New Voices: What Works

Reviews grantees' accomplishments in building community news sites, keys to sustainability, and lessons learned about engagement, staffing, business models, social media, technology, partnerships, and limitations of university, youth, and radio projects

Philadelphia Enterprise Reporting Awards: A Report on the First Year

Profiles collaborative in-depth reporting projects developed with funding from the William Penn Foundation. Examines the impact of collaboration and distribution across multiple venues, the role of start-ups, and funding and resources leveraged

Wilson loop approach to fragile topology of split elementary band representations and topological crystalline insulators with time reversal symmetry

We present a general methodology towards the systematic characterization of crystalline topological insulating phases with time reversal symmetry (TRS).~In particular, taking the two-dimensional spinful hexagonal lattice as a proof of principle we study windings of Wilson loop spectra over cuts in the Brillouin zone that are dictated by the underlying lattice symmetries.~Our approach finds a prominent use in elucidating and quantifying the recently proposed ``topological quantum chemistry" (TQC) concept.~Namely, we prove that the split of an elementary band representation (EBR) by a band gap must lead to a topological phase.~For this we first show that in addition to the Fu-Kane-Mele $\mathbb{Z}_2$ classification, there is $C_2\mathcal{T}$-symmetry protected $\mathbb{Z}$ classification of two-band subspaces that is obstructed by the other crystalline symmetries, i.e.~forbidding the trivial phase. This accounts for all nontrivial Wilson loop windings of split EBRs \textit{that are independent of the parameterization of the flow of Wilson loops}.~Then, we show that while Wilson loop winding of split EBRs can unwind when embedded in higher-dimensional band space, two-band subspaces that remain separated by a band gap from the other bands conserve their Wilson loop winding, hence revealing that split EBRs are at least "stably trivial", i.e. necessarily non-trivial in the non-stable (few-band) limit but possibly trivial in the stable (many-band) limit.~This clarifies the nature of \textit{fragile} topology that has appeared very recently.~We then argue that in the many-band limit the stable Wilson loop winding is only determined by the Fu-Kane-Mele $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariant implying that further stable topological phases must belong to the class of higher-order topological insulators.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, v2: minor corrections, new references included, v3: metastable topology of split EBRs emphasized, v4: prepared for publicatio

Regional efficiency in generating technological knowledge

There is broad consensus among economists that regions' competitiveness heavily relies on their ability to produce innovative goods and services (Baumol 1967, Romer 1990, Grossman and Helpman 1991, Barro and Sala-i-Martin 1997, Los and Verspagen 2006). Main drivers of innovation include, but are not limited to, human and cognitive capital (Quelle), R&D expenditures (Quelle), industrial clusters and structure (Quelle) and foreign direct investments (Quelle). Most empirical studies confirm the presumed positive correlation of these inputs and regional innovativeness, measured for example by patent applications. At the same time, regions operating at similar input level show significant differences in the degree of innovativeness. These differences can, to some extent, be explained by the regions efficiency in using their available input factors (Quelle). The presented paper aims, in a first step, to identify this efficiency by using an outlier robust enhancement of the data envelopment analysis (DEA), the so-called order-α-frontier analysis (Daouia and Simar 2005, Daraio and Simar 2006), for a sample of more than 200 EU regions (NUTS 2). The findings of this model suggest that the regions' efficiency is partly affected by a spatial factor. Therefore, the study foresees to decompose regional efficiency into a spatial and non-spatial part by introducing a geoadditive regression analysis based on markov fields. The spatial part reveals differences of the efficiency for greater areas. Regions located in efficient areas, for example, are likely to be efficient as well, since they benefit by the efficiency of neighboring regions. In contrast, the non-spatial effect gives an idea on a region's efficiency compared to the neighboring and nearby regions

Engaging Audiences: Measuring Interactions, Engagement and Conversions

Jan Schaffer and Erin Polgreen unpack findings from a national survey conducted by American University's J-Lab that examined the ways in which news sites engage their audiences and measure engagement

The Importance of Material Flow Analysis for Commodity Transport Demand and Modelling

It can be shown that generated and attracted transport volumes, measured in tons, are closely related to direct material input (DMI). However, structural changes and new logistics concepts still lead to an increase of transportation performance. Therefore, the paper at hand aims to explain the scales of freight transport volumes (measured in tons) and performance (measured in ton-kilometers) from material flow analysis by additionally taking into account information from physical input-output tables. In so doing, effects of changing final demand on transport indicators can be identified. But while input-output tables give a good idea about technological processes, important information on the transport chain is missing. For this reason, the macroscopic approach of input-output analysis is supported by a microscopic analysis on freight transport markets and modern logistic concepts.

The Part-Time-Society's Activity and Mobility Patterns

In his article 'What about People in Regional Science?' Hägerstrand (1970) identifies time and space constraints as dominating determinants of each individual's activity pattern. The paper at hand follows this idea, but considers the whole society's accumulated time budget instead. Based on a Socio-Economic Input-Output Table (SIOT) in time and monetary) units, activity patterns of three age groups (65 years) are analyzed in further detail. Since the applied concept allows for a simultaneous analysis of time use and time receipts, inter-generational linkages can be identified as well. Care activities, for example, often require time inputs from the middle age group (18-65 years). However, the beneficiaries belong in the majority to the young and the old age group. Obviously, the age groups' activity patterns come along with specific mobility needs. Therefore, the second aim of the study is to identify mobility patterns – at an aggregated level – as well. Finally, the paper gives a first insight into potential changes of activity patterns and mobility patterns in particular, that could be initiated by the realization of a part-time-society. The latter is characterized by a strong reduction of individual (paid) working time, flexible time schedules and a strengthening of social activities

Guide to Crowdsourcing

The term “crowdsourcing” has been around for a decade. Although Wired writer Jeff Howe coined it in 2006, the ways in which news organizations define and employ it today vary enormously. This guide is organized around a specific journalism-related definition of crowdsourcing and provides a new typology designed to help practitioners and researchers understand the different ways crowdsourcing is being used both inside and outside newsrooms. This typology is explored via interviews and case studies. The research shows that crowdsourcing is credited with helping to create amazing acts of journalism. It has transformed newsgathering by introducing unprecedented opportunities for attracting sources with new voices and information, allowed news organizations to unlock stories that otherwise might not have surfaced, and created opportunities for news organizations to experiment with the possibilities of engagement just for the fun of it. Certainly, though, crowdsourcing can be high-touch and high-energy, and not all projects work the first time. To be sure, crowdsourcing businesses are flourishing outside of journalism. But within the news industry, wider systemic adoption may depend on more than enthusiasm from experienced practitioners and accolades from sources thrilled by the outreach

Das Karlsruher Institut für Technologie - Impulsgeber für Karlsruhe und die Technologieregion (KIT Scientific Reports ; 7630)

Universitäten werden verstärkt als globale Handlungsakteure wahrgenommen. Dabei wird ihr Erfolg noch verstärkt, wenn sie in einem engen Netzwerk von lokalen und regionalen Akteuren (Bevölkerung, Politik und Wirtschaft) agieren. Diese Studie untersucht nun Einfluss, Interaktion und Abhängigkeit zwischen dem Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) (als Zusammenschluss des Forschungszentrums Karlsruhe und der Universität Karlsruhe gegründet) der Stadt Karlsruhe und der TechnologieRegion (TRK)