South American Expert Roundtable : increasing adaptive governance capacity for coping with unintended side effects of digital transformation

This paper presents the main messages of a South American expert roundtable (ERT) on the unintended side effects (unseens) of digital transformation. The input of the ERT comprised 39 propositions from 20 experts representing 11 different perspectives. The two-day ERT discussed the main drivers and challenges as well as vulnerabilities or unseens and provided suggestions for: (i) the mechanisms underlying major unseens; (ii) understanding possible ways in which rebound effects of digital transformation may become the subject of overarching research in three main categories of impact: development factors, society, and individuals; and (iii) a set of potential action domains for transdisciplinary follow-up processes, including a case study in Brazil. A content analysis of the propositions and related mechanisms provided insights in the genesis of unseens by identifying 15 interrelated causal mechanisms related to critical issues/concerns. Additionally, a cluster analysis (CLA) was applied to structure the challenges and critical developments in South America. The discussion elaborated the genesis, dynamics, and impacts of (groups of) unseens such as the digital divide (that affects most countries that are not included in the development of digital business, management, production, etc. tools) or the challenge of restructuring small- and medium-sized enterprises (whose service is digitally substituted by digital devices). We identify specific issues and effects (for most South American countries) such as lack of governmental structure, challenging geographical structures (e.g., inclusion in high-performance transmission power), or the digital readiness of (wide parts) of society. One scientific contribution of the paper is related to the presented methodology that provides insights into the phenomena, the causal chains underlying “wanted/positive” and “unwanted/negative” effects, and the processes and mechanisms of societal changes caused by digitalization

Territorialized Production Forms in Morocco: Provisional Assessment for an Own Model in the Pipeline

With the recent "glocalization" movement that is imposed by openness to the global sphere and the necessary anchoring to the local, the productive systems - from here and elsewhere - can no longer be a-territorial or autarchic. As much as openness opens the competitiveness prospect, so much does the local territory assure a sort of "safety net" and refuge in case of global crises that have become frequent.Whether it is the paradigm of social movement or the canvas of a local production system, "glocalization" is justified by the potential for wealth that the territories of any nation seeking its international competitiveness conceal. In order to identify, understand and value this territorial resource, the diagnosis of the existing is essential. Sociospatial disparities are the core problems of regional development which is confronted with the double malaise of poverty and environmental degradation. Knowing that wealth is created within companies and that these businesses are the key players in territorial development, the analysis of the spatial anatomy of productive systems provides information on the symbiosis between the productive and the spatial.Without claiming to reproduce the evolution of productive systems and their spatial expressions in its completeness, this study aims at questioning the major territorialized forms that the productive system in Morocco has taken ever since their independence. It also aims at characterizing the specificities of Morocco in this area by launching a particular provisional assessment of the fact that this experience is maturing. The main objective of this research is to approach a model that is in the making in which Morocco can lead the rest of Africa at this spatial / productive level. Keywords: Productive system, territorialized forms of production, glocalization, Integrated Industrial Platform (P2I), Clusters, Territorial Pole of Economic Cooperation (TCEP), Localized Production System (LPS). DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/53-06 Publication date:March 31st 201

The Impact of Historical Nodes and Links of The City on Adopting Knowledge Networks Strategy

 تشكلت المدينة تاريخيا عقدةً للحياة الإنسانية و قوامها مصادر الموارد وعلاقتها بمناطق الإنتاج والتوزيع، و جاء مخطط المدينة مقسما إلى مناطق خاصة بمختلف الأنشطة الاقتصادية التي تعتمد عليها (منطقة صناعية، منطقة ترفيهية، منطقة تجارية، منطقة سكنية وغيرها من إستعمالات الارض)، وانعكست ضمنها السمات العمرانية والوظيفية التي فرضتها النظم الإجتماعية و النظم التكنلوجية، وبفعل التقدم التكنلوجي اتسع دور المعلومة وأضحت ميزة العصر نظراً لسرعة تداولها وإتساع دورها في الحياة اليومية لينشأ مفهوم الشبكات المعرفية،  يتناول البحث القائم مفهوم الشبكات المعرفية إستراتيجيةً معاصرةً متعددة الأبعاد تفرض آلياتها في التعامل مع نظام المدينة التأريخي، حيث تفرض التطورات التكنلوجية متطلباتها على الرؤى التنظيمية للمدينة جزءا من النظام العالمي، ويفترض البحث أن الشبكات المعرفية هي مفهوم غير منفصل عن الشبكات الفضائية التأريخية في المدن، كما يفترض البحث  أن هذه الشبكات التأريخية المؤلفة من العقد والروابط تقوم بفرض الرؤى الإستراتيجية لإنشاء الشبكات المعرفية وتعزيزها في المستوى الحضري، يهدف البحث إلى توضيح مفهوم الشبكات المعرفية كإستراتيجية معاصرة للنمو الحضري، ودور العقد والروابط التي تطورت في المدن تأريخياً في تبني إستراتيجيات تعزيز الشبكات المعرفية، وينهج البحث في هذا السبيل لدراسة مفهوم الشبكة المعرفية وآلياتها في نظام المدينة ودور العقد الحضرية القائمة في توجيه وتعزيز العقد والروابط المعرفية (في المستويات الحضرية) وهي قوام الشبكة، ويستعرض البحث هذه الآليات من خلال عدد من التجارب العالمية ومن خلالها يبني رؤية للتعامل مع المدينة العراقية وفقاً لإستراتيجية الشبكات المعرفية وخصوصية هذه المدن ، ويصل البحث إلى إستنتاج مفاده أن خصوصية العقد والروابط التأريخية تفرض آلياتها بشكل متبادل مع الآليات المرتبطة بإستراتيجية الشبكات المعرفية وأن كل مدينة تعكس إستجاباتها الخاصة لنمط الشبكة( في المستوى الحضري) لينتج نمطاً حضرياً جديداً.The city was formed historically as a node for human activities. Its formation depends on the resources and relations in areas of production and distribution; therefore, it was divided into special zones with different economic activities that depend on them (industrial, recreational, commercial, residential areas and other uses of land). The physical and functional features of the city reflected imposed social and digital systems. The Technological advances have expanded the role of knowledge in everyday life that established the concept of knowledge networks. This study deals with the concept of knowledge networks as  an updated multidimensional strategy which imposes its ways to deal with the historic urban system as a part of the larger one, where the developed technology imposes its needs of the organizational vision of the city as  part of the global system. This study hypothesis that the knowledge networks is a concept not separated from the historic space networks in cities. The study also hypothesis that these historic networks, which were formed from nodes and links impose the strategic vision to adopt and promote the knowledge networks into urban level. This study aims to clarify the concept of knowledge networks as an updated strategy for the urban growth, shows the role of nodes, and links which had grown historically in cities to adopt and promote strategies for the knowledge networks. This research adopted a method to achieve its aims, through studying the cognitive network mechanism and the role of urban characteristics as guidelines to strengthen these networks in a number of global examples, and then use the global experience to build a vision for network strategy in the Iraqi city to produce a new urban pattern. The main conclusion is that the historic urban ties act as a mutual force along with the global mechanism of knowledge network so that each city would show its special response to the network pattern

A People's History Of Recent Urban Transportation Innovation

Who are the people leading the charge in urban transportation? As our report explains, the short answer is that it takes leaders from three different sectors of urban society to make change happen quickly.First, there needs to be a robust civic vanguard, the more diverse their range of skills and participation, the better. Second, mayors, commissioners and other city leaders need to create the mandate and champion the change. The third sector is the agency staff. When these three sectors align, relatively quick transformation is possible. Several cities, including New York and Pittsburgh, recently experienced this alignment of a healthy civic community, a visionary and bold mayor and transportation head, and internal agency champions. Our report also highlighted the potential of other cities, such as Charlotte, where the civic sector continues to build on and widen their base

ICT, open government and civil society

Abstract This paper explores the rise of ICTs as instruments of government reform and the implication of their use from the vantage point of the relations between democratic governance, the aims of Buen Vivir, and the role of civil society. We discuss some of the contradictions inherent in the nature and organisation of ICTs, particularly in connection to such e-government projects as “smart cities” and participatory budgeting, and focus on the centrality of social relationships, political agency and the operations of social capital as elements that determine the success of these initiatives in the promotion of democratic practice. We also examine the relevance of social capital and user control to organisational structure and the ways in which structure relates to social innovation and the access, transfer and diffusion of knowledge as a common good. The paper concludes with a discussion of the significance of ICTs as instruments of civil empowerment and introduces the notion of “generative democracy” as a means of re-imagining and realigning the role and powers of the state and civil society for the social production of goods and services