Rob Kling and the Irvine School

Abstract

During the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing and related commercial activities led to the evolution of “dense cores” of heavily populated areas. Fundamental to the operation of these industrial‐commercial cores was the development of service activities—banking, risk‐bearing, legal services—which depended on rapid exchange of information or quick “cycle times of information” for effective decision making and allocation of resources. As these cores radiate resources away from the central body toward less populated areas, the need for short cycle times of information in rural areas has become apparent. For example, modem agriculture is an enterprise that requires short time cycles of information exchange. The technology for building computer‐based information networks to facilitate the desired rapid transfer of information exists. However, the installation of hardware linked by reliable, cost‐effective communications networks is only in the beginning stages. One computer‐based information network that has successfully met the challenges of rapid transfer of agricultural management information to farmers is the University of Nebraska's AGNET system.     

Remapping the Digital Divide

Abstract

Just as the introduction of advanced information technologies—computers, telecommunications, microform systems, video and audio devices—into the realms of business, agriculture, education, various social services, and science has had a decided impact on those vital activities, so are these “tools” and their related methodologies having an effect on emergency management. The growing complexity of our society is necessitating changes in many institutions and processes, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the four phases of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. One approach to enhancing governmental preparedness, both at the federal and state‐local levels, is through the selective utilization of devices and networks which facilitate and improve the collection, storage, processing, and dissemination of information vital to those who must anticipate and cope with a range of disasters.     

Information technology in rural emergency management

Abstract

Rural communities face a multitude of hazardous conditions—from blizzards, floods, droughts, and insect infestations caused by nature to hazardous material spills, transportation accidents, and dam failures that result from human activities. Information technology offers to rural emergency managers potentially important tools with which to better plan, alert, and respond to disasters.

Three case studies are presented about uses of different technologies. Each technology is currently in place, but not in widespread use. The first case is the use of a microcomputer in a rural Minnesota county to manage emergency resources, aid planning, and other important tasks. The second case uses cable television as a two‐way alerting link to fire, emergency medical, and police systems. The third case involves the use of satellites to form a statewide communication system among emergency service offices. Each use of information technology clearly contributes to improved emergency management, but widespread application is necessary before the full impact of information technology in rural emergency management can be felt.     

Introduction

Abstract

Information systems design can progress toward meeting the needs of the population of decision‐makers, managers, policy‐makers, and interdisciplinary workers by attention to specifications obtained from the user's situation. The user situation is represented by problems and their component dimensions, of which subject is only one dimension. The other problem dimensions, which relate to information traits, are discussed for the purpose of proposing a new orientation for the design of information systems.     

“Saving Lives”: A computer simulation game for public education about emergencies

Abstract

One facet of the Information Revolution in which the nation finds itself involves the utilization of computers, video systems, and a variety of telecommunications capabilities by those who must cope with emergency situations. Such technologies possess a significant potential for performing emergency public education and transmitting key information that is essential for survival. An “Emergency Public Information Competitive Challenge Grant,” under the aegis of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has sponsored an effort to use computer technology—both large, time‐sharing systems and small personal computers—to develop “computer games” which will help teach techniques of emergency management to the public at large.     

Information,Organization, and development policy

Abstract

While economic systems have become increasingly information‐intensive, economic modeling has yet to incorporate a balanced view of information as a resource. A common substitute, the assumption that more information is better than less, has dangerous consequences because it usually lacks a typology of information, assumes that expected productivity increases are realized, and neglects both equity aspects and the need to search for more appropriate forms of organization. UNESCO's UNISIST program is reviewed to illustrate these consequences and to argue the relevance of the emerging information economics.     

Document: Public sector/private sector interaction in providing information services

Abstract

This paper uses an econometric analysis to explore the technology associated with the use of information services in manufacturing industries. A study of the 1972 data for 51 manufacturing industries indicates that the assumption of constant unitary elasticity of substitution between capital and information is probably not appropriate. This causes one to doubt the appropriateness of the Cobb‐Douglas production function to model the relationship between inputs and value added in these industries.

Using production functions more general than the Cobb‐Douglas, estimates of the elasticities of substitution between information and other inputs and of the marginal product of information are obtained. The estimates of the marginal product of information range from 2.3 to 3.7, and are consistent with the Hayes and Erickson conclusion that the firms in these industries underinvest in purchased information.     

The use of information technologies in dutch households

Abstract

In 1985 the Department of Household Sciences conducted research on Dutch households that use information technologies for domestic purposes. This research was part of a six‐nation research programme and was supported by the FAST‐II research activities of the EEC, and the Agricultural University of Wageningen. The use of three types of information technology was surveyed: home computer, Videotext, and Teletext. Analysis of the finding indicates the types of households likely to benefit from information technology in the future and groups households into three classes according to their attitudes to information technology—productivistic, hobbyist, and socially committed.     

Policy aspects of privacy and access

Abstract

This paper first reviews the development of record‐keeping privacy, together with its legislative attention and major studies of it. It then identifies new dimensions of personal privacy and illustrates them with electronic mail. It notes the intricacy of policy issues arising from large‐scale use of computers and communications for systems that provide a variety of services, many of them oriented toward the individual. The legislative awkwardness of providing protection to the individual and the role of the federal government in the entire issue is described. Other systems that will create new privacy issues are touched on. The “privacy future” is discussed in terms of access‐without‐action, information representation, information protection, exploitation of information such as computer matching, the large‐scale availability of personal information to many people, and the widespread appearance of systems that deal with information about people but for other than record‐keeping purposes. Finally, two broad policy issues are identified: (1) In an information‐intensive future, how can the country establish societally acceptable usage patterns for information but at the same time provide protection for its citizens? (2) How can the country create an appropriate mechanism for addressing such a pervasive and complex issue?     

Business teams in an information age

Abstract

A critical success factor for businesses in the twenty‐first century will be their ability to meet the environmental demands for complex coordination of action and rapid adjustments to volatile markets and global competition. Business teams are effective mechanisms for addressing the need for dynamic, flexible organizations that can effectively cope with complexity and turbulence.

Business teams are not a new phenomenon, but there is a new element in the equation: the use of information technologies (IT) to leverage team effort. Information technologies can enhance team performance through support of interaction processes by providing two types of functionality: coordination support and task execution support.

An agenda for action for moving forward a team‐based organization and use of information technologies for support of business teams is provided.     

A Reviews of: “Towards a Sustainable Information Society: Deconstructing WSIS”

Abstract

In an effort to confront the key issue of where the information society is leading us, this essay begins where most discussions leave off: if advanced industrial societies are dedicating increasingly greater resources to the use of information services and technologies, what is the value of information in organizational and governmental processes? To assess the value of information: information technology, information/library science, information resource management, value/burden, organizational theory, and the economic theory of information. Based on this overview, we propose a conceptual framework which is sensitive to the major objectives and assumptions of previous approaches, but which also attempts to expand the criteria for the assessment of information value.     

Accessibility,Disability, and Inclusion in Information Technologies: Introduction

Abstrat

The inclusion of informatics supporting trans‐border data flows (TDFs) in research and action related to the New World Information Order is essential. Documents prove the fact that information has been treated by developing countries as a critical element in the establishment of a New International Economic Order.

The author calls for the recognition of TDFs as an integral element of the debate over information. Such issues as free flow of information, national sovereignty, and dependent development are addressed. In the conclusion, it is argued that the International Telecommunication Union is well equipped to expand its domain of jurisdiction to TDFs in coordination with a maturing Intergovernmental Bureau for Informatics.     

Teleports as precursors of the 21st century's information society

Abstract

All national information activities are increasingly interfaced through telecommunications. Today's users stand as witnesses to the formative stages of a totally networked society in the 21st century. Telecommunications technology lies at the root of formal concepts such as Inter‐Information Subjects Networks (IISNs) and National Information Systems (NISs), developed in the last few years. The term teleport refers to the new types of nodes that will form an overall integrated information traffic system. The challenge to all nations in the coming years is to provide or open these teleports to all types of national and social groups. Such teleports will give democracy a finished quality and otherwise bolster freedom by supporting the availability of all types of information.     

中华医学会系列杂志媒体融合发展实践

[目的]介绍中华医学会系列杂志媒体融合发展的实践,以期为国内科技期刊同行提供借鉴。[方法]以中华医学会系列杂志发展策略和多种媒体发展具体案例为例,介绍中华医学会系列杂志媒体融合发展现状。[结果]顺应媒体融合发展趋势,中华医学会系列杂志基于集群优势逐步实现了期刊出版全程的信息化管理、期刊资源整合、数字化平台和新媒体的融合发展。[结论]掌握并积极应用先进的数字出版技术,有助于实现期刊群内容资源的有效整合,提升展示效果。     

Automated geography and emergency management

Abstract

The value of geographical knowledge to emergency managers at all levels of government is unquestioned. Maps have always been an important tool, and in recent years computers and new information technologies have expanded the ways in which geographical data can be utilized. Technical specialists continue to develop increasingly flexible and powerful tools which allow emergency managers to examine multiple parameter scenarios treating both human‐caused and natural disaster situations. The importance of establishing a coordination center and geographical information network, with appropriate computer support and staff expertise, is underscored in this discussion.     

Beyond Knowledge to Wisdom in International Business Strategy

Abstract

A wisdom approach is advanced as a means of breaking the mimesis of institutional isomorphism that is observed both in the practice and scholarship of orthodox business management. Nine principles of wisdom derived from the Aristotelian tradition and contemporary psychological research are provided. These are then tested in an international business case study. This analysis supports the case that, while rational judgment is necessary, wise management also requires a capacity for counter‐intuition, vision, and humanity. It also shows that wisdom in management must ultimately be practical. When practised by wise managers, such wisdom can opportunistically circumvent the discursive limitations imposed by current orthodoxy in the turbulent, ephemeral conditions of international business and its management.     

Chinese Media,Global Contexts,edited by Chin-Chuan Lee. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. xii + 275 pp. $95.00 cloth. ISBN 0-415-30334-6

Abstract

Several information processing technologies which are capable of augmenting human performance in handling a range of emergency situations are featured in this discussion. Among the more sophisticated systems which have proven useful in enhancing information collection, transmission, and selective processing are packet radio networks, “expert planning systems,” multiple‐satellite technology, and such related emerging developments as “internetting” and “machine intelligence.”     

Book Reviews

Abstract

Discourse about knowledge‐based economies rarely moves beyond the commercialization of science and engineering, and is locked in the discursive limits of functionalism. We argue that these discourses limit the scope of what knowledge‐based economies might achieve because they are uninformed by an adequate conception of knowledge. In particular, knowledge management and knowledge‐based economy discourse has not included the axiological dimension of knowledge that leads to wisdom. Taking an axiological perspective, we can discuss policy frameworks aimed at producing the social structures needed to bring fully formed and fully functioning knowledge societies into being. We argue that while the dominant discourse of industrial modernity remains rationalist, functionalist, utilitarian and technocratic, knowledge‐based economies will resemble a savant rather than a sage. A wisdom‐based renaissance of humanistic epistemology is needed to avoid increasing social dysfunction and a lack of wisdom in complex technological societies.     

Death and Data

Research into the intelligence processes in two child murder cases shows that 'information management is no longer simply an administrative support function or technical service, but an integral part of the strategy of the organisation'. Consequently, its importance must be demonstrated in the organisation's structure and in the resources allocated to it. Problems were caused by the divide between information specialists and detectives. This illustrates the disadvantages of a detection system which fails to preserve either information or knowledge, the tensions between detectives and intelligence officers as members of separate, incompletely integrated teams, and the importance of incorporating tacit learning-by-doing into a knowledge base accessible to both detectives and intelligence staff.     

Time‐Intensive Information Technology and Human Welfare in Developing Countries

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the scope for developing countries to benefit from the Internet in non‐synchronous ways that is, in cases where some delay is involved in the delivery of information, as compared with the real‐time alternative used in developed countries. The first part of the paper draws on insights from Becker and others, to argue that poor people in poor countries are wont to exchange (relatively abundant) time for reductions in the cost of Internet use. The second part of the paper then examines whether such time‐intensive products actually exist and to the extent they do, how the required degree of cost reductions are effected in practice. I conclude that time‐intensive Internet technology represents a highly promising opportunity for developing countries to close the digital divide, an opportunity that warrants serious academic scrutiny.