Choton Basu

Perceived Usefulness Of Information Technology: A Cross-National Model

Abstract As the world globalizes and more multinationals operate in foreign locales, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how people react to information technology. In this paper, we use a combined social institutions and national culture approach to examine how these are related to one component of the technology acceptance model. Specifically, we hypothesize that three social institutions (degree of industrialization, degree of social inequality, and religiosity) and three national culture dimensions (uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, and individualism) are related to the perceived usefulness of information technology. Because of the cross-level nature of our study, we use Hierarchical Linear Modeling to test our hypotheses on 26,999 individuals from 24 nations. Results support four of the six hypotheses (degree of industrialization, degree of social inequality, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity). Results reject hypotheses for religiosity and individualism. Implications of our findings for future research and practice are discussed.

Toward a Deeper Examination of Global IT Theory and Frameworks

Abstract In this paper, we examine the field of global information technology (global IT) and attempt to answer the following four questions: (1) Have we established a theory or theories, which enable us to generate a clear set of definitions that define this field? (2) Do we have a level of consensus on what we are trying to measure while we conduct research in this area? (3) What are (if any) the common threads of research in the global IT area and is there continuity in the research being conducted? (4) What are the future implications for researchers in this area and are there any concepts that need to be integrated with existing frameworks that would help define this area of research? Our answers to the four questions lead us to propose that global IT researchers need to move towards developing a theory for the field, generate a consensus on what we want to measure and build a truly global cumulative research tradition for the field. We also propose that practitioner issues should not be ignored when we attempt to search for a theory that helps define the field.

Quest for Universal Identification - A Commentary

Abstract This short article is presented as a commentary on trying to understand the underlying impacts of social media and related technologies on privacy and security issues. The focus of this paper is particularly on the individuals and the concept of universal identity (UI) that indirectly results due to the participation in these incredibly pervasive technologies and communication platforms. The author discusses particular features on various sites, socialization and incorporates inputs from interviews and secondary data to support this premise. Finally, lists of key research questions are identified throughout the commentary for future research.

Frameworks and Proposed Models

In this issue of the Journal of Information Privacy & Security (JIPS), we include three articles. The first two articles add to our growing body of knowledge in the area of Information Security frameworks. The third article proposes a model for m-commerce. This is followed by our Expert Opinion segment, which is always a valuable insight from practitioners and the Book Review section. This issue is the second for the year 2006 and sixth for the tenure of the journal. An interesting phenomenon is the level of debate and disagreement among the review board on various articles. This is a healthy debate and we decided in this issue to push some of this out to the readers and contributors by actually publishing few of the articles and taking that risk. Our goal is not to be controversial but to allow some of the debate to go beyond our editorial review board. The area of information security and privacy is wide open for various interpretations and debate. With this in mind our third article in this issue is published as a short proposed model that could lead to some debate. There are technical issues and general areas of the model that can lead to various debates. Our thoughts on the matter are to welcome such debate and encourage it. We will also be expanding our website to allow reader feedback to the journal as well as the authors. We plan to launch this new website by October 2006.

Future of privacy and security – the Four Horsemen

ABSTRACT In this article, the author focuses on four key issues that are expected to impact the future of privacy and security. These have been labeled — the Four Horsemen, for obvious reasons. In our assessment, these topics or “horsemen” have the potential to change the fundamental tenets of our society. They impact our banking system, medical breakthroughs, use of the internet and web-enabled devices and services. Together, these topics touch the entire range of technical, regulatory, social, legal, and commercial issues. The Four Horsemen are Net Neutrality (and U.S. Internet Privacy Laws), Internet of Things (IoT), Human Genome (Medical), and Cryptocurrency.

Interview with: Hemadri Naidu Senior Manager at Cap Gemini Sogeti

HN: I have lot of passion for data to recognition the patterns and find out the trends to maximize the profits and minimize the losses for the business. For the same reason, I have done masters major in object oriented databases and distributed databases to get in depth expertize in this space. I was a application architect before, now I can see both the worlds of OLTP & OLAP and maximize the value to the business solution offerings.

Interview with: Ravichandra Gunturu Senior Software Engineer Blackthorne Capital Management

RG: After getting my undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering, I was trained as a Process Engineer and given the responsibility to run a chemical plant (that produced Rayon / Artificial Silk). Technology and Instrumentation, along with people running the plant had to work in harmony to meet our production deadlines. After a stint at another Pharmaceutical company dealing with Computer aided design, I got interested in Computers and Software and came here to pursue formal education in Computer Science.

Interview with: Antonio Fernandez Senior Program Manager Supersaver.com

AF: I am a Software Engineer with more than 12 years of experience in IT. During the last five years I have implemented mobile solutions for customers such as Wal-Mart, Kimberly Clark, GE, Nokia and Nextel. On December 09, I joined SuperSaver to develop a middleware layer to connect an Phone application with several sources of information to retrieve deals, location details and stored user preferences.

Innovation, Technology and Game-Changers

In the frrst article, authors Alex Mills and co-authors present a unique look at Twitter as a unique service that offers great potential for rapid and integrated response to disasters. The authors also explore the upsides and the downsides of this free service as a modern communications tool in the hands of disaster response professionals, government agencies, crisis management organizations (CMOS), organizations, and victims of disasters. This article begins a series on web 2.0 technologies that are becoming game-changers in various scenarios.

Book Review: Public Information Technolow and E-Governance: Managing e Virtual State

(2006). Book Review: Public Information Technolow and E-Governance: Managing e Virtual State. Journal of Information Privacy and Security: Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 65-67.