Success of Crowd-Based Online Technology in Fundraising: An Institutional Perspective

The use of crowd-based online technology for raising funds is gaining popularity and credibility. This paper seeks to provide a better understanding of the effects of formal and informal institutions on the success of a crowdfunding project. It also analyzes how the effects of different types of institutions are likely to vary across the four different types of crowdfunding projects: (1) crowdlending, (2) crowdequity, (3) reward-based crowdfunding and (4) donation-based crowdfunding. A practical implication of this work is that the ease with which entrepreneurs and other types of fundraisers can raise money via crowdfunding platforms to fund a project depends upon the nature of formal and informal institutions in the economy. A theory of crowdfunding is proposed that explains these developing relationships

Chance would be a fine thing : digitally driven practice-based research at Huddersfield

Emerging software based processes are challenging the role of the maker as author as well as introducing new areas of practice. Recent developments in digital art and design at the School of Design Technology, University of Huddersfield have included two areas covering the application of digital techniques to the process of making in very different contexts: Product Design and manufacture; and Visual Arts. Much of this work represents a convergence of art and science, of aesthetics and technology, of process and production. These developments have emerged from two programmes of practice-based research at the University and at the Digital Research Unit at The Media Centre, Huddersfield. The first of these is the Designer in Residence programme based in the Design Department, which aims to employ professional designers in order to embed practice-based research activity into the department’s delivery of 3D design pathways. In the second of these, the Department of Architecture has been working with the Digital Research Unit to deliver a dynamic and challenging range of work from artists at the forefront of digital media practice, bringing new ideas and working practices to the fore. Together, these programmes bridge academia, commercial R&D and the cultural and creative industries. Though they utilise very different approaches, the projects are connected in the ways in which they explore the role of chance, of unforeseen elements in the production of the ‘finished’ work. In a research context, the accidental, the random and even the unaware as contributory constituents are considered as aspects which have considerable impact on the definitions, roles and expectations of the author, the mediating technology and the consumer within the creative process. Aspects of ‘control’ over the results of creative endeavour which are normally taken as a given are here questioned and ownership of the process debated. As high level pieces of original practice-based research such uncertainty is understandably problematic. Through the presentation of two case studies, this paper will explore the implications of these approaches to making. The first of these case studies is the ‘Future Factories’ project by the designer Lionel Theodore Dean, which explores the creation, selection and digital manufacture of randomly generated computer models to produce finished physical artefacts via rapid prototyping technologies. The second case study is the ‘QQQ’ commission by the artist and programmer Tom Betts, which is an interactive installation constructed from the code of the graphics engine for the computer game ‘Quake’, modified using generative programming techniques. The two case studies will then be analysed through the perspective of the writings of Alfred Jarry, with particular respect to his notion of ‘Pataphysics’ and the writings on chance and play of Paul Virilio, in order to highlight how both projects utilise real-time networked technologies in their final manifestation. The case studies also contextualise the shifting relationships between the maker, software techniques and the participation of the audience or consumer in playful and game-like processes in the production of the finished environment or artefact.</p

Future bathroom: A study of user-centred design principles affecting usability, safety and satisfaction in bathrooms for people living with disabilities

Research and development work relating to assistive technology 2010-11 (Department of Health) Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 22 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 197

Reconciling scientific reality with realpolitik: moving beyond carbon pricing to TEQs – an integrated, economy-wide emissions cap

<div><p>This article considers why price-based frameworks may be inherently unsuitable for delivering unprecedented global emissions reductions while retaining the necessary public and political support, and argues that it is time to instead draw on quantity-based mechanisms such as TEQs (tradable energy quotas).</p><p>TEQs is a climate policy framework combining a hard cap on emissions with the use of market mechanisms to distribute quotas beneath that cap.</p><p>The significant international research into TEQs is summarized, including a 2008 UK government feasibility study, which concluded that the scheme was “ahead of its time.” TEQs would cover all sectors within a national economy, including households, and findings suggest it could act as a catalyst for the socio-technical transitions required to maximize wellbeing under a tightening cap, while generating national common purpose toward innovative energy demand reductions.</p><p>Finally, there are reflections on the role that the carbon management community can play in further developing TEQs and reducing the rift between what climate science calls for and what politics is delivering.</p></div

Management Experience as President of the EUROAVIA International Board 2017-2018

The following document reflects the results of nineteen months of work at the international management level of EUROAVIA, an EU wide-spread YNGO with sixty years of heritage in the aerospace sector and more than 2500 students coming from 42 universities in 17 different countries. The study covers the main achievements, difficulties and decisions taken during the plannification and execution periods of the Business Year 2017-2018 of EUROAVIA: The course followed based on communication, visibility and opportunities as cornerstones, an internal analysis and a disruptive structural reorganization, a financial management that allowed hitting the largest ever income in the history of the organization, a renewed policy for industrial partners and deep focus on European institutions, and other issues related to the everyday run of an organization. As a subsequent goal, this document aims to help any organization of similar nature to improve its performance through the lessons learned by Juan Manuel Lora Alonso as Former President of EUROAVIA. As a final remark, the reader shall be familiarized with the importance of student’s organizations such as EUROAVIA and their contribution to the industry shaping process of the future and its benefit for society.Universidad de Sevilla. Grado en Ingeniería Aeroespacia

Recording the movement : the role of citizen-generated videos in perceptions of police and police use of deadly force

Since the shooting death of Michael Brown in 2014, there has been widespread mobilization of activist groups and individuals both online and on the ground, to address issues of police brutality, racial bias, and equity within the criminal justice system. The emergence of citizen-generated videos as well as the democratization of internet access has enabled marginalized groups often targeted by law enforcement to have a voice in new and meaningful ways. More specifically, citizen-generated videos of police brutality and the different avenues they are disseminated across have been able to challenge mainstream narratives of police-citizen encounters. Through a critical technocultural discourse analysis of comments surrounding the shooting death of Michael Brown, Philando Castile, and Dajerria Becton, I will code for racialized and gendered understandings of the cases and perceptions of police. Further, I utilize Jackson and Welles notion of counter-publics and Castells development of ‘mass self-communication’ to uncover what elements of technology contributed to self-efficacy and activism, which lead to these cases becoming national news stories. I argue that there is something uniquely impactful about the visceral nature of citizen-generated videos of police brutality, which has lead to a pervasive push for transparency within police departments and their interactions with the Black community. As a result, the public discourse surrounding police brutality has heightened, and the public's perceptions of law enforcement is shifting.Radio-Television-Fil

Community policing and young people: a critical insight into young people's perceptions in Leicester

The repercussions associated with young people's exclusion from policing can be detrimental. The police will lack a basic understanding of young people s problems, needs and expectations. In these situations, young people will be less inclined to report crimes and their own victimisation to the police, provide intelligence, and participate in the criminal justice system. This study is intended to provide a critical appraisal of young people s perceptions of Police and Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and community policing in Leicester, in an effort to delineate the implications of their exclusion from local policing and crime related issues. Community policing is a well-known policing philosophy, particularly for repairing police public relations through engagement and problem solving. The findings demonstrate that despite the fundamental benefits associated with community policing, conventional methods of engagement and problem solving have failed to reach out to young people who are, nevertheless, particularly enthusiastic about collaborating with the police. However, whilst the vast majority of young people are positive about getting involved in policing, there are important variations within young people in their perceptions and attitudes towards the police. Young ethnic minorities in general, blacks in particular, were passive and reluctant to collaborate with the police due to their experiences of stop and search and other repercussion associated with the law enforcement style of policing. A lot of these problems can be subsided by diverting police resources to community policing, but there are going to be strong financial, organisational and cultural challenges

Determinants of renewable and sustainable energy technologies acceptance: a comprehensive explanatory model for the biofuel case

The doctoral research aims to understand the acceptance of renewable and sustainable energy technology, specifically biofuel technology, by the general public and expert stakeholders. Study 1 identifies barriers and facilitators for biofuel acceptability through qualitative interviews with 32 EU stakeholders from various institutions and countries. The qualitative content analysis reveals four clusters of variables affecting biofuel acceptability. Study 2 builds an integrated model (i-SETA) for biofuel acceptance, incorporating psychological and contextual factors, tested on 807 laypeople from 8 EU countries. Study 3 validates the i-SETA model with 210 European expert stakeholders from four EU countries. The thesis provides valuable evidence-based concepts to promote biofuel acceptance and adoption