Interactive digital television and electronic public services: emergent issues

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have been at the heart of a transformation of public services in the UK, in a process that has seen the emergence of forms of ‘electronic public services’ (EPS). Policy makers have hoped that EPS will bring about improved, convenient, accessible and cheaper public services. The Internet has been at the heart of attempts to deliver EPS. However, limiting factors affecting user uptake of web-based services, including skills and access issues, have encouraged service providers to consider additional delivery platforms. Interactive Digital Television (iDTV) has emerged as one possible platform, since it brings an interactive capacity to a medium that is both familiar and easy to use. This paper examines the ways in which the capabilities offered by iDTV technology have been exploited by policy makers and service providers. Reporting data from a number of research projects, this paper also explores the extent to which the technology has supported the emergence of high-quality and user-friendly services, and the extent to which users have valued and utilised such services. It concludes that while we now have a significant evidence base of provider and user experiences, the relative immaturity of the technology and the nature of the iDTV initiatives themselves has prevented a full investigation of EPS via iDTV

The Emergent ICT Culture of Parliamentarians: The Case of the Scottish Parliament

This article explores the ways in which information and communications technologies (ICTs) have become embedded within the activities of parliamentarians, by examining the experiences of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The article presents an overview of exiting research in this area and suggests that many authors do not take into account the full range of functions and activities undertaken by a modern parliamentarian and consequently cannot fully perceive the extent to which these technologies support parliamentary life. Central to the article is a discussion of new unique longitudinal research data which provides empirical evidence of a significant technological orientation, and an emergent ICT culture, that is the outcome of the intertwined relationship between the adoption and use of new communications technologies by parliamentarians, and the established norms and procedures of parliamentary activity. The research findings presented here highlight the significant role played by new ICTs in the Scottish Parliament and the emerging new democratic system in Scotland. For the new Scottish Parliamentarians interacting with ICT is an important part of their daily life, to the extent that it would not be unreasonable to assert that use of these technologies has become a core parliamentary activity, possibly even to the extent that parliamentarians, and consequently the parliamentary system, have become reliant on the informational and communications capabilities embedded in ICTs. This is because these technologies are supporting a wide range of parliamentary roles and activities, and because they are underpinning a range of communicative relationships in the parliamentary arena and wider polity

Interactive Digital Television and Electronic Public Services: Emergent Issues

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) have been at the heart of a transformation of public services in the UK, in a process that has seen the emergence of forms of 'electronic public services' (EPS). Policy makers have hoped that EPS will bring about improved, convenient, accessible and cheaper public services. The Internet has been at the heart of attempts to deliver EPS. However, limiting factors affecting user uptake of web-based services, including skills and access issues, have encouraged service providers to consider additional delivery platforms. Interactive Digital Television (iDTV) has emerged as one possible platform, since it brings an interactive capacity to a medium that is both familiar and easy to use. This paper examines the ways in which the capabilities offered by iDTV technology have been exploited by policy makers and service providers. Reporting data from a number of research projects, this paper also explores the extent to which the technology has supported the emergence of high-quality and user-friendly services, and the extent to which users have valued and utilised such services. It concludes that while we now have a significant evidence base of provider and user experiences, the relative immaturity of the technology and the nature of the iDTV initiatives themselves has prevented a full investigation of EPS via iDTV

Technology and/as Theory: Material Thinking in Ancient Science and Medicine

Multiple natural philosophers in antiquity proposed that nature possessed considerable technical skill. Yet, the specific conceptual implications of this assertion were quite different in fourth century BCE Athens--with its pots, bronze tools and cisterns--than in second century CE Rome--where large-scale aqueducts, elaborate water machines and extensive glassworks were commonplace. This dissertation assesses the impact that these different technological environments had on philosophical and scientific theories. In short, it argues that contemporary technologies shaped ancient philosophers' physical assumptions by providing cognitive tools with which to understand natural phenomena. As a result, as technologies evolved--even in relatively modest ways--so too did conceptual models of the natural world. To explore these assertions, this dissertation focuses on two main fields of explanation, the vascular system and vision, and includes investigations of such technologies as pipes, pumps, mirrors, wax tablets, diagrams and experimental apparatuses. It demonstrates the ways in which scientific theorists use the specific material technologies around them as heuristics to conceptualize physical processes

Material Symphysis

Universities, throughout the world, are keen to celebrate the achievements of their students. Material Symphysis sets out to examine a more constant and less transient aspect to Higher Education establishments, its staff. It is from the staff that styles and schools of thought stem and futures subsequently shaped. Links between the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and Tokyo University of the Arts (TUA) have been forged as a result of their prominence in the field of crafts. This unique project deliberately sets out to celebrate, not only developing international links, but to acknowledge the quality of staff working on each course. More importantly it will look at similar and differing views on how material experience, through study of crafts, is taught across two diverse cultures. This is where the project opens up to include theories of education, perceptions of craft in cultural contexts, the sociological values placed upon objects and the student experience. These areas build on the uniqueness of the exhibition and through the publications establish a project of international significance with momentum and longevity. In 2014 the Japanese government introduced Super Global Universities, a funding initiative to enhance the international standing of certain institutes in Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Global_Universities). The only arts based institute to be recognised by this initiative to date is TUA (Geidai). Two years ago Farnham became the UK’s first ‘Craft Town’. This status was recognised and granted due to the contribution Farnham has made, and continues to make, to the national and international standing of British Craft. As a result of these two timely initiatives this project sets the stage for a long overdue assessment of where the relationship between the UK and Japan sits today with regard to not only the crafts, but also how they are taught

Space-use patterns of green turtles in industrial coastal foraging habitat: Challenges and opportunities for informing management with a large satellite tracking dataset

Increasing overlap between anthropogenic activities and wildlife can lead to problematic human–wildlife interactions. To manage these, an understanding of animal space-use patterns, with sufficient temporal and spatial detail is required. Satellite telemetry can provide such detailed data; however, the cost of tracking units places a significant limitation on sample size. Satellite tracks for 72 green turtles were consolidated through collaboration with multiple entities over 8 years at seven sites within a large industrial port contributing to an ecological monitoring initiative to minimize impacts of planned developments. This study aims to determine the minimum number of satellite-tracked green turtles required to represent spatial distribution patterns in the foraging ground and to evaluate factors underpinning differences in distribution and site fidelity metrics to inform appropriate management strategies. An autocorrelated kernel density estimator was used to construct 95% utilization distributions for individual turtles during each calendar season. Percentage overlap between pairs of seasonal utilization distributions was calculated as a measure of short-term site fidelity. Mechanistic range shift analysis was applied to detect significant deviations from range residency behaviour. Green turtles exhibited spatially confined ranges and remained faithful to their foraging area for periods of up to 260 days. Range size was significantly different between microhabitats and study years. Only 16 individuals (22% of tracked turtles) performed significant range shifts, indicating that occupied areas represent important habitats, and most turtles are unlikely to adjust their space-use in response to anthropogenic or natural disturbances. Although this dataset represents an atypically large sample of satellite tracked individuals, representative data were obtained at only two key sites. This study highlights the importance of evaluating clear objectives when sampling animals for satellite telemetry studies to obtain representation of sites, periods of interest, or age and sex cohorts