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With the development of new technologies and their increased applications in the context of a local government, cities have started to claim that they are smart. Smart Cities make use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to support planning and policy making. For an appropriate and sustainable functioning of these smart cities, collecting data about the different aspects of their territory and operations, including its citizens, is a crucial activity. Currently, there are two main avenues in which smart cities can collect data about their citizens: either through sensors, and cameras strategically placed throughout the city or by asking citizens to voluntarily donate to the local government their personal data (i.e., citizen engagement or ‘e-participation’). Despite the growth and increasing prevalence of the latter practice, little attention has been given to how individuals experience the risks of data donation. Often, studies consider data donation as an aspect of the phenomenon of surveillance, or as a type of data sharing. This study theorises and empirically examines data donation and its risks as a phenomenon which is separate from either surveillance or data sharing. Focusing on mobility data, this study draws on two established donation and privacy risk frameworks to investigate how the risks of donating personal data to a smart city are experienced and socially constructed. The thematic analysis of ten focus groups conducted showed that, in the context of this empirical examination, privacy-specific risks alone do not constitute constructed risks. Instead, they combine in various ways with perceived donation risks to constitute more nuanced and embedded risk constructions. Donation risks are seen as potential consequences of privacy risks and combined they constitute the risks of donating data. This thesis underlines the importance of the context under which data donation takes place as well as privacy’s value in a free and democratic society. "This work was supported by the University of St Andrews and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) under the ‘Big Data Surveillance’ partnership grant. The grant’s reference is: SSHRC 895-2015-1003" -- Funding

231 páginas. Maestría en Sociología. El objetivo de la investigación, es indagar sobre cómo se configura la articulación adolescente embarazada+Internet. Aunado a la finalidad de este estudio, se propone: Primero, dar cuenta de cómo la tecnología Internet media la experiencia, e interviene en la percepción de la incertidumbre ante los cambios corporales y de rol que se acontecen. En coincidencia con Lupton (1999) (2013) (2016), se plantea que, en un contexto de inmersión de Internet en varios aspectos de la vida cotidiana, un abanico de herramientas con conexión al ciberespacio (como foros, apps o gadgets) contribuyen a monitorear, medir y pronosticar posibles escenarios de riesgo, con base en métricas o en función a la información que se obtiene. Segundo, resaltar el abordaje de experiencias somático/emotivas, durante las extremas transformaciones corporales dentro del embarazo, que lucen por estar atestadas de incertidumbre. Lundquist (2008), desde una visión fenomenológica, señala el hecho, a veces tan naturalizado, de que en el embarazo se desarrolla otro dentro uno mismo, lo que tiene fuertes implicaciones para el sentido de unicidad -corporal y subjetiva-, la identidad y los futuros vínculos/compromisos que se tendrán con el ser humano en desarrollo. El embarazo adolescente, además, es una situación, muchas veces, de vulnerabilidad, de estigmatización, y está rodeada de expectativas que interfieren o regulan la experiencia encarnada (Ihde, 2004). Investigación realizada con el apoyo del Programa Nacional de Posgrados de Calidad del Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT).

Más allá de la gente que enferma día a día, de los muertos y de las fatales consecuencias socioeconómicas que sufrimos en todo el planeta a causa de la grave pandemia de COVID-19 que asola nuestras vidas, existen otras repercusiones que hemos ido descubriendo durante este último año. Hechos que siempre han estado presentes o, al menos, desde hace mucho tiempo. Uno de ellos es la terrible brecha digital entre aquellos que nacimos en plena revolución tecnológica, y aquellos que han tenido que adaptarse a ella. Pero, ¿qué sucede con aquellos que no lo consiguen? ¿Han de conformarse? ¿Resignarse a la exclusión social todo porque la situación de emergencia sanitaria haga avanzar a marchas forzadas la transición digital? Este proyecto tiene como principal objetivo evitar eso y, para ello, se pretende desarrollar una plataforma web que permita a la gente de avanzada edad aprender los conceptos básicos de un ordenador y los servicios que puede ofrecerle el uso de Internet mediante un sistema de lecciones sencillas y una dinámica basada en pistas. Dar los primeros pasos hacia una autosuficiencia tecnológica. En definitiva, la inclusión digital. Beyond the people who get sick every day, the dead and the fatal socioeconomic consequences that we suffer in our planet due to the serious COVID-19 pandemic that devastate our lives, there are other repercussions that we have been discovering during the last year. Facts that have always been present or, at least, for a long time. One of them is the terrible digital divide between those of us who were born in the middle of the technological revolution, and those who have had to adapt to it. But what happens to those who cannot adapt? Do they have to conform? Resigning oneself to social exclusion all because the health emergency situation forces the digital transition to advance at full speed? The main objective of this project is to avoid that and, for this, it is intended to develop a web platform that allows elderly people to learn the basic concepts of a computer and services that the use of the Internet can offer you through a system of simple lessons and a dynamic based on clues. Take the first steps towards technological self-sufficiency. In short, digital inclusion. Més enllà de la gent que emmalalteix dia a dia, dels morts i de les fatals conseqüències socioeconòmiques que sofrim a tot el planeta a causa de la greu pandèmia de COVID- 19 que assola les nostres vides, existeixen altres repercussions que hem anat descobrint durant aquest últim any. Fets que sempre han estat presents o, almenys, des de fa molt temps. Un d'ells és la terrible bretxa digital entre aquells que vam néixer en plena revolució tecnològica, i aquells que han hagut d'adaptar-se a ella. Però, què succeeix amb aquells que no ho aconsegueixen? Han de conformar-se? Resignar-se a l'exclusió social tot perquè la situació d'emergència sanitària faci avançar a marxes forçades la transició digital? Aquest projecte té com a principal objectiu evitar això desenvolupant una plataforma web que permeti a la gent d'avançada edat aprendre els conceptes bàsics d'un ordinador i els serveis que pot oferir-li l'ús d'Internet mitjançant un sistema de lliçons senzilles i una dinàmica basada en pistes. Fer els primers passos cap a una autosuficiència tecnològica. En definitiva, la inclusió digital.

The Seniors Go Digital program was launched in 2020 as part of the Singapore government’s plan to increase digital uptake among older adults. It sought to ensure they remain socially engaged, informed and are not left behind in the nationwide push for digitization. Project Wire Up is a community-based digital intervention that provides subsidized smartphones and one-to-one coaching on digital skills to older adults residing in public rental neighborhoods in Singapore. This exploratory study uses phenomenological and ethnographic approaches to examine older adults’ perceptions towards Project Wire Up, particularly how their attitudes and behaviors towards learning smartphones are shaped by experiences of aging, social and material precarities. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 9 participants who had completed the intervention. Although older learners expressed varying levels and types of motivation to learn, most expressed ambivalence about the perceived utility and relevance of the smartphone to their present needs, routines and priorities. In terms of barriers to learning, participants articulated two key challenges. These were: (i) anxieties about age-related cognitive and physical limitations; and (ii) self-consciousness about their socio-economic positioning, illiteracy, language barriers, and lack of cultural capital relative to other older adults. The internalization of class-related stigma and ageist stereotypes of being ‘less worthy’ learners further reduce self-efficacy and interest in learning. To increase the appeal and transformative potential of smartphones for older adults, implementers must develop ways for digital tools to be meaningful to the daily lives of older adults, such as through creating opportunities for sociality and relationship-building. Learning spaces should normalize ambivalence and learning challenges, while helping older adults to confront their own ageist stereotypes. These strategies must be complemented by broader structural efforts to expand definitions of successful aging that do not alienate or stigmatize those who may be unwilling or hesitant about partaking in the ‘digital movement’.

This thesis explores the persuasive function of tweets in the context of the 2016 European Union membership referendum. What makes a message resonate with its audience on social media? How can the message be expressed and delivered most effectively? What strategies do individuals and organisations use when they send a tweet and why? To explain tweet success, or resonance, an interdisciplinary framework centred around rhetoric was established. It is comprised of nine different features: discoverability, organisational authority, message framing and structure, emotions, topical issues, resolution, questions, and playfulness. A multi-method design is adopted to address the research questions from micro- and macroscopic perspectives. Approximately 9.8 million referendum-related tweets were collected from Twitter during the referendum period (15 April-22 June 2016). A random sample of 2,976 was hand-coded according to the framework. Semi-supervised algorithms were used to label the features in the full dataset, and multivariate regressions were computed to assess the influence of each feature. This quantitative analysis is complemented by interviews with 22 campaign leaders, journalists, politicians, digital marketing experts, and private individuals who tweeted actively during the referendum. Interviewees included the CEOs of Vote Leave and Stronger In, BuzzFeed’s Europe Editor, a Twitter board member, and a former MP and Minister of State for Europe. Finally, exceptional tweets and users were identified from the regression models and interview data and rigorously scrutinised. The overarching conclusion is that in the fast-paced and high-volume landscape of social media, discoverability is more important for resonance than content or style. Increasing the likelihood that a message is seen matters more than what is said or how it is said, because the vast majority of tweets are not seen. As such, this thesis introduces a revised schema for the resonance of digital cultural objects premised upon algorithmic power, visual media, and organisational authority.

Human societies from the outset have been associated according to race, beliefs, religion, social level, and the like. These behaviors continue even today in the classroom at primary, middle, and superior levels. However, the growth of ICT offers educational researchers new ways to explore methods of team formation that have been proven to be efficient in the field of serious games through the use of computer networks. The selection process of team members in serious games through the use of computer networks is carried out according to their performance in the area of the game without distinction of social variables. The use of serious games in education has been discussed in multiple research studies which state that its application in teaching and learning processes are changing the way of teaching. This article presents an exploratory analysis of the team formation process based on collaboration through the use of ICT tools of collective intelligence called TBT (The best team). The process and its ICT tool combine the paradigms of creativity in swarming, collective intelligence, serious games, and social computing in order to capture the participants’ emotions and evaluate contributions. Based on the results, we consider that the use of new forms of teaching and learning based on the emerging paradigms is necessary. Therefore, TBT is a tool that could become an effective way to encourage the formation of work groups by evaluating objective variable of performance of its members in collaborative works.

In the fall of 2014, the Responsive Cities Initiative convened three workshops supported by a planning grant from the Ford Foundation and hosted by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School. The workshops gathered leading thinkers with the aim of answering the following question: What could a university center do to advance policymaking and planning for fiber-optic networks that provide everyone in the United States with high-speed Internet access and (a) improve local governance and (b) support civic journalism? We invited leading U.S. fiber builders, city officials, and civic journalists to the first two sessions and hosted a large group of Danish utility fiber companies and lawmakers at the third. This paper presents our findings.

Public libraries are experimenting within their online catalogs with new means of supporting browsing via tagging systems. Although tagging is promising, research examining the effectiveness of such systems for patrons in this venue is limited. This paper presents results of a research study that examined if tagging in online web-based catalog systems improves browsing. A quasi-experiment was conducted to determine the usefulness of a sample of five online systems using search box verses tagging options to aid in patron searches. Results indicated that tags are useful in advancing the browsability of such catalog systems, but requires further developing to appeal to average patrons and to provide patrons with desired results. Based on the results a theoretical model was developed to aid in further analysis development of potential systems integrating tagging and the usability of these systems. Future studies are anticipated as further developed systems become integrated into web-accessible systems.

This chapter explores the challenges associated with teaching the principles of socio-technical systems in the dynamic climate that characterizes work in today’s—and tomorrow’s—world. Avoiding a “socio-technical gap” involves preparing the designers of tomorrow in such a way that they can anticipate society’s future needs and technology’s future potential and prospective peril. By way of a narrative that draws on the author’s own experiences teaching social informatics (SI) as part of an information studies degree program, this chapter discuss how her own research perspective in relation to socio-technical and social networking systems coevolves with the classroom experience. The case study offers examples of tutorial activities and assessments to illustrate how the suggested approach to teaching and learning can be applied in an STS classroom. Habits are useful but they can also be deadly. They are useful when the conditions in which they work are predictable and stable. But what happens if and when the bottom falls out of the stable social world in and for which we learn? Is it possible that learning itself—learning as we have come to enact it habitually—may no longer be particularly useful? Could it be that the very habits that have served us so well in stable times might actually become impediments to social success, even to social survival?

This study describes and evaluates the marketing strategies employed by two telecenters in rural Thailand. Telecenters are facilities that provide information and communication technology services to under-served populations in an effort to close the "digital divide". Interviews with key players involved in the management of the telecenters were conducted in order to determine the marketing practices in use. Questionnaire surveys of telecenter users and nonusers determined the effect of the marketing efforts on the community. The interviews clarified the challenges that the telecenters face. The survey results indicate that word-of-mouth advertising is the most successful marketing approach in use.

Community Informatics is both a study and a practice that seeks to facilitate socioeconomic empowerment through the use of Information and Communication Technologies, such as the Internet. As a developing area of interdisciplinary scholarship, Community Informatics has not yet been defined in academic terms. Using a bibliometric method, the intention of this study is to reveal the scholarly influences for this emerging area of academic scholarship. In order to examine the foundations of this scholarly community, this study evaluated citation patterns from the first year of publication of The Journal of Community Informatics, the sole and seminal peerreviewed serial publication in this research area. The results of this study make an important and necessary contribution that will help to more accurately characterize the intellectual home for Community Informatics.

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Industrial Design, Izmir, 2004, Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 103), Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and English, ix, 106 leaves, This thesis provides framework for consideration of the potential of information andcommunication technologies for public events and performances for the developing usage of new products, particularly information public kiosks. In the theoretical framework, the concepts and terms of information and communication technology are generally introduced along with the identification of number of major factors such as elements, diversity, necessity and evolution. Moreover, the importance of ICT technologies in urban settings and human behavior in response to this type of technology are investigated through the history of ICT. The concept of the usage of information and communication technology by actual people is particularly emphasized. Not only the utilization of information and communication technology in public space is described but also effective usage of ICT in the public space and information access provided by public products are identified.Figures of ICT systems and related products, their roots in design differences and new tools and products that are common examples of ICT, particularly the use of the information city kiosk, are presented and discussed. Design principles of the public information kiosk, which play a prominent role in the public use of ICT, are established. The analysis of design factors and human-product relations based on user profile, material choices, form, function and location are discussed. Finally, the thesis includes a conclusion that argues that the information city kiosks and their increased public use will designate the new images of the cities.