A Relationship Between Products Evaluation and IT Systems Assurance

Gender and IT in the Concept of Sustainability

In a rapidly growing information-oriented society, people with disabilities and older people are faced with serious inconveniences in accessing IT products due to complicated use of technologies and poorly designed interfaces. To solve the problems, it is required for designers and engineers to find out and understand user needs, and then to figure out the functionalities and design characteristics to meet the needs. Figuring out the Engineering Characteristics (EC) of products from user needs for people with disabilities and older people who have problems using main stream products due to limited accessibility would take great efforts and time. We merged two important concepts of product design for people with disabilities and older people, accessibility and universal design, using an engineering design framework of QFD (Quality Function Deployment) to provide engineers and designers with a systematic methodology for universal product design. We adapted a technical report from the ISO/IEC JTC1 Special Working Group on Accessibility (SWG-A), the Information Technology – Accessibility Considerations for People with Disabilities – Part 1: User Needs Summary (ISO/IEC PDTR 99999-1), and mapped the detailed user accessibility needs to the guidelines of 7 universal design principles which are widely accepted. We explained how a process model was built for mapping relationship between the guidelines and user accessibility needs, and extracting the critical engineering characteristics for IT product design based on these two models. A model House of Quality(HOQ) was built for such procedures.KeywordsUniversal design processUser needsQuality Function Deployment (QFD)design guidelinesISO/IEC PDTR 99999-1

IT is accorded a central role in Malaysian Industrial Master Plan 2 (IMP2), not only as the foundation for the future development of the manufacturing sector, but also, as the engine of development and growth of other sectors of the economy. To fulfill this central role, what should be the value of IT Products and IT Services? We have computed the necessary capital stock of IT Products at RM21.556 billion in 1978 prices, each unit of which is to produce five times its value in output in the year 2005, for a start. The targeted output of IT Services would be another RM 21.556 billion in 1978 prices, for a total of RM43.112 billion for IT industry in 2005. Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation, holds that Broadband Network Technology (BNT) indispensable to implement the Information Highway would not be available to most US homes for at least a decade. No matter when BNT arrives, an overriding question is: what will be the UTILIZATION of the exploding multimedia content of the Information Superskyway. How will people USE 1,000 times the current content, arriving 1,000 times as fast? The raison d'etre of the Information Superskyway is the Matrix of Learning, with Content as the rows, Context as the columns, and Learning as the Cells. The user has to identify his (her) context of use (entertain‐ment, education, enlightenment, edification). Investment in input (con‐tent) will depend on the answer to the question: By how much will the context be impaired by delay or deficiency of the content (data)? As the capacity of chips increases exponentially, the price drops dramatically — already it is down to $0.14 per megabyte! In the future, a holographic memory of the size of one's fists could hold the contents of the entire Library of Congress. With fast and furious developments in transfer and transformation of multi‐media content, how should one go about investing in IT to reap the bounty of BNT? We have no guarantee of success; we can increase the probability of success in the long‐run using seven IT investment Considerations/Criteria: (1) Choose the “Long‐run” that is realistic: Consider the odds against surviving one year, let alone 10 years; and choose wisely. (2) Choose Your Segment of the IT Industry: Are you most competent in: communications, computers, or content industries? What is your primary product: information, education, enlightenment, shopping, or e‐mail? (3) Choose Your CONCOL competitor/collaborator in the IT Industry: No matter how powerful you are in your chosen segment of the industry, it is almost mandatory that you collaborate with some other(s) in your own industry, and/or in another of the C3 industries. Bill Gates says: “companies must be able to partner on some projects and compete vigorously in others. Few companies in the computer and communications industries are purely friends or purely foes.” (4) Choose the Technology/Territory Area for CONCOL: How will the CONCOLs be formed and dissolved‐in: (1) Technology, (2) Territory? The choice of future technology would depend on the territory: How long would it take for the particular technology to develop a mass market? In IT parlance, should we back advances in: (I) transfer of data, or (2) transformation of data? (5) Choose the Technology Transformation Profile: Visualizing technology say, five generations ahead would indeed be quite hard and hazardous. But we would choose linear extensions of performance characteristics over Quantum jumps. However, PC industry experience suggests that each successive computer generation tended to provide Quantum jumps, little of the earlier models being useable with the new generation. (6) Choose the Technology Transfer Sequence: By establishing a relationship with the techtransferor over the long‐term, and scrupulously observing the mutually‐agreed conditions of techtransfer, the transferee can steadily increase its technical competence. (7) Fiercely Focus on the UTILIZATION of the Exploding Multime‐dia Content: To make IT win in the marketplace, the mere increase in the volume of content or the mere increase in the speed of its transmission is quite inadequate. What will make the difference is the learning that is made possible by the multimedia content and communication.

Information technology can not be denied in daily activities and is the source of life of some business processes that cause companies to compete in making IT investments. Noted that IT investment increased significantly. However, the data also indicated this investment is not always followed by the achievement of organizational performance. This is known as IT Productivity Paradox, where the benefits obtained do not match what is invested. This phenomenon has long been discussed to this day. IT Productivity Paradox has become an interesting topic in some circles because some findings find different results. Some research proves that investment in IT / IS has driven the performance of the company, while not at other companies. This study aims to determine the phenomenon of IT productivity. The object of research is an organization that has invested and developed ERP system for the last 2 years. The analysis using Information Economics method. The result of investment measurement from this research shows that the application of ERP using Economic Information method in the period of about 2 years shows total project score (64,6) with predicate of influential project. The total score of the project is derived from three aspects of benefits, namely the real aspect, the quasi-real aspect, and the intangible aspect.

During the past 30 years, the U.S. economy, along with the economies of other industrialized countries, has experienced several noticeable trends: an economic slowdown, a tremendous increase in the amount of information technology investment, and a increasing flow of workers from production to information sectors. With slow economic growth and fast IT capital accumulation, the so-called "information technology productivity paradox" has become a prevailing concept in the literature. Many researchers have attempted to solve the paradox by firm-level analysis. Indeed, a macroeconomic analysis, using a nation as an analysis unit, is not common in MIS research. By considering the complex triangular relationships of the above economic trends, this paper applies econometric models and macroeconomic theories to try to solve the IT productivity paradox. Emphasis is placed on the impact of information technology impact on the flow of workers from the production to the information sector and on the effect of such a flow on productivity. The paper demonstrates that the flow could unravel the IT productivity paradox and provide a prediction of future economic growth.

In recent years Mongolia, like other countries, has set the goal of building an "Information Society" through developing information and communication technology (ICT), introducing it in all sectors of its social and economic development, striving to make it a priority sector to complete on world markets. In order to achieve this goal the country has been focusing its efforts on creating a policy and regulatory environment, renewing and reforming the basic networks of information communication. As a result of these efforts, the adoption of new technologies in the communication sector has been extremely rapid compared with traditional technologies. Internet and data communication networks are rapidly developing as well. Since 1990, in order to improve the legal environment for the ICT sector, the Mongolian Parliament has adopted a Law on Communication (2001) and the Law on Postal Activities. A National Information Technology Park was set up in 2001 to promote IT production and exports, to provide emerging new companies and business entities with governmental support in their development. This Park provides new companies with office facilities and internet connection free of charge, helps them to start their business activities. But, the legal environment for effective competition and policy regulation has not been fully created, and are at the stage of being developed.

The article characterizes sectoral features of the formation and use of financial resources of business entities in the IT-sector of Ukraine. The state of business entities in the IT-sector in 2022 and its dynamics are analyzed through the prism of exports of computer services, the number of enterprises and individual entrepreneurs; employed in this area, the volume of activities for the period 2010- 2022. Regularities in the peculiarities of financing enterprises in the IT-sector during 2018-2022 have been identified, in particular, the increase in the amount of financial resources was due to an increase in the amount and share of equity. The volume of financing of enterprises was not significantly affected by the crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and during the martial law imposed in 2022, the industry was able to find such formats of work that were not hindered by interruptions in the supply of electricity, air raids and direct hostilities. A proportional relationship between the increase in profit and the amount of financial resources used by IT-enterprises for their activities has been identified. Due to the growth of constant capital, the financial strength of equity and the longterm financial stability of constant capital have been strengthened. It has been found that for enterprises in the IT sector compared to enterprises in Ukraine in general, the coefficients of financial stability are higher and dependence on debt and other types of attracted capital is lower. It has been found that the coefficients of financial stability for enterprises in the IT-sector compared to enterprises in Ukraine are higher and debt dependence is lower. The conclusions of the study are: the domestic IT-sector, even under martial law, has been developing quite dynamically: the number of IT enterprises and IT sole proprietors, the volume of attracted investments and exports of IT products and services have been constantly growing; the total capital of enterprises grew both due to the increase in equity capital and due to the attracted resources for the long and short term.

Today, few firms could survive for very long without their computer systems. IT has permeated every corner of firms. Firms have reached the current state in their use of IT because IT has provided myriad opportunities for firms to improve performance and, firms have availed themselves of these opportunities. Some have argued, however, that the opportunities for firms to improve their performance through new uses of IT have been declining. Are the opportunities to use IT to improve firm performance diminishing? We sought to answer this question. In this study, we develop a theory and explain the logic behind our empirical analysis; an analysis that employs a different type of event study. Using the volatility of firms' stock prices to news signaling a change in economic conditions, we compare the stock price behavior of firms in the IT industry to firms in the utility and transportation and freight industries. Our analysis of the IT industry as a whole indicates that the opportunities for firms to use IT to improve their performance are not diminishing. However, there are sectors within the IT industry that no longer provide value-enhancing opportunities for firms. We also find that IT products that provided opportunities for firms to create value at one point in time, later become necessities for staying in business. Our results support the key assumption in our work.

Information technology in intellectual property law – Problem solving or window dressing?

Hospital characteristics that facilitate IT adoption have been described by the literature extensively, however with controversial results. The aim of this study therefore is to draw a set of the most important variables from previous studies and include them in a combined analysis for testing their contribution as single factors and their interactions. Total number of IT systems installed and number of clinical IT systems in the hospital were used as criterion variables. Data from a national survey of German hospitals served as basis. Based on a stepwise multiple regression analysis four variables were identified to significantly explain the degree of IT adoption (60% explained variance): 1) hospital size, 2) IT department, 3) reference customer and 4) ownership (private vs. public). Our results replicate previous findings with regard to hospital size and ownership. In addition our study emphasizes the importance of a reliable internal structure for IT projects (existence of an IT department) and the culture of testing and installing most recent IT products (being a reference customer). None of the interactions between factors was significant.

We discuss an integrated approach to complex projects management, creating distributed information systems, which is based on the analysis of the relationship of project management processes, product creation, management of interested parties and external environment. We analyzed the features of project implementation on the development of distributed information systems that are subject to the significant number of complex effects from the turbulent external environment and project response to these effects. To solve the resulting problems, a proactive approach was proposed. The work has identified and formalized basic structural elements of models of complex projects of creation of distributed information systems. A conceptual model was built, which facilitated research of the effect of the turbulent environment of the project on all elements of the model. The key branches of knowledge of this effect are identified. We developed the structural model of components in distributed information systems using cloud technologies and design approach, which takes into account the response to dynamic changes and turbulence of the external environment. The mathematical model of the process of creating a complex IT product is constructed, taking into account the influence of the turbulent external environment of the project, the main characteristics and parameters are determined. We performed the modeling of objective functions of the mathematical model of the process of creating a complex IT product. The algorithm of change management based on the proactive approach in the projects of creating distributed information systems is proposed, taking into account monitoring of the project implementation environment and identification of three types of possible events. The studies confirmed the effectiveness of using a proactive approach in projects of creation of distributed information systems, which will allow using the proposed model for managing complex IT projects.

CAN IT STIMULATE THE REVIVAL OF BRITISH INDUSTRY?

Effective integration into global value chains (GVCs) has enabled China’s technological progress and economic growth. Studying how China has built interactions with other countries within these GVCs and how it has transformed its GVCs in the electronics and IT equipment industries is of high scientific and practical significance. Using the TiVA 2023 value-added database published by the OECD, this article aims to examine the transformation of China’s GVCs in the development of IT production and exports from 1995 to 2022 and then to characterize the current situation and prospects. The study calculates indices of China’s upward and downward participation in electronics and IT equipment GVCs, as well as the role of this industry in the creation of final demand in other countries. The results of the study reveal the sustainability of the export potential China has created through its participation in GVCs, primarily in the consumer electronics and telecom equipment segments. China has been able to make significant inroads into GVCs, replacing essential products and technologies from Western countries while simultaneously increasing the dependence of their GVCs and final consumption on its IT industry. Under conditions of technological decoupling, the participation of both China and other countries in GVCs will gradually decline and/or develop toward regionalization. For China, this does not pose a threat of losing its leading position in the global market for most IT products, with the exception of semiconductors

The current IT service market is subject to a disproportionate pressure on prices. The need for custom solutions on the part of clients means more cost-intensive production that can hardly be achieved at market-viable rates. More and more IT service organizations are having to turn primarily to selling standardized services at the best possible prices. However, this new approach is often undermined by their existing portfolio layouts, which are too often still bound to their traditional business of providing one-off solutions to match the specific needs of their clients. The obvious disadvantage is that this stands in the way of the core elements of industrial IT production, with the production process still remaining highly reliant on manual input—and its costly nature.

In Indonesia, MSMEs have contributed significantly to the country's GDP, employment rate, and investment. With the growing IT industry in Indonesia, MSMEs in this industry have a vast potential for growth. However, both internal and external factors can impact their growth and success. In this study, we aimed to provide recommendations for the business strategy of PTIDM, a small IT enterprise in Indonesia, using qualitative methods and internal and external analysis. Our analysis using the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and PEST analysis identified several factors that affect PTIDM's performance. We found that the declining revenue of PTIDM could be attributed to a lack of clear roles and standard operating procedures for employees, limited marketing efforts, and low emphasis on service offerings. The political stability, growing economy, increasing demand for IT products and services, and emerging technologies in Indonesia offer opportunities for PTIDM to expand its business and attract new customers. The proposed BMC emphasizes the importance of personalized services, social media optimization, and external funding to maintain a skilled workforce, attract new customers, and generate revenue. Our study provides insights into the development of effective business strategies for MSMEs in the IT industry in Indonesia.