scholarly journals Emerging Stakeholder Relations in Participatory ICT Design: Renegotiating the Boundaries of Sociotechnical Innovation in Forest Biosecurity Surveillance

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Grant ◽  
Stephen M. Pawson ◽  
Mariella Marzano
Keyword(s):  
Early Detection ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
General Surveillance ◽  
Sociotechnical System ◽  
Stakeholder Relations

Research Highlights: This research advanced understanding of stakeholder relations within the context of innovation using citizen science in a biosecurity sociotechnical system (STS) in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Background and Objectives: It draws on recent experiences in the United Kingdom, where analysis of stakeholder engagement in the development of biosecurity surveillance technologies and citizen science initiatives have occurred to support understanding and development of forest and tree health biosecurity. Early detection technologies are essential as biosecurity risks to the primary sectors increase with the expansion of global trade and shifting pest dynamics that accompany a changing climate. Stakeholder engagement in technology development improves the chances of adoption but can also challenge the mental models of users in an existing STS. Materials and Methods: Two conceptual models that embed stakeholder relations in new information and communications technology (ICT) design and development were applied: (i) a future realist view of the general surveillance system incorporating citizen experts as species identifiers; (ii) a social construction of the ICT platform to surface mental models of the system in use creating the groundwork for evolution of stakeholder relations within STS innovation. A case study demonstrating how we addressed some of the practical limitations of a proposed systems change by applying sociotechnical innovation systems (STIS) theory to the development and adoption of new technologies for surveillance in the existing biosecurity system was presented. Results: Opportunities to enhance the capacity for early detection were considered, where the needs of diverse factors within a central government biosecurity authority and the wider citizenry are supported by the development of a general surveillance network (GSN).

scholarly journals From Bulletin Boards to Big Data

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-62
Author(s):  
Christian Göbel ◽  
Jie Li
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Credit System ◽  
Feedback Systems ◽  
Social Credit ◽  
Bulletin Boards ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Set Up

Why do Chinese governments at various levels set up public complaint websites where citizen petitions and government responses can be reviewed by the general public? We argue that it is the result of two factors: strong signals sent by the central government to improve governance, and the availability of new technologies to promote policy innovation. To impress their superiors, local officials adopted newly available commercial technology to innovate existing citizen feedback systems, which presented a developmental trajectory from “openness,” “integration,” to “big data-driven prediction.” Drawing on policy documents and interviews with local politicians and administrators, we provide a chronological perspective of how technical development, central government’s signals and local decision-making have interacted in the past two decades to bring forth today’s public complaint websites. The contingent and non-teleological nature of this development can also be applied to other policies such as the social credit system.

scholarly journals Regulatory inspection of registered private drug shops in East-Central Uganda—what it is versus what it should be: a qualitative study

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Bagonza ◽  
Stefan Peterson ◽  
Andreas Mårtensson ◽  
Henry Wamani ◽  
Phyllis Awor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Current Method ◽  
Nursing Assistants ◽  
Drug Shop ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Drug Shops ◽  
National Drug ◽  
The Government ◽  
Drug Sellers

Abstract Background Regulatory inspection of private drug shops in Uganda is a mandate of the Ministry of Health carried out by the National Drug Authority. This study evaluated how this mandate is being carried out at national, district, and drug shop levels. Specifically, perspectives on how the inspection is done, who does it, and challenges faced were sought from inspectors and drug sellers. Methods Six key informant interviews (KIIs) were held with inspectors at the national and district level, while eight focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted among nursing assistants, and two FGDs were held with nurses. The study appraised current methods of inspecting drug sellers against national professional guidelines for licensing and renewal of class C drug shops in Uganda. Transcripts were managed using Atlas ti version 7 (ATLAS.ti GmbH, Berlin) data management software where the thematic content analysis was done. Results Five themes emerged from the study: authoritarian inspection, delegated inspection, licensing, training, and bribes. Under authoritarian inspection, drug sellers decried the high handedness used by inspectors when found with expired or no license at all. For delegated inspection, drug sellers said that sometimes, inspectors send health assistants and sub-county chiefs for inspection visits. This cadre of people is not recognized by law as inspectors. Inspectors trained drug sellers on how to organize their drug shops better and how to use new technologies such as rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in diagnosing malaria. Bribes were talked about mostly by nursing assistants who purported that inspectors were not interested in inspection per se but collecting illicit payments from them. Inspectors said that the facilitation they received from the central government were inadequate for a routine inspection. Conclusion The current method of inspecting drug sellers is harsh and instills fear among drug sellers. There is a need to establish a well-recognized structure of inspection as well as establish channels of dialogue between inspectors and drug sellers if meaningful compliance is to be achieved. The government also needs to enhance both human and financial resources if meaningful inspection of drug sellers is to take place.

Coordination, Incentives, and Persuasion: South Korea’s Comprehensive Approach to COVID-19 Containment

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-139
Author(s):  
Tobin Im ◽  
Jesse W. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Social Characteristics ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Critical Resource ◽  
Containment Strategy ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Health Experts ◽  
Core Features

A rapid and comprehensive policy response allowed South Korea to contain an aggressive outbreak of COVID-19 without resorting to the harsh lockdown measures necessitated in other countries. However, while the general content of Korea’s response is now fairly well-known, what has received less attention is the unique governance context in which the country’s containment strategy was formulated and implemented. This article focuses on 3 administrative elements of Korea’s pandemic containment approach. First, the central government effectively coordinated the efforts of sub-national governments to ensure critical resource availability and deliver a response calibrated to the situation of each locale. Second, ongoing inter-sectoral collaboration was used to marshal non-government resources in both the biotech and medical sectors which in turn enabled core features of Korea’s policy, including a rapid acceleration of testing. Third, a timely, accessible, and technocratic communications strategy, led by public health experts and leveraging the country’s highly developed information and communications technology systems, facilitated citizen trust and ultimately voluntary compliance with public health directives. Although the Korean approach offers a number of lessons for other countries, by ignoring the specific administrative and social characteristics that are relevant to its implementation, policymakers risk overestimating its inter-contextual portability. By thoroughly contextualizing Korea’s virus containment strategy, this article seeks to minimize this risk.

Innovations in Learning and Teaching for Manufacturing Engineering under Ubiquitous Computing and Distributed on Mobile Devices Smartphones and Tablets

2017 ◽  
Vol 903 ◽  
pp. 84-91
Author(s):  
Carlos Pazo Martín ◽  
Francisco Aguayo González ◽  
María Estela Peralta Álvarez ◽  
Mariano Marcos Bárcena ◽  
María Jesús Ávila Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Educational Innovation ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Engineering Information ◽  
Manufacturing Engineering

The new technologies of information and communication have opened up new possibilities for training in the field of manufacturing engineering. Information and communications technology contribute to flexible process of teaching and learning thanks to the ease of creating, processing and dissemination of content. They are also an opportunity to improve new learning environments, closer to actual production contexts. But to achieve an efficient process of learning, methodologies (that are based on ICT) should be adapted to the students’ characteristics, the contents and the context. This paper aims to design a model of teaching and learning from educational innovation with the use of information technologies applied to training Manufacturing Engineer using mobile devices as a teaching resource. The tool will be designed to self-education situated in learning contexts and incorporates different instructional strategies for student learning and teacher monitoring.

scholarly journals The “Smart Work” Myth: How Bureaucratic Inertia and Workplace Culture Stymied Digital Transformation in the Relocation of South Korea’s Capital

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
JY Hur ◽  
Wonhyuk Cho ◽  
G Lee ◽  
Sarah Bickerton
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Digital Transformation ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Digital Government ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Work Routines ◽  
Traditional Work

© 2019, © 2019 Asian Studies Association of Australia. Starting in 2012, the South Korean government has implemented a large-scale relocation of its central government agencies, which are now split between the existing capital city (Seoul) and a new administrative-capital city (Sejong). One of the most controversial aspects of the relocation has been the bureaucratic inefficiency caused by its split nature. ICT-enabled solutions, dubbed “Smart Work”, were adopted to deal with this challenge, but have not been effective in avoiding inefficiency. In this article, we argue that different forms of organisational inertia created resistance to switching from traditional work routines to Smart Work’s ICT-assisted equivalents. Various forms of inertia–psychological (anxiety around learning new technologies), cognitive (culture/norms in face-to-face work routines), technological (stickiness of pre-existing IT system), political (continued influence from elected officials), and resource allocation (success bias from previous digital government projects)–significantly influenced public managers’ work practices in Sejong. These types of inertia, we argue, have reinforced face-to-face communication rather than digital communication, on-site visits rather than video-conferencing, and fixed-time work rather than flex-work. Our findings challenge dominant views from functionalist models of digital transformation and emphasise the importance of cultural congruency between workplace norms and technophilic business processes.

scholarly journals The Use of ICT For Poverty Alleviation In Gubugklakah Village, Malang Regency

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Rachmad Gustomy ◽  
Ratnaningsih Damayanti ◽  
Rizqi Bachtiar
Keyword(s):  
World Wide Web ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Effective Work ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Village

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has become one of the influential instruments for poverty alleviation. The argument is based on the fact that currently technology has played an important role in relation to the lives of many people. There are several projects conducted by the government in Indonesia utilising ICT to reduce poverty rate, such as establishing telecenter in some remote areas. This paper aims to identify the extent and the impact of the ICT convergence process that is carried out as an effort to improve the welfare of the community, specifically at Gubugklakah village, Malang Regency. The village is chosen as the locus of the research because the area, which is relatively far from the city center, received telecentre procurement assistance by the central government. By using descriptive qualitative methods, this study finds that ICT has not been converged to the maximum and the impact is less than optimal. Internet connection is only limited to middle and upper economic groups. The use of the world-wide-web at the village has also experienced ups and downs. For example, there is an improvement in the utilisation of techonolgy in education, tourism and government sectors which impact on a more effective work culture. People also usually surf the internet to search and watch educational, entertainment or trading content. However, the connection has a slow network connection which is problematic when many people use it. Furthermore, there is a need for educating people as well as incremental approach so that the internet can be in line with local culture.Teknologi Informasi dan Komunikasi (TIK) telah menjadi salah satu instrumen yang berpengaruh dalam pengentasan kemiskinan. Argumen tersebut didasarkan pada kenyataan bahwa saat ini teknologi telah memainkan peran penting dalam kaitannya dengan kehidupan banyak orang. Ada beberapa proyek yang dilakukan pemerintah di Indonesia yang memanfaatkan TIK untuk mengurangi angka kemiskinan, seperti membangun telecenter di beberapa daerah terpencil. Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui sejauh mana dan dampak dari proses konvergensi TIK yang dilakukan sebagai upaya peningkatan kesejahteraan masyarakat khususnya di Desa Gubugklakah Kabupaten Malang. Desa ini dipilih sebagai lokus penelitian karena wilayah yang relatif jauh dari pusat kota mendapat bantuan pengadaan telecentre oleh pemerintah pusat. Dengan menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif, penelitian ini menemukan bahwa TIK belum terkonvergensi secara maksimal dan dampaknya kurang optimal. Koneksi internet hanya terbatas pada kelompok ekonomi menengah ke atas. Penggunaan world wide web di desa juga mengalami pasang surut. Misalnya, peningkatan pemanfaatan teknologi di bidang pendidikan, pariwisata dan pemerintahan yang berdampak pada budaya kerja yang lebih efektif. Orang juga biasanya menjelajahi internet untuk mencari dan menonton konten pendidikan, hiburan, atau perdagangan. Namun, koneksi tersebut memiliki koneksi jaringan yang lambat yang menjadi masalah ketika banyak orang yang menggunakannya. Selain itu, perlu adanya edukasi kepada masyarakat serta pendekatan incremental agar internet dapat sejalan dengan budaya lokal.

The Case for Early Detection of Melanoma

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason K. Rivers ◽  
Sarah Wulkan
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
Early Detection ◽  
Effective Treatment ◽  
Metastatic Disease ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Health Burden ◽  
Incidence And Mortality

Background and Objective: The incidence and mortality from melanoma continue to rise worldwide. Unfortunately, there is still no consistently effective treatment for metastatic disease. The fact that survival for melanoma has increased dramatically over the last 30 years highlights the importance of early detection of this malignancy. Conclusion: With continued public education and the advent of new technologies, it is hoped that we will be able to improve on what has been accomplished to date to reduce the health burden of melanoma even further. This article reviews issues related to patient and physician detection of melanoma and highlights newer technologies being used for this purpose.

Facing the Challenges — Using Information and Communications Technology to Support Teaching and Learning

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Heaney
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Education Technology ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Technology In The Classroom ◽  
Quality Of Teaching ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Integration Of Ict

This article explores some of the key issues associated with the use of information and communications technology in the classroom. It discusses the relevance of an education technology strategy and the implications of such a strategy for both teachers and pupils alike. The integration of ICT into the curriculum is considered by many as the means whereby pupils, and learners in the broader context of education, can enhance their knowledge, skills and understanding. As a way of demonstrating how this might be achieved, a detailed teaching project is presented for the reader's consideration. The project focuses on a topic on ‘Dinosaurs’ which has been developed with pupils aged 10 to 11 years of age. A detailed scheme of work and lesson plans are included, as are teaching notes, for those who wish to carry out the project for themselves. The article concludes with the proposition that ICT has the potential to enhance the quality of teaching and learning within the classroom. Inevitably this will require facing a number of challenges. One such challenge is that of coping with the change that will inevitably result from the new technologies.

scholarly journals Experiments on Socio-Technical Systems: the Problem of Control Received

TECHNOLOGOS ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 27-39
Author(s):  
Peter Kroes
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Experimental System ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Technological System ◽  
Social Software ◽  
Sociotechnical System ◽  
Technical Systems ◽  
And Control

My aim is to question whether the introduction of new technologies in society may be considered to be genuine experiments. I will argue that they are not, at least not in the sense in which the notion of experiment is being used in the natural and social sciences. If the introduction of a new technology in society is interpreted as an experiment, then we are dealing with a notion of experiment that differs in an important respect from the notion of experiment as used in the natural and social sciences. This difference shows itself most prominently when the functioning of the new technological system is not only dependent on technological hardware but also on social ‘software’, that is, on social institutions such as appropriate laws, and actions of operators of the new technological system. In those cases we are not dealing with ‘simply’ the introduction of a new technology, but with the introduction of a new sociotechnical system. I will argue that if the introduction of a new socio-technical system is considered to be an experiment, then the relation between the experimenter and the system on which the experiment is performed differs significantly from the relation in traditional experiments in the natural and social sciences. In the latter experiments it is assumed that the experimenter is not part of the experimental system and is able to intervene in and control the experimental system from the outside. With regard to the introduction of new socio-technical systems the idea that there is an experimenter outside the sociotechnical system who intervenes in and controls that system becomes problematic. From that perspective we are dealing with a different kind of experiment.

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