Semantic Web Technologies for Digital Libraries: From Libraries to Social Semantic Digital Libraries (SSDL), Over Semantic Digital Libraries (SDL)

Digital libraries have been an important source of information throughout the history of mankind. It has been present in our societies in different forms. Notably, traditional libraries have found their on the desktops of internet users. They have taken the shape of semantic digital libraries, which are accessible at any time, and accordingly provide a more meaningful search. This paper further discusses social semantic digital libraries that also incorporate the social and collaborative aspect

Does the Saudi Competition Law Guarantee Protection to Fair Competition? A Critical Assessment.

This research aims to investigate the Saudi Competition Law (2004) and its regulations and rules. It investigates whether the Saudi Competition Law guarantees protection for fair competition. . It looks into the defects in the Saudi Competition Law and its enforcement. The research also explores reforms needed to improve the Saudi Competition Law and how such reforms can be achieved. The study employs two broad approaches to answer the research questions: the black letter and socio-legal models; and two particular methods (as well as analysis of legal material and existing related literature), i.e, interviews, and two case studies in communications and civil aviation sectors. The findings show a conflict between the principles underlying Competition Law and currently implemented government policy. Barriers to entry, public and wholly-owned state companies’ immunity, the government’s privatisation policy, and the government role in the market contradict the general principles of the competition law. There is evidence of monopolistic practices, a lack of neutrality, and insufficient implementation of the law against government-owned companies. There also seems to be jurisdictional conflicts between the Council of Competition Protection (CCP) and authorities with similar functions. Critical assessment of the Saudi Competition Law revealed a number of problems in four areas: anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, mergers, and enforcement. Examining several cases showed some deficiencies in enforcement. The study suggests some recommendations for policy reform and modernisation of the Law and its regulations. The Shariah Law adopted general rules for regulating competition issues. It prohibits two main practices: monopoly and damage. Since this study is the first to address competition law in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is hoped that the research findings and outcomes will add to knowledge in this field, enabling greater understanding and leading to better application of the Saudi Competition Law, and thus be of benefit to both law researchers and to practitioners, investors (domestic and foreign), and consumers. This study is hoped to provide a framework for the countries of the Middle East, particularly the Arab countries, which are seeking to move toward more competitive markets, whether they have already adopted or are planning to adopt competition law

Security, user experience, acceptability attributes for the integration of physical and virtual identity access management systems

A number of systems have been developed in the recent history to provide physical and virtual identity management systems; however, most have not been very successful. Furthermore, alongside increasing the level of awareness for the need to deploy interoperable physical and virtual identity management systems, there exists an immediate need for the establishment of clear standards and guidelines for the successful integration of the two mediums. The importance and motivation for the integration of the two mediums is discussed in this paper with respect to three perspectives: Security, which includes identity; User Experience, comprising Usability; and Acceptability, containing Accessibility. Not many systems abide by such guidelines for all of these perspectives; thus, our proposed system (UbIAMS) aims to change this and provide its users with access to their services from any identity access management system rather than merely providing access to a specific set of system

Using biometrics authentication via fingerprint recognition in e-Exams in e-Learning environment

E-learning is a great opportunity for modern life. Notably, however, the tool needs to be coupled with efficient and reliable security mechanisms to ensure the medium can be established as a dependable one. Authentication of e-exam takers is of prime importance so that exams are given by fair means. A new approach shall be proposed so as to ensure that no unauthorised individuals are permitted to give the exams

Electronic commerce e-fulfilment in Gulf Cooperation Council consumer markets

Paper originally presented at the 20th Annual Logistics Research Network Conference, 9th to 11th September 2015. This paper reports on an ongoing study investigating electronic commerce fulfilment (ECF) in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets, and presents the theoretical background and empirical findings to date. The growth of online retailing in the GCC has motivated this current research

Best Approximation from the Kuhn-Tucker Set of Composite Monotone Inclusions

Kuhn-Tucker points play a fundamental role in the analysis and the numerical solution of monotone inclusion problems, providing in particular both primal and dual solutions. We propose a class of strongly convergent algorithms for constructing the best approximation to a reference point from the set of Kuhn-Tucker points of a general Hilbertian composite monotone inclusion problem. Applications to systems of coupled monotone inclusions are presented. Our framework does not impose additional assumptions on the operators present in the formulation, and it does not require knowledge of the norm of the linear operators involved in the compositions or the inversion of linear operators

IAMS framework: a new framework for acceptable user experiences for integrating physical and virtual identity access management systems

The modern world is populated with so many virtual and physical Identity Access Management Systems (IAMSs) that individuals are required to maintain numerous passwords and login credentials. The tedious task of remembering multiple login credentials can be minimised through the utilisation of an innovative approach of single sign-in mechanisms. During recent times, several systems have been developed to provide physical and virtual identity management systems; however, most have not been very successful. Many of the available systems do not provide the feature of virtual access on mobile devices via the internet; this proves to be a limiting factor in the usage of the systems. Physical spaces, such as offices and government entities, are also favourable places for the deployment of interoperable physical and virtual identity management systems, although this area has only been explored to a minimal level. Alongside increasing the level of awareness for the need to deploy interoperable physical and virtual identity management systems, this paper addresses the immediate need to establish clear standards and guidelines for successful integration of the two medium