INNOVATION & ICT

VRiSBI International Research Project Ireland 2007

Study Association VRiSBI

Erasmus University Rotterdam
Sponsored by Ernst & Young Netherlands

Extended abstracts – CD-Rom contains full reports and presentations

 COLOFON

Study Association VRiSBI

Kamer H11-02
Postbus 1738
3000 DR ROTTERDAM
Email: info@vrisbi.nl
Internet: www.vrisbi.nl
Tel: +31-10-408 8846

Emiel Caron
Assistant Professor
Room H10-19
P.O.Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
The Netherlands

Email: caron@few.eur.nl
Tel. +31-10-4081342
Fax. +31-10-408 9162

VRiSBI is the study association for the study Economics & Informatics at the Erasmus University
Rotterdam. We have over 350 members and there are around 100 students currently in their final year
of the bachelor or master program.
One of our most important tasks is to connect students of Economics & Informatics with companies to
give them an inside look how it is in the field. We try to do this by regularly organizing different kinds
of activities in association with interested companies.
The development and the pleasure of learning for the student is important to us. We do this by
organizing all kinds of activities like company visits, study trips, symposia, etc. etc.
Informatics & Economics is a unique study. It combines the best of both worlds. Unique, that is also a
term we would like to use to describe our members.
This report in front of you contains the extended abstracts. The CD-Rom in the back contains the full
reports and the presentations from the symposium ‘Innovation & ICT’.
ISBN: 978-90-812660-1-7

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 FOREWORD

The Lisbon Agenda is an action and

development plan for the European Union.
It was set out by the European Council on
March 2000. The strategic goal of the
agenda for 2010 is to make the European
economy the world's most competitive and
dynamic knowledge economy. This, it is
argued, will produce sustainable economic
growth with more and better jobs and
greater social cohesion. The Lisbon Agenda
is heavily based on the idea that innovation
is the motor for economic change (based on
the writings of Joseph Schumpeter). That
the Council takes this plan seriously is, for
example, illustrated by the fact that in September of this year the European Parliament agreed to set up
a European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The institute's overall budget is an estimated
€2.4 billion for the first six years.

Most European countries want to comply with this plan and have developed all kinds of national
initiatives. The Netherlands have established, for example, the Innovation Platform to develop
proposals to increase the country’s innovative potential. At the moment the platform has led to few
practical results but the Platform has made the Dutch public aware of the importance of innovation.
Moreover, it is interesting to know how other European countries are dealing with the Lisbon Agenda.
Therefore, a group of Economics & Informatics students have made a research visit to Ireland to learn
about its innovation initiatives. Ireland is an interesting country for a research trip, because its
economy has transformed (with success) in recent years from an agricultural focus to one dependent
on trade, industry and investment. Economic growth in Ireland averaged an exceptional 10% from
1995–2000, and 6% from 2001–2006. Maybe The Netherlands can learn something from Ireland?
Beside the fact that Ireland has a favorable tax climate, it has also introduced numerous other
measures to ensure that Ireland is a good choice for investment and for establishing a company. For
example, by creating a favorable climate for research and development and the presence of highly
skilled people.

The students have focused on four research tracks in the Innovation & ICT domain: macro-economic
analysis of the impact of ICT, developments in innovation & management, business process
innovation, and innovation in the telecom sector. To support their research a large number of visits is
made, in the past two months, to Dutch and Irish organizations and companies. For example,
Vodafone, Ammeon, Greenwich Consulting, ProCam, University College Dublin, Tilburg University,
NovaUCD, Centre for Innovation Technology and Organisation, Dublin port, the Department of
Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ireland), the Department of the Taoiseach (Ireland) and the Dutch
Embassy all have been visited by the research group.

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To conclude we would like to thank all the sponsors (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Ernst & Young,
and Greenwich Consulting) of the research project and symposium. We would also want to thank all
the people who have worked with us to make this research project a success. In random order: Nicole
Mannion, John Gilroy, Richard Ryan, Margot Kunst, Ann Moran, Paul Myhal, Thomas Murray, Joan
Perry, David Norton, Eoin Cavanagh, Rory Machale, Ron Jansen, Ruth Connaughton, Séamas Kelly,
Camilla Noonan, Micéal Whelan, Rob Potharst, Michiel van Wezel, Gert van der Pijl, Eelco van
Asperen, all the students who participated and off course all the people that we forgot at the time of
this writing.

Emiel Caron (caron@few.eur.nl) Imran Ashraf

Econometric Institute, Economics & Informatics Brian Hewitt
Erasmus University Rotterdam Michiel Versteeg
VRiSBI International Research Project
Oktober 2007 Committee (studiereis@vrisbi.nl)

From left to right: Michiel Versteeg, Emiel Caron, Brian Hewitt, Imran Ashraf

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 FOREWORD EMBASSY OF IRELAND

Richard Ryan, Ambassador of Ireland to the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Coherent national strategies on innovation, science and technology

are widely recognised as being essential for economic
competitiveness in an increasingly globalised world. Such
strategies are vital in yielding innovations in areas such as
healthcare and environmental technologies, innovations which can
make tangible improvements to our quality of life. The
performance of Ireland’s economy in recent years has been widely
lauded throughout Europe and across the world, and many have
looked to the Irish economy in an attempt to create a successful
economic model. However Ireland cannot afford to bask in the
glow of its past performance, and the Irish Government is
committed to providing the necessary resources for science and
innovation to secure future growth. The national Strategy for
Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI), adopted by the Irish
Government in 2006, includes the ambitious vision that "Ireland by 2013 will be internationally
renowned for the excellence of its research and will be at the forefront in generating and using new
knowledge for economic and social progress with innovation as a driver".
The research visit to Ireland by students from the Erasmus University Rotterdam, which has informed
this report, is certainly timely. During the week long visit the students had the opportunity to “look
under the hood” of Ireland’s innovation strategy as the foundations are laid to achieve the ambitious
goal of placing Ireland at the forefront of the generation of new knowledge. During the Dublin visit
the research team had the opportunity to meet with key interlocutors in Ireland, both in business and
Government, to learn from them and to ask some probing questions.
Central to any successful innovation strategy is a desire for learning and a willingness to share
information, and this applies as much to countries as to individuals. Countries must look to their
neighbours and peers and learn from their successes and mistakes. The European Union, through the
mechanism of the Lisbon agenda, is fostering knowledge sharing and improved communication
among EU Member States in the area of innovation. However, if Ireland, the Netherlands, and the
wider EU are to meet the goals set under the Lisbon agenda and national innovation strategies,
informal knowledge-sharing networks must also be nurtured and cultivated. It is for this reason that
this Embassy was delighted to be contacted by the Erasmus University. I was glad to provide any
assistance I could to ensure that the visit to Ireland was fruitful, and I believe that the quality of the
reports included in this publication shows the visit to have been worthwhile. One of the key drivers of
Ireland’s recent economic performance has been the large number of educated young people upon
whose talent Irish society has been able to rely, and this is a resource which the Netherlands also
shares. Through facilitating the students of the Erasmus University to further their education by
visiting Ireland and studying our approach to innovation, I hope that Ireland has contributed in a small
way to deepening the pool of knowledge upon which the Netherlands can draw upon in the future.

Richard Ryan
Ambassador of Ireland to the Kingdom of the Netherlands

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

COLOFON ..................................................................................................... 2
Study Association VRiSBI ..................................................................... 2
Emiel Caron ........................................................................................... 2
FOREWORD.................................................................................................. 3
By Emiel Caron, Imran Ashraf, Brian Hewitt and Michiel Versteeg
FOREWORD EMBASSY OF IRELAND ...................................................... 5
By His Excellency Richard Ryan, Ambassador of Ireland to the Kingdom of
the Netherlands
TRENDS IN BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT ................................. 8
By Arjen Huberts and Alexander van Petten
1 Introduction ...................................................................................... 8
2 Using a BPM model?........................................................................ 8
3 BPM and BRM ................................................................................. 8
4 BPM and SOA.................................................................................. 9
5 Humanization of BPM ...................................................................... 9
6 Further trends in BPM ...................................................................... 9
PROCES MINING; NEW TECHNIQUE FOR EDP AUDITING? ............... 10
By Prashand Doorga and Arun Janglie
1 Introduction .................................................................................... 10
2 Process mining................................................................................ 10
3 EDP Auditing ................................................................................. 11
4 Summary & purpose ....................................................................... 11
IT AS ENABLER OF INNOVATION.......................................................... 12
By Dave Lina and Vince Feskens
1 Introduction .................................................................................... 12
2 What are we looking for?................................................................ 12
3 The problem ................................................................................... 12
4 Innovation, how? ............................................................................ 13
5 The answers.................................................................................... 13

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THE IRISH INNOVATION POLICY .......................................................... 14
By Nick Benschop and Edwin Sturrus
1 Introduction .................................................................................... 14
2 Relevance of this research............................................................... 14
3 Information gathering ..................................................................... 14
4 Research results .............................................................................. 15
5 Conclusion...................................................................................... 16
DEVELOPMENTS IN E-GOVERNMENT: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
BETWEEN IRELAND AND THE NETHERLANDS ......................... 17
By Bas Janssen and Maarten Jongmans
1 Introduction .................................................................................... 17
2 Methodology .................................................................................. 17
3 Developments in E-Government in Ireland versus the Netherlands . 18
4 Research results .............................................................................. 18
INNOVATIONS IN THE SECURITY OF THE LOGISTIC CHAIN IN
HARBORS; FROM A CUSTOMS POINT OF VIEW ......................... 19
By Arjan Wiegman and Wim Zuiderwijk
1 Introduction .................................................................................... 19
2 Methodology .................................................................................. 19
3 Results ............................................................................................ 20
4 Findings and conclusions ................................................................ 21
TRENDS IN M-COMMERCE AND ITS APPLICATIONS......................... 22
By Mandy Chin and Dwain Chang
1 Introduction .................................................................................... 22
2 The trends and applications............................................................. 22
3 Mobile television ............................................................................ 23
INNOVATIONS OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION STANDARDS AND THEIR
APPLICATIONS FOR TELECOM COMPANIES .............................. 24
By Eveline van de Heuvel and Cosmas Fonville
1 Introduction .................................................................................... 24
2 The standards.................................................................................. 24
3 How innovation takes place ............................................................ 25
APPENDIX: CD-ROM................................................................................. 26

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 TRENDS IN BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT

Huberts, Arjen, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 279704ah@student.eur.nl

Petten, Alexander van, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 276939ap@student.eur.nl

1 INTRODUCTION

In the last 30 years businesses have become more process aware. They understand the importance of
business processes as it helps them to be more cost efficient. This is not the only reason, having a
complete grip on the processes is one of the conditions of compliance. Businesses have learned how to
document and map their processes, develop analysis tools to identify bottlenecks and unnecessary
process steps. They developed process maturity models to document performance improvements and
quality. All this helps allow the business to be aware of their processes, which causes them to act
correctly and competitively regardless the situation.

2 USING A BPM MODEL?

As said earlier business processes have become more important for companies. Therefore it is useful
for every company to pay attention to their processes. The majority of the companies use a business
process model to manage these processes. At first business process models used diagramming tools to
gain initial understanding of their current processes. These diagrams had limited value because they
are difficult to change and could be hard to be mapped against actual business processes. It also didn’t
show what would happen if a process would change.
Today a business process model provides an abstract view of complex structures. Such model
has a number of advantages. Firstly, the model has a good foundation because the meaning of each
process is precisely defined. Secondly, the models are graphically and are easy to understand.
Different users can look at a process but they will al interpret it the same way. Thirdly, new processes
can be modeled by combining existing processes or components in new ways or new functions.
Finally it can focus on specific parts of a structure. It can highlight key relationships and ignore less
relevant aspects. This will result in a more efficient and collaborative BPM.
It is important that the main goal is not forgotten or has become a subordinate of al kinds of
political processes. A business process model should always be seen as a tool and never as goal.

3 BPM AND BRM

BRM systems have the responsibility to maintain a repository of business rules that represent the
policies and procedures of an enterprise. A good definition of a business rule is ’a compact statement
about an aspect of a business that can be expressed in terms that can be directly related to the business,
using simple, unambiguous language that’s accessible to all interested parties: business owner,
business analyst, technical architect, and so on.
The benefits of adopting a BRM system are faster development, faster maintenance, clearer
auditability, more reusable business logic, greater consistency and better alignment and understanding
between business and IT. A good BRM system should be presented as a service to applications and
processes. BRM can therefore be seen as an aid for BPM.

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4 BPM AND SOA

The two biggest misbelieves are that SOA is a product and that it is almost the same as web services.
A key aspect of SOA is that its system architecture breaks down business software into function units
executed by small software modules. Using models and standards, these modules can be configured to
suit company requirements.
An SOA provides the technical ability to create process independence. SOA standards, such as
Web Services, make information resources and task automation applications available yet loosely
integrated. This makes it possible for process designers to use and reuse these applications at will. In
short, SOA infrastructure allows processes modeled with BPM tools to be rapidly implemented in
production.
BPM and SOA will bring the business process evolution to a new phase. At first business
process evolution consisted of merely automating repeatable processes. It will now be possible to
flexibly automate dynamic processes. This change is mandatory, because companies must compete
more effectively with each other and must adapt faster to market changes.
Modern BPM solutions make process models representations of how companies operate to
deliver value, and how a company can increase that value. To realize these value changes, reality
requires integration between existing and future applications that automate specific business functions.
Automation can only become flexible if it can be reused and reintegrated in a dynamic manner. A
standards based SOA infrastructure makes it possible to deliver this automation flexibility. If this is
done well then it can make great improvement in market capture, cost effectiveness and profitability.

5 HUMANIZATION OF BPM

Business processes are more automated then a couple of years ago, and in a couple of years business
processes will be automated more. The term humanization could be misleading and therefore it is
better to use the term personalization. The automation of processes has resulted that the processes have
come closer to the customer side. The gap between customer and the employee has become obscured.
A good example is the automation of the bank transactions. First you had to go to the bank if you
wanted to make a transaction; nowadays you go on the internet and do the transaction yourself.

6 FURTHER TRENDS IN BPM

From our interview with W. van der Aalst we can conclude that he thinks simulation will become
more important within BPM in the near future. He states that simulation offers many opportunities.
With BPM you know what happens within a process, you also know the results and you know which
resources you need. With this information it is possible to create a good simulation model. This model
doesn’t have any advantage on the strategic systems but it does on operational systems.
We will interview M. Korneef and an employee of Cordys. We will ask them what they think
will be the biggest trend within BPM. At this moment the interviews are being prepared.

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 PROCES MINING; NEW TECHNIQUE FOR EDP AUDITING?

Doorga, Prashand, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 253594pd@student.eur.nl

Janglie, Arun, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 265882aj@student.eur.nl

1 INTRODUCTION

Processes are the main engine of any organization. The business process is a fundamental concept in
any enterprise and to be able to evaluate these processes it is important to have an (schematic)
overview of how the business processes (the workflows) within the enterprise are.
Business Process Analysis is the term used for evaluating the business process to help an
organization improve it processes and thus how it conducts its functions and activities.
In business process design and business process analysis information technology has become
an important aspect. In the design phase decisions are made whether certain tasks can be done by
using IT and for analysis of the business processes management information retrieved from these
information systems is being used.
Nowadays information technology is widely used in enterprises. These systems are used for
the processing of large amounts of data and with the processing of these data events are being recorder
in so called event logs. These event logs play an import role in an upcoming new technique, called
Process Mining.

2 PROCESS MINING

Process mining is a new, growing discipline in the world of business. The basic idea of process mining
is to extract information from event logs recorded by an information system. Nowadays information
technology is being widely used in organizations with the purpose of supporting important business
processes. Important events are being recorded in the event logs by the system. Until recently these
event logs were rarely being used, but the data stored in these event logs can be of great wealth to
organizations when analyzed properly.
Using process-mining techniques as a tool for discovering patterns can be useful to the
business. The rich data resources lying around in the transaction and workflow application software
can be turned into vital knowledge about your business operations.
Process mining can be used in the field of Business Process Analysis in three different ways:
1. Process Discovery
Process discovery is the tradition functionality of process mining. The focus here is on
discovery, i.e., deriving information about the original process model, the organizational
context, and execution properties from enactment logs.
2. Conformance Checking
Conformance checking is the functionality where it is assumed that there is an a-priori model.
This process model is then checked on deviations and these deviations are then located,
explained and measured on severity.
3. Extension
This functionality assumes a model and a log. The a-priori model is used as a basis and from
here on it is extended with new aspects, such as for example decision mining and timing
information.

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 These features of process mining might be of use in the field of EDP auditing. EDP auditing is
the process of collecting and evaluating evidence to determine whether a computer system safeguards
assets, maintains data integrity, achieves organizational goals effectively, and consumes resources
efficiently.

3 EDP AUDITING

EDP auditing also called IT- auditing is the independent and impartial appraisal of the reliability,
security, effectiveness and efficiency of automated computer systems, the organization of the
automation department and the technical/organizational infrastructure of the automated fact
processing. When we look at these six EDP auditing independent and impartial appraisals we see that
these are the main factors for business processes for an EDP auditor.
Reliability and security of automated computer system is that in which way is a system
reliable and in which way the security has been established. So an EDP auditor looks at the business
processes of the automated computer system like the security with different kind of checking tools to
check leaks. Its goal is not to check fraud.
Effectiveness and Efficiency of automated computer system is in which way the system is
effective and the efficiency is about how many resources is needed for the automated computer
system. The EDP auditor looks at the efficiency of use of the business processes in which way the
resources can be downgraded or be extended to give a better business performance. Nowadays EDP
auditors are not using any processing tools to check the efficiency.
The organization of the automation department is the fact in which way for example the
segregation of duties is regulated. The EDP auditor is using his knowledge and experience in which
way the processes are regulated at each employee.
The technical/organizational infrastructure of the automated fact processing is about in which
way this is regulated at the company and how this is reliable for the goals of the company and is being
done by the EDP auditor by hand and he/she is not using a specific kind of tools.
EDP auditor has his main function is to assure that management exercises effective control
over the way in which the organization’s assets are used and that these factors for business processes
is related to that use are current and accurate.
If we look at the business processes at the work field for an EDP auditor we see that much of
these factors can be automated to give a better and accurate decision support for an EDP auditor.

4 SUMMARY & PURPOSE

When having a look at process mining and EDP auditing together some similarities can be
acknowledged. The basis for process mining and EDP auditing is collecting data about certain
systems/processes and then evaluating the data to get insight in how these systems/processes function.
With process mining being a new technique it might be of great value for EDP auditors. The
purpose of the research is to show that there are possibilities for an EDP auditor to use process mining
for its accurateness and completeness.

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 IT AS ENABLER OF INNOVATION

Lina, Dave, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 295195dl@student.eur.nl

Feskens, Vince, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 297397vf@student.eur.nl

1 INTRODUCTION

Every country has an ambition. This ambition can be a lot of things and can depend on many factors
like the amount of raw materials you can produce or the economic wealth the country is in. For The
Netherlands this ambition is to get a knowledge-based economy; to be one of the top countries in the
world if it comes to being innovative. The Netherlands are already aiming for a knowledge economy
but can’t really compete with other countries like Finland and other Scandinavian countries. Also
Ireland is one of the most competitive countries in this area. Why can’t The Netherlands get more out
of there resources when a country like Ireland, which was a low schooled country and in a few years
has grown to a country with a reliable knowledge-based economy, can.

2 WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

In this paper you will find differences between the Dutch economy and the Irish. But this isn’t all
about the companies. What is the influence of the government? Is she helping a country to evolve to
his next stage or does she wants to control the economy and is she slowing down this whole process.
And what about the educational system? Do the universities influence the level of innovation in their
country? Is their a link between university and the companies; the knowledge economy? You may ask
if there is a link between universities, companies and the government. Where does the information
technology (IT) take his place in this whole process? These are all questions you may ask to get a
better understanding of what is going on in a country that is driven by knowledge and being
innovative.

3 THE PROBLEM

We noticed that IT isn’t used at the maximum yet within the Dutch companies, a lot of companies
don’t use IT for important processes and some use IT in a wrong way. They use it just to use IT,
instead of having a plan on what they want with it and why it’s going to improve your business
processes. Therefore, the companies should really think by their selves how is IT going to make me a
better company, and make me more innovative than the rest of the world. In the IT there’s still a lot of
changes going on as well, but with the technology right now there’s already lot of possibilities to
improve your company.
The Netherlands are not being the most innovative country anymore, like we said before
Scandinavian countries are being more innovative and in the end they will have the better economic
successes. But because economic success is a huge issue in the Netherlands we got to make a change
in order to follow these new innovation leaders. So what we want is that Dutch companies are taking a
step and expense more on research and innovation, they shouldn’t only look in the short term. Being
an innovative company will give you success in the long terms, you will be the first in new segments
and since you are the first you will start as the market leader.
Now the main question is how Dutch companies can improve their use of IT as enabler of
innovation. Could IT fasten up new innovation or give new ideas of what to invent. What could take

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us to the next level? What are the differences between the current top innovative countries and the
Netherlands? How is it done in Ireland? Are they using IT better to enable innovation?
To find our answers we made a trip to Ireland, a country with a similar vision as The
Netherlands and visited a university and a part of the government that has to deal with innovation.
Then the next step is, how are the companies involved in the process? So we visited companies and we
were told about how they think about innovation and how they work together with the universities and
the government.

4 INNOVATION, HOW?

There isn’t a simple way to get new innovation. It’s not just do this and that and than automatically
you will be innovative. It’s got a lot to do with creativity and flexibility but you can assist a lot with
the process to new innovation. First of all you need the right people with knowledge, they have to be
very well educated in the practice you want to be innovative in. But they won’t be innovative if you
don’t provide them with the right tools as company. They need all the knowledge they need at the time
they want it and as fast as possible. With IT you can speed up all this and make it more easy for the
knowledge workers to use and share information. In the end this can lead to new innovation.

5 THE ANSWERS

IT has proven to be useful. The government of Ireland has taken drastic steps in improving their
information systems, for example during minister meetings with eGovernment. First there where loads
of paperwork to take with you for a meeting, now all the information can be reached by a touchscreen
monitor in front of you. This all is possible only because of the technology, the IT, and so innovative
thinking.
Now it’s up to the companies to make use of IT. Dutch companies need to invest into
platforms within the company, to make it easy to share information. A lot of companies aren’t having
a knowledge-sharing platform yet. Today’s youth grows up using computers so considering this,
Dutch companies should really invest into IT use within the company, so that when these youngsters
are grown up they can use their knowledge to make The Netherlands the best innovation country.

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 THE IRISH INNOVATION POLICY

Benschop, Nick, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 296428nb@student.eur.nl

Sturrus, Edwin, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 294763es@student.eur.nl

1 INTRODUCTION

This document will give an overview of the research done for the course “Studieproject Economie &
Informatica (2007-2008)” as well as the conclusions of this research. Within the course each subgroup
(two or three students) is assigned a specific topic related to Ireland and/or innovation to research. In
this case the specific topic given is the Irish innovation policy. The research on this topic includes
analysis of the workings of this policy and the positions of different instances as universities or
companies within the policy. The research also involves determining the actual real life success of this
government policy. This includes identifying the strong and weak points of the system and providing
suggestions for possible improvements.
The main research question to be answered during the project is:
“To what extend does the Irish innovation policy succeed in creating and stimulating a favourable
climate for innovation?”

2 RELEVANCE OF THIS RESEARCH

The results of this research project on the Irish innovation policy will provide an overview of the
global policy executed by the Irish government. Information will be provided on how the policy works
and also how well it works. A subsection of the research provides some insight in the pro’s and cons
of the Dutch innovation climate with a focus on the differences between the Irish and Dutch system.
The information and conclusions from the research project can be relevant for innovative
companies considering Ireland as a location. This by providing them information on the possibilities
as well as the limitations for innovation in Ireland. Alternatively it can give policy writers insight in
the workings of a working innovation policy. This may allow for the policy writers to incorporate
certain successful aspects into their own policy, or move them to take a different approach at those
aspects that are less of a success.

3 INFORMATION GATHERING

In preparation for the study trip to Ireland time was spend on gathering information on the different
companies and institutions to be visited. This was mainly for the purpose of getting a general idea of
the activities that they performed so that it was possible to assess their relevance to the research
project. Because of this it was possible to determine which companies or institutions are most relevant
to a specific subsection of the research. As a result, it became clear what information to collect at each
specific company or institution.
The primary source of information on the Irish innovation policy was the Department of
Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The spokesperson provided information of the general workings
of the policy including strong and weak points and possible changes in the near future.
The various other companies and institutions visited such as Ammeon, Port of Dublin, CITO
and NovaUCD provided a general impression of innovation within these instances as well as the
collaboration possibilities universities and companies.

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4 RESEARCH RESULTS

In order to answer the main research question regarding the success of the Irish innovation policy, the
subject has been divided up into several sub questions each dealing with a specific aspect of the main
question. The conclusions of the most relevant aspects of this research will be listed below. This
information combined is used to answer the main question as to draw a conclusion of the state of the
innovation climate in Ireland.
A vital part of the innovation climate is the role of the government in facilitating innovation
possibilities for and between companies and universities. In order for this to succeed the government
has to enable innovation. For this purpose Ireland has recently appointed a Minister of State for
Innovation Policy, Michael Ahem. Innovation is an important focus point within the Department of
Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which will only continue to become more important with a total
budget of 8.3 billion euro for the coming years up to 2012. Some of the key challenges with regard to
innovation in Ireland are:
• Lack of business investments in research and development
• Insufficient participation in life-long learning
• Lack of academia-industry cooperation and collaboration.
In order to tackle the issues an innovation agenda has been set with the goal of developing an
innovation intensive economy. In order to achieve this, there is particular focus on:
• Commercialisation of research
• Intellectual Property
• Supporting (small) innovative businesses
• Working with the EU on a collaborative innovation strategy
Independent institutions are contacted by the government to criticise and regularly give advice
on the innovation policy and it’s effects. This information is used to change the policy where needed.
This all looks very promising, however there are currently still problems that have to be dealt with.
While visiting the various companies and the university of Dublin it soon became apparent
that there is one mayor problem that all of these share. There is no real use of company-university
collaboration. However this is not due to a lack of interest. On the contrary, almost every one was
interested in such a collaboration. The biggest problem companies face in setting up relations with
universities is the lack of means to do so. They experience difficulties in finding the right people to
help them out and some companies feel that the research provided might not be useful for them.
The people contacted at the university of Dublin agreed for the most part with the problem of
getting in contact with the right people. In order to find the right partner however, the cooperation has
to be mutually beneficial. The Centre for Innovation, Technology and Organisation (CITO)
acknowledges that there are problems in this area. In order for companies to be interested in research,
it has to be clear to them that they will get something useful out of the research. However a lot of
services that companies are interested in, don’t deliver very useful tangible results. The problem here
is that researchers receive their funding based on the number of research papers they publish but in
order to write a quality paper they need these tangible results. Because of this method of rewarding
researchers it is less interesting for a researcher to collaborate with a company in a useful manner. This
conflict of interest is one of the main causes of the lack of university-company collaboration.
Spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Development, Tommy Murray,
agrees that the lack of cooperation between universities and companies currently is a problem. While
he ensured that there are in fact many programs and initiatives supported by the Irish government to
help universities and companies find each other, he acknowledged that there is a need for more
collaboration and centralisation of these programs. According to him, there is currently an “awareness
problem” which makes it difficult for people to find the right program to fit their needs. Also many are
unaware that such a program even exists for them.

15
 Due to the flexibility of the Irish government and the regular advice from critical institutions
combined with the increasing focus on innovation, it is likely that some of the biggest problems of this
time will be tackled before too long. Recommended changes from the current policy include:
• Alter the reward system for researchers so that the conflict of interest between companies and
researchers vanishes.
• Turn the many existing programs for university-company collaboration into a small and easy to
understand group with clear individual scopes.
• Make all those involved aware of the existence and function of these programs.
• Support (financially) small innovative companies to allow them to use the programs. Perhaps
Ireland can look to the Dutch system of innovation vouchers for this.
• Actively listen to advice and feedback from companies and universities.

5 CONCLUSION

There is a lot of interest in and focus on innovation in Ireland by the government. However the current
situation still needs to improve for the innovation policy to be a success. That said, the future does
indeed look very promising. Ireland’s flexible and self-critical approach with regard to government
policies, the increased focus and budget for innovation and the willingness of companies, government
and universities alike to innovate together are all very helpful in creating and sustaining a favourable
innovation climate. To answer the main research question:
“To what extend does the Irish innovation policy succeed in creating and stimulating a favourable
climate for innovation?”
In the current situation there is a solid base for a good innovation climate, however there are
still some mayor issues that need to be addressed before it can be considered successful. However, it
seems likely that this will be the case in the near future possibly allowing Ireland to become one of the
leading innovative countries in the world.

16
 DEVELOPMENTS IN E-GOVERNMENT: A COMPARATIVE
ANALYSIS BETWEEN IRELAND AND THE NETHERLANDS

Janssen, Bas, Erasmus University Rotterdam, bas@student.eur.nl

Jongmans, Maarten, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 289471mj@student.eur.nl

1 INTRODUCTION

Modern ICT development is having an enormous impact on everything around us. Besides the
influence it has on the personal and business area, government is also going trough a lot of changes.
Modern technology (especially the internet) enables government to create better communications with
their citizens. It provides government with the opportunity to offer services and improved delivery of
information that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere at anytime. Besides communication with
citizens, it can also facilitate between government departments, or between the commercial sector and
the government. The name that is given to the use of electronic means to deliver better government is
E-Government. The official definition of the term of E-Government according to the American
website whitehouse.gov is:
“E-government Refers to the federal government’s use of information technologies (such as Wide
Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) to exchange information and services with
citizens, businesses, and other arms of government”.
It is important to note here that E-government can never be a goal in itself; it is a way to
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the government and its communications. E-Government as
a whole has made huge steps in the past ten years. While E-Government started in the early nineties, it
took until the year 2000 before it made a giant leap forward (especially in relation to citizens). Before
that, mainly government departments and business used applications or websites could be seen as e-
government
In our paper, we compare the developments and integration of services regarding E-
government in Ireland and The Netherlands. We are looking at problems that were encountered by
both countries, and how they were dealt with. Based on these findings, we will try to formulate an
advice on how to make further improvements to E-Government facilities in the near future for both
countries.

2 METHODOLOGY

Our research is about E-Government in Ireland and The Netherlands. We made comparisons, and tried
to form an opinion about the state of E-Government in both countries. We narrowed the scope to the
most interactive service in each country. In the Netherlands this is DigiD and in Ireland it is Reach
(services). These services function as Service Brokers; they try to bring E-Government services
together. We visited Dublin from 6 until 15 October 2007. In Dublin, we visited Reach, which is an
Online Service Broker that provides services for the authentication of users with the government. We
also visited the ministry of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment. Before our visit to Dublin we did a lot
of research about E-Government in Ireland, The Netherlands and Europe. Statistics and other
information was gathered and stored.

17
3 DEVELOPMENTS IN E-GOVERNMENT IN IRELAND VERSUS
THE NETHERLANDS
Yr. Netherlands Ireland
1994 The National Action Programme on Launch Strategic Management Initiative
Electronic Highways
1998 The Electronic Government Action
Programme
1999 The Dutch Digital Delta Action Plan on implementing the
Information Society in Ireland.
Information Society Fund
2000 Lisbon Strategy
2000 Better Government for Citizens and Launch Reach
Business (2002)
2001 Launch OASIS
2003 eGovernment - More than an automation
of Government Services
2004 eCabinet
2005 DigiD Citizens Live Reachservices
DigiD Companies

4 RESEARCH RESULTS

Our research showed us several interesting things. What we see is that developments and growth in E-
Government Services and registered E-Government users in Ireland fall behind compared to the same
kind of developments and growth going on in The Netherlands. There is not one cause that we can
name for this outcome, but several reasons became clear during our research. We cannot state that
these causes are solely responsible for the observed effects, but they were of great influence:
The low internet penetration: in the beginning of 2007 only 52% of the Irish population had an
internet connection. In The Netherlands, this was 86%.
From the part of the population that did have an internet connection, only 26% had a
broadband connection; in The Netherlands 85% of the internet users has a broadband connection.
The Irish people have always been suspicious regarding their government. They are resilient
in their communication with the government and not anxious to use government services.

18
 INNOVATIONS IN THE SECURITY OF THE LOGISTIC CHAIN
IN HARBORS; FROM A CUSTOMS POINT OF VIEW

Wiegman, Arjan, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 196012aw@student.eur.nl

Zuiderwijk, Wim, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 291143wz@student.eur.nl

1 INTRODUCTION

The second most prioritized security topic, after airport security, is harbor security. In response to the
attacks of 9/11 governments felt the pressure to re-evaluate their supply chains, more specifically there
security controls in those chains. In these re-evaluations the ‘International Ship and Port Facility
Security Code’ was developed; also know as the ISPS code. With the ongoing threats of terrorist
attacks, smuggling and theft we decided to investigate what innovative security controls were taken to
prevent these criminal acts. There are many actors involved with this process; such as Port owners,
shipping companies, terminal companies, land-transport companies, customs and many more. It is
difficult to analyze them all in a limited paper. This is why we decided to limit our scope to the part
that the customs play in the whole process.
Having limited the scope to the customs, we will need to ask ourselves a couple of questions
to help us structure our research. Below are stated three sub-questions and our main research question,
all of these will be focused on the roll of the customs:
1. What are the processes used in harbor logistics?
2. What are the threats to these processes?
3. How are the processes of these harbor logistics secured?
The main question is: What are the current developments in innovations regarding the
technological security against criminal acts in harbor logistics from a customs point of view?

2 METHODOLOGY

In our quest for results we have done the following steps during our research:
1. Literature study through the internet
a. Among others found information about the ISPS code & the RFID-chip
b. Found background information about the ports of Rotterdam and Dublin
c. Found background information on the Dutch customs
2. Visit to the port of Dublin, Ireland
a. IT director of the port gave a presentation
b. Received a specially arranged tour through the harbor
3. Visit of the symposium ‘ICT een topprestatie’
Especially interesting was the presentation from researcher Prof.dr.ir. J.A.E.E. van Nunen
from the Erasmus University; this presentation was about ICT in logistics and distribution
with regard to overall safety.

19
 Later on in our research we received an invitation from our teacher Drs E.A.M. Caron to visit
a debate in which the subject was Rotterdam and its safety in general. After this discussion there
where some small mini-lectures; in one of them two researchers of the PROTECT project spoke about
the security in the port of Rotterdam. They had some interesting views on the way we should approach
security in the supply chain.

3 RESULTS

First we will answer our three sub questions briefly:

1. What are the processes used in harbor logistics?

Typically, the Rotterdam and Dublin ports are two big logistical entities. They primarily receive goods
and then redistribute these goods to further logistical centers or there final destination. Knowing this
we can say that most things what comes into these harbors must also come out. Thus the primary
process in harbor logistics is the throughput of goods. Besides the throughput of goods there are also
passenger transits and some other services that are performed in the harbors. To support the process of
throughput and other services there are multiple supporting processes like internal transport, customs
and ICT.
An example of a process involving customs is the picking of containers with a high
probability of illegal activities. And then scan or inspect them on these illegal activities. Also IT
processes support the harbor owner and other actors in managing the flows of information.

2. What are the threats to these processes?

In our research we identified three main threats: theft, smuggling, and terrorist attacks. Other possible
threats are human errors, ignorance, etc. These threats where not taken into account in this research,
because we focus on criminal acts like stated before.

3. How are the processes of these harbor logistics secured?

The physical process is primarily secured by the terminals and owners itself. For most of them have no
benefit in taking part in criminal activities. However, since there are always people with bad
intentions, there should always be some form of enforcement of legislations. An example of these
legislations is the ISPS code mentioned earlier in the introduction. The legislations are primarily
enforced by the customs with support from other authorities in case of any serious events.
Authorities have multiple tools to enforce legislations and to carry out checks on the cargo
going through the harbor. There are the technical tools such as RFID, electronic seals, scanners, etc.
There are also logistical solutions such as green lanes that provide certain ‘free’ entrance to the port
because this cargo is from a trusted partner. Finally there are also data processing systems that can
interact and help with the security of harbors. Examples of these are the inter-port communication
systems and data mining tools. With information automatically flowing into data mining tools the
customs is able to select high-risk cargo to check even before this cargo is physical present in the port.
This latest technique, the so-called green lanes and other ideas are still in the early phases of their
development.

20
4 FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

During out research we have found a couple of interesting findings. First of all are the current
innovative techniques that are in their early stages. These techniques, like green lanes and data mining
tools, are further explained in our paper. Besides these innovations we found out that the pressure on
all parties that are involved with the security in harbors is being raised. This is mainly because of
many new regulations of the European Union and other organizations. Another finding we did was a
split in approach on how to make the logistics of harbors safe. One side thinks that all parties should
secure their little piece of the chain and the other side thinks we should look at the whole supply chain
and see how we can secure this as a whole.
We also compared the innovation policies in the port of Dublin and the port of Rotterdam. It is
very clear that Dublin thinks of security as a necessary evil and is very re-active in the implementation
of security controls. And on the other hand Rotterdam is very pro-active in helping in the development
of these controls and in implementing them. They think that they can get a competitive advantage by
doing so and we explain why in more detail in our paper.

21
 TRENDS IN M-COMMERCE AND ITS APPLICATIONS

Will mobile television be a success?

Chang, Dwain, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 279457dc@student.eur.nl

Chin, Mandy, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 280614mc@student.eur.nl

1 INTRODUCTION

Mobile commerce is a form of e-commerce that specifically focuses on commerce by the use of
mobile devices. Although still in its infancy, m-commerce is developing rapidly and becoming
extremely popular. What we set up to do is write a paper about the developments in m-commerce and
find out where it is all heading to. The gathering of information is done by visiting a couple of
companies (in Ireland), namely Vodafone and Ammeon.
M-commerce is a very important topic nowadays. Almost everyone has a mobile phone.
Companies and organizations that supply products or services make use of this fact by making their
business activities easily accessible to the customer. When a product or service is easily accessible
and also at anytime, the consumer will likely make use of that product or service as opposed to a
product or service that is acquired in the traditional way.
To gain a competitive advantage over other companies, a company must by innovative in its
processes and product developments. In the remainder of this paper we will take a look at what the
recent innovations are at Vodafone and Ammeon. During the research special attention is also given to
a recent development in m-commerce, namely mobile television.

2 THE TRENDS AND APPLICATIONS

Some of the developments in mobile commerce are html-recoding, 3G broadband, 3D barcodes,

mobile payments, location-based services and mobile television.
Html-recoding is a technique that recodes regular html code into html code that is viewable
for the mobile device that is being used. This way, web pages can be quickly and easily viewed on
mobile devices.
A new service provided by mobile telecommunication companies is 3G broadband. This
feature allows consumers to have a faster internet connection. To use this service consumers have to
buy a small modem and subscription to a mobile broadband provider.
Another new development is the use of 3D barcodes. 3D barcodes are images that can be
found on poster for example. If an user captures an image of the barcode on their mobile phone and
sends it to a certain number, they will immediately receive specific information about the subject.
A new development is the possibility of making payments by the use of a mobile phone. This
can be done in several ways. One example of mobile payments is Payter. Payter gives the consumer
the ability to pay with his mobile phone. The Payter pilot was recently launched in Rotterdam (the
Netherlands). Payter uses a certain wireless technology for secure transactions while another ways of
payment is making payments via SMS.

22
 Location-based services are services where the presence of GPS plays a big role. A lot of the
new phones have a GPS receiver. This makes it easy to install software like navigations software. This
is location based because the user can for instance specify where he wants to go and the phone will
find the shortest path.
Mobile television. This innovation will be discussed in more detail. Mobile television is an
interesting innovation because this is an advanced technology and the expectation of succeeding
differs from person to person.

3 MOBILE TELEVISION

Per definition mobile television is the ability to watch television on a mobile device just like you
would do at home. The idea is that there will be broadcasts for mobile TV and the user can switch
from channel to channel. Mobile television as it is known now is just downloading or watching
streaming video clips.
The development from video clips to “real television” faces technical constraints at this
moment. Some limitations that mobile television adoption faces are that the phone screens are too
small. People are not going to watch a movie or a sports game on a small screen for hours. Another
limitation is that people may not be willing to pay a license fee. On the other hand research shows that
people are interested in this development. The expectation is that by 2012 mobile television will be
accessible by 120 million mobile users in over 40 countries. People are willing to watch TV on a
smaller screen if they do not have another option for example while traveling.
It is hard to say whether mobile television will be a success or not. Mobile television providers
will have to be more innovative.

23
 INNOVATIONS OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION STANDARDS
AND THEIR APPLICATIONS FOR TELECOM COMPANIES

Heuvel, Eveline van den, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 291472eh@student.eur.nl

Fonville, Cosmas, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 281530cf@student.eur.nl

1 INTRODUCTION

This paper is about innovations for telecom companies. It focuses on techniques for mobile
communication standards and their applications. There are many definitions of innovation. We will
use Schilling’s definition: ”The practical implementation of an idea into a new device or process”.
The main research question is: ”What are innovations of mobile communication standards and
their applications for telecom companies?”. There are a lot of mobile communication standards. In this
paper we give an overview of different mobile communication standards in the past, the present and in
the future. These standards give an appropriate perspective from which to view the innovations and
help to understand how they will be developed. After this, we will give a view of factors driving and
limiting innovation. We came to this view by interviewing several companies active in the telecom
sector and with the use of the Internet. This research is relevant because it is important to know about
the different mobile communication standards, the applications made possible through these standards,
why the innovation takes place and where it is going to.

2 THE STANDARDS

There have been many different generations in the telecom industry throughout the years. Nowadays
we are in the third generation, but the mobile industry has started around 1946, when the first mobile
radio telephone was launched. In the early 80s the first analog cell phone made its entry. These periods
are retrospectively being called 0G and 1G.
With the introduction of 2G digital phone calls could be made and that was the beginning of
mobile internet. In this generation there has been defined an extra generation called 2.5G. In this extra
generation GPRS and EDGE came up. Nowadays we are in the third generation in which we use
internet services like UMTS and HSDPA. The fourth generation is coming up and it is estimated that it
will start in 2010. In this generation mobile users will be using WiMAX or HSOPA as Internet
standards. Table 1 is showing the evolution of the generations.

Technology 1G 2G 2.5G 3G 4G
First design 1970 1980 1985 1990 2000
Implementation 1982 1991 1999 2002 2010?
Service Analog voice Digital voice, Packaged data Broadband Unlimited
SMS connection multimedia data
Standards AMPS TDMA, GPRS, EDGE W-CDMA, WiMAX,
CDMA, GSM HSDPA HSOPA
Max. Download 1.9 kbps 14.4 kbps 384 kbps 2 mbps 200 mbps

Table 1. Overview of different generations and their characteristics.

24
3 HOW INNOVATION TAKES PLACE

In the second part of the paper we discuss what is driving the innovation of mobile communication
standards and their applications. In the previous part it became clear that there is a constant
improvement of bandwidth, but why are these standards being improved?
New applications are continuously being developed to provide new functions to mobile
devices. This is done to meet the demands of the customer and to add more functionality to a device.
However, new applications usually require more bandwidth. We discuss whether the applications
drive the innovation of new technologies or not. We found out that most of the available bandwidth is
far from being fully used. There are several reasons for this. First, there are only few applications that
use that much bandwidth. Second, most mobile devices cannot get the maximum out of the
technology, because they are not fast enough to handle the maximum speed. After visiting several
telecom companies it became clear that it is difficult to come up with a good application. By a good
application we mean an application that the consumer will use. Also, that application has to run on
many phones and most phone brands have their own operating system. These are all aspects that have
to be thought of when designing an application. Finally, there is a difference in phone performance;
one phone is faster than another. This can make a difference in the capability of running certain
applications.
In our research, we found that fixed networks are also driving the innovation of mobile
networks. This might sound a bit confusing because fixed networks and mobile networks seem to be
very different. However, there is a constant comparison of mobile and fixed network capabilities.
Fixed networks have always been faster but the mobile network is catching up due to the high rate of
development of new communication standards, making higher speeds possible. In the paper we will
explain the relation between fixed and mobile internet speeds. We found out that there was a relatively
big gap between these speeds, but it becomes smaller because of the innovation in the telecom sector.
Finally, we give our vision of where the mobile communication standards and their
applications will be in the near future. Considering the maximum speeds of wireless and fixed
networks, we think the fixed network will always be faster because it has the advantage of being
wired. At the moment, there are fewer limitations of high speeds through a cable than wireless. In our
vision, this difference will remain because we see it as a material limitation. We think the importance
of other limiting factors, like different mobile devices, will decrease by making better agreements
between telecom companies about application requirements.
For future research it can be interesting to research whether mobile communications will cause
fixed communications to disappear. At the moment we see more and more people having a mobile
phone but no fixed phone. What are the possibilities for mobile internet to replace fixed internet?

25
APPENDIX: CD-ROM

26
VRiSBI International Research
Project

“Innovation and ICT”

Comparing Ireland with The
Netherlands

Please visit http://studiereis2007.vrisbi.nl for the

complete paper of this presentation.
Other papers and presentations are also available.