E Inclusion

* This research was selected for the special issue of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), Working Group 8.6 2007 annual conference (see the entry for this conference). This publication is part of the special issue.

Given the importance of contextual influences on the diffusion of innovations, the theories and methodologies that take context into account are increasingly relevant to research and practice. One such approach, the systems of innovation approach, considers context to be a cascading set of effects arising from various participants and innovations surrounding the production and diffusion of a focal innovation. Based on this approach, we focus on a public program involved in the diffusion of e-business systems to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). E-business systems are complex innovations, and the contextual influences are particularly important here, because SMEs often lack the knowledge and resources to strategically adopt, modify, and use these innovations. Using the systems of innovation approach, we examined the contexts around public program interventions with an SME in order to explain their form and influence on e-business adoption processes. The empirical findings suggest that many public programs fail to effectively deliver interventions because program contexts restrict program personnel's ability to completely assess and respond to the range of adopter needs. While some aspects of the program contexts can be altered by the program directors, others are further removed and are currently beyond our collective control at this point-in-time. The implications for diffusion research and practice are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to find out if highly educated individuals with physical disabilities are
employed in the ICT sector. This question is important due to little knowledge thus far despite the fact
that there is a large group of disabled people who have graduated in the ICT sector, however unemployed.
An empirical study was carried out with the help of a qualitative research method based on nine semistructured
interviews. The study showed that disability has a significant impact when people choose the
ICT sector for their studies. In addition, the study showed that people with disabilities can be employed in
the ICT sector.
The study also showed that people with physical disabilities are mainly able to work in the ICT sector
independently and that they integrate into the working community well. It was also significant that almost
all interviewees had a long career with the same employer.

An institutional web site design cannot leave out of consideration the conformity with specific regulations and is a job which involves different and specialized professionalities. Concepts as accessibility and usability must be held into consideration, not neglecting the vital cycle analysis of the contents and as these must be carried towards the web site visitors. The discussion involves the editorial coordination that must guarantee to the user that the entire site is benefited in the same way, with the same clarity and a coherent language, as the contents are produced from various structures. There are detailed instruments and strategies that have brought to the publication of release 3.0 of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità site and it comes back a panoramic on the method with which it has been managed this new project, since the dynamism is a continuous necessity and one of the foundations of the web communication.