information system in tourism application and strategy

Smart technologies in tourism: a study using systematic review and grounded theory

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Tourism Big Data Construction and Application Strategy Analysis -- Take Qiqihar Tourism Cultural Resources Publicity as an Example

Xiangkun Li 1 , Zhiwei Tian 2 , Mingli Tian 3 , Yunfeng Han 3 , Ang Li 4 , Xuejuan Zhang 5 , Di Yan 3 and Xinxin Chen 3

Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd Journal of Physics: Conference Series , Volume 1533 , Big Data Citation Xiangkun Li et al 2020 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1533 042061 DOI 10.1088/1742-6596/1533/4/042061

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1 Personnel Department, Qiqihar Medical University No.333, Bukui Street, Jianhua District, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, 161006, P.R. China

2 Foreign Language Department, Qiqihar Medical University No.333, Bukui Street, Jianhua District, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, 161006, P.R. China

3 Qiqihar Medical University No.333, Bukui Street, Jianhua District, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, 161006, P.R. China

4 Qiqihar Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism No.333, Bukui Street, Jianhua District, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, 161006, P.R. China

5 Qiqihar University No.333, Bukui Street, Jianhua District, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, 161006, P.R. China

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With the rapid promotion of big data on the Internet, the construction of "big data" in all walks of life has begun to take root. With the continuous rise of smart scenic spots and smart tourism, it is possible to obtain massive tourism big data. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the construction and application strategy of tourism big data based on the promotion of tourism cultural resources in Qiqihar. First of all, it analyzes the advantages and applicability of spark big data platform, and expounds the system module functions from three main aspects: background management module, information service module and big data analysis module. After studying the algorithm of scoring function, it selects the most commonly used centralized data storage engine on MySQL 5.6.17 for research and test. The experimental results show that the InnoDB storage engine takes 10 to 100 times more time than other engines, and the archive storage engine has the advantages of compressing storage and saving space, which is very suitable for storing visitors' access information. The platform collects the cultural resources of Qiqihar, a new tourism city, through fine classification and index of resources, graphic and multimedia.

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Information Systems in Tourism and Hospitality – An Impact Study

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Application of MIS in Tourism

Document Type : Research Paper

hamid zargham
mahmood alborzi

Whatever the activities of a community or business, they each communicate something about the community or business to consumers. Consumers receive this information through many different sources, or channels. These channels combine to form information systems, which are always functioning, regardless of whether you are managing them or not. If you represent a community or business, it is extremely important to know how to manage information systems to make them work for you. This article identifies the opportunities and needs of a tourism information and reservation system for tourism marketing organization and national tourism industry as a whole. In general, an information system consists of all the ways that people communicate with others. Systems are composed of information channels. These channels may be formal or informal, personal or impersonal, and public or private. Different people, businesses, and communities use information channels in different ways and combinations. A tourism information system is a specific type of information system. It consists of all information channels used in a business or community to promote itself as a tourism attraction. These information channels include commercials, ads, brochures, repeat visitors. employees, friends, and relatives. Information and Communications Technologies are having a big impact on all aspects of tourism. Introducing and using advanced Management Information Systems to transportation, travel, hospitality and entertainment will bring many benefits and changes to the tourism industry. In particular, the Internet, is playing an increasingly significant role in travel and tourism. It has also been discussed that there are three characteristics that all effective tourism information systems have: 1) Each channel the system has its own function. Travelers use different channels to get different kinds of information. An example is deciding where to go on vacation. A person may consult a friend or family member for that decision, but in deciding what to do when he/she gets there, the person may talk with a repeat visitor or employee at the destination site. 2) All the information channels used in the system relate to each other. A tourism information system is like a novel because it has many different parts tied together by the theme. Even though a system's channels serve different functions in providing information, they are all tied together by the projected message. 3) All channels used in the system are interdependent. A tourism information system functions like a puzzle. The different pieces of the system, the channels, are used to communicate with tourists. If any of the puzzle pieces are missing, the puzzle's picture is incomplete. If one or more of the channels used is not dispersing information effectively, or if the information dispersed does not relate to the rest of the system, then the system will not effectively communicate its whole message. If one or more of these characteristics are missing from a tourism information system, then its message will be inconsistent and ineffective.

Volume 7, Issue 27.28 March 2000 Pages 49-62

Receive Date: 21 September 2016
Accept Date: 21 September 2016
Article View: 5,660
PDF Download: 2,010

zargham, H., & alborzi, M. (1998). Application of MIS in Tourism. Management Studies in Development and Evolution , 7 (27.28), 49-62.

hamid zargham; mahmood alborzi. "Application of MIS in Tourism". Management Studies in Development and Evolution , 7, 27.28, 1998, 49-62.

zargham, H., alborzi, M. (1998). 'Application of MIS in Tourism', Management Studies in Development and Evolution , 7(27.28), pp. 49-62.

zargham, H., alborzi, M. Application of MIS in Tourism. Management Studies in Development and Evolution , 1998; 7(27.28): 49-62.

Information Systems in Tourism Industry: Essay Example

Information systems in tourism: introduction, why is information management important in the tourism industry, peculiarities of value chain in tourism industry, uses of information system in tourism, advantages of information systems to tourism companies, disadvantages of adopting information systems in tourism companies, recommendations, what newspaper companies are doing now that they can do better, works cited.

The tourism industry has extensively adopted technological innovations to help serve the demands of its customers. In organizations and institutions, Information Systems is responsible for computers, networking as well as data management.

It supports different kinds of decisions at various levels of hierarchy within organizations. Information technology supports various tourism activities.

The increase in the number of people owning computers connected to the internet in their homes have significantly changed the way tourism consumers identify their destination, make reservations, define the extent of leisure they want to obtain, choose the mode of transportation and many others (Dimanche and Jolly 2).

Many tourism firms continue to explore the diverse applications of information technologies so as to increase the value of their services.

The back-office of tourism firms uses Information Technology to handle routine operational problems as well as to facilitate multi-stakeholders interactions (Parakevas 17). It is also used in yield management.

In the front office, IT is used in managing customer relationships. Information technology is used for many purposes in tourism firms including product development, tourism marketing, data management, developing and interactions among tourism stakeholders and many others (Technovation 576). All these have dramatically improved the value chain of tourism firms.

Tourism industry is both capital and labour-intensive and requires know-how and ability to minimize risks through building up networks. Distribution and marketing adopt co-operative alliance to reduce costs, increase customer value and achieve market extension (Weiermair 2).

According to Poon (114) tourism worldwide has become a relationship and information industry. It has therefore become increasingly important to keep client data.

Tourism industry involves practice-oriented operation, experience as well as knowledge resources in areas such as corporate management, market information plus product features and brands. Value chain in the tourism industry is characterized by tourism products, destinations as well as market segments.

Tourism destinations are the heart of leisure for tourism consumers. The sceneries, parks, museums, monument and historical sites, sports and cultural activities provide great experiences to tourists.

In particular, these destinations include sandy beaches, sand dunes, scenic marine parks, waterfalls, gorges and mountain escarpments; wildlife, rural villages and archaeological sites.

The need for institutional coordination, monitoring as well as the need to pursue existing opportunities in the destinations call for the application of information systems to help manage and communicate effectively.

Tourism organizations continuously build on their destination’s own strength in order to increase their core competencies and provide quality services and products to tourism consumers. Most tourism destination marketing agencies have developed websites which offer different levels of interactivity.

Interactive websites are very important as they provide multiple tourism destination suppliers with opportunity to uniquely assemble the specific components of their destination offer sought by individual tourism consumers.

Tourism companies apply a combination of intermediaries, the internet, brand names as well as business relationships to guide individuals through the wide range of destination options that are available.

Bonera and Corvi (9) believe that the use of branded virtual intermediaries as well as trusted brand names has lowered the risks involved in purchases of tourism products.

Customer order is a very important aspect of tourism value chain. In the tourism industry, tourists have alternatives whenever they are purchasing tourism products.

They have the option of arranging their travel plans by obtaining guidance from tour operators or with the help of outbound travel agents or just arranging travel plans by themselves.

By using tour operators, they can access holiday packages and at the same time, individual arrangements allow flexibility in their travel experiences. They can also use incoming travel agents to make transfer arrangements (Buhalis and O’Connor 13).

The industry has a vertical separation of its services as well as products. It offers visitors products as well as services which include food, accommodation, transportation, entertainment together with shopping services that take place in a natural inter-industry specialization as well as a longer value chain.

Peculiarities in services in tourism organizations are also characterized by tourism industry cluster (Deng 70). Tourism organizations, institutions and associated service companies tend to cluster in particular geographical regions.

This is normally based on competition as well as cooperation among companies in provision of tourism services (Liu, Yin, Yu-Qi 22). Tourism enterprises as well as tourism-related support companies and tourism institutions are normally located around the core tourist attraction.

They have closer economic ties and focus development in specific geographical area. The economic attributes of the industry, the agglomeration of tourism enterprises and support institutions promote tourist and capital flow as well as logistics into the tourist destination while tourism resources attract tourists.

The cluster in the tourism industry takes value chain as the overriding mode. In this case, the linkages between the core tourism resource and performance of enterprises which are within the cluster as tourism suppliers-users relationships are connected through value chain (Deng 71).

Tourism industry cluster promotes interconnectivity of tourism market channels. Marketing channels in each industry within tourism sector can connect the industrial chain food, accommodation, transportation, entertainment, shopping as well as travel. This helps guide development in tourism industry cluster.

It promotes timely market demand and tourism interaction which enables the industry to achieve high customer satisfaction. The vertical markets are highly complex creating the need for strong cooperation among tourist operators.

Travel agencies as well as their suppliers have adopted specific e-procurement initiatives. These are aimed at creating economies of scale through utilizing optimization as well as higher efficiency by adopting online supply systems in the value chain (Baggio and Corigliano 3).

Market segmentation in the tourism industry is achieved by applying elements of e-commerce which facilitate collection large amounts of client data to create marketing-data-bases. This enables tourist organizations to customize supply targeted at different market segments.

Tourism industry provides unique service management aimed at achieve tourism consumer satisfaction. The management of service is targeted at achieving intended consumer delivered value. The driving force for the tourist operators is to provide quality service as perceived by tourism consumers.

The marketing tourist companies are managed such that tourists’ expectations are met timely. Management of services involves putting in place value chain which helps integrate marketing activities, products and services provision, corporate management, production processes as well as resource management. In service management within the tourism sector, interactive communication is very important.

According to Gabriel (11) communication interactions in the service industry make consumers aware of the relationship between the cost of obtaining a service and the expected value. Value chain is applied in managing as well as marketing tourism destinations and products.

Information Systems enable value chain managers communicate with the organization’s partners, suppliers and prospective customers directly. It offers user-friendly access to channels of communication as well as employees of the firm through the use of intranets.

It helps value chain managers coordinate activities among operators, destination management agencies, flight companies as well as hoteliers to help provide higher value services to customers and to leverage the economies of scale.

The coordination enables them share costs so that they can offer fair prices to tourism consumers (OECD Development Centre 26).

Information technology enable value chain managers outsource specific non-core functions of the organization from specialist agencies and business organizations to handle the part or the entire process.

Networking also allows organizations to outsource value added services as well as products from competent and trusted partners. As such, ICTs enable tourism companies expand their value by including continuous products and services and proving greater value-added transactions (Buhalis and O’Connor 16).

Information systems also provide value chain managers with the capacity to use organisation data to perform online transactions. It offers various internal-management applications which facilitate strategic as well as operational management. It also provides marketing applications for value chain managers.

They are therefore able to search for profitable as well as significant niche market segments. The application tools help them identify value-added components and enable them promote differentiated tourism products relevant to particular market segments (Buhalis (b) 806).

Value chain managers use IS to assess elements of the organizations’ external environment, levels of competition within the industry as well as customer needs and accordingly adapt strategies which enable them enhance the organizations’ competitiveness.

This enables them differentiate and add value to their products to suit individual requirements (Buhalis (a) 807).

IS assists value chain managers in Destination Management Systems which are based on different Information Systems. Destination Management Systems utilises different data to represent tourism products as well as services.

DMS assists value chain managers disseminate and exchange information. According to Kanellopoulos, Karahanidis and Panagopoulos (1) destination management organizations use Destination Management Systems to develop marketing channels for tourism destinations and to promote their destinations.

DMS helps value chain managers collect, store, manipulate and in addition distribute tourism information. It also facilitates reservation transactions as well as other commercial activities. It enables value chain managers get access to complete as well as up-date information about other destinations which gives them the capacity to make informed decisions.

For example, it provides knowledge on attractions, accommodation together with travel information among others (Dimanche 14). This is used by destination management organizations in decision-making in destination management.

Information Systems assists destination marketers provide detailed descriptions of intangible products that they offer; photos and videos to help influence tourism consumer purchase decisions.

The description includes the level of expenditure for each package. Tourists often choose among destinations based on the holistic destination attributes (Çetinkaya 1).

How Is Information Management Used in the Tourism Industry?

Information and communication technologies are used in this sector to perform tourism product development, training of tourism personnel, marketing as well as distribution of tourism products. Information systems is used in this industry to perform collaborative filtering.

This is application software that uses customer database built by the company or the intermediaries to classify customers with similar profiles using characteristics such as travel patterns, preferences as well as interests among other characteristics based on previously accumulated data.

The findings are therefore used to customize tourism products and for direct marketing (Menon, and Nath 5). Personalization profiling is also a major application of IS in the tourism industry.

In this case personalization software is used to track and monitor the purchasing trends as well as preferences of tourism consumers. The results are used to customize products and services according to the needs as well as preferences of customers. They can also be used to carry out direct marketing.

Information systems enables electronic transactions through electronic payment. Electronic payment simplifies the buying-payment process and help skip intermediaries.

It helps monitor casual relationships so as to understand the correlation between the impacts of the company’s advertisements and the outcome purchase patterns (Menon, and Nath 5).

Tourism organizations also utilize the application of Virtual Reality and Web Casting. This provides cyberspace vacation experience to tourism consumers through the internet.

It enables customers to have perfect of view of the destination they are planning to visit. The technology is used by tourism organizations to market their products and services (Menon, and Nath 6).

Video conferencing is also used by tourism companies to communicate with each other regardless of the spatial location. It allows geographically dispersed tourism companies and service providers to cooperate (Menon, and Nath 7).

Tourism organizations also use Computer Reservation Systems as well as Global Distribution Systems to aid reservations. CRS allows tourism organizations and service providers to communicate with the travel agents.

The system helps increase sales volume as it provides information on available tourism products and is also utilized in selling the product. GDS on the other hand distributes reservation as well as information services particularly to sales outlets worldwide ((Menon, and Nath 7).

Information systems is used by tourism firms to assemble packages which are reflective of the market. It enables tourism companies research on the best offers in the market and use them to assemble their packages.

The packages are made in air travels, flight bookings through global reservation system, accommodation and transfers as well as add-on services.

Information systems enable tourism firms reinvent tourism packages with greater individual-focused activity thereby providing huge opportunities for intermediaries and principals. This helps enhance the total quality of the ultimate product.

Information systems are used in the tourism industry to enable tourism consumers to identify, customize and acquire tourism services and products.

It helps develop, manage and distribute offers to tourism consumers worldwide. Information technology has become a major determinant of tourism organizations’ competitiveness.

Information systems can help lower administration as well as production costs through integration of internal data and processes.

Tourist organizations can reduce communication and operational costs by incorporating operational systems, capitalizing on internal efficiencies, lowering the labour costs in the back office and empowering tourism consumers to have timely access to information.

ICTs contribute to the decline of distribution costs incurred by tourism companies as more consumers can now serve themselves online. Tourism firms are also able to reduce the costs associated with purchases since they have the capacity to access marketplaces through ecommerce.

Moreover, it helps them reduce administrative costs associated with procurements since they have ecommerce connection with suppliers (Buhalis and O’Connor 13).

Networking channels both within tourism organizations and between partner organizations supports communication within the industry and individual tourism firms.

The growth of the internet and the development of intranets and extranets within and between companies help support communication between organizations, external partners, units and employees within an organization.

Intranets as well as Enterprise Resource Planning systems enhances coordination of departments, functions and processes which enable the organization to reduce labour costs. Information and communication technology also supports the adoption integrated electronic infrastructure.

Interoperability helps increase efficiency and responsiveness and therefore makes informed decisions. Information systems thus empower employees in the organization to improve their performance. This increases internal efficiency as well as effectiveness.

Extranets on the other hand enhances interoperability as well as interactivity between organizations. This promotes formulation of alliances that help build complementary services and to also expand reach.

Tourism firms have consistently applied information systems in yield management. Information technology supports accurate demand estimates as well as decisions to either change capacity or price in order to optimize revenue (Enz and Withiam 32).

Yield management involves coordinating calendar, capacity, cost, time as well as customer. It enables organizations match services timing as well as pricing to tourism consumers’ willingness to pay depending on its timing in addition to demand from other tourist consumers.

ICTs provide revenue-management with critical information regarding previous demand patterns, events affecting demand as well as competitor pricing. In addition, it provides consistent interactivity with consumers and organization partners which enable competitive and flexible pricing (Enz and Withiam 32).

They provide the capacity to monitor sales allowing tourist firms to adjust their products or prices (Buhalis (b) 417). It also facilitates promotional campaigns.

It alerts tourist organizations on excess demand or capacity and therefore they are able to divert their capacity to profitable segments of the market. The internet provides the capacity to make online auctions for disposing distressed capacity and to advertise last minute offers. These help acquire additional revenue.

Tourism firms use information technology to project demand, schedules as well as to monitor the expected carrier capacity factors before deciding on visitors’ capacity and expansion into new markets. ICTs also enhance direct distribution of tourism products which is a very important function for raising revenues.

Distributing tourism products directly enable tourist companies save fees plus commission. In the process, the organization also reinforces its brand as it engages with consumers (Buhalis and O’Connor 12).

The ability to sell products directly to consumers increases customer loyalty to the individual organizations and hence reduces leakages to competitors.

Tourism organizations use ICTs to build awareness and promotions through websites and search engines optimization, pop-ups and newsletters. It provides tourism organizations with the capacity to build as well as to maintain websites internally and through their partners.

This enables them to achieve a global presence as well as partnerships throughout the world. Small tourism firms are also able to develop their virtual size.

According to Buhalis and Licata (212) the internet enables tourism companies to expand their value chain as well as promote their products and brands by means of a combination of systems alongside partners.

Initial investment into Information Systems is very costly. Implementation of application programmes such as GDS, GIS, CRS among other applications require massive investments since they involve complex network of large mainframe computers, PCs as well as telecommunications. Besides, the investment may not give immediate returns (Menon, and Nath 7).

Maintenance of the network system is also expensive. It requires high level expertise which is expensive and not easily available. Moreover, the application programmess are constantly modified meaning that the programmes have to be updated every time and again. These increase the operational costs of tourism organizations.

The availability of communication networks allows consumers to access tourism information and obtain products and services from several tourist companies. They therefore become more experienced and sophisticated making it difficult to please them.

Internet enhances the development of virtual corporations and increases globalization. This brings more market players in the tourism industry which in turn complicates the distribution channels raising heterogeneity as well as requiring standardization.

Information systems is a key component of tourism organizations. Organizations therefore need to optimize its applications in value chain management and operation within the industry by adopting the following measures:

Build intranets and extranets and also develop business partnerships. It is has been noted that tourists choose among destinations based on the total attributes of the destination. Extranets will help create partnerships and coordinate partnerships activities. Competition in the tourism industry is heightened and is characterized by network of interactions between tourist organizations and related service providers.
Connect the company’s information systems infrastructure to the internet. Internet enhances the company’s marketing abilities and also helps increase value and customization of tourism products. By building a more interactive website with optimized search engines, the company empowers tourism consumers to acquire all its tourism information. This will help value chain managers including destination management organizations to interact more with the customers, reduce the cost of distribution and achieve greater customer loyalty. This will in turn help build a virtual value chain and increase the company’s virtual size.
Offer comprehensive services that enable tourism consumers to arrange their travel over the internet at one site.
Develop an integrated reservation system for the whole cluster or group of partners. This will enable customers to make reservations for all parts of their vacation in just one transaction. Integrated reservation system facilitates customization by empowering the customer to create his or her own tour in a way that suits him or her.
Maintain a database that allows the company or the intermediary to keep an accurate profile of each visitor. This will facilitate customization of services to each tourist.

Newspaper and Technology

Newspaper publishers today have built websites that they use to provide online published news to consumers. Online media services offer internet users instant and free of charge access to information and therefore most consumers have come to prefer to read newspapers online.

Newspaper publishers mostly rely on their sales staff to sell most of their products and therefore limiting their revenues. Most newspaper publishers tend to rely on print products to generate their revenue since they find them easier to monitor as compared to web products.

This implies that traditional newspapers have to reinvent value chains as well as business models that enable them increase their revenues. They need to restrict some of their articles to paid subscribers so as to obtain revenue from online newspaper publications (Graham and Sacha 9).

They also have to use advertisements to promote the coming newspaper’s articles and encourage subscription or purchase of the newspaper.

Newspaper publishers have to capitalize on the broad realm of online opportunities available both in the local and international market. This will help them offset the increasing declines in revenue which is the core of the business.

A few newspaper publishers have adopted video presentation of particular news which they consider significant.

All online newspaper publishers have to adopt the virtual reality as well as web casting applications that create value chain to the publishers by extending this to advertisements available to all paid subscribers as well as non-subscribers.

Adding videos to the news presented through online publication would be more appealing to the current visitors of the internet and new consumers. They also have to negotiate for more advertisement contracts so as to balance between news and advertisements.

The online advertisements should be made more attractive and should provide much detail of the products, services, brands and destinations they advertise so as to achieve customer loyalty and increase revenue from online publishing.

They should therefore develop more attractive newspapers and adopt presentation formats that are appealing to customers. They have to empower the capability of subscribers to optimize search engines to obtain information they want to read with much ease.

They have to increase traffic in their websites through search-engine marketing, website design as well as search engine optimization (American Press Institute 17). This will help its advertising businesses better reach their target customers.

They need to use other major websites such as Yahoo, Google, MySpace, Facebook as well as other major websites with powerful search engines which could help connect hard-to-reach consumers (American Press Institute 17).

The websites need to be more interactive so that corporate companies and individuals can order their daily newspapers online which can then be delivered to them in their locations or via mail. Printing quality newspapers and delivering to homes and institutions increases readership and customer loyalty to the newspaper.

They should use the websites to collect information on customers’ news preference and interests and therefore customize the newspapers to reflect the behaviors of the customers.

In addition, newspaper publishers which utilize the internet to distribute information should update news content on their websites more often (Graham and Sacha 36).

Newspapers have continuously developed and maintained social networks to help interact with consumers and achieve diverse sources of news content. However, they do little to achieve customer loyalty and create new audiences through their social networks.

They therefore have to identify consumer groups and develop online user communities. This will bring together consumers with similar interests and keep them engaged.

The target groups will extend their activities to paid search engines in their areas of interest. This could also increase circulation of newspaper copies via mail or through traditional sales.

By creating online discussion groups or communities, the newspaper company gets the opportunity to acquire user-generated content such as uploaded photos, written news articles and any other information content to increase its information sources (American Press Institute 24).

Newspapers highly depend on advertisements to earn revenues from published newspapers. Advertising is therefore an important element of value chain in this industry considering their contribution to revenue as well as financial sustainability of newspaper’s operations.

Newspaper publishers have to outsource more advertisement contracts and also increase their in-house collaboration with advertising agencies. Newspaper companies can use the internet to expand partnerships with large advertising agencies worldwide so that they are able to acquire local and international advertisement contracts.

Online advertisements presented on websites should provide for gift certificates from small or local businesses as well as rewards websites which offer coupons to customers so as to retain subscribers. This will add value to the products provided online as well as the website.

Local businesses would be able to use money-saving coupons in buying coupon advertising. The newspapers would also be paid through gift certificates which they can resell through their websites at a discount to customers.

These will eliminate the cost barrier to advertising especially by small business and therefore encourage advertising (American Press Institute 37).

Although newspaper publishers have adopted internet applications, they do not use the internet to advertise themselves. They sell their print newspapers to hotels and airlines at cheaper prices as a way of achieving international reputation and global brand so as to boost their advertising opportunities (Graham and Sacha 35).

They should use pop-ups to advertise their brand names as well as their advertisement space and also advertise on other established websites so that they can increase their virtual size. This will enable international companies easily know about them and contract them to perform international advertisements.

There is significant cooperation among companies in the media industry (Karla 638). Today, the newspaper industry is characterized by partnerships through content sharing and in organizing for information collection trips from far locations. They also make syndication deals between themselves.

These partnerships enable newspaper companies reduce costs of operation while focusing on ways of building their brands and core competencies as well as reinventing methods of creating value chains in their activities. Through content sharing agreements, they are able to reduce or cut completely the fees they pay to news wires.

They are also able to reduce risks by sharing costs among publishing partners. However, these partnerships are limited in activities. The partnerships would be more beneficial if they shared core technologies of news collection and production.

In addition, newspaper partners would increase their value chain if they could agree to use each other’s market channels. This would give them the opportunity to market their brands, products and advertisement space on their partners’ websites and provide links to their websites.

They would also be able to use other channels of marketing adopted by their partners including their newspapers.

In most cases, these partnerships are limited to their regions of coverage. They should extend their partnerships to international level to enable them acquire more diverse news contents and develop international brands.

By making partnerships with many newspaper publishers, the company is able to connect as well as touch every consumer including several businesses.

This would give the company an opportunity to reach consumers who want and are able to afford mass-reach advertising. The American Press Institute (1) describes these advantages as local information as well as connection utility.

Although newspaper publishers have adopted technologies that enable them efficiently and effectively collect and produce news both in print and online publications, most of them do not provide broad news content.

Journalists are able to gather news online by collecting information from websites and using internet applications to watch live events. This gives them the capacity to present accurate news without travelling to the points of where the events have taken place.

They also use mobile technologies and GIS systems to deliver information instantly regardless of the distance from the media house. User interface, advanced mobile as well as wireless networks technologies have significantly improved value chain in information gathering and delivery to media houses.

The development of kindle and e-reader has changed the way people access information (Graham and Sacha 40). GIS enables the transmitting of large amount of data in the shortest time possible from news wire or journalists collecting information from frequently visited locations.

However, news content presented by newspapers is less as compared to other online publishers including the non-profit generating websites.

They should be able to take advantage of the technologies available to present the highest-band-width information to consumers so as to be able to meet the wide demographic trends. This will enable the companies to better serve the information needs of every consumer group.

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Open access
Published: 18 April 2024

Research ethics and artificial intelligence for global health: perspectives from the global forum on bioethics in research

James Shaw 1 , 13 ,
Joseph Ali 2 , 3 ,
Caesar A. Atuire 4 , 5 ,
Phaik Yeong Cheah 6 ,
Armando Guio Español 7 ,
Judy Wawira Gichoya 8 ,
Adrienne Hunt 9 ,
Daudi Jjingo 10 ,
Katherine Littler 9 ,
Daniela Paolotti 11 &
Effy Vayena 12

BMC Medical Ethics volume 25 , Article number: 46 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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The ethical governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health care and public health continues to be an urgent issue for attention in policy, research, and practice. In this paper we report on central themes related to challenges and strategies for promoting ethics in research involving AI in global health, arising from the Global Forum on Bioethics in Research (GFBR), held in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2022.

The GFBR is an annual meeting organized by the World Health Organization and supported by the Wellcome Trust, the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the South African MRC. The forum aims to bring together ethicists, researchers, policymakers, research ethics committee members and other actors to engage with challenges and opportunities specifically related to research ethics. In 2022 the focus of the GFBR was “Ethics of AI in Global Health Research”. The forum consisted of 6 case study presentations, 16 governance presentations, and a series of small group and large group discussions. A total of 87 participants attended the forum from 31 countries around the world, representing disciplines of bioethics, AI, health policy, health professional practice, research funding, and bioinformatics. In this paper, we highlight central insights arising from GFBR 2022.

We describe the significance of four thematic insights arising from the forum: (1) Appropriateness of building AI, (2) Transferability of AI systems, (3) Accountability for AI decision-making and outcomes, and (4) Individual consent. We then describe eight recommendations for governance leaders to enhance the ethical governance of AI in global health research, addressing issues such as AI impact assessments, environmental values, and fair partnerships.

Conclusions

The 2022 Global Forum on Bioethics in Research illustrated several innovations in ethical governance of AI for global health research, as well as several areas in need of urgent attention internationally. This summary is intended to inform international and domestic efforts to strengthen research ethics and support the evolution of governance leadership to meet the demands of AI in global health research.

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Introduction

The ethical governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health care and public health continues to be an urgent issue for attention in policy, research, and practice [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Beyond the growing number of AI applications being implemented in health care, capabilities of AI models such as Large Language Models (LLMs) expand the potential reach and significance of AI technologies across health-related fields [ 4 , 5 ]. Discussion about effective, ethical governance of AI technologies has spanned a range of governance approaches, including government regulation, organizational decision-making, professional self-regulation, and research ethics review [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. In this paper, we report on central themes related to challenges and strategies for promoting ethics in research involving AI in global health research, arising from the Global Forum on Bioethics in Research (GFBR), held in Cape Town, South Africa in November 2022. Although applications of AI for research, health care, and public health are diverse and advancing rapidly, the insights generated at the forum remain highly relevant from a global health perspective. After summarizing important context for work in this domain, we highlight categories of ethical issues emphasized at the forum for attention from a research ethics perspective internationally. We then outline strategies proposed for research, innovation, and governance to support more ethical AI for global health.

In this paper, we adopt the definition of AI systems provided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as our starting point. Their definition states that an AI system is “a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. AI systems are designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy” [ 9 ]. The conceptualization of an algorithm as helping to constitute an AI system, along with hardware, other elements of software, and a particular context of use, illustrates the wide variety of ways in which AI can be applied. We have found it useful to differentiate applications of AI in research as those classified as “AI systems for discovery” and “AI systems for intervention”. An AI system for discovery is one that is intended to generate new knowledge, for example in drug discovery or public health research in which researchers are seeking potential targets for intervention, innovation, or further research. An AI system for intervention is one that directly contributes to enacting an intervention in a particular context, for example informing decision-making at the point of care or assisting with accuracy in a surgical procedure.

The mandate of the GFBR is to take a broad view of what constitutes research and its regulation in global health, with special attention to bioethics in Low- and Middle- Income Countries. AI as a group of technologies demands such a broad view. AI development for health occurs in a variety of environments, including universities and academic health sciences centers where research ethics review remains an important element of the governance of science and innovation internationally [ 10 , 11 ]. In these settings, research ethics committees (RECs; also known by different names such as Institutional Review Boards or IRBs) make decisions about the ethical appropriateness of projects proposed by researchers and other institutional members, ultimately determining whether a given project is allowed to proceed on ethical grounds [ 12 ].

However, research involving AI for health also takes place in large corporations and smaller scale start-ups, which in some jurisdictions fall outside the scope of research ethics regulation. In the domain of AI, the question of what constitutes research also becomes blurred. For example, is the development of an algorithm itself considered a part of the research process? Or only when that algorithm is tested under the formal constraints of a systematic research methodology? In this paper we take an inclusive view, in which AI development is included in the definition of research activity and within scope for our inquiry, regardless of the setting in which it takes place. This broad perspective characterizes the approach to “research ethics” we take in this paper, extending beyond the work of RECs to include the ethical analysis of the wide range of activities that constitute research as the generation of new knowledge and intervention in the world.

Ethical governance of AI in global health

The ethical governance of AI for global health has been widely discussed in recent years. The World Health Organization (WHO) released its guidelines on ethics and governance of AI for health in 2021, endorsing a set of six ethical principles and exploring the relevance of those principles through a variety of use cases. The WHO guidelines also provided an overview of AI governance, defining governance as covering “a range of steering and rule-making functions of governments and other decision-makers, including international health agencies, for the achievement of national health policy objectives conducive to universal health coverage.” (p. 81) The report usefully provided a series of recommendations related to governance of seven domains pertaining to AI for health: data, benefit sharing, the private sector, the public sector, regulation, policy observatories/model legislation, and global governance. The report acknowledges that much work is yet to be done to advance international cooperation on AI governance, especially related to prioritizing voices from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) in global dialogue.

One important point emphasized in the WHO report that reinforces the broader literature on global governance of AI is the distribution of responsibility across a wide range of actors in the AI ecosystem. This is especially important to highlight when focused on research for global health, which is specifically about work that transcends national borders. Alami et al. (2020) discussed the unique risks raised by AI research in global health, ranging from the unavailability of data in many LMICs required to train locally relevant AI models to the capacity of health systems to absorb new AI technologies that demand the use of resources from elsewhere in the system. These observations illustrate the need to identify the unique issues posed by AI research for global health specifically, and the strategies that can be employed by all those implicated in AI governance to promote ethically responsible use of AI in global health research.

RECs and the regulation of research involving AI

RECs represent an important element of the governance of AI for global health research, and thus warrant further commentary as background to our paper. Despite the importance of RECs, foundational questions have been raised about their capabilities to accurately understand and address ethical issues raised by studies involving AI. Rahimzadeh et al. (2023) outlined how RECs in the United States are under-prepared to align with recent federal policy requiring that RECs review data sharing and management plans with attention to the unique ethical issues raised in AI research for health [ 13 ]. Similar research in South Africa identified variability in understanding of existing regulations and ethical issues associated with health-related big data sharing and management among research ethics committee members [ 14 , 15 ]. The effort to address harms accruing to groups or communities as opposed to individuals whose data are included in AI research has also been identified as a unique challenge for RECs [ 16 , 17 ]. Doerr and Meeder (2022) suggested that current regulatory frameworks for research ethics might actually prevent RECs from adequately addressing such issues, as they are deemed out of scope of REC review [ 16 ]. Furthermore, research in the United Kingdom and Canada has suggested that researchers using AI methods for health tend to distinguish between ethical issues and social impact of their research, adopting an overly narrow view of what constitutes ethical issues in their work [ 18 ].

The challenges for RECs in adequately addressing ethical issues in AI research for health care and public health exceed a straightforward survey of ethical considerations. As Ferretti et al. (2021) contend, some capabilities of RECs adequately cover certain issues in AI-based health research, such as the common occurrence of conflicts of interest where researchers who accept funds from commercial technology providers are implicitly incentivized to produce results that align with commercial interests [ 12 ]. However, some features of REC review require reform to adequately meet ethical needs. Ferretti et al. outlined weaknesses of RECs that are longstanding and those that are novel to AI-related projects, proposing a series of directions for development that are regulatory, procedural, and complementary to REC functionality. The work required on a global scale to update the REC function in response to the demands of research involving AI is substantial.

These issues take greater urgency in the context of global health [ 19 ]. Teixeira da Silva (2022) described the global practice of “ethics dumping”, where researchers from high income countries bring ethically contentious practices to RECs in low-income countries as a strategy to gain approval and move projects forward [ 20 ]. Although not yet systematically documented in AI research for health, risk of ethics dumping in AI research is high. Evidence is already emerging of practices of “health data colonialism”, in which AI researchers and developers from large organizations in high-income countries acquire data to build algorithms in LMICs to avoid stricter regulations [ 21 ]. This specific practice is part of a larger collection of practices that characterize health data colonialism, involving the broader exploitation of data and the populations they represent primarily for commercial gain [ 21 , 22 ]. As an additional complication, AI algorithms trained on data from high-income contexts are unlikely to apply in straightforward ways to LMIC settings [ 21 , 23 ]. In the context of global health, there is widespread acknowledgement about the need to not only enhance the knowledge base of REC members about AI-based methods internationally, but to acknowledge the broader shifts required to encourage their capabilities to more fully address these and other ethical issues associated with AI research for health [ 8 ].

Although RECs are an important part of the story of the ethical governance of AI for global health research, they are not the only part. The responsibilities of supra-national entities such as the World Health Organization, national governments, organizational leaders, commercial AI technology providers, health care professionals, and other groups continue to be worked out internationally. In this context of ongoing work, examining issues that demand attention and strategies to address them remains an urgent and valuable task.

The GFBR is an annual meeting organized by the World Health Organization and supported by the Wellcome Trust, the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the South African MRC. The forum aims to bring together ethicists, researchers, policymakers, REC members and other actors to engage with challenges and opportunities specifically related to research ethics. Each year the GFBR meeting includes a series of case studies and keynotes presented in plenary format to an audience of approximately 100 people who have applied and been competitively selected to attend, along with small-group breakout discussions to advance thinking on related issues. The specific topic of the forum changes each year, with past topics including ethical issues in research with people living with mental health conditions (2021), genome editing (2019), and biobanking/data sharing (2018). The forum is intended to remain grounded in the practical challenges of engaging in research ethics, with special interest in low resource settings from a global health perspective. A post-meeting fellowship scheme is open to all LMIC participants, providing a unique opportunity to apply for funding to further explore and address the ethical challenges that are identified during the meeting.

In 2022, the focus of the GFBR was “Ethics of AI in Global Health Research”. The forum consisted of 6 case study presentations (both short and long form) reporting on specific initiatives related to research ethics and AI for health, and 16 governance presentations (both short and long form) reporting on actual approaches to governing AI in different country settings. A keynote presentation from Professor Effy Vayena addressed the topic of the broader context for AI ethics in a rapidly evolving field. A total of 87 participants attended the forum from 31 countries around the world, representing disciplines of bioethics, AI, health policy, health professional practice, research funding, and bioinformatics. The 2-day forum addressed a wide range of themes. The conference report provides a detailed overview of each of the specific topics addressed while a policy paper outlines the cross-cutting themes (both documents are available at the GFBR website: https://www.gfbr.global/past-meetings/16th-forum-cape-town-south-africa-29-30-november-2022/ ). As opposed to providing a detailed summary in this paper, we aim to briefly highlight central issues raised, solutions proposed, and the challenges facing the research ethics community in the years to come.

In this way, our primary aim in this paper is to present a synthesis of the challenges and opportunities raised at the GFBR meeting and in the planning process, followed by our reflections as a group of authors on their significance for governance leaders in the coming years. We acknowledge that the views represented at the meeting and in our results are a partial representation of the universe of views on this topic; however, the GFBR leadership invested a great deal of resources in convening a deeply diverse and thoughtful group of researchers and practitioners working on themes of bioethics related to AI for global health including those based in LMICs. We contend that it remains rare to convene such a strong group for an extended time and believe that many of the challenges and opportunities raised demand attention for more ethical futures of AI for health. Nonetheless, our results are primarily descriptive and are thus not explicitly grounded in a normative argument. We make effort in the Discussion section to contextualize our results by describing their significance and connecting them to broader efforts to reform global health research and practice.

Uniquely important ethical issues for AI in global health research

Presentations and group dialogue over the course of the forum raised several issues for consideration, and here we describe four overarching themes for the ethical governance of AI in global health research. Brief descriptions of each issue can be found in Table 1 . Reports referred to throughout the paper are available at the GFBR website provided above.

The first overarching thematic issue relates to the appropriateness of building AI technologies in response to health-related challenges in the first place. Case study presentations referred to initiatives where AI technologies were highly appropriate, such as in ear shape biometric identification to more accurately link electronic health care records to individual patients in Zambia (Alinani Simukanga). Although important ethical issues were raised with respect to privacy, trust, and community engagement in this initiative, the AI-based solution was appropriately matched to the challenge of accurately linking electronic records to specific patient identities. In contrast, forum participants raised questions about the appropriateness of an initiative using AI to improve the quality of handwashing practices in an acute care hospital in India (Niyoshi Shah), which led to gaming the algorithm. Overall, participants acknowledged the dangers of techno-solutionism, in which AI researchers and developers treat AI technologies as the most obvious solutions to problems that in actuality demand much more complex strategies to address [ 24 ]. However, forum participants agreed that RECs in different contexts have differing degrees of power to raise issues of the appropriateness of an AI-based intervention.

The second overarching thematic issue related to whether and how AI-based systems transfer from one national health context to another. One central issue raised by a number of case study presentations related to the challenges of validating an algorithm with data collected in a local environment. For example, one case study presentation described a project that would involve the collection of personally identifiable data for sensitive group identities, such as tribe, clan, or religion, in the jurisdictions involved (South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and the US; Gakii Masunga). Doing so would enable the team to ensure that those groups were adequately represented in the dataset to ensure the resulting algorithm was not biased against specific community groups when deployed in that context. However, some members of these communities might desire to be represented in the dataset, whereas others might not, illustrating the need to balance autonomy and inclusivity. It was also widely recognized that collecting these data is an immense challenge, particularly when historically oppressive practices have led to a low-trust environment for international organizations and the technologies they produce. It is important to note that in some countries such as South Africa and Rwanda, it is illegal to collect information such as race and tribal identities, re-emphasizing the importance for cultural awareness and avoiding “one size fits all” solutions.

The third overarching thematic issue is related to understanding accountabilities for both the impacts of AI technologies and governance decision-making regarding their use. Where global health research involving AI leads to longer-term harms that might fall outside the usual scope of issues considered by a REC, who is to be held accountable, and how? This question was raised as one that requires much further attention, with law being mixed internationally regarding the mechanisms available to hold researchers, innovators, and their institutions accountable over the longer term. However, it was recognized in breakout group discussion that many jurisdictions are developing strong data protection regimes related specifically to international collaboration for research involving health data. For example, Kenya’s Data Protection Act requires that any internationally funded projects have a local principal investigator who will hold accountability for how data are shared and used [ 25 ]. The issue of research partnerships with commercial entities was raised by many participants in the context of accountability, pointing toward the urgent need for clear principles related to strategies for engagement with commercial technology companies in global health research.

The fourth and final overarching thematic issue raised here is that of consent. The issue of consent was framed by the widely shared recognition that models of individual, explicit consent might not produce a supportive environment for AI innovation that relies on the secondary uses of health-related datasets to build AI algorithms. Given this recognition, approaches such as community oversight of health data uses were suggested as a potential solution. However, the details of implementing such community oversight mechanisms require much further attention, particularly given the unique perspectives on health data in different country settings in global health research. Furthermore, some uses of health data do continue to require consent. One case study of South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda suggested that when health data are shared across borders, individual consent remains necessary when data is transferred from certain countries (Nezerith Cengiz). Broader clarity is necessary to support the ethical governance of health data uses for AI in global health research.

Recommendations for ethical governance of AI in global health research

Dialogue at the forum led to a range of suggestions for promoting ethical conduct of AI research for global health, related to the various roles of actors involved in the governance of AI research broadly defined. The strategies are written for actors we refer to as “governance leaders”, those people distributed throughout the AI for global health research ecosystem who are responsible for ensuring the ethical and socially responsible conduct of global health research involving AI (including researchers themselves). These include RECs, government regulators, health care leaders, health professionals, corporate social accountability officers, and others. Enacting these strategies would bolster the ethical governance of AI for global health more generally, enabling multiple actors to fulfill their roles related to governing research and development activities carried out across multiple organizations, including universities, academic health sciences centers, start-ups, and technology corporations. Specific suggestions are summarized in Table 2 .

First, forum participants suggested that governance leaders including RECs, should remain up to date on recent advances in the regulation of AI for health. Regulation of AI for health advances rapidly and takes on different forms in jurisdictions around the world. RECs play an important role in governance, but only a partial role; it was deemed important for RECs to acknowledge how they fit within a broader governance ecosystem in order to more effectively address the issues within their scope. Not only RECs but organizational leaders responsible for procurement, researchers, and commercial actors should all commit to efforts to remain up to date about the relevant approaches to regulating AI for health care and public health in jurisdictions internationally. In this way, governance can more adequately remain up to date with advances in regulation.

Second, forum participants suggested that governance leaders should focus on ethical governance of health data as a basis for ethical global health AI research. Health data are considered the foundation of AI development, being used to train AI algorithms for various uses [ 26 ]. By focusing on ethical governance of health data generation, sharing, and use, multiple actors will help to build an ethical foundation for AI development among global health researchers.

Third, forum participants believed that governance processes should incorporate AI impact assessments where appropriate. An AI impact assessment is the process of evaluating the potential effects, both positive and negative, of implementing an AI algorithm on individuals, society, and various stakeholders, generally over time frames specified in advance of implementation [ 27 ]. Although not all types of AI research in global health would warrant an AI impact assessment, this is especially relevant for those studies aiming to implement an AI system for intervention into health care or public health. Organizations such as RECs can use AI impact assessments to boost understanding of potential harms at the outset of a research project, encouraging researchers to more deeply consider potential harms in the development of their study.

Fourth, forum participants suggested that governance decisions should incorporate the use of environmental impact assessments, or at least the incorporation of environment values when assessing the potential impact of an AI system. An environmental impact assessment involves evaluating and anticipating the potential environmental effects of a proposed project to inform ethical decision-making that supports sustainability [ 28 ]. Although a relatively new consideration in research ethics conversations [ 29 ], the environmental impact of building technologies is a crucial consideration for the public health commitment to environmental sustainability. Governance leaders can use environmental impact assessments to boost understanding of potential environmental harms linked to AI research projects in global health over both the shorter and longer terms.

Fifth, forum participants suggested that governance leaders should require stronger transparency in the development of AI algorithms in global health research. Transparency was considered essential in the design and development of AI algorithms for global health to ensure ethical and accountable decision-making throughout the process. Furthermore, whether and how researchers have considered the unique contexts into which such algorithms may be deployed can be surfaced through stronger transparency, for example in describing what primary considerations were made at the outset of the project and which stakeholders were consulted along the way. Sharing information about data provenance and methods used in AI development will also enhance the trustworthiness of the AI-based research process.

Sixth, forum participants suggested that governance leaders can encourage or require community engagement at various points throughout an AI project. It was considered that engaging patients and communities is crucial in AI algorithm development to ensure that the technology aligns with community needs and values. However, participants acknowledged that this is not a straightforward process. Effective community engagement requires lengthy commitments to meeting with and hearing from diverse communities in a given setting, and demands a particular set of skills in communication and dialogue that are not possessed by all researchers. Encouraging AI researchers to begin this process early and build long-term partnerships with community members is a promising strategy to deepen community engagement in AI research for global health. One notable recommendation was that research funders have an opportunity to incentivize and enable community engagement with funds dedicated to these activities in AI research in global health.

Seventh, forum participants suggested that governance leaders can encourage researchers to build strong, fair partnerships between institutions and individuals across country settings. In a context of longstanding imbalances in geopolitical and economic power, fair partnerships in global health demand a priori commitments to share benefits related to advances in medical technologies, knowledge, and financial gains. Although enforcement of this point might be beyond the remit of RECs, commentary will encourage researchers to consider stronger, fairer partnerships in global health in the longer term.

Eighth, it became evident that it is necessary to explore new forms of regulatory experimentation given the complexity of regulating a technology of this nature. In addition, the health sector has a series of particularities that make it especially complicated to generate rules that have not been previously tested. Several participants highlighted the desire to promote spaces for experimentation such as regulatory sandboxes or innovation hubs in health. These spaces can have several benefits for addressing issues surrounding the regulation of AI in the health sector, such as: (i) increasing the capacities and knowledge of health authorities about this technology; (ii) identifying the major problems surrounding AI regulation in the health sector; (iii) establishing possibilities for exchange and learning with other authorities; (iv) promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in AI in health; and (vi) identifying the need to regulate AI in this sector and update other existing regulations.

Ninth and finally, forum participants believed that the capabilities of governance leaders need to evolve to better incorporate expertise related to AI in ways that make sense within a given jurisdiction. With respect to RECs, for example, it might not make sense for every REC to recruit a member with expertise in AI methods. Rather, it will make more sense in some jurisdictions to consult with members of the scientific community with expertise in AI when research protocols are submitted that demand such expertise. Furthermore, RECs and other approaches to research governance in jurisdictions around the world will need to evolve in order to adopt the suggestions outlined above, developing processes that apply specifically to the ethical governance of research using AI methods in global health.

Research involving the development and implementation of AI technologies continues to grow in global health, posing important challenges for ethical governance of AI in global health research around the world. In this paper we have summarized insights from the 2022 GFBR, focused specifically on issues in research ethics related to AI for global health research. We summarized four thematic challenges for governance related to AI in global health research and nine suggestions arising from presentations and dialogue at the forum. In this brief discussion section, we present an overarching observation about power imbalances that frames efforts to evolve the role of governance in global health research, and then outline two important opportunity areas as the field develops to meet the challenges of AI in global health research.

Dialogue about power is not unfamiliar in global health, especially given recent contributions exploring what it would mean to de-colonize global health research, funding, and practice [ 30 , 31 ]. Discussions of research ethics applied to AI research in global health contexts are deeply infused with power imbalances. The existing context of global health is one in which high-income countries primarily located in the “Global North” charitably invest in projects taking place primarily in the “Global South” while recouping knowledge, financial, and reputational benefits [ 32 ]. With respect to AI development in particular, recent examples of digital colonialism frame dialogue about global partnerships, raising attention to the role of large commercial entities and global financial capitalism in global health research [ 21 , 22 ]. Furthermore, the power of governance organizations such as RECs to intervene in the process of AI research in global health varies widely around the world, depending on the authorities assigned to them by domestic research governance policies. These observations frame the challenges outlined in our paper, highlighting the difficulties associated with making meaningful change in this field.

Despite these overarching challenges of the global health research context, there are clear strategies for progress in this domain. Firstly, AI innovation is rapidly evolving, which means approaches to the governance of AI for health are rapidly evolving too. Such rapid evolution presents an important opportunity for governance leaders to clarify their vision and influence over AI innovation in global health research, boosting the expertise, structure, and functionality required to meet the demands of research involving AI. Secondly, the research ethics community has strong international ties, linked to a global scholarly community that is committed to sharing insights and best practices around the world. This global community can be leveraged to coordinate efforts to produce advances in the capabilities and authorities of governance leaders to meaningfully govern AI research for global health given the challenges summarized in our paper.

Limitations

Our paper includes two specific limitations that we address explicitly here. First, it is still early in the lifetime of the development of applications of AI for use in global health, and as such, the global community has had limited opportunity to learn from experience. For example, there were many fewer case studies, which detail experiences with the actual implementation of an AI technology, submitted to GFBR 2022 for consideration than was expected. In contrast, there were many more governance reports submitted, which detail the processes and outputs of governance processes that anticipate the development and dissemination of AI technologies. This observation represents both a success and a challenge. It is a success that so many groups are engaging in anticipatory governance of AI technologies, exploring evidence of their likely impacts and governing technologies in novel and well-designed ways. It is a challenge that there is little experience to build upon of the successful implementation of AI technologies in ways that have limited harms while promoting innovation. Further experience with AI technologies in global health will contribute to revising and enhancing the challenges and recommendations we have outlined in our paper.

Second, global trends in the politics and economics of AI technologies are evolving rapidly. Although some nations are advancing detailed policy approaches to regulating AI more generally, including for uses in health care and public health, the impacts of corporate investments in AI and political responses related to governance remain to be seen. The excitement around large language models (LLMs) and large multimodal models (LMMs) has drawn deeper attention to the challenges of regulating AI in any general sense, opening dialogue about health sector-specific regulations. The direction of this global dialogue, strongly linked to high-profile corporate actors and multi-national governance institutions, will strongly influence the development of boundaries around what is possible for the ethical governance of AI for global health. We have written this paper at a point when these developments are proceeding rapidly, and as such, we acknowledge that our recommendations will need updating as the broader field evolves.

Ultimately, coordination and collaboration between many stakeholders in the research ethics ecosystem will be necessary to strengthen the ethical governance of AI in global health research. The 2022 GFBR illustrated several innovations in ethical governance of AI for global health research, as well as several areas in need of urgent attention internationally. This summary is intended to inform international and domestic efforts to strengthen research ethics and support the evolution of governance leadership to meet the demands of AI in global health research.

Data availability

All data and materials analyzed to produce this paper are available on the GFBR website: https://www.gfbr.global/past-meetings/16th-forum-cape-town-south-africa-29-30-november-2022/ .

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of the attendees of GFBR 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. This paper is authored by members of the GFBR 2022 Planning Committee. We would like to acknowledge additional members Tamra Lysaght, National University of Singapore, and Niresh Bhagwandin, South African Medical Research Council, for their input during the planning stages and as reviewers of the applications to attend the Forum.

This work was supported by Wellcome [222525/Z/21/Z], the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council (part of UK Research and Innovation), and the South African Medical Research Council through funding to the Global Forum on Bioethics in Research.

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Shaw, J., Ali, J., Atuire, C.A. et al. Research ethics and artificial intelligence for global health: perspectives from the global forum on bioethics in research. BMC Med Ethics 25 , 46 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-024-01044-w

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Articles | Open Access

Application of Information Systems in Tourism and Leisure Sector

Dr. Zita Malcienė + −
Laima Skauronė + −

Dr. Zita Malcienė

The Doctor of Social Science, of Panevėžys University of Applied Sciences.

Areas of scientific interests : Market Research; Knowledge Management; Motivation to Learn; Personal Career Management

Laima Skauronė

Public Relations and Study Quality Coordinator of Bioeconomy development Faculty Vytautas Magnus University

Areas of scientific interests : Strategic Organizational Management; The financial autonomy for rural municipalities

The article analyzes the peculiarities of application of information systems in tourism and leisure sector, reveals the advantages of competitiveness. The study found that the functionality of information systems application provides a user with information about hotels, travel, and the attractiveness of leisure products. Therefore, in the development of tourism and leisure organizations, it is important not only to maintain good contacts with clients or establish positive relations and their consolidation in society, but also to implement information systems.

Introduction

Application of information systems and information dissemination in Lithuanian tourism sector is one of the topical issues. In the 21st century, professional, personal life and business development are unthinkable without modern information systems. Realization of the tourist product requires such information systems that can provide information on tourist accommodation, booking and booking opportunities, transport rent, ticket reservations and other services within a short period of time.

Globalization process determines a rapidly expanding flow of information which results in building the information society. It is understandable that the emergence of information systems was determined by the level of computer technology evolution and changing expectations and needs of users. Despite the rapid development of information systems only since the middle of 1990 they have become important in the activities of tourism and leisure organizations as most of them began to actively use the Internet ( Novikov, 2007 ). For businesses, the Internet has made it possible, without much effort, to gain access to large groups of consumers, to provide specific information about the products offered, to securely disseminate details about their activities, to quickly and efficiently receive customer requests, to order the necessary services, and to reduce the financial costs of producing and distributing printed materials ( Agarval, Prasad, 1999 ).

The tourism and leisure sector has become a mature market that needs changes in the transmission of information. Innovations, according to the researchers (Crawford et al., 2005; Davidaviciene et al. 2009; Vaškaitis, Arminienė, 2013),

include many participants contributing to product development and network management. The application of information systems improves a company's activities, coordinates functional and business lines, increases the competitiveness in the tourism business and promotes a greater flow of tourists. Modern information systems strategically help organizations make the right decisions, and, thanks to them, tourist regions can realize everything they have got by presenting themselves to potential tourists: museums, architectural monuments, various cultural and sporting events, festivals, and other activities. Therefore, in order to maintain a high level of customer service, it is necessary to analyze the possibilities of information systems application.

The object of this paper – isinformation systems.

The aim of this research – is to evaluate advantages and disadvantages of information systems application in relation to consumers.

To achieve the goal, the following tasks were structured:

To analyze theoretical aspects of application of information systems in the tourism and leisure sector.
To examine advantages and disadvantages of the use of information systems in the tourism and leisure sector with respect to consumers.

Methods : Analysis of scientific literature, survey.

Research ethics. Respondents were told that participation would be voluntary, guaranteeing anonymity, privacy, the right to decide on the opportunity to participate in the research and express their thoughts freely.

Theoretical Aspects of Information Systems Application in Tourism and Leisure Sector

The concept of information systems has experienced momentous changes in different periods of existence. Every decade, the area of use accelerated, helping to reach a faster speed of service, ensure a higher level of quality, and change consumers' behavior. The large amount of information of various kinds, its selection and screening, storage, processing and presentation have become the main factors of the development of a tourism company ( Selezniava, 2011 ).

Tourism and leisure industry requires the most diverse application of information systems, from the widely used systems for working with electronic tables, text and databases to the use of specialized programs that provide automated work for individual tourist companies ( Ikonikov, Sadovskaja, 2014 ). Tourism automated control systems are designed to create an effective tourist structure and improve the working conditions for the staff. Installing information systems, a company does not need to change its profile much since flexibility only is enough (Župerka, Župerkienė, 2015). According to G. Korres ( 2008 ), the spread of information and communication technologies in the tourism sector allows users to interact directly with tourism service providers.

Today`s tourism and leisure is an intelligent and informative

service industry closely associated with specific activities of a tourism company, so the smart use of information systems creating and offering a new product is important ( Esaulova, 2010 ), as well as distribution of tourism services via electronic business, „even without visiting a territory“ ( Langviniene, Hungary, 2005, p. 295 ).

Information systems in tourism and leisure industry are divided into shared management modules of the global systems, tourist destination systems, general destination management and auxiliary systems which are classified in greater details. Information systems are the elements comprising the environment: computers, software, computer networks, databases, and people. The main purpose of information systems is to store, process and transfer the final required information for decision-making.

In the 1950s, the role of information was recognized as a key resource for businesses, organizations, regions, and communities because the development of various types of automated information systems began. The first information systems were intended solely for the processing of invoices and payroll accounting, and were implemented through the use of electromechanical accounting machines. It encouraged time and cost reduction while preparing paper documents.

In 1970, information systems began to be used by businesses as a production management tool that supports and accelerates the process of preparing for solutions. The emergence of personal computers triggered the emergence of distributed computing resources and decentralized management systems. This reduced the centralized burden of computer resources and the highest level of management, which allowed focusing on key and long-term strategic decisions.

The beginning of the 1990s is considered to be the age of the network. In those days, network interconnection began at all levels, increasing the capabilities and reliability of information systems, reducing the size of equipment and reducing costs by acquiring it and connecting terminals located in different places of the planet.

In the 20th century, the development of the sports, recreation and entertainment industry accelerated, bicycles, motorcycles and cars have come to life. As a result, information systems in the tourism and leisure sector resulted in increased competitiveness and improved cooperation.

The following information systems are commonly used in the sector of tourism and leisure services:

Computer reservation system is the global distribution system which is represented by Amadeus, Saber, Galileo, etc. Initially, these systems were designed for booking airline tickets, but later hotel, cruise booking and car rental were incorporated.

The global computer network is a global information transfer and storage system that connects various types of computer networks. This system allows you to use your computer to search for information and communicate directly with that network user.

The satellite navigation system is destined for overground and space equipment designed to detect the location of land, water and air objects, and their movement parameters (speed, movement direction).

A telephone network is a system of telephone exchanges and communication nodes for the provision of telephone communication. It is used for transmitting analogue, digital messages, text or graphics. Network subscribers can be natural or legal persons (companies, organizations).

Electronic payment system is destined for transferring money by businesses, financial organizations and Internet users for goods via the Internet with e-money ( EasyPay ), mobile payment system (iPay) or international payment system (Web Money-transfer).

Electronic document flow system is an electronic document management structure for organizational technical system, distributed by computer networks and providing document flow control. The basis of this system consists of work with electronic elements, management of cooperation with customers, processing of applications, automation of services.

E-business is a system that executes basic business processes on the basis of the modern Internet technologies and it is integrated into information systems. This system provides a competitive edge for businesses by reducing costs.

Office application system is a software product designed to perform common tasks and provide partial automation for routine work in tourism companies working with text ( Word ), electronic table processing ( Excel ) and databases ( Access ).

The legal information system is destined for reliable legal information storage with an effective search and analysis capabilities for a wide range of professionals. It provides a quick access to legal information and opportunity for the prompt work.

Multimedia system is a creation of electronic directories, catalogs, museum and tourist guides, etc. Electronic guides allow you to travel virtually through the offered routes, view these routes in active mode, get information about a country, objects, hotels, campsites, motels, and to get discounts. A client can plan a travel or leisure according to price, discounts, season, and transportation system.

Geographic information system is destined to provide spatial information related to objects. The system is used for designing tourism areas and acquaintance with a territory.

All of these systems serve to create an effective tourism and leisure structure in pursuance of comfortable working conditions for employees as a part of professional development. The factors influencing the participation of tourism service providers in the system are compliance with the goals of the organizations (attracting as much visitors and users as possible). Establishment of good contacts with customers in the field of tourism and leisure, promotion of tourist and leisure services, setting up and consolidation of positive tourism and leisure relationships in society is one of the determinants of the new information systems. Tourist firms must provide the users with informational, accessible, user-friendly, reliable, of inspirational content and interactivity system.

Individual needs determine the consumption of tourism and leisure products. The study by L. A. Isajeva ( 2014 ) found that the use of tourism products and services is determined by conditions and circumstances that affect the needs of the developing population. According to L. I. Bušujeva ( 2005 ), the internal factors determining the use of information systems are dependent on:

Information changes:
increase of information value;
increasing demand for information quality;
growing confidence in the results of analysis or research.
Organizational changes :
the need to reduce administrative staff;
review of implementation of some activities and processes;
database and specialists expansion in the field of information technologies.
Company's performance changes:
enhancing the company's position in the market;
profit increase;
focusing on individual users;
increasing precision by targeting groups.

Supposedly, the companies with improved collection and distribution of information can predict the market trends better. However, there are many obstacles encountered not only by the company employees (giving access to the data accumulated in the organization), but also by consumers (using information systems). Most of the companies face four main obstacles. The first obstacle is the managers' fear of investing in the technical part, since it is unclear whether it will pay off; the second is the investment of staff into the qualification improvement, the third is lack of knowledge of staff and resistance to innovations; and fourthly, negative experience, shortage of informativeness and promotion measures. Issues arising from information system users lead to lower productivity and persistent errors in the transmission of information. V.S. Novikov ( 2007 ) states that consumers do not purchase tourist products on the Internet because they do not trust virtual agencies, they do not know reliable tourist websites. Another serious problem is the relevance of the online publication of information. Not surprisingly, attractive prices announced on the websites of tourism and leisure agencies are already redeemed, and managers offer different options. All this is bound up with the lack of a united database, which undergoes the changes of real activity. Another problem is the fear of people using electronic payment systems. People prefer to withdraw money from ATMs, and traditionally pay cash in the agencies because they are scared to be tricked by losing their savings through online systems. Therefore, it is important for the company executives from the very beginning to provide the modernization and improvement of information systems, which would allow expanding the possibilities of their business.

Presentation of Information Systems Application Research

With the rapid development of technology, some consumers are still afraid of using information systems because they do not embrace the innovations. Organizations contribute to the solution of the problem, but they either offer little purchase of tourism and leisure products on the Internet, or do not update the information systems. A survey was conducted to find out about users' access to the information systems.

During the research, 191 residents of Panevėžys city were interviewed, of whom 58 men and 133 women. It was found that the majority of respondents had higher education (73%), a small proportion had secondary (14%) and vocational (11%) education. The smallest part were people with the basic education (2%).

The aim of a survey was to estimate the most frequently purchased tourism and leisure products. The study showed that 63% of respondents buy online independently and only 23% of them do it through the travel agencies. The remaining interviewed (14%) indicated that they usually buy tickets at the booking-offices of Cido Arena, theater and community house, but never use the information systems. It is becoming clear that more people plan their journey or leisure time in accordance with their desire and demand. They do not need to go to the tourism agencies because of the high level of technological progress and subjective factors. Furthermore, it was important to find out the reasons preventing the quarter of respondents, living in the technological era, from the purchase of tourism and leisure products through online systems. This fact indicates that respondents need managerial advice.

When traveling on your own, you need to find a lot of different information about the country you want to visit, and not all information can be found in the Lithuanian language, so the knowledge of foreign languages is required. It should be noted that small travel agencies in Lithuania do not want to invest money into the internet sites, therefore consumers can still see obsolete, outdated information, and only a small part of tourism and leisure products can be purchased online. Other factor leading to non-use of online systems is mistrust, as they often contain unreliable, vague and misleading information. Online travel agencies often use a promotional trick to attract customers, offering a small initial travel cost which is later replaced (hidden extra costs spring up which make the overall cost of travel less attractive).

A modern person is very busy and often his/her free time does not coincide with the working hours of travel agencies, making it easier and faster to save time by buying online. According to one respondent, „online system is a great thing when travel on your own, since it is possible to reserve everything by yourself without leaving home, and the trip itself becomes much cheaper”. The survey results made it clear that respondents prefer to compare prices of various websites at any time of the day, and find the most suitable option in line with their needs.

The study investigated how often the respondents buy tourism and leisure products using the information systems. From the data obtained, it was cleared up that 35% of respondents usually buy once, and 36% respectively twice a year using information systems. In 2017, according to the Official Statistics Portal of Lithuania, consumers bought less tourism and leisure products than in 2016. It follows thence that people's demand to buy could have been determined by the economic conditions on which the needs are directly dependent. A small number of respondents (11%) buy once a month, because tourism and leisure products are used depending on the needs and situation. It should be noted that consumers are interested and encouraged by the purchase of products through the information systems 24/7, without leaving home.

The results of the survey revealed that consumers prefer to buy tickets for concerts, theater, cinema as this is the most popular way of spending free time in Lithuania. Some respondents devote their time to the purchase of tours or SPA procedures. Fewer users buy tickets for festivals, seminars and exhibitions because such events have less interest and are up for the target groups. Sports enthusiasts usually buy an annual ticket and enjoy their favorite team match without worrying that tickets can be sold out. Tickets for amusement parks and circus are bought infrequently since this kind of entertainment happens only once or twice a year. The conclusion is that consumers buy various leisure products through online systems as far as they do not need to buy tickets beforehand, fear of long queues or worry about ticket sales. Pursuit of convenience and time saving shape such behavior.

The majority of respondents independently buy the following tourist products: airplane/bus tickets, accommodation services. Independent purchase of ferry/train/cruise tickets and car rentals allows to guess that people want to save up money by buying online without assistance of tourism professionals. A small percentage of consumers, who buy travel packages from tourism agencies, are happy since everything is done for them, and they have nothing to worry about, just have pleasure walking with a guide and enjoy a rest. Summing up, it is obvious that consumers feel the need to buy or make reservations for tourism and leisure products on their own.

The survey participants are mostly satisfied with the electronic payment systems and the Internet. These systems allow them to use the reservation systems independently, to pay for tourism and leisure products in real time. By purchasing products independently, through the reservation systems, you can see realistic photos taken by travellers, read and write reviews. Many people use maps and satellite navigation systems while traveling, and, consequently, reach the destination effortlessly, without asking for help. It shows that in the current world, a consumer will be hardly able to manage without some information systems. On the ground of the survey data, consumers are mostly influenced by the constant updates of the information systems, which allow to receive the latest offers avoiding misunderstandings. It sometimes happens that a consumer buys a tourism or leisure product online, but the product was already sold out a few hours ago. An improved system allows you to quickly find the proper information and constantly get acquainted with the latest developments, view the latest photo galleries, create a travel route or service package for yourself.

The most common problem faced by the survey participants is the lack of consultation on web sites and, if provided, it is on during working hours only. Tourism and leisure companies should consider extending the time period for providing advice or providing them twenty four hours a day. In this way, consumers would be encouraged to use the information systems more often. Non-upgraded systems provide inaccurate, false information that disappoints a client. There are often technical errors that prevent you from paying for products or services, or advertise discounts that do not exist in reality.

Such mistakes pose additional problems and inconvenience to users. Also, an overly tricky menu complicates the search and causes problems since it takes a lot of time to realize how it works. Information systems should be upgraded and updated to prevent consumers from facing problems.

The disadvantages highlighted in the study are given below:

Unsatisfactory information about a product or service. With a very concise description, it is difficult to get customers interested in buying products, so leisure organizations should provide more detailed and widespread information to keep the consumers concerned.

When paying for goods online, it is often not allowed to use various payment cards, i.e., a consumer is required to mostly use a credit card, and, as a result, only a few websites allow paying by debit card or transferring money to a company's account.

In Lithuania, if you want to book or order leisure products, consultations are available on the phone only, as such services are not always provided online. It is very inconvenient for people who are busy or work late hours.

Leisure companies should offer a wider range of services such as bowling, paintball, etc., taking into account a consumer needs and prepaid services through the information systems.

Respondents believe that „higher discounts and exclusive offers always attract people's attention because it affects psychologically”. A user feels exceptionally pleased if he/she personally gets special offers with significantly higher discounts. For many, while buying leisure and tourism products online, it is very important to use easier and simpler information systems which make it possible to quickly, efficiently and conveniently find the proper information. Price comparisons on various sites would allow the buyer to choose the cheapest option for the same product because people often do not want to pay more for the same stuff. Getting a quick response to inquiries, customers receive specific and up-to-date information about the product they are interested in, and are not forced by the agency managers to wait long. The variety of goods and wider presentation of information along with a faster, high-quality search system would allow customers to save time looking for the appropriate tourism and leisure products. Web sites should secure greater reliability by usage better protecting systems against various hackers and spammers. Besides, websites should have clear, easy-to-understand content with better quality information. Analyzing the factors stimulating development of new information systems in tourism and leisure sector, consumers' desire to receive better discounts and exclusive offers is definite.

Summarizing the data that are obtained, it can be stated that people of all ages use information systems for the purchase of tourism and leisure products. Finding the proper information fast and receiving the latest offers attracts respondents the most. Consumers often buy online once or twice a year, besides, they can compare the prices of different websites and purchase cheaper products. The study revealed that the purchase of leisure products, such as tickets for concerts, theater and cinema predominates, while travel products are mostly purchased for airline tickets and accommodation services. E-payment systems and the Internet satisfies the needs of users the most since, without those tools, to buy through online systems would be hardly possible. The study also revealed that among the issues of information systems, consumers face lack of consulting, technical errors and non-upgradeable systems. Therefore, when shopping for leisure products, consumers cope with shortage of information, not of all payment cards accessibility and impossibility to buy all products online. More frequent use of information systems by the customers will result in higher discounts and exclusive offers and will meet their needs.

Needs satisfaction, better discounts, best deals of the day and other actions would encourage the respondents to use the information systems more often.

Table below demonstrates advantages and disadvantages of information systems usage indicated by the survey respondents.

It can be stated that purchase of tourism and leisure products and services through online systems is shaped by consumer desires, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and economic conditions of people on which the needs depend. The need itself is formed by the price comparisons, search for the most affordable options, availability to buy products at any time of the day, convenience and time-saving. Such systems allow the seller to reduce expenses and labor costs when processing orders, optimize as many business processes as possible analysing the demand. Application of information systems enables to increase the growth of sales of tourism and leisure services.

Assessing the results of the survey, it is seen that tourism and leisure service organizations could more often provide a system of points-based rebates to encourage consumers to buy through online systems. For example, a customer would accumulate points more frequently and then use them to partly cover the price of product. Organizations, by providing consumers with a discount system, would encourage them to purchase more often on their online systems.

Summarizing the results of this research it is possible to maintain that the information systems in the tourism and leisure sector allow users to participate in service delivery, build packages, and form the desired products while the sector organizations will be able to free up their employees swapping them for other activities, and discover new breakthrough opportunities in the tourism market.

Analysis of scientific literature revealed that the tourism and leisure industry requires the application of the most diverse information systems, ranging from widely used systems for working with electronic tables, text and databases to the use of specialized programs that provide automated work for individual tourist companies. Tourism and leisure organizations use various information systems such as reservation systems, the Internet, satellite navigation systems, electronic payment systems which create an efficient functioning of the tourism services sector and prospects for its development.
After analyzing consumers` use of information systems and buying tourism and leisure products, it was observed that the latest information technologies enable the user to quickly create an individual „tourism product“. In addition, the application of information technology systems creates added value for tourism sector organizations and enhances their competitive edge. The results of the research revealed that electronic payment, reservation systems and the Internet satisfy consumers' individual needs in the tourism and leisure sector the most. However, the study also revealed some shortcomings in the application of new information systems from the point of view of consumers. It is found that there is a lack of 24/7consultation in cyberspace, limited accessability of some payment cards, and insufficiency of system functionality. All of these reduce consumers` ability and satisfaction of their requirements when choosing tourism and leisure products.

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Overview. Information Technology & Tourism is the first interdisciplinary journal focusing on the nature and role of digital technology in tourism, travel and hospitality. Addresses issues emerging from the intersections between IT and the field of tourism, travel and hospitality. Embraces both technical and social science perspectives.
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International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention

Application of Information Systems in Tourism and Leisure Sector

Dr. Zita Malcienė

Laima Skauronė

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Theoretical Aspects of Information Systems Application in Tourism and Leisure Sector

Presentation of Information Systems Application Research

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