The Role of Information Systems in Preventing Railway Suicide: A Service Value Co-creation Perspective

The Internet is transforming education. The NZ Government prioritised broadband to schools, yet recent studies examining Internet enabled technology and its impact on students’ learning have failed to show unambiguous evidence of sustainable and substantial impact. Researchers have pointed to the need to unpack what it means for students to “use” this technology in the classroom. Using Activity Theory and critical realism this research observed learning in four schools, which formed the basis of a model of use. The students’ engagements with the technology can be conceptualised three ways: as a tool mediated by the students’ meta-cognitive approach to learning; as a tool for distributed cognition; and as a tool for cognition in the learning of the curriculum content as well as the higher mental processes. This model is intended to be a practical, user-centred method to assess the use and usefulness of the IS

Accident Investigation and Learning to Improve Safety Management in Complex System: Remaining Challenges: Proceedings of the 55th ESReDA Seminar

Accident investigation and learning from events are fundamental processes in safety management, involving technical, human, organisational and societal dimensions. The European Safety, Reliability and Data Association, ESReDA, has a long tradition in gathering together experts in the field to work together, and to share and explore experiences of using various paradigms, approaches, methods databased and implementation of safety systems across different industries. The 55th ESReDA seminar on “Accident Investigation and Learning to Improve Safety Management in Complex System: Remaining Challenges” attracted more than 80 participants from industry, authorities, operators, research centres and academia. The seminar programme consisted of 22 technical papers, three keynote speeches and a workshop to debate about the remaining challenges of accident investigation and potential innovative breakthroughs.JRC.G.10-Knowledge for Nuclear Security and Safet

Walking the talk : an investigation of the pedagogical practices and discourses of an international broadcasting organisation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Adult Education, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Increasingly our knowledge of the world around us comes from the media, mediated by professional broadcasters. As the education and training of broadcasters has progressively become associated with educational institutions there has been more theorising about what broadcasters should know and how they should be educated, however the actual educational and training practices of broadcasting organisations remains under researched and under theorised. This research looks at the educational and training practices of an international broadcasting organisation and how they are sustained by the organisational ethos through a series of interviews with people directly involved in the organisation‟s training practices and an examination of a selection of the organisation‟s promotional and policy documents. From this comes a picture of an organisation committed to excellence and also a vision of broadcasting as an emancipatory activity. This commitment and vision is reflected in its inhouse training practices and also its media development work. The interviews with trainers, project managers, administrators and researchers reveal broadcasters who are pragmatic idealists and reflective practitioners and whose passion and commitment to the transformative powers of education and training are undeniable

Public value creation : exploring partnerships in value capture projects in China : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

The urban planning literature has identified a positive relationship between public transport investment and the land value of adjacent properties. In many cities worldwide, the increase in land value has been captured (called value capture (VC)) to fund public transport infrastructure and services. However, the key issue for the planning and implementation of VC is the complexity of the multiple stakeholders’ collaboration and coordination in the process, and few studies have investigated this complexity. This research aimed to fill this gap and explore how different stakeholders have worked together to plan and implement VC policies and projects in China. This research developed a theoretical framework based on public value and partnership theories. These theories provide a comprehensive strategic triangle framework to explore interdependent processes of enabling environment, operational capabilities, and goals to create public value of VC development. Based on the framework, this research proposed three types of partnerships for investigating the VC process. The political–institutional partnership analysed how government organisations and local transport agencies create an enabling political and institutional environment to take the initiative and plan for VC projects. The financial partnership focused on how local transport agencies develop partnerships with other public and private organisations to share the risks, responsibilities, and benefits of developing real estate in VC projects. The social partnership examined what role culturally sensitive communication and trust play in building relationships between local government and local communities. This research used a qualitative research approach by applying the case study method. Two Chinese VC projects, the Qianhai project in Shenzhen and the Luxiao project in Chengdu, were selected as case studies in this research. Data were collected from 55 semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders, and from policy and planning documents produced at the central, provincial, and local government levels, supplemented by enterprise reports, media information, and research papers. Firstly, the research found that stable and sustained political–institutional support is crucial to the initiation planning, and implementation of a VC project. Because of continuous political support, Shenzhen initially adopted the Hong Kong model but later developed its own model and institutional capacity for VC projects. In contrast, VC projects in Chengdu suffered as a result of uncertain political support, a fragmented planning framework, an insufficient land exchange market, and a lack of experience and knowledge of VC projects. Both case studies showed that creating a partnership between local government and local transport agency is vital for mobilising land resources, sharing planning power, and generating institutional innovation in land transactions. Secondly, the research illustrated that a financial partnership between local transport agencies and developers is fundamental for implementing VC projects. In Shenzhen, the local transport agency established proactive working relationships with developers, creating a flow of the resources necessary for implementing the projects. In contrast, the local transport agency in Chengdu ignored developers and worked directly with the district-level government without a competitive selection process. This process created concerns for real estate development in the later stages of implementation. Thirdly, the research identified that developing a trustworthy social partnership between the local government and the local communities is beneficial for enhancing the legitimacy of VC projects. Shenzhen adopted both top-down and bottom-up public participation processes to engage local communities. In comparison, weak communication in Chengdu led to limited community involvement and a lack of public awareness of the VC project. Both case studies showed a strong emphasis on expert opinions and little contact with non-governmental organisations in China’s VC projects. This research concluded that political–institutional, financial, and social partnerships have contributed significantly to VC planning and implementation in China. These partnerships worked together and developed an enabling environment, promoted legitimacy, and established operational capacities to deliver the VC projects. However, these partnerships were not developed in a vacuum, and macro and contextual factors played an essential part in the planning and implementation of the VC projects

Developing appropriate workforce skills for Australia's emerging digital economy: working paper

This research explores the current digital skills demand-and-supply situation in Australia for the general workforce (rather than for ICT specialists). The research approach includes a review of international frameworks of digital skills and case studies in the transport, postal and warehousing, and public administration and safety industries. These industries were selected because a key threat to their productivity, and therefore their contribution to the national economy, is a workforce with inadequate digital skills. A survey of human resources, skills and training decision-makers across Australian industry more generally was also undertaken, with specific attention given to the skills impact of digitalisation