the assumptions of the discipline and hence, its paradigm. The Bunker and Dean (Bunker DJ, Dean RG. Philosophical Traditions in Information Systems: Challenger of an Interdisciplinary View, Faculty of Commerce Workshop, University of Wollongong, July 10--11, 1997) disciplinary model is highlighted as a means of understanding how tools are made within a cultural context and how they reflect the discipline in which they are created. This paper then goes on to explain the ramifications of IT & S as a discipline on the GTT process and proposes a skill-focussed approach, within a culture, to determining what IT & S may be appropriate for that particular cultural context.