scholarly journals A survey of Egyptian physicians’ awareness and use of coronavirus-related mHealth applications

2021 ◽  
pp. 026666692110494
Author(s):  
Essam Mansour

The key purpose of this study is to look into Egyptian physicians' knowledge and use of coronavirus-related mHealth apps. The study used a quantitative approach in the form of a self-administered questionnaire in January 2021.The population of the study included 203 Egyptian physicians, 56% of whom were males and 43.8% of whom were females, ranging in age from 36 to 55 years and with work experience ranging from 11 to 25 years. Many Egyptian physicians were described as advanced mobile phone users who were aware of the use of coronavirus-related mHealth apps and had used them for one to two hours per day for seven to twelve months. Many physicians first learned about these apps through social media, family, and the media. Physicians' homes were discovered to be the most popular location for accessing these apps. The most popular platforms for physicians were those based on Android. According to many physicians, the most frequently recommended apps are “coronavirus symptoms apps” and “coronavirus health monitoring apps”. Accessing coronavirus-related services, communicating with peers, and sharing data were among the most important tasks for physicians. Many physicians agreed that these apps provide a lot of information about the coronavirus, increase access to information, and allow them to communicate with one another, but they also agreed that they take a long time, violate privacy, and may even lead to social isolation. Many physicians have expressed trust in these applications. More than half of the physicians stated that they “usually” recommend these apps to their patients. The most significant barriers to using coronavirus-related mHealth apps identified by Egyptian physicians surveyed in this study are a lack of time and concerns about personal data privacy and security.

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibhushinie Bentotahewa ◽  
Chaminda Hewage ◽  
Jason Williams

The growing dependency on digital technologies is becoming a way of life, and at the same time, the collection of data using them for surveillance operations has raised concerns. Notably, some countries use digital surveillance technologies for tracking and monitoring individuals and populations to prevent the transmission of the new coronavirus. The technology has the capacity to contribute towards tackling the pandemic effectively, but the success also comes at the expense of privacy rights. The crucial point to make is regardless of who uses and which mechanism, in one way another will infringe personal privacy. Therefore, when considering the use of technologies to combat the pandemic, the focus should also be on the impact of facial recognition cameras, police surveillance drones, and other digital surveillance devices on the privacy rights of those under surveillance. The GDPR was established to ensure that information could be shared without causing any infringement on personal data and businesses; therefore, in generating Big Data, it is important to ensure that the information is securely collected, processed, transmitted, stored, and accessed in accordance with established rules. This paper focuses on Big Data challenges associated with surveillance methods used within the COVID-19 parameters. The aim of this research is to propose practical solutions to Big Data challenges associated with COVID-19 pandemic surveillance approaches. To that end, the researcher will identify the surveillance measures being used by countries in different regions, the sensitivity of generated data, and the issues associated with the collection of large volumes of data and finally propose feasible solutions to protect the privacy rights of the people, during the post-COVID-19 era.


Author(s):  
Sue Milton

The proliferation of data exposure via social media implies privacy and security are a lost cause. Regulation counters this through personal data usage compliance. Organizations must also keep non-personal data safe from competitors, criminals, and nation states. The chapter introduces leaders to the two data governance fundamentals: data privacy and data security. The chapter argues that data security cannot be achieved until data privacy issues have been addressed. Simply put, data privacy is fundamental to any data usage policy and data security to the data access policy. The fundamentals are then discussed more broadly, covering data and information management, cyber security, governance, and innovations in IT service provisioning. The chapter clarifies the complementary fundamentals and how they reduce data abuse. The link between privacy and security also demystifies the high resource costs in implementing and maintaining security practices and explains why leaders must provide strong IT leadership to ensure IT investment is defined and implemented wisely.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulina Bondaronek ◽  
Ghadah Alkhaldi ◽  
April Slee ◽  
Fiona L Hamilton ◽  
Elizabeth Murray

BACKGROUND Within the new digital health landscape, the rise of health apps creates novel prospects for health promotion. The market is saturated with apps that aim to increase physical activity (PA). Despite the wide distribution and popularity of PA apps, there are limited data on their effectiveness, user experience, and safety of personal data. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this review and content analysis was to evaluate the quality of the most popular PA apps on the market using health care quality indicators. METHODS The top-ranked 400 free and paid apps from iTunes and Google Play stores were screened. Apps were included if the primary behavior targeted was PA, targeted users were adults, and the apps had stand-alone functionality. The apps were downloaded on mobile phones and assessed by 2 reviewers against the following quality assessment criteria: (1) users’ data privacy and security, (2) presence of behavior change techniques (BCTs) and quality of the development and evaluation processes, and (3) user ratings and usability. RESULTS Out of 400 apps, 156 met the inclusion criteria, of which 65 apps were randomly selected to be downloaded and assessed. Almost 30% apps (19/65) did not have privacy policy. Every app contained at least one BCT, with an average number of 7 and a maximum of 13 BCTs. All but one app had commercial affiliation, 12 consulted an expert, and none reported involving users in the app development. Only 12 of 65 apps had a peer-reviewed study connected to the app. User ratings were high, with only a quarter of the ratings falling below 4 stars. The median usability score was excellent—86.3 out of 100. CONCLUSIONS Despite the popularity of PA apps available on the commercial market, there were substantial shortcomings in the areas of data safety and likelihood of effectiveness of the apps assessed. The limited quality of the apps may represent a missed opportunity for PA promotion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Buell Hirsch

Purpose This viewpoint is intended to examine the issue of the monetization of personal data and the risks to companies that fail to understand this trend. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews the recent literature on the use and abuse of personal data to identify relevant trends and issues. Findings It is likely, whether through blockchain technology or some other means, that individual consumers will be able to monetize their data. Research limitations/implications As a review of secondary sources rather than original sources, the findings are anecdotal and not comprehensive. Practical implications In the rapidly changing environment of data privacy and security, one should anticipate that the findings may become outdated by sudden events such as a new global data privacy breach. Social implications Ownership of personal data and its use or abuse is one of the single most important social issues in today’s world, with profound implications for civil society. Originality/value While there have been numerous studies cataloguing attempts to create monetization platforms for consumer data, there are not many studies on the reputational risks for companies in handling data from the Internet of Things.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanton Heister ◽  
Kristi Yuthas

Recent increases in security breaches and digital surveillance highlight the need for improved privacy and security, particularly over users’ personal data. Advances in cybersecurity and new legislation promise to improve data protection. Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies provide novel opportunities for protecting user data through decentralized identity and other privacy mechanisms. These systems can allow users greater sovereignty through tools that enable them to own and control their own data. Artificial intelligence provides further possibilities for enhancing system and user security, enriching data sets, and supporting improved analytical models.


2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Juliana Hamka Kamaroddin ◽  
Dianne Lee Mei Cheong ◽  
Azlin Ahmad

This paper presents a quantitative study in measuring the perception of Malaysian SME towards ecommerce as an innovation and factors affecting the adoption of it. It is concerned with initiatives that are intended to help SME in Malaysia to adopt E-commerce as an innovation. The research has two main emphases: First, it presents some preliminary findings on the perception of Malaysian SME towards E-commerce as an innovation; and the level of confidence towards E-commerce as an innovation. Second, it streamlines various initiatives by Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation (SMIDEC), BankNegara Malaysia and local governments in accelerating the acceptance of E-commerce by Malaysian SME. The study engaged 38 SME participants through a survey using a self-administered questionnaire. 32% of the surveyed SME are from the Type 1 Industry; comprising manufacturing, manufacturing related services, and agro-based services and about 68% are from Type 2 Industry comprising services, primary agriculture, and ICT. The self administered questionnaire consists of two sections. Section I contains demographic information and SME specification while Section II contains 37 items: 31 items utilised Likert Scales items ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5(strongly agree), and six items utilised defined interval scales. Rogers' attributes of innovations (2003): relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trial ability and observability were used in the construct of the research instrument. This research emphasizes on Rogers'framework, as it was found useful where the study sought to understand the diffusion and use of Ecommerce by Malaysian SME in the investigation. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse and present empirical data of the 38 SME. The results from the quantitative data provided information on addressing barriers to SME, and confirmed the characteristics of Rogers' adoption categories. The study shows that the instrument which was designed with seven constructs lacked internal consistency in two determinants: relative advantage and observability. Findings interpreted through Rogers' theory suggest that an action plan should include initiatives to help SME towards E-commerce as an innovation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 810-819
Author(s):  
Atasha Reddy ◽  
Sanjana Brijball Parumasur

This study assesses employee perceptions of the influence of diversity dimensions (race, gender, religion, language, sexual orientation, attitudes, values, work experience, physical ability, economic status, personality) on their interactiions with co-workers as well as on their organization in its daily operations. These perceptions were also compared and gender related correlates were assessed. The study was undertaken in a public sector Electricity Department in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The population includes 100 employees in the organization, from which a sample of 81 was drawn using simple random sampling. Data was collected using a self-developed, pre-coded, self-administered questionnaire whose reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings reflect that employees perceive that their interactions with co-workers are most likely to be influenced by attitudes, work experience and personality and that daily organizational operations are most likely to be influenced by race, work experience and attitudes. Furthermore, religion and sexual orientation are perceived as having the least influence on co-worker interaction and day-to-day organizational operations. In the study it was also found that employees perceive that race followed by gender influences day-to-day organizational operations to a larger extent than it influences co-worker interactions. Recommendations made have the potential to enhance the management of workforce diversity


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Guenter Knieps

5G attains the role of a GPT for an open set of downstream IoT applications in various network industries and within the app economy more generally. Traditionally, sector coupling has been a rather narrow concept focusing on the horizontal synergies of urban system integration in terms of transport, energy, and waste systems, or else the creation of new intermodal markets. The transition toward 5G has fundamentally changed the framing of sector coupling in network industries by underscoring the relevance of differentiating between horizontal and vertical sector coupling. Due to the fixed mobile convergence and the large open set of complementary use cases, 5G has taken on the characteristics of a generalized purpose technology (GPT) in its role as the enabler of a large variety of smart network applications. Due to this vertical relationship, characterized by pervasiveness and innovational complementarities between upstream 5G networks and downstream application sectors, vertical sector coupling between the provider of an upstream GPT and different downstream application industries has acquired particular relevance. In contrast to horizontal sector coupling among different application sectors, the driver of vertical sector coupling is that each of the heterogeneous application sectors requires a critical input from the upstream 5G network provider and combines this with its own downstream technology. Of particular relevance for vertical sector coupling are the innovational complementarities between upstream GPT and downstream application sectors. The focus on vertical sector coupling also has important policy implications. Although the evolution of 5G networks strongly depends on the entrepreneurial, market-driven activities of broadband network operators and application service providers, the future of 5G as a GPT is heavily contingent on the role of frequency management authorities and European regulatory policy with regard to data privacy and security regulations.


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