Margaret Tan

An Investigation of e-Government Services in China

This objective of this research is to understand the adoption of e‐government services in China, especially in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. An online survey was conducted to investigate the level of awareness, usage and satisfaction of e‐government services in these cities. The survey questionnaire, translated in Chinese, was sent to some 330 participants (110 from each city). The findings show that e‐government services in China are not that advanced to address the actual expectations of the communities. There is a general mismatch between what the governments wish to provide online with what the communities see value in. Inadequate promotion, lack of content and the design of the websites are some of the factors that limit the value of the e‐Government services. The paper provides suggestions on how the local governments of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen can improve the adoption of e‐government services.

Building a platform for knowledge engagement: Sowing seedlings in new media

Building a platform for knowledge creation and engagement is a big task for librarians especially when incorporating social or new media. But, with the advent of new tools and open source technology, the librarians at Nanyang Technological University are able to sow the seeds in the librarys technology infrastructure. The initiative leads in the construction of a campus wide platform, adopting WordPress architecture to strategically align with its online information service. Subject guides are now able to reinvent the traditional reference services into a new way of seamless outreach and digital engagement. Seeds of engagement are sowed as the project team provides a platform of flexibility and interoperability for content creation.

The Pervasiveness of Mobile Data Services: Do Usage and Attitudinal Divides Exist in Asia and North America?

Mobile Data Services (MDSs) are a wide array of applications provided via the mobile network and platform, where industry players are keenly exploring innovations to launch the next big thing, especially with the rapid increase and saturation of mobile voice subscriptions. This study investigates mobile user behavioural intentions towards MDS based on an adaptation of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Data was collected in a survey of over 1600 mobile users in Singapore and Los Angeles (LA). The study found that LA-based mobile users have a far more positive disposition than Singaporean users towards MDS adoption, and that differences on account of prior experience were also more distinct amongst LA users than their Singapore counterparts. It is hoped that these findings will serve as design rules for mobile service providers in more sophisticated markets.

Understanding distributional disruptions in the Interactive Digital Media eco-system

The new Interactive Digital Media (IDM) are affecting the entertainment industrys distributional and business models. For instance, with consumers going directly to or interacting with the artists or the authors, the traditional physical distributional channels are being challenged to restructure their delivery and marketing strategies. Indeed, with the dynamism as well as the unpredictability of the interactive media eco-system, new business models have to be constructed to accord revenue sustainability. This paper presents a conceptual framework to analyse the impacts of the disruptions of the traditional distributional channels arising from the interactive digital platform. It also identifies opportunities for players to re-think or re-formulate growth to sustain the business models.