Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Economic aspects of Mobile communication systems'

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
Mobile telephone subscription in developing countries has increased by more than 500 percent since 2005, with Africa experiencing the highest growth rate globally. Amongst Africa’s 306.5 million subscribers, recorded in 2008, an unexpectedly high adoption rate of the technology by poor, often illiterate rural communities is observed. Mobile telephony generally provides African rural users access to electronic communication for the first time. Providing access to communication, information and knowledge, mobile phones present a platform for economic and social interaction in rural Africa. The extent of the resulting positive socio-economic impact on the developing world has lead to mobile telephony increasingly being viewed as a potential development tool for the socio-economic upliftment of the rural poor. This thesis is inspired by the potential for value creation to end users of mobile telephony, leading to the proposition that the rapid expansion of mobile telephony in rural Africa can contribute significantly to the sustainability of these communities’ rural livelihoods. For this proposition to be valid, mobile telephony has to provide value beyond being communication tool. It has to provide value in income generating activities by increasing opportunities for access to financial and social capital with mobile business models appropriate to the rural African context. To assess the appropriateness of mobile value offerings, the rural African context was analyzed using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. Through multi-level analysis, the challenges and issues that influence the lives of the rural poor were explored and the dominant livelihood strategies in terms of income generating activities were identified. Apart from agricultural income streams, waged labor, migration and micro-entrepreneurial activities provide non-agricultural income streams. Creating an appropriate mobile business ecosystem for rural Africa requires the collaboration of a complex network of actors within a value constellation to co-produce value for the end users. Three conditional factors were identified for mobile telephony and emerging mobile business models to contribute successfully to sustainable livelihoods: adaptation of the technology by providers, user appropriation to make the technology their own and the assimilation of it into their livelihood strategies. These factors were researched for validation through the study of existing literature and reported case studies. It was found that these three conditional factors were unequivocally met. Firstly, the mobile telecommunication industry active in Africa is seen to successfully adapt and innovate solutions that are relevant to African rural communities’ vulnerabilities and livelihood strategies. Secondly, African mobile phone users have successfully adopted and appropriated mobile telephony to create value for themselves in their livelihood strategies, often independent of external interventions. They are claiming ownership of the technology and not merely using it as a communication tool. Thirdly, by assimilating mobile telephony into their livelihood strategies, value-creation within their income generating activities have been made possible. This value creation is impacting users’ social and financial capital positively. This thesis concludes that mobile telephony and emerging mobile business models are contributing to increasing African rural dwellers’ income generating potential, reducing their vulnerability to shocks, and providing them with a voice; thereby contributing to sustainable rural livelihoods.

Thanks to the use of satellite technology, mobile personal telecommunications systems are able to provide communications simultaneously anywhere on the Earth's surface. The implementation of such systems raises several regulatory issues: after a brief explanation of the technical characteristics of different satellite systems in the first chapter, the second chapter will introduce the principles of space law relevant to satellite communications, with particular attention to the provisions which the development of global satellite telecommunication system could infringe. In the third chapter, there will be place for further analysis of international regulations established in the framework of the International Telecommunication Union and the World Trade Organisation, dealing more specifically with satellite telecommunications. The discipline established by the former organisation aims to the optimal management of the orbit and spectrum resources, particularly controversial because of the divergence of interests and exigencies of the member countries, whereas the latter intervened in the liberalisation of the telecommunication services, with the purpose to create an open environment for their diffusion. Furthermore, telecommunication activities are subjected to national regulation. The domestic discipline pertaining to global mobile satellite telecommunication services will be analysed in the fourth chapter, with particular attention to the U.S. Federal Communication Commission regulations and to the developments of Italian legislation in the light of the recent European initiatives in the field. National authorisation requirement conditions, in spite of the international effort toward regulatory harmonisation and liberalisation, are the key elements in the deployment of global mobile telecommunications services. National authorities should not continue to function solely on the basis of their national considerations, but be more flexible and open to cooperation, a

In the studies of contemporary electronic media artifacts and their effects on society, television, satellites, and computers have been extensively investigated and their various impacts well documented. With regards to telecommunication technologies, academic scholarship is somewhat less, with most comment being restricted to either historic evolution, or technical description. Exceptions to this are, Marvin's reference to the telephone in her publication, When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electronic Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century (1988}, and Umble's The Amish and the telephone: resistance and reconstruction (1992). Both of these publications are used for supporting arguments in my thesis investigating the societal and cultural effects associated with the use of the mobile telephone. I have selected this subject for my thesis, as I can find no previous significant scholarship relating to this particular field, and my research will redress this imbalance. In my thesis I present a contextual overview of the mobile telephone dealing with its historical evolution and technological change, and how its convergence with other technologies is reshaping future expectations in personal electronic communication strategies. Also within the overview I look at what conditions determine the access to becoming a mobile telephone user, the service expectations of the users against what is provided by the service suppliers, and how the service suppliers' advertising strategies are driving a burgeoning market in mobile communications. The main thrust of my research is contained within arguments concerning the three major research questions. My primary focus is on the relationships between place, time, and space with the mobile telephone. In past research, Meyrowitz (1985) and Giddens (1990) and (1991) have categorically stated that place is no longer important, as electronic media have permeated the confines of encapsulated areas, and transported social relationships away from the necessity for face to face interaction. I argue that the mobile telephone has re-instated the importance of place by its capacity to intrude into any place, at the will of its user, invading personal privacy of non-users within both private and public arenas. Further I argue that place is assuming importance through its exposure to environmental degradation, with the building of transmission towers to supply the mobile telephone service. My secondary focus is on how the mobile telephone is affecting the workplace. To investigate this problem i have researched the phenomenon of telecommuting, and used the findings as a base for my investigations into the mobile office. Many of the problems relate to control, where extreme difficulties arise for authorities to manage effectively their charges when determining workers' welfare, health regulations, and supervisory duties. In the case of the employees, the freedom from direct supervision, and the flexibility to organise work times to suit their personal requirements are stated advantages. The growth of mobile office working has the potential to change the traditional values of encapsulated workplaces, and as such will require different rules and strategies to be negotiated between employers and employees to adequately safeguard each others’ interests. Prior to my final major focus, the mobile telephone and 'monopolies of knowledge' (Innis, 1949, p.5), I look at technological convergence, and change. I examine the convergence of media technologies to show that the phenomenon is not new, but historically, a driving force behind the development of new communication systems. In the section titled 'change', I document how the mobile telephone has been accepted into many different societies and sub-cultures, bringing change to their communication habits and expectations. The sections on technological convergence, and change lead my research into the final major focus, where I examine the link between the mobile telephone and the creation of new ‘monopolies of knowledge' (ibid), forming elite groups or sub-cultures which weaken the structure of community-based societies. To underpin my research focus I have used Umble (1992) to illustrate what happens when a new technology is introduced into a community-based lifestyle, creating elite groups or sub-cultures, which then challenge the basic values which support that community. Finally, in seeking information for my thesis I conducted a survey of 100 households, where I sought replies from both mobile telephone users and non-users. The response to my survey was better than most returns predicted in the literature which I read describing strategies for mail surveys. However, due to my research being original in its field, my questions were general for the thesis subject matter, and so did not supply an abundance of information which could be used within the narrowed structure of the research questions. Nevertheless the aggregated results are included in the appendices of this thesis.

The widely used mobile phone, as well as its related technologies had opened opportunities for a complete change on how people interact and build relationship across geographic and time considerations. The convenience of instant communication by mobile phones that broke the barrier of space and time is evidently the key motivational point on why such technologies so important in people's life and daily activities. Mobile phones have become the most popular communication tools. Mobile phone technology is apparently changing our relationship to each other in our work and lives. The impact of new technologies on people's lives in social spaces gives us the chance to rethink the possibilities of technologies in social interaction. Accordingly, mobile phones are basically changing social relations in ways that are intricate to measure with any precision. In this dissertation I propose a socioscope model for social network, relationship and human behavior analysis based on mobile phone call detail records. Because of the diversities and complexities of human social behavior, one technique cannot detect different features of human social behaviors. Therefore I use multiple probability and statistical methods for quantifying social groups, relationships and communication patterns, for predicting social tie strengths and for detecting human behavior changes and unusual consumption events. I propose a new reciprocity index to measure the level of reciprocity between users and their communication partners. The experimental results show that this approach is effective. Among other applications, this work is useful for homeland security, detection of unwanted calls (e.g., spam), telecommunication presence, and marketing. In my future work I plan to analyze and study the social network dynamics and evolution.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been widely researched as a mechanism for improving the socio-economic status of disadvantaged, rural communities. In order to do this numerous technology-based initiatives have been introduced into disadvantaged, rural communities to assist them in various aspects of their lives. Unfortunately, even when the proposed benefit of a particular technology is clearly evident to its initiators, the adoption by the target users is often uncertain. This has also been the case with e-commerce in agriculture. Despite the numerous benefits of e-commerce for agricultural producers, the uptake has been low. Trust is a critical pre-condition for the adoption of e-marketplaces. E-marketplaces expose consumers to the risk of non-delivery or misrepresentation of goods ordered and the misuse of personal information by external parties. Additionally, the time investment needed to make a shift to e-marketplaces and the opinions of important reference groups affects the user’s willingness to trust and depend on an e-marketplace. This study was undertaken to assess the extent to which rural users with limited ICT experience would trust and, consequently, adopt an e-marketplace to support agricultural trade. A pragmatic philosophy was adopted in this study, indicating that the researcher’s view of reality is founded on the practical implications and outcomes that are observed. This study used a Canonical Action Research strategy to design, develop and deploy a voice based e-marketplace to assist the trading activities of a Western Cape based aloe community. The community was allowed to utilise thee-marketplace over a period of eight weeks. Thereafter, interviews were held with the participants to investigate their perceptions of the technology. As a result, a model proposing the factors that must be in place for trust to be achieved in a voice based e-marketplace was proposed. The study found that the trustworthiness of a technology results from the technology’s technical capability to satisfy the needs of its users reliably. Usability and security were found to be important determinants of the trustworthiness of a technology. Furthermore, the requirements elicitation process was found to be central to achieving trust as it defines the necessary criteria for developing secure, usable, functional, and reliable technologies that meet the needs of their users.

Rural community media are identified as a critical component of the rural community communication process. These SMMEs are however struggling to achieve sustainability and operate effectively due to the various challenges and constraints impacting them. This study seeks to address this by developing a Rural Community Media Mobile Social Networking Framework that will create a virtual community of practice for the purposes of support of rural entrepreneurs in small, medium and macro enterprises (SMMES) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The author has specifically scoped this research to focus on Rural Community Media as a specialised subsegment of entrepreneurs operating in rural areas. The reasons for this decision were in part due to the effect and impact of community media on socio-economic development due to the role they play in enabling access to information and knowledge and giving a voice to poor and isolated communities The study proposes that provision of access to relevant information and knowledge via a mobile social networking framework would assist in cutting implementation costs through utilisation of a platform that is already there (known as rural community media). This study is scoped to focus specifically on rural community media with fieldwork conducted in the province of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. In summary the Research Methodology applied is as follows: - Research Philosophy: The interpretive research philosophy was chosen for this study - Research Design: This study will apply qualitative design - Research Approach: The case study approach will be used in the study - Data Collection Techniques: Source data will be comprised of primary and secondary data. Primary data will be collected through implementation of a questionnaire and expert reviews, while the secondary data will be collected through literature review. Hermeneutics will be used as the data collection technique in this study. - Data analysis: Cross-case data analysis will be applied Key findings included that rural community media already utilise mobile technology and social media/networking to conduct business. Rural community media required access to information and knowledge pertaining to internal business process, funding, governance, training and access to skilled resources. Mobile social networking is identified as a suitable vehicle for delivery. A Rural Community Media Social Networking Framework was developed as a result of this study. Framework elements were supported, and in some cases modified, by case study findings and expert review feedback.

Three decades of mobile phone diffusion, thousands of mobile-phone-based health projects worldwide ("mHealth"), and tens of thousands of health applications in Apple's iTunes store, but fundamental questions about the effect of phone diffusion on people's healthcare behaviour remain unanswered. Empirical, theoretical, and methodological gaps in the study of mobile phones and health reinforce each other and lead to simplifying assumptions that mobile phones are a ubiquitous and neutral platform for interventions to improve health and healthcare. This contradicts what we know from the technology adoption literature. This thesis explores the theoretical link between mobile phone diffusion and healthcare access; develops and tests a new multidimensional indicator of mobile phone adoption; and analyses the effects of phone use on people's healthcare-seeking behaviour. My mixed methods research design - implemented in rural Rajasthan (India) and Gansu (China) - involves qualitative research with 231 participants and primary survey data from 800 persons. My research yields a qualitatively grounded framework that describes the accessibility and suitability of mobile phones in healthcare-seeking processes, the heterogeneous outcomes of phone use and non-use on healthcare access, and the uneven equity consequences in this process. Quantitative analysis based on the framework finds that mobile phone use in rural India and China increases access to healthcare, but it also invites more complex and delayed health behaviours and the over-use of scarce healthcare resources. Moreover, increasing phone-aided health action threatens to marginalise socio-economically disadvantaged groups further. I present here the first quantitative evidence on how mobile phone adoption influences healthcare-seeking behaviour. This challenges the common view that mHealth interventions operate on a neutral platform and draws attention to potential targeting, user acceptance, and sustainability problems. The framework and tools developed in this thesis can support policy considerations for health systems to evaluate and address the healthcare implications of mobile phone diffusion.

As companies are more globalised and teams become more geographically distributed, the demand for technical solutions to bring more variety of communication increases. The aim of this study is to get a deeper understanding of how Mobile Robotic Telepresence is perceived by people  that is working in an office for a non-technological oriented company, and is interacting with it for the first time. The study was conducted at the participants office during workday where they got to control and practically explore the robot through a computer. The result shows that there is a positive attitude towards new technology and possible solutions for people that would like to cut down on work-related travels or a new way to arrange meeting. even though there were positive attitude, only half of the participants saw a clear use for the robot in their current work environment.

Background to the academic research. Hilton College is an all boys private school in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands. Since the beginning of 2012 boys have been permitted to carry their phones during the school day, (Thomson, 2012). Wireless internet access was also extended across the campus to allow boys and staff to bring their own devices to class and have access to the internet (Machlachlan, 2012). In the past, communication between staff and boys was either verbal or through the use of a daily notice, called the Daily Routine Order (DRO). The DRO is placed at the dining room tables each day and boys are expected to check for any notices that may pertain to them. These notices are emailed to a secretary who prints them out and places them in the dining room each day at lunch. 2. Objectives to the research. This research sought to establish whether current communication methods were effective or whether the prevalence of mobile phones and wireless devices had presented the school with a more effective method. It was important therefore, to investigate what devices were on campus, how those devices were used and when they were used. In addition to this, the research sought to establish communication preference among staff and boys. 3. Research Methodology. The research was conducted through the use of a qualitative survey that was conducted among both staff and boys. Staff and boys were surveyed to establish generation, device prevalence, device usage and device preference. This data was collected using an anonymous qualitative survey that was administered through the use of Google docs in the school labs. 187 Boys in 3 grades 8 and 9 participated in the survey along with 18 staff members. The data was then analysed and compared to data from similar research that had been conducted elsewhere in the world. Because of significant age differences between boys and staff it was critical to establish whether device usage among staff and boys was tied to their generation. Of particular interest were the device behaviours associated with the Millennial generation, who were born between 1982-2002 (Strauss 2005:10). This generational ‘benchmark’ allowed the researcher to compare the Hilton College cohort to those whose device behaviours and usage had occurred and been discussed in generational research elsewhere. It also allowed for certain assumptions to be made about staff and boys based on their generational profile. 4. Findings It was found that staff and boys exhibited communication traits that were consistent with their generation and consistent with other research in this field. It was also found that staff and boys preferred mobile and digital forms of communication over verbal announcements and the DRO system. For this reason, it was recommended that the Hilton College establish a system that took advantage of technology to improve on communication. Various recommendations were given by the researcher that took advantage of current technologies. These included the use of SMS, Instant Messaging, Social Networks and email. It was also recommended that the school consider prescribing devices that allow for communication between staff and boys.

Although there is a long tradition of research into the relationship between technology and psychological well-being, few studies examine the relationship between mobile phone use and loneliness (Chan, 2015). Far away from their home countries and living in constrained conditions, female domestic workers in particular might experience chronic loneliness, and the mobile phone is a crucial lifeline for them. Using a face-to-face survey of 492 Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong, this dissertation details how different uses of mobile phones are related to different types of loneliness among this vulnerable population. By differentiating between communicative and non-communicative use of the mobile phone, and between social loneliness and emotional loneliness, the results indicate that Filipino domestic workers' non-communicative use of the mobile phone could decrease their social loneliness, while communicative use neither decreases nor increases both social and emotional loneliness. This finding supports the proposition that mobile phone use is beneficial to individuals' psychological well-being and extends the existing literature on the relationship between mobile phone use and loneliness. Most importantly, there is still no a systematic framework to explain the underlying mechanism connecting mobile phone use and loneliness. Based on the technology paradox and the paradoxical impact of mobile phone use on loneliness, this dissertation develops a two-pathway model to illustrate the underlying mechanism. The first pathway postulates that mobile phone use has a positive influence on loneliness through preference for online communication and problematic mobile phone use, which is based upon the theoretical framework of Davis's (2001) cognitive-behavioral model, Caplan's (2003) theory of preference for online communication, and the literature on the bidirectional relationship between technology and psychological well-being. Grounded in the social convoy model (Kahn &Antonucci, 1980; Antonucci, 2001), the second pathway posits that mobile phone use has a negative impact on loneliness through social network availability and social support. The findings show that the two-pathway model indeed exists. In the first pathway, mobile phone use increases emotional loneliness by leading to problematic mobile phone use. In the second pathway, mobile phone use results in decreased social loneliness through increased social support or through the joint impact of social network availability and social support. This dissertation makes theoretical and practical contributions to the field of mobile phone use, not only by developing a two-pathway model to uncover the underlying mechanism connecting mobile phone use with loneliness, but also demonstrates the technology paradox and the paradoxical impact of mobile phone use on loneliness among the Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong. It will be worthwhile to replicate and testify this two-pathway model in other populations, such as elders, adolescents, and young adults.

The main purpose of this research study was to investigate the perceived economic implications that broadband Internet has made on three small Kentucky cities. Perceptions were chosen to be studied, because it appears that perceptions, and not economic indicators, determined the economic viability of each Kentucky city that was researched.This study examined the perceptions of the association of broadband Internet to economic growth through a single-case study approach. Data were collected through multiple, semi-structured interviews with the city's municipal utility, economic development and workforce development sectors. Results from each city were then analyzed by coding and placing the data into themes that emerged from each city.One common theme that appeared throughout small cities in Kentucky was minimal collaboration between the different sectors (broadband Internet provider, Economic Development, and Workforce Development). Closely associated with this theme was a lack of communications between these same sectors in some of the cities. Finally, there was a lack of racial diversity within each city that discouraged innovative ideas and methods.Recommendations included using predictive analysis to plan and track economic development modeling and continue to develop the businesses and industries that are already established, instead of courting new business. Additional recommendations involve the development of a partnership between the municipal utility and private broadband Internet carriers, a relationship between the municipal utility and the rural cooperative, and establishing a technology committee that would include all broadband Internet providers, a economic development representative, a Workforce Development Representative, a city government representative, a county government representative, and a local small business representative.
Department of Educational Studies

This dissertation examines the meanings that young adults give to their mobile phones in the township of Hooggenoeg in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape. The research was predominantly conducted through individual interviews with nine young adults as well as two small gender-based focus groups. Participant observation as well as a close reading of the popular mobile website Outoilet also contributed to the study. Drawing on Silverstone, Hirsch and Morley’s (1992) work into the meanings attributed to the mobile phone through the domestication processes of appropriation, objectification, incorporation and conversion, the study argues for the heterogeneous roles defined for mobile phones as they are integrated into different cultural contexts. The term ‘raw phones’ in the thesis title refers to a particular cultural understanding of respectability in mainly working-class ‘coloured’¹ communities in South Africa, as described by Salo (2007) and Ross (2010), in which race, class and gender converge in the construction of the respectable person’s opposite – a lascivious, almost certainly female, dependent, black and primitive ‘raw’ Other. The study argues that in Hooggenoeg, the mobile phone becomes part of semantic processes that define both respectability and ‘rawness’ , thus helping to reproduce social relations in this community along lines of race, class and gender. A major focus of the study is the instant messaging application MXit, and how it assists in the social production of space, by helping to constitute both private and dispersed network spaces of virtual communication, in a setting where social life is otherwise very public, and social networks outside of cyberspace are densely contiguous and localised. In contrast, gossip mobile website Outoilet seems to intensify this contiguous experience of space. My findings contest generalised claims, predominantly from the developed world, which assert that the mobile phone promotes mobility and an individualised society, and show that in particular contexts it may in fact promote immobility and create a collective sociability.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of mobile phones in organizing ad-hoc vehicle ridesharing based on hitch-hiking trips involving private car drivers and commuters in South Africa. A study was conducted to learn how hitch-hiking trips are arranged in the urban and rural areas of the Eastern Cape. This involved carrying out interviews with hitch-hikers and participating in several trips. The study results provided the design specifications for a Dynamic Ridesharing System (DRS) tailor-made to the hitch-hiking culture of this context. The design of the DRS considered the delivery of the ad-hoc ridesharing service to the anticipated mobile phones owned by people who use hitch-hiking. The implementation of the system used the available open source solutions and guidelines under the Siyakhula Living Lab project, which promotes the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in marginalized communities of South Africa. The developed prototype was tested in both the simulated and live environments, then followed by usability tests to establish the viability of the system. The results from the tests indicate an initial breakthrough in the process of modernizing the ad-hoc ridesharing of hitch-hiking which is used by a section of people in the urban and rural areas of South Africa.

[Truncated abstract] Against a contextual backdrop of slowing growth in developed mobile service markets, the importance of youth as a growth segment, and youth's tendencies to consume mobile services hedonically, two research streams drove this dissertation. The first stream concerned extending the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to predict youth's behavioural intentions to stay loyal to mobile service providers. Drawing on selfcategorisation theory, a conceptual model extended TPB by replacing subjective norm with group norm, a social influence from behaviourally relevant peers. With the extended TPB as the theoretical framework, the second stream investigated determinants of mobile loyalty intentions. Common to both streams, a key contribution of this dissertation was how hedonic consumption moderated the relationships among mobile loyalty intentions and their determinants. The dissertation addressed five questions in the two research streams, which to the author's knowledge no published studies have explored. Using a triangulation approach to address the research questions, a qualitative survey and literature review yielded six determinants of mobile loyalty intentions. Next, a pretest led to an improved questionnaire before a large-scale survey gathered data for empirical testing. The survey took place with Singaporean youth and yielded a cleaned sample of n = 415. ... For both low and high hedonic consumptions, customer value was insignificant. This might be due to Singapore's competitive mobile service market; youth perceived little differences in value for money among competing mobile service providers. Testing alternative models offered further insights into youth's mobile loyalty intentions. Youth's mobile loyalty behaviour, operationalised as past switching, was not stochastic, suggesting that mobile loyalty intentions contained underlying determinants. Brand trust, salient in other contexts, did not apply to mobile loyalty intentions perhaps because youth perceived little risk in switching mobile service providers in developed markets. An attitude-group norm interaction also did not relate to mobile loyalty intentions, supporting TPB's construct independence and parsimony. Finally, attitude and customer satisfaction were operationally similar in that they related to mobile loyalty intentions similarly. The dissertation concluded by offering academic and managerial implications and contributions, limitations, and future research areas.

The advances in communication technologies have resulted in a significant shift in the workplace culture. Mobile computing devices are increasingly becoming an integral part of workplace culture. Mobility has several advantages to the organisation, one such example is the “always online” workforce resulting in increased productivity hours. As a result, organisations are increasingly providing mobile computing devices to the workforce to enable remote productivity at the organisations cost. A challenge associated with mobility is that these devices are likely to connect to a variety of networks, some which may insecure, and because of their smaller form factor and perceived value, are vulnerable to loss and theft amongst other information security challenges. Increased mobility has far reaching benefits for remote and rural communities, particularly in the healthcare domain where health workers are able to provide services to previously inaccessible populations. The adverse economic and infrastructure environment means institution provided devices make up the bulk of the mobile computing devices, and taking away the ownership, the usage patterns and the susceptibility of information to adversity are similar. It is for this reason that this study focuses on information security on institution provided devices in a rural healthcare setting. This study falls into the design science paradigm and is guided by the principles of design science proposed by Hevner et al. The research process incorporates literature reviews focusing on health information systems security and identifying theoretical constructs that support the low-resource based secure deployment of health information technologies. Thereafter, the artifact is developed and evaluated through an implementation case study and expert reviews. The outcomes from the feedback are integrated into the framework.

The smartphone is omnipresent and is cherished and held close by people. It allows for constant connection within a digitally connected society, as well as for many other purposes such as leisure activity or informational purpose. Within the Information Systems studies deeper investigation is required as to what impact this “taken – for – granted” mobile access to information and mobile apps has for individuals and society and if a “technological addiction”can be developed when using the smartphone for everything during the day on such a constant basis. The aim of this study was to understand the role of the smartphone in society and to shed light on this unclear relationship between the constant use of a smartphone and its development towards an addictive quality. To reach a conclusion, in depth – interviews were conducted with participants about their relationship to the smartphone and their smartphone use based on questions derived from literature on mobile communication technologies and the types of digital addictions existing. The results are that the smartphone is a device that seamlessly integrates into our daily lives in that we unconsciously use it as a tool to make our daily tasks more manageable, and enjoyable. It also supports us in getting better organized, to be in constant touch with family and friends remotely, and to be more mobile which is a useful ability in today’s mobility driven society. Smartphones have been found to inhabit a relatively low potential to addiction. Traits of voluntary behaviour, habitual behaviour, and mandatory behaviour of smartphone use have been found. All of these behaviours are not considered a true addiction. In the end, it seems that the increase of smartphone use is mainly due to the way we communicate nowadays digitally,and the shift in how we relate to our social peers using digital means.

Context. The potential to track individuals become greater and greater in the society today. We want to develop a method that is easy to understand so more people can participate in the discussion about the collection, and storing, of seemingly non-invasive device data and personal integrity. Objectives. In this work we investigate the potential to connect a WiFi enabled device to a known individual by analysing log files. Since we want to keep the method as simple as possible we choose to not use machine learning because this might add unnecessary layers of complexity. Methods. The conducted experiments were performed against a test group consisting of six persons. The dataset used consisted of authentication logs from a university WiFi-network collected during a month and data acquired by capturing WiFi-traffic. Results. We were able to connect 67% of the targeted test persons to their smart phones and 60% to their laptops. Conclusions. In this work we conclude that a device identifier in combination with data that can tie it to a location at a given time is to be seen as sensitive information with regard to personal integrity. We also conclude that it is possible to create and use an easy method to connect a device to a given person.

We live in the era in which the internet is now available on the majority of mobile phones at a very cheaper rate. This advancement in technology has created a boom in the use of mobile phone social networking as a primary communication tool - not only for individuals but also commonly used by professionals in most fields. The trends and growing usage of social networking via mobile phone indicate a potentially effective new platform for increasing production especially in agricultural sectors. In this age of information technology, farming communities can be empowered with the latest information and knowledge through mobile phone social networking to enhance agricultural development. The study investigates the use of mobile phone social networking as an extension tool in small-scale (emerging) farmers in selected farming communities in the Cacadu District Municipality of the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Specifically, the study investigates the use of available mobile phone social networks; what they are used for; and the importance and benefits of social networking both generally and to the farming communities. The study further identifies problems inhibiting the use of mobile phone social networking. Other channels through which the small-scale (emerging) farmers acquire agricultural information, aside from via mobile phone, and the type of agricultural information these farmers acquire, are also investigated. This study focuses on the use - and not the testing or adoption of - mobile phone social networking in small-scale (emerging) agriculture. In the exercise to investigate the use of social networking apps via mobile phone, data was collected from 40 small-scale (emerging) farmers using a purposive sampling method. This study used a survey design, exploratory and descriptive research methodologies. Data was captured by administering a questionnaire through personal face-to-face interviews. Descriptive statistics such as simple frequency tables, percentages and bar graphs were used. From the Chi-square testing, it was found that agricultural knowledge levels, internet access and size of production farm land influence the use of social networking by the small-scale (emerging) farmers. However, the result of this study showed that gender, age, other income and educational level of the small-scale (emerging) farmers are not statistically significant determinants of social networking use. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found to be 0.95. To establish the strength of associations of the variables, Cramer’s V ranging between 0.04 and 0.9 (signifying relationships from negligible to very strong association) was used. The findings showed that different social networks are used by the farming communities, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Blackberry messenger, MXit, Twitter and YouTube. The various uses of these social networks by the farmers are discussed. The benefits and problems inhibiting their use are also outlined. Other sources of acquiring agricultural information by the farmers aside from social networking via mobile phone are examined. The result of the study shows that [agricultural extension officers, other farmers, farmers’ discussion groups, friends and family,] are major sources of agricultural information to the small-scale (emerging) farmers while other sources are television, radio, print media and result demonstrations. The study suggests that to enhance mobile phone social networking to ensure that timely and effective agricultural information is readily accessible to the small-scale (emerging) farmers. These include agricultural extension officers making optimal use of social networking via mobile phone, due to the strong interaction and trust between them and the farmers. This interaction can be instrumental in the effective use of this technology as a resourceful medium for accessing agricultural information to enhance productivity. Proper awareness and understanding of the potential and benefits of mobile social networking by the farmers will motivate the small-scale (emerging) farmers to use the technology for effective agricultural purposes. Also, ensuring the availability of agricultural information to small-scale (emerging) farmers by setting up on-line pages or websites to discuss matters of interest and educate and update farmers on agricultural issues should be encouraged. This may attract the younger generation and the youth to participate fully in agricultural activities - thereby enhancing agricultural development.

The use of cellphones has increased all over the world. That invites many academics to conduct research on the usage of these devices, especially by young people, since young people join Social Network Sites (Facebook, Mxit, 2go, Whatsapp) and use a shorthand language. Most studies are related to the use of English and other languages that are recognised by computer software. There are few studies, if any, that have been done in relation to the use of African Languages on these sites. This research therefore aims to seek to explore the use of African Languages, especially isiXhosa, in assessing how technology might help in language development through the usage of SNSs that learners already use to equip them with educational material in their mother tongue. This study was conducted in two high schools, Nogemane Senior Secondary School in a disadvantaged and remote rural community with limited access to additional educational material such as magazines, newspapers, and television. The school also lacks basic study materials such as textbooks from the Education Department and they have no access to a library and laboratory. They also only have very few subjects to choose from. Nombulelo Senior Secondary School is in Grahamstown. This school has good infrastructure and learners have access to different technological devices and they can access libraries. What is common between learners in both schools is that they are all doing isiXhosa as a first language and are using SNSs to interact with each other. This study has found that learners enjoy using SNSs rather than reading the printed books. Furthermore, they enjoy and prefer interacting in isiXhosa in their conversations. Learners also use the web to post and show their creative writing, regardless of the shorthand form writing they use on the SNSs. This study has found that learners are not well equipped with basic isiXhosa skills when reaching the FET phase. They lack the understanding of standard isiXhosa idioms and proverbs. That clearly means that they are equipped in the more modern forms of literature rather than the traditional oral forms. IsiXhosa teachers also see SNSs as the better platform to engage with learners and they suggest that there must be a section in the subjects at school that teaches about cyber bullying and being safe online. This thesis also presents examples of new and contemporary forms of SNS-speak that are used by learners in both the rural and urban schools. This study is more concerned with SNSs for literacy development and to assess whether the shorthand writing has negative or positive effects in writing isiXhosa. This is done against the backdrop of a literature review which explores new literacies, computer mediated communication, social identity models as well as language policy and planning.

Healthcare is a complex system under great pressure for meeting the patients’ needs. Implementing technology at inpatient wards might possibly support healthcare professionals and improve quality of care. However, these technologies might come with issues and the system might not be used as intended. This master thesis project investigates how healthcare professionals communicate at an inpatient ward and how this might be affected by implementing a Mobile Healthcare Solution (MHS). Further, it sought to question why healthcare professions might, or might not, use the MHS as a support of their daily work and what some reasons for this might be. Research methods were of qualitative approach. Field studies were performed at an inpatient ward and further, two healthcare professionals were interviewed. Grounded Theory (GT) was chosen as a method to process the data and obtain understanding for communication at the inpatient ward. The results showed that healthcare professionals communicate verbally, written and by reading, using different tools. The most prominent ways of communication were verbally, where it was common to report or discuss about a patient. The means for communication did not get drastically affected by implementing the MHS and reasons for this were of social, technical and organizational types. Some reasons for not using the MHS were habits and due to healthcare professionals perceiving the MHS as more time consuming than manual handling. However, a specific investigation of whether this might affect the usage of the MHS is yet needed

Digital transformation is evolving, and it is driving at the helm of the digital evolution. The amount of information accessible to us has revolutionized the way we gather information. Mobile technology and the immediate and ubiquitous access to information has changed how we engage with services including healthcare. Digital technology and digital transformation have afforded people the ability to self-manage in different ways than face-to-face and paper-based methods through different technologies. This study focuses on exploring the use of the most commonly used digital health technologies in the healthcare sector and how it affects physicians’ daily routine practice. The study presents findings from a qualitative methodology involving semi-structured, personal interviews with physicians from Sweden and a physician from Spain. The interviews capture what physicians feel towards digital transformation, digital health technologies and how it affects their work. In a field where a lack of information regarding how physicians work is affected by digital health technologies, this study reveals a general aspect of how reality looks for physicians. A new way of conducting medicine and the changed role of the physician is presented along with the societal implications for physicians and the healthcare sector. The findings demonstrate that physicians’ role, work and the digital transformation in healthcare on a societal level are important in shaping the future for the healthcare industry and the role of the physician in this future.
Den digitala transformationen växer och den drivs vid rodret för den digitala utvecklingen. Mängden information som är tillgänglig för oss har revolutionerat hur vi samlar in information. Mobila tekniker och den omedelbara och allmänt förekommande tillgången till information har förändrat hur vi tillhandahåller oss tjänster inklusive inom vården. Digital teknik och digital transformation har gett människor möjlighet att kontrollera sig själv och sin egen hälsa på olika sätt än ansikte mot ansikte och pappersbaserade metoder genom olika tekniker. Denna studie fokuserar på att utforska användningen av de vanligaste digitala hälsoteknologierna inom hälso- och sjukvårdssektorn och hur det påverkar läkarnas dagliga rutin. Studien presenterar resultat från en kvalitativ metod som involverar semistrukturerade, personliga intervjuer med läkare från Sverige och en läkare från Spanien. Intervjuerna fångar vad läkare tycker om digital transformation, digital hälsoteknik och hur det påverkar deras arbete. I ett fält där brist på information om hur läkare arbetar påverkas av digital hälsoteknik avslöjar denna studie en allmän aspekt av hur verkligheten ser ut för läkare. Ett nytt sätt att bedriva medicin och läkarens förändrade roll presenteras tillsammans med de samhälleliga konsekvenserna för läkare och vårdsektorn. Resultaten visar att läkarnas roll, arbete och den digitala transformationen inom hälso- och sjukvården på samhällsnivå är viktiga för att utforma framtiden för vårdindustrin och läkarens roll i framtiden.

對於無線網絡運營商來說，聯合優化其經濟和技術方面的決策以獲得商業成功正在變得越來越重要。一個運營商的決策可能包括對技術的選取和部署時間的把握、資源投資的數量，以及針對他所提供的服務的定價。考慮到這些決策彼此之間有關聯，我們需要對這些決策進行聯合優化，特別當運營商面對有限的資源、不成熟的技術和市場競爭時，該優化會變得困難。本論文綜合考慮兩類網絡中的這些因素。注意到在所有絨線技術中蜂窩網絡擁有最廣泛的市場佔有率，我們先研究蜂窩網路中的經濟學。然後我們研究認知無線電中的經濟學，考慮到該技術代表了未來無線技術發展的一個主要趨勢。
在本論文的第一部分，我們研究一個蜂窩網絡運營商在經濟和技術方面的決策，涉及到網路升級、服務分類和社交應用。首先，我們提出了一套博弈論模型來研究互相競爭的運營商從目前3G 蜂窩技術升級為未來一代(4G) 技術的部署時間。我們的分析指出運營商通常會選擇不同的升級時間以避免激烈的競爭。升級早的運營商在市場佔有方面有優勢，而升級晚的運營商只需承擔少量的升級成本並將面對一個更成熟的4G市場。其次，我們研究一個運營商是否有經濟動機在他已有的蜂窩基站C(macrocell)的基礎上再鋪設家庭基站(femtocell)。家庭基站能解決4G 網絡中室內用戶信號接收差的問題，但是該服務會佔用運營商原本就有限的頻譜資源。最後，我們嘗試去理解一個運營商該如何為異構的智慧手機用戶提供經濟刺激來鼓勵他們協助社交應用(比如，信息收集和分布式計算)的建立。在信息不對稱的情況下，我們設計了有效的激勵機制來根據智慧手機用戶不同的隱私損失、使用能耗和計算效率來提供獎勵。
在本論文的第二部分，我們在認知其在線電網絡中研究投資的便利性、頻譜感知的不確定性和安全性將如何影響一個次級(沒有頻譜執照的)運營商的決策。首先，我們研究一個可以通過動態頻譜租賞和頻譜感知兩種靈活方式來獲得絨線頻譜的次級運營商。我們聯合研究該運營商的投資選擇和對底層用戶的定價策略來使其利益最優。與動態頻譜租貸相比，頻譜感知不穩定但是能節約投資成本。其次，我們考慮一個包含兩個運營商的競爭市場，並研究他們之間在投資和定價方面的競爭。我們指出該競爭會給底層用戶帶來顯著好處而給運營商們帶來的收益總損失不會超過25% 。最後，一個運營商可能想利用多用戶合作式頻譜感知技術來提高感知的精確性但是該技術容易遭受數據偽造攻擊(data falsification attacks) 。我們通過合適的攻擊檢測和懲罰設計了有效的機制以防範攻擊。
It is becoming increasingly important for wireless network operators to jointly optimize economic and technological decisions for business success. An operator's decisions may involve the choices and timings of technology adoptions, the amount of resources to invest, and the prices to set for his services. These decisions are coupled with each other and need to be jointly optimized, and such optimization will be challenging when the operator faces limited resources, immature technology, and market competition. This thesis focuses on such issues in two types of networks. We first study the economics of cellular networks, which have the largest market occupancy among all wireless technologies. We then look at the economics of cognitive radios networks, which represent one of the main development trends for wireless technologies in the near future.
In the first part of this thesis, we study a cellular operator's economic and technological decisions related to network upgrade, service differentiation, and social applications. First, we develop a game theoretic model for studying competitive operators' upgrade timing decisions from the existing 3G cellular technology to the next generation (4G) technology. Our analysis shows that operators often select different upgrade times to avoid severe competition. The operator upgrading earlier has advantage in increasing market share, while the one upgrading later benefit from decreased upgrade cost and a more mature 4G market. Second, we study an operator's economic incentive of deploying femtocell service on top of his existing macrocell service. The femtocell can resolve the issue of poor signal receptions for indoor users in 4G networks, but need to occupy the operator's limited spectrum resources. Finally, we try to understand how an operator can provide economic incentives for the heterogeneous smartphone users to collaborate in social applications (e.g., data acquisition and distributed computing). Under asymmetric information, we design effcient incentive mechanisms that reward smartphone users according to their different sensitivities to privacy loss, energy and computing effciencies.
In the second part of this thesis, we study how investment flexibility, sensing uncertainty, and sensing security in cognitive radio networks affect a secondary (unlicensed) operator's decisions. First, we study a secondary operator, who can flexibly acquire wireless spectrum through both dynamic spectrum leasing and spectrum sensing. We jointly study an operator's investment choices and pricing strategy to the end users to maximize his profit. Compared to spectrum leasing, spectrum sensing is unreliable but has a small cost. Second, we consider a competitive market with two operators, and study their competition in both investment and pricing. We show that end users significantly benefit from such market competition, and the operators' total profit loss due to competition is lower bounded by 25% of the maximum. Finally, an operator may want to deploy collaborative spectrum sensing to improve sensing accuracy, but this approach is vulnerable to data falsification attacks. We design effective attack prevention mechanisms through proper attack detection and punishment.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Duan, Lingjie.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-336).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstract also in Chinese.
Abstract --- p.i
Acknowledgement --- p.vi
Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- Economics of Cellular Networks --- p.3
Chapter 1.2 --- Economic Viability of Cognitive Radio Networks --- p.5
Chapter 1.3 --- Outline and Contributions --- p.9
Chapter I --- Economics of Cellular Networks --- p.13
Chapter 2 --- Economics of 4G Cellular Network Upgrade --- p.14
Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.14
Chapter 2.1.1 --- Related Work --- p.18
Chapter 2.2 --- System Model --- p.19
Chapter 2.2.1 --- Value of Cellular Networks --- p.19
Chapter 2.2.2 --- User Churn during Upgrade from 3G to 4G Services --- p.23
Chapter 2.2.3 --- Operators' Revenues and Upgrade Costs --- p.25
Chapter 2.3 --- 4G Monopoly Market --- p.26
Chapter 2.4 --- 4G Competition Market: Duopoly Model and Game Formulation --- p.32
Chapter 2.4.1 --- Operators' Long-term Profits --- p.34
Chapter 2.4.2 --- Duopoly Upgrade Game --- p.37
Chapter 2.5 --- 4G Competition Market: No Inter-network switching --- p.39
Chapter 2.6 --- 4G Competition Market: Practical Inter-network Switching Rate --- p.40
Chapter 2.7 --- Summary --- p.50
Chapter 2.8 --- Appendix --- p.50
Chapter 2.8.1 --- Proof Sketch of Theorem 2 --- p.50
Chapter 2.8.2 --- Proof Sketch of Theorem 3 --- p.52
Chapter 3 --- Economics of Femtocell Service Provision --- p.55
Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.55
Chapter 3.1.1 --- Related Work --- p.60
Chapter 3.2 --- Benchmark: Macrocell Service Only --- p.62
Chapter 3.2.1 --- Users' Bandwidth Demands in Stage II --- p.63
Chapter 3.2.2 --- Operator's Pricing in Stage I --- p.65
Chapter 3.3 --- Provision of Femtocell Service --- p.67
Chapter 3.3.1 --- Users' Service Choices and Bandwidth Demands in Stage II --- p.71
Chapter 3.3.2 --- Operator's Spectrum Allocations and Pricing in Stage I --- p.73
Chapter 3.4 --- Impact of Users' Reservation Payoffs --- p.75
Chapter 3.5 --- Impact of Femtocell Frequency Reuse --- p.82
Chapter 3.6 --- Impact of Femtocell Operational Cost --- p.84
Chapter 3.7 --- Impact of Limited Femtocell Coverage --- p.89
Chapter 3.8 --- Summary --- p.95
Chapter 4 --- Smartphone Collaboration on Social Applications --- p.96
Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.96
Chapter 4.1.1 --- Related Work --- p.100
Chapter 4.2 --- Collaboration on Data Acquisition Application --- p.102
Chapter 4.2.1 --- System Model of Data Acquisition --- p.102
Chapter 4.2.2 --- Collaboration under Complete Information --- p.105
Chapter 4.2.3 --- Collaboration under Symmetrically Incomplete Information --- p.106
Chapter 4.2.4 --- Collaboration under Asymmetrically Incomplete Information --- p.109
Chapter 4.3 --- Collaboration on Distributed Computing Application --- p.117
Chapter 4.3.1 --- System Model on Distributed Computation --- p.117
Chapter 4.3.2 --- Contractual Interactions between Client and Users --- p.119
Chapter 4.3.3 --- Contract Design under Complete Information --- p.120
Chapter 4.3.4 --- Client's Contract Design under Asymmetrically Incomplete Information --- p.123
Chapter 4.4 --- Summary --- p.133
Chapter 4.5 --- Appendix --- p.134
Chapter 4.5.1 --- Discussion of Model (4.2) in Different Information Scenarios --- p.134
Chapter 4.5.2 --- Proof of Theorem 9 --- p.135
Chapter 4.5.3 --- Proof of No Collaboration and Pure Strategy NE in Theorem 10 --- p.136
Chapter 4.5.4 --- Proof of Existence And Uniqueness of Equilibrium Threshold in Theorem 12 --- p.137
Chapter 4.5.5 --- Proof of Theorem 13 --- p.139
Chapter 4.5.6 --- Proof of Theorem 14 --- p.141
Chapter 4.5.7 --- The proof of Proposition 1 --- p.142
Chapter 4.5.8 --- Approximated Algorithm to Solve Problem (4.23) --- p.146
Chapter II --- Economics of Cognitive Radio Networks --- p.149
Chapter 5 --- Monopoly Spectrum Market Using Cognitive Radios --- p.150
Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.150
Chapter 5.1.1 --- Related Work --- p.155
Chapter 5.2 --- Network Model --- p.157
Chapter 5.2.1 --- Background on Spectrum Sensing and Leasing --- p.157
Chapter 5.2.2 --- Notations and Assumptions --- p.159
Chapter 5.2.3 --- A Stackelberg Game --- p.163
Chapter 5.3 --- Backward Induction of the Four-stage Game --- p.164
Chapter 5.3.1 --- Spectrum Allocation in Stage IV --- p.165
Chapter 5.3.2 --- Optimal Pricing Strategy in Stage III --- p.167
Chapter 5.3.3 --- Optimal Leasing Strategy in Stage II --- p.171
Chapter 5.3.4 --- Optimal Sensing Strategy in Stage I --- p.173
Chapter 5.4 --- Equilibrium Summary and Numerical Results --- p.179
Chapter 5.4.1 --- Robustness of the Observations --- p.185
Chapter 5.5 --- The Impact of Spectrum Sensing Uncertainty --- p.187
Chapter 5.6 --- Learning the Distribution of Sensing Realization Factor α --- p.191
Chapter 5.6.1 --- Performance Evaluation of Machine Learning --- p.193
Chapter 5.7 --- Summary --- p.195
Chapter 5.8 --- Appendix --- p.196
Chapter 5.8.1 --- Proof of Theorem 18 --- p.196
Chapter 5.8.2 --- Proof of Theorem 19 --- p.197
Chapter 5.8.3 --- Supplementary Proof of Theorem 21 --- p.198
Chapter 6 --- Competitive Spectrum Market Using Cognitive Radios --- p.204
Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.204
Chapter 6.1.1 --- Related Work --- p.209
Chapter 6.2 --- Network and Game Model --- p.211
Chapter 6.2.1 --- Users' and Operators' Models --- p.213
Chapter 6.3 --- Backward Induction of the Three-Stage Game --- p.215
Chapter 6.3.1 --- Spectrum Allocation in Stage III --- p.217
Chapter 6.3.2 --- Operators' Pricing Competition in Stage II --- p.221
Chapter 6.3.3 --- Operators' Leasing Strategies in Stage I --- p.226
Chapter 6.4 --- Equilibrium Summary --- p.231
Chapter 6.4.1 --- How Network Dynamics Affect Equilibrium Decisions --- p.234
Chapter 6.5 --- Equilibrium Analysis under General SNR Regime --- p.237
Chapter 6.6 --- Impact of Operator Competition --- p.239
Chapter 6.6.1 --- Maximum Profit in the Coordinated Case --- p.239
Chapter 6.6.2 --- Impact of Competition on Operators' Profits --- p.242
Chapter 6.6.3 --- Impact of Competition on Users' Payoffs --- p.244
Chapter 6.7 --- Summary --- p.245
Chapter 6.8 --- Appendix --- p.246
Chapter 6.8.1 --- Proof of Theorem 24 --- p.246
Chapter 6.8.2 --- Proof of Theorem 25 --- p.250
Chapter 7 --- Security Protection in Collaborative Spectrum Sensing --- p.256
Chapter 7.1 --- Introduction --- p.256
Chapter 7.1.1 --- Related Work --- p.260
Chapter 7.2 --- Preliminary --- p.261
Chapter 7.2.1 --- CRN Model and Assumptions --- p.261
Chapter 7.2.2 --- Spectrum Sensing and Opportunistic Access Model --- p.264
Chapter 7.2.3 --- Collision Penalty --- p.265
Chapter 7.2.4 --- Decision Fusion Rule --- p.266
Chapter 7.3 --- Attackers' Behaviors Without Punishment --- p.268
Chapter 7.3.1 --- All SUs sense the channel idle --- p.270
Chapter 7.3.2 --- All honest SUs sense the channel idle, but some attacker(s) senses the channel busy --- p.270
Chapter 7.3.3 --- Some honest SUs sense the channel busy --- p.272
Chapter 7.4 --- Attack-Prevention Mechanism: A Direct Punishment --- p.273
Chapter 7.5 --- Attack-Prevention Mechanism: An Indirect Punishment --- p.277
Chapter 7.6 --- Summary --- p.286
Chapter 7.7 --- Appendix --- p.286
Chapter 7.7.1 --- Relaxation of Assumptions A1 and A3 --- p.286
Chapter 7.7.2 --- Attack Prevention in Case:AT of Section 7.5 --- p.293
Chapter 7.7.3 --- Proof of Lemma 6 --- p.297
Chapter 8 --- Conclusion and Future Work --- p.299
Chapter 8.1 --- Conclusion --- p.299
Chapter 8.2 --- Extensions of 4G Network Upgrade in Chapter 2 --- p.302
Chapter 8.3 --- Extensions of Femtocell Service Provision in Chapter 3 --- p.303
Chapter 8.4 --- Extensions of Smartphone Collaboration on Social Applications in Chapter 4 --- p.304
Chapter 8.5 --- Extensions of Monopoly Spectrum Market in Chapter 5 --- p.305
Chapter 8.6 --- Extensions of Competitive Spectrum Market in Chapter 6 --- p.306
Chapter 8.7 --- Extensions of Security Protection in Collaborative Spectrum Sensing in Chapter 7 --- p.308
Bibliography --- p.310

Rural communities have been disconnected from the global world in the past due to lack of infrastructure that rendered connectivity a challenge for them. Recent developments in information and communication technology (ICT) have led to improved connectivity in these areas. As a result, mobile phones have become ubiquitous in these rural communities. A matrix was proposed in this study in order to evaluate and assess the impact of mobile devices on development of the rural communities. Existing measurement tools have not yet explored how the usages of mobile phones and other ICTs are impacting the lives of people in rural communities of South Africa. The aim of this study was to understand the existing criteria used to measure the impact of ICTs in rural communities. This was be achieved by focusing on the use of mobile phones in the community of Phake Rebone, taking into account different users. Once this was established, the study had a primary objective to design a matrix that would assist in evaluating and assessing the impact of a mobile phone in social activities such as learning, business and governance. This was achieved by using a case study method, employing qualitative and quantitative research methods. Cases within a case study were used to uncover how the core groups within the community used the mobile phone. A mixed method approach was used in data gathering and analysis to enable the researcher to identify usages and challenges related to the mobile phones. Data was collected from 401 participants and was analysed through the computer-aided tools such GoogleDocs and Microsoft Excel. The findings of the study showed a greater usage of the mobile phone. The literature findings of the use of the mobile phone for basic communication as well as growing adoption of applications such as social media and Internet were confirmed. The use in community related activities and work purposes that impacted the community members were minimal. The need of training to gain knowledge on how to use the device more effectively was established. The proposed matrix therefore seemed v relevant not only to measure impact but also to highlight the areas in which the community members can be trained on. The noted usage trends and needs by the community were then used to formulate indicators that could be used for the matrix. The indicators were then used to develop a matrix that could be used by community members and other interested parties to measure the impact of mobile phone on development of the users. The results of the matrix were also proved to be efficient in assisting individual users in recording the skills acquired through the use of the mobile phone. The matrix can be used in consultation with the guidelines that were formulated to ensure that each user, particularly from rural communities, benefits from such an evaluation tool
Development Studies
D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

The availability of numerous mobile agent systems with its own strengths and weaknesses poses a problem when deciding on a particular mobile agent system. In this dissertation, factors based on mobility, communication and security of the mobile agent systems are presented and used as a means to address this problem. To facilitate in the process of selection, a grouping scheme of the agent system was proposed. Based on this grouping scheme, mobile agent systems with common properties are grouped together and analyzed against the above-mentioned factors. In addition, an application was developed using the Aglet Software Development Toolkit to demonstrate certain features of agent mobility, communication and security.
Theoretical Computing
M. Sc. (Computer Science)

This dissertation explores Mobile Media Technologies (MMT’s) namely, cellphones, laptops and MP3 players, and their prevalence in public space as well as how they are being used within the space. Much of my research analyses the impact of MMT’s on social behaviour and the extent to which they can be seen as the harbingers of a new “postmodern” form of social organisation. My research is predominantly an observational study which is conducted within the postmodern space of the shopping mall. Through my research I discuss the multiple spaces within the shopping mall environment and I explore how humans behave, interact and construct their identities within this space; these ideas are evaluated in terms of the “modern” and the “postmodern” paradigms. “Postmodernity” and “modernity” are not mutually exclusive and as a result there are ambivalences in terms of how individuals relate to how MMT’s are being used in public space.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

This paper exammes the spending behaviour of households with mobile phones in rural agricultural Uganda and whether such strategies such as substitutions have affected the well-being of these community members. According to the findings, rural households are willing to make sacrifices such as travel expenses and store-bought food budget in order to address the expenses of mobile phone services. While gender inequality through exacerbated asset control and mobile phone inexperience drive further digital divide in this village, the proliferation of small businesses development encourages phone ownership for women. Such strategies to afford a mobile phone or mobile phone services are undertaken to help facilitate longterm asset accumulation. For development studies, the analysis recommends a revised form of development thinking in a growing knowledge economy.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

With the astronomical increase in cellular traffic, there is need to cut down on the power consumption so as to reduce CO2 emissions and in the process lowering network operational expenditure (OPEX). In this thesis, one method that can be used to lower a Base Station energy consumption is proposed. Traditional cellular networks are designed to offer maximum coverage and connectivity for peak traffic. This is not energy efficient since a lot of energy will go to waste during the time cellular traffic is very low. The scheme that was developed, identifies Base Stations that have very low traffic loads and User Equipment that can all be transferred to neighbouring Base Stations and put the Base Stations to sleep for as long as necessary to save energy and to maintain Quality of Services (QoS) at an acceptable level. The Next Generation Networks (specifically 5G) will be heterogeneous networks as heterogeneous are a promising solution in increasing network performance especially in providing indoor and cell-edges coverage. The solution that was developed in this thesis was specifically designed to work with heterogeneous networks and its performance was also tested on heterogeneous networks. OMNeT++ V4.6 together with INET 2.3.0 and SimuLTE 9.1 were used for the validation of the proposed scheme. After extensive simulations were carried out, it was concluded that some Base Stations in a cellular network, can be put to sleep during the time that cellular traffic is low without compromising the Quality of Service. End-to-end delay, sum throughputs, queue length and Channel Quality Indicator were some of the performance metrics that were used to check whether the developed scheme did not reduce the QoS of a network.
Electrical and Mining Engineering
M. Tech. (Electrical Engineering)

The thesis deals with the emergence of bank and non-bank entities that provide a range of unique transaction-based payment services broadly called Mobile Financial Services (MFS) to unbanked, underserved and underbanked persons via mobile phones. Models of MFS from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), banks, combinations of MNOs and banks, and independent Mobile Financial Services Providers are covered. Provision by non-banks of ‘bank-type’ services via mobile phones has been termed ‘transformational banking’ versus the ‘additive banking’ services from banks. All involve the concept of ‘branchless banking’ whereby ‘cash-in/cash out’ services are provided through ‘agents.’ Funds for MFS payments may available through a Stored Value Product (SVP), particularly through a Stored Value Account SVP variant offered by MNOs where value is stored as a redeemable fiat- or mobile ‘airtime’-based Store of Value. The competitive, legal, technical and regulatory nature of non-bank versus bank MFS models is discussed, in particular the impact of banking, payments, money laundering, telecommunications, e-commerce and consumer protection laws. Whether funding mechanisms for SVPs may amount to deposit-taking such that entities could be engaged in the ‘business of banking’ is discussed. The continued use of ‘deposit’ as the traditional trigger for the ‘business of banking’ is investigated, alongside whether transaction and paymentcentric MFS rises to the ‘business of banking.’ An extensive evaluation of ‘money’ based on the Orthodox and Claim School economic theories is undertaken in relation to SVPs used in MFS, their legal associations and import, and whether they may be deemed ‘money’ in law. Consumer protection for MFS and payments generally through current statute, contract, and payment law and common law condictiones are found to be wanting. Possible regulatory arbitrage in relation to MFS in South African law is discussed. The legal and regulatory regimes in the European Union, Kenya and the United States of America are compared with South Africa. The need for a coordinated payments-specific law that has consumer protections, enables proportional risk-based licensing of new non-bank providers of MFS, and allows for a regulator for retail payments is recommended. The use of trust companies and trust accounts is recommended for protection of user funds. | vi
Public, Constitutional and International Law
LLD

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the academic requirement for the Masters in Technology: Entrepreneurship, Durban Insititute of Technology, 2003.
South Africa has been classified as an upper-middle mcome developing country with a growth rate of 2.6%. In order to improve the quality of lives of all its citizens that includes the lowering of the unemployment rate, South Africa needs to achieve a growth rate of not less than 7%. One of the pre-requisites for economic growth is entrepreneurship. The SMME sector has been universally accepted as having the potential for generating employment and contributing to economic growth. In South Africa the SMME sector is a major contributor to the economy. Research has revealed that SMMEs fail in the first five years of start up or. stagnate in terms of development because of lack of skills, management expertise, finance and lack of basic infrastructure (such as electricity, physical premises and telecommunication). South Africa's entry into the global economy makes it imperative for businesses to have access to Information Communication Technologies regardless of the size of the business. The de-regulation of the Telecommunication Act 106 of 1996 made provision for SMMEs to provide telecommunication access to under serviced areas. This is a double-edged opportunity for the Durban Institute of Technology (M L Sultan campus) in that, the Durban Institute of Technology (M L Sultan campus) could become a Service Provider for Telecommunications access and at the same time provide SMMEs within its vicinity with Information Communication Technology access. This research outlines the various elements that a Higher Education Institution such as the Durban Institute of Technology (M L Sultan campus) needs to take into consideration for developing a Business Model to provide Information Communication Technologies to SMMEs within the vicinity of the Durban Institute of Technology. A sample of the SMMEs around the Durban Institute of Technology (M L Sultan campus) was interviewed to determine their ICT needs and their understanding of the impact of access to ICT on their business. It was found, inter-alia, that many SMMEs had no access what so ever and that there was a lack of understanding of the potential impact of ICT on their enterprise.
M

Thesis (Master's Degree in Technology: Entrepreneurship), Durban Institute of Technology, 2003.
Over the last decade computer technology has impacted tremendously on the survival and productivity of organisations. In today's technologically advanced business environment, much emphasis is being placed on obtaining a competitive advantage through the use of computers - a commodity that has become available to almost everyone in an organisation. Increasing global competition and pressing social needs have impacted with such vigo~ that even tertiary institutions are now facing major financial constraints, thus forcing them to investigate alternative sources of income to maintain sustainability. Through the use of computer technology - searching, retrieving, sorting, producing and organising data efficiently and accurately - the belief is that many departments at the M L Sultan Campus of the Durban Institute of Technology can be converted into income-generating units that can be self-sustaining. There are many departments at the M L Sultan Campus with the relevant infrastructure and person-power to establish business units. These departments vary in the services that they provide, thus relevant information systems need to be aligned to future business units within these departments. This study focuses on a) investigating the impact of information technology and its systems on businesses; b) ensuring that information technology and its systems is looked at a~ a cost effective resource for maintaining a competitive edge and promoting business value. The interaction of business processes, people and technology will ensure successful planning and implementation of strategies within the potential business units; and c) recommending to selected departments the expected fmdings whereby they could choose to adopt these recommendations to transform themselves into business units in order to maintain a competitive edge for financial sustainability.
M

Text in English
Born at a time of abundance of technology, including new media, e-teens have their lives woven around the use of new media technologies to the extent that they virtually do everything with the aid of these technologies, including learning, playing, socialising and communicating. E-teens, besides, demonstrate marked expertise in the use of these technologies. Although there have been various studies done on this group of users supported by models and theories on the use, gratifications and appropriation of new media technologies, the premise of this study was on two assumptions. First, there are limited studies that have been conducted in the sub-Saharan African context, especially, Ghana. Second, most available theories and models that guide the study of e-teens’ use, appropriation and the use of new media technologies are generalized and do not sufficiently highlight the unique attributes and gratification needs that are tied to their developmental stage. In light of these assumptions, the study was undertaken to provide empirical evidence on the types of new media e-teens have access to; the types of new media used by e-teens in their scheme of things and e-teens’ purposes for using new media. It also sought to find out the gratifications sought and obtained from the use of new media technologies by e-teens; the key features of new media appropriation and experience among e-teens and to identify the features of new media technologies which are most appealing to e-teens. The other objective, which serves as the main contribution of this study, was to develop a conceptual model representing new media use and appropriation among e-teens, thereby filling the theoretical or conceptual gap that exists in this context. The study adopted a quantitative approach whereby data was collected using close-5ended questionnaires. The target population were teens from age 13 to 19 in senior high schools in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, selected using a simple random sampling. The results of the study show that, overall, the most popular new media technology that e-teens had access to and owned was the smartphone. Leading among the apps that e-teens found to be appealing were educational, entertainment and information/news, with communicative and participatory features of new media technologies appealing to e-teens highly. Also, educational, sociability and social inclusion, respectively, were the most popular gratifications sought and obtained by e-teens. It is submitted that social inclusion, educational and sociability gratifications are considered to be directly in line with the unique developmental needs of e-teens. However, it is recommended, among other things, that educational use of new media, which was one of the strong points for new media use, should be further encouraged as new media provides borderless opportunities for learning. The researcher believes that the conceptual model for e-teen use and appropriation of new media technologies provide a firm ground for further research on topics related to this subject matter. To provide support and substance to the e-teen model, other researchers are encouraged to test and extend it where necessary. In conclusion, the findings provide evidence that new media technologies are highly appropriated by e-teens because the technologies help them meet their unique gratification needs. Therefore, the study recommends that, although new media use among e-teens can be encouraged, it is important to ensure proper usage, which will not be detrimental to them.
Communication Science
D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

During the last two decades, there have been a number of policy and legislative changes in respect of South Africa’s intellectual property (IP) and the national system of innovation (NSI). In 2012, a Ministerial Review of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) landscape in South Africa made recommendations to improve the STI landscape and effectively the national system of innovation. The study provides a critical review of drafts of the national IP policy published in 2013 as well as the IP Framework released in 2016 for public comment. The review of the IP and the NSI are within the context of the National Development Plan (NDP), which outlines South Africa’s desired developmental goals. South Africa is part of the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The South African economy is characterised by a desire to move away from being dependent on resources and commodities, to becoming a more knowledge based and innovation driven economy. It is hoped that such a move would assist the country to address some of the social and economic development challenges facing South Africa, as captured in the NDP. South Africa has a functioning IP system, but its relationship with South Africa’s development trajectory is not established. More particularly, the extent to which the IP system relates to the innovation system and how these two systems must be aligned to enable South Africa to transition successfully from a country based on the production of primary resources and associated commodity-based industries to a viable knowledge-based economy is unclear. The Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) provides that IP must contribute to innovation and to transfer of technology and knowledge in a manner that is conducive to social and economic welfare. Certain provisions set out the foundations of intellectual property systems within the context of each member state. This study has thus explored the complex, complementary and sometimes contested relationships between IP and innovation, with particular emphasis on the potential of an intellectual property system to stimulate innovation and foster social and economic development. The study has also analysed the interconnectivity of IP and innovation with other WTO legal instruments, taking into account South Africa’s positioning within the globalised economy and in particular the BRICS group of countries. The research involved a critical review of South Africa’s IP and innovation policies, as well as relevant legislation, instruments, infrastructure, IP and innovation landscape, and relationship with international WTO legal instruments, in addition to its performance, given the developmental priorities and the globalised economy. The research documents patenting trends by South Africans using European Patent Office (EPO), Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), United States Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) databases over the period 1996-2015. A comparative analysis of patenting trends amongst BRICS group of countries has also been documented. The study also documents new findings, observations and insights regarding South Africa’s IP and innovation systems. Some of these, particularly in relation to higher education and research institutions, are directly attributable to the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act. More particularly, the public institutions are becoming relevant players in the NSI and are responsible for growth of certain technology clusters, in particular, biotechnology. At the same time, the study makes findings of a decline of private sector participation in patenting as well as R&D investment over the 20-year period. Recommendations are included regarding specific interventions to ensure coherence between the IP and innovation systems. Such coherence and alignment should strengthen the systems’ ability to stimulate innovation and foster inclusive development and competitiveness, which are relevant for addressing South Africa’s socio-economic development priorities.
Mercantile Law
LL. D.

1 online resource (viii, 155 leaves)
This study explores the ways in which female entrepreneurs in Zambia and South Africa use their cellular phones, as well as their interests and needs in using this technology. The findings in this study are therefore crucial to the body of knowledge on programmes that seek to uplift women's lives through the deployment of ICTs, since current policies do not make full provision for the use of mobile phones in female entrepreneurship. Information on female entrepreneurs and cellular phones was collected in the literature review. The scrutiny of various literature sources and the analysis of the responses from the interviews with the female entrepreneurs were carried out to arrive at answers to the following research questions: 1. Can telecommunications (specifically, cellular phones) increase the participation of women in the economy? 2. What are the consumer habits of female entrepreneur cellular phone users in Zambia and South Africa? 3. Are the communication needs of business women in Zambia and South Africa adequately met? 4. What are the obstacles that female entrepreneurs in Zambia and South Africa face in the use of cellular phones? 5. What are the similarities and differences in the consumer habits of female entrepreneur cellular phone users in Zambia and South Africa? In order to gather information on the consumer habits of female entrepreneurs in Zambia and South Africa, a survey was conducted of 100 female entrepreneurs. The female entrepreneurs identified in this survey consist of female business owners with no more than 50 employees each, from Gauteng Province in South Africa, and Lusaka Province in Zambia. The female entrepreneurs were identified through the accidental sampling technique, and a structured questionnaire was used to collect information from them. The findings of the investigation reveal that cellular phones have the potential to increase the participation of women in mainstream economic activity, since they are a useful means of communication that allow women from diverse backgrounds to communicate easily for both business and social purposes. Accordingly, national policy-makers in South Africa and Zambia need to investigate further the potential of using cellular phone or similar technology to empower small-scale businesswomen. The investigation also shows that the cellular phone consumer habits of female entrepreneurs in Zambia and South Africa differ when it comes to using cellular phones for business and social communication purposes. More Zambian women indicated that they use their cellular phones in business operations, while South African women showed a tendency to use their phones more for social purposes. The results of this investigation further illustrate that despite the importance in value which the mobile phone has for women entrepreneurs in both Zambia and South Africa, the communication needs of women's entrepreneurship are not adequately met. The main obstacles in meeting the communication needs of female entrepreneurs in Zambia and South Africa are inadequate network coverage and high prices. The study shows that a number of women (52,2%) indicated that they are inhibited from effective communication services and therefore resort to borrowing other people's mobile phones. The lack of empirical studies on the use of telecommunications by female entrepreneurs in both Zambia and South Africa attests to the fact that women's entrepreneurship is still an area that requires in-depth investigation. If various development efforts are to meet their targets, clearly the area of women's entrepreneurship and how various ICTs such as cellular phones are used therein needs urgent investigation.
Communication Sciences
M. A. (International Communication)