• Title/Summary/Keyword: Security technologies

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Global Rice Production, Consumption and Trade: Trends and Future Directions

  • Bhandari, Humnath
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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    • 2019.09a
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    • pp.5-5
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    • 2019
  • The objectives of this paper are (i) to analyze past trends and future directions of rice production, consumption and trade across the world and (ii) to discuss emerging challenges and future directions in the global rice industry. Rice is a staple food of over half of the world's 7.7 billion people. It is an important economic, social, political, and cultural commodity in most Asian countries. Rice is the $1^{st}$ most widely consumed, $2^{nd}$ largely produced, and $3^{rd}$ most widely grown food crop in the world. It was cultivated by 144 million farms in over 100 countries with harvested area of over 163 million ha producing about 745 million tons paddy in 2018. About 90% of the total rice is produced in Asia. China and India, the biggest rice producers, account for over half of the world's rice production. Between 1960 and 2018, world rice production increased over threefold from 221 to 745 million tons (2.1% per year) due to area expansion from 120 to 163 million ha (0.5% per year) and paddy yield increase from 1.8 to 4.6 t/ha (1.6% per year). The Green Revolution led massive increase in rice production prevented famines, provided food for millions of people, reduced poverty and hunger, and improved livelihoods of millions of Asians. The future increase in rice production must come from yield increase as the scope for area expansion is limited. Rice is the most widely consumed food crop. The world's average per capita milled rice consumption is 64 kilograms providing 19% of daily calories. Asia accounted for 84% of global consumption followed by Africa (7%), South America (3%), and the Middle East (2%). Asia's per capita rice consumption is 100 kilograms per year providing 28% of daily calories. The global and Asian per capita consumption increased from the 1960s to the 1990s but stable afterward. The per capita rice consumption is expected to decline in Asia but increase outside Asia especially in Africa in the future. The total milled rice consumption was about 490 million tons in 2018 and projected to reach 550 million tons by 2030 and 590 million tons by 2040. Rice is thinly traded in international market because it is a highly protected commodity. Only about 9% of the total production is traded in global rice market. However, the volume of global rice trade has increased over six-fold from 7.5 to 46.5 million tons between the 1960s and 2018. A relatively small number of exporting countries interact with a large number of importing countries. The top five rice exporting countries are India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and China accounting for 74% of the global rice export. The top five rice importing countries are China, Philippines, Nigeria, European Union and Saudi Arabia accounting for 26% of the global rice import. Within rice varieties, Japonica rice accounts for the highest share of the global rice trade (about 12%) followed by Basmati rice (about 10%). The high concentration of exports to a few countries makes international rice market vulnerable to supply disruptions in exporting countries, leading to higher world prices of rice. The export price of Thai 5% broken rice increased from 198 US$/ton in 2000 to 421 US$/ton in 2018. The volumes of trade and rice prices in the global market are expected to increase in the future. The major future challenges of the rice industry are increasing demand due to population growth, rising demand in Africa, economic growth and diet diversification, competition for natural resources (land and water), labor scarcity, climate change and natural hazards, poverty and inequality, hunger and malnutrition, urbanization, low income in rice farming, yield saturation, aging of farmers, feminization of agriculture, health and environmental concerns, improving value chains, and shifting donor priorities away from agriculture. At the same time, new opportunities are available due to access to new technologies, increased investment by the private sector, and increased global partnership. More investment in rice research and development is needed to develop and disseminate innovative technologies and practices to overcome problems and ensure food and nutrition security of the future population.

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Study on Personal Information Protection Behavior in Social Network Service Using Health Belief Model (건강신념모델을 이용한 소셜네트워크서비스에서의 개인정보보호행위에 관한 연구)

  • Shin, Se-mi;Kim, Seong-jun;Kwon, Do-soon
    • Journal of the Korea Institute of Information Security & Cryptology
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    • v.26 no.6
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    • pp.1619-1637
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    • 2016
  • With wide distribution of smart phones and development of mobile network, social network service (SNS) is displaying remarkable growth rates. Users build new social relations by sharing their interests, which brings surging growth to the SNS based on the combination between the strength of expanding the place for communication and distribution of smart phones featured with easy portability. This study is designed to understand impact factors of SNS on users in Korea and to conduct empirical research on casual relationship between the factors above and the factors affecting personal information behavior through the privacy protection and self-efficacy. In order to accomplish the objective above, the study presented a research model applied with key variables of the Health Belief Model (HBM) predicting behaviors capable of recognizing and preventing individual diseases in the field of health communication. To perform empirical verification on the research model of this study, a survey was conducted upon college students at N university located in Chungcheongnam-do and K university in rural area, who have experiences using the SNS. Through this survey, a total of 186 samples were collected, and path analysis was performed in order to analyze the relationship between the factors. Based on the findings from the survey, first, variables Perceived probability, Perceived severity, Perceived impairment of the HBM, key factors of personal information protection behavior on the SNS, were found to exhibit negative relationship with self-efficacy, and Perceived probability, Perceived benefit, Perceived impairment were found to exhibit negative relationship with privacy protection. But the above, Perceived severity showed positive relationship with privacy protection, and Perceived benefit and self-efficacy also displayed positive relationship. Second, although self-efficacy, a parameter, showed positive relationship with privacy protection, it demonstrated negative relationship with personal information protection behavior. Lastly, privacy protection exhibited positive relationship with personal information protection behavior. By presenting theoretical model reflected with characteristics of prevention based on these findings above unlike previous studies on personal information protection using technologies threatening personal information, this study is to provide theoretical and operational foundation capable of offering explanations how to predict personal information protection behavior on the SNS in the future.

A Proposal for Korean armed forces preparing toward Future war: Examine the U.S. 'Mosaic Warfare' Concept (미래전을 대비한 한국군 발전방향 제언: 미국의 모자이크전 수행개념 고찰을 통하여)

  • Chang, Jin O;Jung, Jae-young
    • Maritime Security
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.215-240
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    • 2020
  • In 2017, the U.S. DARPA coined 'mosaic warfare' as a new way of warfighting. According to the Timothy Grayson, director of DARPA's Strategic Technologies Office, mosaic warfare is a "system of system" approach to warfghting designed around compatible "tiles" of capabilities, rather than uniquely shaped "puzzle pieces" that must be fitted into a specific slot in a battle plan in order for it to work. Prior to cover mosaic warfare theory and recent development, it deals analyze its background and several premises for better understanding. The U.S. DoD officials might acknowledge the current its forces vulnerability to the China's A2/AD assets. Furthermore, the U.S. seeks to complete military superiority even in other nation's territorial domains including sea and air. Given its rapid combat restoration capability and less manpower casualty, the U.S. would be able to ready to endure war of attrition that requires massive resources. The core concept of mosaic warfare is a "decision centric warfare". To embody this idea, it create adaptability for U.S. forces and complexity or uncertainty for the enemy through the rapid composition and recomposition of a more disag g reg ated U.S. military force using human command and machine control. This allows providing more options to friendly forces and collapse adversary's OODA loop eventually. Adaptable kill web, composable force packages, A.I., and context-centric C3 architecture are crucial elements to implement and carry out mosaic warfare. Recently, CSBA showed an compelling assessment of mosaic warfare simulation. In this wargame, there was a significant differences between traditional and mosaic teams. Mosaic team was able to mount more simultaneous actions, creating additional complexity to adversaries and overwhelming their decision-making with less friendly force's human casualty. It increase the speed of the U.S. force's decision-making, enabling commanders to better employ tempo. Consequently, this article finds out and suggests implications for Korea armed forces. First of all, it needs to examine and develop 'mosaic warfare' in terms of our security circumstance. In response to future warfare, reviewing overall force structure and architecture is required which is able to compose force element regardless domain. In regards to insufficient defense resources and budget, "choice" and "concentration" are also essential. It needs to have eyes on the neighboring countries' development of future war concept carefully.

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A Study on the Decision Factors for AI-based SaMD Adoption Using Delphi Surveys and AHP Analysis (델파이 조사와 AHP 분석을 활용한 인공지능 기반 SaMD 도입 의사결정 요인에 관한 연구)

  • Byung-Oh Woo;Jay In Oh
    • The Journal of Bigdata
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.111-129
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    • 2023
  • With the diffusion of digital innovation, the adoption of innovative medical technologies based on artificial intelligence is increasing in the medical field. This is driving the launch and adoption of AI-based SaMD(Software as a Medical Device), but there is a lack of research on the factors that influence the adoption of SaMD by medical institutions. The purpose of this study is to identify key factors that influence medical institutions' decisions to adopt AI-based SaMDs, and to analyze the weights and priorities of these factors. For this purpose, we conducted Delphi surveys based on the results of literature studies on technology acceptance models in healthcare industry, medical AI and SaMD, and developed a research model by combining HOTE(Human, Organization, Technology and Environment) framework and HABIO(Holistic Approach {Business, Information, Organizational}) framework. Based on the research model with 5 main criteria and 22 sub-criteria, we conducted an AHP(Analytical Hierarchy Process) analysis among the experts from domestic medical institutions and SaMD providers to empirically analyze SaMD adoption factors. The results of this study showed that the priority of the main criteria for determining the adoption of AI-based SaMD was in the order of technical factors, economic factors, human factors, organizational factors, and environmental factors. The priority of sub-criteria was in the order of reliability, cost reduction, medical staff's acceptance, safety, top management's support, security, and licensing & regulatory levels. Specifically, technical factors such as reliability, safety, and security were found to be the most important factors for SaMD adoption. In addition, the comparisons and analyses of the weights and priorities of each group showed that the weights and priorities of SaMD adoption factors varied by type of institution, type of medical institution, and type of job in the medical institution.

Design and Implementation of IoT based Low cost, Effective Learning Mechanism for Empowering STEM Education in India

  • Simmi Chawla;Parul Tomar;Sapna Gambhir
    • International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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    • v.24 no.4
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    • pp.163-169
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    • 2024
  • India is a developing nation and has come with comprehensive way in modernizing its reducing poverty, economy and rising living standards for an outsized fragment of its residents. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education plays an important role in it. STEM is an educational curriculum that emphasis on the subjects of "science, technology, engineering, and mathematics". In traditional education scenario, these subjects are taught independently, but according to the educational philosophy of STEM that teaches these subjects together in project-based lessons. STEM helps the students in his holistic development. Youth unemployment is the biggest concern due to lack of adequate skills. There is a huge skill gap behind jobless engineers and the question arises how we can prepare engineers for a better tomorrow? Now a day's Industry 4.0 is a new fourth industrial revolution which is an intelligent networking of machines and processes for industry through ICT. It is based upon the usage of cyber-physical systems and Internet of Things (IoT). Industrial revolution does not influence only production but also educational system as well. IoT in academics is a new revolution to the Internet technology, which introduced "Smartness" in the entire IT infrastructure. To improve socio-economic status of the India students must equipped with 21st century digital skills and Universities, colleges must provide individual learning kits to their students which can help them in enhancing their productivity and learning outcomes. The major goal of this paper is to present a low cost, effective learning mechanism for STEM implementation using Raspberry Pi 3+ model (Single board computer) and Node Red open source visual programming tool which is developed by IBM for wiring hardware devices together. These tools are broadly used to provide hands on experience on IoT fundamentals during teaching and learning. This paper elaborates the appropriateness and the practicality of these concepts via an example by implementing a user interface (UI) and Dashboard in Node-RED where dashboard palette is used for demonstration with switch, slider, gauge and Raspberry pi palette is used to connect with GPIO pins present on Raspberry pi board. An LED light is connected with a GPIO pin as an output pin. In this experiment, it is shown that the Node-Red dashboard is accessing on Raspberry pi and via Smartphone as well. In the final step results are shown in an elaborate manner. Conversely, inadequate Programming skills in students are the biggest challenge because without good programming skills there would be no pioneers in engineering, robotics and other areas. Coding plays an important role to increase the level of knowledge on a wide scale and to encourage the interest of students in coding. Today Python language which is Open source and most demanding languages in the industry in order to know data science and algorithms, understanding computer science would not be possible without science, technology, engineering and math. In this paper a small experiment is also done with an LED light via writing source code in python. These tiny experiments are really helpful to encourage the students and give play way to learn these advance technologies. The cost estimation is presented in tabular form for per learning kit provided to the students for Hands on experiments. Some Popular In addition, some Open source tools for experimenting with IoT Technology are described. Students can enrich their knowledge by doing lots of experiments with these freely available software's and this low cost hardware in labs or learning kits provided to them.

Development on Early Warning System about Technology Leakage of Small and Medium Enterprises (중소기업 기술 유출에 대한 조기경보시스템 개발에 대한 연구)

  • Seo, Bong-Goon;Park, Do-Hyung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.23 no.1
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    • pp.143-159
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    • 2017
  • Due to the rapid development of IT in recent years, not only personal information but also the key technologies and information leakage that companies have are becoming important issues. For the enterprise, the core technology that the company possesses is a very important part for the survival of the enterprise and for the continuous competitive advantage. Recently, there have been many cases of technical infringement. Technology leaks not only cause tremendous financial losses such as falling stock prices for companies, but they also have a negative impact on corporate reputation and delays in corporate development. In the case of SMEs, where core technology is an important part of the enterprise, compared to large corporations, the preparation for technological leakage can be seen as an indispensable factor in the existence of the enterprise. As the necessity and importance of Information Security Management (ISM) is emerging, it is necessary to check and prepare for the threat of technology infringement early in the enterprise. Nevertheless, previous studies have shown that the majority of policy alternatives are represented by about 90%. As a research method, literature analysis accounted for 76% and empirical and statistical analysis accounted for a relatively low rate of 16%. For this reason, it is necessary to study the management model and prediction model to prevent leakage of technology to meet the characteristics of SMEs. In this study, before analyzing the empirical analysis, we divided the technical characteristics from the technology value perspective and the organizational factor from the technology control point based on many previous researches related to the factors affecting the technology leakage. A total of 12 related variables were selected for the two factors, and the analysis was performed with these variables. In this study, we use three - year data of "Small and Medium Enterprise Technical Statistics Survey" conducted by the Small and Medium Business Administration. Analysis data includes 30 industries based on KSIC-based 2-digit classification, and the number of companies affected by technology leakage is 415 over 3 years. Through this data, we conducted a randomized sampling in the same industry based on the KSIC in the same year, and compared with the companies (n = 415) and the unaffected firms (n = 415) 1:1 Corresponding samples were prepared and analyzed. In this research, we will conduct an empirical analysis to search for factors influencing technology leakage, and propose an early warning system through data mining. Specifically, in this study, based on the questionnaire survey of SMEs conducted by the Small and Medium Business Administration (SME), we classified the factors that affect the technology leakage of SMEs into two factors(Technology Characteristics, Organization Characteristics). And we propose a model that informs the possibility of technical infringement by using Support Vector Machine(SVM) which is one of the various techniques of data mining based on the proven factors through statistical analysis. Unlike previous studies, this study focused on the cases of various industries in many years, and it can be pointed out that the artificial intelligence model was developed through this study. In addition, since the factors are derived empirically according to the actual leakage of SME technology leakage, it will be possible to suggest to policy makers which companies should be managed from the viewpoint of technology protection. Finally, it is expected that the early warning model on the possibility of technology leakage proposed in this study will provide an opportunity to prevent technology Leakage from the viewpoint of enterprise and government in advance.

Study on stability test of in process sample of recombinant Protein A (재조합 단백질 A 제조공정시료의 안정성실험에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Yoo Gon;Lee, Woo Jong;Won, Chan Hee;Shin, Chul Soo
    • Analytical Science and Technology
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    • v.25 no.6
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    • pp.483-491
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    • 2012
  • This study is to investigate the issues on how to secure stability during the purification process for the production of recombinant protein A. The final recombinant protein A is produced by passing through the cation exchange column (SP) and the anion-exchange column (Q) during the production process, for which the samples produced by the step-by-step processes can be exposed to trouble in securing stable storage in case the next process cannot be taken within the proper time period. Accordingly, this study aims to evaluate the proper storage conditions and length of time when storing samples produced in the production process. That is, in this study, how to store fair samples, how long the storage period should be set up, and how to evaluate the security of its quality depending on time are dealt with. The items to be experimented with were enodotoxin, SDS-PAGE, HPLC purity and concentration. Experimental results showed that after passing the cation exchange column, when stored at $4^{\circ}C$ or room temperature, SDS-PAGE showed a major band, endotoxin is 5.0 Eu/mg or less, and concentration is on average of 8.21 to 8.24 mg/mL and RSD% 0.10~0.62%. In addition, HLPC purity showed somewhat stable results; at the HPLC purity 214 nm, the average is 99.24% to 99.37% and RSD% is 0.22~0.29%, while the average is 89.72% to 89.80% and RSD% 0.62~1.26% at 280 nm. On the contrary, after passing the anion exchange column, when stored at $4^{\circ}C$ or room temperature, SDS-PAGE revealed the major band, endotoxin is 0.5 Eu/mg or less, and concentration is on average of 5.59 mg/mL and RSD% 0.03~0.10%. when it comes to HLPC purity, the result showed that at the HPLC purity 214 nm, the average is 99.74% and RSD% is 0.10~0.11%, while the average is 96.16% to 96.85% and RSD% 0.72~1.13%. In conclusion, the stability of fair samples of recombinant protein A during the manufacturing process could be obtained without substance decomposition for 7~8 days at $4^{\circ}C$ or 20~21 days at room temperature.

A Study on the Impact of Competency of Technology: Based Startups on Performance Using ETRI Technology (ETRI 기술을 활용한 기술창업기업의 역량이 경영성과에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Bae, Hongbeom;Song, Minkyung;Kim, Seokyun
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.61-72
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    • 2018
  • In a rapidly changing environment, such as globalization, technology-based startups are attracting attention as a new growth engine that creates jobs and added value and promotes national competitiveness. At present, countries around the world recognize the development of technology-based start-up companies as a major policy task and strive to make policy efforts to revitalize start-ups and strengthen innovation capabilities of companies. Especially, in order to secure superiority in the fierce market competition, it is becoming more and more important for the growth and development of technological start-up companies that pioneer new markets and energize the economy based on original and innovative technologies. Therefore, it is necessary to study systematically and plan for survival and growth of technology start-up companies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the entrepreneurial spirit of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Risk Sensibility and Technology Innovation Capacity, R&D ability, Technology Accumulation Capacity, Technology Innovation System, The results of this study are as follows. the effects of marketing ability on technical performance and financial performance are examined. First, the CEO 's entrepreneurial spirit has an effect on the technical performance and financial performance of the management performance. Second, the technology accumulation ability and the R & D capability have a positive effect on the technical performance. Finally, it was found that the ability to commercialize the technology commercialization capacity affects both technical performance and financial performance. The policy implications that can be gained through this are as follows. First, by strengthening cooperation between universities and research institutes, related technology entrepreneurship education programs should be upgraded so that technology entrepreneurs or preliminary entrepreneurs can capture business opportunities and secure market price competitiveness. Secondly, R & D for the purpose of start-up should be developed and marketable technology should be developed and linked to direct start-up. Third, it is necessary to activate the program to match the company with the honorary retirement manpower of large enterprises and SMEs, which have more experience in field experience than the founders.

Structural Relationships Among Factors to Adoption of Telehealth Service (원격의료서비스 수용요인의 구조적 관계 실증연구)

  • Kim, Sung-Soo;Ryu, See-Won
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.21 no.3
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    • pp.71-96
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    • 2011
  • Within the traditional medical delivery system, patients residing in medically vulnerable areas, those with body movement difficulties, and nursing facility residents have had limited access to good healthcare services. However, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides us with a convenient and useful means of overcoming distance and time constraints. ICT is integrated with biomedical science and technology in a way that offers a new high-quality medical service. As a result, rapid technological advancement is expected to play a pivotal role bringing about innovation in a wide range of medical service areas, such as medical management, testing, diagnosis, and treatment; offering new and improved healthcare services; and effecting dramatic changes in current medical services. The increase in aging population and chronic diseases has caused an increase in medical expenses. In response to the increasing demand for efficient healthcare services, a telehealth service based on ICT is being emphasized on a global level. Telehealth services have been implemented especially in pilot projects and system development and technological research. With the service about to be implemented in earnest, it is necessary to study its overall acceptance by consumers, which is expected to contribute to the development and activation of a variety of services. In this sense, the study aims at positively examining the structural relationship among the acceptance factors for telehealth services based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Data were collected by showing audiovisual material on telehealth services to online panels and requesting them to respond to a structured questionnaire sheet, which is known as the information acceleration method. Among the 1,165 adult respondents, 608 valid samples were finally chosen, while the remaining were excluded because of incomplete answers or allotted time overrun. In order to test the reliability and validity of the assessment scale items, we carried out reliability and factor analyses, and in order to explore the causal relation among potential variables, we conducted a structural equation modeling analysis using AMOS 7.0 and SPSS 17.0. The research outcomes are as follows. First, service quality, innovativeness of medical technology, and social influence were shown to affect perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of the telehealth service, which was statistically significant, and the two factors had a positive impact on willingness to accept the telehealth service. In addition, social influence had a direct, significant effect on intention to use, which is paralleled by the TAM used in previous research on technology acceptance. This shows that the research model proposed in the study effectively explains the acceptance of the telehealth service. Second, the research model reveals that information privacy concerns had a insignificant impact on perceived ease of use of the telehealth service. From this, it can be gathered that the concerns over information protection and security are reduced further due to advancements in information technology compared to the initial period in the information technology industry, and thus the improvement in quality of medical services appeared to ensure that information privacy concerns did not act as a prohibiting factor in the acceptance of the telehealth service. Thus, if other factors have an enormous impact on ease of use and usefulness, concerns over these results in the initial period of technology acceptance may become irrelevant. However, it is clear that users' information privacy concerns, as other studies have revealed, is a major factor affecting technology acceptance. Thus, caution must be exercised while interpreting the result, and further study is required on the issue. Numerous information technologies with outstanding performance and innovativeness often attract few consumers. A revised bill for those urgently in need of telehealth services is about to be approved in the national assembly. As telemedicine is implemented between doctors and patients, a wide range of systems that will improve the quality of healthcare services will be designed. In this sense, the study on the consumer acceptance of telehealth services is meaningful and offers strong academic evidence. Based on the implications, it can be expected to contribute to the activation of telehealth services. Further study is needed to assess the acceptance factors for telehealth services, such as motivation to remain healthy, health care involvement, knowledge on health, and control of health-related behavior, in order to develop unique services according to the categorization of customers based on health factors. In addition, further study may focus on various theoretical cognitive behavior models other than the TAM, such as the health belief model.

Impact of Net-Based Customer Service on Firm Profits and Consumer Welfare (기업의 온라인 고객 서비스가 기업의 수익 및 고객의 후생에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Eun-Jin;Lee, Byung-Tae
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.123-137
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    • 2007
  • The advent of the Internet and related Web technologies has created an easily accessible link between a firm and its customers, and has provided opportunities to a firm to use information technology to support supplementary after-sale services associated with a product or service. It has been widely recognized that supplementary services are an important source of customer value and of competitive advantage as the characteristics of the product itself. Many of these supplementary services are information-based and need not be co-located with the product, so more and more companies are delivering these services electronically. Net-based customer service, which is defined as an Internet-based computerized information system that delivers services to a customer, therefore, is the core infrastructure for supplementary service provision. The importance of net-based customer service in delivering supplementary after-sale services associated with product has been well documented. The strategic advantages of well-implemented net-based customer service are enhanced customer loyalty and higher lock-in of customers, and a resulting reduction in competition and the consequent increase in profits. However, not all customers utilize such net-based customer service. The digital divide is the phenomenon in our society that captures the observation that not all customers have equal access to computers. Socioeconomic factors such as race, gender, and education level are strongly related to Internet accessibility and ability to use. This is due to the differences in the ability to bear the cost of a computer, and the differences in self-efficacy in the use of a technology, among other reasons. This concept, applied to e-commerce, has been called the "e-commerce divide." High Internet penetration is not eradicating the digital divide and e-commerce divide as one would hope. Besides, to accommodate personalized support, a customer must often provide personal information to the firm. This personal information includes not only name and address, but also preferences information and perhaps valuation information. However, many recent studies show that consumers may not be willing to share information about themselves due to concerns about privacy online. Due to the e-commerce divide, and due to privacy and security concerns of the customer for sharing personal information with firms, limited numbers of customers adopt net-based customer service. The limited level of customer adoption of net-based customer service affects the firm profits and the customers' welfare. We use a game-theoretic model in which we model the net-based customer service system as a mechanism to enhance customers' loyalty. We model a market entry scenario where a firm (the incumbent) uses the net-based customer service system in inducing loyalty in its customer base. The firm sells one product through the traditional retailing channels and at a price set for these channels. Another firm (the entrant) enters the market, and having observed the price of the incumbent firm (and after deducing the loyalty levels in the customer base), chooses its price. The profits of the firms and the surplus of the two customers segments (the segment that utilizes net-based customer service and the segment that does not) are analyzed in the Stackelberg leader-follower model of competition between the firms. We find that an increase in adoption of net-based customer service by the customer base is not always desirable for firms. With low effectiveness in enhancing customer loyalty, firms prefer a high level of customer adoption of net-based customer service, because an increase in adoption rate decreases competition and increases profits. A firm in an industry where net-based customer service is highly effective loyalty mechanism, on the other hand, prefers a low level of adoption by customers.