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The purpose of this paper is to examine the following question: What is cloud computing?

This paper surveys the current literature.

Cloud computing is described in many ways.

This paper is one of the first pieces to examine the nature of cloud computing.

This study aims to identify the social representation of cloud computing from the perspective of Information Technology (IT) professionals in emerging countries, comparing it with the extant literature on this subject.

Data were collected from IT professionals in Brazil, which was used as a proxy for the emerging countries’ context related to cloud computing. Social Representation Theory was then applied to analyze the data.

Mismatches between theory and practice on cloud computing make it clear that most of the current scientific literature on cloud computing is, to a great extent, based on the context of developed countries rather than on the context of emerging ones.

Errors of inference may have been made during the categorization of the words evoked. Furthermore, Brazil was used as a proxy for the emerging countries’ context related to cloud computing.

IT professionals in emerging countries have quite an operational view of cloud computing. Thus, companies in these countries have to align cloud computing better with new business models and corporate strategies in order to take advantage of the transformational impacts of cloud computing.

IT professionals in emerging countries have failed to notice the strategic value of cloud computing, the new business models enabled by same, the privacy issues related to it and the impact cloud computing adoption can have on the IT costs of an organization. Moreover, mobility can be a paramount issue related to cloud computing in emerging countries – a fact thus far overlooked by academia.

The purpose of the study was to investigate factors promoting innovation and application of internet of things in academic and research information organizations.

Quantitative research design involved survey of selected academic and research information organizations in public and private chartered institutions. Information professionals, digital content managers, information systems and technologists that normally consume big data and technological resources were involved in the process of data collection using structured questionnaire and content analysis. Information organizations and information practitioners were selected from public and private academic and research institutions.

Innovation of internet of things has increasingly transformed and changed academic and research information organizations as the source of knowledge in addition to expanding access to education, data, information and communication anywhere anytime through hyperconnectivity and networking. Internet of things technologies such as mobile of things, web of things, digital information systems and personal devices are widely applied by digital natives in academic and research information organizations. Mobilization platform and devices is the single biggest provider of data, information and knowledge in academic and research organizations. Modern trends in education and knowledge practices in academic institutions and information organizations depends upon internet of things, digital repositories, electronic books and journals, social media interfaces, multimedia applications, information portal hubs and interactive websites, although challenges regarding inadequate information communication technology infrastructure and social computing facilities still persist.

Information organizations in public and private chartered academic and research institutions were adopted in the study. Respondents handling and supporting information management, planning and decision-making provided the necessary data. Information professionals, digital content managers, information systems and technologists are proactively involved in data and information analytics.

Academic and research information organizations are powerhouses that provide knowledge to support research, teaching and learning for sustainable development and the betterment of humanity and society. Innovation of internet of things and associated technologies provides practical aspects of attaining sustainable information development practices in the contemporary knowledge society. Internet of things technologies, principles of economies of scale and investment and customer needs entail that information organizations and practitioners should provide appropriate and smart systems and solutions.

Modern academic and research information organizations have the social corporate responsibility to offer technological innovations to heighten access to knowledge and learning in academic and research institutions. Economically, innovation and application of internet of things provide unlimited access to big data and information in organizations all the time anywhere anytime.

Data management is a growing phenomenon that information practitioners need to fully understand in the digital economies. Information professionals need to embrace and appreciate innovation and application of internet of things technologies whose role in sustainable development practices is critical in academic and research organizations.

The paper aims to examine the characteristic elements of various organizational factors to identify whether a favourable climate for implementing and sustaining cloud computing in Banaras Hindu University library system (BHULS) existed.

After reviewing relevant literature on the topic, a list of 20 factors that affected an organization’s adoption to innovation was prepared. A questionnaire was personally administered to the library professionals engaged in BHULS. Respondents were asked to nominate the level of importance of each factor for validation of cloud computing adoption.

Findings of the paper validate the fact that opportune time for the implementation of cloud computing existed in BHULS. Library staff showed high willingness toward the adoption of the cloud computing and were well prepared to grasp the challenges.

The paper establishes the fact that the benefits of cloud computing are inadequate to convince organizations to migrate from the traditional computing paradigm to the cloud. Technological advancement may not transform the cloud into a mainstream technology. To motivate the expansion of cloud computing adoption, emphasis has to be laid upon collaboration between the cloud service providers supplemented by solid cloud legislations which need to be worked out.

Because no empirical study on the cloud computing in conjunction with academic libraries of India has been carried out before, this paper closes this gap and provides guidelines to migrate to cloud environment. Also, it provides the perceptions of library professionals in response to its adoption.

Ubiquitous access to digital technologies is becoming an integral part of our business, home, and leisure environments, yet despite a quarter century of educational technology initiatives, ubiquitous computing remains conspicuously absent from our schools. In this chapter, we argue that simply putting more computers in schools will not solve the problem, but rather that teaching, learning, and technology integration need to be reconceptualized within a ubiquitous computing framework before the full educational possibilities inherent in digital technologies can be realized. Using examples from our laboratory classroom, we discuss how teaching needs to be reconceived more as “conducting” than “instructing”; how learning needs to become more the responsibility of the student, and located with her in an expanded space and time that extends beyond the classroom; and how technology integration needs to be understood not as an add-on, device-driven enterprise, but one motivated by teaching and learning needs and in which multiple technology choices are readily available to teachers and students both within and beyond the classroom.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

The Cloud of Things (IoT) that refers to the integration of the Cloud Computing (CC) and the Internet of Things (IoT), has dramatically changed the way treatments are done in the ubiquitous computing world. This integration has become imperative because the important amount of data generated by IoT devices needs the CC as a storage and processing infrastructure. Unfortunately, security issues in CoT remain more critical since users and IoT devices continue to share computing as well as networking resources remotely. Moreover, preserving data privacy in such an environment is also a critical concern. Therefore, the CoT is continuously growing up security and privacy issues. This paper focused on security and privacy considerations by analyzing some potential challenges and risks that need to be resolved. To achieve that, the CoT architecture and existing applications have been investigated. Furthermore, a number of security as well as privacy concerns and issues as well as open challenges, are discussed in this work.

Big data has posed problems for businesses, the Information Technology (IT) sector and the science community. The problems posed by big data can be effectively addressed using cloud computing and associated distributed computing technology. Cloud computing and big data are two significant past-year problems that allow high-efficiency and competitive computing tools to be delivered as IT services. The paper aims to examine the role of the cloud as a tool for managing big data in various aspects to help businesses.

This paper delivers solutions in the cloud for storing, compressing, analyzing and processing big data. Hence, articles were divided into four categories: articles on big data storage, articles on big data processing, articles on analyzing and finally, articles on data compression in cloud computing. This article is based on a systematic literature review. Also, it is based on a review of 19 published papers on big data.

From the results, it can be inferred that cloud computing technology has features that can be useful for big data management. Challenging issues are raised in each section. For example, in storing big data, privacy and security issues are challenging.

There were limitations to this systematic review. The first limitation is that only English articles were reviewed. Also, articles that matched the keywords were used. Finally, in this review, authoritative articles were reviewed, and slides and tutorials were avoided.

The research presents new insight into the business value of cloud computing in interfirm collaborations.

Previous research has often examined other aspects of big data in the cloud. This article takes a new approach to the subject. It allows big data researchers to comprehend the various aspects of big data management in the cloud. In addition, setting an agenda for future research saves time and effort for readers searching for topics within big data.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the role of trust in cloud computing services based on empirical evidence from interviewing executives of financial institutions in Ghana. The paper answers the questions: what is the role of trust in cloud computing service acquisition, and what policies promote trusted cloud computing services?

This is an explanatory paper that is based on literature review and empirical data on exploring reasons for cloud computing service acquisitions. A combination of interviews and focus group discussions was used as methods for data collection. Information technology and electronic banking executives of five major commercial banks in Accra, Ghana, between January and July 2013 were interviewed. A total of ten respondents were interviewed, two in each of the selected banks. A purposive sampling technique was used in the selection of informants. This approach allows the selection of qualified informants to ensure extensiveness and diversity of opinion.

Although previous literature proffers various factors as key to cloud computing adoption, uses or provisioning, this study brings trust to the fore as an imperative for cloud computing service acquisition by financial institutions. It also shows that trust increases if users perceive that cloud computing service providers act in honesty and in users’ interest, making trust a fundamental factor that informs financial institutions’ decision to acquire cloud computing services.

The research introduces a new dimension about the widely held perceptions of the factors that influence adoption of cloud computing services.

Developers of cloud computing solutions that are targeted at corporate users must focus on systems that enhances their trustworthiness, as it is a primary criteria for user buy-in. Similarly, any trust-building effort by cloud computing service providers minimizes users’ concerns and pushes the services providers closer to the trust threshold.

The paper outlines the trust factors that are imperative for cloud computing uses by financial institutions. This is one of the pioneering papers that address trust issues in cloud computing from the perspective of financial institutions.

Although cloud storage services can bring users valuable convenience, they can be technically complex and intrinsically insecure. Therefore, this research explores the concerns of academic users regarding cloud security and technical issues and how such problems may influence their continuous use in daily life.

This qualitative study used a semi-structured interview approach comprising six main open-ended questions to explore the information security and technical issues for the continuous use of cloud storage services by 20 undergraduate students in Hong Kong.

The analysis revealed cloud storage service users' major security and technical concerns, particularly synchronization and backup issues, were the most significant technical barrier to the continuing personal use of cloud storage services.

Existing literature has focused on how cloud computing services could bring benefits and security and privacy-related risks to organizations rather than security and technical issues of personal use, especially in the Asian academic context.