Technological Dissemination in the Portuguese Payments System

Nowadays, few would contest that the contribution of ICT – Information and Communication Technologies – for the progress of the payments system in Portugal has been significant. The continuous irruption of new payment forms, as well as the emergence of more attractive and profitable offers, triggers countless changes. In fact, there has been an organizational restructuring of the banks, aiming at achieving higher efficiency levels, resulting from the use of ICT. In broad terms, the payments system in Portugal has been revealing high levels of modernity. However, is that adhesion to ICT similar in all the regions that are part of the Portuguese territory? The main goal of this study focuses on an empirical analysis which allows to investigate the degree of convergence, regarding the technological dissemination for banking purposes, between the region of Santarém and the national trends.

IT Professionals

Nowadays, Universities and other Training Institutions need to clearly identify the Information Technology (IT) skills that companies demand from IT practitioners. This is essential not only for offering appropriate and reliable university degrees, but also to help future IT professionals on where to focus in order to achieve better job positions. In an attempt to address this issue, this study rely on 102 Chief Information Officers, from Iberian large companies, to characterize current IT professionals and what is expected from future hirings. Results revealed that IT Technicians and Senior Analysts are the predominant positions and also that future hiring will request candidates with at least two to five years of work experience. The two most important skills found were core functions at the IT department: business knowledge and user support. In contrast, traditional competences such as web development and management of emerging technologies were less demanded.

An eAgriculture-Based Decision Support Framework for Information Dissemination

The ability of farmers to acquire knowledge to make decisions is limited by the information quality and applicability. Inconsistencies in information delivery and standards for the integration of information also limit decision making processes. This research uses a similar approach to the Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) methodology to develop an ICT based framework which can be used to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge for farmers’ decision making processes. This is one of the leading areas of research and development for information technology in an agricultural industry, which is yet to utilize such technologies fully. The Farmer Knowledge and Decision Support Framework (FKDSF) takes information provided to farmers and utilizes processes that deliver this critical information for knowledge acquisition. The framework comprises data capture, analysis, and data processing, which precede the delivery of the integrated information for the farmer. With information collected, captured, and validated from disparate sources, according to defined sets of rules, data mining tools are then used to process and integrate the data into a format that contributes to the knowledge base used by the farmer and the agricultural industry.

Collaborative Innovation for the Management of Information Technology Resources

All organisations are now facing one of the largest upheavals in business practice since the ‘great depression’. Information technology organisations, who frequently lead the development of change based around ICT, are being asked to develop new products and services that add significant value for customers and to radically change their internal processes so that they are more cost effective. Innovation is process of creating positive change to any organisation and that adds value to customers – internal and external. Innovation is now widely accepted at the only sustainable engine of renewed growth for organisations. Organisations that do not embrace innovation and learn to apply its principles will simply stagnate or be obliterated by competition. ICT organisations that can learn to apply innovation effectively will become key strategic assets in driving costs down and also in adding new dimensions to product and service development. This paper presents an approach to applying innovation in any ICT based organisation, be it a service department within a larger organisation or a commercial business that generates ICT solutions for clients. The process of innovation in ICT based organisations is similar to innovation in any organisation and requires an in-depth understanding and practice of developing innovation goals, the management of innovative actions or projects, the empowerment of human capital or teams and the continuous monitoring of innovation performance. This paper presents a methodology for applying innovation and a case study of how innovation related knowledge can be managed in any ICT organisation.

Identification of Patterns for the Formation of Software Development Projects Teams

The formation of software development project teams is carried out, conventionally, in an empiric manner; however, in this process, multiple factors should be considered. In literature, the works where this process is modeled are scarce, and most do not consider aspects linked to the formation of the team as a whole. In this paper, a group of patterns that contribute to the formation of software development projects teams are identified through the use of the Delphi method, psychological tests, and data mining tools. The paper identifies patterns that are validated experimentally, while psychological characteristics in the process of software team formations are exemplified.

RSS-Based Learning Using Audio

Specifications such as RSS feeds are opening a new channel of communication for Internet-based learning, which gives a decentralized view of web resources while maintaining the privacy of teachers and students who are consulting the information. This philosophy can be used to create personalized learning tools in which users can take control of resources they want to have access to. In this regard, RSS is XML-based, which makes it easy to complement visual access with audio interfaces, adapting the feeds to different educational contexts and learning styles. This paper discusses the use of feed syndication to create personalized feed readers accessible in visual and voice formats.

Educating IT Professionals Using Effective Online, Pedagogical, and Scheduling Techniques

Information technology professionals comprise an important segment of adult learners seeking a four-year undergraduate degree, and it is important to provide programs that address not only the conceptual and theoretical, but also adult learning needs in terms of career orientation and practicality together with providing real-life applications relevant to the needs of the IT job marketplace. The techniques of employing distance learning, providing modular and practical learning segments, emphasizing adult-oriented learning preferences, engaging users toward learning, and providing appropriate course schedules and sequencing are discussed in the context of an actual adult learner program. This program integrates job and career-oriented needs with that of a well-rounded business education. Examples and illustrations are provided to illustrate how an adult-oriented program was customized to provide needs important to adult learners and IT professionals, with the objective of producing superior and useful learning results.

Social Networks and Young People

This paper aims at stating the main advantages and implications of Web 2.0 by analysing popular social networks in Portugal and addressing some examples of their utility. The authors present results of an empirical study applied to young people, aged between 12 and 20 years old, in a specific Portuguese region. In the first part of the study, main characteristics and differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 are presented. In addition, results of empirical research and concluding remarks are presented and discussed. Achieved results seem to be particularly relevant for academics and industry professionals who might be interested in the application of new technologies for communication and socialization purposes.

The Organizacional Management as Instrument to Overcome the Resistance to the Innovative Process

Changes in economic activity on a global scale affect organizations due to modifications on their decision criteria, but also for the permanent character of the change. This situation implies an increase of the competition and also the appearance of new markets and opportunities. On the other hand the innovation not only offers major possibilities to guarantee the organization’s survival but also it allows to increase their competitive capacity; even turning into a generating element of the change and vice versa. But it will be the organization that inserts appropriately the above mentioned innovation, or that uses it better, the one that will be more competitive. The management of the organizational change, in this sense, turns into an influential factor in the creation of future and in the promotion of the available possibilities. This paper analyzes organizational management more adapted to the innovative processes of the Canary companies, as well as the underlying differences in the types of compared enterprises.

Utilization of Project Management Software in Qatari government Organizations

This study aims to explore the critical driving and resisting forces that promote or inhibit the implementation and use of project management (PM) software in Qatari Government Organizations in an attempt to determine whether software-based PM methodologies are being effectively implemented in the public sector organizations or not. Research hypotheses were evaluated using ANOVA and Mann- Whitney test. Findings indicated that forces that promote or inhibit software based PM implementation are significantly affected by the managerial interest and nature of existing (traditional or contemporary) PM practices. More importantly our findings identified some driving forces that promote the implementation of software-based PM methodology (SPMM) in Qatari government organizations and also identified some roadblocks that prohibit such implementations. Finally managerial implications for the successful implementation of SPMM are provided and avenues for further research are suggested.