Thesis (MBA) -- Stellenbosch University, 2007. / Today we face a reality where existing power relations concerning economical, political and cultural institutions and forces are changing. It is about more than just the right to use a technology in itself; it is a matter of having, or not having, access to infonnation and knowledge. The use of information and communications technology (lCT) is an important and powerful tool when it comes to distributing and sharing these resources (Bridges.arg, 2006). The unequal distribution of and the differences in the possibility to use rer effectively are often referred to by the term digital divide (DDN, 2006). Does this sound quite pessimistic? However, a change is taking place since all countries on earth from the richest to the poorest are actually increasing their Ier usage. The problem is that the developed countries are using convergence (three separate communication sectors: information technology, telecommunications and broadcasting merging to become a single communication service sector) to escalate their access to and use of ICf at a much higher speed, which in fact widens the digi tal divide instead of shrinking it (Bridges.org, 2006). Today no country can afford to neglect investments in ICf if it wishes to raise its living standards or to prevent it from being left behind as other countries exploits the possibilities of ICf. Why is ICf considered to be an effective tool for bridging the international digita1 divide? On the United Nations Development Programme's website one can read: " .. .ICf is an increasi ngly powerful tool for participating in global markets; promoting political accountability; improving the delivery of basic services; and enhancing local development opportunities" (UNOP, 2003). These aspects can be of great importance for developing countries in their effort to gain economic development and improvements. Furthermore, it is also a question about every human's right to have access to infonnation (Sida, 2004). According to Steve Case (AOL Time Warner, Chainnan of the Board) every decade has some word associated with it. In the 'SOs, it was the PC. In the '90s, it was the Internet. For the rest of this decade, the key word is going to be convergence (Thompson, 2003). In Namibia a digital divide exists between income groups as well as between the country's rural and urban population. Namibia is sti ll far from providing equal access to information, but Namibia is well positioned to deploy ICf to its advantage. Namibia has a functional telecommunication infrastructure, political stability and an attractive economic environment for investors. However. the geographic and social challenges of Namibia require innovative approaches and considerable effort. Competition and convergence will improve the situation. recommended to expand the set of potential drivers and specifically focus on the relation between convergence and economic growth.

The purpose of this study was to investigate guidance counsellors’ conceptions and experiences of information and communication technologies (ICT) in career guidance. The study has also investigated if counsellors, after graduation from the Bachelor of Arts in Study and Career Guidance program, consider themselves equipped to meet a digitized society. Qualitative interviews were made with eight professional guidance counsellors in primary and secondary schools. The collected data has been analyzed inspired by thematic analysis. The results of the study showed that ICT in guidance is perceived as a positive complement with a great potential. Based on our study we can conclude that ICT in guidance is seen as something positive with a great potential. Based on the results of our study, we conclude that the counsellors agree that the study program needs to be changed and expanded to reflect the needs of a changing society. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka studie- och yrkesvägledares uppfattningar och erfarenheter av informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) i vägledning samt undersöka om vägledare, efter examen från studie- och yrkesvägledarutbildningen, känner sig rustade att möta ett digitaliserat samhälle. Data samlades in med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer som metod. Totalt åtta yrkesverksamma studie- och yrkesvägledare i grund- och gymnasieskola intervjuades. Den insamlade empirin analyserades med inspiration utifrån en tematisk analysmetod. Resultatet av studien visade på att IKT i vägledning uppfattas som ett positivt komplement med en stor potential. Utifrån resultatet av vår studie kan vi konstatera att IKT i vägledning upplevs som något positivt med en stor potential samt att studie- och yrkesvägledarna är eniga om att utbildningen behöver förändras och kompletteras utifrån samhällets förändrade behov.

Bakgrund: Diabetes Mellitus är kronisk sjukdom som är kopplat till lidande och förlust av livskvalitet. Egenvård är avgörande för att minska de negativa konsekvenserna. Mindre än hälften av alla diabetespatienter uppnår god egenvård. Anledningen är bland annat begränsad kunskap om diabetes och bristande egenvårdsföljsamhet. Införandet av Informations- och kommunikationsteknologi i diabetesvården påbörjades för att förbättra det kliniska resultatet och livskvaliteten för patienter med diabetes typ 2. Syfte: Att beskriva hur information och kommunikationsteknologi kan främja egenvård på distans för patienter med diabetes mellitus typ 2. Metod: Litteraturstudie, där artiklarna söktes i CINAHL, PubMed och Web of Science. Artiklarna som inkluderades var 15 artiklar med kvantitativ, kvalitativ samt mixed metod. Resultat: Resultatet visade att Information och kommunikationsteknologi såsom internet, dator och mobiltelefonbaserade egenvårdsprogram främjade egenvård hos patienter med diabetes typ 2 genom ökad kunskap, ökad medvetenhet, ökad motivation samt förbättrad livsstilsförändring i kost och motion. Slutsats: IKT som hjälpmedel kan underlätta dagliga utmaningarna för patienter med diabetes typ 2 eftersom den täcker kunskapsluckan och därtill ökar patienternas medvetenhet och motivation till egenvård. / Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease that is linked to suffering and lack of quality of life. Self-care is essential to reduce the negative consequences. Less than half of all patients achieve good self-care. Some of the reasons are limited knowledge of diabetes and poor self-care compliance. The introduction of ICT in diabetes care was started to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life for patients with diabetes type 2. Aim: To describe how information and communication technology can promote self-care in distance for patients with diabetes mellitus type 2. Methods: Literature study, in which the articles were searched in CINAHL, PubMed and Web of Science. Articles included were 15 articles with a quantitative, qualitative and mixed method. Results: The results showed that information and communication technology such as internet, computer and mobile phone-based self-care program promoted self-care in patients with diabetes type 2 by increasing knowledge, awareness, motivation and improving lifestyle change. Conclusion: Information and communication technology can facilitate the daily challenges for patients with type 2 diabetes because it covers the knowledge gap and increases patient awareness and motivation for self-care.

<p>The role of web 2.0 technologies has become windfall for knowledge building in higher education in the entire modern world. Web 2.0 technologies (Podcasts, Wikis, and Blogs) are being explored for collaboration, innovation, and creative purposes in digital literacy. The ICT based system (Learning Management System, Student Portal, Web mail) of Växjö University lacks web 2.0 technologies (Podcasts, Blogs, and Wikis) that are important for classroom learning for knowledge building. This research intends to investigate and describe the educational importance of web 2.0 (Podcasts, Wikis, and Blogs) as a possible source to facilitate class room learning in higher education in Sweden. In this regard, role of web 2.0 in its current usage in the teaching and learning have been identified and, thereby, possible measures for more improvements have been suggested in this research. Keeping in view the potential of web 2.0 as content development and management technologies and incorporating their role in formative evaluation of students, peer assessment, collaborative content creation, and individual as well as group reflection on learning experiences, the researcher conducted a survey by asking very simple and short questions as to how far has this potential been exploited in Sweden. Based on the findings and the empirical evidences thereof a model has been proposed for maximum utility of web 2.0 technologies.</p>

The last two decades have seen rapid evolution of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities in the public sector which facilitate the adoption of several IT innovations. E-government is one of these strategic innovations that many government organisations have considered adopting to deliver government information and services to citizens and to support the modernisation of their business processes. This work therefore investigates this issue through a study of the impact of e-government on government organisations and their capabilities towards the e-government adoption. This has led to developing a framework for e-government adoption that outlines the implementation process, determines critical factors influencing adoption, and identifies barriers that could keep government organisations behind the advanced stages of the implementation process. The research also proposes a novel architecture framework for e-government that offers a clear picture of ICT requirements, along with a business process model needed for the implementation for e-government. This framework also supports the researcher in terms of validating the proposed conceptual framework in case organisations. The researcher, by adopting a qualitative case study strategy, examines the proposed framework in three government organisations in the Kingdom of Bahrain.. The analysis of empirical data comes up with a novel comprehensive framework for e-government adoption in the public sector that can be a benefit in multiple ways. The major benefit of this framework is to reduce the confusion surrounding e-government adoption in the public sector by understanding the implementation process, identifying the requirements of ICT tools, and highlighting the importance of organisational readiness and the impact of the environment. The framework can also help decision makers in government to provide a clear strategic action plan for e-government. Finally, the proposed framework can be used by IT experts to estimate the progress level of their e-government projects.

"Mémoire présenté à la faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de maîtrise en droit (L.L.M.)" / Il est devenu commun de dire que notre société se transforme inexorablement en une société dite de « l'information ». Cette transformation se caractérise entre autres par une utilisation accrue des technologies de l'information afin de communiquer, d'échanger ou de transiger. Les supports traditionnels de communication (tel que le papier) cèdent progressivement leur place à de nouveaux supports technologiques favorisant l'efficacité et la rapidité des échanges, et par la même occasion le développement du commerce électronique. Qu'on le souhaite ou non, un constat s'impose: la montée en puissance des réseaux virtuels a eu raison du monopole du papier. Sur le plan juridique, cette nouvelle réalité bouleverse aussi considérablement les règles de droit civil largement pensées et ancrées dans un contexte papier. L'avènement de la numérisation et du phénomène de la dématérialisation des supports ont effectivement soulevé plusieurs questions d'ordre juridique tout à fait nouvelles que nous pourrions résumer de la manière suivante: Quels sont les rapports entre l'écrit et son support autre que le papier? Quelles sont les caractéristiques de l'écrit faisant appel aux technologies de l'information? Ce type d'écrit peut-il être admis en tant que moyen de preuve? Si oui, quelle sera sa force probante? Ce type d'écrit doit-il être conservé? Le présent mémoire vise précisément à identifier certains éléments de réponses à ces diverses questions en étudiant spécifiquement les cadres juridiques français et québécois. Ce mémoire traite d'une part des enjeux liés à l'évolution et au rôle de l'écrit face à l'avènement des technologies de l'information et d'autre part du cadre juridique de la preuve et de la conservation de l'écrit dans la société de l'information. / It is becoming commonplace to say that we have entered a so-called "information society". In the process, we have witnessed a transformation characterized by an increased use of information and communication technologies that has revolutionized the way we communicate, learn and conduct business. The traditional communication formats (i.e., paper) gradually yield their place to new technological formats which affect the effectiveness and the speed of transactions, there by enabling the rise of ecommerce. The advent of virtual networks calls into question the monopoly of paper. From a legal perspective, the new paradigm has a huge impact on civil law rules, which were largely anchored in a paper context. The advent of the digitization and the phenomenon of the dematerialization of formats raised several new legal issues that we could summarize in the following manner: What is the relationship between writing and its various formats (e.g., other than paper)? What characterizes writing in an electronic environment? Can this type of writing act as evidence? If so, what will be its conclusive force? How can the integrity of documents be ensured? This thesis examines these various questions within the context of two different legislations: France and Québec. Two issues are addressed: 1) the evolution ofwriting in an electronic, networked environment; 2) the legal framework around evidence and archiving ofwriting in the information society.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

In this thesis we take the Bayesian persuasion model, impose a limitation on the signal space and subsequently derive the first order conditions for the equilibrium. Then we enhance the model for several different constraints. We find that the analysis is greatly facilitated if such constraints do not relax when more signals are added to the model. The first type of constraint is imposed to eliminate the perfectly informative persuasion mechanisms. The second type of constraint limits the total uncertainty reduction caused by the persuasion. Finally the third type of constraint is a participation constraint. It ensures a certain level of reservation utility for the persuaded party. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This diploma thesis is dealing with the negative consequences of implementation of information and communication technologies and its penetration into education. The purpose of the thesis is identification and analysis of problems dealing with the intensive use of ICT in education of children in elementary school. The objectives of the thesis were fulfilled using theoretical and empirical research methods. The theoretical methods subsumed study and analysis of scientific literature, articles and study of results of theme related experiments. The empirical research methods contained interview, questionnaire, and students' observation. The conclusion of the thesis contains evaluation and summary of the explorative research results, research findings and recommendations for further education and pedagogical practice.

Basic issues of introducing E - Justice into civil proceedings The subject of this thesis is modernization of civil proceedings, pushed forth by the department of justice, via implementation of information and communication technologies. Specific focus is granted to the perpetually forming phenomenon known as E - Justice, which is meant to enrich the judiciary by not only allowing complete rationalization of procedures to take place, but also by making civil proceedings more open and accessible to its clients. Modern technology and the electronic form of data, which it provides, have the potential, under the assumption that it will thoroughly be established in the judiciary sector, to bring vigor and financially effective processes while at the same time augmenting the processing capacity. The aim of this thesis is to emphasize the critical moments arising from the implementation of E - Justice, to concisely characterize the present state of this phenomenon in Czech republic and to propose its further attainable developmental pathways with respect to advancements of the information society. All of this will be covered while placing an emphasis on regulation of the civil proceedings. Because of the space limitations imposed by this assessment the entire battery of aspects regarding E - Justice and...