6,182 research outputs found

    Facilitating prosociality through technology: Design to promote digital volunteerism

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    Volunteerism covers many activities involving no financial rewards for volunteers but which contribute to the common good. There is existing work in designing technology for volunteerism in HumanComputer Interaction (HCI) and related disciplines that focuses on motivation to improve performance, but it does not account for volunteer wellbeing. Here, I investigate digital volunteerism in three case studies with a focus on volunteer motivation, engagement, and wellbeing. My research involved volunteers and others in the volunteering context to generate recommendations for a volunteer-centric design for digital volunteerism. The thesis has three aims: 1. To investigate motivational aspects critical for enhancing digital volunteers’ experiences 2. To identify digital platform attributes linked to volunteer wellbeing 3. To create guidelines for effectively supporting volunteer engagement in digital volunteering platforms In the first case study I investigate the design of a chat widget for volunteers working in an organisation with a view to develop a design that improves their workflow and wellbeing. The second case study investigates the needs, motivations, and wellbeing of volunteers who help medical students improve their medical communication skills. An initial mixed-methods study was followed by an experiment comparing two design strategies to improve volunteer relatedness; an important indicator of wellbeing. The third case study looks into volunteer needs, experiences, motivations, and wellbeing with a focus on volunteer identity and meaning-making on a science-based research platform. I then analyse my findings from these case studies using the lens of care ethics to derive critical insights for design. The key contributions of this thesis are design strategies and critical insights, and a volunteer-centric design framework to enhance the motivation, wellbeing and engagement of digital volunteers

    Making friends with failure in STS

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    The absence of community in community forestry: the politics of science and ethics in Nepali forestry policy.

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    This thesis unravels the complex socio-political processes of policy creation and implementation in Nepal’s community forestry sector. It uses a political ecology framework to investigate the policies and politics that shape how local communities manage forests and derive socio-economic benefits to contribute to livelihoods and the national economy. In the thesis, I examine the struggles between the forest authorities, community rights activists and power elites in forest policy process and implementation of scientific forest management programs. I discuss how different forest ethics influence public opinion and policy. Then I investigate how policy actors combine ethical reasoning and logics (and critiques) of forest science to justify their actions and interventions. I draw on data collected via a multimethod qualitative (research) methodology and analysed using an interpretative approach. The empirical chapters outline three key themes. First, I examine the role of scientific forestry in Nepal in struggles between the government and community rights activists over how community forestry works. I outline how the government has mobilised forestry science as authentic, undeniably valid and true in order to increase its control over forest resources and community decision-making. In contrast, community rights activists critiqued scientific forestry to counter the government. In particular, I analyse the discourses that the government and community rights activists developed and the political lobbying they pursued to garner public support for constructing and communicating forest management approaches supporting their position. Second, I discuss forest ethics – specifically utilitarian and preservationist ethics - to show how ethical perceptions shape individual and social norms for forest management and use. I review Nepali forestry history to elucidate how the government historically utilised both utilitarian and preservationist ethics as a means to maintain and reinforce its control over the forests. I demonstrate how the ethical tensions arising from utilitarian and preservationist worldviews animate struggles between forestry stakeholders as individuals and groups, and how ethical discourses are mobilised in support of favoured policies. Finally, I examine the politics of policy making in Nepal. I argue that the government and interest groups have dominated the forest policy process, allowing little space for civic consultation and research-informed policy. Evidence-based policy making is still nascent, not legally binding, voluntary, and therefore subject to the personal discretion of government decision-makers. Most policy consultations are mere formalities while the ministries utilise public consultation to sell policy-drafts to the cabinet and the parliament as ostensible products of public demand, rather than ministerial discretion. This allows bureaucracy, politicians, and interest groups to dominate policy processes, as key policies are predetermined and negotiated informally outside the official consultations customarily conducted in ministries, cabinet, and the parliament. This thesis illustrates the power of a political ecology framework to explain complex policy processes and how politics govern the way policy actors interact and determine forest policy outcomes My research highlights the policy failures undergirding community forestry and prospects of forest-based local economy. Policy outcomes are driven by power elites, rather than civic consultation and research. And policy actors often mask their agendas (and efforts to control resources) with the logics of science and ethics. In particular, this research shows how “community forestry” policy processes in Nepal have, ironically, undermined the role of the community and other non-state actors, consolidating the control of bureaucratic and political leaders

    2023-2024 Boise State University Undergraduate Catalog

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    This catalog is primarily for and directed at students. However, it serves many audiences, such as high school counselors, academic advisors, and the public. In this catalog you will find an overview of Boise State University and information on admission, registration, grades, tuition and fees, financial aid, housing, student services, and other important policies and procedures. However, most of this catalog is devoted to describing the various programs and courses offered at Boise State

    A Practical Framework for Storing and Searching Encrypted Data on Cloud Storage

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    Security has become a significant concern with the increased popularity of cloud storage services. It comes with the vulnerability of being accessed by third parties. Security is one of the major hurdles in the cloud server for the user when the user data that reside in local storage is outsourced to the cloud. It has given rise to security concerns involved in data confidentiality even after the deletion of data from cloud storage. Though, it raises a serious problem when the encrypted data needs to be shared with more people than the data owner initially designated. However, searching on encrypted data is a fundamental issue in cloud storage. The method of searching over encrypted data represents a significant challenge in the cloud. Searchable encryption allows a cloud server to conduct a search over encrypted data on behalf of the data users without learning the underlying plaintexts. While many academic SE schemes show provable security, they usually expose some query information, making them less practical, weak in usability, and challenging to deploy. Also, sharing encrypted data with other authorized users must provide each document's secret key. However, this way has many limitations due to the difficulty of key management and distribution. We have designed the system using the existing cryptographic approaches, ensuring the search on encrypted data over the cloud. The primary focus of our proposed model is to ensure user privacy and security through a less computationally intensive, user-friendly system with a trusted third party entity. To demonstrate our proposed model, we have implemented a web application called CryptoSearch as an overlay system on top of a well-known cloud storage domain. It exhibits secure search on encrypted data with no compromise to the user-friendliness and the scheme's functional performance in real-world applications.Comment: 146 Pages, Master's Thesis, 6 Chapters, 96 Figures, 11 Table

    On the Mechanism of Building Core Competencies: a Study of Chinese Multinational Port Enterprises

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    This study aims to explore how Chinese multinational port enterprises (MNPEs) build their core competencies. Core competencies are firms’special capabilities and sources to gain sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in marketplace, and the concept led to extensive research and debates. However, few studies include inquiries about the mechanisms of building core competencies in the context of Chinese MNPEs. Accordingly, answers were sought to three research questions: 1. What are the core competencies of the Chinese MNPEs? 2. What are the mechanisms that the Chinese MNPEs use to build their core competencies? 3. What are the paths that the Chinese MNPEs pursue to build their resources bases? The study adopted a multiple-case study design, focusing on building mechanism of core competencies with RBV. It selected purposively five Chinese leading MNPEs and three industry associations as Case Companies. The study revealed three main findings. First, it identified three generic core competencies possessed by Case Companies, i.e., innovation in business models and operations, utilisation of technologies, and acquisition of strategic resources. Second, it developed the conceptual framework of the Mechanism of Building Core Competencies (MBCC), which is a process of change of collective learning in effective and efficient utilization of resources of a firm in response to critical events. Third, it proposed three paths to build core competencies, i.e., enhancing collective learning, selecting sustainable processes, and building resource base. The study contributes to the knowledge of core competencies and RBV in three ways: (1) presenting three generic core competencies of the Chinese MNPEs, (2) proposing a new conceptual framework to explain how Chinese MNPEs build their core competencies, (3) suggesting a solid anchor point (MBCC) to explain the links among resources, core competencies, and SCA. The findings set benchmarks for Chinese logistics industry and provide guidelines to build core competencies

    Special Topics in Information Technology

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    This open access book presents thirteen outstanding doctoral dissertations in Information Technology from the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy. Information Technology has always been highly interdisciplinary, as many aspects have to be considered in IT systems. The doctoral studies program in IT at Politecnico di Milano emphasizes this interdisciplinary nature, which is becoming more and more important in recent technological advances, in collaborative projects, and in the education of young researchers. Accordingly, the focus of advanced research is on pursuing a rigorous approach to specific research topics starting from a broad background in various areas of Information Technology, especially Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics, Systems and Control, and Telecommunications. Each year, more than 50 PhDs graduate from the program. This book gathers the outcomes of the thirteen best theses defended in 2020-21 and selected for the IT PhD Award. Each of the authors provides a chapter summarizing his/her findings, including an introduction, description of methods, main achievements and future work on the topic. Hence, the book provides a cutting-edge overview of the latest research trends in Information Technology at Politecnico di Milano, presented in an easy-to-read format that will also appeal to non-specialists

    CITIES: Energetic Efficiency, Sustainability; Infrastructures, Energy and the Environment; Mobility and IoT; Governance and Citizenship

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    This book collects important contributions on smart cities. This book was created in collaboration with the ICSC-CITIES2020, held in San José (Costa Rica) in 2020. This book collects articles on: energetic efficiency and sustainability; infrastructures, energy and the environment; mobility and IoT; governance and citizenship
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