Internet, adjustment of firms and the spatial division of labour

The rise of the Internet has been heralded as the 'death of distance' that may eventually entail a 'decline of the city'. Whether or not these futuristic visions will materialize will depend upon how firms and industries react to the Internet as a general-purpose technology. Besides the locational choice of New Economy firms themselves it is the adoption of E-commerce in industries of the 'old' economy which has the potential for re-shaping the economic geography of regions, and which may, in many instances radically so, change the way to manage the internal organization of firms as well as relationships with business partners (B2B) and with consumers (B2C). The paper aims at discussing elements of a conceptual approach for evaluating these spatial effects of E-commerce activities on locational patterns in the old economy by identifying suitable proxy indicators from existing evidence, such as connectivity to IT-infrastructures, sectoral differences in B2B solutions, market (de-)concentration processes, or changes of functional employment structures of cities. Key words: Internet, E-commerce, Organizational Change, Firm Location, Spatial Division of Labour

Between the Information Economy and Student Recruitment: Present Conjuncture and Future Prospects

In university programs and curricula, in general we react to the need to meet market needs. We respond to market stimulus, or at least try to do so. Consider now an inverted view. Consider our data and perspectives in university programs as reflecting and indeed presaging economic trends. In this article I pursue this line of thinking. I show how various past events fit very well into this new view. I provide explanation for why some technology trends happened as they did, and why some current developments are important now.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Survey of the needs of patients with spinal cord injury: impact and priority for improvement in hand function in tetraplegics\ud

Objective: To investigate the impact of upper extremity deficit in subjects with tetraplegia.\ud \ud Setting: The United Kingdom and The Netherlands.\ud \ud Study design: Survey among the members of the Dutch and UK Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Associations.\ud \ud Main outcome parameter: Indication of expected improvement in quality of life (QOL) on a 5-point scale in relation to improvement in hand function and seven other SCI-related impairments.\ud \ud Results: In all, 565 subjects with tetraplegia returned the questionnaire (overall response of 42%). Results in the Dutch and the UK group were comparable. A total of 77% of the tetraplegics expected an important or very important improvement in QOL if their hand function improved. This is comparable to their expectations with regard to improvement in bladder and bowel function. All other items were scored lower.\ud \ud Conclusion: This is the first study in which the impact of upper extremity impairment has been assessed in a large sample of tetraplegic subjects and compared to other SCI-related impairments that have a major impact on the life of subjects with SCI. The present study indicates a high impact as well as a high priority for improvement in hand function in tetraplegics.\ud \u

Shaping the space of flows: Local economies and information and communication technologies

Technological and economic development have long since been associated. From the archaeological discoveries of urban living to the cities of the future; from Babylon to places such as Singapore, technology and life are entwined. Much preoccupation today is with information and communications technologies (ICTs) and misguided notions of 'cyberspace' and 'information superhighways' and of course, life in the informational age. The hype that goes with this often conjures up images of endless potential for marginalised groups, or in turn, reinforces the powers of dominant groups during a most challenging period for capitalism. Yet there is a need for research into the way technology, and in particular ICTs, interacts with the social, political, cultural and economic complexity that forms the basis of place. This thesis attempts to address that need by focusing on the role of ICTs in local economies. Based on an extensive overview of the North East, and followed by an intensive approach of investigation into a small number of case studies, this work looks at the political processes that go hand-in-hand with technology and place. Specifically, the thesis pays attention to locally based partnerships that have taken form to build up the ICTs potential of local economies, and it seeks to understand the reasons why these have occurred at this particular moment in time. The research has identified a number of points in the local economy that appear to be emerging as areas for ICTs application. In effect, these are the key points from which the local economy is connected to the global economy. It is argued that local economies are falling in line behind a more global shift towards what Manuel Castells refers to as the informational mode of development. The role of local ICTs partnerships is crucial in enabling such development and the mechanics behind this are investigated. Again, by drawing on the work of Castells, it is contended that these groups are trying to condition the dynamics of the informational age and the logics of that age. That is, local ICTs partnerships, at the level of place, are attempting to shape the space of flows. Four cases are considered in detail. There is the work of the Sunderland Telematics Working Group who have developed a strategic path for the application of ICTs in the city. There is the work of the Wansbeck Initiative, focused on an emerging set of methods to deal with local economic decline and peripheralisation. There is the work of the County Durham Informatics Partnership, led by the county-wide Training and Enterprise Council and supported by the local University, the County Council and a number of local district authorities. And then there is Teesside, a place that has had a number of false starts in commencing on the road to informationalism, due in part to a lack of cohesion in the partnership building process. There is also the work of Northern Informatics who act as part of the bigger regional picture, perhaps suggesting that as these groups take form there may be an ICTs 'turf-war' to consider. This work shows that there is indeed some level of contestation as local ICTs partnerships are formed. Fundamentally, we are at the beginning of something new here, and there can be no predetermined outcome of how local groups attempt to shape the space of flows