Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

Issues In Ict In Healthcare In Australia And India, Ambica Dattakumar, Julie Fisher, Linda Dawson

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

No abstract provided.

Towards A Framework For Mobile Information Environments: A Hospital-Based Example, Linda Dawson, Sea Ling, Maria Indrawan, Stephen Weeding, Juanita Femando

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

We propose a conceptual framework to describe and understand mobile information environments. In our proposal, such an environment can be categorised into different abstraction levels or communities: user level, workflow level, device level and architecture level. A hospital-based example is then used as an illustration for the proposed framework.

Thinking About The Processes Used When Organisations Select And Evaluate Software: Operationalising Ict Evaluation Theory, Darren Skidmore, Linda Dawson

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

No abstract provided.

Rqf Publication Quality Measures: Methodological Issues, John Lamp, Simon Milton, Linda Dawson, Julie Fisher

Associate Professor Linda Dawson

The Research Quality Framework uses Thomson-ISI citation benchmarks as its main set of objective measures of research quality. The Thomson-ISI measures rely on identifying a core set of journals in which the major publications for a discipline are to be found. The core for a discipline is determined by applying a nontransparent process that is partly based on Bradford's Law (1934). Yet Bradford was not seeking measures about quality of publications or journals. How valid then is it to base measures of publication quality on Bradford's Law? We explore this by returning to Bradford's Law and subsequent related research asking …

Similarity-Based Search For Model Checking: A Pilot Study With Java Pathfinder, Elmin Ibrahimov, Jixing Wang, Zhiquan Zhou

Dr Zhiquan Zhou

When a model checker cannot explore the entire state space because of limited resources, model checking becomes a kind of testing with an attempt to find a failure (violation of properties) quickly. We consider two state sequences in model checking: (i) the sequence in which new states are generated, and (ii) the sequence in which the states generated in sequence (i) are checked for property violation. We observe that neighboring states in sequence (i) often have similarities in certain ways. Based on this observation we propose a search strategy, which generates sequence (ii) in such a way that similar states …

On The Correlation Between The Effectiveness Of Metamorphic Relations And Dissimilarities Of Test Case Executions, Yuxiang Cao, Zhi Quan Zhou, Tsong Yueh Chen

Dr Zhiquan Zhou

Metamorphic testing (MT) is a property-based automated software testing method. It alleviates the oracle problem by testing programs against metamorphic relations (MRs), which are necessary properties among multiple executions of the target program. For a given problem, usually more than one MR can be identified. It is therefore of practical importance for testers to know the nature of good MRs, that is, which MRs are likely to have higher chances of revealing failures. To address this issue we investigate the correlation between the faultdetection effectiveness of MRs and the dissimilarity (distance) of test case execution profiles. Empirical study results reveal …

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

M. G. 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 utilize 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 …

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

M. G. 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. …

Trumping Communitarianism: Crime Control And Forensic Dna Typing And Databasing In Singapore, Victor Toom

victor toom

Liberalism and communitarianism have figured prominently in discussions of how to govern forensic DNA practices (forensic DNA typing and databasing). Despite the prominence of these two political philosophies and their underlying values, no studies have looked at the governance of forensic DNA practices in a nondemocratic country governed by a communitarian logic. To fill this lacuna in the literature, this article considers Singapore as an authoritarian state governed by a communitarian philosophy. The article highlights basic innovations and technologies of forensic DNA practices and articulates a liberal democratic version of “biolegality” as described by Michael Lynch and Ruth McNally. It …

Hidden In Full Sight: Kinship, Science And The Law In The Aftermath Of The Srebrenica Genocide, Erica Haimes, Victor Toom

victor toom

Terms such as “relationship testing,” “familial searching” and “kinship analysis” figure prominently in professional practices of disaster victim identification (DVI). However, despite the dependence of those identification technologies on DNA samples from people who might be related to the dead and despite also the prominence of the notion of “relatedness” as a device for identifying the dead, the concepts of “relatedness” and “kinship” remain elusive both in practice and in analyses of the social and ethical aspects of DVI by DNA; they are hidden in full sight. In this article, we wish to bring kinship more to the fore. We …

The Security Culture Of A Global And Multileveled Cyber Security, Zenonas Tziarras

Zenonas Tziarras

This paper seeks to argue for the development of a global and multileveled management of cybersecurity. To do so we first define cybersecurity by situating it within the broader framework of the changing concept of security. To this end we look at the evolution of the security concept, mainly since the end of the Cold War, and its relationship to cybersecurity in today’s global affairs. Then we identify the referent object of security, the importance of cyberthreats, and the need for a multileveled management of cybersecurity and cyberthreats. For such a management to be possible and effective, this paper argues …

Connecting Research On Social Issues In Nanotechnology: The Center For Nanotechnology In Society At Arizona State University, Jan Youtie, Philip Shapira

Philip Shapira

Central to the emergence of new research topics is the creation of a research network. This paper looks at the creation of a network of researchers of social issues in nanotechnology and the role of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) in the creation of this network. While there has been US investment in societal research on nanotechnology, a debate exists about the extent to which a research community has been created through these investments. This paper uses three approaches to examine the extent to which CNS-ASU is associated with the development of a research …

L’Investimento Nelle Reti Nga A Larga Banda: La 'Questione Settentrionale', Nicola Matteucci

Nicola Matteucci

Current developments of DAE (digital agenda for Europe) emphasize investments in NGA broadband networks as a main step to promote public and private eServices and transform public administrations. We focus on Northern Italy, where fast diffusion of NGAN is currently perceived as a fundamental ingredient for increasing competitiveness and curb the economy’s decline. In particular, this work investigates the widespread market failures characterizing Italian NGAN roll-out, the possible solutions and the technical and financial feasibility of the proposed plans – both private and public. Together, it connects the issue of NGAN financing with the current debate on the efficient and …

Residential And Business Broadband Prices Part 1: An Empirical Analysis Of Metering And Other Price Determinants, Scott J. Wallsten, James Riso

Scott J. Wallsten

For this project, we assemble a new dataset consisting of more than 25,000 residential and business broadband plans from all OECD countries from 2007–2009. We explore three issues: the relationship between plan components—such as metering—and consumer prices, price changes over time, and how broadband prices vary across countries.

This paper, part 1 of the project, discusses pricing for broadband plans and, specifically, the relationship between plan components and pricing. We find that residential broadband plans with data caps—plans in which consumers pay a base price for a set amount of data—cost less than plans with unlimited data, other things being …

Book Review: Nanotechnology And Development: What’S In It For Emerging Countries? (Preprint), Thomas Woodson

Thomas Woodson

No abstract provided.

Export, R&D And New Products. A Model And A Test On European Industries, Dario Guarascio, Mario Pianta, Francesco Bogliacino

Mario Pianta

In this article we extend the model developed by Bogliacino and Pianta (2013a, 2013b) on the link between R&D, innovation and economic performance, considering the impact of innovation of export success. We develop a simultaneous three equation model in order to investigate the existence of a ‘virtuous circle’ between industries’ R&D, share of product innovators and export market shares. We investigate empirically – at the industry level – three key relationships affecting the dynamics of innovation and export performance: first, the capacity of firms to translate their R&D efforts in new products; second, the role of innovation as a determinant …

Technostress: Theoretical Foundation And Empirical Evidence, Christian Maier

Christian Maier

The main objective of this dissertation is to provide theoretical explanations and empirical evidence for the causes and consequences of technostress. The results of this dissertation posit that the IT usage context matters. This means that users perceive technostress when using IT for work and for private purposes; but the causes and consequences differ for both contexts. In the case of using IT for work, technological characteristics and techno-stressors cause employees to feel exhausted at the end of their work day, feel dissatisfied with their job, and develop intentions to quit their job. In the case of IT usage for …

Using Games To Make Something: Of Our Students, Our Pedagogies, Our Field. A Review Essay Of Gee & Hayes (2011), Squire (2011), Steinkuehler Et Al (2012), And Thomas & Brown (2011), Carly Finseth

Carly Finseth

If there’s one thing that writing instructors are known for it’s innovation. Compositionists, because of our connection between academia and industry, the humanistic and the technical, the creative and the practical, are often some of the first to explore and adopt new technologies. In this review essay, I introduce how games and digital technologies can help our students “make” new thing. Understanding how games can link with literary practices, multimodal composition, creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, and more can help researchers in rhetoric and composition make important contributions to our field: Make games with the knowledge of what actually works …

Worlds Without End: The Many Lives Of The Multiverse, Mary-Jane Rubenstein

Mary-Jane Rubenstein

Worlds without End explores the recent proliferation of "multiverse" cosmologies, which imagine our universe as just one of a vast, even infinite, number of others. While this idea has been the stuff of philosophy, religion, and literature for millennia, it is now under consideration as a scientific hypothesis, with wildly different models emerging from the fields of cosmology, quantum mechanics, and string theory. Beginning with the Atomistic and Stoic philosophies of ancient Greece, this book assembles a genealogy of the multiverse, seeking to map contemporary models in relation to their forerunners, and to ask why the proposition has become such …

The Ups And Downs Of Knowledge Infrastructures In Science: Implications For Data Management, Christine Borgman, Peter Darch, Ashley Sands, Jillian Wallis, Sharon Traweek

Peter Darch

The promise of technology-enabled, data-intensive scholarship is predicated upon access to knowledge infrastructures that are not yet in place. Scientific data management requires expertise in the scientific domain and in organizing and retrieving complex research objects. The Knowledge Infrastructures project compares data management activities of four large, distributed, multidisciplinary scientific endeavors as they ramp their activities up or down; two are big science and two are small science. Research questions address digital library solutions, knowledge infrastructure concerns, issues specific to individual domains, and common problems across domains. Findings are based on interviews (n=113 to date), ethnography, and other analyses of …

Research Collaboration And Team Science: A State-Of-The-Art Review And Agenda, Barry Bozeman, Craig Boardman

Craig Boardman

No abstract provided.

Ship Space To Database: Scientific And Social Motivations For A Database To Support Deep Subseafloor Biosphere Research, Peter Darch, Christine L. Borgman

Christine L. Borgman

What motivates the building of databases by scientific collaborations? In this paper, we argue that not only are databases being built to support scientific work per se, but also with the intention of performing a variety of social functions. To explore this, we present findings from a longitudinal ethnographic case study of a large, multidisciplinary, distributed scientific project studying subseafloor microbial life. A critical element of this project’s Data Management Plan is the construction of a data portal. We found a range of factors motivating not only the very construction of this portal, but also the inclusion of particular features. …

The Influence Of Leadership And Trust On The Sharing Of Tacit Knowledge: Exploring A Path Model, Billy Whisnant, Odai Khasawneh

Odai Khasawneh

The New Visible Hand: Understanding Today’S R&D Management, Craig Boardman

Craig Boardman

No abstract provided.

The Ups And Downs Of Knowledge Infrastructures In Science: Implications For Data Management, Christine L. Borgman, Peter Darch, Ashley E. Sands, Jillian C. Wallis, Sharon Traweek

Christine L. Borgman

The promise of technology-enabled, data-intensive scholarship is predicated upon access to knowledge infrastructures that are not yet in place. Scientific data management requires expertise in the scientific domain and in organizing and retrieving complex research objects. The Knowledge Infrastructures project compares data management activities of four large, distributed, multidisciplinary scientific endeavors as they ramp their activities up or down; two are big science and two are small science. Research questions address digital library solutions, knowledge infrastructure concerns, issues specific to individual domains, and common problems across domains. Findings are based on interviews (n=113 to date), ethnography, and other analyses of …

Una Politica Industriale Per L’Europa, Mario Pianta, Matteo Lucchese

Mario Pianta

Erawatch Country Reports 2013: Italy, Leopoldo Nascia, Mario Pianta

Mario Pianta

The evolution of the research and innovation (R&I) system in Italy has been heavily affected by the economic crisis, the reduction in public expenditure associated to austerity programmes, and the fall of private R&D and investment efforts. Italy’s GDP has fallen in 2012 (-2.5%) and in 2013 (-1.8%); Eurostat forecasts a slight growth of GDP in 2014, but at a lower rate than the EU28 average. The share of R&D in GDP in 2012 is 1.27%, as opposed to a EU28 average of 2.06. Italy’s level continues to be far from the 1.53% share of GDP stated as the target …

First Steps Towards Hearts And Minds? Usaid’S Countering Violent Extremism Policies In Africa, Daniel P. Aldrich

Daniel P Aldrich

The United States government has adopted new approaches to counter violent extremist organizations around the world. “Soft security” and development programs include focused educational training for groups vulnerable to terrorist recruitment, norm messaging through local radio programming, and job creation in rural communities. This article evaluates the effectiveness of one set of these multi-vectored, community-level programs through data from 200 respondents in two similar, neighboring towns in northern Mali, Africa. The data show that residents in Timbuktu who were exposed to the programming for up to five years displayed measurably altered civic behavior and listening patterns in comparison with their …