The Consequences of New Information Infrastructures

2012 ◽  
pp. 175-195
Keyword(s):  
Social Participation ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
External Influence ◽  
Information Infrastructures ◽  
New Information ◽  
Ethical Governance ◽  
And Control

This chapter builds on the discussion in Chapter 8 by exploring the dynamics of social participation in the development of new information infrastructures. Specifically, this chapter focuses on the consequences of social participation and ‘free choice’ – if indeed individuals are free, i.e. without any external influence – into different types of interaction offered by new information infrastructures. The WikiLeaks information infrastructure is used as an example to set the ground for examining how new information infrastructures generate a number of consequences for the ‘freedom’ of individual users, and for those seeking to monitor and control infrastructure use. This discussion raises a number of ethical issues which are explored by drawing on Foucault’s notion of governmentality. The chapter concludes with some implications for further research on the ethical governance of information infrastructure development.

Do Managers Understand Importance of Securing IT Resources?

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-64
Author(s):  
Nadianatra Musa ◽  
Vishv Malhotra ◽  
Trevor Wilmshurst
Keyword(s):  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Senior Management ◽  
Business Organization ◽  
Critical Component ◽  
Business Organizations ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Information Infrastructures ◽  
It Resources ◽  
Modern Business ◽  
And Control

Information infrastructures and resources has become critical component of the modern business and non-business organizations. In turn this dependence makes these organizations vulnerable to any significant failure in their information infrastructures and resources. Literature is full of examples of the companies suffering major losses and even demise as a result of information infrastructure and resources failures. To mitigate this vulnerability the senior management and governance of the organizations needs to pay direct role and attention to protect their critical information infrastructures and resources. This paper provides some results of a study we conducted recently to determine how the senior management of Malaysian business organizations view and control the information infrastructure and resources in their organizations to mitigate vulnerabilities to this critical component of their business organization.

New Information Infrastructure Commons

2012 ◽  
pp. 157-174
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Open Source Software ◽  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Institutional Rules ◽  
Information Infrastructures ◽  
New Information

This chapter explores the characteristics of new and emerging information infrastructures. In particular, the chapter focuses on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects, exploring what makes individuals and communities contribute code and ideas towards a FOSS product, but also how they negotiate and eventually agree on a set of institutional rules for structuring their collective action. The chapter also examines the emerging attributes of mashup projects and the ways that, once again, individuals and communities design and structure their contribution. The chapter concludes with some implications for further research on and around these new information infrastructures.

Research Participation Experiences of Informants of Suicide and Control Cases

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 238-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. C. Wong ◽  
Wincy S. C. Chan ◽  
Philip S. L. Beh ◽  
Fiona W. S. Yau ◽  
Paul S. F. Yip ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Research Participation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Initial Contact ◽  
Psychological Autopsy ◽  
Autopsy Study ◽  
The People ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Background: Ethical issues have been raised about using the psychological autopsy approach in the study of suicide. The impact on informants of control cases who participated in case-control psychological autopsy studies has not been investigated. Aims: (1) To investigate whether informants of suicide cases recruited by two approaches (coroners’ court and public mortuaries) respond differently to the initial contact by the research team. (2) To explore the reactions, reasons for participation, and comments of both the informants of suicide and control cases to psychological autopsy interviews. (3) To investigate the impact of the interviews on informants of suicide cases about a month after the interviews. Methods: A self-report questionnaire was used for the informants of both suicide and control cases. Telephone follow-up interviews were conducted with the informants of suicide cases. Results: The majority of the informants of suicide cases, regardless of the initial route of contact, as well as the control cases were positive about being approached to take part in the study. A minority of informants of suicide and control cases found the experience of talking about their family member to be more upsetting than expected. The telephone follow-up interviews showed that none of the informants of suicide cases reported being distressed by the psychological autopsy interviews. Limitations: The acceptance rate for our original psychological autopsy study was modest. Conclusions: The findings of this study are useful for future participants and researchers in measuring the potential benefits and risks of participating in similar sensitive research. Psychological autopsy interviews may be utilized as an active engagement approach to reach out to the people bereaved by suicide, especially in places where the postvention work is underdeveloped.

Patents, Governance and Control: Ethics and the Patentability of Novel Beings and Advanced Biotechnologies in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 529-542
Author(s):  
Aisling McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Patent Law ◽  
European Patent ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
Patent Holder ◽  
Patented Invention ◽  
Patent Grant ◽  
And Control

AbstractThis article focuses primarily on to what extent novel beings, and particularly, beings which display something akin to human consciousness or agency would be (or should be) patentable under current European patent law. Patents grant the patent holder a right to exclude others from using the patented invention for the period of patent grant (usually 20 years). This allows the patent holder to control how that invention can or cannot be used by others downstream, granting patent holders a governance like function over the patented technology for the duration of the patent. Accordingly, the potential for patentability of novel beings gives rise to a myriad of ethical issues including: to what extent is it appropriate for patent holders to retain and exercise patents over “novel beings”; how issues of “agency” displayed by any “novel beings” would fit within the current patent framework, if at all; and to what extent existing exclusions from patentability might exclude patents on “novel beings” or whether changes within patent law may be needed if patents in relation to “novel beings” are deemed ethically problematic. This article focuses on such issues, and in doing so, also sheds light on the role of ethical issues within the patenting of advanced biotechnologies more generally.

scholarly journals Managing the Hazards of Aeolian, Fluvial and Coastal Erosion in Gudhi Area-Northern Kuwait Bay

2021 ◽  
Vol 904 (1) ◽  
pp. 012040
Author(s):  
Ali Al Dousari ◽  
Modi Ahmed ◽  
Noor Al Dousari ◽  
Abeer Al Saleh ◽  
Teena William
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Research ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Kuwait Bay ◽  
Design Assessment ◽  
Nitraria Retusa ◽  
Coastal Margin ◽  
Assessment And Monitoring ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Wave Erosion ◽  
And Control

Abstract Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research plans to set up some research facilities within the Gudhi area, which lies north of the coastal spill of Kuwait Bay. The area is about 653,000 m2, the region highly sensitive from an environmental perspective and ecological. It is a coastal strip dominated by rich fauna and flora mainly Nitraria retusa forming large nabkhas that attract many wildlife scientists. The presence of nabkhas is a good indicator of fluvial and aeolian activities in the area. The establishment of infrastructures within this area is anticipated to cause significant damage to wildlife. Additionally, any future infrastructures in the area is under the following threats: 1-S and encroachment as it is located within an active wind corridor. 2-Fluvial action during flood seasons as it is located at downstream of Jal Al-Zur watershed. 3-The wave erosion along 1200m coastal margin. As an important role of KISR is the attention and care regarding the environmental aspects associated with project actions, therefore, it is proposed that a proper scientific research project should be implemented prior to the establishment of any infrastructure development. The main objective of this study is to assess and control hazards in the Gudhi area by implementation of native plants and mangroves landscape design. Assessment and monitoring of fauna and flora have provided initial information on existing vegetation, soil properties that are considered important to quantify ecological conditions prior to actual vegetation plantation establishment or restoration effort. Nitraria and Lycium populations were found the most proper in controlling hazards of mobile sand and flush floods for the study area.

Community Network 2.0: Visions, Participation, and Engagement in New Information Infrastructures

2011 ◽  
pp. 270-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Carroll ◽  
Michael Horning ◽  
Blaine Hoffman ◽  
Craig Ganoe ◽  
Harold Robinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Network ◽  
Information Infrastructures ◽  
New Information

Cyber Identity

2014 ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Ana-Cristina Ionescu
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Media Technology ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
New Information ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
And Control

The realities of our world are imperatively legitimated by the complex relationship between media, technology, and society. Whether we deal with old or new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the content of the message delivered by the media assumes a fundamental role. The adherence of a large number of individuals to a common idea facilitates the formation of media-enabled personalities and communities within the virtual space. The emergence of Web 2.0 solves the tension from the ‘90s, when the public opinion decomposed into an amalgam of informal opinions of private individuals not entirely convinced by the formal ones, issued by publicistically effective but one-way communication media. While today the Internet provides the most inclusive forum of public deliberation, where communication is negotiated between cyber-women and cyber-men with equal rights, healed of the social diseases of the outer world, an important gap in our knowledge is whether Web 2.0 reflects our existing reality or whether it constructs a new environment, one that is devoid of the old biases. I would like to fill this gap in information, by exploring whether virtual communities represent a continuation, by technical means, of the pre-existing, face-to-face, geographic, stereotyped interactions, or whether they enabled the establishment of substantially different structures with their own intrinsic features and dynamics, where women have access to and control information.

Ethical Issues in Qualitative Data Collection and Management

2019 ◽  
pp. 697-713
Author(s):  
Cees Th Smit Sibinga
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
External Influence ◽  
Collection And Management ◽  
Fair Chance ◽  
Qualitative Data Collection ◽  
The Way

Qualitative data collection is largely defined by the personal experience and opinions of the examinee. The examinee is central in the approach, and not so much the researcher. The essence is a communication between the researcher and the examinee, where interpretation of both the questions asked and the answers provided serves the purpose of understanding. This type of research is interpretative and almost exclusively subjective, because the personal or subjective way of understanding and interpretation is central. However, there is certainly a serious possibility for external influence on the answers to be provided or even the way answers are interpreted. Additionally, there is a fair chance that the questions are phrased towards expected answers. There are various moments where ethics are paramount to the quality and acceptability of the research. To protect objectivity, ethical professionalism and professional morale are important. This chapter aims to describe and discuss ethical issues related to collection and management of data from qualitative research.

The Role of the Researcher in New Information Infrastructure Research

2012 ◽  
pp. 196-217
Keyword(s):  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Information Infrastructure ◽  
Methodological Choices ◽  
Is Research ◽  
New Information ◽  
Reflective Development ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
Research Choices

In this chapter, the role of the researcher in new information infrastructure research is explored. The key ideas informing this chapter are drawn from a critical reflection on trends in information systems (IS) research and the need for a more pragmatic approach (Constantinides et al., 2012). The focus is on developing a better understanding of the consequences of research choices by drawing on the notion of phronesis – the reflective development of prudent knowledge that is continuously shaped by and imbued with situated values and interests (Flyvberg, 2001). Specifically, it is argued that, IS researchers must recognize that research involves not just choices about how to conduct a study (i.e. theoretical and methodological choices), but also about why we study what we study and who is affected by our work (i.e. the desirable outcomes and long-term impact of research).

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