scholarly journals Exposing the ICT Regulatory Dilemma: The Test for Governments

Obiter ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-347
Author(s):  
Mzukisi Njotini
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
New Space ◽  
The Law

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) generate both benefits and challenges for society. For example, ICTs augment social development and encourage equality and inclusivity. In addition, these technologies create a new space – that is, cyberspace. This space is separate from physical or offline space. The emergence of this space has resulted in regulators having difficulty establishing suitable regulations. The latter are regulations that understand the workings and dynamics of ICTs. Mostly, regulators adopt regulatory frameworks that are suitable for controlling physical or offline environments. These regulations accept, inter alia, that the source of regulating is the law or legal rules. In the main, regulators continuously re-invent the ICT regulatory wheel in the hope that, by chance, suitable ICT regulations will emerge or be found. Consequently, ICT regulations often exacerbate the existing ICT regulatory dilemma. This article examines an alternative approach to regulations that is external to the law or legal rules. The structure accepts that a proper ICT regulatory framework is one that understands the workings and dynamics of these technologies. Given this understanding, ICT regulations should be bound to the technology and be able to develop or evolve with it.

Heritage values and legal rules

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy C. Wells ◽  
Lucas Lixinski
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Heritage Studies ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Critical Heritage ◽  
Fundamental Shift ◽  
New Framework

Purpose Existing regulatory frameworks for identifying and treating historic buildings and places reflect deference to expert rule, which privileges the values of a small number of heritage experts over the values of the majority of people who visit, work, and reside in historic environments. The purpose of this paper is to explore a fundamental shift in how US federal and local preservation laws address built heritage by suggesting a dynamic, adaptive regulatory framework that incorporates heterodox approaches to heritage and therefore is capable of accommodating contemporary sociocultural values. Design/methodology/approach The overall approach used is a comparative literature review from the fields of heterodox/orthodox heritage, heterodox/orthodox law, adaptive management, and participatory methods to inform the creation of a dynamic, adaptive regulatory framework. Findings Tools such as dialogical democracy and participatory action research are sufficiently pragmatic in implementation to envision how an adaptive regulatory framework could be implemented. This new framework would likely require heterodox definitions of law that move beyond justice as a primary purpose and broaden the nature of legal goods that can be protected while addressing discourses of power to benefit a larger group of stakeholders. Practical implications The authors suggest that an adaptive regulatory framework would be particularly beneficial for architectural and urban conservation planning, as it foregrounds considerations other than property rights in decision-making processes. While such a goal appears to be theoretically possible, the challenge will be to translate the theory of an adaptive regulatory framework into practice as there does not appear to be any precedent for its implementation. There will be issues with the need for increased resources to implement this framework. Originality/value To date, there have been few, if any, attempts to address critical heritage studies theory in the context of the regulatory environment. This paper appears to be the first such investigation in the literature.

Heritage values and legal rules

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy C. Wells ◽  
Lucas Lixinski
Keyword(s):  
Community Involvement ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Power Differential ◽  
Conservation Practice ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Heritage Studies ◽  
Pluralistic Approach ◽  
Critical Heritage

Purpose Existing regulatory frameworks for identifying and treating historic buildings and places reflect deference to expert rule, which privilege the values of a small number of heritage experts over the values of the majority of people who visit, work, and reside in historic environments. To address this problem, the purpose of this paper is to explore a fundamental shift in how US federal and local preservation laws address built heritage by suggesting a dynamic, adaptive regulatory framework that incorporates heterodox approaches to heritage and therefore is capable of accommodating contemporary sociocultural values. Design/methodology/approach The overall approach the authors use is a comparative literature review from the fields of heterodox/orthodox heritage, heterodox/orthodox law, adaptive management, and participatory methods to inform the creation of a dynamic, adaptive regulatory framework. Findings Heterodox heritage emphasizes the need for a bottom-up, stakeholder-driven process, where everyday people’s values have the opportunity to be considered as being as valid as those of conventional experts. Orthodox law cannot accommodate this pluralistic approach, so heterodox law is required because, like heterodox heritage, it deconstructs power, values participation, and community involvement. Practical implications Orthodox heritage conservation practice disempowers most stakeholders and empowers conventional experts; this power differential is maintained by orthodox law. Originality/value To date, there have been few, if any, attempts to address critical heritage studies theory in the context of the regulatory environment. This paper appears to be the first such investigation in the literature.

ROLE OF LIBRARIANS IN TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY IN ZIMBABWEAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Information Skills ◽  
The University

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.

Cyber Peacekeeping: Critical Evaluation of Digital Blue Helmets Program

2020 ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Fahad Nabeel
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Threat Detection ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Future Potential

In 2016, the United Nations (UN) launched the Digital Blue Helmets (DBH) program under its Office of Information and Communications Technologies (OICT). The launching of DBH was a continuation of a series of steps that the UN and its related agencies and departments have undertaken over the past decade to incorporate cyberspace within their working methodologies. At the time of inception, DBH was envisioned as a team capacitated to act as a replica of a physical peacekeeping force but for the sole purpose of overseeing cyberspace(s). Several research studies have been published in the past few years, which have conceptualized cyber peacekeeping in various ways. Some scholars have mentioned DBH as a starting point of cyber peacekeeping while some have proposed models for integration of cyber peacekeeping within the current UN peacekeeping architecture. However, no significant study has attempted to look at how DBH has evolved since its inception. This research article aims to examine the progress of DBH since its formation. It argues that despite four years since its formation, DBH is still far away from materializing its declared objectives. The article also discusses the future potential roles of DBH, including its collaboration with UN Global Pulse for cyber threat detection and prevention, and embedding the team along with physical peacekeepers.

scholarly journals A Comparative Viewpoint on Illegal Contracts: In Favor of Flexibility and Proportionality

Global Jurist ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossella Esther Cerchia
Keyword(s):  
Dense Network ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
The Law ◽  
Laws And Regulations

Abstract In today’s society, a dense network of laws and regulations presides the actions of all people. And it is so extensive that any number of activities – including the formation of contracts – is capable of breaking the law. This is why it is even more important, nowadays, to reconsider the issue of contracts that violate legal rules. The trend in favor of flexible remedies reveals that the rigidity of the more traditional solutions might not be the best choice in this day and age.

scholarly journals CODIFICATION, CONSOLIDATION, RESTATEMENT? HOW BEST TO SYSTEMISE THE MODERN LAW OF TORT

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-305
Author(s):  
Paula Giliker
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Civil Law ◽  
Tort Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Scholarship ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
The Law ◽  
Codal Provisions ◽  
Code Civil

AbstractThe law of tort (or extra or non-contractual liability) has been criticised for being imprecise and lacking coherence. Legal systems have sought to systemise its rules in a number of ways. While civil law systems generally place tort law in a civil code, common law systems have favoured case-law development supported by limited statutory intervention consolidating existing legal rules. In both systems, case law plays a significant role in maintaining the flexibility and adaptability of the law. This article will examine, comparatively, different means of systemising the law of tort, contrasting civil law codification (taking the example of recent French proposals to update the tort provisions of the Code civil) with common law statutory consolidation and case-law intervention (using examples taken from English and Australian law). In examining the degree to which these formal means of systemisation are capable of improving the accessibility, intelligibility, clarity and predictability of the law of tort, it will also address the role played by informal sources, be they ambitious restatements of law or other means. It will be argued that given the nature of tort law, at best, any form of systemisation (be it formal or informal) can only seek to minimise any lack of precision and coherence. However, as this comparative study shows, further steps are needed, both in updating outdated codal provisions and rethinking the type of legal scholarship that might best assist the courts.

scholarly journals International Schools for Young Astronomers (ISYA): a programme of the International Astronomical Union

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (SPS5) ◽  
pp. 221-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michèle Gerbaldi
Keyword(s):  
International Schools ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Data Access ◽  
International Astronomical Union ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Data Archives ◽  
International Astronomical ◽  
Communications Technologies

AbstractThis paper outlines the main features of the International Schools for Young Astronomers (ISYA), a programme developed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1967. The main goal of this programme is to support astronomy in developing countries by organizing a school lasting 3 weeks for students with typically a M.Sc. degree. The context in which the ISYA were developed has changed drastically over the past 10 years. We have moved from a time when access to any large telescope was difficult and mainly organized on a national basis, to the situation nowadays where data archives are established at the same time that any major telescope, ground-based or in space, is built, and these archives are accessible from everywhere. The concept of the virtual observatory reinforces this access. However, the rapid development of information and communications technologies and the increasing penetration of internet have not yet removed all barriers to data access. The role of the ISYA is addressed in this context.

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