Andrew Whitmore

Knowing is doing: An empirical validation of the relationship between managerial information security awareness and action

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically validate the conjectural relationship between managerial information security awareness (MISA) and managerial actions toward information security (MATIS).Design/methodology/approach – A model is developed and the relationship between MISA and MATIS is tested using a large set of empirical data collected across different types and sizes of enterprises. The hypotheses of the research model are tested with regression analysis.Findings – The results of the study provide empirical support that MATIS is directly and positively related to MISA.Research limitations/implications – The R2, an estimate of the proportion of the total variation in the data set that is explained by the model, is relatively low. This fact implies that there are other constructs in addition to MISA that play a crucial role in determining MATIS. The paper suggests that intention to act and the risk‐cost tradeoff of the MATIS are other possible constructs that should be incorporated int...

A statistical analysis of the construction of the United Nations E-Government Development Index

There is much debate among scholars about what constitutes e-government success, what method is best for measuring it, and which variables best describe it. This lack of consensus naturally leads to disagreement about the best approach for ranking the e-government programs of different countries. This article evaluates the current standard in e-government ranking, the United Nations E-government Development Index, by performing a confirmatory factor analysis on the raw data reported in the “Data tables” section of the “Statistical annex” in the 2010 United Nations E-Government Survey. The results identify several technical issues with the index and point to the need for a statistical tool that can be used to evaluate and guide the development of e-government ranking systems. The article recommends that researchers develop a new paradigm for quantitative e-government ranking that uses factor analysis to aid in the selection of variables, the organization of aggregate constructs, and the determination of weights.

Using open government data to predict war: A case study of data and systems challenges

Abstract The ability to predict future military engagements would be a boon to combatants, contracting companies, investors, and other stakeholders. While governments may seek to conceal plans for impending conflict, they must spend large sums of money mobilizing and equipping soldiers in preparation for deployment. Thus, examining government spending patterns might yield insight into future military conflict. This article reports on an attempt to explore the possibility of using open U.S. Department of Defense (D.O.D.) contracting data to identify patterns of spending activity that can predict future military engagement. The research in this article followed a two-stage method. The first stage involved the exploration of the research question in the context of a specific case, the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The second stage assessed the open government contracting data used in the research and classified data and systems problems that were encountered according to an established analytical framework for open data barriers. The analysis demonstrated that the use of U.S. D.O.D. contracting data to predict future war has promise; however, a number of problems with the data and online portal prevented the derivation of conclusive, generalizable results. These problems were related to the open data barriers of task complexity and information quality. A detailed description of how these barriers manifested and directions for overcoming them are presented.

Extracting knowledge from U.S. department of defense freedom of information act requests with social media

Abstract The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has facilitated the release of large amounts of government information that has been of great value to researchers, journalists, and other interested parties. The fraction of this information released in electronic format has been growing as has its volume. While offering great potential for research, large amounts of data disgorged from government information systems can pose challenges to human interpretation and knowledge extraction. Using the Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Logs for 2007–2009, this research identifies (1) a process for finding relationships between the FOIA requests through keywords extracted from Wikipedia and (2) a technique for visualizing these relationships in order to provide context and improve understanding when working with born-digital government data.

Reducing the Perceived Risk of E-Government Implementations: The Importance of Risk Communication

Perceived risk has been identified by the literature as a limiting factor in e-government adoption and success. However, there has been little effort spent examining how and why perceived risk comes to differ from actual probabilistic risk and the means by which the gap can be reduced. These questions were examined by applying the Social Amplification of Risk Framework to the case of e-government in the United States. Several factors that are known to exacerbate perceived risk were identified from the literature and shown to be in place in the United States. The presence of these factors suggests that more effective risk communication is required in order to realign perceived risk with probabilistic risk. Recommendations on how to improve e-government risk communication through technical and human means are provided.

Managing First Impressions of New Open Source Software Projects

One of the most important indicators of open source software (OSS) project success is the number of developers joining the project. Some OSS projects begin with a previously networked group of experienced developers who are then able to recruit other developers. However, the vast majority of OSS projects are initiated by one or at most a few developers who are not yet part of a collaborative network and have to wait for potential developers to notice and join their projects.

One Size Fits All? On the Feasibility of International Internet Governance

ABSTRACT One of the most important information policy questions that has yet to be answered is how, and by whom, the Internet will be governed. The U.S. has maintained a tight grip on governance since the inception of the Internet, but mounting and unified international pressure may very well result in the transitioning of governance duties over to an international body such as the United Nations. This international governance body is expected to attempt to implement a set of global information policies to address a number of information issues. By contrast, the current governance system overseen by ICANN controls a much smaller scope of Internet policies. This article argues that international Internet governance will likely fail in terms of its ability to elicit international agreement on information policies as a result of disparities among countries.