scholarly journals Future vision

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 346-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Rogerson

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the world of information and communications technology (ICT) from its early days to the near future. The aim is to consider how successfully academia, industry and government have worked together in delivering ethically acceptable ICT which is accessible to those who might benefit from such advances. The paper concludes with suggestions of a fresh approach for the future. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon evidence from the history of computers, funded research projects, professional bodies in the field, the ETHICOMP conference series and reported ICT disasters. The author uses his experience as both an ICT practitioner and an academic in the ICT ethics field to synthesise the evidence so providing a foundation on which to build an outline global action plan. Findings – The paper lays out the findings that there has been much detailed observation and analysis of the ethical challenges surrounding ICT but the transformation of this into widespread practical positive action remains elusive. It explores why progress has been difficult. Originality/value – This review of the interconnecting landscapes of practical ICT, funded research and the ICT ethics community is new. The attempt to demonstrate what progress has been made and to identify the underlying factors which influence progress are valuable to future generations working in this area. The concluding suggestions for action offer a starting point for entering the next phase of ICT ethics.

Babel ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-555
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Rottet

In this study we use a translation corpus of English novels translated into two closely related Celtic languages, Welsh and Breton, as one way of shedding light on the extent to which languages can influence each other over time: Welsh has a long history of contact with English, and Breton with French. Ever since the work of Leonard Talmy (1991, 2000 etc.), linguists have recognized that languages fall into a small number of types with respect to how they prefer to talk about motion events. English is a good exemplar of the satellite-framed type, whereas French exemplifies the verb-framed type. Translation scholars have observed that translating between languages of two different types raises interesting questions (Slobin 2005; Cappelle 2012), and the topic is also of interest from the perspective of language contact: is it possible for a language of one type, in a situation of prolonged and intense bilingualism with a language of another type, to be influenced or perhaps even to change its own rhetorical preferences? The translation corpus provides a body of data which holds constant the starting point – the cue in each case was an English motion event in the source text. We do indeed find that Welsh and Breton have diverged in important ways in terms of their preferences for encoding motion events: Breton is revealed to have moved significantly in the direction of French with respect to these preferences.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-114
Author(s):  
Jun Akamine

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss how whale meat foodways in Japan is a local practice, contrary to the prevailing political belief that it is national, and to examine two local whale meat foodways in Japan by focusing on the usage of blubber. To understand complexity of whaling issue, one needs to be careful of species rather than general “whale.”Design/methodology/approachBy investigating two kinds of recipe books, one published in the early 19th century and the other the early 20th century on whale meat dish, the paper clarifies blubber has been widely consumed rather than lean meat, and blubber was more important than lean meat as whale meat.FindingsThe western part of Japan has rich whale meat foodways compared to other parts of Japan. It is because of their history of whaling since the 17th century. They have inherited rich whale meat foodways.Originality/valueAlthough whale sashimi and deep-fried lean meat are popular nationwide regardless of their communities' history, former whaling communities in the western part of Japan developed a preference for blubber, skin, tongue and offal over lean meat. Whale meat foodways in Japan, therefore, is a local heritage. This fact should be the starting point for analyzing Japanese whaling and whale meat foodways.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Martínez-Sanchis ◽  
Cristina Aragón-Amonarriz ◽  
Cristina Iturrioz-Landart

Purpose This paper aims to explore how territory impacts on entrepreneurial families’ (EFs) embeddedness to unveil the role that territories play on the continuity and development of EFs. Design/methodology/approach To study complex contexts where subjective realities are analyzed, a constructivist qualitative approach is recommended. Given that, this paper develops a qualitative methodology in which 25 semi-structured interviews were carried out and analyzed based upon the use of ATLAS.ti, following an open-coding approach. Findings This paper found out that the territory can condition EFs’ embeddedness in different ways. First, through the cultural embeddedness, the shared territorial understanding of values and norms inherited by the history of the territory. Second, by the political embeddedness, i.e. the power exercised by territorial economic actors and non-market institutions. Third, through the structural embeddedness generated by the territorial social networks and the generation of close relationships and finally, through the so-called cognitive embeddedness, the territorial actors’ representations, interpretations and meanings. These four modes of territorial embeddedness are unfolded in a set of 16 territorial factors that impact on EFs’ embeddedness. Most of the identified factors, 14 out of the 16, are acting mainly over one of the embeddedness modes studied (cultural, political, structural and cognitive), while two of them, because they are operating simultaneously on various modes of embeddedness, have been considered transversal factors. Originality/value EFs have, to a great extent, been recognized as major generators of positive externalities in the territories in which they are located, and to date, the literature has focused on the impact that firms and family firms have on regional development. However, how the territory conditions the embeddedness of these families, especially how it impacts on the EFs’ territorial embeddedness, remains unexplored. This paper proposes a framework of 16 factors that help to understand the embeddedness dynamics between EFs and territories, serving as a starting point for future research avenues. Additionally, regional policy makers may use it as a guidance to build policy mix that considers these territorial factors to boost EFs’ embeddedness.


Author(s):  
Philip Carlisle ◽  
Edmund Lee

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the history of heritage inventories in England and look at the requirements for a future vision of networked, digital heritage inventories to support heritage protection in England as outlined in the Heritage Information Access Strategy (HIAS). The strategy, led by Historic England, the UK Government-funded agency for heritage in England, is proposing a more formalized network where the prime sources of data relating to non-designated heritage assets will be the local authority historic environment records. Design/methodology/approach – This paper looks at the historic development of the inventories from paper-based publications to digital data sets and the proliferation of data. The Monument Inventory Data Standard Heritage will also be discussed in the context of providing a common framework. Findings – The present loose network presents several challenges for the multiple organizations maintaining similar data sets on disparate IT software, namely, the duplication of content, ownership of content and different approaches to recording practice and standards. There is a need for common data standards and controlled vocabularies in order to facilitate data exchange and interoperability across the network. Practical implications – The findings are based on the common experience of heritage inventory providers in England, but are relevant to any country where multiple inventories exist. It is anticipated that the implementation of the HIAS will provide a future-proofed environment for a shared national inventory. Originality/value – This paper presents the HIAS in its historic context. It is hoped that this may be of value to inventory programmes from outside the UK.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Rogerson ◽  
Keith W. Miller ◽  
Jenifer Sunrise Winter ◽  
David Larson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethical issues surrounding information systems (IS) practice with a view to encouraging greater involvement in this aspect of IS research. Information integrity relies upon the development and operation of computer-based information systems. Those who undertake the planning, development and operation of these information systems have obligations to assure information integrity and overall to contribute to the public good. This ethical dimension of information systems has attracted mixed attention in the IS academic discipline. Design/methodology/approach The authors are a multidisciplinary team providing a rich, diverse experience which includes professional and information ethics, management information systems, software engineering, data repositories and information systems development. Each author has used this experience to review the IS ethics landscape, which provides four complimentary perspectives. These are synthesised to tease out trends and future pointers. Findings It is confirmed that there is a serious lack of research being undertaken relating to the ethical dimension of the Information Systems field. There is limited crossover between the well-established multidisciplinary community of Computer Ethics research and the traditional Information Systems research community. Originality/value An outline framework is offered which could provide an opportunity for rich and valuable dialogue across the two communities. This is proposed as the starting point for a proactive research and practice action plan for information systems ethics.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Costa Leite

Purpose This paper starts by presenting a theoretical framework based on the evolution of this problem through the EU treaties and a literature review. The focus is then turned to the role of some European institutions, namely, the European Parliament, through the Committee on Petitions, and the European Ombudsman for their close relationship: the information and communications technology (ICT)channels that introduced new mechanisms of communication and information; and what level of use this system of dialogue assures citizens’ rights to petition and to complain. Design/methodology/approach The first decades of the history of the European Union did not consider the link with citizens as a central priority in the evolution of the European integration process. The idea of Europe, built step by step, was much more dependent on the states’ political elites and bureaucratic European institutions. The democratic deficit, however, changed the perspectives of the different actors involved in the institutional framework. New initiatives were introduced alongside treaties to make the integration process more transparent and closer to European citizens. Findings Those results can be confirmed through the statistics and reports presented annually by those institutions. Originality/value Due to innovation in the use of ICT, transparency and dialogue with citizens became much more effective.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-282
Author(s):  
Maria Kmita

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address participants’ humorous provocations as a part of informal interactions between participants and researcher that can be treated just like the research data. By means of autoethnographic analysis, the author explores the expectations of the researcher and participants that humour research entails and discusses how different expectations are revealed in participants’ provocations. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses an autoethnographic approach to discuss the informal interactions between participants and the researcher gathered during research into staffroom humour. The informal interactions in general and humour specifically were recorded, analysed, coded, interpreted and theorised just like the data on humour between participants. The theoretical framework used in the study combines Goffman’s (1959) version of symbolic interactionism and Solomon et al. (2006) idea of hybrid spaces. Findings The study shows the need for reconsideration of expectations entangled in humour research and proposes to be prepared for unexpected. Expecting unexpected can help stay open minded in the field and in interactions with participants and apply healthy distance towards own research and own expectations. The study shows that whenever certain behaviour was expected and different behaviour was delivered, there was a chance for certain behaviour being interpreted as provocations. Participants’ provocations can result from their own expectations about the research or what they think is expected from them by the researcher and thus they remain subject to different interpretations. Research limitations/implications Further research could investigate and discuss the role of humour in participant-researcher interactions in different research contexts and across different methodologies. Combining and analysing experiences of use of humour from both participants and researchers could allow for creating the guidelines in the use of humour in different research situations. Ethical challenges posed by informal interactions between researcher and participants could be explored further and suggestions as to how to protect the researcher, research and participants in such interactions could be developed. Originality/value This paper aims to be a starting point for a discussion about the understudied relationship between expectations humour research is entangled with and participants’ provocations. The study shows innovative approach to informal interactions between participants’ and researcher which are treated as research data and are theorised using original combination of symbolic interactionism and hybrid spaces. The study contributes to the qualitative research methodology by discussing the ethics of both using humour with participants and recording and analysing informal humorous interactions between participants and the researcher.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarit Leskelä-Kärki

This article discusses archival sources and biographical history in the context of the history of modern esotericism. Presenting a case study and archival material of a Finnish writer Aarni Kouta (1884-1924) the article asks, what are the ethical challenges of studying individuals and their intimate sources in the context of esotericism. The starting point is in the forgotten figures of esoteric history, and thus the article reflects how our understanding of history and more precisely on the history of esotericism changes when we look at those whose history has not been presented before. I will argue that we need to be much more sensitive to the differences in the past when doing interpretations concerning individuals, and we have to be ethically aware of our position as interpreters. This means careful working with historical source materials, but also sensitivity to both the long traditions of esotericism and to the multiple contexts of particular historical moments.   


Subject China's AI development plans. Significance China's artificial intelligence (AI) industry received investment of 28 billion dollars last year, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. The government last July issued a Next generation artificial intelligence development plan, which sets a 1-trillion-renminbi (151-billion-dollar) 2030 target for China's core AI industry and a 10-trillion-renminbi target for related industries. A Three-year action plan for promoting development of a new generation artificial intelligence industry followed in December, setting numerous quantitative targets for 2020. Impacts Foreign AI professionals will be able to find well-paid employment in Chinese firms and institutions. Foreign firms working in AI will find eager partners and investors in China. Chinese experts will participate in international standard-setting and debates about ethics and safety. Close cooperation with the military on AI development will feed suspicion of Chinese technology firms overseas.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-146
Author(s):  
Therese O' Donoghue ◽  
John Shine ◽  
Olufunto Orimalade

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary data on a cohort of patients referred to a specialist forensic medium-secure autism spectrum disorder (ASD) service during its first two years of opening and to identify variables associated with admission to the service. Design/methodology/approach – Data on all referrals to the service (n=40) was obtained from clinical files on demographics, offending history, psychiatric history and levels of therapeutic engagement. The sample was divided into two groups: referred and admitted (n=23) and referred and not admitted (n=17). Statistical analysis compared the two groups on all variables. Findings – Totally, 94 per cent of all individuals assessed had a diagnosis of autism, however, structured diagnostic tools for ASD were used in a small minority of cases. About half the sample had a learning disability, almost four-fifths had at least one additional mental disorder and almost three-quarters had a history of prior supervision failure or non-compliance with treatment. The sample had a wide range of previous offences. No significant differences were found between the groups on any of the variables included in the study. Research limitations/implications – The present study presents a starting point to follow up in terms of response to treatment and characteristics associated with treatment outcome. Practical implications – The sample had a wide range of clinical and risk-related needs. Both groups shared many similarities. Originality/value – This highlights the need for comprehensive assessment looking at risk-related needs so that individuals are referred to an optimal treatment pathway.


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