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The rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is influencing the way we learn. 3D multi-user virtual environments (3D MUVEs) are emerging technology that is increasingly used in computer assisted language learning (CALL). Virtual environments are immersive, virtual worlds that could enhance second language learning (SLL). However, due to the novelty of the medium, the field lacks of a complete, systematic literature review that can support or reject the argument that '3D MUVE can enhance SLL'. The aim of this paper is to map this emerging research field. For this purpose, a published method for conducting systematic literature reviews was employed. Using this method, we identified 128 relevant papers. From these, we selected 32 that included case study results and employed general purpose virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life) rather than games (e.g., Warcraft). The results suggest there is evidence of improvement in learning outcomes, communication skills and motivation. In addition, this paper sheds light on areas requiring further research, such as the instructor's role in a 3D MUVE.

Electronic government (e-government) is high in the agenda of a large number of countries worldwide for more than a decade now. Recently, the concept of transformational government (t-Gov) was introduced to determine the stage of e-government evolution characterised by the radical restructuring of the public sector towards efficiency. The aim of this paper is to understand t-Gov and investigate the level of t-Gov sophistication in Europe by assessing the e-government policies of 18 European Union member states. We first review the relevant literature, to conclude t-Gov embraces nine defining elements namely user-centric services, joined-up government, one-stop government, multichannel service delivery, flexibility, efficiency, increased human skills, organisational change and change of attitude of public servants, and value innovation. We also review e-government assessment frameworks that could be used to evaluate t-Gov sophistication. We thereafter critically examine and compare the degree of t-Gov sophistication of 18 European Union member states. Here, the results suggest that most strategies partially only exploit the full potential of t-Gov. For example, all strategies address user-centric services and most address efficiency, breaking out of silos, and joined-up government. On the other hand, however, no policy addresses constant value creation and value innovation and only a few address flexibility and organisational change and change of attitude. Using a published e-government assessment framework we finally compare progress across Europe with regards to t-Gov.

In tertiary education, new learning processes, technologies and tools are increasingly applied to encourage and underpin students’ involvement. Lately, these include the use of Facebook where users are participators instead of observers. The main aim of this paper is to investigate Facebook’s usage for content generation in tertiary education. For this purpose, we review 19 relevant published cases to investigate the tools used and activities realised, the instructors’ role as well as benefits and problems encountered. The paper concludes that students use tools like the Wall and multimedia uploading to ask questions, discuss and share resources. The role of instructors remains essential but is conversed to a facilitator initiating discussions and providing course-specific material. Finally, there is evidence that students’ participation increases and they learn better. However, Facebook does not provide appropriate tools for educational purposes while privacy remains a main obstacle to its wider adoption.

Enterprise architecture (EA) is essential for both public and private organisations as it provides a holistic approach to align information technology with business objectives. EA implementation is a multidisciplinary, complicated, and endless process. Therefore, successful EA implementation calls for highly-skilled personnel possessing diverse competencies. During the last years a few attempts have been made to identify these competencies. Current works however, provide heterogeneous and fragmented views of the domain, do not distinguish between private and public sector employees and are not interoperable with other generic competence frameworks. This paper aims at proposing an EA competence framework (EA-CF) that provides a holistic view of EA competencies and overcomes existing limitations. We anticipate that EA-CF will assist in obtaining an in depth understanding of EA competencies, will assist in the efficient training of future enterprise architects, and will facilitate the incorporation of EA competencies in more generic competence frameworks.

Open government data (OGD) refers to making public sector information freely available in open formats and ways that enable public access and facilitate exploitation. Lately, a large number of OGD initiatives launched worldwide aiming to implement one-stop portals acting as single points of access to governmental data. At the same time, the so-called linked data technologies emerged aiming at publishing structured data on the web in such a way that enables semantically enriching data, uniform access to data, and linking of data. In this paper, we first propose a classification scheme for OGD initiatives based on the relevant literature. We thereafter, review and analyse OGD initiatives based on the proposed scheme. We finally present an architecture and prototype implementation for the most advanced OGD class in our scheme, which enables linking decentralised data.

The following brief items are outlined: connecting African parliaments and citizens through innovative ICT applications: the Africa4all parliamentary initiative; Highlights of the 2nd International Conference on Electronic Participation – ePart 2010; and the new research roadmap for ICT-enabled governance, from the CROSSROAD project.

In this paper, we present the trainees' view with regards to training on traditional versus contemporary (mainly Web 2.0) information systems topics. The training program was performed within the Digital Enterprise Research Network (DERN); a network of five organisations (three universities and two IT companies) in Greece aiming to promote long-life learning in the field of business administration emphasising the use of ICT technologies. The program trained 20 trainees for 120 hours equally divided between lectures and workshops. In this paper, we first present the profile and motivation of trainees. We, thereafter, survey their views with regards to expectation and value of traditional and contemporary training topics. The early results suggest that trainees expect and value traditional topics higher than contemporary ones.

The introduction of Information and Communication Technologies in the field of public participation has led to the emergence of electronic participation (e-participation). The field of e-participation is rapidly evolving and is characterised by an increasing number of related projects and tools. In this paper we survey e-participation projects financially supported by the European Commission under relevant calls for proposals, i.e., within FP5, FP6, eTen, Interreg and the Preparatory Actions 2006. Our results reveal the total investment in e-participation, the main areas of research, as well as the primary technologies and tools in use within these projects.

The concept of 'life events' has been recently introduced as a straightforward metaphor to map citizens' needs to public services in order to achieve one-stop government. However, despite its widespread adoption, there is currently no systematic work towards understanding and defining life events. The aim of this paper is to create a common understanding of the life-event concept. First, it investigates the life-event concept and proposes a suitable definition. Second, it proposes a preliminary framework for modelling life events based on a simple, systemic model for public services. This framework is validated by means of an example. Finally, available options for implementing a life-event portal are outlined while ideas for the further direction of this work are suggested.