scholarly journals The Conceptualization of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps in German-speaking Countries in April 2020: A Comparative Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Maria Zimmermann ◽  
Amelia Fiske ◽  
Barbara Prainsack ◽  
Nora Hangel ◽  
Stuart McLennan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Issues ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Individual Privacy ◽  
App Development ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Privacy Risks

BACKGROUND In Germany, Austria and Switzerland Bluetooth-based contact tracing apps have been rolled out to assist the authorities’ COVID-19 containment strategies. While the Austrian app was launched early on in March 2020, Swiss and German apps were both launched in June 2020. Uptake rates have been lower than originally expected. OBJECTIVE This study set out to explore: (1) how people living in Germany, Austria, and the German-speaking part of Switzerland conceptualize and evaluate digital contact tracing apps during the first pandemic wave; (2) how such applications were framed in newspapers and whether differences existed between countries; and (3) how people’s concepts and assessments intersected with public discussions. METHODS Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 110 participants as part of the SolPan consortium. Newspaper coverage about contact tracing apps in the German-speaking area was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. RESULTS We found that interview participants and newspaper coverage in all countries conceptualized contact tracing apps as governmental surveillance tools and embedded them in a broader context of technological surveillance. Participants identified trust in authorities, respecting individual privacy, voluntariness and temporary use of contact tracing apps as prerequisites for democratic compatibility. Newspaper coverage reinforced these concepts and reacted to policy discussions and updates on app development. App developers and researchers featured more prominently in Swiss and German newspaper coverage than in Austria. CONCLUSIONS Non-use of digital contact tracing apps might be due to expectations of privacy risks that are not compensated for by potential benefits and that are rooted in a deeper skepticism towards digital tools. When authorities plan on implementing new digital tools and practices in the future, they should be very transparent and proactive in communicating the objectives, the contribution of the technology and how it differs from other, possibly similar, tools. It is also important to publicly address and solve ethical, legal and social issues related to such technologies prior to their launch.

scholarly journals Inherent privacy limitations of decentralized contact tracing apps

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshua Bengio ◽  
Daphne Ippolito ◽  
Richard Janda ◽  
Max Jarvie ◽  
Benjamin Prud'homme ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Individual Privacy ◽  
Technological Means ◽  
Privacy Risks

Abstract Recently, there have been many efforts to use mobile apps as an aid in contact tracing to control the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) (COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]) pandemic. However, although many apps aim to protect individual privacy, the very nature of contact tracing must reveal some otherwise protected personal information. Digital contact tracing has endemic privacy risks that cannot be removed by technological means, and which may require legal or economic solutions. In this brief communication, we discuss a few of these inherent privacy limitations of any decentralized automatic contact tracing system.

scholarly journals The Positive Legacy of Vision Loss: Pathways to Posttraumatic Growth

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 616-617
Author(s):  
Corinna Tanner ◽  
Michael Caserta ◽  
Jia-Wen Guo ◽  
Margaret Clayton ◽  
Paul Bernstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Growth ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Severe Vision Loss ◽  
Age Range

Abstract This mixed method study describes posttraumatic growth (PTG) accruing form experience with vision loss caused by severe age related macular degeneration (AMD) and explores relationships between depression, social support, and cognitive processing, on the path to PTG. Research describing the psychological and social issues surrounding AMD has focused on negative outcomes. However, learning from highly challenging experiences, such as vision loss, can offer benefits. In this study, these included an increased sense of personal strength, increased spirituality, and empathy for others (all domains of PTG). 89 participants with severe vision loss (mean age = 85.3 years, age range = 74–98 years) completed the interviewer-administered composite questionnaire, which identified elements of Tedeschi and Calhoun’s model of PTG. Relationships between variables were examined using path analysis. Findings were contextualized with data from 15 qualitative interviews. Findings underscored the importance of supportive others and deliberate cognitive processing in the path to PTG.

scholarly journals The local library across the digital and physical city: Opportunities for economic development

2014 ◽  
pp. 39-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirralie Houghton ◽  
Marcus Foth ◽  
Evonne Miller
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Public Library ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Network ◽  
Knowledge Economies ◽  
Government Planning ◽  
Potential Benefits

This paper considers the role of the public library as a community hub, engagement space, and entrepreneurial incubator in the context of the city, city governance, and local government planning. It considers this role from the perspective of library experts and their future visions for libraries in a networked knowledge economy. Public libraries (often operated by or on behalf of local governments) potentially play a pivotal role for local governments in positioning communities within the global digital network. Fourteen qualitative interviews with library experts informed the study which investigates how the relationship between digital technology and the physical library space can potentially support the community to develop innovative, collaborative environments for transitioning to a digital future. The study found that libraries can capitalise on their position as community hubs for two purposes: first, to build vibrant community networks and forge economic links across urban localities; and second, to cross the digital divide and act as places of innovation and lifelong learning. Libraries provide a specific combination of community and technology spaces and have significant tangible connection points in the digital age. The paper further discusses the potential benefits for libraries in using ICT networks and infrastructure, such as the National Broadband Network in Australia. These networks could facilitate greater use of library assets and community knowledge, which, in turn, could assist knowledge economies and regional prosperity.

scholarly journals Digitalizing the Paints and Coatings Development Process

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomaž Kern ◽  
Eva Krhač ◽  
Marjan Senegačnik ◽  
Benjamin Urh
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Testing ◽  
Laboratory Tests ◽  
Development Process ◽  
New Products ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Throughput Time ◽  
Ecological Problems ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Potential Benefits

Numerous laboratory tests are used to determine the appropriateness of new formulations in the development process in the paint and coatings industry. New formulations are most often functionally inadequate, unacceptable for environmental or health reasons, or too expensive. Formulators are obliged to repeat laboratory tests until one of the formulations fulfills the minimum requirements. This is cumbersome, slow, and expensive, and can cause ecological problems, wasting materials on tests that do not produce the desired results. The purpose of this research was to find out if there might be a better way forward to increase efficiency and free up formulators to focus on new products. In this experiment, a new paints and coatings development process was redesigned based on the potential benefits of formulation digitalization. Instead of laboratory testing, a digital platform was used that has been developed and stocked with relevant, up-to-date, and complete, usable data. This study found that, by going digital, developers could vastly reduce non-value-added activities in the development process (by as much as 70%) and significantly shorten the entire process throughput time (by up to 48%). Using digital tools to facilitate the development process appears to be a possible way forward for the paint and coatings industry, saving time, materials, and money and protecting the environment.

A Content Analysis of Metropolitan Newspaper Coverage of Social Issues

1976 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 634-671 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ryan ◽  
Dorothea Owen
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Newspaper Coverage

Papers devoted 8.8% of newshole to coverage of social issues. Most stories were staff written and oriented to issues rather than events.

Emotional labour and governmentality: Productive power in childcare

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merete Monrad
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
The Public ◽  
Emotional Labour ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Lack Of Control ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Childcare Workers ◽  
The Individual

This article examines the interplay between governance and cost-containment efforts in the public sector and the emotional labour and well-being of childcare workers. Care-work researchers have highlighted the complexities of power in emotional labour, such as the fact that emotional labour may simultaneously benefit the individual worker and reproduce inequalities that may be detrimental to workers’ well-being. The goal of this article is to develop a theoretical understanding of power in emotional labour and to show how power is related to emotional labour not only in terms of lack of control, status and resources, but also productively in terms of the subjectivities enabled by organisations. The article draws on the works of Foucault and Rose, particularly the concepts of productive power and governmentality, and suggests that emotional labour may be conceptualised as a technology of the self. The potential benefits of governmentality and productive power in terms of connecting emotional labour to larger structures are illustrated by qualitative interviews with Danish childcare workers, which show how emotional labour may become a form of self-governance that contributes to the individualisation of work-related responsibilities.

scholarly journals Corporate volunteering in the large enterprises’ social mission – the case of a post-Soviet Russian industrial region

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-42
Author(s):  
Maria Pevnaya ◽  
Mariana Cernicova-Buca
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Opinion Poll ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Social Mission ◽  
Corporate Volunteering ◽  
Large Enterprises

AbstractThe paper focuses on the main features of corporate volunteering in companies from the Sverdlovsk region (Russian Federation), with a population surpassing 4.5 million inhabitants. Corporate volunteering is analyzed in the context of the trend characteristic for the post-Soviet space. The article systematizes approaches to the definition and study of this phenomenon, implemented by researchers from different countries. The main goal of the article is to identify the specific features of corporate volunteering in a large Russian region, considered typical for industrial territories in post-Soviet areas, seen through the social value that local communities attribute to corporate volunteering. The paper is based on the results of a public opinion poll and structured interviews, carried out in the Sverdlovsk region, where there is a concentration of enterprises of “hard” industries. The responses obtained in the poll were further subjected to analysis using statistical methods. The data are supplemented with information collected through the qualitative interviews. Interviewed experts are the top managers of enterprises and the deputy directors for HR, GR, or social issues. The study shows that in Russian industrial cities, where large enterprises are the main employers for most residents, many questions on the implementation of social policy fall under the responsibility of these enterprises, and not of the local government. Researchers argue that corporate volunteering is not widespread in the large Russian regions. It most often develops within the framework of event planning and environmental projects, managed by enterprises in cooperation with social and cultural institutions of local communities and not with the non-profit sector. The traditions of the organization of mass social work formed during the socialist period are still deeply rooted in enterprises, and managers rarely identify volunteering as a new managerial tool, thus being untangled from the global trend of promoting corporate volunteerism as a means of building corporate culture.

scholarly journals COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations averted by case investigation and contact tracing in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Rainisch ◽  
Seonghye Jeon ◽  
Danielle Pappas ◽  
Kimberly Spencer ◽  
Leah S Fischer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Federally Funded ◽  
Us States ◽  
Incidence Data ◽  
Case Investigation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
The Impact

Importance: Evidence of the impact of COVID-19 Case Investigation and Contact Tracing (CICT) programs is lacking. Policymakers need this evidence to assess its value. Objective: Estimate COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations averted nationwide by US states' CICT programs. Design: We combined data from US CICT programs (e.g., proportion of cases interviewed, contacts notified or monitored, and days to case and contact notification) with incidence data to model CICT impacts over 60 days period (November 25, 2020 to January 23, 2021) during the height of the pandemic. We estimated a range of impacts by varying assumed compliance with isolation and quarantine recommendations. Setting: US States and Territories Participants: Fifty-nine state and territorial health departments that received federal funding supporting COVID-19 pandemic response activities were eligible for inclusion. Of these, 22 states and 1 territory reported all measures necessary for the analysis. These 23 jurisdictions covered 42.5% of the US population (140 million persons), spanned all 4 census regions, and reported data that reflected all 59 federally funded CICT programs. Intervention: Public health case investigation and contact tracing Main Outcomes and Measures: Cases and hospitalizations averted; percent of cases averted among cases not prevented by vaccination and other non-pharmaceutical interventions (other NPIs). Results: We estimated 1.11 million cases and 27,231 hospitalizations were averted by CICT programs under a scenario where 80% of interviewed cases and monitored contacts, and 30% of notified contacts fully complied with isolation and quarantine guidance, eliminating their contributions to future transmission. As many as 1.36 million cases and 33,527 hospitalizations could have been prevented if all interviewed cases and monitored contacts had entered into and fully complied with isolation and quarantine guidelines upon being interviewed or notified. Across all scenarios and jurisdictions, CICT averted a median of 21.2% (range: 1.3% - 65.8%) of the cases not prevented by vaccination and other NPIs. Conclusions and Relevance: CICT programs likely had a substantial role in curtailing the pandemic in most jurisdictions during the winter 2020-2021 peak. Differences in impact across jurisdictions indicate an opportunity to further improve CICT effectiveness. These estimates demonstrate the potential benefits from sustaining and improving these programs.

scholarly journals Communication floods – Emails in scholarly communication

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-393
Author(s):  
Corinna Lüthje ◽  
Franziska Thiele
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Community ◽  
Information Overload ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Scholarly Communication ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Scientific Field ◽  
Mobile Media ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

The aim of this study is to display the current email usage among academics and the email‘s influence on the field of science by analyzing qualitative interviews and media diaries with 55 German-speaking academics. Emails pose a particular challenge for separating work and personal spheres. Mobile media such as tablets and smartphones reinforce the penetrating effects of emails. Our results show that scholars hardly engage in a temporal and spatial separation of the spheres when accessing work emails. This is one of the reasons why emails contribute to a perception of information overload and stress. While emails cause problems in many fields, we assume that it is particularly pronounced in the scientific field. In order to raise awareness for this topic and to facilitate the handling of emails in the scientific community, we recommend introducing email workshops and regulations at universities.

scholarly journals Understanding On-Campus Interactions With a Semiautomated, Barcode-Based Platform to Augment COVID-19 Contact Tracing: App Development and Usage

10.2196/24275 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e24275
Author(s):  
Thomas Foster Scherr ◽  
Austin N Hardcastle ◽  
Carson Paige Moore ◽  
Jenna Maria DeSousa ◽  
David Wilson Wright
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
University Campus ◽  
App Development ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
Vanderbilt University

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has forced drastic changes to daily life, from the implementation of stay-at-home orders to mandating facial coverings and limiting in-person gatherings. While the relaxation of these control measures has varied geographically, it is widely agreed that contact tracing efforts will play a major role in the successful reopening of businesses and schools. As the volume of positive cases has increased in the United States, it has become clear that there is room for digital health interventions to assist in contact tracing. Objective The goal of this study was to evaluate the use of a mobile-friendly app designed to supplement manual COVID-19 contact tracing efforts on a university campus. Here, we present the results of a development and validation study centered around the use of the MyCOVIDKey app on the Vanderbilt University campus during the summer of 2020. Methods We performed a 6-week pilot study in the Stevenson Center Science and Engineering Complex on Vanderbilt University’s campus in Nashville, TN. Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and staff >18 years who worked in Stevenson Center and had access to a mobile phone were eligible to register for a MyCOVIDKey account. All users were encouraged to complete regular self-assessments of COVID-19 risk and to key in to sites by scanning a location-specific barcode. Results Between June 17, 2020, and July 29, 2020, 45 unique participants created MyCOVIDKey accounts. These users performed 227 self-assessments and 1410 key-ins. Self-assessments were performed by 89% (n=40) of users, 71% (n=32) of users keyed in, and 48 unique locations (of 71 possible locations) were visited. Overall, 89% (202/227) of assessments were determined to be low risk (ie, asymptomatic with no known exposures), and these assessments yielded a CLEAR status. The remaining self-assessments received a status of NOT CLEAR, indicating either risk of exposure or symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 (7.5% [n=17] and 3.5% [n=8] of self-assessments indicated moderate and high risk, respectively). These 25 instances came from 8 unique users, and in 19 of these instances, the at-risk user keyed in to a location on campus. Conclusions Digital contact tracing tools may be useful in assisting organizations to identify persons at risk of COVID-19 through contact tracing, or in locating places that may need to be cleaned or disinfected after being visited by an index case. Incentives to continue the use of such tools can improve uptake, and their continued usage increases utility to both organizational and public health efforts. Parameters of digital tools, including MyCOVIDKey, should ideally be optimized to supplement existing contact tracing efforts. These tools represent a critical addition to manual contact tracing efforts during reopening and sustained regular activity.

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