An interrupted transmission? Processes of CCTV implementation and the impact of human agency

This paper examines the processes that bring about the creation of new public-space CCTV schemes. Through an appraisal of the grounded activities of the practitioners who make decisions over CCTV, the role of agency is identified as a particularly strong, yet relatively neglected, influence on its implementation. Moreover, beyond dichotomised notions of central structures and local agency, an understanding is developed of the complex interaction between the individual actors involved in CCTV dissemination and the political context in which they operate. In doing so, public policy is identified as the vehicle through which camera surveillance systems become installed and disseminated throughout public space. Moreover, these various forces of structure and agency become filtered through identifiable networks of policy-makers, comprising 'responsibilised' actors who oversee the deployment of CCTV. This analysis is used to revisit a range of administrative and theoretical understandings of surveillance, including: citations of CCTV as an evaluated response to crime; the attribution of power- and interest-based agendas to its implementation; and accounts which locate CCTV expansion within various evolving societal processes. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork data gathered during doctoral research, the paper considers the activities of practitioners at a local level and identifies crucial contexts, drivers and negotiations on which expanding surveillance is contingent. Ultimately, it is argued that the process of CCTV installation ? from conception to material implementation ? is disrupted and mediated by a range of micro-level operations, obligations, processes, managerial concerns (particularly conflict resolution and resource issues), structures and agency, and the indirect influence of central government. These not only arbitrate over whether the CCTV becomes installed, but also generate a range of additional uses for the cameras, many of which are performed before they are even switched on. This emphasises the need to consider the processes that enable and constrain the actions of those making decisions over CCTV and demonstrates how no single interest becomes solely participant in the deployment of surveillance. Finally, because of the centrality and contingency of both human agency and the structural contexts in which it operates in determining the installation of CCTV, questions arise concerning the importance of integrative sociological theories in understanding the deployment of surveillance

Negotiating Internet Governance

What is at stake for how the Internet continues to evolve is the preservation of its integrity as a single network. In practice, its governance is neither centralised nor unitary; it is piecemeal and fragmented, with authoritative decision-making coming from different sources simultaneously: governments, businesses, international organisations, technical and academic experts, and civil society. Historically, the conditions for their interaction were rarely defined beyond basic technical coordination, due at first to the academic freedom granted to the researchers developing the network and, later on, to the sheer impossibility of controlling mushrooming Internet initiatives. Today, the search for global norms and rules for the Internet continues, be it for cybersecurity or artificial intelligence, amid processes fostering the supremacy of national approaches or the vitality of a pluralist environment with various stakeholders represented. This book provides an incisive analysis of the emergence and evolution of global Internet governance, unpacking the complexity of more than 300 governance arrangements, influential debates and political negotiations over four decades. Highly accessible, this book breaks new ground through a wide empirical exploration and a new conceptual approach to governance enactment in global issue domains. A tripartite framework is employed for revealing power dynamics, relying on: a) an extensive database of mechanisms of governance for the Internet at the global and regional level; b) an in-depth analysis of the evolution of actors and priorities over time; and c) a key set of dominant practices observed in the Internet governance communities. It explains continuity and change in Internet-related negotiations, opening up new directions for thinking and acting in this field

E-Government: Contrasting Approaches and AlternativeInsights

We focus contrasting a social informatics approach with socio-political and techno-centricdesign approaches, using data from a study of e-government activity in criminal justice as theempirical basis. By social informatics we mean ‘the interdisciplinary study of the design(s),uses, and consequences of information technology that takes into account their interactionwith institutional and cultural context’.†The empirical material comes from our ongoingstudies of integrated criminal justice efforts in the United States. By integrated criminaljustice we mean both the technological infrastructure and the institutional circuitry. Here wefocus on San Diego, California’s Automated Regional Justice Information Sharing system(ARJIS, see www.arjis.org).In the comparison of approaches to engaging ARJIS we focus attention to differences in howhuman actions, the ICT, and their interactions are represented,. And, in doing this wehighlight the alternative findings and interpretations that often arise from these differentapproaches to engaging e-government. We conclude our comparative analysis by returning tosocial informatics and engaging issues with improving the conceptual and methodologicaltool suites available, and with the importance of engaging the situated, social, and materialelements of any ICT-based system

Projects as Social Movements

Project Management (PM) is being rethought in light of the continuing prevalence of project failures. A key issue or concern believed to be important when addressing failure is the need to focus on the sociopolitical processes in PM, because of their importance to project issues or contingencies such as complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Such contingencies call for supplementary PM methodologies that embrace and effectively anticipate and manage them. This paper explores the possibilities of Actor Network Theory (ANT) in developing a supplementary PM methodology. An ANT-informed methodology maps the emerging social movements that are possible from the outset, tracks changes as the project unfolds, and aims towards a useful stabilization of actors’ relations. We believe that this methodology enhances existing normative approaches by providing PM practitioners with a new lens to manage projects as social movements

The effect of Social Networking in Privacy Management

Diese Masterarbeit beschäftigt sich mit Privacy Management in Fragen der Online-Welt, die durch die rasche Entwicklung der Soziale-Netzwerke-Technologien entstehen. Die heutige Situation im Bereich der Sozial-Netzwerke-Gemeinden, zusammen mit den jeweiligen Gefahren in Bezug auf Privacy Wahrung werden gründlich untersucht und dargestellt. Spezifische Ziele werden ausgearbeitet, über die Richtung die Bemühungen der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft in naher Zukunft nehmen sollten. Die organische Lücken des Privacy Management Gebietes werden thematisiert und analysiert, da sie die Ursachen für eine Vielzahl von problematischen Situationen bieten, die kontinuierlich die gesellschaftspolitische Frieden unserer Gesellschaften in den letzten paar Jahren erregt haben. Der Hauptteil dieser Arbeit beginnt mit der Identifizierung derjenigen Punkte, die eine de facto Lösung auf jeden Fall zu erfüllen muss, um die oben genannten Themen zu behandeln. Bewaffnet mit spezifischen Anforderungen, folgt eine Analyse durch die Wahl der theoretischen und praktischen Methoden. Ein Modell, dass den Spiel- Theoretischen Ansatz der kollektiven Privacy Management mit dem Konzept der Aneignung Konstrukt zu kombinieren versucht wird vorgeschlagen. Eine erweiterte Analyse erfolgt, über wie der Clarke-Tax-Mechanismus für das Kollaborative Management, verbindet mit dem Adaptive Strukturationstheorie, in Online-Datenschutz- Management verwendet werden können. Bevor man zu den Schlussfolgerungen und Reflexionen der Arbeit kommt gibt es ein Kapitel über die Grenzen des vorgeschlagenen Modells. Es ist offensichtlich, dass das Konzept nicht generisch ist. Nichts desto trotz sollte eine deutliche Präsentation warum nicht aus dieser Studie fehlen. Ein Wunsch, der zu dieser Masterarbeit beigefügt kommt, ist dass es mehr als ein Einführungsschritt der als akademischen Aufstieg eines jungen Mannes dienen wird. Es ist mit Hingabe an die Moralität die mit ihren Zielen zusammen kommt geschrieben, und damit den Wunsch, dass es gelesen wird und hoffentlich auch begrüßt.This MSc Thesis deals with Privacy Management issues in the online world that arise through the rapid evolution of Social Networking technologies. The current situation in the field of Social Networking communities, along with the respective dangers in regard to privacy safeguarding are thoroughly examined and presented. Specific goals are being set, as to the direction the efforts of the scientific community should take in the near future. An extended survey in the field of Privacy Management on Social Networking Sites is followed by an analysis on the missing parts of this already huge living organism. These organic gaps need to be addressed firmly, as they constitute natural causes for a multitude of problematic situations that have continuously stirred the sociopolitical peace of our societies for the past few years. The main part of this study starts with the identification of the singular points that any de facto solution is required to fulfill in order to address the issues mentioned above. Armed with specific requirements, an analysis is followed by a choice of theoretical and practical methods. A model that attempts to combine the game-theoretical approach of Collective Privacy Management with the concept of the Appropriation Construct is proposed. An extended analysis, on how the Clarke-Tax mechanism for collaborative management, conjoined with the Adaptive Structuration Theory, can be used in online privacy management, ensues. Before coming to the conclusions and reflections of our work, a chapter is dedicated to the limitations of the proposed model. It is obvious that the present approach is not generic; however, a more explicit presentation should not be absent from this study. The wish that comes attached to this MSc Thesis is that it will become more than a launching step to the academic advancement of a young man. It is written with faith and devotion to the morality that goes with its goals and thus, the wish that follows it is that it will be read and, hopefully, appreciated

Explaining Attitudes Toward and Experiences with Social Media among Public Information Officers through Adaptive Structuration Theory

This study set out to explore similarities and differences between firefighting organizations using and not using social media for crisis/emergency situations. Using Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST), our exploratory survey results from 129 first responders suggest social media innovations are outpacing PIOs’ abilities to effectively adopt and utilize social media strategies. Of those who do not use social media, they have considered using it for information-dissemination purposes only; the main differences between those who do and don’t use social media is their perception of the obstacles to implementing it (training, time, resources) and whether they use it in their personal lives

Is the responsibilization of the cyber security risk reasonable and judicious?

Cyber criminals appear to be plying their trade without much hindrance. Home computer users are particularly vulnerable to attack by an increasingly sophisticated and globally dispersed hacker group. The smartphone era has exacerbated the situation, offering hackers even more attack surfaces to exploit. It might not be entirely coincidental that cyber crime has mushroomed in parallel with governments pursuing a neoliberalist agenda. This agenda has a strong drive towards individualizing risk i.e. advising citizens how to take care of themselves, and then leaving them to face the consequences if they choose not to follow the advice. In effect, citizens are “responsibilized .” Whereas responsibilization is effective for some risks, the responsibilization of cyber security is, we believe, contributing to the global success of cyber attacks. There is, consequently, a case to be made for governments taking a more active role than the mere provision of advice, which is the case in many countries. We conclude with a concrete proposal for a risk regulation regime that would more effectively mitigate and ameliorate cyber risk

Analysis of designed and emergent consequences of mobile banking usage by SME’s in Kenya using ethnographic decision tree modeling

Includes bibliographical references.Evaluating the impact of Information and Communications Technologies for Development (ICT4D) has been a challenge both in terms of theoretical and methodological approaches. It has been pointed out in extant literature that ICT4D impact studies are few compared to those that investigate determinants of adoption. Knowledge of this scarcity and the theoretical and methodological limitations led to the conception of this study. This study set out to investigate the decision criteria evaluated by Kenyan micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) when making the initial mobile banking adoption and usage decisions with a view to unearth the designed and emergent consequences. Ethnographic decision tree modelling (EDTM) which is a cognitive research methodology was feasibly employed to obtain the adoption and usage decision criteria from which quantifiable and non-quantifiable consequences were then inferred. Structuration theory was used as a theoretical lens to view the complex context in which mobile banking is embedded and adopted by MSMEs. The analysis of the empirical data obtained from the MSMEs led to the construction and testing of three decision models from which the study’s theory was developed. The derived theory demonstrates the existence of structurational interactions among decision criteria, antecedents of technology adoption, behavioural intention to adopt, and the designed and emergent consequences of actual usage. The study further reveals that contrary to popular belief and argument that adoption of mobile banking technology lowers financial services cost, Kenyan MSMEs adopt the technology not because of its affordability but because of other factors such as perceived usefulness, accessibility, safe custody of daily income, limited organizational capabilities, perceived ease of use, social capital and trust structures. The derived explanatory-predictive theory provides findings that may have significant implications for fiscal and monetary policymakers, development experts and mobile banking technology designers

A framework for enhancing government service delivery using mobile technologies: an African countries context

Electronic government (e-government) is how the providers of public services interact with the citizen and business via electronic means. The internet is the most commonly used electronic channel. E-government can provide major benefits to citizens and businesses by making the delivery of public services more efficient and effective. However, recent advances in mobile technology have offered the potential to support government services at various levels. This has made it possible to deliver services to the citizens who have no convenient physical access to government services, for example, people living in rural areas and those who are continually on the move, such as business professionals. This study explores the possibilities of effectiveness, resistance, opportunities and issues related to supporting government services delivery through using mobile cellular technologies. This research study focused on the South African and Nigerian contexts. The focus was to explore various ways that the government can use mobile technologies to improve the provision of government services. A major output of this research work is a conceptual framework to guide mobile government implementation as a vehicle for delivery of government services. Literature from both academic and professional domains were consulted throughout the study. Furthermore, a case study research was conducted in two organisations, which are different in terms of cultural and transformative settings (one in South Africa and another in Nigeria). The study followed an interpretive research approach, and collected data through semi-structured interviews in the two organizations. The data gathered were relevant to the implementation of m-government systems. The study relied on two underpinning theoretical frameworks, namely Structuration Theory and Actor Network Theory to understand the socio-technical factors affecting the implementation of m-government systems in government organisations. The perspective of duality of structure and moments of translation from both Structuration Theory and Actor Network Theory were adopted to analyse the data collected in the case study organisations