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This article addresses the issue of scaling of information systems (IS) in both theoretical and empirical terms. Scaling is an important issue in IS, especially in the contemporary context of globalization, as attempts are ongoing to expand IS in the same context as well as take it into other contexts. Theoretically, an information-infrastructure (II) perspective is drawn on to analyze the challenge of scaling, viewing it not merely as a technical problem, but as a socio-technical one involving a heterogeneous network constituted of technology, people, processes, and the institutional context. Empirically, scaling is analyzed based on experiences from an ongoing project to implement health information systems within the primary health care sector in India. The theoretically informed empirical analysis leads to some preliminary insights relating to the questions of what is being scaled and how it is being scaled. Some conclusions are drawn on theoretical and practical challenges related to scaling, and on implications for human-resource capacity development. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revenue risk is the most critical factor that hampers the long-term viability of highway infrastructure service projects. This paper develops an integrated multi-method decision framework to evaluate and compare multiple revenue risk mitigation strategies for build-operate-transfer (BOT) highway infrastructure concessions. Using the project data of a real highway BOT case project in India, this paper models and evaluates various risk mitigation strategies on different performance metrics using Monte Carlo simulation analysis. The technical efficiencies of the risk mitigation strategies are estimated using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and efficient strategies are identified. The findings suggest that strategies comprising appropriate combinations of minimum revenue guarantee, excess revenue share, and revenue shortfall loan mitigate the revenue risk most efficiently. The decision framework and the findings facilitate efficient public infrastructure contract design by policymakers and set multiple research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main focus of the present research study reports on the information services, status of library building, sections and infrastructure facilities in selected Government Degree Colleges Libraries of North Costal Andhra Pradesh, India. Out of the 15 libraries studied, 10 do not have a separate building for library and they are housed either in administrative or part of class rooms. The degree college libraries of Srikakulam district have reported with adequate furniture, space for users, seating accommodation and toilet facilities. To understand the services offered to the users under the information services are studied-the reference services, question papers services and news paper clipping services are reported in all the studied 15 libraries. None of these libraries are offering inter library loan facility and indexing services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current situation, the intense use of the Internet for official as well as private communication makes everyone more dependent on cyberspace. Being dependent on cyberspace is beneficial for development, but it makes our workstations more vulnerable. After looking at the recent incidents of cyberterrorism, every country is more concerned about attacks on critical infrastructures. The Indian Government formed the "National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre" in 2014 as a national nodal agency for the protection of critical infrastructure. After considering the contemporary facts as stated above, this paper ascertains the jurisprudential concept of cyberterrorism and the protection of critical infrastructures. After discussing the international initiatives, this paper critically analyzed the Indian legislation relating to combating cyberterrorism and securing critical infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper follows the mutual shaping of data records and citizens as data subjects to illustrate how precarious forms of citizenship emerge in the use of biometrics-based digital technologies for governance. It presents a case of using Aadhaar, India's biometrics-based unique identification project, in the delivery of welfare pensions to the elderly, widows, and the disabled in Rajasthan. In March 2016, pensions of about 757,000 beneficiaries were cancelled for a variety of reasons ranging from the beneficiary is "dead" or "duplicate" to other ineligibility criteria such as age or income. When Right to Information activists organized public hearings on these cancellations, they found many beneficiaries who were alive but declared "dead" on record. This paper explores this case of the "living dead" to conceptualize orphaning from information infrastructures as processes that render citizens residual in the mutual shaping of their lives with their data records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper talks about the situation in India in the travel industry, the degree of approach in the travel industry, patterns and improvements in the tourism market, various battles in India and advances in new products. Chapters that rely on optional information for testing in government annual reports, chapters, websites, distributed and non-distributed archives. The appearance of travel and the development of foreign trade interests have been found to improve significantly. The Indian travel industry scenario had an emotional and concrete rate of development. The most important and obvious achievement through the existence of the travel industry was the establishment of the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) in 1966. The National Tourism Development Policy, introduced in 2002, positions the travel industry as a major driver of financial development and sets the standard for preventing significant voluntary improvement in the travel industry. The layout of the travel industry contains seven major zones. Swagat (welcome), Soochna (information), Suvidha (facilitation), Suraksha (security), Sahyog (cooperation), Samrachna (infrastructure development), Safai (cleanliness). These have a detrimental influence on the travel industry’s advancement. Public roadshows and mass media support in chapters, television and external media have attracted public attention to the Atithi Devo Bhavah program. An online home crusade was launched as part of an incredible Indian online campaign to boost the domestic travel industry. Improvements to new items, such as B. Travel industry golf, travel industry cruises, waterway cruises, skiing, paragliders, travel industry adventures such as mountain climbing, travel industry recovery, travel industry well-being, sustainable or ecotourism, Accessibility of the travel industry, etc. According to a survey, the travel industry is growing in the Indian market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) can reduce poverty by improving poor people's access to education, health, government and financial services. ICT can also help small farmers and artisans by connecting them to markets. It is clear that in rural India -as well as in much of the developing world- realization of this potential is not guaranteed. This paper outlines a simple model to explain why a digital divide may exist between rich and poor. Low-cost access to information infrastructure is a necessary prerequisite for the successful use of ICT by the poor, but it is not sufficient. The implementation of ICT projects needs to be performed by organizations and individuals who have the appropriate incentives to work with marginalized groups. Furthermore, grassroots intermediaries and the involvement of the community are identified as the key factors that foster local ownership and the availability of content and services that respond to the most pressing needs of the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes about the 'Infrastructure facilities in fine arts college libraries in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry states: A case study. The analysis of the study explains about the Books Collections available in the fine arts college Library, Information Facilities and Services in the Library of the Music, Dance and Visual Arts Colleges in Tamilnadu and Pondicherry, Number of Journals subscribed and journal back volumes available by the colleges under study. The study reviled that the library collection of more than 72% of the colleges have more than 5000 books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of telecommunications infrastructure and its performance is at the heart of the digital economy, essential for information and citizen-centric services. Though India has made rapid strides in the provision of the telecommunications network, the teledensity is uneven across the states of India. This paper analyses the determinants of teledensity and its distribution dynamics across 18 Indian states over 15 years between 2004 and 2018 using kernel density plots and the dynamic panel fixed effects Arellano-Bond GMM estimation technique. The AB-GMM estimates show the network externality, NSDP per capita, service sector share in NSDP and literacy rate are the important determinants of relative teledensity across the states of India. The kernel density plots indicate a gradual reduction and convergence of teledensity across states over the years. The half-life estimate suggests that the speed of convergence is 1.13 years i.e it takes 1.13 years to converge in teledensity across the states of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical, or national, information infrastructure protection, referred to as either CIIP or NIIP, has been highlighted as a critical factor in overall national security by the United States, the United Kingdom, India and the European Community. As nations move inexorably towards so-called 'digital economies', critical infrastructure depends on information systems to process, transfer, store and exchange information through the Internet. Electronic attacks such as denial of service attacks on critical information infrastructures challenge the law and raise concerns. A myriad of issues potentially plague the protection of critical information infrastructures owing to the lack of legal regulation aimed at ensuring the protection of critical information infrastructures. This paper will highlight the legal concerns that relate to the denial of service attacks on critical information infrastructures and provide an introductory overview of the law as it relates to CIIP in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public resistance to environmental and health safety risks from radiations emanating from cell phone towers has been sporadic but spatially and temporally widespread in India. Civic actions have been led by civic activists, resident welfare associations, gram panchayats, lawyers, scientists and even an actor from the Bombay film industry. Large scale technical systems like cell-phone towers are remarkably resilient to public criticism. Industry response to such resistance is usually in the form of aesthetic tinkering to hide structures from public gaze, incremental regulation and science communication to assuage public doubt. The legislature rather than Courts has been more responsive to such civic actions. Courts due to their overreliance on risk discourses have continued to defer to State experts. Faced with incrementalism from formal institutional actors, resistance movements have become localized and used site requirements to stymie such developments. Drawing on Beck's idea of subpolitics, this study explores the disaggregated nature of the resistance movement against cell tower radiation in India. It is based on a multi-sited ethnography based on field research and 35 interviews with activists, journalists, regulators, lawyers, industry representatives, doctors and scientists, conducted between November 2017 to December 2019. Jurisprudential developments, parliamentary committee and scientific reports were also reviewed. Subpolitics as a category has purchase in STS studies because it allows us to focus on the disaggregated nature of affected publics and interrogate public engagement with State institutions and new social expectations and solidarities with reference to technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper covers the role of Information Technology is satisfying human needs of faculty of BBAU in particular. It provides brief introduction and profile of BBAU. This focuses on various kinds of needs of faculty members and role of Information technology in satisfying the same such as cognitive needs affection needs, etc. It also covers the factors which affect the information needs of faculty members in the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer infrastructure plays a critical role in the academic system for meeting teaching, learning and research needs. Libraries are an integral part of academic system. Adequate infrastructure facilities support academic libraries share their resources and services in an effective way. National Institute of Technology, erstwhile regional engineering college, are prime institutions and benchmark for technical education in India in the field of engineering, science and technology. This paper discusses the computer infrastructure facilities available at National Institutes of Technology across India and current status of computer-based library services offered by these institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper identifies and analyses factors that discriminate firms using different types of e-business technologies in the manufacturing sector in India. The study is based on primary data collected from 51 firms located in the National Capital Region. Entrepreneurial characteristics, historical data of firms, and other firms-specific factors such as size of operation, export intensity, international orientation, wage rates, and profit margins were included in the analysis. The findings of the study suggest that the firms managed by informed and qualified entrepreneurs have adopted more advanced e-business tools. The study captures the role of bandwidth in diffusion of e-business. The results show that variables such as size of operation and wage rates differ significantly between portal using firms and others. International orientation of firms represented by variables such as exports intensity and technological collaboration with foreign firms have also emerged as significant factors that distinguished advanced e-business technology using firms from the rest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. Its large area is mountainous and lacks access to basic facilities like education and information. For providing equitable access to information resources and IT infrastructure, the central and state governments established CICs and public libraries in urban as well as rural areas. In the present article an effort has been made to analyse the present scenario of both institutions, i.e. CICs and public libraries in J&K. During the study, it was found that at one point of time 135 community information centres (CIC) were functional in J&K and were delivering community information services to the needy population of the areas. However, within a short period of time, around a decade, these centres became defunct and ceased to perform their main function of delivering community information services to the public. On the other hand, with the renewed efforts of the state government, large numbers of public libraries came into existence in J&K at the state, district, tehsil, and even at the village level. These libraries have qualified manpower and information resources. The information resources in these libraries mainly consist of books, journals, magazines, and newspapers, with some of them having electronic resources too. However, it was found that most of these libraries were rendering the traditional services like book borrowing, reference services, CAS/SDI services, and reading room facilities. Keeping in view the changing needs of society, as well as changing user behaviour, it has been felt that public libraries in J&K can play a proactive role in delivering community information services (CIS). Before undertaking CIS, however, the public libraries in J&K need to strengthen their resources and redesign their services as per the demands of the population residing in the areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Ensuring the quality and effectiveness of counselling is imperative for enabling people living with HIV to cope with treatment adherence. Countrywide assessment of antiretroviral therapy (ART) centres was undertaken to assess the quality and effectiveness of counselling. The insights gained from the assessment are expected to build an improved understanding of the counselling aspect and contribute to informing decisions strengthening the counselling provided at ART centres. Methods Assessment of counselling at 357 ART centres entailed interviews with counsellors and beneficiaries using a structured questionnaire administered by trained technical experts. Two counsellors and five beneficiaries at each ART centre were interviewed to assess both the quality and effectiveness of counselling. Beneficiaries were selected from different risk groups to understand their varied concerns and experiences. Results During the assessment, 618 counsellors were interviewed (45% women); also, 1785 beneficiaries were interviewed, consisting of 892 (49.9%) men, 857 (48.1%) women and 36 (2.0%) transgender. Counsellors were found to be relatively well informed on topics pertaining to pre-ART, ART preparedness and positive healthy living, and the psychosocial support extended to patients. Counsellors surveyed were not aware of critical areas such as counselling of pregnant women (44.5%) , drug adherence (44.8%) and the use of information, education and communication material during counselling, and pill count. The majority of beneficiaries reported being informed on issues pertaining to retention; however, 30–40% of beneficiaries were not informed regarding the critical elements of adherence such as counselling on ART side effects (68.5%), pill count (62.8%) and information on access to social benefit schemes (25.7%). Factors such as client volume, the training of the counsellors and adequate space for counselling affected the quality of counselling. Conclusion With concerted efforts in bridging the gaps in knowledge, infrastructure and information needs, India's national AIDS control programme (NACP) can enhance the counselling services at ART centres and improve the quality of services for patient retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhabitants of the most remote areas tend to have low access to information and resources potentially contributing to well-being. Ongoing expansion of ICTs deeper into rural areas is expected to improve this situation by enabling them to contact geographically distant others. We interviewed 79 women and men in an indigenous tribe in the mountains of Tamil Nadu, India, where explosively expanding mobile phone signal entered prior to other types of infrastructure, and we inductively developed a scale for assessment of the inhabitants' overall access to valued resources through their personal networks. It was found that the mobiles contributed primarily to the maintenance of existing networks and to speedier mobilization of already accessible resources. However, since the phone owners called only with people whom they already knew well, they did not expand their networks nor increased their overall access resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]