The Net in the Park

Ubiquitous Computing, Pervasive Computing, Physical Computing, Everyware, Tangible User Interface and the Internet Of Things all share the same viewpoint - a viewpoint that sees computers, phones and game consoles as no longer being the only devices in our environment deemed worthy to embody computation and be connected. Each of these approaches focuses on slightly different aspects of the features and potentialities of the enabling technologies (i.e. Physical Computing focuses on the growing power of microcontrollers; IoT on the increasing influence of tagging systems; Everyware on the pervasiveness of the web through wired and wireless connections, etc.) We understand and place more emphasis on the similarities then the differences among these approaches, and at the same time, we try to address specific human activity issues by exploiting these new enabling technologies and visions. In the paper we present a project, Wi-roni, that addresses two issues: in-person communication, and the added-value of being in a given location when accessing a given content. To this end we considered in some detail the possibilities of three of these enabling technologies: ultrasound sensors, mems and mashup of internet application. These technologies were chosen based on the nature of the human activity, and not vice-versa. In Wi-roni, an Urban Architecture project located in the La Gora public park in Monteroni d'Arbia, a small village in the province of Siena (Italy), we developed two interconnect solutions: Wi-wave, a column for accessing web audio content in public spaces and Wi-swing, a children’s swing that tells stories while swinging. These devices represent both the concrete grounds from which to begin to address the above-mentioned human activity issues, and the playground in which to explore the new, emerging interaction modalities that the enabling technologies could allow

The role of external experts in crisis situations: A research synthesis of 114 post-crisis evaluation reports in the Netherlands

This explorative study examines the role of external experts in crisis situations and the conditions under which their involvement contributes to adequate crisis management. Existing crisis management research tends to focus on stakeholder analysis, and the valuable input of experts during crisis preparation. Consequently, the role of external experts during the crisis response phase has been largely overlooked. This is somewhat surprising given the crucial role that is often attributed to external experts. To fill this gap, we have investigated the role of external experts by conducting a research synthesis of 114 post-crisis evaluation reports relating to 60 crises in the Netherlands between 2000 and 2013. The analysis shows that external experts are frequently involved and often play prominent roles in the crisis response. These external experts are often not actively recruited by the (strategic) crisis management response structure. In addition, the contributions and activities of external experts tend to be scarcely coordinated by the (strategic) crisis management response structure. Based on an in-depth analysis of the evaluation reports, we identify six opportunities and threats related to expert involvement in crisis situations, and ten conditions under which expert involvement contributes to adequate crisis management