Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

E-Government And Inter-Organizational Collaboration In Mexico: Survey Results, Luis F. Luna-Reyes, J. Ramon Gil-Garcia

National Center for Digital Government

From executive summary: This document summarizes the responses to questionnaires completed by participants from inter-organizational information technology (IT) projects in the Mexican federal government. The questionnaire was undertaken as part of a research project on e-government and inter-organizational collaboration funded by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) and conducted jointly by researchers from the Business School of the Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, México, the Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas in Mexico City, and the National Center for Digital Government at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. The responses reflect the opinions of 282 government officials …

Open Source Software Collaboration: Foundational Concepts And An Empirical Analysis, Charles M. Schweik, Robert English, Sandra Haire

National Center for Digital Government

This paper has three primary goals. First, we provide an overview on some foundational concepts – “peer-production,” “user-centric innovation,” “crowdsourcing,” “task granularity,” and yes, open source and open content – for they are key elements of Internet-based collaboration we see today. Second, through this discussion on foundational concepts, we hope to make it clear why people interested in collaborative public management and administration should care about open source and open source-like collaboration. After this argument is made, we provide a very condensed summary of where we are to date on open source collaboration research. The goal of that research is …

Participatory Design Of Sensor Networks: Strengths And Challenges, Katie Shilton, Nithya Ramanathan, Sasank Reddy, Vids Samanta, Jeffrey A. Burke, Deborah Estrin

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

No abstract provided.

Diagrams Of Transnational Diffusion, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Diagrams showing transnational diffusion of ethical standards and physical effects.

Module 1.3.A: Transnational Diffusion Of Ideas And Practices, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Understanding the processes by which ideas and debates diffuse across countries is an important precursor to understanding several concepts and issues in international ethics. Includes Chart for Discussion of National Differences in Technology Use; Appropriate Technology Reading and Exercise; and Transnational Diffusion of Ideas and Technologies.

Module 2.3.A: Ethical Conflicts Between Nations, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Developing effective international level regulatory responses is particularly difficult when national ethical preferences collide. This module seeks to develop sensitivity to these difficulties.

Appropriate Technology, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Appropriate Technology described as "low impact technology" is based on highly advanced scientific and engineering research. The strong attraction to industrial and developing countries is due to its low cost, small scale, and low environmental impact.

Ethical Evaluation Of New Technologies: Genetically Modified Organisms And Plants, M.J. Peterson, Ronald Sandler

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

As developments in biotechnology continue, new ethical questions arise concerning our ability to manipulate and intervene with what is conceived as "natural". Genetic modification (GM) is one clear example of this revolutionary development in biotechnology which inspires debate on its impact to human welfare.

Mechanisms Of Transnational Accountability, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

The absence of a world government means there are no central world courts or regulatory agencies who can step-in when an individual or a corporation causes harm to others on a transnational level. However, there are ways to take advantage of regulatory and standard systems around the world that when enforced, can hold persons or groups doing the harm accountable for.

Transnational Diffusion Of Ideas And Technologies, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Most historians of ideas and technological change agree that a hazard model can best describe the spread of ideas, practices, or innovations from the originators to others. The elements of the hazard model also direct attention to the likelihood that people will first learn about a new idea or technological advance and then choose to adopt it.

Achieving Participatory Privacy Regulation: Guidelines For Cens Urban Sensing, Katie Shilton, Jeffrey A. Burke, Deborah Estrin, Mark Hansen, Mani B. Srivastava

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

This technical report is intended to help CENS urban sensing researchers incorporate participation and respect privacy while conducting research about people. The goal is to provide a framework by which to assess an appropriate level of participation and meaningful policy and technical responses to privacy concerns. By keeping in mind the five guidelines outlined here, system developers can respond to participant needs and balance the benefits of data gathering with individual and group privacy.

The Introduction defines and describes participatory privacy regulation: the approach to privacy design taken at CENS. Sections I-V provide descriptions and planning tools for each …

Public Lecture: "Government's Role In Broadband", Sharon Gillet

Rural Broadband Research Group

In this talk Commissioner Gillett will focus on the different roles government plays in achieving universal broadband. She will relate her public sector experience to her academic understanding of this issue by reflecting on her 2006 paper on municipal wireless broadband through the lenses of her experience as a member of Boston’s wireless task force, and her first year of service as the Commonwealth’s Telecommunications and Cable Commissioner.

Participatory Privacy In Urban Sensing, Katie Shilton, Jeffrey A. Burke, Deborah Estrin, Mark Hansen, Mani B. Srivastava

Ethics in Science and Engineering National Clearinghouse

Urban sensing systems that use mobile phones enable individuals and communities to collect and share data with unprecedented speed, accuracy and granularity. But employing mobile handsets as sensor nodes poses new challenges for privacy, data security, and ethics. To address these challenges, CENS is developing design principles based upon understanding privacy regulation as a participatory process. This paper briefly reviews related literature and introduces the concept of participatory privacy regulation. PPR reframes negotiations of social context as an important part of participation in sensing-supported research. It engages participants in ethical decision-making and the meaningful negotiation of personal boundaries and …

The New Middle-Class, Technology And Modernity In Seelampur, Sreela Sarkar

National Center for Digital Government

From introduction: My paper studies a globally acclaimed experiment in computer literacy and cultural capital in Seelampur, located on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border. In late 2003, Datamation, a prominent private, Delhi based Information Technology firm, with partial funding from UNESCO and the Delhi state government, established computer literacy and e-commerce development projects in Zaffarabad in Seelampur. Seelampur is a diverse community but like the rest of the area, Zaffarabad is largely a settlement of informal working class Muslims. State violence and dominant middle-class interests have historically colluded to create Seelampur. During the National Emergency years in 1975-1977, residents of …

The Network Society From Knowledge To Policy

Jane E. Fountain

No abstract provided.

Module 1.2: International Accountability, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

International-level mechanisms that hold researchers, research institutes, firms, or others accountable to society are often misunderstood or ignored in current science and engineering curricula. This module will discuss accountability in terms of innovation, self-regulation, scientific unions, corporate pressures, public and private standards, and corporation-specific campaigns and social movements.

Module 1.1: Workplace Ethics In Transnational Contexts, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Professional codes of ethics are not consistent across countries. Scientists and engineers increasingly work in cross-cultural environments that necessitate skills to negotiate changes in ethical standards in a single, transnational workplace. This module discusses transnational aspects and applications of professional codes of ethics. Includes essays on the Roots of Interconnection: Communications, Transportation and Phases of the Industrial Revolution; the Transnational Aspects of the Ethical Debate, Multinational Corporations in Transnational Accountability; and Resolving Ethical Disagreements. As well as resources outlining the Sources and Extent of Environmental Harm, the UNESCO Description of Engineers’ Work, WFEO’s Model Code of Ethics, and Organizational Diagrams …

Multinational Corporations In Transnational Accountability, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

National and transnational effort to expand accountability in the development and application of science and technology focuses on multinational corporations (MNC). They are one of the primary channels for transnational diffusion and use of new developments in applied science.

Resolving Ethical Disagreements, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Resolving ethical disagreements in scientific, technical, and/or engineering fields could be feasible or difficult depending on the state of the objective information, and the quality of the ethical reasoning behind it. Good ethical debate must bring the resources of both objective knowledge formation and ethical reasoning together to ensure that the situation in which the ethics will be applied is understood as accurately as possible.

Roots Of Interconnection: Communications, Transportation And Phases Of The Industrial Revolution, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Broadening access to communication technology and transportation have increased the possibility of interconnection between societies. Until the Industrial Revolution, interconnection between societies were limited to education in foreign universities, occasional collaboration in labs or projects, and exchange of research outcomes through publications and conference presentations.

Diagrams Of Scientific Organizations, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

Organizational diagrams of the International Council of Scientific Unions, UNESCO, and others.

Transnational Aspects Of Ethical Debate, M.J. Peterson

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science and Engineering

In today's globalized world, ethical theory and moral philosophy have to address the challenges of cultural moral relativism. The different ethical beliefs of many societies around the world deserve equal respect whatever and wherever the content rule is derived from.