New technologies and deliberation: Internet as a virtual public sphere or a democratic utopia?

Contemporary democratic theories have sought alternatives to make democracy more participatory, approaching voters from government decisions. In this sense, deliberative democracy has emerged as an alternative, which emphasizes the ideal of democracy and give citizens the opportunity to deliberate rationally about the decisions that concern them. Towards a better understanding of the democratic process, in which the ideal of deliberative democracy becomes relevant, the concept of Habermasian public sphere is highlighted as the expanded space from society, where citizens deliberate on the public issues. At the same time, new technologies of communication and information have grown as resources that have the potential to strengthen democracy. Interactive and multifunctional, they offer a wealth and exchange of information, offering new possibilities for decentralized participation and connection between citizens and politicians. However, in much of the literature, it is common to overemphasize the technological dimensions and settle, deterministically, an association between the potential of new technologies and the revitalization of democratic institutions and practices. This article discusses whether new technologies of communication and information, and specially the Internet, can contribute effectively to strengthening democracy. We argue that the concept of public sphere need a review, perhaps a review that abandons the assumptions of Habermasian public sphere, because changes in modern society and the technical revolutions of recent decades have generated significant changes in the social field. We also argue that Internet does not create a public sphere, because it lacks essential features like the debate argued with the use of reason, collective interests above individual abilities to understand and hear different voices, political engagement, among others. In the other hand, opportunities offered by the network should be seen so associated with the motivations of social actors themselves and the procedures of communication between them (Maia, 2002, p. 65). The paper explores first the model of deliberative democracy as a two track model. Secondly, it outlines the normative concept of the public sphere and its basis ideas, namely the rationality, reciprocity, equality and non-coercion, aspects that should dominate a space for public deliberation. The third part for discussion shows how the Internet couldn't fit into this concept of public sphere

The influence of creative industry definitions on subsector typologies

In this conceptual article we explore the influence of creative industry definitions on subsector typologies. Based on a systematic literature review of the Creative Industries Journal, we examine alternative creative industry definitions, criteria, subsector typologies, and streams of thought. As a corollary of such a literature review, we suggest a theoretical framework – the Value/Scale matrix – which distinguishes four types of creative industries. In particular, we distinguish between creative and cultural activities as well as between creative and cultural industries. Our distinction is based on the degree of value added and the scale of operations. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of such a framework.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Culture, heritage and tourism as study fields for communication: a systematic review of recent Hispanic literature = Cultura, patrimonio y turismo como campos de estudio para la comunicación: una revisión sistemática de la literatura hispánica reciente

A pesquisa em comunicação, de natureza interdisciplinar e com interesses temáticos muito diversos, cresceu exponencialmente. O objetivo do estudo é, portanto, observar que espaço eles ocupam e como os campos da cultura, patrimônio e turismo são abordados nos artigos publicados nas principais revistas de comunicação hispânicas durante o período de cinco anos 2013-2017. Metodologicamente, as técnicas de bibliometria e meta-pesquisa foram combinadas para abordar, também, aspectos como autoria ou financiamento de obras e identificar os objetos de estudo, teorias ou metodologias utilizadas nos 120 manuscritos que formaram a amostra.Interdisciplinary communication research with very diverse thematic interests has grown exponentially. The purpose of this study is to observe the space they occupy and how the fields of culture, heritage and tourism are addressed in the articles published in the main Hispanic communication journals during the 2013-2017 period. Methodologically, the techniques of bibliometry and meta-research were combined to address aspects such as authorship or financing of studies and identify the objects of study, theories or methodologies used in the 120 manuscripts that formed the sample

Deliberative framings and the constitution of "Geringonça": from media frames to readers' comments

This article analyses how the formation of the XXIst Portuguese Constitutional Government, supported by the Parliamentarian Left (Socialist Party, Communist Party and the far-left organization Left Block that holds together fringes from ecologists movements, Trotskyists groups, and ex-Maoists organizations) was framed by "Observador", a right-wing online newspaper, ideologically opposed, from the editorial point of view, to the new Government. Simultaneously, we aim to understand if this framing process was followed by the audience. The comments posted by the newsreaders on the website but also on Facebook were analyzed during the formation of the new political solution. The goal was to determine whether there was a relationship between the frames used by the medium, and the opinion expressed by its readers. The results show a higher presence of the game-strategy frame in the media coverage of XXIst Constitutional Government formation process, but a closer look reveals that the most common employed narrative frames were on political impacts and conflict stories, resulting from an accentuated political turn to the left. Our analysis shows that the "Observador"'s audience triggered different interpretative frameworks always sharing an opposition to the formation of the left Government

The influence of tourism seasonality on family business in peripheral regions

In this conceptual article we explore the influence of tourism seasonality on family business in peripheral regions. We begin by reviewing the main characteristics of family business in peripheral regions. We proceed by reviewing literature on tourism seasonality as well as mitigation strategies at the macro level of analysis. As a corollary of such a literature review, we suggest a framework of strategies by which family businesses in peripheral regions may mitigate tourism seasonality. In particular, we combine an existing typology of coping, combating, and capitulating strategies with family business responses and service operations. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of the framework.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A review on potential technological advances for fashion retail: smart fitting rooms, augmented and virtual realities = Uma revisão sobre os potenciais avanços tecnológicos para o varejo de moda: provadores inteligentes, realidades aumentada e virtual

Este artigo técnico avaliará os novos avanços tecnológicos que podem mudar a forma como compramos roupas, explorando soluções existentes que ainda são comumente confundidas entre si: provadores inteligentes, espelhos interativos, Realidade Virtual (RV) e Realidade Aumentada (RA). A abordagem metodológica baseada numa pesquisa exploratória terá início com uma revisão da literatura sobre provadores inteligentes e espelhos interativos, comparando as principais diferenças entre essas duas tecnologias e abordando as suas tentativas de implementação malsucedidas no varejo. A nossa pesquisa também avaliará tecnologias diárias, aquelas que possivelmente poderiam melhorar a experiência dos clientes com compras online, bem como de clientes com mobilidade reduzida. Com dispositivos inteligentes em cada esquina, é hoje mais difícil convencer os consumidores com produtos inovadores. Neste contexto, propomos algumas possibilidades de futuro para o varejo de moda, com os resultados a serem apresentados numa primeira abordagem, na esperança de que a partir deles possam ser criadas soluções inovadoras para o futuro. Além disso, as implicações sustentáveis relacionadas com esta abordagem serão abordadas nas considerações adicionais. Este estudo técnico considera apenas duas soluções básicas, que, eventualmente, eram muito complexas para caber no varejo de moda, e explora soluções adicionais que poderiam mudar essas limitações. Embora exploradas e pesquisadas nos últimos anos, soluções como os provadores inteligentes e os espelhos interativos já fizeram parte do que se considerou o futuro do varejo de moda. No entanto, modelos de negócios deficientes e falta de avanços tecnológicos na época limitaram essas soluções. As novas tecnologias, como a Realidade Aumentada (RA), a Realidade Virtual (RV) e a Realidade Mista (RM), combinadas com a mais recente evolução dos smartphones, podem relançar estas soluções.This technical paper will assess new technological advances that could change the way we buy clothes, exploring existing solutions that are still commonly confused with each other: Smart fitting rooms (SFR), interactive mirrors (IM), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR). The methodological approach based on an exploratory research will start with a literature review on SFR and IM, comparing the main differences between these two technologies and addressing their unsuccessful attempts in retail. Our research will also assess daily technologies, which could possibly improve the customer's experience with online shopping, as well as customers with reduced mobility. With smart gadgets in every corner, consumers are more difficult to convince with innovative products. We will propose future possibilities for fashion retail, where results will be presented as a first approach, in hopes of creating innovative solutions for the future. Moreover, sustainable implications related with this approach will be addressed in our additional considerations. This technical study considers only two basic solutions that were eventually too complicated to fit into fashion retail, exploring additional solutions that could change these limitations. Although explored and researched in the last years, solutions like IM and SFR were once part of what was considered the future of fashion retail. However, poor business models and lack of technological advances at the time limited these solutions. New technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed-Reality (MR), combined with the latest smartphone evolution could relaunch solutions like these

Do NFTs sound good? An exploratory study on audio NFTs and possible avenues

Crypto, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the metaverse have taken a massive place in our daily conversations and are highly valued. Moreover, NFTs range from luxury fashion to art, and sound is no exception, although it still needs to be explored. Could this be a unique opportunity to go digital from creation to distribution? This study looks at sound NFTs and new avenues for digital audio communication. During the pandemic, podcasts have been exhausted, leaving space for new digital media business opportunities. We look at how sound has grown, assuming a prominent role in the new media ecosystem due to podcasts consumption. We explore NFTs and their evolution in different markets over the years, highlighting the space that sound content has gained on these platforms as new possibilities for dissemination, promotion, and sale. We use content analysis on marketplaces that provide sound NFTs to understand what audio content consumers can find and future opportunities

A productivity dashboard for hospitals: An empirical study

Health units are institutions which require accurate, updated information to support managerial decisions for thriving in such a critical industry. Thus, health information systems have been developed to help hospital managers steer daily operations. These systems provide not only operational support, but also key performance indicators (KPI’s) to monitor relevant areas at a time-aggregated basis. Despite the recognized value of dashboards in helping decision-makers, the literature shows a lack of proposals of productivity dashboards to assist Hospitals stakeholders. The thesis focuses on two problems: Hospital organizations need access to production and productivity information to improve access to services. Managers need production and productivity information to optimize resource allocation. The importance of addressing these issues lies in the fact that to monitor production and productivity information, is it possible to improve resource allocation. This dissertation consists of the development of dashboards to monitor information obtained from a hospital organization at the level of production and productivity, with the mission of supporting decision makers in the decision process. To properly develop the productivity dashboard, the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology was adopted to build and evaluate the artefact. It was ascertained that the production and productivity segment need more study and that the dashboards on these themes is an asset at the level of monitoring and analysis and subsequent decision-making process. The expected contribution of this research is to develop a dashboard recognized by health stakeholders as capable of better assisting them during their management duties.As unidades de saúde são instituições que requerem informações atualizadas e precisas para apoiar as decisões de gestão a fim de prosperarem numa indústria tão crítica. Assim, os sistemas de informação de saúde foram desenvolvidos para ajudar os gestores hospitalares a dirigir as operações diárias. Esses sistemas não fornecem só suporte operacional, mas também indicadores de desempenho chave (KPI’s) para monitorizar áreas relevantes numa base agregada no tempo. A tese concentra-se em dois problemas: As organizações hospitalares precisam de informações sobre produção e produtividade para melhorar o acesso aos serviços. Os gestores precisam de informações de produção e produtividade para otimizar a alocação de recursos. A importância da resolução destas questões prende-se com o facto de que ao monitorizar a informação de produção e produtividade é possível melhorar a alocação de recursos. A pesquisa consiste no desenvolvimento de painel de controlo para monitorar as informações obtidas numa organização hospitalar ao nível da produção e produtividade, com a missão de apoiar os decisores no processo de decisão. Para desenvolver adequadamente o painel de controlo de produtividade, adotou-se a metodologia Design Science Research (DSR) para construir e avaliar o artefato. Verificou-se que o segmento de produção e produtividade necessita de mais estudo e que o painel de controlo sobre estas temáticas é uma mais-valia ao nível da monotorização e análise e posterior processo de tomada de decisão. O contributo esperado é melhorar o processo de tomada de decisão nas Organizações de saúde, podendo ser útil para alertar de factos que a própria organização possa ainda desconhecer relativamente à sua operacionalidade

Study of the academic production on communication in Spain and Latin America

This paper approaches the state of academic production in communication confined to the Hispanic sphere, namely, Spain and Latin America, during the period extending between 2013 and 2017. As in previous meta-research, the aim here is to highlight potential shortcomings in the discipline, both theoretically and methodologically. From an instrumental standpoint, a systematic, objective and quantitative content analysis was implemented on a probabilistic sample of 1,548 articles from the seven main journals in the field, all indexed in the first quartiles of the SJR-Scopus ranking. Aside from the percentage report for each variable, two-stage cluster analyses were performed twice to identify statistically significant publication patterns. As far as the results are concerned, it is worth highlighting the empirical nature of the studies, generally relying on quantitative methodologies, although no specific theoretical corpora are referenced. On the other hand, and although social networks and ICTs have gained a notable prominence, traditional media continue to be, collectively, the most prominent in communication research. Finally, the challenges of the field seem to revolve around two axes: providing studies with methodological robustness and, above all, with the theoretical background necessary to confront, with guarantees, the understanding of the liquid communicative manifestations that flow, at great speed, from the Information Society