The deployment of an electronic medical records (EMR) raises several important issues. Those addressed in this study are the access to such a system, the satisfaction on the security and authorization protocols to follow, the awareness of backup and recovery mechanisms in place, and the appreciation of the training of the IT staff. This qualitative study took place in the natural setting of the medical units' environments. A purposive sample of 40 professionals in Greece and Oman was used. The study underlines that the patients should have access to their records, whereas for the pharmacists the professionals' views are seriously divided. Every other person's access to such a record should be restricted and recorded. The professionals are satisfied with the security level, the ICTs training, and the backup and recovery mechanism in place. They almost all admitted there is an authorization schema followed to access the EMR. The main contribution of the study is the proposal of a framework of policies and procedures for the development of such a system.

An Electronic Medical Record (EMR) is a patient’s database record that can be transmitted securely. There are a diversity of EMR systems for different medical units to choose from. The structure and value of these systems is the focus of this qualitative study, from a medical professional’s standpoint, as well as its economic value and whether it should be shared between health organizations. The study took place in the natural setting of the medical units’ environments. A purposive sample of 40 professionals in Greece and Oman, was interviewed. The study suggests that: (1) The demographics of the EMR should be divided in categories, not all of them accessible and/or visible by all; (2) The EMR system should follow an open architecture so that more categories and subcategories can be added as needed and following a possible business plan (ERD is suggested); (3) The EMR should be implemented gradually bearing in mind both medical and financial concerns; (4) Sharing should be a patient’s decision as the owner of the record. Reaching a certain level of maturity of its implementation and utilization, it is useful to seek the professionals’ assessment on the structure and value of such a system.

This ongoing research is aiming at revealing the current reality of eLearning progress in the Countries of Gulf Council (GCC). A number of diverse types of administrative, technical and general challenges and issues related to eLearning are covered. The first focus, reflected in this paper, was Saudi Arabia due to its political, cultural and religious importance in the GCC and in the Middle East more generally but its size as well. A pre-tested questionnaire was administered for the purpose of data collection both online and offline. The data were gathered from individuals and educational institutions of Saudi Arabia, from all walks of life and from various employment statuses. This first part of the exploratory research study recognizes the slow progress of eLearning in Saudi Arabia and suggests that the main reason behind that is the problems in the local telecommunications and other infrastructure as noted by the survey participants and far less the outcome of weaknesses of the established procedures and facilities available by the local eLearning institutions.

According to studies and surveys conducted world-wide, government incentives and current legal frameworks, private initiatives and investments, technology available at a reasonable price, and public acceptance of the internet as an efficient medium for buying goods and services are driving ecommerce growth. Academics, information technology experts and even politicians in Greece are aware of these essential requirements as well. However, although internet access has grown significantly and the digital foundations are there, ecommerce is yet to reach measurable levels in Greece. This paper attempts to explain the reasons why and suggests corrective actions by all those actively involved with Greek ecommerce.

The ongoing developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) lead IT professionals of the academic environments worldwide to adjust the eLearning Management Systems of their universities' domains in this reality by adopting the new ideas and recommendations. As a direct consequence, the influence on teaching and learning environments is more than emphatic and the challenges revealing the all the more increasing need in utilizing modern learning applications, procedures, and policies more apparent than ever before. Nevertheless, their institutions remain teaching organizations with their core processes focused on the need for education and training of their student bodies often increasing in size, especially in the emerging economies and developing countries. The Middle East and especially the Gulf Council Countries' (GCC) higher education systems are no exception. Saudi Arabia in particular can be considered a special case in the GCC due to its numerous and rather crowded higher education institutions. In this research, a number of diverse types of administrative, technical, and general challenges and issues related to eLearning are covered in order to examine the current situation of eLearning progress in Saudi universities, investigate the obstacles preventing high rates of eLearning development, and discover what kind of learning procedures people of Saudi prefer to accommodate their educational preferences. A pre-tested questionnaire was used for the purpose of data collection. The data were gathered from students of these educational institutions in Saudi Arabia and from other individuals from all walks of life and of various employment statuses. This pilot research study suggested that the main reason behind the slow progress of eLearning in Saudi Arabia is the result of problems in the local telecommunications and other infrastructure, as noted by the survey participants, and far less the outcome of weaknesses of the established procedures and facilities available from the local eLearning institutions.