Service Innovation, Embeddedness and Business Performance: Evidence from Northern Ireland

This paper explores the factors that determine innovation by service firms, and in particular the contribution of intra- and extra-regional connectivity. Subsequently, it is examined how service firms' innovation activity relates to productivity and export behaviour. The empirical analysis is based on matched data from the 2005 UK Innovation Survey - the UK component of the 4th Community Innovation Survey (CIS) - and the Annual Business Inquiry for Northern Ireland. Evidence is found of negative intra-regional embeddedness effects, but there is a positive contribution to innovation from extra-regional connectivity, particularly links to customers. Relationships between innovation, exporting, and productivity prove complex, but suggest that innovation itself is not sufficient to generate productivity improvements. Only when innovation is combined with increased export activity are productivity gains evident.

Factors That Impact Technology Innovation Adoption Among Irish Professional Service Sector SMEs

This paper disseminates the findings from a study into the factors impacting technological innovation adoption and diffusion specific to the deployment of electronic-commerce strategies within professional service sector SMEs in Ireland. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed and seven factors relating to a firm's external/internal environment were found to underpin adoption. These are: electronic-commerce capability; willingness to change/rate of response to new technologies; technological opportunity recognition; customer orientation; sensitivity to competitive/customer environments; perceptions of technology feasibility; and e-skills development mechanisms. t-tests revealed differences between adopters and non-adopters, and forward stepwise logistic regression is used to assess the extent to which these seven factors actually predict electronic-commerce adoption. It was found that electronic-commerce capability and the willingness to change/rate of response to new technologies are the two most important factors affecting adoption behaviours. © Imperial College Press.

A simple game-theoretic analysis of peering and transit contracting among Internet service providers

The paper presents a simple game-theoretic model of two Internet service providers (ISPs), drawn from a larger set consisting of Tiers-1 and -2 ISPs, who choose between peering and transit agreements. The study focuses on the costs of interconnection taking into account traffic imbalances. The analysis suggests that if the traffic flows and the costs of interconnection are fairly shared, the provider's peer, otherwise they choose transit. Moreover, the joint profits are maximized under the transit arrangement. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

From Counter-terrorism to Criminal Justice: Transformation or Business as Usual?

The article explores the extent to which criminal justice in Northern Ireland has been reconstructed over the past fifteen years. The focus is on the framework provided in the Good Friday Agreement (1998) and the range of transition processes that followed. Post-Agreement Inquiries are reviewed and the findings demonstrate the institutional rigidities facing the transformation of criminal justice. While the ideologies and practices of counter-terrorism no longer dominate the business of criminal justice, the extent of change in terms of social representativeness, scale and expenditure is variable, with the prison service proving the least changed.

Coordination of palliative cancer care in the community: "unfinished business"

Goal: This study assessed the degree to which services in south-central Ontario, Canada, were coordinated to meet the supportive care needs of palliative cancer patients and their families. Participants and method: Programs within the region that were identified as providing supportive care to palliative cancer patients and their families were eligible to participate in the study. Program administrators participated in a semi-structured interview and direct-care providers completed a survey instrument. Main results: Administrators from 37 (97%) of 38 eligible programs and 109 direct-care providers representing 26 (70%) programs participated in the study. Most administrator and direct-care respondents felt that existing services in the community were responsive to palliative care patients' individual needs. However, at a system level, most respondents in both groups felt that required services were not available and that resources were inadequate. The most frequently reported unmet supportive care need identified by both respondent groups was psychological/social support. Most administrator (69%) and direct-care (64%) respondents felt that palliative care services were not available when needed. The majority of administrator and direct-care respondents were satisfied with the exchange of patient information within and between programs, although direct-care staff identified a deficit in information transferred on palliative care patients' social/psychological status. Conclusions: The study demonstrated the value of a theory-based approach to evaluate the coordination of palliative cancer care services. The findings revealed that service programs faced significant challenges in their efforts to provide coordinated care. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.

Software as a Service: Analysing Security Issues

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is a type of software service delivery model which encompasses a broad range of business opportunities and challenges. Users and service providers are reluctant to integrate their business into SaaS due to its security concerns while at the same time they are attracted by its benefits. This article highlights SaaS utility and applicability in different environments like cloud computing, mobile cloud computing, software defined networking and Internet of things. It then embarks on the analysis of SaaS security challenges spanning across data security, application security and SaaS deployment security. A detailed review of the existing mainstream solutions to tackle the respective security issues mapping into different SaaS security challenges is presented. Finally, possible solutions or techniques which can be applied in tandem are presented for a secure SaaS platform.