The ethics of gamification in a marketing context

Gamification is an increasingly common marketing tool. Yet, to date, there has been little examination of its ethical implications. In light of the potential implications of this type of stealth marketing for consumer welfare, this paper discusses the ethical dilemmas raised by the use of gamified approaches to marketing. The paper draws on different schools of ethics to examine gamification as an overall system, as well as its constituent parts. This discussion leads to a rationale and suggestions for how gamification could be regulated and/or controlled by more informal codes of conduct. The paper ends by outlining a practical framework which businesses can use to evaluate the potential ethical implications raised by their own gamified marketing techniques

Enhancing the effectiveness of online groups: an investigation of storytelling in the facilitation of online groups

Building relationships in the world of online groups is a recent, exciting and challenging area for the field of group facilitation. Evidence has shown that online groups with strong relationship links are more effective and more resilient than those with without them. Yet, the processes and techniques to effectively facilitate the building of these online relationships are not yet understood and there is scant empirical knowledge to assist practicing group facilitators in this important task. Challenges arise when many of the embodied aspects of inter-personal communication, such as body language, tone of voice, emotions, energy levels and context are not easily readable by group members and facilitators. Many of the well established group processes and interventions that facilitators rely upon in face-to-face situations do not translate effectively or are simply not available in an online group situation. Storytelling, however, presented one approach from the domain of face-to-face group facilitation that might translate well online. Storytelling is well known as an enabler for people to connect at a deeper and an embodied level. It can be highly effective at building strong social ties and group resilience – right across a wide range of settings. This thesis inquired into storytelling’s potential for online facilitation practice with the question of how is storytelling beneficial in building relationships in a facilitated online group? Starting with the premise that storytelling will be an effective approach, eighteen facilitators from the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) came together to collectively research the area using a participative approach. The intent of the approach was to involve online facilitation practitioners in the research so that their motivations, ways of looking at things, and questions could have value and that their experiences would be at the heart of the data generated. A variety of online software tools were used including: email, Skype™ conferencing, telephone conferencing, video and web conferencing, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), blogging, online surveys and within the 3-D interactive world of Second Life™. The study affirmed that storytelling assisted relationship development across a range of online settings. As anticipated, storytelling aided identity creation; scenario description; describing conflict and to articulate learning edges. The availability of an extra text channel during a primarily oral communication is seen as a potentially valuable contribution to the art of storytelling. In addition, the study offers a challenge to the storytelling field in proposing that direct contact between teller and listener is not always a priori requirement. The blending of roles raises some ethical challenges for online facilitation practice. The also inquiry confirmed that software tool selection was critical for ensuring full participation and buy-in to online group decisions. The 3-D, avatar-based medium of Second Life™ assisted with emotional connections. A range of new opportunities emerged through co-researchers engaging with the research process that inform the practice of group facilitation. They expand the role and horizons of the online facilitator in relation to the wider profession of group facilitation. Reflections are made about the International Association of Facilitators Statement of Values and Code of Ethics for Group Facilitators and IAF Core Competencies and some guidelines for the practice of online facilitation are offered

Classifying Recaptured Identity Documents Using the Biomedical Meijering and Sato Algorithms

Recaptured identity documents are a low-cost, high-risk threat to modern eKYC systems. Bad actors can easily manipulate images and print them. Existing solutions typically demand manual review of remotely captured identity documents, this is expensive and does not scale. In 2022, the UK National Crime Agency estimated fraud cost business hundreds of billion pounds per year and document forgery is an area of investigation by Europol.https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cddpos/1002/thumbnail.jp

Robustness of Image-Based Malware Classification Models Trained with Generative Adversarial Networks

As malware continues to evolve, deep learning models are increasingly used for malware detection and classification, including image based classification. However, adversarial attacks can be used to perturb images so as to evade detection by these models. This study investigates the effectiveness of training deep learning models with Generative Adversarial Network-generated data to improve their robustness against such attacks. Two image conversion methods, byte plot and space-filling curves, were used to represent the malware samples, and a ResNet-50 architecture was used to train models on the image datasets. The models were then tested against a projected gradient descent attack. It was found that without GAN generated data, the models’ prediction performance drastically decreased from 93-95% to 4.5% accuracy. However, the addition of adversarial images to the training data almost doubled the accuracy of the models. This study highlights the potential benefits of incorporating GAN-generated data in the training of deep learning models to improve their robustness against adversarial attacks

Rayleigh wave propagation assessment for transport corridors

Wheel loading from high-speed trains can generate seismic ‘Rayleigh’ waves that propagate in the near surface, causing track and ground displacements. These displacements can increase over low-density, poorly consolidated soils with low wave velocities. Rayleigh wave characteristics were mapped onto soil engineering geological classifications using lithological and density parameters in effective stress-based algorithms that model shear wave velocities with depth. The use of small-scale engineering geological maps and one-dimensional modelling identified low Rayleigh wave velocity profiles associated with alluvial and terrace deposits in river catchments and floodplains along the proposed High Speed 2 route in the UK. Examination of the velocity−depth profiles indicated that sites are especially susceptible to dynamic displacement amplification where train-induced ground motion occurs within an interval of up to half the wavelength of the Rayleigh wave frequency induced by the train load centres. Using the algorithms to attribute density and shear wave velocities to the engineering geological section, a two-dimensional ground model was created for an alluvial-terrace structure at Perivale. Wave propagation modelling using a finite-difference code indicated amplification due to interference effects from wave fronts that propagated along different pathways of up to 2 times on vertical and 2·5 times on the horizontal displacement

Sharing teachers\u27 stories of sport education : a summary of findings from the 1994 national SEPEP trials

Sport Education is an innovative curriculum model, increasingly used as a component of upper primary and secondary school physical education programs and exhibiting many parallels with community junior sport. Within normally scheduled physical education lessons, mixed ability teams are formed at the start of a 20 session (approximately) competitive season . In addition to the aim of helping students learn to become good players, Sport Education encourages students to fulfil other roles such as umpiring, acting as a team coach, manager or captain, serving on a sports management board or duty team and working as a publicity officer/journalist. As students assume greater responsibility for learn1hg, teachers relinquish traditional up-front direct teaching roles, often moving off-centre stage to facilitate social, knowledge and skill learning through a range of student-centred learning strategies. The Sport Education model is a process with a potential for educating children into good sporting behaviour and embodies a number of characteristics..

Understanding and Enhancing the Role of Business in International Development: A Conceptual Framework and Agenda for Research

It is now commonplace for development policy makers to refer to the contributions of businesses to the achievement of development goals and the importance of collaborations between businesses and development agencies. Many businesses give greater attention to the development impacts of their activities. There has been relatively little systematic and critical thinking about where and how businesses can contribute most effectively to the achievement of development objectives and, accordingly, how development agents should prioritise and focus their collaborations with businesses. This paper initiates such a systematic and critical approach, starting from the question ‘How can development policy work with and on businesses and the business environment so that the private goals of businesses contribute to most effectively to public development objectives?’ It identifies three basic categories of business and development initiatives: increasing the overall level of business activity, addressing sustainability challenges and promoting business activities that are particular benefit to the poor. The paper considers three major challenges for maximising the contributions businesses to the achievement of development goals. The first is increasing the alignments between business and objectives and development objectives, and the paper considers both the different ways this can be achieved and when such alignments are overly difficult to achieve. The second is to prioritise interventions. When resources are scarce, it is essential to pursue interventions that have the biggest development impact. This implies choosing interventions with goals and approaches that are most likely to be successful; in so doing, examining issues of feasibility, effectiveness and efficiency. So that scarce resources are focused on the areas of greatest benefit. The third is to achieve scaling up and systemic change. There are many examples of business activities that have positive development impacts but which are being pursued at small-scale and/or in quite specific geographical or sectoral contexts. How can such initiatives be up-scaled, translated and/or replicated in order to enhance impacts on the poor in ways that endure beyond the specific interventions applied