Faouzi Kamoun

Accessibility as an integral factor in e-government web site evaluation : The case of Dubai e-government

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which accessibility is taken into account in the assessment and ranking of e-government web sites through the lens of a specific study related to Dubai e-government. Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers a case study related to Dubai e-government and it evaluates the accessibility of each of the 21 Dubai e-government web sites, based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and using an automated accessibility testing tool. A bivariate correlation analysis is performed to assess the correlation between web site ranking and accessibility score. Findings – The research reveals that contrary to common intuition and some earlier studies, there is a weak correlation between e-government web site ranking score and web site accessibility. Research limitations/implications – The paper uses an accessibility metric that is a proxy indicator of web accessibility and is not a real assessment of accessibility as experienced by a ...

Accessibility Evaluation of Dubai e-Government Websites: Findings and Implications

Most governments today are promoting the transition of their countries towards an information society where e-Government websites are becoming the primary gateways to citizens and businesses for government information and eservice delivery. E-Government can be broadly defined as the unification of information and communication technologies, and administrative practices to provide government e-services to citizens, businesses and other e-Governments (Deakins and Dillon, 2002). The benefits of online government e-services include better efficiency, user convenience and more citizen political involvement (Freeman and Loo, 2009). To enable all citizens to benefit from the full potential of eGovernment services, it is important to secure universal accessibility. This accessibility enables persons with disabilities to take full advantage of the information and services offered by eGovernments; the same way a person with no disability would.

Weaving Risk Identification into Crowdsourcing Lifecycle

Abstract Crowdsourcing enables companies and individuals as well to tap into the versatile knowledge, creativity, and talent of a large population of crowd contributors. Yet, crowdsourcing can expose companies to a myriad of risks that can have drastic impact on the profitability and competitive position. This paper presents a Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS) of crowdsourcing projects that spans the entire projects lifecycle. The paper first reports on a lifecycle model that captures the main phases of a crowdsourcing project. It then identifies the risk factors associated with each phase of the crowdsourcing lifecycle and discusses the impact of these identified risk factors on the crowdsourcing company. The proposed RBS calls for the need to pay close attention to risk monitoring during each phase of the crowdsourcing lifecycle.

Towards a Better Understanding of Organizational Adoption and Diffusion of RFID Technology: A Case Study Approach

This paper aims to acquire underlying knowledge about the dynamics of RFID adoption and diffusion and explore the drivers that shape the RFID diffusion pathway. The paper uses a case study methodology to conduct and present the research and its findings. The paper presents an RFID adoption/diffusion model that can guide enterprises to transition from standalone RFID deployments towards new RFID systems that are deeply integrated with business processes. The diffusion process follows a three-stage model with isomorphic feedback mechanisms. The first stage is an isolated/sensing phase, the second stage is an absorptive phase, while the last stage is an integrative phase. The proposed model suggests that a combination of endogenous and exogenous factors constitute the driving forces behind each phase of the diffusion pathway. Our research reveals that some congruence between organizational and individual aims is plausible during the adoption phase and that RFID adoption can be initiated through organizational free-will as opposed to coercive pressures from influencing organizations.

Human and Organizational Factors of Healthcare Data Breaches: The Swiss Cheese Model of Data Breach Causation And Prevention

Over the past few years, concerns related to healthcare data privacy have been mounting since healthcare information has become more digitized, distributed and mobile. However, very little is known about the root cause of data breach incidents; making it difficult for healthcare organizations to establish proper security controls and defenses. Through a systematic review and synthesis of data breaches literature, and using databases of earlier reported healthcare data breaches, the authors re-examine and analyze the causal factors behind healthcare data breaches. The authors then use the Swiss Cheese Model SCM to shed light on the technical, organizational and human factors of these breaches. The authors research suggests that incorporating the SCM concepts into the healthcare security policies and procedures can assist healthcare providers in assessing the vulnerabilities and risks associated with the maintenance and transmission of protected health information.

An RFID solution for the monitoring of storage time and localization of perishable food in a distribution center

In this research we adopt a design-science approach to propose an RFID-based solution that addresses the issue of short life-time of perishable food in the distribution center of a Logistics company. Various design alternatives are explored and assessed against the system requirements and constraints to illustrate how an RFID-based solution can effectively tackle the short storage-life problem. A prototype system is developed and evaluated. The proposed system monitors the storage time of perishable food items that are placed on tagged pallets in the warehouse and triggers alerts before the maximum storage-time is reached. We also discuss a solution for the localization of a pallet whose food content has nearly reached it maximum storage time. Design principles for developing appropriate systems to minimize the loss of perishable food during their storage at the warehouse are proposed and these can act as best practices for practitioners.

Investigation of the impact of a wireless Fog Warning System with respect to road traffic on a highway

Sudden visibility reductions on highways due to foggy weather conditions often lead to a drastic increase in car crash risks. Indeed, fog formation distorts drivers’ perception and judgment of inter-vehicular distances, vehicles’ speeds, and braking distances. In order to support drivers in dealing with the impact of fog, various on-board warning systems are being deployed today. Despite their added value, these systems are still in need of efficient solutions supporting smooth vehicle’s acceleration/deceleration profiles. This is to avoid sudden braking (hence, higher car crash risks) incurred by sensor technologies restricted to line of sight measurements. To meet this goal, we advocate in this paper a Wireless Fog Warning System (WFWS) where cooperative awareness messages are disseminated and used for calculating acceleration/deceleration activities. Without loss of generality, we build on IEEE 802.11p WLAN as a basis technology. Using simulations on the open-source vehicular network simulation framework Veins, we demonstrate both the potential of such a system for increasing safety and smoothing traffic flow—as well as of computer simulation as a means of its evaluation.

ConVeh: Driving Safely into a Connected Future

Abstract The loss of lives and damages to the property due to the vehicle crashes and road accidents have been an issue for long; a quarter of these accidents happen due to the adverse weather conditions. This paper presents the idea of cooperative driving technique for the drivers with the use of Connected Vehicles to minimize road accidents, traffic congestions, and to lessen, as far as possible, the effects of traffic on the environment and the loss of lives and economy. The frameworks for improving situational awareness and crash avoidance suggested hereby are vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) data transmission systems. The research will primarily focus on the feasibility of CVs as applicable to the contemporary physical and virtual infrastructure and suggest the required adaptations, while the technical needs for the effective and successful implementation of a robust communication framework through the use of dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) will be discussed thereafter.

A Neural network approach to visibility range estimation under foggy weather conditions

Abstract The degradation of visibility due to foggy weather conditions is a common trigger for road accidents and, as a result, there has been a growing interest to develop intelligent fog detection and visibility range estimation systems. In this contribution, we provide a brief overview of the state-of-the-art contributions in relation to estimating visibility distance under foggy weather conditions. We then present a neural network approach for estimating visibility distances using a camera that can be fixed to a roadside unit (RSU) or mounted onboard a moving vehicle. We evaluate the proposed solution using a diverse set of images under various fog density scenarios. Our approach shows very promising results that outperform the classical method of estimating the maximum distance at which a selected target can be seen. The originality of the approach stems from the usage of a single camera and a neural network learning phase based on a hybrid global feature descriptor. The proposed method can be applied to support next-generation cooperative hazard & incident warning systems based on I2V, I2I and V2V communications.

A wireless environmental sensor network for the condition monitoring of paper rolls at printing facilities

A continuous monitoring system, based on wireless sensor networks, is proposed to help preserve paper rolls at printing facilities and paper mills. The system consists of four main components: environmental monitoring nodes, a base station, an application/database server and a remote monitoring station. By continuously monitoring temperature and moisture levels, the system is able to alert maintenance staff to take appropriate actions when the monitored environmental levels go beyond their operating range. The sensor nodes can also be configured to proactively take corrective actions to readjust the temperature and moisture levels. As a pilot study, a prototype system was successfully built for the remote monitoring of temperature and humidity at a local printing facility. This study demonstrates the successful application of wireless sensors to help safeguard paper stock and reduce unplanned production down-time at printing facilities and paper mills.