Artificial intelligence: opportunities and implications for the future of decision making

Artificial intelligence has arrived. In the online world it is already a part of everyday life, sitting invisibly behind a wide range of search engines and online commerce sites. It offers huge potential to enable more efficient and effective business and government but the use of artificial intelligence brings with it important questions about governance, accountability and ethics. Realising the full potential of artificial intelligence and avoiding possible adverse consequences requires societies to find satisfactory answers to these questions. This report sets out some possible approaches, and describes some of the ways government is already engaging with these issues

PLAIN LANGUAGE W TEKSTACH PRAWNYCH – PERSPEKTYWA Z POLSKI

The purpose of this research is to explore plain-language postulates reflecting on legal drafting assumptions since legal acts should be precise, clear and express with no doubts the intention of the legislator. The aim of this project is to commence discussion about improving the clarity of Polish consumer law based on selected plain-language techniques. This article agrees that the aspiration to make the law comprehensible for all subjects is an idealistic postulate. Ultimately, despite this, legislators’ obligation is to make an effort to increase the intelligibility of legislation wherever it is possible.Przedmiotem artykułu, jest omówienie ruchu „plain legal language” czyli zrozumiałej i efektywnej komunikacji w tekstach prawnych. Zaprezentowany zostanie rozwój ruchu „plain language” oraz postulat powszechnego rozumienia prawa, w odniesieniu do polskich dyrektyw redagowania tekstu prawnego. Wybrane techniki i narzędzia standardu „plain language” zostaną w formie eksperymentu zaimplementowane do ustawy konsumenckiej. Artykuł opisuje rozwiązania, które potencjalnie mogą zwiększyć komunikatywność tekstów prawnych

The 'place' of multi-level governance? Defining the policy agenda for regional development in Western Flanders

The policy-making function of the principal agency for regional development is examined. Are institutional and governance forms for Regional Development as much a product of specific local and regional conditions (the 'place' of multi-level governance) as they are a part of the mechanisms that facilitate their reproduction- such as the state, economy, society and the widely interpreted term ‘globalization’? Following on from this, are multi-level policy priorities for regional development influenced more by the ‘business-led agenda’ and its ‘positional elites’ than the regional- local institutional capacities and by the local actors ‘outside of the game’

Arts curriculum implementation: Adopt and adapt as policy translation

This paper examines macro, meso and micro understandings of policy enactment within Western Australian primary school arts education where a new national arts curriculum is being revised and implemented through a process colloquially known as ‘adopt and adapt’. This paper focuses on how a government led implementation policy has influenced arts teaching and learning in unintended ways. It Includes a theoretical reflection and a consideration of the effects of such policies. Using policy enactment theory as the enquiry lens, four contextual variables are highlighted for their impact on teachers and schools. The variables include situated contexts, material contexts, professional cultures and external factors. Effects are discussed through the perspectives of eleven arts curriculum leaders drawn from in-depth semi-structured interviews. Marginalisation of the arts, the disconnection of schools and teachers to the arts and professional learning impacts are discussed as results of this policy translation

REGULATORY APPROACHES OF THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACCESS IN THE ARAB STATES

Purpose – However, the Right to Access to Information (RTI)[1] is guaranteed by article 91 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and more than 120 have adopted such a right, fewer Arab countries; mainly in Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria, whose constitutions included the right of people to access information. Hence, the purpose of this research is to assess and provide an in-depth study of the status quo of the right to access to public information in the Arab region as well as to highlight whether the adopted laws have met people need of information. Methodology/Approach/Design – In order to achieve the purpose of this research project, a ‘non-doctrinal’ empirical socio-legal research type of qualitative method has been undertaken to examine the right to access and request information in Arab States. Findings – The paper findings shows that Arab countries are not keeping the pace on adopting and implementing the Right to Access to Information laws where culture of secrecy prevails and overcomes the openness in the Arab World.   1 The term “Right to Access to Information” RTI will be used in this article interchangeably as the right to information RTI, Freedom of Information FOI, and Right to Know RTK. Calland 2010 refers to the terminology point by stating that civil society activists, advocates and authors do not prefer using the ‘Freedom of Information’ terminology of choice in this field; instead, ‘the right of access to information’ (ATI) or ‘the right to know’ RTK have gained a kind of ascendency in the past years

'If I have only two children and they die. who will take care of me?' : a qualitative study exploring knowledge, attitudes and practices about family planning among Mozambican female and male adults

Background: By focusing upon family planning counselling services, the Mozambican government has significantly enhanced the general health of female and male clients. However, little is known about the experiences of family planning by female and male adults. This article focuses on knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding contraceptive methods and fertility intentions. Methods: An in-depth qualitative study of female and male clients was conducted in two settings in Maputo province - Ndlavela and Boane. A total of sixteen in-depth interviews, four informal conversations, and observations were equally divided between both study sites. The analysis followed a constructionist approach. Three steps were considered in the analysis: examining commonalities, differences and relationships. Results: Although there was a high level of family planning knowledge, there were discrepancies in clients' everyday practices. Male and female clients are confronted with a variety of expectations concerning fertility intentions and family size, and are under pressure in numerous ways. Social pressures include traditional expectations and meanings connected to having children, as well as religious factors. Short interaction time between clients and health workers is a problem. Additionally, imposed contraceptive methods, and typically brief conversations about birth control between couples only adds to the burden. Because family planning is largely viewed as a woman's concern, most clients have never attended counselling sessions with their partners. Attitudes towards responsibility for contraceptive use and risk-taking are strongly gendered. Conclusions: Female and male clients have differing expectations about contraceptive use and fertility intentions. They participate differently in family planning programs leading to their inconsistent and ambivalent practices as well as vague perceptions of risk-taking. Therefore, policymakers must address the reasons behind ambivalence and inconsistency regarding contraceptives and family planning

Operating in the dark: The identification of forced labour in the UK

Presented here are the findings of a research study undertaken between 2015 and 2018 that focused on existing arrangements and mechanisms for front-line identification of the victims of forced labour in the UK. The study drew upon interviews with service professionals in en-forcement and policing organisations together with workers in non-governmental victim sup-port agencies. These findings reveal significant failings in current approaches, that suggest processes for the identification of victims remain, at best, uneven from service to service, lo-cation to location, at worst wholly inadequate. The study also exposed widespread stake-holder concerns around UK government regulatory guidance and immigration policies, suggesting that these were hindering rather than assisting them in the process of identification. Further, that the deregulated employment environment was one in which forced labour practices could both thrive and remain well-hidden amongst wider employer exploitation and abuse

The Implementation of Good Governance Concept In Letter Evidence Submission Regulation For E-Litigation Cases

The modernisation of public institutions aims to address issues of openness and community accountability of public institutions as well as making public services more responsive to the needs and aspirations of the community. The judiciary also complies with the community\u27s requests that it implement the fundamentals of sound government. The 2010–2035 Judicial Reform Blueprint, which stresses using information technology to restructure and supports this. E-Litigation is a byproduct of Indonesia\u27s judicial reforms. SK KMA RI Number 129/KMA/SK/VIII/2019 and PERMA 1 of 2019 provide as the legal foundation for electronic litigation. The principles outlined in the idea of good governance in terms of legal philosophy must be followed in the implementation of e-Litigation. This is in accordance with the principles of good governance, which deal with regulations pertaining to the validity of evidence submitted in e-Litigation of civil cases, that are responsive, effective, and efficient at the implementation stage. This research intends to examine the concepts of good governance, the legal foundation for e-Litigation in Indonesia, and the application of responsive, effective, and efficient principles to control the admissibility of documentary evidence in e-Litigation in civil cases. By taking a statutory method, this study adopts a normative approach to law. According to the study\u27s findings, Indonesia\u27s regulations on the admissibility of evidence in civil e-Litigation cases obstruct the fulfillment of responsive, effective, and efficient e-Litigation implementation principles. As a result, the legal framework of the rule governing the admissibility of evidence in Indonesian civil e-Litigation has to be modified to comply with good governance principles. 

An Integral Approach to the Modeling of Information Support for Local Sustainable DevelopmentExperiences of a Serbian Enabling Leadership Experiment

Collaborative strategic decision making has to be widely informed, communicated and knowledge-based in order to innovate transformations toward local and global sustainability. It is unimaginable that this process could be effective without computer-aided information support, but the research indicates the utilization constraints within human capacities to recognize their usability and usefulness. These constraints seem to be even more challenging within the intensively transitional social contexts, such as Serbia. We argue that understanding the relationships between sustainability, governance, and planning in a specific social context has profound importance to gain usefulness of information support and to ensure its increasing utilization. Identifying the practical path of information support modeling requires an operational framework that encompasses innovative and socially valid initiatives. Therefore, an integral theory framework was chosen to comprehend all social influences on the information support of successful utilization. This article presents the integral framework of the information support's conceptual setting, which was used to build up community-based collaborative action research (CBCAR) as a transformative social learning process that enables information support utilization, and it was tested in six municipalities of Serbia. The implementation of pilot territorial information support (TIS) initiatives resulted in continuous and proactive local community efforts in information support development and usage

Green city? A Grounded Theory Approach

El propósito de este trabajo es ofrecer una breve visión general de la tesis de máster prevista. Puesto que la investigación para la tesis de máster se encuentra todavía en sus etapas iniciales, no es posible entregar un artículo aislado sobre el tema elegido, esta no es tampoco mi intención aquí. El tema elegido es Ljubljana, su galardón como Capital Verde Europea 2016, y los cambios que comportan dicha distinción. También reflexionaré brevemente sobre la ciudad de Barcelona, ya que hay cambios similares a los de Ljubljana. A este respecto, han sucedido una serie de cambios que se enumeran en este documento, como las redes de ciclismo y peatones, la gestión de residuos o la protección de las zonas verdes. Es mi intención recurrir a la teoría fundamentada para esta investigación, y detallaré para ello la metodología de la teoría fundamentada. Por lo tanto, la pregunta de investigación en este punto es: ¿Qué entienden los habitantes de Ljubliana por "Capital Verde Europea" y tiene algún impacto en su vida cotidiana? Si es así ¿cuáles y cuáles son las consecuencias? En este trabajo, sin embargo, me centraré en la cuestión de la "sostenibilidad urbana" y tras un intento de definición de dicho término, quedará claro por qué el enfoque de la investigación de tesis de máster no estará en esta discusión. Para concluir, proporcionaré una perspectiva acerca de cuáles deberían ser los próximos pasos a seguir.The purpose of this paper is to give a short overview of the planned Master thesis. Since the research for the Master thesis is still in its beginning stages it is not possible to deliver a secluded paper on the chosen topic, this is also not the intention of this paper. The chosen topic is Ljubljana and it's winning the award of the European Green Capital 2016, and the changes that encompass said winning. Also the city of Barcelona will be shortly discussed, as there are changes similar to the ones in Ljubljana. There have been a number of changes that will be listed in this paper, such as cycling and pedestrian networks, waste management, protection of green areas. It is the intention to use Grounded Theory for this research, and the methodology of Grounded Theory will be explained. Therefore the research question at this point is: What do inhabitants of Ljubljana understand by "European Green Capital" and has it an impact on their everyday lives, and if so which and what are the consequences? In this paper however one focus will be on the matter of 'urban sustainability' and after an attempt of a definition of said term, it will be made clear why the Master thesis research focus will not be on this discussion. To conclude an outlook will be given on what the next steps should be