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<div>Technology is rapidly transforming both vehicles and transportation systems. The nature of this transformation will depend on how fast the technology resulting from three related revolutions, those in automated, electric, and shared vehicles, will diffuse. At the same time, the ‘sharing’ economy is growing and affecting mobility in urban areas that includes additional travel alternatives, such as car-sharing services, ride-hailing services, bike-sharing services, and other micro-transit services. It is evident that to prepare for these large-scale operations involving autonomous vehicles (AVs), researchers and transportation professionals need the useful insights on people’s attitudes toward and on acceptance of AVs that can be gained through behavioral experiments. In addition to this, it is also important to understand how the deployment of AVs will impact vehicle ownership and mode choice decisions.</div><div><br></div><div>The goal of this dissertation is to assess the public acceptance of AVs and shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) via a behavioral experiment (stated preference survey) and offer insights on the potential implications of AVs and SAVs on mode choices. The following four overarching research objectives were formulated: (a) identifying the factors influencing the behavioral intention to ride in AVs; (b) identifying the characteristics of the AV market segments; (c) evaluating the attributes impacting personal vehicle ownership decisions (i.e., decisions to postpone the purchase of a non-AV due to the emergence of AVs); and (d) assessing the factors affecting mode choice decisions after the emergence of autonomous ride-sharing services operated through AVs, and evaluating the corresponding value of travel time savings. The results of each part of the research framework are integrated in the last chapter of the dissertation in order to provide the final conclusions and recommendations of the study.</div><div><br></div><div>To achieve these research objectives, a survey of the general population was distributed online in a major urban area with an advanced multimodal transportation system and captive users of ride-sharing users (Chicago, Illinois) and in an urban area with a more automobile-oriented culture (Indianapolis, Indiana). The survey sample included 400 responses of adults, representative of age and gender on each area. </div><div><br></div><div>One of the contributions of this dissertation is a theoretical model to assess the behavioral intention to ride in AVs that includes components of the theory of Planned Behavior, the theory of Diffusion of Innovation and additional factors derived from the literature while evaluating possible interrelationships between these components. A more holistic approach along these lines can help explain whether the emerging AV technology can diffuse by identifying the factors and key determinants that influence the behavioral intention to ride in AVs. The market segmentation analysis can further provide knowledge of the socio-demographic characteristics of potential AV users and an accurate classification of these groups of potential users in terms of their willingness to ride in AVs. The findings can provide insights into perceptions of and attitudes toward AVs that can help transportation and urban planners, as well as original equipment manufacturers, to prepare for the deployment of AVs by designing marketing strategies to improve people’s perceptions of AVs and increase market penetration.</div><div><br></div><div>Moreover, this dissertation provides a well-documented and easy-to-use framework that can support both planning and policy decisions in urban areas in an era of emergent automated transportation technologies. In urban areas with advanced multimodal transportation networks, the framework can be applied to identify the impact attributes affecting shared mobility in urban settings. In urban areas with a more car-oriented culture, the framework can be applied to explore the potential impacts of the emergence of AVs on personal vehicle ownership patterns. Finally, the survey that was designed to fulfill the goal of this dissertation can be replicated and distributed in metropolitan areas outside the US with more advanced multimodal transportation systems or areas within the US with traditionally higher rates of affinity to innovativeness and areas where AVs have been pilot-tested in real-world road conditions.</div><div><br></div>

M.Tech (Department of Information technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Science), Vaal University of Technology. / The advancement of technology, particularly in the area of mobile computing, revolutionizes the way business is done in many industries such as the education sector, government sector, financial institutions, retail sector and the way people conduct their daily activities. The current technology provides influential tools for organisations and can significantly influence their operation, structure and approach. The development of mobile computing has created a new innovation for various industries by increasing the availability, frequency and speed of communication between the organisations and the individuals. However, users’ perceptions can play an important role towards the adoption of these new developments. The overriding purpose of this study was to investigate the users’ perceptions on the security of mobile computing in South Africa for adoption of e-applications. The literature review was concentrated on the process of progressive development occurring during the study. To accomplish that goal it became necessary to reach some essential objectives i.e. investigating the users’ perceptions models in literature. For the purpose of the study, it was important to propose a research framework for users’ perceptions on the security of mobile computing with the potential for the adoption of e-applications in South Africa. The research evaluated the proposed framework to establish if there is any relationship between the e-application adoption factors. Furthermore, the hypotheses were tested to determine which factors would influence the adoption of e-applications in South Africa. Technology Adoption Model 2 (TAM2) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) provide the theoretical basis for explaining how users perceive e-application services that they access and operate through mobile computing. To achieve that, a quantitative study was conducted with South African residents, with respect to mobile security perceptions; 476 valid questionnaires were received from the participants who were selected non-randomly. Questionnaires were developed from the proposed research framework derived from DOI and TAM2 and the items were adopted from other prior technology adoption studies. Through the use of the survey instrument developed for this study, data were collected in order to address the importance of this study based on the problem statement posed in the first chapter of this dissertation. The valid questionnaires were analysed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 24.0. Reliability analysis, principal component analysis, correlations and multiple linear regression tests were conducted. Among other things this study made sure that ethical considerations are adhered to. The findings revealed positive relationships between perceived usefulness of security mechanisms, perceived ease of use of security mechanisms, subjective norm on security mechanisms, relative advantage of security mechanisms, compatibility of security mechanisms, complexity of security mechanisms, aesthetics of security mechanisms interface and intention to adopt e-applications. Furthermore, subjective norm on security mechanisms was strongly correlated to intention to adopt e-applications, complexity of security mechanisms strongly correlated to perceived usefulness of security mechanisms, relative advantage of security mechanisms and aesthetic of security mechanisms interface strongly correlated to perceived usefulness of security mechanisms. In addition, subjective norm of security mechanisms strongly influence intention to adopt eapplications in South Africa. Also, aesthetics of security mechanisms interface strongly influence both perceived usefulness of security mechanisms and perceived ease of use of security mechanisms. The reason behind it may be interpreted as users nowadays seeing the beauty as the platform to attract and encourage them to use e-applications. Finally, the proposed model analysis and survey evaluation will enable South African organizations to make informed decisions about the use of e-applications services. These findings contribute to a road map for the education sector, government sector, financial institutions, and retail sector as well as to encourage their customers or clients to adopt e-applications.

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Thesis (M.A. ( Information Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / This study aimed to examine the extent of awareness and the adoption of Open Access (OA) publishing for the purpose of scholarly communication by academic staff at the University of Limpopo (UL). The study was guided by Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory (1) to measure the level of awareness of academics on the availability and use of OA resources; (2) to determine the adoption and usage levels of OA publishing as a platform for information sharing by academics in scholarly communication; (3) to establish academics’ attitudes towards the use of the OA publishing platforms; and (4) to identify perspectives of academic staff with regards to challenges and benefits presented by OA publishing. A dominantly quantitative research approach was adopted using a google forms questionnaire with closed ended questions to collect data from 250 academics at the University of Limpopo. Academics were selected using the systematic simple random sampling method. To ensure the survey instrument’s reliability and validity, the researcher conducted a pilot study through a web-based survey. A descriptive statistics method of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse data. The study established that the majority (82%) of academics were aware of OA publishing platforms. The internet and subject librarians were the main communication channels through which they became aware of OA publishing. The study also found that there was minimal the adoption and usage of OA publishing among academics. Their attitudes towards OA and their perceptions of the benefits and challenges of OA. The general attitudes of academics about OA were positive, signifying the acceptance of this scholarly communication mode. However, some of the challenges encountered in adopting and using OA publishing include slow internet connectivity and access, publication charges by some publishers, lack of skills to publish online, power interruptions, lack of policies on OA, fake and predatory v publishers and OA articles not being peer-reviewed. These were reported as problems that directly or indirectly hinder academics from publishing in OA platforms. The study recommends the institutionalisation of OA publishing at UL to improve research output dissemination. An area for further research will be to establish more insights regarding the feasibility of OA development and possible ways of dealing with article processing fees. Keywords: Open Access publishing, scholarly communication, Academic staff, Institutional Repositories, Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation theory, University of Limpopo.

Denna studie undersöker hur representanter från musikindustrin använder sig av hashtags, sociala medier och vilka effekter hashtags har samt, vilken effekt de skulle kunna ha på deras arbete. Användningen sätts i förhållande till tio redan definierade funktioner av hashtags.Uppsatsens syfte är att bidra till djupare förståelse hur hashtags används och hur dessa kan användas inom musikindustrin. Genom att förtydliga om detta är ett verktyg som kan användas för att lättare sprida information på social media. Detta genomfördes genom en kvalitativ studie och utförandet av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem representanter från musikindustrin och två respondenter som arbetar inom andra områden, varav en är har forskat på twitter och hashtags och en jobbar med att stärka användningen av digitala verktyg på ett större företag. Detta har sedan blivit granskat genom en induktiv ansats. Frågeställningen har besvarats genom att resultaten från empirin analyserats utifrån teorin.Studien kom fram till att representanterna från musikindustrin i huvudsakligen använde sociala medier och hashtags för att marknadsföra sig själva och sina band. Men Artist 1 använde hashtags mer än Skivbolag 1. Effekterna hashtags hade var både positiva och negativa. Fördelen var att hashtags kunde rikta deras budskap mer exakt och nackdelen var att personer kan ha en negativ bild av hashtags och på sätt bli kritiska till användningen av dem. / This study examines how representatives from the music industry use hashtags, social media and what effects hashtags have, and what effect they could have on their work. The usage is set in relation to ten already defined functions of hashtags.The purpose of the thesis is to contribute to a deeper understanding of how hashtags are used and how these can be used in the music industry. By clarifying whether this is a tool that can be used to more easily disseminate information on social media. This was done through a qualitative study and was conducted by semi-structured interviews with five representatives from the music industry and two respondents as workers in other areas, one of which has been researching twitter and hashtags, and one who is working on strengthening the use of digital tools at a large company. This has since been examined through an inductive approach. The question has been answered by analysing the results of the empirical data based on the theory.The study concluded that the representatives of the music industry mainly used social media and hashtags to market themselves and their bands. But the artist used hashtags more than the record company. The effects of hashtags had been both positive and negative. The advantage was that hashtags were able to target their messages more accurately and the disadvantage was that people could have a negative image of hashtags and thus become critical of their use.

With the rise of digital technologies, consumers can stream music content, which has made it more difficult for music companies to be profitable. Small business owners in the music recording industry in the West Indies have found this trend particularly challenging, affecting their profitability. This multiple case study explored the adoption of disruptive technologies by small business owners in the music recording industry to increase profitability. The research population included 5 small business owners in the music recording industry in the West Indies who successfully adapted to the changes in the industry's business model and whose businesses are profitable. Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation served as the conceptual framework for this study. Data from face-to-face, semistructured, in-depth interviews, observations, and analysis of internal company documents were collected and triangulated. Within-case analysis was used to understand the general meaning of the participants' responses. Each case was described and themes were identified. Cross-case analysis was used to compare the 5 case descriptions and identify 5 cross-cutting themes. These 5 themes included focus on live performances, focus on marketing and building a brand, adopt innovations in all functions of the business, diversify income streams, and adopt vertical integration strategies. The implications for positive social change include the potential to increase the profitability of small businesses in the recording industry in the West Indies by sharing the strategies emerging from the study. Profitable businesses can lead to improved livelihoods of the small business owners and their families.

Understanding how innovations are accepted in a dynamic and complex market environment is a crucial factor for competitive advantage. To understand the relevant factors for this diffusion and to predict success, empirically grounded agent-based models have become increasingly popular in recent years. Despite the popularity of these innovation diffusion models, no common framework that integrates their diversity exists. This article presents a flexible, modular and extensible common description and implementation framework that allows to depict the large variety of model components found in existing models. The framework aims to provide a theoretically grounded description and implementation framework for empirically grounded agent-based models of innovation diffusion. It identifies 30 component requirements to conceptualize an integrated formal framework description. Based on this formal description, a java-based implementation allowing for flexible configuration of existing and future models of innovation diffusion is developed. As a variable decision support tool in decision-making processes on the adoption of innovations the framework is valuable for the investigation of a range of research questions on innovation diffusion, business model evaluation and infrastructure transformation.

The housing and construction sector is responsible for 40% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, making it crucial for achieving the Paris Agreement goals. One of the most effective ways to mitigate emissions in this sector is by optimizing the use of existing building stock and minimizing the construction of new houses. Through enhanced space efficiency, the on-demand storage service has the potential to decrease the demand for new construction and thereby reduce GHG emissions by converting existing attic spaces in inner-city areas to additional apartments. However, the service introduces additional emissions from its operations and for the service to have a significant impact on reducing construction needs, it must expand on a large scale and be integrated in the housing stock. The aim is to quantify the operational emissions and potential emissions avoided through a theoretical large-scale expansion of the on-demand storage service, to determine the potential net impact. Secondly, it aims to explore the opportunities and barriers to the concept's large-scale expansion within the housing and construction sector. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are utilized. The quantitative approach involves modeling emissions and potential reductions for large-scale expansion, while the qualitative method consists of 12 interviews with various stakeholder groups. Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory guides the analysis of qualitative findings. The results indicate that the on-demand storage service can potentially reduce overall GHG emissions if implemented on a large scale, due to the potential emissions avoided surpassing the operational emissions associated with the service by a large margin. The utilization of collective storage in warehouses, which offers superior space efficiency compared to traditional attic storage, is the key factor behind this outcome. By connecting this service to an entire apartment building, there is an opportunity to repurpose existing attic storage spaces into additional new apartments, thereby decreasing the need for constructing new buildings and effectively mitigating emissions in the housing and construction sector. However, the diffusion rate of the concept is assessed as modest due to significant barriers, particularly current regulations and a lack of market pull. While there are noteworthy opportunities such as potential economic benefits for customers and the ability to function as a circular economy platform, these opportunities are not as prominent as the existing barriers. This study represents an initial exploration of the on-demand storage concept, emphasizing its eco-potential and the need for regulatory revisions. It provides an assessment of the climate impact, barriers, and opportunities for the expansion of the storage concept within the housing and construction sector. However, further academic and practical work is required to better understand the concept's interaction with cities and society. On-demand storage has the potential to enhance space efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of housing and construction. Continued exploration of this concept paves the way for a more sustainable and efficient future in urban living. / Bygg- och bostadssektorn står för 40% av de globala utsläppen av växthusgaser, vilket gör det till en av de mest avgörande för att uppnå Parisavtalet. Ett av det mest effektiva sättet att minska utsläppen inom denna sektor är genom att optimera användningen av befintliga byggnadsresurser och minimera byggandet av nya hus. Genom förbättrad utrymmeseffektivitet har on-demand-lagring en potential att minska behovet av nybyggnation och därigenom minska utsläppen av växthusgaser, genom att använda befintliga vindsutrymmen i innerstadsområden för ytterligare lägenheter. Dock medför tjänsten ytterligare utsläpp från transport, varuhus och renoveringar av vindar till lägenheten. Dessutom måste tjänsten expandera storskaligt och integreras i bostadsbeståndet för att ha en betydande inverkan byggbehovet. Målet med studien är att kvantifiera de operationella utsläppen och de potentiella utsläppsminskningarna som konsekvens av en storskalig implementering av konceptet för att avgöra om den samlade effekten skulle kunna vara positiv eller negativ. För det andra syftar den till att utforska de praktiska möjligheterna och hindren för konceptets storskaliga expansion. Både kvantitativa och kvalitativa metoder används. Den kvantitativa delen består av modellering av utsläpp vid storskalig expansion inom bostads- och byggsektorn, medan den kvalitativa metoden består av 12 intervjuer med olika intressentgrupper. Rogers teori om innovationsspridning används som teoretisk grund i analysen av de kvalitativa resultaten. Resultaten visar att förvaringstjänsten kan minska de totala utsläppen av växthusgaser om den implementeras i stor skala, eftersom den potentiella utsläppsminskningen överstiger de operationella utsläppen markant. Användningen av kollektiv lagring i lagerlokaler, som erbjuder överlägsen platsutnyttjande jämfört med traditionell vindslagring, är den avgörande faktorn bakom detta resultat. Genom användning av tjänsten finns det möjlighet att omvandla befintliga vindsutrymmen till nya lägenheter, vilket minskar behovet av att bygga nya byggnader och därmed även utsläppen inom bostads- och byggsektorn. Dock bedöms de praktiska spridningsmöjligheterna för konceptet som låga på grund av betydande hinder, bestående primärt av regelverk och avsaknad av utbredd marknadsefterfrågan. Även om det finns ekonomiska fördelar för kunderna och möjligheten att fungera som en plattform för cirkulär ekonomi är dessa möjligheter inte lika framträdande som de befintliga hindren. Denna studie är den första att utforska konceptet självförvaring on-demand från ett helhetsperspektiv och betonar dess potential för positiv miljöpåverkan samt behovet av att revidera befintligt regelverk. Den ger en bedömning av klimatpåverkan, hinder och möjligheter för expansion. Ytterligare akademiskt och praktiskt arbete krävs dock för att bättre förstå konceptets interaktion med städer och samhälle. Förvaringstjänsten har potential att bidra till en mer effektiv användning av befintliga ytor och därigenom minska miljöpåverkan inom bostads- och byggsektorn. Fortsatt utfosrkning av detta koncept banar vägen för en mer hållbar och effektiv framtid för utvecklingen av städer.

As digitalisation continues to spread, the impact technology has on society is evident. In Sweden, digitalisation has led to the end of analog options forcing individuals to rapidly adapt to new technologies. For this reason, the diffusion of electronic identification (eID) as a critical technology occurred at an accelerated rate. However, a segment of society remains without access to this innovation. In this study, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with influential eID actors in Sweden to identify factors that impact the diffusion process, with a focus on late adoption. The result of this study shows that collaborations, accountability, biases, compatible technologies, and infrastructure technologies influence the spread of eID. These factors can be identified at an actor level but interact and consolidate on a system level. The above-mentioned findings have implications for innovation diffusion and digital divide theories as well as policy decisions regarding infrastructure technology and the practical requirements for adopting to eID. / I takt med att digitaliseringen breder ut sig blir teknologins påverkan och inflytande över samhället mer tydlig. I Sverige har digitaliseringen lett till att analoga tjänster upphör, därmed tvingas individer att snabbt anpassa sig till ny teknik. Av denna anledning har spridningen av elektroniska identitetshandlingar (e-leg) accelererats. Denna teknologi kan klassas som samhällskritisk och har därmed en särställning. Dock finns det icke-användare som ännu inte tagit del av denna innovation och därmed saknar tillgång till viktiga tjänster. I denna studie har kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med inflytelserika e-leg aktörer i syfte att identifiera faktorer som påverkar den sista fasen av innovationsspridning. Resultatet av denna studie visar på att samarbete, ansvar, fördomar, kompatibla tekniker och aspekter av infrastruktur samverkar och potentiellt begränsar användandet av e-leg. Dessa faktorer existerar på en aktörsnivå och interagerar samt förenas på en strukturell systemnivå. Detta utmanar teorier kring innovationsspridning och den digitala klyftan. Dessutom får dessa insikter betydelse för politiska beslut angående samhällskritisk teknik, samt för det framtida användandet av elektroniska identitetshandlingar i Sverige.