Teleview and the aspirations of the infrastructural state in Singapore

[Extract] In 1988, Singapore rolled out a pi lot for a homegrown digital computer network. Teleview, as it was called, was a videotex system that used the public telephone network to connect paid subscribers to a central computer via a modem. Users could gain access to information about a variety of topics, including weather, stock market prices, and travel. They could also use online banking, business communication, ticket reservation, and educational services, as well as electronic directories, games, and magazines (Keong 1990). Despite significant government promotion of the project, the rate of uptake was slow. Although the cost was low—equivalent to about USD 5.50 per month, plus three cents per message and thirty-five cents per hour of connection time (Sandfort 1993)—only 5 percent of Singaporean house holds ever subscribed to Teleview (Wong 1997). The system was eventually modified to become a portal through which users could connect to the global internet. Given this brief account, it is tempting to understand Teleview as a kind of failure—something that was not widely adopted and was quickly displaced once the real thing (namely, the World Wide Web) came along. As a corollary, it is also tempting to read Teleview as some sort of desperate (and ultimately unsuccessful) attempt by an authoritarian government to curtail the democratizing forces that the internet promised to bring with it. Indeed, Cherian George (2012, 216), one of Singapore’s foremost media critics, quickly dismissed Singapore’s native network: “The Internet’s big bang in the mid-1990s turned the likes of Teleview into white elephants and relegated what were grand national projects to mere footnotes in the history of the online revolution.

Empirical Analysis of Factors Affecting Growth of Technology Based Business Incubators in Kenya: The Case of Kenya Industrial Research & Development Institute (KIRDI)

Techno-based incubators have been in Kenya since 1967 to support SMEs in the manufacturing sector and nurture them to grow into medium and large industries.  Despite the many years of incubation concept, Kenya has experienced slow growth of techno-based incubators, registering only six notable techno-based incubators, most being institutions of higher learning.  Further, despite existence of incubators past statistics show that three out of five businesses including those in manufacturing sector still fail within first few months of operation.  This paper is a report of an empirical study carried out to analyze factors influencing growth of techno-based incubators in Kenya from the perspective of an existing technology based incubator at KIRDI.  The research was qualitative, using descriptive design and employed a case study approach, based on a census of staff running the four KIRDI incubator centres, in both South B and South C Campuses of the Institution. An interview schedule and questionnaires incorporating Likert-type scales were developed to collect data on the variables. The findings established a strong positive relationship (r=0.751) between independent variables and dependent variable, however further analyzed each independent variable has its own weight on the dependent variable. Keywords: Business Incubation, Technology, Small and Medium Enterprise

Education Systems in the Digital Age: The Need for Alignment

The focus of Thematic Working Group 1 at EDUsummIT 2017 centred on the need for alignment in education systems and was driven by two key questions relating to (a) if and how all the parts of an education system work together to support the type of learning envisioned in the twenty-first century, and (b) if there is alignment, what is the purpose/vision of that education system and does it meet the needs of its learners. Arising from the discussions held, the group advocated the use of a tool such as the UNESCO framework (ICT competency standards for teachers: competency standards modules, UNESCO, Paris, 2008a; ICT competency standards for teachers: policy framework, UNESCO, Paris, 2011) as a way to conceptualize a systemic approach to reform and to enable policy makers and stakeholders in a system to think about ways in which they can align changes with the goals of any proposed reform. Taking the Irish Education system as an example, this paper illustrates how the UNESCO framework has enabled policy makers in Ireland to adopt a systemic approach to policy formulation which aligns educational strategies across a range of elements “to leverage strengths, coordinate investments, consolidate gains, and advance national development goals and visions” (Kozma in Hum Technol Interdiscip J Hum ICT Environ 1(2):117–156, 2005). To counter the potential danger of a top-down imposition of the UNESCO framework, the group also proposed the Educational Vision and Mission Framework (EVMF) as a tool to support system wide (both top-down and bottom-up) reflection on the purposes of schooling in a rapidly changing world. The group concluded that what is defined as the purpose of education should inform alignment and suggest that application of the UNESCO framework and EVMF could enable the necessary alignment to support the educational, social, and economic transformation necessary for the complex connected global world of today and tomorrow

Realizing the business value of interorganizational systems: The case of booknet, corenet and lawnet in Singapore

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Re-inventing society: state concepts of knowledge in Germany and Singapore

Different concepts of knowledge and the ways they are valued have influence on the politics of research and development, information, arts, and culture in various countries. In a time when knowledge increasingly gains importance for economic and social development, these concepts of knowledge, as they are defined within society, are receiving greater attention. State governments worldwide aim for the creation of 'knowledge societies'. At the core of these knowledge-based futures lie particular understandings of knowledge in each country, which determine what kinds of knowledge society are constructed. This paper attempts to grasp the dominant concepts of knowledge in Germany and Singapore as reflected in state activities and budgeting. The data suggest that the dominant concepts of knowledge in both countries differed widely in the past, which was in great part due to the structural realities in each country. Yet in recent times, with the common goals of economic growth and the exposure to global competition, these concepts of knowledge seem to increasingly converge. Adapted from the source document

Understanding IT-enabled organizational change: A structurational perspective

Master'sMASTER OF SCIENC

An evaluation of teacher development in using technology during the first decade of Thai education reform 1999-2009

This study is a historical analysis of teacher development for using instructional technology in Thailand beginning with the early origins of educational reform efforts through the National Education Reform Act of B.E. 2542 (1999) and for one decade of its implementation (1999-2009). Data sources for this study included both primary and secondary sources. These sources were historical records, government documents, newspaper and magazine articles, and scholarly books and articles. They were analyzed to determine which policies, proposals, and plans related to teacher development in using instructional technology and which of them promoted a constructivist or student-centered teaching environment. The findings indicated that many of the proposed reforms led to new instructional techniques that challenged the previous Thai education system, which had relied on a teacher-centered, top-down approach. Despite many government-sponsored teacher trainings, teachers were still uncomfortable with teaching in a student-centered environment. This study also focused on Thai methods of teacher training and identified problems with the quality of training courses, with the methods of training, with the effectiveness of the courses teachers were taught, and with the assessment of the follow-up and evaluation provided after a given course or workshop. The evidence showed that teachers resisted many aspects of the new approach. This dissertation proposes ways to help teachers out of their reluctance and resistance to reforms using instructional technology. This dissertation provides a number of recommendations to help Thai educators begin to use modern instructional technology. Among these are included a call for greater improvement of teacher education and the adoption of new concepts of teaching and learning to elevate the skill level of Thai teachers. Chief among these was treating Thai teachers as adult learners so that they would take responsibility for their development according to their specific learning needs and teaching situation. Thus, this dissertation provides a historical, methodological, and pedagogical approach to the issue of Thai teacher development in using instructional technology in a constructivist learning environment

Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia

Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia offers a new understanding of how technological innovation, geopolitical ambitions, and social change converge and cross-fertilize one another through infrastructure projects in Asia. This volume powerfully illustrates the multifaceted connections between infrastructure and three global paradigm shifts: climate change, digitalization, and China’s emergence as a superpower. Drawing on fine-grained analyses of airports, highways, pipelines, and digital communication systems, the book investigates infrastructure both “from above,” as perceived by experts and decision makers, and “from below,” as experienced by middlemen, laborers, and everyday users. In so doing, it provides groundbreaking insights into infrastructure’s planning, production, and operation. Focusing on cities and regions across Asia, the volume combines ten tightly interwoven case studies, from the Bosphorus to Beijing and from the Indonesian archipelago to the Arctic. Written by leading global infrastructure experts in the fields of anthropology, architecture, geography, history, science and technology studies, and urban planning, the book establishes a dialogue between scholarly approaches to infrastructure and the more operational perspective of the professionals who design and build it. This multidisciplinary method sheds light on the practitioners’ mindset, while also attending to the materiality and agency of the infrastructures that they create. Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia is conceived as an act of translation: linking up related—yet thus far disconnected—research across a variety of academic disciplines, while making those insights accessible to a wider audience of students, infrastructure professionals, and the general public

Government e-services delivery requires citizens awareness: the case of Brunei Darussalam

This study examines citizens awareness and usage of government e-services. Governments use Web-based Internet applications to enhance their citizens access to government services. However, in a case study in Brunei Darussalam, it was found that the government s initiative in providing e-services in last few years has not been as successful as it could have been as the services have not been citizen-centric. This was due to the availability of e-services being unknown amongst the citizens and that a silo-based approach existed for each government ministry. One notable finding was that although the ICT literacy of Brunei citizens has rapidly improved, this has not been reflected in the citizens interaction with government. There are several challenges for citizens awareness and use of government e-services that occur on e-government initiatives. Failure in managing such problems, results in a high probability of these services becoming a white elephant , with inefficiency, wastefulness and cost overruns on e-government projects. E-government management agencies still do not have an organized citizens awareness strategy approach to managing knowledge in e-government initiatives. The proposed Government e Services Citizens Awareness Strategy (GeS-CAS) framework, incorporating communication, management and education strategies, can effectively be used to enable e-government agencies to deal with e-government projects problems and risks in an organised and efficient way. It is concluded that e-government initiatives management can be improved if the knowledge dimensions of the problems are well understood and are conveyed to the right people, at the right time and the right place, and are appropriately managed. This research has developed an integrated citizens awareness strategy Knowledge Management framework that provides a structured approach to achieving this which is easy to understand and put in to practice by e-government agencies, and can be used to solve citizen awareness problems, explore opportunities and make decisions

Interkulturelle Wirtschaftskommunikation : Forschungsobjekte und Methoden

Huomautus: Tekstiä saksaksi ja englanniksi, osa tekstistä suomeksiKirjoittajat: Hennecke Angelika, Schröder Hartmut, Spillner Bernd, Clemen Gudrun, Harakka Terttu, Inkinen Sam, Koskela Merja, Pilke Nina, Nuopponen Anita, Peotta Luana, Spillner, Stojanova Stanka, Tatje Rolf, Vandermeeren Sonja, Vesalainen Marjofi=vertaisarvioimaton|en=nonPeerReviewed