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on Information and Communication Technologies |
| By: | Mario Savino |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to explore the most problematic aspects of information access legal regimes and to provide some guidelines to policy makers, including legislators, governments and public administrators. The analysis is based on the comparison of Freedom of Information Acts (FOIAs) and their administrative/judicial enforcement in 14 EU member states and the EU institutions. |
| Date: | 2010–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaac:46-en&r=ict |
| By: | Michel van Eeten; Johannes M. Bauer; Hadi Asghari; Shirin Tabatabaie |
| Abstract: | Botnets – networks of machines infected with malicious software – are widely regarded as a critical security threat. Measures that directly address the end users who own the infected machines are useful, but have proven insufficient to reduce the overall problem. Recent studies have shifted attention to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the providers of Internet access to end users, as possible control points for botnet activity…. |
| Date: | 2010–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2010/5-en&r=ict |
| By: | Ana Balsa; Nestor Gandelman; Rafael Porzecanski |
| Abstract: | This paper reports the results of a three-month randomized controlled trial to estimate the impact of an Internet and mobile telephone short message service (SMS) intervention on adolescents’ information about substances and rates of consumption. A low percentage of participants logged on to the Web platform, but most participants were reached through e-mails and SMS. It is found that the intervention was able to affect awareness that certain substances are drugs, but no significant changes in consumption habits were found. |
| Keywords: | Randomized trial, Drugs, Smoking, Alcohol |
| JEL: | I1 O31 C93 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:wpaper:4692&r=ict |
| By: | T.P. Rama Rao |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the concerns on the digital divide and illustrates, through case studies, how the recent developments in the Information and Communication Technology can be gainfully employed in social development and in bridging the digital divide. It also addresses the phenomenon of E-Commerce and identifies the efforts made by different industry groups, international organizations and ministries in addressing the concerns related to E-Commerce and consumer protection. |
| Keywords: | Information and Communication Technology, E-Commerce, international organizations, ministries, consumer protection |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3270&r=ict |
| By: | Marianna Succurro; Federico Boffa (Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | This study explores how direct online booking affects the variation in hotel bed-places occupancy rate between peak and off-peak periods, thereby contributing to three strands of literature, respectively the determinants of seasonality, the tourist information acquisition process and the impact of the internet on tourism. The empirical analysis, covering 18 countries over the 1997-2007 period, investigates the impact of an increase in the use of the internet by consumers on the seasonal variation in the occupancy rate. We find that internet actually increases the variation in occupancy. We contribute to reduce the lack of a theoretical framework in this field by developing a formal model to illustrate why and how the reduction in search cost entailed by the use of the internet can indeed lead to a higher seasonality. |
| Keywords: | Internet, Search Costs, Net Occupancy Rate of bed-places |
| JEL: | D40 D83 L11 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201020&r=ict |
| By: | Tiago Araújo (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia); Jorge Costa (IET, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia); André Gonçalves (IET, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia); Ivo Rodrigues (IET, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we will present the last generation of fiber optics communication networks. We introduce the main concepts related to the fiber optics, and then we show the results of the research made about the chosen case study: GÉANT – the European network to share scientific data. We focus on the network components, it structure and functionality, and also the benefits that it brought, not only in terms of technology, but also the ones related to social sciences. In the end, we do a brief comparison between GÉANT and the other similar networks around the world, and we contextualize GÉANT in Portugal, from its partners to the network topology. The reader in the end will have a general idea of the fiber optics technology, and will know the benefits of this technology to a network so important as GÉANT. |
| Keywords: | fiber optics, dark fiber, GÉANT, networks, data share, Portugal |
| JEL: | O32 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieu:wpaper:22&r=ict |
| By: | Surabhi Mittal; Sanjay Gandhi; Gaurav Tripathi (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations) |
| Abstract: | Deficits in physical infrastructure, problems with availability of agricultural inputs and poor access to agriculture-related information are the major constraints on the growth of agricultural productivity in India. The more rapid growth of mobile telephony as compared to fixed line telephony and the recent introduction of mobile- enabled information services provide a means to overcome existing information asymmetry. It also helps, at least partially, to bridge the gap between the availability and delivery of agricultural inputs and agriculture infrastructure. This paper investigates a series of questions that explore this topic: What kind of information do farmers value the most to improve agricultural productivity? Do mobile phones and mobile-enabled agricultural services have an impact on agriculture? What are the factors that impede the realisation of the full productivity enhancing potential of mobile phones? The answers to these questions have important implications for mobile operators, for information service providers, and for policy- makers. The quality of information, its timeliness and trustworthiness are the three important features that have to be ensured to enable farmers to use it effectively to improve productivity. The study found evidence that mobiles are being used in ways which contribute to productivity enhancement. However, to leverage the full potential of information dissemination enabled by mobile telephony will require significant improvements in supporting infrastructure and capacity building amongst farmers to enable them to use the information they access effectively. As mobile penetration continues to increase among farming communities and information services continue to adapt and proliferate, the scope exists for a much greater rural productivity impact in the future. |
| Keywords: | Mobile phones, Farmers and Fishermen, Agricultural productivity |
| JEL: | Q16 Q18 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:develo:2373&r=ict |
| By: | Jinhua Zhao |
| Abstract: | An important channel through which globalization affects poverty is introducing new technologies to developing countries. Adoption of new technologies can be hindered by uncertainties about their efficiency. This paper studies the role of information exchange between adopters and others about a new technology and about each other’s likelihood of adoption. [Research Paper No. 2005/41] |
| Keywords: | ICT, diffusion, globalization, econometric methods |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:3238&r=ict |