An Exploratory Look at the Growth and Success of Crowdfunding in the Public Space

2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-196
Author(s):  
Martin Mayer

The digital age has changed the way we consume information and left organizations struggling to adapt to new technologies and information exchange mechanisms. Civic crowdfunding is one such new technology that has the potential to redefine what local government means from an individual and administrative perspective, but there remains little knowledge about what it is and where it fits in the public space. This research attempts to unravel these questions by providing an overview of the field of civic crowdfunding and explaining what types of projects are undertaken, what projects are successfully funded, and what factors lead to successful projects.

2012 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 1250007 ◽  
Author(s):  
JÜRGEN EICHBERGER ◽  
ANI GUERDJIKOVA

We present a model of technological adaptation in response to a change in climate conditions. The main feature of the model is that new technologies are not just risky, but also ambiguous. Pessimistic agents are thus averse to adopting a new technology. Learning is induced by optimists, who are willing to try out technologies about which there is little evidence available. We show that both optimists and pessimists are crucial for a successful adaptation. While optimists provide the public good of information which gives pessimists an incentive to innovate, pessimists choose the new technology persistently in the long-run which increases the average returns for the society. Hence, the optimal share of optimists in the society is strictly positive. When the share of optimists in the society is too low, innovation is slow and the obtained steady-state is inefficient. We discuss two policies which can potentially alleviate this inefficiency: Subsidies and provision of additional information. We show that if precise and relevant information is available, pessimists would be willing to pay for it and consequently adopt the new technology. Hence, providing information might be a more efficient policy, which is both self-financing and results in better social outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Accornero

“Certain sounds, even when they are loud or heard from close by, conjure small sources.” Small sounds, as Chion (2016) describes them in this quote, usually appear in intimate or contained settings, where their relatively low strength will not be spoiled by the masking effects of a noisy public sphere. What happens, however, when they are shared with an audience in a concert venue? Privileging a distributive understanding of agency, I explore the interactions of instruments, techniques, and processes through which the composer Clara Iannotta (b. 1983) brings small sounds to the public space of the concert hall in the first minute of her composition Intent on Resurrection – Spring or Some Such Thing (2014). By articulating the technological means harnessed to allow for the qualities of small sounds to emerge, I reveal the conditions that are required for sound to be recognized and experienced as intimate. Along the way, I draw connections between the amplification aesthetics of Iannotta’s work and Hyperrealist art, and theorize the concept of the “grain of the instrument” drawing on ideas from Roland Barthes, Pierre Schaeffer, and Brian Kane.


Author(s):  
Daniel Toscano López

This chapter seeks to show how the society of the digital swarm we live in has changed the way individuals behave to the point that we have become Homo digitalis. These changes occur with information privatization, meaning that not only are we passive consumers, but we are also producers and issuers of digital communication. The overarching argument of this reflection is the disappearance of the “reality principle” in the political, economic, and social spheres. This text highlights that the loss of the reality principle is the effect of microblogging as a digital practice, the uses of which can either impoverish the space of people's experience to undermine the public space or achieve the mobilization of citizens against of the censorship of the traditional means of communication by authoritarian political regimes, such as the case of the Arab Spring in 2011.


Author(s):  
Inci Tari

The digital age is changing everything forever. Media is changing in many ways ranging from the way people screen it to the way it is operated as a business. Profitable mainstream media of yesterday is struggling to survive against disruptive innovation brought by new technologies and being challenged by giant technology companies such as Google and Facebook, which are forming a duopoly, especially in terms of digital advertising revenues. These conditions are forcing media managers to be more literate than ever. Although there is a definition for media literacy and business literacy, there is no definition for media business literacy yet. This study will try to make a definition of media business literacy, which should involve stakeholders, markets, products, customers, competitors, financial terminology, and financial statements. After this broad definition, the rest of the chapter will focus on the changing media industry structure providing an insight on some financial and numerical information that needs to be understood by everyone interested in media business.


2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-429
Author(s):  
THEMBISA MJWACU

ABSTRACT The author of this essay argues that the success or failure of development depends on the availability of technology. The invention and development of new technologies are instrumental in changing the way people live, the way people communicate and the way people respond to their environment. However, despite the advantages of new technologies, the problem of access remains an enduring one. In South Africa, access to new communications and information technologies is limited to a few people owing to the high costs of these technologies. Therefore, the mere acquisition of new technology may not help that much to end the underdevelopment of many parts of the world, including South Africa. Mjwacu claims that the imbalance or gap that the use of new technology and the failure to development the social infrastructure needed to use this technology can lead directly to an infringement of people's right of access to the media. She argues that the emphasis needs to be placed on establishing community-based communication systems in countries such as South Africa to advance both their technological and social development.


Author(s):  
Ryan Hannink ◽  
Reiner Kuhr ◽  
Tony Morris

Nuclear energy projects continue to evoke strong emotional responses from the general public throughout the world. High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) technology offers improved safety and performance characteristics that should enhance public acceptance but is burdened with demonstrating a different set of safety principles. This paper summarizes key issues impacting public acceptance and discusses the importance of openly engaging the public in the early stages of new HTGR projects. The public gets information about new technologies through schools and universities, news and entertainment media, the internet, and other forms of information exchange. Development of open public forums, access to information in understandable formats, participation of universities in preparing and distributing educational materials, and other measures will be needed to support widespread public confidence in the improved safety and performance characteristics of HTGR technology. This confidence will become more important as real projects evolve and participants from outside the nuclear industry begin to evaluate the real and perceived risks, including potential impacts on public relations, branding, and shareholder value when projects are announced. Public acceptance and support will rely on an informed understanding of the issues and benefits associated with HTGR technology. Major issues of public concern include nuclear safety, avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions, depletion of natural gas resources, energy security, nuclear waste management, local employment and economic development, energy prices, and nuclear proliferation. Universities, the media, private industry, government entities, and other organizations will all have roles that impact public acceptance, which will likely play a critical role in the future markets, siting, and permitting of HTGR projects.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Bujane Topalli

The mobile phone, as a medium has influenced the ways in which we can interact with other media. It is considered like a channel between traditional and new media. Its specific characteristics, social functions and also its uses may vary in different contexts and cultures. The mobile phone, has contributed in increasing the idea of personal media, and the emergence of new kinds of media behavior. According to Morley (2002), communication technologies transform and rearrange relations between the domestic and the public space. In particular, mobile communication functions to broaden the sphere of the home outside the physical household; to blur the boundaries between the public and private spheres. In this study we aim to discuss through the literature review the role of the phone in the everyday life, and to know more about the different ways and reasons why 12-15 year old teenagers, part of Municipality of Shkoder, use mobile phone. This qualitative research is based on semi structured interviews with children. The identified problems consist in: First: The children use more mobile phones in order to use the internet and social networks and this makes it really difficult for their parents to control them. This exposes more the children towards negative effect of internet usage. The second problem is that parents do not have enough knowledge on the usage of new technology. Third: Children have taken information about the risk of internet from the media or by friends and they haven't discussed about this subject at school with teachers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
Tetiana Banakh

The article analyzes the first public discussions of the last decade of the 20th century about mass murders of Polish population in Volhynia in 1943. The author explores the emergence of the topic of “Volhynia” in the public space and Polish-Ukrainian historical debates about these mass murders in the 1990s. The research is based on the published sources and interviews with the participants in the Polish-Ukrainian dialog. The article focuses on the first mentions of the Volhynian events in the post-communist period, on the way this issue was discussed at seminars of Polish and Ukrainian historians, and in the leading Polish newspapers “Gazeta Wyborcza” and “Rzeczpospolita”. Particular attention is paid to the discussion about the mass murders in the “Gazeta Wyborcza” in 1995. The Volhynian issue appeared in the public space after almost fifty years of silence initiated from the Polish “kres” and veteran circles which represented the victims of the mass murders. This topic was arousing interest gradually. It did not immediately take a lead- ing place in Polish-Ukrainian historical debates. In the 1990s, the discussion about “Volhynia” took place primarily between historians and within the groups to which this topic was important. There was only one discussion about the Volhynian events in the press, namely in the “Gazeta Wyborcza”. This newspaper, which appeared as an organ of Solidarity, pays attention especially to the relationship between Poland and its neighbours, particularly Ukraine. In the Ukrainian central media, the Volhynian issue remained completely without attention. Although the debates about “Volhynia” were not actively conducted in the 1990s, certain tendencies were established during this period, which remained characteristic in the following years. In Poland, these events were perceived as one of the most traumatic episodes of the national history, so it was the Polish side who initiated the discussions about this topic. The Ukrainian side was forced to respond to these initiatives.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.35) ◽  
pp. 643
Author(s):  
Norhazilah binti Mahat ◽  
Nor’ashikin Binti Ali

In today's world, the development of new technologies has transformed the way employees perform their tasks without the limit of time and place. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a concept to enable employees to perform their tasks with the limitless infrastructure, which allows mobility and access to anyone, anywhere using their own devices. The growing trends of BYOD have many benefits including increased employees’ productivity, increased employee satisfaction, and reduced costs.  Despite the benefits, companies are also facing challenges such as security, loss and stolen of device and data, as well as malware attacks. One of the reasons for these challenges is that the BYOD policy is still not established and enforced in the public sector. Failure to create BYOD policy will have a negative impact on the organisation. However, issues and benefits are only anecdotes and they are not empirically studied in the public sector.  Therefore, this study aims to identify benefits and challenges in Malaysian Public Sectors (MPS). Through literature review, benefits and challenges were extracted to list out the construct by measuring the frequency of constructs appearing in the literature. For that purpose, the quantitative survey will be conducted.


Author(s):  
Nicola Del Sarto ◽  
Andrea Piccaluga

Artificial intelligence is profoundly changing the way in which companies compete and do business. In particular, artificial intelligence can represent a very interesting opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises, which are constantly looking for new technologies to be able to remain competitive in a turbulent market. However, research exploring how SMEs may successfully adopt artificial intelligence technology are missing. To address this gap, the authors reviewed the literature on artificial intelligence and identified four key features that SMEs need to consider when implementing this technology represented by people, processes, products, and customers. After that they described four cases of Italian SMEs which have adopted successfully this new technology taking into account one of the four dimensions. The study contributes to the literature on artificial intelligence and SMEs and may be helpful for managers who want to adopt this technology within their company.


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