The Politics of the Governing the Information and Communications Technologies in East Asian Authoritarian States

2009 ◽  
pp. 134-152
Author(s):  
Chin-fu Hung
Keyword(s):  
Web Sites ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Legal Reforms ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
Modernization Process ◽  
The One ◽  
Future Economic Development

China has vigorously implemented ICTs to foster ongoing informatization accompanying industrialization as a crucial pillar to drive its future economic development. The institutional and legal reforms involved were initiated and put into practice in order to meet the increasing demand for technological convergence and the negotiations for the expected entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Chinese government has nevertheless long been torn by the ambivalence brought about by the Internet. It regards the Internet as an engine to drive economic growth on the one hand, and as a subversive challenge to undermine the ruling Communist Party on the other hand. As soon as ICTs were introduced and Web sites mushroomed, the Party was so determined to harness the new medium to assure the Internet’s economic and scientific benefits. As a consequence, controls other than stifling ICTs would be critical for the CCP’s agenda to achieve the century-long modernization process and in the meantime, consolidate its power.

A Case Study of Public Servants Engaged in E-Consultation in Australia

2011 ◽  
pp. 759-772
Author(s):  
Lucas Walsh
Keyword(s):  
The Internet ◽  
Local Form ◽  
Political Democracy ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Elected Representatives

This article examines some of the challenges faced by local government during the development and implementation of a relatively new area of e-democratic innovation in Australia: e-consultation. E-consultation is seen as a valuable way through which a two-way relationship can be developed and enhanced between citizens and elected representatives. It involves the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs), such as the Internet, to extend and/or enhance political democracy through access to information, and to facilitate participation in democratic communities, processes, and institutions. Drawing on a case study of the Darebin eForum in Victoria, Australia, this article focuses on the role of public servants as moderators of this local form of e-consultation. The discussion has three parts: online policy consultation is defined within the context of e-democracy; some of the ways that e-consultation challenges the roles of the public service, elected representatives, and citizens are outlined; and the author then argues for an e-consultation strategy that is situated within a continuum of citizen engagement that is ongoing, deliberative, educative, and inclusive.

Internet Studies: The Foundations of a Transformative Field

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Dutton
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Internet Studies ◽  
Internet Policy ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Broad Overview

This chapter offers a broad overview of Internet Studies. The key challenge of Internet Studies research focuses on the discovery of concepts, models, theories, and related frameworks that give a more empirically valid understanding of the factors influencing the Internet and its societal implications. The Internet can be used in everyday life and work, and in a converging media world. The study of Internet policy and regulation has focused on issues of freedom of expression, privacy, and ‘Internet governance’. Then, the chapter briefly discusses the issue on the definition of the Internet, and how its resolution is connected to how narrowly or broadly people draw the history of the Internet and the boundaries of the field. It is observed that studies of politics, relationships, news, and other phenomena are exploring the Internet within a larger ecology of information and communications technologies (ICTs). Also, the Internet and related ICTs are globally important.

Audience-Driven Web Design

2011 ◽  
pp. 463-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga De Troyer
Keyword(s):  
Information Systems ◽  
Software Development ◽  
Web Sites ◽  
Web Applications ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Classical Information ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The One ◽  
The Web

Today Web-related software development seems to be faced with a crisis not unlike the one that occurred a generation ago when in the 1970s. Computer hardware experienced an order of magnitude increase in computational power. This made possible the implementation of a new class of applications larger both in size and complexity, the methods for software development available at that time were not able to scale up to such large projects. The “software crisis” was a fact with its legendary stories of delays, unreliability, maintenance bottlenecks and costs. Now we seem to be starting to deal painfully with a corresponding “web site crisis”. Over the last few years, the Internet has boomed and the World Wide Web with it. Web browsers are the basic user platform of the Internet. Because of the immense potential audience, and because publishing on the web is in principle very easy, the number of web applications has exploded. Most of the web sites are created opportunistically without prior planning or analysis. Moreover, even large mission-critical intranet projects are being started without any regard for methodology. The resulting problems of maintenance and development backlog, so well-known in “classical” information systems, can easily be predicted and will happen on a much larger scale. Because web sites are almost by definition required to adapt and grow, and have to interact with other sites and systems unknown at the moment of creation, these problems will also be much more complex and severe. In addition to the predictable maintenance and development problems, a new problem unknown in classical information systems has emerged: competition for the user’s attention. Especially for commercial web sites it is important to hold the interest of the user and to keep them coming back to the site. If for some reason visitors are not satisfied with the site or cannot find (fast enough) the information they are looking for, there is a high chance that they will leave the site and not return. Much more than in “classical” software systems, the usability of web applications are primordial for their success.

The Renaissance of Learning

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-14
Author(s):  
Chris Yapp
Keyword(s):  
Production Line ◽  
Information Society ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Potential Model ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information Superhighway ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Previous Generation ◽  
Communications Technologies

We are living in an era of rapid and disruptive changes in many aspects of our lives. Rapid developments in Information and Communications Technologies, ICTs give modern society a capacity no previous generation could aspire to. Do we therefore believe that ‘history is bunk?’ Back in the early 1990s when talk of the information superhighway and the Information Society arose, there was much talk about this being the new or next Industrial Revolution I sat through many presentations and read many articles which tried to draw a parallel between the capabilities of ICT and in particular the internet with the steam engine, spinning jenny and the production line amongst others. For me it didn't feel the correct analogy. In truth, part of this is personal. In revolutions, there are many victims and after the revolution, you shoot the revolutionaries. Standing where I was, that felt deeply uncomfortable. My thinking on the Renaissance as a potential model started in 1996.

The Internet and Taiwan’s New Civic Movement in the Information Age: Hung Chung-chiu’s Case (2013)

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 54-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin-fu Hung
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Information Age ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
The Military

AbstractUsing the case of the death of a 24-year old Taiwanese soldier, Hung Chung-chiu (洪仲丘), this article investigates the evolving phenomenon of Taiwan’s new civic movement that is highly mediated and empowered by Information and Communications Technologies (icts). Examining the case of a tragic death of Army Corporal Hung, this article argues that enhanced public engagement and awareness of citizens’ rights in the military will ultimately further strengthen Taiwan’s civil society and will eventual help consolidate Taiwan’s young democracy.

“It’s Fantasy Football Made Real”: Networked Media Sport, the Internet, and the Hybrid Reality of Myfootballclub

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Hutchins ◽  
David Rowe ◽  
Andy Ruddock
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Computer Game ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Fantasy Football ◽  
Cultural Complex ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
The Media

MyFootballClub (MFC) is a popular computer game, Web site, online networking experiment, business model, and an actual soccer club. This article uses MFC to address the question of how networked media sport is reshaping the media sports cultural complex (Rowe, 2004). Our aim is to show how the professionalization and mediatization of sport has created a longing to reconstruct a kind of communitas around supporter participation in the ownership and running of their team. We conclude by suggesting that it is now time to think less in terms of the longstanding relationship between sport and media, and more about sport as media given the increasing interpenetration of digital media content, sport, and networked information and communications technologies.

scholarly journals De-myth-tifying the gender digital divide in Latin America: libraries as intermediaries in bridging the gap

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Bull
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
True Nature ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
The World ◽  
Use Of The Internet

For decades, the gender digital divide has been observed as a concept and a construct throughout countries all over the world. It persists with particular belligerence in areas like Latin America, where myths surrounding its existence have perpetuated disparities in men’s and women’s access to and use of the internet and information and communications technologies (ICTs). In this paper, the author reveals that in order for the gender digital divide to be rectified, it must first be ‘de-myth-tified’, and claims about the divide as nonexistent, unimportant, or due to women’s inherent technophobia systematically discredited. It is then argued that, by exposing the true nature of the divide, spaces are created for libraries to take on a new role in Latin America, as advocates for gender equality in technology and information. Possibilities for improving policy, education, and innovation are explored, with a call for further research in the field. Second Place DJIM Best Article Award.

scholarly journals The Increasing Scope of Teledermatology in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (232) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikash Paudel
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Technical Expertise ◽  
Health It ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Remote Locations ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Lower Income Countries

Teledermatology is a rising subspecialty that uses information and communications technologies to diagnose, prevent, treat, and educate skin health. It is an innovative means for delivering quality dermatological care. It embraces the potentials for revolutionizing dermatologic consultation to remote locations in Nepal, where service by dermatologists is almost impossible. By adopting advances in telecommunication, wider and faster coverage of the internet and smartphones, computers, laptops, and high-resolution cameras, the era of teledermatology is changing even in lower-income countries like Nepal. It has emerged as a boon in skin healthcare to rural and even urban care in the recent coronavirus pandemic but would never replace traditional consultations. The challenges faced by teledermatology are lack of technical expertise and proper implementation of guidelines, diagnostic limitations, and various medico-legal aspects. This article presents a brief review of teledermatology in Nepal.

scholarly journals Will e-Governance and e-Democracy Lead to e-Empowerment? Gendering the Cyber State

1969 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen McNutt
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Information Economy ◽  
Citizenship Status ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
New Information ◽  
Communications Technologies

The onslaught of information and communications technologies (ICTs), theburgeoning popularity of the Internet, and the ideology behind the new information economy has coalesced into a force that is fundamentally reshaping the contours of the Canadian political landscape. This reorganization of the state will profoundly impact women’s opportunities to participate in and alter conventional notions of citizenship. The establishment of electronic or e-government and the implications behind the development of the cyberstate promise to revolutionize Canadian governance and our traditional understandings of democracy. While there is the political possibility of shaping the emerging cyberstate as a vehicle of empowerment for women and marginalized others, there is also the prospect that Internet-facilitated government will exacerbate inequalities and impair women’s citizenship status.

Cyberscience and Social Boundaries: The Implications of Laboratory Talk on the Internet

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Hine
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Research ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Laboratory Science ◽  
Lay Persons ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Online Setting ◽  
The Impact

This paper examines the use of an online forum for the discussion of laboratory science. It is argued that such forums are significant in the light of claims made for the impact of information and communications technologies (ICTs) on scientific research, and of broader debates about the role of ICTs in reconfiguring social boundaries. It appears that the impacts of ICTs on scientific research are likely to be diverse and unpredictable, in line with emerging findings in other application domains. In particular, the potential to break down the boundaries between science and lay persons, and between different areas of scientific research, is likely to be limited by the ways in which particular forums are preserved as bounded spaces for specific specialisms. In the case of the forum studied in this paper, discursive practices function to re-establish laboratory boundaries in the online setting. Laboratory talk on the Internet may help to break down barriers between individual laboratories, but is not, in itself, any more accessible to lay people than talk in the private spaces of the laboratory.

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