Information infrastructure,governance, and socio-economic development in developing countries

There is growing interest in the role and contribution of national information infrastructure (NII) to the quality of governance and the socio-economic development of nation states. In this paper, we use publicly available archival data to explore the relationships among NII, governance, and socio-economic development in developing countries. Results substantiate a significant relationship between NII and governance, and NII and socio-economic development. The findings suggest that NII have the capacity to contribute to country development, both directly (via impacts on socio-economic development) and indirectly (via its impacts on governance, which in turn influences socio-economic development).     

Comparison of national e‐health implementation in the United States and South Korea

With the development of the health care industry, there has been growing recognition that e‐health implementation is needed to improve the efficiency, quality, and safety of care. In addition, a review of previous studies suggests that much can be learned by investigating the difference in national e‐health implementation in the United States and in South Korea. To this end, the main objective of this article is to compare the national e‐health implementation in the case of the United States and South Korea. The results show that in the United States a decentralized e‐health implementation is being followed by individual‐level e‐health. South Korea is pursuing ubiquitous health (u‐health) after a hospital information system and electronic health were implemented. The United States still lags behind many other countries in the implementation of e‐health, possibly due to its low uncertainty avoidance culture. South Korea has been among the frontrunner groups in e‐health implementation as a consequence of its highly developed telecommunication infrastructures and high uncertainty avoidance culture. On the basis of these results, we recommend that establishing health care policies be done on a national scale that takes into account the countries’ cultures.     

Effects of national culture on e-government diffusion—A global study of 55 countries

This study aims to examine whether and how national culture affects e-government diffusion. To explore the possible relationship, we analyze two sets of international-level indexes: (1) the indexes of five of the societal cultural practices of the GLOBE project [35]; and (2) the e-government development and participation indexes from the most recent United Nations e-government survey [71]. Because economic development reportedly plays an important role in both e-government diffusion and cultural dynamics, we also examine the relationships between GNI per capita, culture, and e-government diffusion. A sample of 55 countries was studied. We find that culture does have an effect on e-government diffusion in various ways, and that economic development in the form of GNI per capita has a moderating effect on the relationship between culture and e-government diffusion. We discuss the implications of these findings for e-government strategy. In addition, we identify the limitations of the study and propose areas for future research. This study is among the first to use the GLOBE approach to study cultural effects on e-government diffusion while endeavoring to explore the relationship between culture and e-government diffusion.     

ICT-integrated education and national innovation systems in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries

The widespread use and availability of information and communication technologies (ICT) has greatly impacted how nations conceptualize innovation and the ways formal mass education can be used to advance socio-political and economic agendas. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have increasingly focused on the roles of science and technology in building research development and innovation (RDI) capacity to create national innovation systems (NIS). This paper uses evidence from the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the 2009 World Bank Institute Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) to investigate the spread of ICT in national education systems in the GCC countries and the impact of ICT-based learning as a catalyst for NIS and RDI capacity in the region. Previous research suggests that ICT-based instruction has the potential to build capacity in knowledge development, which is a key component in the establishment of national innovation systems. However, the analyses presented here suggest that the ways ICT is used in education in the GCC do not build capacity in knowledge development in youth. Although evidence shows that GCC countries do have institutional capacity in ICT, it is not used for knowledge development in part because of limitations imposed by the cultural contexts for education in the Gulf. The paper concludes with recommendations for ways that GCC teachers can use ICT to create national innovation systems and research capacity through reforms to teacher training and professional development.     

High tech criminal threats to the national information infrastructure

National information infrastructure (NII), vital to the nation's security and economic stability, comprises both physical and electronic infrastructures. Information and communications technologies (ICT) form the backbone of many aspects of the NII and reliance on ICT has created many new risks. Cyberthreats are becoming more sophisticated with the blending of once distinct types of attack into more damaging forms. This paper examines the technology-related risks associated with the NII and provides examples of existing incidents and areas in which new threats might emerge. To be able to mitigate these risks, it remains crucial to understand infrastructure interdependencies and to establish public-private partnerships to ensure that weaknesses in systems are not able to be exploited.     

‘Universal’ GIS versus national land information traditions: Internationalization of software or endogenous developments?

There are large and surprising gaps between the diffusion of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in European countries. Whereas in some countries, notably in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, GIS technology has already become standard practice in cartography, local land management, and planning, other countries have been extremely slow in adopting the new technology. This paper discusses why this is so. The hypothesis is that national land information traditions determine the institutional environment and procedures into which the new technology needs to be integrated, and that this restricts the transfer of ‘universal’ GIS software developed in different national settings. The paper ends by drawing some conclusions out of this for a European GIS research agenda.     

Coping with rapid information technology change in different national cultures

Coping with rapid information technology change challenges IT organizations throughout the world. National culture theory based on the GLOBE study suggests that culture affects the coping with such change in China and the United States, but does not cogently suggest that coping mechanisms differ in effectiveness across the two cultures. Analysis of data from 71 IT executives and managers in China and 246 in the United States suggests that Chinese IT organizations employ coping mechanisms of vendor support, education and training, and internal procedures more extensively than do U.S. IT organizations. IT organizations in both countries apply education and training as well as internal procedures to successfully deal with the problems of rapid IT change. Vendor support additionally predicted success in Chinese but not U.S. organizations, whereas in both U.S. and Chinese organizations endurance predicted lack of success. The research thus extends national culture theory by proposing that culture affects successful coping. Implications for research suggest the identification of actions to overcome the impact of cultural differences. Implications for practice suggest that multinational corporations deal with rapid IT change differently in divisions in different cultures, regardless of whether in China, the United States, Europe, or elsewhere.     

The effects of national culture values on consumer acceptance of e-commerce: Online shoppers in China

E-commerce is now international, and thus national culture can affect the behavior of customers. But e-commerce studies related to national culture are limited. Our study explored the effect of national culture on consumer acceptance of e-commerce in China.     

Ergonomics issues in national identity card for homeland security

Ever since the 9/11 terrorist attack, many countries are considering the use of smart national identity card (SNIC) which has the ability to identify terrorists due to its biometric verification function. However, there are many ergonomics issues in the use of SNIC, e.g. card credibility. This research presents a case study survey of Malaysian users. Although most citizens (>96%) own MyKad (Malaysia SNIC), many do not carry it around and use its applications. This defeats one of its main purposes, i.e. combating terrorism. Thus, the research investigates ergonomics issues affecting the citizens’ Intention to Use (ITU) MyKad for homeland security by using an extended technology acceptance model. Five hundred questionnaires were collected and analysed using structural equation modelling. Results show that perceived credibility and performance expectancy are the key issues. The findings provide many countries with insights into methods of addressing ergonomics issues and increasing adoption of SNIC for homeland security.     

Dynamics of national forests assessed using the Landsat record: Case studies in eastern United States

The national forests (NFs) in the United States are protected areas managed for multiple purposes, and therefore are subject to both natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Monitoring forest changes arising from such disturbances and the post-disturbance recovery processes is essential for assessing the conditions of the NFs and the effectiveness of management approaches. In this study, we used time series stacks of Landsat images (LTSS) to evaluate the dynamics of seven NFs in eastern United States, including the De Soto NF, the Talladega NF, the Francis Marion NF, and the Uwharrie NF in southeastern U.S., and the Chequamegon NF, the Hiawatha NF, and the Superior NF in northern U.S. Each LTSS consisted of 12-14 Landsat images acquired for the same location, spanning from 1984 to 2006 with a nominal interval of one image every 2 years. Each LTSS was analyzed using a vegetation change tracker (VCT) algorithm to map forest disturbance. Accuracy assessments of the derived disturbance maps revealed that they had overall accuracy values of about 80%, with most of the disturbance classes having user's accuracies ranging from 70% to 95%. The producer's accuracies were generally lower, with the majority being in the range between 50% and 70%. While this may suggest that the disturbance maps could slightly underestimate disturbances, a more detailed assessment of the omission errors revealed that the majority of the disagreements were due to minor disturbances like thinning or storm damages that were identified by the image analysts but were not captured by the VCT algorithm.The derived disturbance year maps revealed that while each of the seven NFs consisted of 90% or more forest land, significant portions of the forests were disturbed since 1984. Mapped disturbances accounted for about 30%-45% of total land area in the four NFs in southeastern U.S. and about 10%-20% in the three NFs in northern U.S. The disturbance rates were generally higher in the buffer zones surrounding each NF, and varied considerably over time. The time series approach employed in this study represents a new approach for monitoring forest resources using the Landsat or similar satellite data records. The disturbance products derived using this approach were spatially explicit and contained much more temporal details than conventional bi-temporal change products, and likely will be found more useful by many users including ecologists and resources managers. The high disturbance rates found in the southeastern U.S. suggest that this region may have a more significant role in modulating the atmospheric carbon budget than currently recognized.     

The implementation of enterprise resource planning packages in different organisational and national cultures

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages provide generic off-the-shelf business and software solutions to customers. However, these packages are implemented in companies with different organisational and national cultures, and there is growing evidence that failure to adapt ERP packages to fit these cultures leads to projects that are expensive and late. This paper describes research that synthesises social science theories of culture to handle the impact of culture on ERP package implementation more efficiently. It describes a knowledge meta-schema for modelling the surface and the deeper manifestations of culture. It reports an empirical study into the implementation of SAP R/3's sales and distribution (SD) module in a large pharmaceuticals organisation in Scandinavia and the UK. Results provide evidence for an association between organisational culture and ERP implementation problems but no direct evidence for an association between national culture and implementation problems. Furthermore, results demonstrate that these diverse implementation problems can be caused by a mismatch between a small set of core values indicative of a customer's organisational culture. At the end of the paper, our predictions are reviewed, conclusions are made about them and about the work of the key authors of national and organisational culture, and future work is discussed.     

基于民族文化探讨我国艺术设计的发展

随着对西方艺术设计的学习和借鉴,我国的艺术设计也取得了相应的发展。与此同时,我国的艺术设计也面临着相应的问题,如缺乏自主创新和民族特色。我国的民族文化有着历史悠久,特色鲜明的特点,将我国的民族文化与我国的艺术设计进行有效的结合。是推动我国艺术设计不断发展与创新的有效手段。文章分析了民族文化在我国艺术设计中的价值和应用形式,并就民族文化与艺术设计的融合进行了相关探讨。     

浅谈中国当代刺绣产业所面临的问题及发展趋势

刺绣是欣赏和实用并举的民族传统工艺,在中国工艺美术史上占有重要的地位。在世界经济一体化的今天,全球的文化差异也逐步缩小,地域界限也在淡化,保护民族民间工艺,保护民族文化遗产已成为全球性的主题,如何保护我国的文化遗产,发展民族产业,是值得我们深思的问题。     

Developing national ergonomics standards for Thai industry

This paper reports activities initiated by the Thai Government and its Technical Committee on Ergonomics Standards (TC 887) to develop national ergonomics standards for Thai industry. The main objective is to promote ergonomics practice by disseminating recommended ergonomics principles and applications to various industries so that employers and/or management become aware of essential design concepts and work methods that help to improve workplace conditions and enhance workers’ safety. Initially, the paper discusses the history of ergonomics in Thailand and its progress during the past 30 years. Ergonomics research activities and industrial projects that have been conducted are also summarized. Government activities to develop national ergonomics standards are then described in detail. Steps already taken to achieve such goals include participating as a P-member of the ISO/TC 159, conducting national surveys on ergonomics education and ergonomics specialists, and drafting ergonomics standards.

Relevance to industry

It has been well recognized in developed countries that ergonomics principles help to increase workers’ productivity and enhance workplace safety. For industrially developing countries such as Thailand in which ergonomics is not well known, it is essential that national ergonomics standards be developed and disseminated to employers and/or management. Furthermore, national standards need to be compatible with international standards to allow Thai manufacturing companies to be competitive in international markets.     

独龙族文面的文化内涵探析

文面是世界民族的古老文身习俗之一,是民族文化的重要组成部分。独龙族文面图案独特,文化含义丰富,在独龙族社会中产生过深远影响。作为活形态民族文化标志,隐含着独龙族历史、社会、宗教和审美观念等文化形态的民族密码。文章通过对独龙族文面文化内涵的探析,试图揭开这一神秘习俗的面纱。     

Older Worker in National Contexts: A Japan-US Comparison

National contexts are crucial determinants of older worker labor force participation. This paper clarifies the main differences between the national contexts surrounding older workers in Japan and the United States. These two countries commonly represent large-scale, industrialized, and mature economies with increasing demographic pressures to prolong the working lives of older adults. Despite the similarities, differences are found between these two national contexts in at least four major areas: (1) the level of demographic pressure to increase older worker labor supply; (2) national labor market institutions affecting employment security in later life; (3) the role of government in promoting older persons’ labor force participation; and (4) the labor force compositions (specifically, the fraction of older workers who are self-employed). Labor force participation rates among older workers are substantially higher for Japan than for the United States. Differences in each of the four areas discussed in this paper help to explain why workers in Japan remain in the labor force longer than do those in the United States.     

National culture and group support systems: filtering communication to dampen power differentials

The body of group support systems (GSS) knowledge, which has been accumulated mainly in North America, may not be useful in other countries because theories grounded on one culture need not necessarily apply in other cultures. To understand better how GSS technology can be successfully applied in a variety of cultures, researchers need to compare GSS effects systematically across different cultures. This paper outlines seven dimensions of national culture and focuses on one dimension: power distance. Power distance effects can be detrimental in some decision situations. This paper examines how a GSS can reduce power distance effects by restricting communication modality in groups. It discusses the potential impact of GSS intervention in both high and low power distance countries, and suggests how this impact can be moderated by task type and group size. It arrives at several propositions for experimental investigation.     

A Model for the Impact of Cybersecurity Infrastructure on Economic Development in Emerging Economies: Evaluating the Contrasting Cases of India and Pakistan

The possibilities and risks inherent in the dissemination of ICT necessitate implementation of cybersecurity initiatives. Yet, we know very little about the specific relationships between national information infrastructure (NII), cybersecurity capability, and economic development in emerging economies. This paper proposes a model based on national nuclear threat security through which a developing nation could develop an effective cybersecurity infrastructure while simultaneously positively impacting economic development. Our model extends the cybersecurity triad of internal governance, private sector partners and an active cybercitizenry to add a fourth influence – foreign government relations – that significantly impacts socioeconomic development. The model will be elaborated through the lens of two case study nation-states: India and Pakistan.     

The influence of ICT-driven innovation: a comparative study on national innovation efficiency between developed and emerging countries

ABSTRACT

In the Big Data era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), including the Internet and sensors, digitises physical activity extensively. This leads to the development of ICT Driven Innovation (IDI) which may have a strong influence on National Innovation Efficiency (NIE). The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the impact of IDI on NIE in both advanced and emerging countries. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is employed to obtain the individual score for each country. We focus on comparing IDI between advanced and emerging economies in particular. We believe that IDI is an important reason why the average NIE score is higher in developed countries than in emerging countries. Obviously, developed countries have shown good capabilities in IDI in excess of most emerging countries. This includes but is not limited to R&D expenditure across the ICT industry, ICT patents etc. Several emerging economies received high NIE scores such as China and Brazil, who also have a good performance in IDI. On this basis, we discuss the mechanism of how IDI affects NIE. ICT industry innovation, non-ICT industries innovation, and ICT infrastructure are summarised as the primary factor affecting NIE by IDI. Further empirical research is required in the future.