Determinants of public engagement on municipal Facebook pages

Abstract

This article analyzes the determinants of public engagement on the Facebook pages of municipalities. The sample consists of 170 Italian and Spanish municipalities that used Facebook in 2014. The findings show that posting a lot of information on municipal Facebook pages does not increase the engagement of citizens. Also, frequent posting of information per se does not engage public engagement. However, if the posts are published when public can pay attention to them (e.g., off days), the likelihood of public engagement increases. Furthermore, the citizens’ engagement on municipal Facebook page depends on the level of citizens’ income – there is a negative relationship between citizens’ income and the level of participation.     

Information technology and the developing world: Opportunities and obstacles

Abstract

The developing countries, although not homogeneous, share a growing recognition of the importance of information technology for fostering the development process. Rapid advancements in computer and telecommunications technologies offer new opportunities for improved resource management and for the successful employment of these tools in rural areas. Although developing nations have responded enthusiastically to the advantages of modem information technology, they are equally cognizant of the negative impact that reliance on foreign technology and services may have. As a result, developing countries are taking a number of actions—at the national, regional, and international levels—to ensure their active participation in the emerging Information Age.     

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.     

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.     

Closing the Digital Divide: The Role of Services and Infrastructure in Bhutan 1

Abstract

Considerable attention has been devoted in recent years to the digital divides that exist between and within countries. Within developing countries, information and communication infrastructures are often limited. This paper focuses on the digital divide within Bhutan. More specifically, the paper identifies two related dimensions of the digital divide in Bhutan—access and skills—and argues that the interaction between geography, resources and services will shape how the divide is tackled.     

Cyberocracy is coming

Abstract

The government world lags behind the business world in feeling the effects of the information technology revolution and related innovations in organization. But government may change radically in the decades ahead. This essay fields a concept— cyberocracy—to discuss how the development of, and demand for access to, the future electronic information and communications infrastructures (i.e., cyberspace) may alter the nature of the bureaucracy. Although it is too early to say precisely what a cyberocracy may look like, the outcomes may include new forms of democratic, totalitarian, and hybrid governments. Optimism about the information revolution should be tempered by a constant, anticipatory awareness of its potential dark side.     

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.     

Beyond deregulation: Designing the information infrastructure

Abstract

The United States and Japan lead the world in information technology. Yet they occupy opposite ends of the spectrum with respect to planning for the development of the information infrastructure—the central nervous system of a democratic society. While the Japanese expend great resources on centralized planning and monitoring the impact of the information society, United States officials are engaged in a mammoth deregulation exercise intended to dismantle government involvement in the competitive marketplace. While this policy may be appropriate for a period of technological innovation, it may be less efficacious in the period of consolidation, merger, and acquisition which usually follows.     

Moving average procedures as an additional tool for real-time analytical quality control: challenges and opportunities of implementation in small-volume medical laboratories

IntroductionMoving average (MA) is one possible way to use patient results for analytical quality control in medical laboratories. The aims of this study were to: (1) implement previously optimized MA procedures for 10 clinical chemistry analytes into the laboratory information system (LIS); (2) monitor their performance as a real-time quality control tool, and (3) define an algorithm for MA alarm management in a small-volume laboratory to suit the specific laboratory.Materials and methodsMoving average alarms were monitored and analysed over a period of 6 months on all patient results (total of 73,059) obtained for 10 clinical chemistry parameters. The optimal MA procedures were selected previously using an already described technique called the bias detection simulation method, considering the ability of bias detection the size of total allowable error as the key parameter for optimization.ResultsDuring 6 months, 17 MA alarms were registered, which is 0.023% of the total number of generated MA values. In 65% of cases, their cause was of pre-analytical origin, in 12% of analytical origin, and in 23% the cause was not found. The highest alarm rate was determined on sodium (0.10%), and the lowest on calcium and chloride.ConclusionsThis paper showed that even in a small-volume laboratory, previously optimized MA procedures could be successfully implemented in the LIS and used for continuous quality control. Review of patient results, re-analysis of samples from the stable period, analysis of internal quality control samples and assessment of the analyser malfunctions and maintenance log have been proposed for the algorithm for managing MA alarms.     

Using AI and Social Media Multimodal Content for Disaster Response and Management: Opportunities,Challenges, and Future Directions

People increasingly use Social Media (SM) platforms such as Twitter and Facebook during disasters and emergencies to post situational updates including reports of injured or dead people, infrastructure damage, requests of urgent needs, and the like. Information on SM comes in many forms, such as textual messages, images, and videos. Several studies have shown the utility of SM information for disaster response and management, which encouraged humanitarian organizations to start incorporating SM data sources into their workflows. However, several challenges prevent these organizations from using SM data for response efforts. These challenges include near-real-time information processing, information overload, information extraction, summarization, and verification of both textual and visual content. We highlight various applications and opportunities of SM multimodal data, latest advancements, current challenges, and future directions for the crisis informatics and other related research fields.     

The information practices and politics of migrant-aid work in the US-Mexico borderlands

Abstract

Numerous organizations work to provide humanitarian aid to undocumented migrants along the US-Mexico border—from running shelters in Mexico to placing water on migratory trails. Resistance to information-sharing between organizations (and to the public), especially through technologically mediated means, is common. However, some organizers and volunteers work across organizational boundaries and share information informally. Information secrecy is often justified by concerns that law enforcement authorities or anti-immigration activists might gain access to information, allowing them to harm, detain or remove migrants, or interfere with humanitarian work. The choices made about the collection and (non)disclosure of information are manifestations of what we call “liminal” information practices: such behaviors are unique to humanitarian volunteers working in the gray, ethical area between law enforcement and humanitarian values and action, and they are guided by the information politics at play within this context.     

“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.     

Collective Consuming: Consumers as Subcontractors in Electronic Markets

In this essay, contrary to popular belief, it is argued on the basis of transaction cost economics that consumers will become dependent subcontractors in electronic markets. Consumers invest time and effort building up a relationship with a producer, (r)e-tailer, or intermediary—an investment that is idiosyncratic. The intermediary only needs to invest in generic assets that enable him or her to automate the process of collecting and processing customer information needed to differentiate products and discriminate prices. As subcontractors, consumers face high switching costs and are thus dependent on intermediaries. Virtual communities of consumers that organize countervailing power will not mitigate this tendency.     

Privacy in social networks: An analysis of Facebook

The only way to be aware of the risks and threats of Facebook, the most commonly used social networking site in the world and Turkey, is to be a careful user changing the default settings or simply not to have a Facebook account. In Turkey, there is still no study in which personal information shared though social networking sites has been evaluated in terms of privacy. For this reason, the findings obtained of this study have a great importance in the general picture of the current situation and drawing attention to the risks of the issue in Turkey where there are no legal arrangements effectively protecting the users from such sites. This study aims to investigate the Facebook privacy of information professionals who are members of KUTUP-L, and to determine the sensitivity and level of awareness of information professionals in Turkey. Facebook user profiles of 400 information professionals, all KUTUP-L members, have been analyzed in a study examining 32 different privacy settings. A privacy score has been calculated for each user, and the relations between privacy results have been analyzed. The findings at the end of the study show that information professionals in Turkey do pay attention to privacy, and most of the users change the default settings in order to protect their personal information.     

The impact of the transfer of information technology on development

Abstract

Like other technical changes, the new information technologies have inspired hopes and fears. The optimists celebrate the “technologies of freedom” and their potential for growth and autonomy, the enhancement of skills and culture, the elimination of unpleasant and boring tasks (Pool 1984). On the other hand, the pessimists fear dehumanized work, growing unemployment, and bureaucracy, with unavoidable threats to privacy (Mosco 1987; Robins and Webster 1983).

In the communication and development debate, similar polarized attitudes are to be found. The technological optimists of the so‐called “modernization paradigm” claim that the transfer of information technologies to the developing world will spectacularly enhance the process of development. Commentators arguing from within this paradigm point out that the transfer of appropriate information technology can contribute to the creation of new social structures that will adequately respond to the needs of the developing world. At the other extreme, however, we have the technological pessimists, “the Luddites of the Information Revolution” (Tehranian 1985, 21). Proponents of this perspective perceive the transfer of information technology as necessarily reinforcing existing structures and thus exacerbating politico‐economic dependency and the loss of cultural identity.

In our opinion, both positions possess partial truths. However, both are based on inadequate theoretical foundations—erroneous conceptions of the nature of technology and its relationship vis‐à‐vis society, and a misunderstanding of the concept of development. Consequently, the policy implications of each approach are less than helpful. Building on what we consider to be a more apt conceptual framework, the central argument of this paper is that the transfer of information technology can play a role, albeit limited, in the development process.     

Modeling the usefulness of search results as measured by information use

The documents retrieved by a web search are useful if the information they contain contributes to some task or information need. To measure search result utility, studies have typically focused on perceived usefulness rather than on actual information use. We investigate the actual usefulness of search results—as indicated by their use as sources in an extensive writing task—and the factors that make a writer successful at retrieving useful sources. Our data comprise 150 essays written by 12 writers whose querying, clicking and writing activities were recorded. By tracking authors’ text reuse behavior, we quantify the search results’ contribution to the task more accurately than before. We model the overall utility of the search results retrieved throughout the writing process using path analysis, and compare a binary utility model (Reuse Events) to one that quantifies a degree of utility (Reuse Amount). The Reuse Events model has greater explanatory power (63% vs. 48%); in both models, the number of clicks is by far the strongest predictor of useful results—with β-coefficients up to 0.7—while dwell time has a negative effect (β between −0.14 and −0.21). As a conclusion, we propose a new measure of search result usefulness based on a source’s contribution to an evolving text. Our findings are valid for tasks where text reuse is allowed, but also have implications on designing indicators of search result usefulness for general writing tasks.     

E-Mail as Spectroscopy: Automated Discovery of Community Structure within Organizations

We describe a method for the automatic identification of communities of practice from e-mail logs within an organization. We use a betweenness centrality algorithm that can rapidly find communities within a graph representing information flows. We apply this algorithm to an initial e-mail corpus of nearly 1 million messages collected over a 2-month span, and show that the method is effective at identifying true communities, both formal and informal, within these scale-free graphs. This approach also enables the identification of leadership roles within the communities. These studies are complemented by a qualitative evaluation of the results in the field.