Cloud Computing Applications in Global Logistics Information System Infrastructure

Cloud Computing (CC) is a paradigm shift with the potential of transforming the information and communication technology (ICT) industry. ICT is an integral part of all businesses, and CC helps in lightening the burden of massive ICT investments. Thus, it is essential to understand the factors that influence CC adoption. The purpose of this study is to identify and rank critical factors for CC adoption in the Indian context. The research has adopted mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative). Experts from 13 organizations (including 8 cloud service providers (CSPs) and 5 cloud service users (CSUs)) are interviewed. Content analysis is used to confirm existing factors and identify new factors in the Indian context. Qualitative analysis has identified four new factors, namely, ‘time to market’, ‘futuristic’, ‘resistance to change’ and ‘financial losses’ (arising from security and resource availability). The quantitative part of the research used analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) techniques to rank the factors. The analysis revealed ‘IT service cost’ and ‘time to market’ as the most critical factor through FAHP and AHP respectively. However, ‘organization size’ is reported the least critical for CC adoption through both the methods. The results also highlight divergence among the criticality of CC adoption factors using the two techniques. The study is very useful for CSPs and key decision-makers to understand the critical adoption factors and judiciously strategize for CC service promotions. It will also help users to wisely decide while making CC adoption decision.

How can the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT) support multigenerational living? In the recent years it could have been observed that the rapidly ageing society is a strong incentive to find new ways to mitigate the risks given by the demographic transformations. An active approach to face these challenges is the concept of multigenerational living, where the exchange of neighborly help within the community based on solidarity is an integral part for the insurance of a supportive system. The need for ICTbased solutions within a multigenerational community cannot be reduced to the quantitative demographic processes. The on-going social changes, success factors of multigenerational living and intergenerational relationships had to be considered. As a result the relevant application areas for ICT were identified as the enhancement of the independence of elderly people, support of organization structures within the community, and the inclusion of external support. Within these areas there is a wide range of existing ICT solutions that can support multigenerational living. For future ICT solutions multigenerational communities can take advantage of the fact that the given social environment may lead to facilitated implementation, especially in regard to the inclusion of elderly people in the information society. This literature review tries to summarize to current results of this subject

This paper elaborates on current trends in strategic management of information and communication technology (ICT) based on a recent pilot study of a focus group which included number of organizations. It addresses recent developments in the application of and investment on ICTs - which have resulted in an ever-increasing scrutiny on the ways in which ICT solutions are planned for and introduced. After a brief review of planning approaches, it discusses the results of the pilot study of the focus group of companies

The concept of the digital divide is becoming more and more complex as access to computers and the use of computers, changes over time. When the existence of a “digital divide” first emerged, it revolved around access to computers and related technologies. The high cost of computers and related technologies creates a large divide between people who could afford them, and who had access to all the advantages of Information technology in general, and those who could not. ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) have become an indispensable tool for businesses. Competitiveness and productivity depend on them. Cloud Computing has also generated new business opportunities for companies that have understood the key to this new social and commercial space. Cloud Computing on education can bridge the knowledge divide, the resource divide and the digital divide, teachers could be empowered under the cloud warning. It can be on devices, notebook, e-book and cell-phone. Cloud Computing in order to reduce digital divide has come as a friendly way to provide computer applications to users without the need for those users to purchase, install or support software on their local computers and/or servers. This research will cover the facts and issues discovered into the Digital Divide, after exploring details and points of views from experts. Also, this research will provide two models and one framework to describe, explain and finally reduce the gap or as most of the researchers has been looking for building a bridge in order to reduce the digital divide. Since computers and, later, the Internet became popular and came to our business, there has been a different degree of acceptance thereof by the people. The variety of profiles ranging from the 'early adopter', that is one that is to last forever in this new technology, to the 'allergic' to the computer, because they do not know how to use password to login and/or prefers to work as they always have done. Is not the first time we hear about people who cannot make simples actions in a computer because their capabilities are very low. I'm talking about everyday situations, rather than more complex ones such as maintenance of machinery. This research will treat the Cloud Computing concept as a tool to Reduce Digital Divide; the digital divide will be related to issues of educational access to the benefits of digitalization and the capabilities of a group of students in three different high school centers to use ICT appropriately and contribute to sustainable development.

Cloud computing (CC) services can offer substantial cost-effective global operational and relationship benefits if the cooperation between logistics and CC services are resilient. Potential vulnerabilities to cooperation of CC and logistics service providers can occur with respect to vital factors such as security and trust. Extant studies have demonstrated CC benefits as well as few challenges associated with CC services application. However, no extant study has examined the inter-organisational benefits based on cooperative resilience between CC and logistics service providers in terms of both capability and trust vulnerability factors. This study examines the cooperative resilience of logistics and CC service providers based on innovation diffusion theory within a supply chain risk assessment framework. Using structural equation modelling techniques, we investigate the relationship between the vulnerability factor (trust), capability factor (security) and collaboration benefits (relationship and operational) offered by CC service providers based on 236 Chinese logistics service firms’ perceptions of CC adoption. The results indicate Chinese logistics companies perceive security impediments as a major factor affecting cooperative resilience between logistics service and CC service providers.

This article investigates the difficulties farmers encounter in adopting and utilising ICT technologies for sustainable agriculture, with a particular emphasis on bridging the digital divide. To assess the digital divide among farmers, the study examines access to technology, digital literacy levels, and internet connectivity. Affordability, awareness, and complexity are highlighted and analysed as barriers to ICT adoption. To address these barriers, customised ICT solutions, including user-friendly tools, are being developed. The influence of these solutions on long-term farming practises were assessed. The interpretations emphasise solutions such as cost reduction, subsidisation, improved power supply, information delivery in local languages, the establishment of service centres, and the provision of training programmes. Implementing these solutions can help to bridge the digital divide, improve information access, and promote sustainable agriculture. This article examines the challenges that farmers encounter when adopting and utilizing ICT (Information and Communication Technology) solutions for sustainable agriculture, with a particular focus on addressing the digital divide. The research investigates the accessibility of technology, levels of digital literacy, and internet connectivity to determine the extent of the digital divide among farmers. It identifies and examines affordability, awareness, and complexity as obstacles to ICT adoption. To overcome these barriers, customized ICT solutions are being developed, including user-friendly tools. The long-term impact of these remedies on farming practices is being studied. The findings highlight the importance of cost-cutting measures, subsidies, improved electricity supply, information dissemination in local languages, the establishment of service centres, and the provision of training programs. Implementing these solutions can help bridge the digital divide and enhance farming practices.

1 IntroductionDuring its evolution, humanity always looked for instruments and innovative solutions that ensure maximum comfort from the perspective of human universe dimensions: familial, social, cultural, economic, religious etc. Many times during this social development, the individual had to resort to various association forms with others in order to achieve these goals, thus laying the foundation for what we call today collaboration. Current forms of association transcend the original goals and the individual aspirations have been altered and transposed into mercantile organization objectives. Unconditional support of these considerations is reflected by the capitalist system and largely by the industrial system, where the aim of earning money through all means outweighs any attempt of collaboration in the original meaning. Unfortunately the mercantilism is not only an economic doctrine of 15th-18th centuries, but it is still fully manifest in the digital society.Beyond these considerations, thinking of the social and economic status quo we must notice a change in the business paradigm. The traditional models defined through the goal of maximizing the profit adapt to modern management doctrines, oriented towards the individuals. Current society is not only information and knowledge based; it is also a society of technology and artificial intelligence. Transposing the business in the digital environment is no longer a caprice but a need. Additionally, the simple presence in virtual environment is not the premise for the success of modern business, the advantages provided by technology must also be fully exploited.Orientation towards exploiting individual abilities and ensuring business processes flexibility has led to what specialists call business agility. Ensuring a certain level of agility for the business requires more and more relying on information and communications technology. Additionally, the agile business status implies redefining the human resource as primary production factor. The anthropocentric paradigm is evidence to this. In the context of modern agile business collaboration and team work are more than ever necessary. Through the prism of dedicated agility technologies, the essence of collaboration as instrument for founding and unfolding economic activities dissolves into the business itself, becoming visible on the level of business processes and work tasks. The individuals, activities, processes and work tasks are vertices of informational graphs representing the functioning of modern businesses. The edges of these graphs are merely informational flows (later translated into workflows) that ensure communication and cooperation on business level for reaching its goals.For technological and economic reasons (meaning resource economy), the need to share resources, skills, competencies, market shares and experience overlays on top of these modern business architecture. In many occasions this was a premise for development of virtual organizations that take advantage of concrete market opportunities. The modern technological solutions is now provided by cloud computing. Together with a workflow management system (WfMS), cloud computing comes to ensure scalability, reutilization of technological capabilities, reliability, improvement of business processes, minimization of information and communications technology (ICT) investment.Thus, exploitation of cloud services may generate an intensified use of workflows, mainly for collaborative environments. On the other hand, business agility built on service-oriented architecture (SOA) and complex event processing (CEP) solutions may ensure real time collaboration between business processes through processing heterogeneous data extracted from business connected information flows. A solution of workflow management system based on cloud for real time collaboration will provide the capabilities for multi-criterion analyses for business processes, while considering their interdependence with the environment. …

Background. Life expectancy is an important health status indicator based on average number of years a person at a given age may be expected to live given current mortality rates. Given this significance, it would be necessary to probe into the factors affecting the life expectancy. Ensuring that information and communication technology (ICT) services are properly used could contribute to development and achievement, as it represents an important issue for the countries moving toward knowledge-based and information-based societies. Therefore, this study explored the impact of the information and communication technology on life expectancy. Methods. This study covers annual data from 2008 to 2018 for a group of countries in the Middle East. Data were retrieved from the Annual Reports such as World Bank and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data sets. The effects of ICT on life expectancy are estimated with the Panel model. We also used the Hausman test to investigate fixed versus random effects. The data were analyzed by Stata 14 software. Results. The core findings of this study confirm the significant impact of ICT on life expectancy in the Middle East. The calculated Coefficient of the regression was 0.551 indicating how much life expectancy changes when ICT variable increases by one unit. Moreover, the rho (intraclass correlation) was found to be 0.975 showing that 97.5% of the variance is due to differences across panels. Conclusion. Considering the effect of ICT on life expectancy, policymakers of the Middle Eastern countries should integrate the use of ICT with the existing programs and systems. Technology is not an end in itself but merely the means to reinforce the existing system and to meet the locally determined goals. It can be used as a tool to attain broader health and development goals. Background Life expectancy is an important health status indicator based on average number of years a person at a given age may be expected to live given current mortality rates. Given this significance, it would be necessary to probe into the factors affecting the life expectancy. Ensuring that information and communication technology (ICT) services are properly used could contribute to development and achievement, as it represents an important issue for the countries moving toward knowledge-based and information-based societies. As ICT affects everyday lives, it also impacts the macroeconomic growth, which in turn further affects everyday lives by allowing improvements in infrastructures and a higher standard of living. ICTs inherently entail the economic development of countries, regions and cities, while also improving social inclusion, well-being and therefore quality of life. Therefore, this study explored the impact of the information and communication technology on life expectancy. Methods This study covers annual data from 2008 to 2018 for a group of countries of in the Middle East. Data were retrieved from the Annual Reports such as World Bank dataset and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data set. The effects of information and communication technology on life expectancy were estimated through the Panel model. First, stationary tests were performed with the Fisher’s generalized unit root test. In the Fisher test for panel data, the null hypothesis of a unit root was rejected at the 5% level of significance. The cross-section correlation test was performed with the Freeze test. The null hypothesis of no correlation was rejected at the 5% level of significance. We also used the Hausman test to investigate fixed versus random effects. The null hypothesis of no fixed effects was accepted so the random effects model was used. The Hausman test detects endogenous regressors in a regression model. Endogenous variables have values that are determined by other variables in the system. The data were analyzed by Stata 14 software. Results The core findings of this study confirm the significant impact of information and communication technology on life expectancy in the Middle East. The Coefficient of the regression was 0.551 indicating how much life expectancy changes when information technology variable increases by one unit. The coefficient of ICT shows that 1% increase in ICT variable causes 0.551 % incline in life expectancy and this result is significant at 5% level of significance. Regarding control variables, we found that all have expected statistically significant effects on life expectancy. The intra-cluster correlation coefficient (rho) is a measure of the relatedness, or similarity, of clustered data. Values of rho range from 0 to 1 in human studies, and as the rho increases, more individuals within the clusters resemble one another. The rho (intraclass correlation) was found to be 0.975 showing that 97.5% of the variance is due to differences across panels. This research recommends that human development programs need to focus on polices which foster digital inclusion. Conclusion Considering the effect of information and communication technology on life expectancy, policymakers of the Middle Eastern countries should integrate the use of information and communication technology with the existing programs and systems. The digital citizen is happier and values living in regions with technological capacity, investing in research & development, and committed to achieving sustainable growth. ICT use leads to improved assessments of the efficiency and management of the public administration by more technological users, underlining the importance of an understanding between users and public services in the virtual sphere. Technology is not an end in itself but merely an instrument to reinforce the existing system and to meet the locally determined goals. It can be used as a tool to attain broader health and development goals. The findings from this study provide key insights that explain how life expectancy may be enhanced through ICTs. Practical Implications of Research According to the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) on life expectancy, policymakers should provide ICT infrastructures and adopt strategies integrating ICT policies with human life criteria such as education, health and work to improve life expectancy. Ethical Consideration The paper reflects the author’s own research and analysis in a truthful and complete manner. Conflict of Interests This study was an independent research and the author declares no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Acknowledgement I would like to thank Dr Marzieh Ronaghi for her guidance and assistance throughout this research.

The advent of digitization and its modern day Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) triggered a paradigm shift in product and product-service-system design across many sectors. Many related developments in the context of Industry 4.0 rely on the use of vast amounts of data. When it comes to managing and handling this data, one of the prime technology approaches is that of Cloud Computing. However, Cloud Computing has a number of shortcomings, such as data security and latency challenges. Recently, Fog Computing has emerged as a new approach to complement Cloud Computing. It operates on cloud layers connected to data sources and minimizes issues related to data transmission latency, reduced bandwidth, and cyber security aspects. In this paper, the authors discuss Fog Computing and the way in which it complements Cloud Computing. They also elaborate on the benefits of utilizing Cloud and Fog Computing in concert.

This chapter highlights the importance of admission and registration functions in higher education and discusses the main objectives and sought benefits from utilizing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) applications to support the automation of admission and registration processes and functions in UAE higher education’s institutes. The chapter also suggests an effective approach to design and adopt such applications to ensure the realization of benefits to both students and universities. Of particular interest to this investigation is how can universities successfully and effectively apply the e-admission and e-registration system. The chapter concludes with a positive outlook of future Internet and e-applications to improve admission and registration in terms process streamlining, ease of use, easy access, and connectivity. It also points out some challenges that normally occur when some ICT solution is applied at a number of higher educational institutes.

Interprofessional collaboration in social rehabilitation services for dually-involved Estonian youth: Perceptions of youth, parents, and professionals

We live in a quicksilver technological environment where one innovation in information and communication technology (ICT) follows the other. From a user’s perspective, the speed of innovation in the Internet age becomes particularly visible when looking at ever-changing hardware devices that enable instant access to information, knowledge, and entertainment, or when navigating the rapidly evolving social media space where new platforms and powerful services emerge periodically, like Instagram, Pinterest, and Quora.Many of today’s trends and developments in the ICT space are powered by a less visible and arguably more evolutionary innovation at the lower layers of the ICT infrastructure: cloud computing. It describes a multi-faceted technological phenomenon in which important aspects of computing (such as information processing, communication, networking, data acquisition, storage, and analysis) move from local systems to more efficient, outsourced systems where third parties provide aggregated computational resources and services on an as-needed basis from remote locations. Cloud computing is arguably responsible, at least in part, for the speed at which new social platforms are being developed and brought to market. This paper starts with a brief introduction to and framing of cloud computing as both a technological innovation and innovation-enabling technology – in short: cloud innovation. It then focuses on one particular aspect of the emerging cloud computing ecosystem by describing and discussing the legal and regulatory responses to cloud technology. It ends with general observations regarding the design of interfaces between cloud innovation as an example of an innovative and innovation-enabling technology and the legal and regulatory system.The paper builds upon and aims to synthesize previous contributions by the author and his collaborators on cloud law and policy issues on the one hand and pattern recognition in ICT regulation on the other hand. Against this backdrop, the paper seeks not only to distill and share insights about the interplay between cloud computing technology and the legal and regulatory system, but also contribute to a broader understanding of and emerging analytical framework for technology regulation in digitally networked environments.

The aim of this study is to analyse the situation of enterprises using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The analysis covered the metal sector (production of metals and/or production of metal products) in Poland. The analysis was based on statistical data from Statistics Poland. Selected IC technologies, such as: computers, Internet, mobile Internet and mobile tools, website, e-administration, cloud computing, social media, and information systems: ERP, CRM were analysed. Some of the IC technologies have been used by businesses for a long time, e.g., computers and the Internet, others, such as cloud computing, more recently. In last decade, the concept of Industry 4.0's strong influences on the digitalization in the business has developed. Information and communication technologies (ICT) solutions support the innovation and development of companies and have tremendously helped companies to cope with the uncertainty they experienced during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020.

Chapter 10 - Techniques for Privacy Preserving Data Publication in the Cloud for Smart City Applications

Financialization describes a phenomenon whereby financial markets assume an increasingly dominant role within the economy. This paper seeks to dissect the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in financialization by following a cross-disciplinary approach across finance, economics and information systems. Accordingly, we develop a general framework describing the relationship between ICT and financialization. This framework allows us to investigate the recent rise of online marketplaces for credit. Consequently, ICT is not only facilitating, but fundamentally driving a disintermediation of banks through advances in computing, communication and information technology. We also provide supporting evidence from interviews with almost 40 senior experts and C-level executives. Interestingly, only rather recent innovations have enabled the popularity of marketplace lending, such as cloud computing, big data, scalable IT infrastructures and comprehensive ecosystems of programming interfaces. In contrast, we observe a slow integration of advanced analytics in the field of risk management. Based on our analysis, the paper also discusses cross-country implications for marketplace lending, financialization and regulation.