Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

The Efficacy Of Using Virtual Reality For Job Interviews And Its Effects On Mitigating Discrimination, David M. Cook, Rico Beti, Faris Al-Khatib

Dr. David M Cook

The Evolution Of Requirements Practices In Software Startups, Catarina Gralha, Daniela Damian, Anthony Wasserman, Miguel Goulão, João Araújo

Tony Wasserman

Vr Usability From Elderly Cohorts: Preparatory Challenges In Overcoming Technology Rejection, George Coldham, David M. Cook

Dr. David M Cook

Gendered Jobs And The New Gender Gap, George K. Thiruvathukal, Jon Ross

George K. Thiruvathukal

This presentation discusses how to address 21st Century employment challenges by dismantling gender-specific barriers to entry. We take an interdisciplinary approach by focusing on areas such as education, public policy, culture, and media (among others).

Expectations For Methodology And Translation Of Animal Research: A Survey Of Health Care Workers, Ari Joffe, Meredith Bara, Natalie Anton, Nathan Nobis

Nathan M. Nobis, PhD

Background: Health care workers (HCW) often perform, promote, and advocate use of public funds for animal research (AR); therefore, an awareness of the empirical costs and benefits of animal research is an important issue for HCW. We aim to determine what health-care-workers consider should be acceptable standards of AR methodology and translation rate to humans. Methods: After development and validation, an e-mail survey was sent to all pediatricians and pediatric intensive care unit nurses and respiratory-therapists (RTs) affiliated with a Canadian University. We presented questions about demographics, methodology of AR, and expectations from AR. Responses of pediatricians and nurses/RTs were …

In Service For Sharing: Leadership And Leader - Follower Relationship Factors As Influencers Of Tacit Knowledge Sharing In The It Industry, Billy Whisnant, Odai Khasawneh

Odai Khasawneh

An Outlier Robust Block Bootstrap For Small Area Estimation, Payam Mokhtarian, Ray Chambers

Payam Mokhtarian

Small area inference based on mixed models, i.e. models that contain both fixed and random effects, are the industry standard for this field, allowing between area heterogeneity to be represented by random area effects. Use of the linear mixed model is ubiquitous in this context, with maximum likelihood, or its close relative, REML, the standard method for estimating the parameters of this model. These parameter estimates, and in particular the resulting predicted values of the random area effects, are then used to construct empirical best linear unbiased predictors (EBLUPs) of the unknown small area means. It is now well known …

A General Framework For Infrastructure System Reliability Modelling And Analysis, Payam Mokhtarian, Mohammad-Reza Namazi-Rad, Tin Kin Ho, Mahmoud Efatmaneshnik

Payam Mokhtarian

An infrastructure system is inherently complex, with layers of both explicitly defined and hidden or subtle interfaces with other infrastructure systems and human users. High availability is desired, which implies stringent requirements on reliability and safety. Reliability analysis typically starts at component or sub-system level and aggregates through the system functional hierarchy. Because of the system complexity, incorporating occurrences of all possible interactions and scenarios is not always practical and failure data is often limited. Moreover, there are unobserved events among the sub-systems distributing either randomly or with temporal trend. To facilitate reliability analysis amid the complex environment and uncertain …

Confronting Socially Generated Uncertainty In Adaptive Management, Andrew J. Tyre, Sarah Michaels

Andrew J Tyre

As more and more organizations with responsibility for natural resource management adopt adaptive management as the rubric in which they wish to operate, it becomes increasingly important to consider the sources of uncertainty inherent in their endeavors. Without recognizing that uncertainty originates both in the natural world and in human undertakings, efforts to manage adaptively at the least will prove frustrating and at the worst will prove damaging to the very natural resources that are the management targets. There will be more surprises and those surprises potentially may prove at the very least unwanted and at the worst devastating. We …

New Peril + Old Promises = Bad Results, Paul Eschenfelder

Paul F. Eschenfelder

No abstract provided.

Cultural Discourse Of Dwelling: Environmental Comunication As A Place-Based Practice, Donal Carbaugh

Donal Carbaugh

In this essay we contribute a response to intellectual and practical problems by using and developing a perspective on environmental communication that is reflexively grounded in place and that explores human relations with nature, while embracing cultural and linguistic variability in these processes. Our goals are to introduce a way to think through communication to places, and further to link that understanding to issues of engaged environmental action, to deeply seated notions of identity, and to the affective dimension of belonging that place-based communication often brings with it. Our way of doing this is to theorize and study cultural discourses …

Location And Tracking Of Mobile Devices: Überveillance Stalks The Streets, Katina Michael, Roger Clarke

Professor Katina Michael

During the last decade, location-tracking and monitoring applications have proliferated, in mobile cellular and wireless data networks, and through self-reporting by applications running in smartphones that are equipped with onboard global positioning system (GPS) chipsets. It is now possible to locate a smartphone-user's location not merely to a cell, but to a small area within it. Innovators have been quick to capitalise on these location-based technologies for commercial purposes, and have gained access to a great deal of sensitive personal data in the process. In addition, law enforcement utilise these technologies, can do so inexpensively and hence can track many …

Towards A Conceptual Model Of User Acceptance Of Location-Based Emergency Services, Anas Aloudat, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

This paper investigates the introduction of location-based services by government as part of an all-hazards approach to modern emergency management solutions. Its main contribution is in exploring the determinants of an individual’s acceptance or rejection of location services. The authors put forward a conceptual model to better predict why an individual would accept or reject such services, especially with respect to emergencies. While it may be posited by government agencies that individuals would unanimously wish to accept life-saving and life-sustaining location services for their well-being, this view remains untested. The theorised determinants include: visibility of the service solution, perceived service …

The Future Prospects Of Embedded Microchips In Humans As Unique Identifiers: The Risks Versus The Rewards, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Microchip implants for humans are not new. Placing heart pacemakers in humans for prosthesis is now considered a straightforward procedure. In more recent times we have begun to use brain pacemakers for therapeutic purposes to combat illnesses such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s Disease, and severe depression. Microchips are even being placed inside prosthetic knees and hips during restorative procedures to help in the gathering of post-operative analytics that can aid rehabilitation further. While medical innovations that utilise microchips abound, over the last decade we have begun to see the potential use of microchip implants for non-medical devices in humans, namely for …

Energy And Environment Policy Case For A Global Project, Thomas A. Faunce

Thomas A Faunce

A policy case is made for a global project on artificial photosynthesis including its scientific justification, potential governance structure and funding mechanisms.

Privacy Issues And Solutions In Social Network Sites, Xi Chen, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

The boom of the internet and the explosion of new technologies have brought with them new challenges and thus new connotations of privacy. Clearly, when people deal with e-government and e-business, they do not only need the right to be let alone, but also to be let in secret. Not only do they need freedom of movement, but also to be assured of the secrecy of their information. Solove [6] has critiqued traditional definitions of privacy and argued that they do not address privacy issues created by new online technologies. Austin [7] also asserts: “[w]e do need to sharpen and …

Indian Millennials: Are Microchip Implants A More Secure Technology For Identification And Access Control?, Christine Perakslis, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

This mixed methods study with a sequential explanatory strategy explored qualitatively the statistically significant quantitative findings relative to Indian respondents’ perceptions about RFID (radio frequency identification) transponders implanted into the human body. In the first analysis phase of the study, there was a significant chi-square analysis reported (χ2 = 56.64, df = 3, p = .000) relative to the perception of small business owners (N = 453) that implanted chips are a more secure form of identification and/or access control in organizations and the respondents’ country of residence. Countries under study included Australia, India, the UK and US. The country …

Editorial: Social Implications Of Technology- “Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo”, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Late last year, IEEE SSIT was invited to put together a paper for the centennial edition of Proceedings of the IEEE that was published in May 2012. The paper titled, “Social Implications of Technology: The Past, the Present, and the Future,” brought together five members of SSIT with varying backgrounds, and two intense months of collaboration and exchange of ideas. I personally felt privileged to be working with Karl D. Stephan, Emily Anesta, Laura Jacobs and M.G. Michael on this project.

Book Review: Handbook On Securing Cyber-Physical Critical Infrastructure: Foundations And Challenges (Written By Sajal K. Das, Krishna Kant, Nan Zhang), Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

This 800+ page handbook is divided into eight parts and contains thirty chapters, ideal for either an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in security. At the heart of this handbook is how we might go about managing both physical and cyber infrastructures, as they continue to become embedded and enmeshed, through advanced control systems, and new computing and communications paradigms.

The Value Of Government Mandated Location-Based Services In Emergencies In Australia, Anas Aloudat, Katina Michael, Roba Abbas, Mutaz Al-Debei

Associate Professor Katina Michael

The adoption of mobile technologies for emergency management has the capacity to save lives. In Australia in February 2009, the Victorian Bushfires claimed 173 lives, the worst peace-time disaster in the nation’s history. The Australian government responded swiftly to the tragedy by going to tender for mobile applications that could be used during emergencies, such as mobile alerts and location services. These applications, which are becoming increasingly accurate with the evolution of positioning techniques, have the ability to deliver personalized information direct to the citizen during crises, complementing traditional broadcasting mediums like television and radio. Indeed governments have a responsibility …

Location-Based Social Networking And Its Impact On Trust In Relationships, Sarah Jean Fusco, Roba Abbas, Katina Michael, Anas Aloudat

Professor Katina Michael

Location based social networking (LBSN) applications are part of a new suite of social networking tools. LBSN is the convergence between location based services (LBS) and online social networking (OSN). LBSN applications offer users the ability to look up the location of another “friend” remotely using a smart phone, desktop or other device, anytime and anywhere. Users invite their friends to participate in LBSN and there is a process of consent that follows. This paper explores the potential impact of LBSN upon trust in society. It looks at the willingness of individuals to share their location data with family, friends, …

Emp And Geomagnetic Storm Protection Of Critical Infrastructure, George H. Baker Iii

George H Baker

EMP and solar storm wide geographic coverage and ubiquitous system effects beg the question of “Where to begin?” with protection efforts. Thus, in addressing these “wide area electromagnetic (EM) effects,” we must be clever in deciding where to invest limited resources. Based on simple risk analysis, the electric power and communication infrastructures emerge as the highest priority for EM protection. Programs focused on these highest risk infrastructures will go a long way in lessoning societal impact. Given the national scope of the effects, such programs must be coordinated at the national level but implemented at local level. Because wide-area EM …

Social Implications Of Technology: Past, Present, And Future, Karl D. Stephan, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael, Laura Jacob, Emily Anesta

Professor Katina Michael

The social implications of a wide variety of technologies are the subject matter of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT). This paper reviews the SSIT’s contributions since the Society’s founding in 1982, and surveys the outlook for certain key technologies that may have significant social impacts in the future. Military and security technologies, always of significant interest to SSIT, may become more autonomous with less human intervention, and this may have both good and bad consequences. We examine some current trends such as mobile, wearable, and pervasive computing, and find both dangers and opportunities in these trends. …

Commentary On: Mann, Steve (2012): Wearable Computing, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

In Professor Steve Mann- inventor, physicist, engineer, mathematician, scientist, designer, developer, project director, filmmaker, artist, instrumentalist, author, photographer, actor, activist- we see so much of the paradigmatic classical Greek philosopher. I recall asking Steve if technology shaped society or society shaped technology. He replied along the lines that the question was superfluous. Steve instead pointed to praxis, from which all theory, lessons or skills stem, are practiced, embodied and realized. Steve has always been preoccupied by the application of his ideas into form. In this way too, he can be considered a modern day Leonardo Da Vinci.

Book Review: Securing The Cloud: Cloud Computer Security Techniques And Tactics, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

With so much buzz around Cloud Computing, books like this one written by Winkler are much in demand. Winkler’s experience in the computing business shines through and as readers we are spoiled with a great deal of useful strategic information- a jam packed almost 300 page volume on securing the cloud.

Book Review: The Basics Of Information Security: Understanding The Fundamentals Of Infosec In Theory And Practice, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Dr Jason Andress (ISSAP, CISSP, GPEN, CEH) has written a timely book on Information Security. Andress who is a seasoned security professional with experience in both the academic and business worlds, categorically demonstrates through his book that underlying the operation of any successful business today is how to protect your most valuable asset- “information”. Andress completed his doctorate in computer science in the area of data protection, and presently works for a major software company, providing global information security oversight and performing penetration testing and risks assessment.

In Memoriam: Associate Professor Dr Elaine Lawrence, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

Despite being a graduate of the rigorous Bachelor of Information Technology at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in 1996, I was unfortunate in that I missed being taught by Associate Professor Elaine Lawrence who began working at UTS in 1990 as a Lecturer in Computing Science. Dr Lawrence became a senior lecturer in 2000, and subsequently an associate professor in 2006. Our paths crossed in 2002 when I was tasked to deliver a new course entitled “eBusiness Principles” in my first year of lecturing at the University of Wollongong, and after an initial scurry to find an adequate textbook, …

The Technological Trajectory Of The Automatic Identification Industry: The Application Of The Systems Of Innovation (Si) Framework For The Characterisation And Prediction Of The Auto-Id Industry, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Traditionally the approach used to analyse technological innovation focused on the application of the techno-economic paradigm with the production function as its foundation. This thesis explores the rise of the evolutionary paradigm as a more suitable conceptual approach to investigating complex innovations like automatic identification (auto-ID) devices. Collecting and analysing data for five auto-ID case studies, (bar codes, magnetic-stripe cards, smart cards, biometrics and RF/ID transponders), it became evident that a process of migration, integration and convergence is happening within the auto-ID technology system (TS). The evolution of auto-ID is characterised by a new cluster of innovations, primarily emerging through …

Integrating Value-Driven Feedback And Recommendation Mechanisms Into Business Intelligence Systems, Byron Keating, Tim Coltman, Michael Katina, Valeria Baker

Professor Katina Michael

Most leading organizations, in all sectors of industry, commerce and government are dependent upon

ERP for their organizational survival. Yet despite the importance of the decision to adopt ERP and its

impact on the entire firm’s performance the IT literature has been in the large part silent on the nature

of the ERP investment decision. This study is the first of its kind to determine the preference structure

of senior managers around the organizational benefits and risks of adopting ERP. We present the

results which provide interesting insights into how managers’ perceive the benefit and risk factors

salient to the …

Human Rights, Regulation, And National Security, Katina Michael, Simon Bronitt

Professor Katina Michael

Law disciplines technology, though it does so in a partial and incomplete way as reflected in the old adage that technology outstrips the capacity of law to regulate it. The rise of new technologies poses a significant threat to human rights – the pervasive use of CCTV (and now mobile CCTV), telecommunications interception, and low-cost audio-visual recording and tracking devices (some of these discreetly wearable), extend the power of the state and corporations significantly to intrude into the lives of citizens.