With the prevalence of social media, businesses and other organizations have a growing need to utilize various online media platforms and sites to engage and interact with their potential consumer base. Virtual communities and social networking can provide an effective escape route from the limits imposed by traditional media. Using optimal strategies can lead to more successful outcomes when using these platforms. Modern Perspectives on Virtual Communications and Social Networking provides innovative insights into connection and conversation through internet media that foster trust, commitment, and transparency in business. The content within this publication represents the potential to create virtual bonds with consumers through the observation of buying behavior, social media best practices, and digital marketing strategies. It is designed for business professionals, academicians, consultants, managers, marketers, and researchers and covers topics centered on the use of online media as a method of reaching a wider population.

E-Business has become a fact for almost all companies. But what are the key technologies for economically successful e-commerce? In this book readers will find all concepts that will coin tomorrow's e-business: virtual sales assistants (shopbots), personalized web pages, electronic market places, vendor managed inventory, virtual organizations, supply chain management. Both technical and economic issues of these concepts are discussed in detail. Leading-edge real world applications are presented that will shape e-business mid-term.

This book is a must-read for managers or technical consultants as well as researchers needing in-depth information for strategic business decisions.

Web caching and content delivery technologies provide the infrastructure on which systems are built for the scalable distribution of information. This proceedings of the eighth annual workshop, captures a cross-section of the latest issues and techniques of interest to network architects and researchers in large-scale content delivery. Topics covered include the distribution of streaming multimedia, edge caching and computation, multicast, delivery of dynamic content, enterprise content delivery, streaming proxies and servers, content transcoding, replication and caching strategies, peer-to-peer content delivery, and Web prefetching.
Web Content Caching and Distribution encompasses all areas relating to the intersection of storage and networking for Internet content services. The book is divided into eight parts: mobility, applications, architectures, multimedia, customization, peer-to-peer, performance and measurement, and delta encoding.

"This book is by far the most comprehensive and orderly treatment of the subject. It is the work of experts with a wealth of both theoretical and practical experience with the subject and its connecting disciplines. It is an integral work... concepts and notation are at the same consistent level throughout the book. Quality of Service (QoS) is an absolutely critical part of any telecommunication services. This work fills a gap in the literature of what possibilities there are for satellites in providing global Internet services." Excerpted from the Foreword by Raymond L. Pickholtz, The George Washington University
Broadband Satellite Communications for Internet Access is a systems engineering methodology for satellite communication networks. It discusses the implementation of Internet applications that involve network design issues usually addressed in standard organizations. Various protocols for IP- and ATM-based networks are examined and a comparative performance evaluation of different alternatives is described. This methodology can be applied to similar evaluations over any other transport medium.
This book, suitable as a teaching text as well as a reference, covers:
-Satellite networks: technology, history and broadband communication satellites planned and launched into service.
-Trends Analysis: satellite networks covering physical, MAC, IP, transport layer protocols with an emphasis on TCP enhancements to account for fading, errors, noise, Doppler shifts and nomadic behavior.
-Quality of Service (QoS): end-to-end QoS model, framework and architectures including IntServ, DiffServ and MPLS traffic engineering for satellite IP networks, application QoS mapping.
-Satellite IP: design and implementation, DiffServ based QoS performance models for TCP and UDP traffic for GEO and MEO configurations.
-Interactive Multimedia over Satellite: TDMA and CDMA based return channel protocol models and analysis for DVB-RCS networks.
-Satellite ATM: analysis of fundamental questions (e.g. buffer requirements, TCP/ATM, efficiency, fairness, and multiple access models).
-International Standards: definitions, processes and agreed objectives for satellite IP and satellite ATM networks-ITU-R, ITU-T, IETF, ETSI, ATM Forum.
Whether you're a researcher, systems engineer, or a telecommunications/network specialist, Broadband Satellite Communications for Internet Access provides a comprehensive perspective on satellite networks. It addresses the end-to-end protocol stack, satellite design principles, QoS methodologies and international standards for building satellite network systems for multimedia applications.

The 1990s saw a rapid rise in the proportion of market value represented by Internet companies. At the peak of the market, the value of US internet stocks alone exceeded $2 trillion, making these stocks nearly as valuable as the entire UK market. However, since March 2000 many internet stock values have declined precipitately. This book establishes a robust cashflow based methodology for internet valuation in relation to strategic issues, and includes compelling and topical case studies of leading players including Amazon.com and NTT DoCoMo.

An incisive glimpse into the future of the internet In Step into the Metaverse: How the Immersive Internet Will Unlock a Trillion-Dollar Social Economy, future tech strategist, entrepreneur, and thought leader Dr. Mark van Rijmenam delivers a startlingly insightful discussion about how the world as we know it will fundamentally change as the physical and the digital worlds merge into the metaverse, impacting the everyday experiences of people, companies, and societies. The author maps out the extraordinary opportunities and challenges facing business leaders, consumers, regulators, policymakers, and other metaverse stakeholders trying to navigate the future of the Internet. In the metaverse, you can be who you want to be, where you want to be, and companies and consumers are only restricted by their own creativity how they can benefit from the immersive internet. With engaging commentary on issues ranging from avatars, identity and digital fashion to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain and the economics of the metaverse, this book also offers: Discussions on the importance of an open and interoperable metaverse build on the web 3.0 paradigm if we want to reign in the control of Big Tech over our identity, data and lives. Explorations of the enormous--and largely untapped--potential for metaverse entertainment, including gaming, music, media, and sports and how brands can engage with their customers in novel ways and how digital twins will change how we work and innovate. Considerations related to the dangers of an always-on, immersive internet, including data breaches, avatar imposters, mental health issues, corporate and state surveillance, and the need for metaverse law. A fascinating read you won't be able to put down, Step into the Metaverse belongs in the hands of executives, managers, and other business leaders who play a role in digital transformation or execution. It's also an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the future of technology, the internet, and social interaction.

A welcome addition to Palgrave's Global Media Policy and Business series, Internet Governance and the Global South documents the role of the global south in Internet policymaking and challenges the globalization theories that declared the death of the state in global decision-making. Abu Bhuiyan argues that the global Internet politics is primarily a conflict between the states - the United States of America and the states of the global south - because the former controls Internet policymaking. The states of the global south have been both oppositional and acquiescing to the sponsored policies of the United States on Internet issues such as digital divide, multilingualism, intellectual property rights and cyber security. They do not oppose the neoliberal underpinnings of the policies promoted by the United States, but ask for an international framework to govern the Internet so that they can work as equal partners in setting norms for the global Internet.

Before use, standard ERP systems such as SAP R/3 need to be customized to meet the concrete requirements of the individual enterprise. This book provides an overview of the process models, methods, and tools offered by SAP and its partners to support this complex and time-consuming process. It begins by characterizing the foundations of the latest ERP systems from both a conceptual and technical viewpoint, whereby the most important components and functions of SAP R/3 are described. The main part of the book then goes on to present the current methods and tools for the R/3 implementation based on newer process models (roadmaps).

In recent years, billions of dollars (and euros, yen, and other currencies) have been spent by wireless services providers to acquire the radio frequency spectrum needed to offer so-called "Third Generation" (3G) mobile services. These services include high-speed data, mobile Internet access and entertainment such as games, music and video programs. Indeed, as voice communications are substituted by data communications, software -rather than terminals or networks- has become the driver of the wireless industry. Meanwhile, services are becoming increasingly specialized.
Why has the road to multimedia cellular been so difficult? These benefits of the mobile Internet have come with the costs of a massive transition that has coincided with the bust of stock markets and the technology segments worldwide, controversial and costly license auctions in several lead markets, dated or mistaken regulatory policies, the clash between the early hype and the pioneering realities of the mobile Internet. But these are generalities that barely scratch the surface. The devil is in the details. And it is these details that Competition for the Mobile Internet addresses.

A dazzling look at modern videogame worlds seen through an architectural lens, utilizing maps, diagrams and graphic illustrations to offer new perspectives on the art of virtual world building. Videogame Atlas presents a journey through twelve well-known videogame worlds via panoramic maps, intricate exploded diagrams and detailed illustrations. The book offers a playful new way of seeing these beloved virtual worlds using the practices and academic rigour that underpins real-world architectural theory. Titles such as Minecraft, Assassin's Creed Unity and Final Fantasy VII are explored in exhaustive detail through over 200 detailed illustrations of the micro and macro, each with supporting commentary and architectural theory. Taking influence from high-end architectural monographs, the book is carefully designed to the smallest of details and its production is intricately executed. This book, printed in five colours, with neon ink throughout, is a culmination of Luke and Sandra's work, which includes founding the Videogame Urbanism studio at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL that promotes the use of game technologies in architectural education.

Adopting an informational perspective towards knowledge work, this book investigates how enterprise portals can promote knowledge creation, distribution, and use. Moving beyond the design and delivery of portals as mere information retrieval tools, an enterprise portal is viewed as a shared information work space that can facilitate communication and collaboration among organizational workers, as well as support the browsing, searching, and retrieval of information content. Adopting an information vantage point, the book uniquely explores the human issues surrounding enterprise portal adoption and use, as well as the utilization of intelligent agents to ameliorate the use of portals for knowledge-based tasks. The result is a novel, rich and comprehensive discussion on the factors affecting the design and utilization of enterprise portals for knowledge work, suitable for both graduate-level students and organizational workers alike.

The use of the internet for commerce has spawned a variety of auctions, marketplaces, and exchanges for trading everything from bandwidth to books. Mechanisms for bidding agents, dynamic pricing, and combinatorial bids are being implemented in support of internet-based auctions, giving rise to new versions of optimization and resource allocation models. This volume, a collection of papers from an IMA "Hot Topics" workshop in internet auctions, includes descriptions of real and proposed auctions, complete with mathematical model formulations, theoretical results, solution approaches, and computational studies. This volume also provides a mathematical programming perspective on open questions in auction theory, and provides a glimpse of the growing area of dynamic pricing.

This book provides an in-depth comparative analysis of inequality and the stratification of the digital sphere. Grounded in classical sociological theories of inequality, as well as empirical evidence, this book defines 'the digital divide' as the unequal access and utility of internet communications technologies and explores how it has the potential to replicate existing social inequalities, as well as create new forms of stratification. The Digital Divide examines how various demographic and socio-economic factors including income, education, age and gender, as well as infrastructure, products and services affect how the internet is used and accessed. Comprised of six parts, the first section examines theories of the digital divide, and then looks in turn at: Highly developed nations and regions (including the USA, the EU and Japan); Emerging large powers (Brazil, China, India, Russia); Eastern European countries (Estonia, Romania, Serbia); Arab and Middle Eastern nations (Egypt, Iran, Israel); Under-studied areas (East and Central Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa). Providing an interwoven analysis of the international inequalities in internet usage and access, this important work offers a comprehensive approach to studying the digital divide around the globe. It is an important resource for academic and students in sociology, social policy, communication studies, media studies and all those interested in the questions and issues around social inequality.

eTransformation in Governance: New Directions in Government and Politics is about transformation in government and governance due to the information society development. The book provides conceptual clarification of the e-transformation in governance, and presents empirical findings on the recent developments in Western countries. The book provides innovative and fresh views to recent developments and practices of e-governance.

The availability of effective global communication facilities in the last decade has changed the business goals of many manufacturing enterprises. They need to remain competitive by developing products and processes which are specific to individual requirements, completely packaged and manufactured globally. Networks of enterprises are formed to operate across time and space with world-wide distributed functions such as manufacturing, sales, customer support, engineering, quality assurance, supply chain management and so on. Research and technology development need to address architectures, methodologies, models and tools supporting intra- and inter-enterprise operation and management. Throughout the life cycle of products and enterprises there is the requirement to transform information sourced from globally distributed offices and partners into knowledge for decision and action. Building on the success of previous DrrSM conferences (Tokyo 1993, Eindhoven 1996, Fort Worth 1998), the fourth International Conference on Design of Information Infrastructure Systems for Manufacturing (DrrSM 2000) aims to: * Establish and manage the dynamics of virtual enterprises, define the information system requirements and develop solutions; * Develop and deploy information management in multi-cultural systems with universal applicability of the proposed architecture and solutions; * Develop enterprise integration architectures, methodologies and information infrastructure support for reconfigurable enterprises; * Explore information transformation into knowledge for decision and action by machine and skilful people; These objectives reflect changes of the business processes due to advancements of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the last couple of years.

This book presents a blueprint for corporate growth in the challenging environment of the first decade of the 21st century. It shows that Streamlining is an approach that leads companies to enable, automate and innovate, to control costs and improve performance in these new conditions. Pioneers like Cisco, Dell, GE, BP and Siemens have shown that it can deliver. This book will show all companies how to achieve results in the next part of their new techology/e-business journey and will be essential for managers.