Privacy Issues in the use of Ubiquitous Computing
Ubiquitous computing is sometimes referred to as pervasive computing, everywhere, or ambient intelligence. However each term usually emphasizes diverse faintly aspects. When the ubiquitous computing is majorly concerned about objects, it is usually referred to as “things that think”, physical computing, haptic computing, and the internet of Things (Bell & Dourish, 2007). Many technology experts have come up with a proposed taxonomy of ubiquitous computing properties instead of a single definition for ubiquitous computing for all the above related terms. This taxonomy of properties helps in the description of the different flavors or kinds of applications and ubiquitous computing.
Ubiquitous computing has been discussed in broad range of research topics around the world. Some of these research topics encompass; artificial intelligence, distributed computing, human computer interaction, mobile networking, context-aware computing, and location computing. Most of the contemporary human-computer interaction models, whether GUI-based, command-line driven or menu-driven according to many experts, are actually inadequate and inappropriate when it comes to the ubiquitous case (Cope & Kalantzis, 2010). This statement simply means that as at present, there is no any appropriate natural interaction paradigm that has been discovered that will adequately serve a ubiquitous computing system. However, we cannot dispute the fact that we are living in a ubicomp world in many ways. Some of the facts that support this idea that we are actually living in a ubicomp world include; interactive whiteboards, mobile phones,GPS, digital audio players, and radio-frequency identification.
Although the use of Ubiquitous computing has brought some excitement in the business world, there is however some challenging issues about privacy of personal information. Many people around the world have criticized the ubiquitous system on grounds that it interferes with the privacy information. Such criticism may turn out to be the greatest barrier to the success of ubiquitous computing in the business world. It is important that good policies be formulated to help in the identification of long-term opportunities or challenges that relate to the environment of ubiquitous computing (Croteau & Hoynes, 2006). The formulated policies will help in the reduction of uncertainties among users. The policy will also help the system developers to come up with the best systems that would not interfere with the privacy of users.
Many businesses are the backbone of development in any society. The businesses depend majorly on media for information, advertising and communication inside and outside the business. The major media used nowadays is the social media that seems to be available everywhere and all the time, this is very appropriate for businesses that serve clients in a very large geographical space (Featherstone & Yoshimi, 2009). The kind of incorporation of the media that is available everywhere can be said to be the use of ubiquitous media for running business.
In this paper we are going to focus on the use of this ubiquitous media for management and running of businesses. Ubiquitous media is the kind of media platforms that are readily available and can be constantly encountered. The use of media in business incorporates some features of ICT and some software in data collection, analysis for the purposes of decision making (Flanagin & Metzger, 2001). The ubiquitous media majorly involves the incorporation of social media in the running of businesses since social media is the most common and readily available form of communication. Some of the examples of this site are Twitter, face book, blogs and web pages.
Use of ubiquitous media in business
Many authors have written on the use of the ubiquitous media in businesses since they are very current, most preferred and readily available. Some of the systems used to manage and analyze this kind of media include; The Big Data Solution. The Big data, according to (Fleisch & Tellkamp, 2006), provides a potential treasure trove that of non-traditional, less structured data that can be mined for useful information. The mining of data enables easier and quicker analysis to ensure the correct insight are got for proper innovation, creativity and production of goods/products that can satisfy customers. Predictions about the future business opportunities and trends also enable the improvement of the operational, tactical and strategic decisions found from Big Data systems.
(Levinson, 2009), illustrates that the social media has become one of the ubiquitous systems that has a great impact on businesses and organizations. The authors focus on the effect of these media systems in contemporary business organizations. Available useful information has been made accessible to managers and decision makers in organizations through use of such systems. (Levinson, 2009), further mentions the use of the modern technology and the incorporation of Web 2.0 having facilitated the milestones moved by businesses. According to many authors, the media systems are divided into four categories; content creation and virtual worlds, contents sharing and add-ons, social networking and collaborative publishing and production.
According to (Akesson & Eriksson, 2007) some of the areas and categories in which ubiquitous media in business is used include;
The systems provide the businesses with a platform on which to advertize their products and services through the employment of different strategies in the establishment and exploration of the market scope. The expenditure incurred in advertisement and publication of goods and services has greatly been reduced. Initially it had involved travelling, payment of the media systems and the people involved in advertisement, purchase of advertisement materials and related content (Lee & Lee, 2006). One advert can reach many people at the same time in different geographical regions without incurring all the mentioned expenses.
The technology has been used in customer relation management. According to (Intelera 2006), as mentioned by the authors, communication and marketing of products in social media has enhanced the credibility of many companies, the influence and the popularity of the goods and services provided by such companies. Direct communication and feedback reception has been enhanced, conversation monitoring in businesses, the market demands and the continued assuarity of the importance of the customers to the company. The businesses can also use these sites to hunt for the best employees who could have not been otherwise found if other kinds of media were used (Mazmanian, Yates, & Orlikowski, 2006). Businesses are advised by the author, to choose the kind of platform that best falls in line with the business purpose, vision and goals. This will increase the pace to their growth enable them in retaining their reputation and the competitive edge in the market (karaganis, 2011). The above uses can also be said to be the advantages enjoyed by these businesses from the use of media systems.
Views of Authors on use of ubiquitous media in business
According to (Murakami, 2004), use of ubiquitous systems such as big data in managing and running businesses gives various advantages like;
Many organizations are able to discover facts and insights about their customers which were actually hidden in the past; Many businesses and organizations can be able to develop a more thorough insightful understanding of their business which can lead to a stronger competitive position in the market, improved innovation hence enhanced productivity; It provides a more perfect measure for digital advertising and in turn leads to retaining of customers at a less expensive method; creation of more accurate measures of assessment thereby the optimization of strategies in distribution and production; the insights and strategies of different suppliers and other competing businesses can be identified from the unstructured data.
Various authors talk about the incorporation of media in the running of businesses. These authors are no different. The key issues they put in their works are; The adoption and use of ubiquitous media in creation and gathering of data, information analysis and sharing; the use of media in marketing and making known to the public the kind of enterprise they deal in, including their location and the importance of the consumption/use of the products to consumers; they also mentioned the advantages of using the media systems in communication within the business and with the customers in the prospect of nurturing their relationship; some of the technologies that enable use of these ubiquitous media like Web 2.0, Big Data solutions and other software are mentioned by different authors.
The authors wrote in different areas of business media but the similarities identified is that all ubiquitous media systems used by organizations can enable the business market its products, reach a wider market at a very low cost, and nurture the relationship between the business and customers. These systems also enhance easier analysis of the information received/created hence prompt response and customer satisfaction (Yousfi, Freitas, Dey, & Saidi, 2016).
Also mentioned by the authors are the insights and strategies of different suppliers and other competing businesses identified through the help of these systems hence stronger competitive position in the market, improved innovation and enhanced productivity.
Most authors do not mention all the characteristics of ubiquitous media systems; which include reduction in information production, automatic and systematic annotation of digital information into files, reduction of advertisement and sharing costs and information tracking (Vayrynen, Hekkala, & Liias, 2013).
Many authors do not mention whether these systems have any significant changes to organizational culture, or even whether these systems guarantee total control of privacy of organizational data from unauthorized access.
Most authors have various differences and these include; most of the authors have not mentioned the disadvantages that come with the incorporation of these systems in business like lack of feedback control, the intensity of time involved online, intrusive advertisements that put off the customers and the analysis skills required for management of these voluminous data which may not be readily available.
Some say that the ubiquitous media uses majorly interactions surrounding digital systems while others argue that the use of these systems in businesses creates and consumes content through use of both surrounding digital systems, human cognitive and perceptual processes. (Qualman, 2010) advices on the steps that should be taken before any ubiquitous system is incorporated into the business systems after stating their importance in marketing and communication. On the other hand, some authors do not mention anything related to the concepts or steps to take in initializing the use of ubiquitous media systems in businesses.
Uses of ubiquitous media systems in businesses
These ubiquitous media systems have to be incorporated/ intergraded in the initial running of the business for compatibility and improved innovation which will result in enhanced productivity. The levels of integration vary differently according to (Roussos, 2006). Some of these levels include; informational system integration which involves; directional integration, electronic/ data, physical/ temporal, semantic/ contextual and many others (Schoch & Strassner, 2002). The other is Enterprise level of integrations which involves; system specifications, system user, global integration, organizational integration and many others. The use of these media systems shares a vision of inexpensive, robust, small networked processing devices in their operations. (Safko, 2010), states that the use of ubiquitous media in business is also referred to as U-Commerce by means of information and communication technology.
All the authors agree in their findings that ubiquitous media is very important for many businesses currently due to their numerous advantages for the businesses as mentioned above. They also talk about the analysis they did in explaining and mentioning the concepts involved around ubiquitous media systems.
The use of ubiquitous media in businesses has been discussed by the different authors at length. My perspective is that the various studies done in relation to these kinds of media have not mentioned a few things. These could be the potential gaps that will form the basis of the research, including; studies have not provided specific procedures or measures on which the exact returns on investments can be compared over one medium to another in relation to traditional methods.
The privacy and security of organizational data has not been guaranteed due to unauthorized access and attack by computer viruses. Most authors do not mention on anything related to safety of data both offline and online. Competition for space in the market has increased the number of adverts in the social media platform and users have a variety of choices to use. The authors have-not mentioned on how the use of these media systems can enhance retaining customers without necessarily harassing them, despite their products and services being famous.
An alternative to saving time without necessarily interfering with the running of systems has not been mentioned either by the authors hence a potential gap; the future of use of ubiquitous media in business management and its relation to contribution towards achievement of vision 2030 has not been mentioned or foreshadowed hence can also be an opportunity for research. The effect of using these media systems in businesses, managing of data, employee performance and the retrenchment in relation to organizational culture has also not been mentioned.
References
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