The Application of EC Competition Policy to the Media Industry

This article examines whether European Commission (EC) competition policy and merger control provisions can prevent excessive market power and safeguard open access and consumer choice in the European media and communications industry. The study looks at the structure of the media industry and points to the amalgamation of corporate power. It assesses whether EC competition law and merger provisions can effectively address the dangers of ownership concentration and safeguard diversity of sources. A number of merger cases either blocked or allowed by the EC are reviewed to establish the level of competition. The article suggests that a more rigorous competition policy is required to guarantee competition and prevent domination in merger activity.     

Electronic customs innovation: An improvement of governmental infrastructures

This article examines the diffusion of an e-government innovation, a common e-customs standardized solution, which is currently subject of research in the European Union. One of the goals of the European Union is to achieve trade facilitation as well as to secure import and export. In order to achieve this goal, the European Government aims to have a common e-customs standardized solution. For this reason, the European Government provided an e-government model. However, while the e-government model regulates the boundaries of the e-government elements and provides high-level functional and technical specifications, the adoption part is in the hands of the individual EU member states. Procurement of information technology and implementation of e-customs solutions are not specified. The main goal of this study is, therefore, to identify facilitators and barriers that can influence the adoption of standardized e-customs solutions. The research is based on Rogers' theory of innovation considering the technological, organizational, and environmental context. Within the framework of a European funded project, we conducted our study collecting data from interviews and workshops involving an inhomogeneous group of participants, i.e. stakeholders coming from academy, industry, and governmental institutions. By demonstrating the existence of four generic facilitators (benefits potential of the public sector; procedural improvements and streamlined business processes; avoidance of misinterpretations of standardized regulations; and standardization of processes, messages and data models) and three barriers (slowdown in regulation execution due to missing procedural templates, increased complexity in the standardization process itself, electronification of operations) related to customs management, the article contributes towards the research in diffusion and adoption of e-government standards and in particular of standardized e-customs solutions as well as political and societal impact of e-customs policies.     

A conceptual model for the development of broadband and e-government

The paper discusses the interconnection of the adoption and diffusion of broadband (‘BB’), e-government (‘EG’) and e-commerce (‘EC’) services. It provides a structured literature review and proposes a conceptual framework for studying the interconnection of the development and adoption of BB, EG and EC. The interconnections of various concepts are shown along with several hypotheses that are thoroughly theoretically grounded. The role of different technology acceptance models is discussed, while the importance of including various aspects in policy preparation analyses is emphasized.     

Information policy in the European community: Balancing protection and competition

This article discusses European Community policy as it relates to information technology and the information industry. With the advent of a common market within Europe there is an increase in competition and the removal of national barriers. This process is slow and difficult to accomplish and is not yet complete. Markets have traditionally been fragmented by linguistic differences, as well as different standards and laws. An EC policy towards information and information technology industries has evolved since the 1960s. This policy has steered a difficult course between protectionism and liberalization. It is unclear whether or not the common European market will be sufficient on its own to foster a competitive information market and information technology industry. The European Commission has traditionally taken an interventionist role. In the field of EC information law many, but by no means all. issues have been confronted. The Commission's role is changing from giving significant grants for collaborative European research and development towards incentives to companies to increase their own research and development spending, and towards building information infrastructure.     

数据库特殊权利保护制度对欧盟的影响

欧盟1996年的《关于数据库法律保护的指令》已实施10余年,但并未如预期那样促进欧洲数据库产业快速发展,文章在对欧盟各成员国执行《关于数据库法律保护的指令》的情况进行介绍的基础上,详细揭示了它对欧洲数据库产业的影响。     

数据库特殊权利保护的案例分析与启示

欧盟指令已实施10年,但并没有如当初设想的那样,促进欧洲数据库产业快速发展。文章揭示了“特殊权利”保护存在的一些问题以及它对欧洲数据库产业的影响,为完善欧盟数据库保护指令提出了一些修改意见,并引发了对我国数据库保护的启示。     

Should next generation access networks fall within the scope of universal service? A European union perspective

In 2010 the European Commission (EC) undertook a review of its current Universal Service Obligation (USO) to discuss whether or not broadband should be included in it. In fact, convergence of telephony, internet and media, further market liberalization and rapid technological development in the broadband market challenge the traditional definition of USO and increasingly question its notion of a “basic set of communication services”, which does not include broadband. In this context, the paper looks at the origins, the theoretical arguments for, and the empirical basis of the USO in light of the ongoing debate in the EU, and links these arguments to technological developments and changing demand conditions in European broadband markets. The authors propose that the European Commission should include in its future USO regulation provisions for a wider set of services based on Next Generation Access (NGA) networks rooted in the EC's new regulatory approach. Even if these provisions have not been included in the new USO framework in November 2011 further discussions are needed to account for the new realities of broadband markets in the European Union.     

EUROPEAN ATTITUDES TO THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND TO 1992

Most Europeans are now and have been strongly in favor of theircountry's participation in the European Community. The conspicuousexceptions are the British and Danish publics who are scepticalof the benefit they will derive from their countries' involvementin the Community. The advent of 1992 and closer European integrationis focusing the minds of governments, political institutions,business organizations and pressure groups, if not really thepublics of the member states. It is certainly having an impacton strategic thinking in other areas of the world, includingespecially EFTA countries, the Eastern block countries, theUSA and Japan. Over the nearly two decades in which the Europeans'views of their country's membership of the Common Market hasbeen measured by the EC's Eurobarometer, the average level ofsupport has been 57 per cent with only about one EC citizenin ten opposed. The pace of European economic integration hasquickened with the agreement of the EC countries on economicharmonization by the target year, 1992. This has the supportof most Europeans and many also support further social, economicand political harmonization and even integration in the comingyears. The focus on 1992 has been only slightly deflected bythe recent events in the Eastern European countries, and mayhave the effect of strengthening and, over the long term, quickeningthese goals.     

公共部门信息再利用制度研究

公共部门信息再利用制度在欧盟各国和美国都引起了充分重视,欧盟2003年<公共部门信息再利用指令>的通过标志着该制度的初步建立.中国的公共部门信息存量巨大,发展迅速,并且已存在相关的再利用业务,但公共部门信息再利用制度供给不足,需要构建包括产权制度、市场制度和程序制度在内的再利用制度体系.参考文献17.     

Enabling AI capabilities in government agencies: A study of determinants for European municipalities

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gradually becoming an integral part of the digital strategy of organizations. Yet, the use of AI in public organizations in still lagging significantly compared to private organizations. Prior literature looking into aspects that facilitate adoption and use of AI has concentrated on challenges concerning technical aspects of AI technologies, providing little insight regarding the organizational deployment of AI, particularly in public organizations. Building on this gap, this study seeks to examine what aspects enable public organizations to develop AI capabilities. To answer this question, we built an integrated and extended model from the Technology-Organization-Environment framework (TOE) and asked high-level technology managers from municipalities in Europe about factors that influence their development of AI capabilities. We collected data from 91 municipalities from three European countries (i.e., Germany, Norway, and Finland) and analyzed responses by means of structural equation modeling. Our findings indicate that five factors – i.e. perceived financial costs, organizational innovativeness, perceived governmental pressure, government incentives, regulatory support – have an impact on the development of AI capabilities. We also find that perceived citizen pressure and perceived value of AI solutions are not important determinants of AI capability formation. Our findings bear the potential to stimulate a more reflected adoption of AI supporting managers in public organizations to develop AI capabilities.     

THE STRUCTURATION OF EUROPE

Europe is characterized by a unique path of social differentiation.The ‘two swords’—state and church—thatstructured western European society in the Middle Ages havesince multiplied into six. Six cardinal institutions of society—theeconomy, government, science, religion, ethics, and art—eachmaintain a large measure of independence. Each is dependenton a special type of freedom: civic liberties, free trade, academicfreedom, religious toleration, the right to follow one’sconscience, artistic licence. The modern Europeans are offeredthe opportunity to create self-chosen biographies in their questfor wealth, order, truth, salvation, virtue, and beauty. Thesuccess of the EC depends on finding a form that suits thismainstream of European structuration. The appropriate form seemscloser to the model of ancient Athens that that of the RomanEmpire. Public opinion plays a vital role in integrating thistype of social order.     

Social media adoption at the American grass roots: Web 2.0 or 1.5?

In this paper, we examine data from a 2011 survey of grassroots (or local) governments in the United States with respect to their adoption of social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and Flickr) especially to ascertain the drivers of local government social media adoption and whether the drivers are similar to or different from the drivers of e-government adoption. We also address whether the adoption of social media portends a move by local governments from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0.     

Understanding Technology Adoption Through Individual and Context Characteristics: The Case of HDTV

Technology adoption research has a tradition of using and improving Davis' (1989) “Technology Acceptance Model” (TAM) and extended versions of it. This article suggests a break with this tradition by showing that the TAM is limited in its understanding of technology adoption. Two alternative approaches are proposed that focus on the role of knowledge and user-technology match, and on the role of temporary dynamical contexts in the process of adoption decision-making. Together with the TAM, both approaches were empirically tested and compared to the TAM by incorporating them in a questionnaire regarding the adoption intention of HDTV in the Netherlands. Results show that the constructs of both approaches show significant relations with the respondents' adoption intentions of HDTV and, together, offer a good alternative to the TAM. This result can be seen as a basis for more future research that uses technological and contextual factors as a starting point for adoption research. Using this starting point will contribute to a better understanding of future technology adoption processes.     

Factors for e-voting adoption - analysis of general elections in Nigeria

The adoption and use of e-voting technologies in major elections remain largely problematic regardless of where they are implemented. This has motivated a number of survey-based empirical studies on determining important factors for e-voting adoption based on existing technology adoption models. However, there is a paucity of studies, which provide deep insights and understanding of core issues involved in e-voting adoption success or failures in different contexts. This article describes an ethnography carried out with the goal to understand factors that support or inhibit e-voting adoption based on detailed data collected during the 2011 Nigerian General Elections. By consolidating existing e-voting adoption models and a multi-level innovation adoption model into an analytical framework, we analysed the observations made by one of the authors as a participant in the adoption and implementation of the e-voting initiative as well as the post-election reports. Our findings are synthesized into a multi-level e-voting adoption model. In addition, we catalog a number of factors that could negatively affect e-voting adoption in a similar environment. Our results contribute to advancing theory building in e-voting adoption while it provides practitioners with a concrete checklist of success factors and barriers for adopting e-voting technologies.     

e-Government Adoption Model (GAM): Differing service maturity levels

This research has as its objective the discovery of the critical factors that enable citizens to adopt e-Government (e-Gov) at different stages of service maturity. To accomplish the objective, this research has explained the related concepts and theories and developed a research framework grounded on a strong theoretical and literature review background. The empirical study was conducted in Canada, which is a leader in providing mature e-Gov services. From our results, we have observed two ontological differences from the present literature in the adoption behavior of e-Gov where organizational and financial perspectives have distinct implications over parsimonious technology adoption behavior. First, technology adoption model (TAM), diffusion of innovation theory (DOI), and theory of planned behavior (TPB) cannot capture and specify the complete essence of e-Gov adoption behavior of citizens. Second, e-Gov adoption behavior also differs based on service maturity levels, i.e., when functional characteristics of organizational, technological, economical, and social perspectives of e-Gov differ. Our findings indicate the critical factors that enable citizens to adopt e-Gov at different stages of service maturity. Public administrators and policy-makers have potential implications from the findings of the adoption behavior of e-Gov at different maturity levels.     

用户人格特质对互联网信息采纳行为的影响研究

[目的/意义]探究互联网情境下用户人格特质对互联网信息采纳行为的影响,为规制互联网行业发展及引导互联网用户信息采纳行为提供理论依据。[方法/过程]基于信息采纳模型、人格特质理论,探究用户人格特质变量对互联网信息采纳行为的调节效应。采用综合社会调查数据(CGSS),使用ologit回归模型对理论假设进行分析验证。[结果/结论]研究发现,信息采纳模型在互联网情境下更为重要,互联网信息质量与来源可信度决定互联网用户信息有用性的感知水平,进而影响信息采纳行为;用户人格特质变量对互联网信息采纳行为存在显著的间接影响力,且这种影响力存在显著的性别差异。     

Can the internet reduce corruption? A cross-country study based on dynamic panel data models

This study attempts to estimate the effects of internet adoption on reducing corruption by using a panel consisting of 70 countries covering the period from 1998 to 2005. The results of Granger causality tests reveal that, while causality running from internet adoption to corruption reduction can be established, the causality between internet adoption and corruption is bi-directional. To deal with the problem of endogeneity, the dynamic panel data (DPD) models are employed. The estimation results show that the effects of internet adoption on corruption reduction are statistically significant but not too substantial. Our findings suggest that the internet has shown a capacity for reducing corruption, but its potential has yet to be fully realized.     

Mapping the challenges of Artificial Intelligence in the public sector: Evidence from public healthcare

The nascent adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the public sector is being assessed in contradictory ways. But while there is increasing speculation about both its dangers and its benefits, there is very little empirical research to substantiate them. This study aims at mapping the challenges in the adoption of AI in the public sector as perceived by key stakeholders. Drawing on the theoretical lens of framing, we analyse a case of adoption of the AI system IBM Watson in public healthcare in China, to map how three groups of stakeholders (government policy-makers, hospital managers/doctors, and Information Technology (IT) firm managers) perceive the challenges of AI adoption in the public sector. Findings show that different stakeholders have diverse, and sometimes contradictory, framings of the challenges. We contribute to research by providing an empirical basis to claims of AI challenges in the public sector, and to practice by providing four sets of guidelines for the governance of AI adoption in the public sector.     

Barriers to artificial intelligence adoption in smart cities: A systematic literature review and research agenda

Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a prominent role in smart cities' development and offers benefits to different services such as finance, healthcare, security, agriculture, transport, education, and manufacturing. Despite the expected benefits, the adoption of AI varies from one smart city to another, due in part to barriers that can inhibit a smart city from adopting AI. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive view of the barriers faced by smart cities. Through a systematic literature review, this study identifies 18 primary and secondary barriers grouped into three main categories — technology, environment, and organization. This research contributes to the literature by developing a typology of AI adoption barriers based on the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) perspective. The typology provides a novel mapping of the barriers to AI adoption faced by smart cities and suggests directions for further investigation through a cohesive research agenda. At a practical level, the findings will allow policymakers, planners, and citizens to make more informed decisions about AI adoption. Practical implications are also proposed for guiding smart cities to increase the adoption of AI.