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This paper seeks to highlight a poorly‐understood dimension of digital exclusion that is not related to access to information and communication technologies (ICTs), but rather to the reduction in flexibility for providing and administering public services following the implementation of an integrated e‐government system.

A case study of a project focused on reducing barriers to the delivery of driver licensing services to a remote indigenous community in Australia was undertaken and the data were analysed using Kling et al.'s socio‐technical interaction network (STIN) modelling approach.

The paper makes four recommendations to improve the licensing situation for the community that are induced from the findings. In particular the paper draws attention to the need to carefully analyse possible negative impacts of any e‐government initiative for those at the margins of society.

The paper aims to analyse the current situation as the foundation for recommending future actions. These can form the basis for subsequent interventions in the licensing situation.

This research provides an outsiders' overview of the licensing situation and recommendations for change that take account of a diversity of viewpoints and interests.

The paper contributes to our understanding of the relationship between ICTs and social exclusion in three ways. It provides a rich narrative describing the secondary impacts of integrated e‐government systems, a theoretically grounded analysis of the situation and some recommendations for addressing some of the implications at both the community level as well as calling for more careful evaluation of possible negative consequences about shifting service provision to integrated systems.

This paper focuses on the existing and potential role of electronic learning in small and medium‐sized organisations (SMEs). Innovations in information and communication technologies (ICTs) could create new forms of learning, particularly appealing to small organisations, to overcome traditional barriers such as lack of financial resources, time, expertise and facilities. The paper draws upon research, conducted in North Wales, exploring employee perceptions of and employer attitudes towards e‐learning. Small organisations in rural, peripheral regions such as North Wales can benefit from ICTs, not only to support e‐commerce, but also to access new opportunities for learning and development, beyond the often‐restricted local market. However, key findings from this research suggest that there are significant barriers to electronic learning, including the lack of hardware and software, and employer attitudes. A model is presented that identifies dimensions of, and factors influencing, e‐learning from employer and employee perspectives.

This chapter presents a theoretical and evidence-based investigation of the contribution that national educational systems make to the development of and transition to a knowledge economy in the Arabian Gulf, generally, and Saudi Arabia, specifically. The challenges to creating an Arabian Gulf knowledge economy are twofold. One is a functional and structural challenge of developing a knowledge economy-oriented mass education system. The other is a cultural and contextual challenge of aligning Arabian Gulf expectations, traditions, and norms with institutionalized expectations for knowledge economies. The knowledge economy development challenge that is specific to national versus non-national Gulf populations, information and communication technology (ICT), and formal mass education systems is highlighted. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the role that national innovation systems play in knowledge economy development in the Arabian Gulf countries.

Previous empirical research on cloud computing (CC) adoption factors has examined the effects of only a small number of firm’s characteristics on CC adoption. The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the effects of a wide set of firm’s characteristics, which concern four important aspects of it, its strategy, processes, personnel and technology, on the propensity to adopt CC.

Having as theoretical background the technology, organization and environment (TOE) theory of technological innovation adoption, in combination with Scott-Morton’s framework on firm’s main elements, ten research hypotheses have been developed based on previous CC and management literature. They were tested using data collected through the e-Business W@tch Survey of the European Commission from 676 European firms from three traditional manufacturing sectors.

The results reveal three characteristics of a firm that affect positively its propensity to adopt CC for all firm sizes: the adoption of ICT investment reduction strategy, the adoption of product/service innovation strategy and the sophistication of firm’s administration support ICT infrastructure. Furthermore, they reveal four additional characteristics of a firm that affect positively the propensity for CC adoption only in the small firms: the adoption of process innovation strategy, the employment of ICT personnel, as well as the sophistication of firm’s production support and e-sales ICT infrastructures.

First, this study provides a theoretical foundation for the elaboration of the organizational perspective of the TOE theory of technological innovation adoption, which opens a new stream of CC adoption factors research, investigating the effects of a wide range of firm’s characteristics on CC adoption. Second, based on the above foundation, this study enriches substantially the empirical literature on CC adoption factors. The main limitation of this study is that it has been based on data from only three European manufacturing sectors.

The findings provide new interesting insights concerning specific firm’s characteristics and therefore internal conditions that increase its propensity for CC adoption, and reveal specific kinds of strategy and ICT infrastructures for which CC is more appropriate and beneficial.

The authors have developed a theoretical foundation for extending our knowledge concerning the characteristics and internal conditions of firms that favor/promote the adoption of CC, which supports and enables the substantial extension of the existing knowledge base on CC adoption factors. Based on this theoretical foundation, the authors have formulated and tested ten research hypotheses concerning effects of firm’s strategic directions, processes, ICT infrastructures and ICT personnel, which have not been investigated previously, on CC adoption propensity.

This paper aims to introduce an information and communication technology (ICT) artifact that uses text mining to support the innovative and standardized assessment of professional competences within the validation of prior learning (VPL). Assessment means comparing identified and documented professional competences against a standard or reference point. The designed artifact is evaluated by matching a set of curriculum vitae (CV) scraped from LinkedIn against a comprehensive model of professional competence.

A design science approach informed the development and evaluation of the ICT artifact presented in this paper.

A proof of concept shows that the ICT artifact can support assessors within the validation of prior learning procedure. Rather the output of such an ICT artifact can be used to structure documentation in the validation process.

Evaluating the artifact shows that ICT support to assess documented learning outcomes is a promising endeavor but remains a challenge. Further research should work on standardized ways to document professional competences, ICT artifacts capture the semantic content of documents, and refine ontologies of theoretical models of professional competences.

Text mining methods to assess professional competences rely on large bodies of textual data, and thus a thoroughly built and large portfolio is necessary as input for this ICT artifact.

Following the recent call of European policymakers to develop standardized and ICT-based approaches for the assessment of professional competences, an ICT artifact that supports the automatized assessment of professional competences within the validation of prior learning is designed and evaluated.

Retail networks present new challenges in the business-to-business (B2B) collaboration between technology-based spinoffs and traditional businesses. This study aims to explore a public–private partnership (PPP) that leverages advanced digital technologies via spinoffs to tackle the key challenge of showrooming that retail shops are facing. Showrooming is the phenomenon in which shoppers go to the physical stores to gather in-depth product information, and later on, decide to buy the product from online retail competitors.

This research draws on a longitudinal qualitative study of a social context in which digital entrepreneurs are embedded. The empirical setting is a retail network in Italy, Germany and Finland with a particular focus on the process in which a PPP delivers innovation via spinoffs in the context of brick and mortar shops (B&M). The research design enables an understanding of the complexity of the phenomenon from a business and a social perspective.

New technology to tackle showrooming enables the creation of substantial hybrid value in retail partnerships. Spinoffs are key actors in leveraging digital technologies to create value faster and more tailored compared with large software companies. Spinoff entrepreneurs leverage on specific technologies (e.g. virtual reality and artificial intelligence) available inside organizations’ network (i.e. PPPs). Spinoffs are found to be a fundamental actor in the process of dealing with showrooming because of their time to market. Large software companies usually are not interested in approaching B&M shops because of the high operational costs of product customization for B&M shops.

Managers could use the success factors of the spinoffs in helping their B&M shops to improve both shopper experience and salesperson performance. For managers of B2B retail network, the results are useful towards increasing the involvement of shoppers while they are visiting physical stores, and it also improves salesperson performance. It also leads to the observation that cross-selling is one of the most effective responses to the phenomenon of showrooming. As practical implications for policymakers, the current research supports the view that PPPs should support the creation of spinoffs as a result of longitudinal innovation projects.

Retail technologies leveraged from a PPP and commercialized by spinoffs are powerful tools to enable a better quality of salespeople’s life in the working place. At the same time, these new technologies help shop owners increase the retention rates, conversion rates and reduce short-term loss, increasing the likelihood of B&M shops to survive in the condition of extreme competition caused by the showrooming phenomenon.

This research proposes a model of hybrid value creation from networks in digital retail. The model indicates that PPPs create spinoffs to explore showrooming and deliver substantial hybrid value (i.e. business and social) for physical retail shops, mainly because it influences the companies’ growth, employee performance and customer satisfaction. This model expands the field of B2B marketing by identifying factors that enable spinoff creation from retail networks and proposes success factors and research propositions in retail networks.

This paper responds to a range of theory and industry reporting, to provide an informed narrative which explores the current state of accessibility at UK festivals for people who are Deaf or disabled and the potential implications of developments in ICT for enhancing design, marketing, operations and performances across all phases of festival delivery, in order to improve inclusivity and accessibility. To this end, the paper addresses the following question: What do representatives of the UK live music industry perceive as barriers to accessibility and exemplars of current best practice for music festival attendees who are Deaf or disabled? What do representatives of the UK live music industry consider as the role of ICT to increase accessibility for music festival attendees who are Deaf or disabled?

Primary research focused on supply-side considerations with a sample group of 10 UK live music industry professionals. The scope of the research was limited geographically to England and by artform to open-air music festivals, venues which host some music festival provision and a Sector Support Organisation. Open questions elucidated qualitative information around; awareness of accessibility and inclusivity initiatives; potential for co-creation; non-digital improvements; current technological influences; and potential digital futures for accessible “live” experiences. A conceptual framework was constructed and semi-structured face-to-face interviews were carried out with six respondents, and four respondents completed a structured, self-administered e-mail questionnaire.

Findings include: ICT can facilitate enhanced dialogue with existing and potential audience members who are Deaf or disabled to both; reduce existing social exclusion (Duffy et al., 2019) and improve the visitor experience for all attendees. All respondents agreed that physical enhancements are important and some mentioned communications and customer care. Respondents reported increasingly ambitious usages of ICT at music festivals, which may support suggestions of a virtual experience trend (Robertson et al., 2015). Online ticketing systems have potential to grant equal functionality to people who are Deaf or disabled, as recommended by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (2015). Respondents broadly welcomed the potential for positive impacts of ICT on increasingly accessible live experiences at music festivals which retained a sense of authenticity and “liveness”. Challenges around “as live” ICT-derived experiences were identified including risks of creating second-class experiences for Deaf and disabled attendees.

The limitations of this case study include the small sample size and limited scope.

Promoters should: consider further developing the co-creation of accessibility initiatives, utilising ICT to both deliver improvements and engage with potential audience members who are Deaf or disabled. Seek to pro-actively recruit staff members who are Deaf or disabled and significantly increase their programming of performers who are Deaf or disabled. Consider reviewing their ticketing processes for music festivals, to identify accessibility challenges for audience members and implement appropriate ICT-based solutions. Consider maximising accessibility benefits for audience members who are Deaf or disabled from existing ICT provision on site and explore additional bespoke ICT solutions at music festivals.

Adopting the best practices described across the festival sector may improve inclusivity for disabled people at music festivals and other events. Event management educators should consider reviewing provision to ensure that best practice is embedded around accessibility for audience members who are Deaf or disabled. Additional public funding should be provided to drive ICT-derived improvements to accessibility for audience members who are Deaf or disabled at smaller-scale music festivals. Further research should be considered around inclusive approaches to digital experiences within a music festival environment for audience members who are Deaf or disabled and tensions between accessibility and notions of “liveness”.

The “snapshot” of digital aspects of accessibility at UK festivals within this research is of particular value due to paucity of other research in this area, and it's narrative from varied industry professionals. The paper makes recommendations to promoters, academics and public funders, to attempt to advance inclusion (or at least to mitigate current exclusion) and identify directions for future research into accessible digital experiences at music festivals for people who are Deaf or disabled.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the strategic management of a technology-enabled shift from a product-centric to a service-centric logic and to identify the sociotechnical dynamics underlying this transition. The study focuses on how manufacturers manage to create value in industrial markets through digital servitization.

An abductive research approach is used to investigate two manufacturing firms, and an interpretive framework is used as an analytical template. A cross-case analysis is conducted.

The case companies strategically managed sociotechnical processes of digitization to co-create value. Their service orientation delineates dissimilarity in terms of digital servitization. It reflects a viable ecosystem that moves toward datatization through adaptation in one case and a viable ecosystem that moves toward digitization through reconfiguration in the other case.

A theoretically grounded, empirically informed framework is proposed to detect transformational mechanisms to manage value co-creation in digitally servitized contexts, thus contributing to ecosystem viability.

This is the first study to adopt a system perspective such as the viable system approach combined with service-dominant logic to reconceptualize the overall sociotechnical processes and the underlying mechanisms leading to digitized value creation. In line with a systems view and a systematic process based on a transformative attitude toward digital servitization, the empirically informed framework identifies specific co-creation activities and recursive feedback loops.

This research work aims to investigate the recent status of the information and communication technology (ICT) services industry in Iran. It proposes a systemic applicable approach at policymaking level and appropriate strategic planning steps to enlighten developing countries toward achieving their target objectives of an information society.

Largely based on existing literature and usage statistics in ICT services, global technology trends and results from a survey to obtain consistent and up-to-date information about current issues of ICT services in the public and private sectors in Iran.

This study elaborates on all issues, points and best practices relevant to the ICT services industry in Iran which is addressed by recommending some documented policies.

Majority of the experts who attended the workshop and responded to the questionnaire were service consumers rather than service providers.

This paper discusses some of the implications for the development of this ICT services strategy and provides policy recommendations.

To enhance the information society with the most advanced ICT services for accelerating human development.

This study provides a government refining process policy to address the common gaps in the ICT services industry in these developing countries and emphasizes a formidable policy foundation before implementing and monitoring of the Flagship ICT projects.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.