Broadband has revolutionised the way the Internet is used and has become the critical enabling infrastructure of our modem and knowledge-based economy. Its widespread introduction has not only greatly enhanced the speed at which information online can be accessed, but also the range and sophistication of the content available. It is still penetrating the telecommunication market and is seen by some as the most significant evolutionary step since the emergence of the Internet. However in the rush to achieve market share, there is a risk that insufficient attention may be paid to quality issues, the central theme of this research. The research addresses the issues of broadband quality with a stated objective of assessing broadband quality by means of an integrated framework that encompasses factors beyond strict technical characteristics of broadband networks. Indeed, the concept of quality is a multi-facetted one, for which various perspectives can be distinguished. In this work, broadband quality as perceived by users, ISP and Government in the United Kingdom (UK) is looked at and a survey report is given and analysed. The aim of this doctoral research was to provide much needed empirical broadband quality framework that would guide the service provider as well as the UK government in the provision of quality broadband to its consumers. It will also stand as a benchmark to countries wanting to provide quality broadband to its citizens. A survey research approach was employed to achieve the overall aim and objective of this research. This was conducted using the response of 133 participants located in various boroughs in the UK. The results of the survey show that quality, though desired by many, has been short-changed by the desire to have access to the Internet via broadband at the lowest cost possible. However, this has not encouraged some consumers to switch to broadband from dial-up service despite continuous low prices being offered by service providers. Furthermore, the results also indicated that focusing on broadband quality will improve and promote investment in broadband capacity and decrease the uncertainty in consumer demand for applications such as multi-media content delivery, enhanced electronic commerce and telecommuting that exploit broadband access.

This thesis considers how television reflects on its own output in the context of newly created television programmes which seek to reconsider, reframe and re-contextualise the content of television programmes that have already been broadcast. It does this by considering a range of programmes created between 2002 and 2009 as part of my work as a practice based researcher. These programmes cover some of the key genres in contemporary television and reflect the development of forms and themes within the medium. The broad focus of this work is to seek to gain an understanding of what fresh meanings can be derived from re-using existing television content in new programmes that contextualise it with the provision of newly commissioned and created visual content. More specifically the work seeks to explore the role of the implied viewer and his or her proxies on screen and how this affects the construction and delivery of these new programmes. The programmes under consideration include archive based retrospectives of television dramas, lifestyle programmes and property formats. These are viewed from the perspective of key ideas in television studies including fan studies, celebrity culture, intertextuality, hybridity and television history. Taken altogether, it is argued the work constitutes a meta-practice in television.

This thesis examines the empirical impact of financial liberalisation on the performance of the Turkish economy over the period 1963–95. In particular, the effect of financial liberalisation on domestic savings and investment, the demand for money and the rate of economic growth are examined.

The UK's E-Government agenda was found on the principles of improving the quality of services offered to the public by Central and Local Government. This would be made possible through various national projects. Most notable were the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Community Informatics involving the use of public libraries and outreach workers. However there is growing fear on the emergence of inequalities between the information rich and information poor termed the 'digital divide'. This has prompted the subject of research - to explore the reality of e-government in reducing social exclusion. Both qualitative and quantitative research techniques are used to this end. Analysis is made on the use of CRM in 27 Local Authorities including a detailed case study at Newham Council and a public survey in Salford. Universal access and social inclusion is tackled through the analysis of public libraries in Salford offering ICT services. In addition the effects of free ICT courses organised by Salford City Council on a number of community groups was included in the survey. The findings confirm the widespread use of CRM and reveal a series of barriers to its success. These include a lack of skilled CRM staff, inefficiencies in channel management, high emphasis on technology, and low levels of ICT usage. Results from the public library survey also revealed some barriers. Inadequate staffing levels, inappropriate training, and lack of IT support were all identified. In addition the library failed to attract novices and new users. The evaluation of Community Informatics in Salford showed the problems faced by outreach workers. As well as providing some academic research in a field lacking representation in IS research (due largely to recent emergence), the thesis also contributes to E-Government practice by, highlighting issues often over looked in its implementation, addressing its failures, and providing some reasoning on the current situation.

The introduction of mobile learning in higher education institutions (HEIs) in Malaysia is an instinctive course of action in response to the high increase in rates of mobile phone ownership amongst higher education (HE) students. Mobile learning encapsulates learning opportunities undertaken with the usage of the students’ mobile phones. This study aims to explore how mobile learning activities, developed using social constructivist learning principles, can support undergraduate students learning in the context of the study. It identifies the learning opportunities that the different mobile learning activities provide as well as exploring issues and challenges in implementing these mobile learning activities. The results derived from this research are used to inform the development of pedagogical design guidelines for engaging Malaysian HE students via mobile learning activities to support a specific course. As depicted by interpretive paradigm upon which this study is founded, the students’ voices are emphasised as it is justified that the students’ participation is essential to move the technology in directions that they prefer. The methodology is design-based research (DBR) which emphasises the need for cyclic intervention and analysis as part of the research process. Hence, there were two stages of data collection which were designed to explore the students’ perspective on the mobile learning activities. The methods of data collection include a questionnaire (145), students’ blog posts (145) and online interviews (9). The study was implemented with two cohorts of student teachers over a period of two years. The findings of this study indicate that Malaysian HE students are prepared to accept mobile learning to support their study. However, educators must also be wary of issues such as the students’ familiarity in using the selected mobile application. There are several types of mobile learning activities which could be offered namely; contextual, reflective, collaborative, multiple-medium, communication and learning-management. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a) conceptual benchmarks for future studies in the area of mobile learning and learning design, b) a rich insight into the mobile learning development in Malaysian HEIs, c) social constructivist pedagogical guideline considerations, and d) tactical advice for HE practitioners in considering mobile learning.

This thesis investigates the monetary sector in Cameroon within an open economy framework. Two main hypotheses: money demand and Granger-causality are investigated. The data used are found to be non-stationary. Consequently, the money demand relationship is tested for the null hypothesis that it is spurious or not co-integrated. This is rejected in all the models put forward. The models are estimated and found to exhibit elasticities that are not unusual. Price homogeneity is found to be data incompatible. Income elasticities are generally found to be significantly less than unity suggesting economies of scale in money holdings. Corresponding dynamic models in the form of error correction are constructed using the familiar general to specific methodology and generally found to exhibit desirable statistical properties. Model preference is in terms of the narrow Ml definition of money with explanatory variables which include a foreign interest rate. For Granger-causality, the non-stationary data are transformed into stationarity where the null hypothesis of noncausality is tested in bivariate and multivariate contexts. Lag length selection is by the Final Prediction Error statistic. Results are mixed but two appear striking: domestic money and prices are found to be independent while domestic prices are Granger-caused by foreign variables but not by domestic ones.

From a Critical Social Theory (CST) perspective this research critiques assumptions that the internet brings about consumer empowerment through increased product information. and opportunities to communicate and share knowledge with companies and other consumers. It demonstrates that this assumption derives from the technologically determinist school of Information Systems (IS) thinkingt,:ý w hich is 9 rounded in the myth that technology pet- se brings huge benefits, including wealth and empowerment. Illustrating that information systems development traditionally lacks a sense of "audience" failing to provide what the users want, it suggests that this phenomenon merits more sophisticated consideration of not only the technology, but also of eCommerce providers and users. The research demonstrates that complex phenomena such as that under study here require a multi-method approach to explore the range of voices or relevant perspectives of the stakeholders. A lens for reviewing the power relations governing the construction and use of consumer knowledge is developed and applied. The knowledge construction lens is used to review the synthesized findings from the multi-method assessment to reveal how congruence is connected to extant power relations, and positions those findings in the context of information provider / user relationships. Drawing on both theories of hermeneutics and serniotics the phenomenon is initially explored from the perspective of both companies and customers through questionnaires and reviews of commercial websites. This phase of the research sets the scene for a series of twenty-two in depth interviews with individual consumers to explore their experiences of using the internet in commercial activity. The research concludes that vast incongruity in the needs and values of customers and companies exists. Consumer empowerment remains a myth. Ingrained company / customer power relations distort communication and prevent 'true' empowerment. In the shadow of company power. customer inertia and feelings of powerlessness remain strong. Ultimately this serves companies well as increased buyer power continues to be regarded as a threat to competitive advantage.

This thesis investigates visual, spatial and temporal qualities of video based reconstruction with respect to telepresence. State of the art was improved and validated through a new parallelisation of an established algorithm; a tool that allows visio-spatial impact of algorithm and camera arrangement to be visualised; and a set of experiments to derive requirements and investigate outcomes. The motivation is to support the exchange of appearance and attention between moving humans through video based reconstruction. A previous research project showed moving humans could faithfully convey attention in virtual environments and appearance through video-conferencing, suggesting that it may be possible to combine the two. Video based 3D reconstruction of humans appeared to be able to achieve both, but it was uncertain whether this could be achieved at sufficient quality. Research began by justifying the approach and setting the requirements. A literature survey and initial experiments indicated that the visual hull provided a form suitable for modeling humans. However, evidence of visual and temporal qualities necessary to support gaze was not found. A state of the art visual hull reconstruction algorithm was parallelised to run on a modern multi-core processor, enabling human reconstruction on a single computer, thus providing stable visual and temporal qualities. A parallelisation scheme theoretically better suited for execution on a single multi-core processor than distributed over a network is proposed. Importantly, the way in which the problem is parallelised has been optimised to reflect the various stages of the process rather than the need to minimise data communication across a network. A utility application has been developed providing a framework for rapidly testing algorithms, validating requirements, and as a platform for conducting experiments. This underpinned a collaborative experiment that showed for the first time that eye gaze could be conveyed to accuracies sufficient for human social interaction. To facilitate the analysis, the utility allowed the impact of camera placement on spatial and visual quality to be investigated.

In this digital technology era, e-commerce (EC) has revolutionised the way people engage in business activities. Users now enjoy tremendous advantages, such as buying and selling between multiple parties at different levels of business through computers and smart devices, regardless of their geographical locations, thereby being provided with better choices and prices. However, EC brings its own challenges and users face unknown risks when moving to the digital market. Some countries have been quicker in providing the necessary requirements for the expansion of EC and helped in addressing users’ worries about trust and fraud. Others have been slow in adopting EC, and both customers and business are missing considerable opportunities. In general, EC is well adopted and used in the advanced countries but struggles to take off in developing countries. Saudi Arabia (SA) is one such country. This study has developed a theoretical framework appropriate to the implementation of Business to Customer (B2C) EC in Saudi Arabia, after reviewing the literature on B2C EC, and testing several factors pertinent to the Saudi Arabian context. The researcher has adopted a novel approach by securing the perceptions of Saudi nationals living in Saudi Arabia and those living in the UK with a view to appreciating the differences and learning from the experience of these two communities. Additionally, the researcher conducted a survey of a sample of Saudi companies to understand their views and aspirations in adopting B2C EC. Data was collected using mixed methods and embracing both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The data was collected in Saudi Arabia via a questionnaire survey of 606 Saudi nationals, and in the UK from 169 questionnaires and interviews with 25 companies. The questionnaire responses were analysed quantitatively by descriptive and statistical methods (percentages and t-test for two independent samples), and the findings were validated by the interview data. From the results, the theoretical framework was developed, thus allowing for an understanding of Saudi customers’ attitudes towards online shopping in the two different environments of B2C EC (SA as a developing country and the UK as a developed country) to be gained. The influence of different environmental variables upon customer choice is seen as significant variations occurred in the two different environments. The framework is potentially useful for policy-makers, the commercial sector, and the government in SA. Hence, the research contributes to knowledge about the key differences in customer behaviour toward B2C EC in SA. The study signifies the first of its kind and thus lays the ground for further research in the area.

SMEs have been recognised as important actors of commercial activity most specifically since the second half of the 20th century. Although understanding its customer potential has been named a top priority among many sectors, there is a limited body of knowledge regarding the buying behaviour of SME’s. Many studies and industry practices frame the context within corporate or individual buying behaviour, however few researchers mention SME’s. When mentioned they tend to tie with elitist attributes and consider them as small versions of big enterprises. Studies and industry practices are conformist and assume that SME’s buying behaviour consists of nothing but -ignoring impulsive tendencies- ‘normative' or ‘conservative’ typologies. However, the lack of application makes this dichotomy untested. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence; therefore, other possible (unknown) typologies may affect stakeholders that behave with this incomplete knowledge set. Behavioural researchers can suffer from moving further in the wrong direction and can lose the base of the study. Marketers can suffer from not acknowledging the SME segment in full, so they cannot technically address its needs in a navigated way, and can lose money. SMEs themselves can suffer from being unaware about their buying practices, and therefore do not question their approach that may jeopardise their business. After an extensive literature review, this study led to the adoption of Wilson’s Cube, a model that rejects the distinction between individual and business customers. The cube comes with a positive correlation (which led to a combined hypothesis) among x (Purchase Significance: Exceptional – Routine), y (Need Driver: Professional – Leisure) and z (Buying Attitude: Aversion – Enjoyment) axes. Quantitative research was conducted with 270 participants for 12 products/services. The tested (and validated with 10 SMEs) hypothesis proved that SMEs also buy within the leisure-routine axes of the cube, particularly some tangible products, e.g. popular technology and vehicle, and when they do, they spend more (enjoyment axis) like individual consumers. Supporting this, even in economic crisis scenario, SMEs compromise less for the same group of products. In the end, according to contextualised framework, ’non-normative’ presence is about 70% and the current practice based on their miscategorisation is not supported. To scrutinise the prevalence of this abnormal presence, a risk impact map was derived from the percentage breakdown of responses and risk factors. By converting the calculated figures to a cumulative distribution, a risk score (16%-20%) was introduced for Turkey, as well as a risk grade, BBB, which is only a grade higher than the high-risk area. Knowing that SMEs are 50% player in Turkey’s €500B GDP, whereas its 40% refers to import, the impacted economic value can be estimated with up to ten billions of euros. Following the final framework that consists of buying behaviour typologies in Turkey, a proposal was suggested to researchers, marketers to SMEs, as well as SMEs themselves, in terms of strategic improvements within a timeline view.