58 research outputs found
From Social Data Mining to Forecasting Socio-Economic Crisis
Socio-economic data mining has a great potential in terms of gaining a better
understanding of problems that our economy and society are facing, such as
financial instability, shortages of resources, or conflicts. Without
large-scale data mining, progress in these areas seems hard or impossible.
Therefore, a suitable, distributed data mining infrastructure and research
centers should be built in Europe. It also appears appropriate to build a
network of Crisis Observatories. They can be imagined as laboratories devoted
to the gathering and processing of enormous volumes of data on both natural
systems such as the Earth and its ecosystem, as well as on human
techno-socio-economic systems, so as to gain early warnings of impending
events. Reality mining provides the chance to adapt more quickly and more
accurately to changing situations. Further opportunities arise by individually
customized services, which however should be provided in a privacy-respecting
way. This requires the development of novel ICT (such as a self- organizing
Web), but most likely new legal regulations and suitable institutions as well.
As long as such regulations are lacking on a world-wide scale, it is in the
public interest that scientists explore what can be done with the huge data
available. Big data do have the potential to change or even threaten democratic
societies. The same applies to sudden and large-scale failures of ICT systems.
Therefore, dealing with data must be done with a large degree of responsibility
and care. Self-interests of individuals, companies or institutions have limits,
where the public interest is affected, and public interest is not a sufficient
justification to violate human rights of individuals. Privacy is a high good,
as confidentiality is, and damaging it would have serious side effects for
society.Comment: 65 pages, 1 figure, Visioneer White Paper, see
http://www.visioneer.ethz.c
New York: the animated city
The urban landscape of New York City is one that is familiar to many, but, through the medium of animation, this familiarity has been consistently challenged. Often metamorphic, and always meticulously constructed, animated imagery encourages reflective thinking. Focusing on the themes of construction, destruction, and interactivity, this article seeks to cast critical light upon the animated double life that New York City has lived through the following moving image texts: Disneyâs Fantasia 2000 (1999), Patrick Jeanâs computer-generated short Pixels (2009), and Rockstar Gamesâ open-world blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
POSIWID and determinism in design for behaviour change
Copyright @ 2012 Social Services Research GroupWhen designing to influence behaviour for social or environmental benefit, does designers' intent matter? Or are the effects on behaviour more important, regardless of the intent involved? This brief paper explores -- in the context of design for behaviour change -- some treatments of design, intentionality, purpose and responsibility from a variety of fields, including Stafford Beer's "The purpose of a system is what it does" and Maurice Broady's perspective on determinism. The paper attempts to extract useful implications for designers working on behaviour-related problems, in terms of analytical or reflective questions to ask during the design process
Architectures of control in consumer product design
Copyright @ 2005 Social Services Research GroupThe idea of architectures of control is introduced through examples ranging from urban planning to digital rights management, and the intentions behind their use in consumer products are examined, with reference to case studies of printer cartridges and proposed 'optimum lifetime products.' The reactions of the technical community and consumers themselves are also explored, along with some wider implications for society
Copy rights: The politics of copying and creativity
This article analyses the politics of copyright and copying. Copyright is an increasingly important driver of the modern economy, but this does not exhaust its significance. It matters, we argue, not just for the distribution of rewards and resources in the creative industries, but as a site within which established political concerns â collective and individual interests and identities - are articulated and negotiated, and within which notions of âoriginalityâ, âcreativityâ and âcopyingâ are politically constituted. Set against the background of the increasing economic value attributed to the creative industries, the impact of digitalization on them, and the European Unionâs Digital Single Market strategy, the article reveals how copyright policy, and the underlying assumptions about âcopyingâ and âcreativityâ, express (often unexamined) political values and ideologies. Drawing on a close reading of policy statements, official reports, court cases, and interviews with stakeholders, we explore the multiple political aspects of copyright, showing how copyright policy operates to privilege particular interests and practices, and to acknowledge only specific forms of creative endeavour
Towards a Digital Healthcare Revolution. Views and Researches of the Milanese FabLab Community
The term revolution denotes a sudden and radical change, with
shattering and unpredictable outcomes. This is what is happening today with the
âfourth industrial revolutionâ, that is promoting the creation of âsmart factoriesâ
and gave rise to the makers-movement: the digital production casts down
economies of scale; it is marked by a âproduction ubiquityâ, by innovative goods
that are producible on-demand, by players actively involved in a bottom-up
process. In particular, the paper will focus on the contribution of makerspaces to
the Milan system, representing one of the most important cases in Italy for the
innovative charge proposed by its players and for the active engagement of the
public administration. The analysis will describe the impact this fourth revolution
has on the quality of peopleâs life and on the specific issue of âcareâ, starting
from the Italian platform to report some of the most visionary experimentations
of Digital Healthcare Revolution
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