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Perhaps more than any other online social-networking platform, Instagram facilitates the construction and management of public image, serving as a potentially effective tool for political actors; nevertheless, it remains relatively understudied among digital communication strategies. In this article, I investigate the platform's use by far-right populist politicians, turning to Santiago Abascal of Spain as a case study. Performing detailed analysis on a corpus of Abascal's most popular posts determined by their "engagement rate," I expose the gendered mode of self-presentation that resonates with Abascal's public. In the second part of the article, I consider an equivalent corpus from President Pedro Sánchez, one of Abascal's main political rivals at the time of writing. This comparative juxtaposition illustrates stark differences in approaches to social media and underscores how effective particular performances of masculinity can be for populist politicians. Ultimately, I aim to shed insight on the specific ways that Instagram serves far-right political projects, both in Spain and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to establish whether astroturfing was used during the Covid-19 pandemic to manipulate Spanish public opinion through Twitter. This study analyzes tweets published in Spanish and geolocated in the Philippines, and its first objective is to determine the existence of an organized network that directs its messages mainly towards Spain. To determine the non-existence of a random network, a preliminary collection of 1,496,596 tweets was carried out. After determining its 14 main clusters, 280 users with a medium-low profile of participation and micro- and nano-influencer traits were randomly selected and followed for 103 days, for a total of 309,947 tweets. Network science, text mining, sentiment and emotion, and bot probability analyses were performed using Gephi and R. Their network structure suggests an ultra-small-world phenomenon, which would determine the existence of a possible organized network that tries not to be easily identifiable. The data analyzed confirm a digital communication scenario in which astroturfing is used as a strategy aimed at manipulating public opinion through non-influencers (cybertroops). These users create and disseminate content with proximity and closeness to different groups of public opinion, mixing topics of general interest with disinformation or polarized content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has temporarily emptied museums and drawn attention to an aspect of these cultural institutions that is often seen as secondary and subordinate to their physical presence: the digital dimension. Having been forced to close their doors, museums have sought to boost their online activity through a range of different initiatives. The most notable actions undertaken in terms of frequency are related to social networks. This situation obliges us to ask the question: have museums succeeded in achieving a meaningful online presence in their communities via social media? In terms of marketing and digital communication, content is understood as meaningful when it provides value to the audience. This value arises from the alignment of the objectives of the institution with those of the target audience; this makes it essential to understand the profile of users who comprise the communities of different digital channels. Drawing on a comparative analysis of the profiles of museum visitors and those of social media users, this paper addresses the challenges of connecting on social media with the generation known as Generation Z (a population currently between 14 and 24 years of age). To do so, it attempts to define this generation and determine how it uses social media, taking advantage of the work already carried out by Spanish museums on their social media profiles during lockdown to establish how museum institutions can make themselves more relevant to this demographic segment in Spain and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital sphere and social media platforms have prompted new logics regarding information access and influence flows among media, politicians, and citizens. In this exploratory study, via a machine learning software and with data visualization methods, we analyzed social media data in order to find patterns that can contribute to comprehend the new dynamics of influence between the media, politicians, and citizenship in the context of social media and digital communication, specifically on Twitter. We analyzed who the top 50 Spanish generalist media with most followers started following in 2017, 2018, and 2019 on Twitter, the quintessential informational network. To do so, we melded data visualization computational and manual methods. We used an artificial intelligence big data analysis software to visualize the network of media from Spain in order to identify the sample. Afterward, we extracted the top followed accounts by the sample and categorized them in types of accounts, institution/citizenship, country, number of followers, and gender, to proceed with the data visualization to identify trends and patterns. The results show that these media accounts started following mainly accounts that belonged to male politicians from Spain. We could also spot among the years of the study an inversely proportional trend from the media that went from following mainly institutions to following a majority of citizens, and to start following more accounts with a smaller number of followers every year. The tendency to follow accounts from Spain that belong to men grew or remained a majority among the years of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Third sector organizations are organizational structures that contribute to the countries social welfare. This type of organizations requires their audiences support and understanding in order to accomplish their organizational objectives and, to obtain such support, they must communicate in a transparent form with their audiences. Transparency must be understood as a third sector organizations ethical duty with a view to announce their audiences not only detailed information about the use of financial resources but also to keep them informed about their actions, decisions and daily behaviors. Third sector organizations must manage their transparency and best practices not as designed action within a logistical or merely operational plan, but as the core idea of a strategic plan that allows them to create bonds of trust with strategic audiences such as: collaborators, donors, volunteers, government, other third sector organizations and society. When the audiences notice that a third sector organization puts their transparency and best practices into practice as an ethical and voluntary attitude for making visible and explaining each one of their actions, decisions, projects, profits and results, they will not hesitate to participate with it and offer their unconditional support. Comprehensive communication plays a fundamental role in the transparency strategic management of the third sector organizations, since it is through it that the audiences are able to know in detail the organization actions. Owing to, currently, digital media own a great reach, third sector organizations transparency and best practices must be communicated using digital media in a proper form. That is, organizations must not only design strategies to strengthen their transparency, but they also must communicate them with their audiences. With that said, the objective of this research was to analyze and to compare through a content analysis the comprehensive communication level in digital media owned by the third sector organizations from Mexico and Spain with NGO certification accredited to communicate their transparency and best practices to their audiences via their website and official social media: Facebook and Twitter. The third sector organizations sample was of 104 Spanish organizations and 104 Mexican organizations. This research was performed through a quantitative content analysis. Such analysis is digital and it was carried out in the official website and in two social media: Facebook and Twitter. It is a cross-sectional research, since the information gathering was performed during the period January-August, 2020. The research stages were: definition of the sample, definition of variables, information coding and analysis and interpretation of results. The study categories were determined from the nine transparency and best practices principles of Lealtad y Confío foundation; indications based on international standards recommended by the ICFO (International Committee on Fundraising Organizations). The main findings were that the communication level in the Spanish third sector organizations was better than in the Mexican organizations; however, both organizations have the challenge to efficiently communicate their transparency using digital media. Although it is true that Spain owns a better level of transparency and best practices comprehensive communication in digital media compared to Mexico, it has merely focused in taking advantage of its website, leaving the advantages of social media, Facebook and Twitter, aside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The events sector moves around 6,900 million euros a year, and provides jobs for thousands of professionals. The digitization of our era has transformed the way we communicate and, therefore, the way events are organized, presented and disseminated. On the other hand, the transformations that the communication sector has undergone in recent years highlight the training needs that the labor market demands. The digitization of content, the change in the brand-consumer relationship or the organization of events are sectors that are especially in need of new professional profiles. Events as unique spaces that offer added value transformed by the digital presence in social media, the contribution of influencers, the use of apps, the use of streaming or gamification, are some of the tools that need this update in training. The management of good digital communication in events allows, among other things, to identify experts and prescribers, create a community around the event, broadcast live activities, virtual networking, create an online debate before, during and after the event, etc. Therefore, future event organizers should have a multidisciplinary training and with very defined skills such as knowledge of new 2.0 technologies, versatility and adaptability, as well as creative and strategic capacity. In fact, not all actions communicate by themselves, they must be accompanied by quality actions and commitments. The need for new professional profiles in the different areas of communication is a reality pointed out and studied both from the institutional and academic spheres. The objective of the work presented here is to carry out a descriptive exploratory study of the degrees currently offered by these studies in Spanish universities, to check whether they respond to the training needs demanded by the sector at present. The methodological approach used to address the study presented is qualitative-quantitative, specifically using content analysis as an ideal technique in social science studies related to communication. A mixed quantitative-qualitative methodology and a content analysis are carried out as a study technique of the analyzed sample: all postgraduate and undergraduate degrees related to the Organization of Events published in RUCT (Registry of Universities, Centers and Titles). In the first term, the more formal aspects of the sample degrees are analyzed, both in master's degrees and in degrees, to establish their basic characteristics in analysis files that collected the following qualitative variables: name of the university, type of degree. Second, a content analysis of the study plans of the selected postgraduates is carried out, using the information hosted on the web pages of each university as a source of access. Among other conclusive results, the research reflects the timid bet that the Spanish university makes for training in a sector that moves a large number and jobs in Spain. Especially in the public university, since only one university offers a postgraduate degree in this area, compared to the six offered by the private university. Likewise, it is found that professional careers change according to work scenarios, and a certain lack of incorporation of emerging profiles into the evolution of the sector is observed, so a more precise interrelation between profile-task / function-specialization should be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital communication channels can be subject to exploitation, resulting in harming individuals or societies by promoting fake news, disinformation, radicalization, or social polarization. It is important that communicators are well prepared in identifying, preventing, and responding to such actions, in understanding the vulnerabilities of their audience, while respecting the rights and liberties of the population. Thus, ethical, and strategic communication should be of top priority for institutional communicators, academia, journalists, or stakeholders when addressing security or sensitive issues. The article presents the results of an empirical sociological study, part of an extensive exploratory research within the CRESCEnt project, aiming at identifying elements of enhancing critical thinking, responsible communication, and accountable behaviour. Three European states were targeted by the study: Romania, Spain, and Greece, while 28 practitioners in communication, intelligence and security and law enforcement contributed to the research with significant input on topics related to ethical, successful, and strategic communication characteristics. Ethical communication implies acting by ethical principles, like being truthful, accurate, and well-intentioned. Responsibility is the central element of ethical engagement when informing the public. Effective messages are characterized by clearness, validity of information, novelty and presented in real time. Different types of authorities come into action for the communicators, such as the journalism code of practice, European values, or possible negative social impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the Arab Spring and los indignados in Spain, to Occupy Wall Street (and beyond), large-scale, sustained protests are using digital media in ways that go beyond sending and receiving messages. Some of these action formations contain relatively small roles for formal brick and mortar organizations. Others involve well-established advocacy organizations, in hybrid relations with other organizations, using technologies that enable personalized public engagement. Both stand in contrast to the more familiar organizationally managed and brokered action conventionally associated with social movement and issue advocacy. This article examines the organizational dynamics that emerge when communication becomes a prominent part of organizational structure. It argues that understanding such variations in large-scale action networks requires distinguishing between at least two logics that may be in play: The familiar logic of collective action associated with high levels of organizational resources and the formation of collective identities, and the less familiar logic of connective action based on personalized content sharing across media networks. In the former, introducing digital media do not change the core dynamics of the action. In the case of the latter, they do. Building on these distinctions, the article presents three ideal types of large-scale action networks that are becoming prominent in the contentious politics of the contemporary era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction and development of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in the Community of Madrid respond to the need of adjusting broadcasting to the new technological requirements, and to the firm, very ambitious and carefully designed political objective of making the Community of Madrid the leader in the implementation of DTT in Spain. This article aims to show the more relevant policies carried out by the government of this Community during 2008 and 2009 for the digital switchover. This article acknowledges that the Community of Madrid's technological adjustment policy is framed within a wider national policy called PlanAvanza (2009-2012), which greatly supports, in its Infrastructures section, the nationwide implementation of DTT, and issubsequently determined by the National Technical Plan for DTT(PTNTDT). Based on the collected data, this article studies the level of DTT household penetration in the Community of Madrid during 2008-2009, the informative effectiveness of the campaigns designed to promote awareness about this technological change and ensure the necessary social support, and the effectiveness of the policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents blogs as an innovative and rich tool for political communication. Blogs can facilitate two-way communication and true interaction between citizens and politicians. The article analyses in depth the content, uses, and characteristics of five weblogs written by Aragonese politicians. Although the study detects some weaknesses in the current political use of blogs, it encourages political parties to use blogs and other online resources, not only during electoral campaigns to improve the reputation of political leaders but also continuously and particularly in situations of special interest for the citizenship. The study shows that the use of blogs by Aragonese politicians is no longer just a transitory phenomenon and has become a reality. The article also demonstrates that politicians use blogs mostly as a pre-electoral tooland to a much lesser extent as an element of communication to promote democracy. It has been observed that politicians' blogs are used as a tool to overcome situations of crisis and to compensate negative opinions caused by questionable acts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Complex networks are considered robust against random failures but sensitive to failures in target. Under this perspective we analyze the robustness of the Spanish telecommunication networks for digital transmission, the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), considering failures in the equipments that control the flow of information. Our results suggest that the robustness depends not only on the connectivity of equipments removed but also on the capacity and types of links associated with that removal. We have also observed that the robustness of SDH networks depends on the particular initial design and evolution of each Spanish province. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Experience using Secure Medical Image Information System, a picture-archiving system, is reported. To test the Secure Medical Image Information System, a series of medical data transmissions were conducted from A Coruña, Spain, to the Virgen de las Nieves Hospital in Granada, Spain. They are separated by a distance of 1,000 km. The results obtained from these investigations demonstrate that the impact of secure data-sending methods on the productivity of the system is higher in networks whose capacities are higher and it is not affected by sending data during different periods in the day. In this regard, the presented approach may serve as a model for other small, and possibly mid-sized, medical centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. This paper analyses the level of development of the press archives of the thirteen Spanish newspapers with the largest digital circulations. Method. This is evaluative research based on twenty indicators divided into four main sections: general features, the query system, presentation of results and other features. The benchmarks for all the indicators were the Lexis-Nexis, Factiva and My News databases. Analysis. The press archives of online newspapers were analysed to determine their level of development and the search and browsing facilities they offer according to a set of quality indicators satisfied by professional press databases. The sample consisted of the thirteen newspapers with the largest circulations according to the figures provided by the organisations that audit the Internet press audience. The analysis was carried out from June to August 2007. Results. The level of development of digital press archives is not homogeneous. Of the newspapers studied, five showed a high or medium-high level of development, though not as high as that of the best commercial products. These were La Vanguardia, ABC, El País, El Mundo and El Periódico, all of which are online versions of prestigious general information newspapers published in print format. Seven newspapers showed a low or medium-low level of development. These were three daily sports papers (As, Sport, Mundo Deportivo), three exclusively digital newspapers (Periodista Digital, 20 Minutos and Libertad Digital) and one regional newspaper (La Verdad). Finally, one sports paper (Marca) had no search system by keywords. Conclusions. Fewer than half of the major Spanish newspapers show high or medium levels of development of their digital press archives, though not as high as that of the best press databases, and the rest are still far from satisfying the requirements of a professional search system. The indicators established may also be useful for analysing the situation in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview of the research activities undertaken by La Salle and the Ebro Observatory in the field of remote sensing. On 2003 we started a research project with two main objectives: implement a long-haul oblique ionospheric sounder and transmit the data from remote sensors located at the Spanish Antarctic station Juan Carlos I to Spain. The paper focuses on a study of feasibility of two possible physical layer candidates for the skywave link between both points. A DS-SS based solution and an OFDM based solution are considered to achieve a reliable low-power low-rate communication system between Antarctica and Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are formed by nodes with limited computational and power resources. WSNs are finding an increasing number of applications, both civilian and military, most of which require security for the sensed data being collected by the base station from remote sensor nodes. In addition, when many sensor nodes transmit to the base station, the implosion problem arises. Providing security measures and implosionresistance in a resource-limited environment is a real challenge. This article reviews the aggregation strategies proposed in the literature to handle the bandwidth and security problems related to many-to-one transmission in WSNs. Recent contributions to secure lossless many-to-one communication developed by the authors in the context of several Spanish-funded projects are surveyed. Ongoing work on the secure lossy many-to-one communication is also sketched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been an increasing use of modern digital signal processors (DSPs) in industrial control and other applications in the past few years. While courses offered in electrical and computer engineering disciplines cover such topics as mobile and digital communication, image and sound encoding and decoding, few courses focus on the use of DSPs in real-time control of electrical machinery and drives. Therefore, there is a growing need in industry for engineers who can perform control design and system integration for various applications in motor control. This paper describes a course on Control of Electrical Machines offered by the School of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona (ETSEIB), Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), Barcelona, Spain. A description of a hands-on laboratory testbed for motor control. An outline of the course structure, the laboratory setup and the design aspects for implementing modern real-time motor control applications are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European digitization and technological convergence process has served to deepen the crisis that all public broadcasters have been experiencing in Europe over the last 20 years. Yet, when the transition to digital broadcasting is discussed, this has mainly referred to the medium of television. Radio on the other hand, a medium with greater capillarity (in the sense of having deeper local roots and networks), has been dealing with its own crisis. This article outlines the main characteristics and problems of public service radio in Catalonia, arising from a study carried out on its structure and the programming it offers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the development of a custom hardware and software for a cave-monitoring system in the Gypsum Karst Natural Park of Sorbas in the province of Almeria, Spain. Description of the battery-charge regulator used for the cave network; Key features of the system.

A web-based on-line framework has been created to augment an undergraduate course in communication theory aimed at Spanish telecommunication engineering students. Its aim is to enrich the students' understanding on basic topics such as analogue and digital communication systems, information theory, random signals and noise, as well as to provide remote support, additional information and interactive tools. As an ultimate goal, it tries to contribute to a redefinition of the role of the student as the principal actor of his or her own learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, the Spanish television market has radically changed, but television has never ceased being a favorite medium for advertisers, not only because of its potential to communicate emotions with a unique touch but above all because it reaches 98 per cent of Spanish households. In recent years, consumption of television has increased in Spain, now on the digital threshold, and there is already evidence from the U.S. that households with access to fully interactive digital television increase their overall consumption of the medium. And yet, Infoadex data on advertising spend in Spain during 2001 indicates that out of the 18% of the total media investment received by television, less than 1.7% of that was spent on noncommercial and nationwide television. This raises an important question: why does advertiser interest in digital television not grow at the same pace as audience acceptance of the new technology? The arrival of digital multichannel television in 1997 means we must reconsider the concept of advertising in a medium in which the user pays for access to content. Advertising must now focus on becoming an added value service for the viewer, augmenting programme content. Digital television has the ability to increase segmentation of the audience and its interactive possibilities open the way towards creating new advertising messages. This paper explores the response of advertisers and other professional actors across the media sector. Its object is to establish an initial analysis of the reasons for the inhibited attitude of advertisers towards digital television. After a brief review of the present situation in Spain -- with reference to the business models and the legal framework in which digital television is developing -- we examine the role of advertising, using interviews with different professionals in the field, in order to identify the main barriers to advertising investment in digital television. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]