Semantic Search Engine and Object Database Guidelines for Service Oriented Architecture Models

In this paper, the authors propose a Semantic Search Engine, which retrieves software components precisely and uses techniques to store these components in a database, such as ontology technology. The engine uses semantic query language to retrieve these components semantically. The authors use an exploratory study where the proposed method is mapped between object-oriented concepts and web ontology language. A qualitative survey and interview techniques were used to collect data. The findings after implementing this research are a set of guidelines, a model, and a prototype to describe the semantic search engine system. The guidelines provided help software developers and companies reduce the cost, time, and risks of software development.

Using OCL to Model Constraints in Data Warehouses

Recent research works propose using Object-Oriented (OO) approaches, such as UML to model data warehouses. This paper overviews these recent OO techniques, describing the facts and different analysis dimensions of the data. The authors propose a tutorial of the Object Constraint Language (OCL) and show how this language can be used to specify constraints in OO-based models of data warehouses. Previously, OCL has been only applied to describe constraints in software applications and transactional databases. As such, the authors demonstrate in this paper how to use OCL to represent the different types of data warehouse constraints. This paper helps researchers working in the fields of business intelligence and decision support systems, who wish to learn about the major possibilities that OCL offer in the context of data warehouses. The authors also provide general information about the possible types of implementation of multi-dimensional models and their constraints.

Public Information Service for the Disadvantaged in China’s Towns

This study uses the methods of questionnaire and group discussion to conduct field research in A and B towns, which are located in the eastern developed region and the western undeveloped region of China, respectively. According to comparative study on the status of providing public information service for the disadvantaged between A and B towns, the author finds that the public in A town are superior to the ones in B in terms of information literacy, public information service expenditure, and satisfaction rate of public information service. Similarities exist in terms of differences in accessing public information service between town and village, among social groups, and the causes resulting in imbalance of public information service and features of the information-poor’s group distribution. The author discusses the differences in development policies between city and village, as well as differences in financial investment of public information service, education, and individual’s income level between A and B towns.

The Driving Internal Beliefs of Household Internet Adoption among Jordanians and the Role of Cultural Values

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a comprehensive model for the determinants of household Internet adoption through identifying the driving internal beliefs of individuals and the effect of cultural values on behavioral intention to adopt the household Internet among Jordanians. Given the widely recognized effect of cultural values on adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), this study, applying Hofstede’s multidimensional framework, investigated the effect of cultural values on the behavioral intention to household Internet adoption in micro level. The empirical examination of the research model indicated that the behavioral intention to household Internet adoption is determined directly by five internal beliefs, including perceived needs, perceived risks, perceived ease of use, perceived resources, and perceived image. The results provide supporting empirical evidence linking most of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to behavioral intention to household Internet adoption. With the exception of power distance, the results showed that collectivism (low individualism), masculinity, long-term orientation, and uncertainty avoidance had significant effects on the behavioral intention to household Internet adoption. The results demonstrated differences in the driving forces and cultural impact on Internet adoption between households and organizations settings.

A Preliminary Classification of Usage Measures in Information System Acceptance

In the light of a diverse body of disorganized usage measures available and the difficulty of building a cumulative research tradition, a literature review is conducted on system use in Information Systems (IS) Acceptance through the two main theories of Technology Adoption, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and The Unified Theory of Use and Acceptance of Technology (UTAUT). The authors seek to understand how usage measures are being operationalised and proposed a preliminary classification of those measures that covers system and task aspects of use. A Q-Sort approach was taken to validate the authors’ classification scheme and the result indicates high inter-rater agreement. The ensuing classification is meant to help researchers in their choice of system use measures. This review also summarises the arguments for a multi-dimensional measure of use and establishes that omnibus measure such as frequency, volume and use/non-use hold prevalence. Finally, the authors provide recommendations for further research in the area of system use.

Social Drivers for ICT Diffusion among Agrarian Business Enterprises in Nigeria

In this paper, the authors examine the process of diffusion of innovation ICT within agrarian business enterprises operating in developing countries. There is substantial research in the area of Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DoI) and its application to Information Systems (IS) research within organisations. However, in recognition of the conceptual limitations of DoI, researchers have called for the incorporation of aspects of Social Network Theory (SNT) into DoI frameworks. The findings of this research suggest that an understanding of the conceptual basis of innovation is a major driver of successful innovation adoption.

A Comparative Study of the Effects of Culture on the Deployment of Information Technology

Culture is thought to be the most difficult to isolate, define, and measure in the adoption and use of IT (Information Technology) (Hassan & Ditsa, 1999). Consequently, the impact of culture on the adoption and use of IT does not feature prominently in Information Systems (IS) literature. As cultural factors are important to the success of IT adoption and use, this research paper examines culture’s impact on the adoption and use of IT in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The results of the study were compared along eight cultural dimensions with a study on the adoption and use of IT in developing and developed countries. The results are also used to identify issues that concern the relationship of culture and IT and their implications for IT adoption and use in the UAE. The study results are further used to suggest ways of bridging the digital divide between the UAE and developed countries.

Tackling M-Government Service Complexity

The development of mobile government services in Bahrain is moving slowly, when compared with traditional e-government services. Few informational and transactional services are available on the mobile portal. The complexity of government services prevents their delivery through the limited mobile phone interface. This exploratory research builds a method to tackle service complexity, as well as simplify and streamline the design and development of government services that target mobile devices. Forty government services in Bahrain were analyzed to identify the factors that affect mobile government services. The model was then applied to the sample services, and results were used to develop the target method. The main finding of this research is that the current approach of taking the existing services on the PC portal and implementing them on the mobile portal should be avoided. A better approach is to break down the services into sessions or components and identify opportunities where mobile technologies can be utilized.

Information Hiding Using Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

This paper aims to find an effective and efficient information hiding method used for protecting secret information by embedding it in a cover media such as images. Finding the optimal set of the image pixel bits to be substituted by the secret message bits, such that the cover image is of high quality, is a complex process and there is an exponential number of feasible solutions. Two new ant-based algorithms are proposed and compared with other algorithms. The experimental results show that ant colony optimization algorithm can find the solution efficiently and effectively by finding the optimal set of pixel bits in a few number of iterations and with least Mean Square Error (MSE) comparable with genetic and genetic simulated annealing algorithms.

Segmentation of Arabic Characters

The cursive nature of Arabic writing is the main challenge to Arabic Optical Character Recognition developer. Methods to segment Arabic words into characters have been proposed. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the methods proposed by researchers to segment Arabic characters. The segmentation methods are categorized into nine different methods based on techniques used. The advantages and drawbacks of each are presented and discussed. Most researchers did not report the segmentation accuracy in their research; instead, they reported the overall recognition rate which did not reflect the influence of each sub-stage on the final recognition rate. The size of the training/testing data was not large enough to be generalized. The field of Arabic Character Recognition needs a standard set of test documents in both image and character formats, together with the ground truth and a set of performance evaluation tools, which would enable comparing the performance of different algorithms. As each method has its strengths, a hybrid segmentation approach is a promising method. The paper concludes that there is still no perfect segmentation method for ACR and much opportunity for research in this area.