Interplaying user roles in e-government design : a participatory good governance perspective

The interplaying roles among the user groups must be adequately-mapped to fulfil the design needs of Egovernment applications. In previous studies, the design of citizen-centric e-government and its theoretical understanding is still limited in relation to the requirement of engaging malleable features for supporting all relevant users’ roles in governing bodies. Operationalising IS theories to improve the design of e-government application has been a much sought-after objective. Yet, there is a lack of actionable guidance on how to develop e-government application that exhibits high levels of users’ engagement through malleable features. Under a participatory good governance perspective, the paper reports a qualitative study and identifies requirement of malleable provisions to support the interplaying roles among users in a case demonstration of extensional service delivery in government. While service content describes the features available on an e-government application for assisting user groups in completing their support services.

Relative roles of glyceollin, lignin and the hypersensitive response and the influence of ABA in compatible and incompatible interactions of soybeans with Phytophthora sojae

The relative roles of glyceollin, lignin and the hypersensitive response (HR) in pathogen containment and restriction were investigated in soybean (Glycine max L. [Merr.]) cultivars that were inoculated with Phytophthora sojae Kaufmann and Gerdemann. Concentrations of endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) levels in etiolated soybean hypocotyls were reduced by application of the ABA biosynthesis inhibitor norflurazon or raised by exogenous ABA application. Incompatible interactions in leaves and hypocotyls were characterized by HR, phenolic and lignin deposition and glyceollin accumulation. Compatible interactions resulted in light coloured, water-soaked spreading lesions with minimal lignin deposition or glyceollin accumulation and the absence of an HR. Norflurazon treatment restricted the spread of the pathogen and increased glyceollin accumulation in compatible tissues. Exogenous ABA addition caused spreading lesions in normally incompatible interactions and reduced glyceollin accumulation. Phenolic deposition and HR were unchanged by either treatment in incompatible or compatible interactions. The uncoupling of glyceollin synthesis from the HR and phenolic and lignin deposition by ABA and norflurazon treatment showed that glyceollin is a major factor in restriction of the pathogen during these interactions.

The roles of static depth information and object-image relative motion in perception of heading

In a series of 6 experiments, two hypotheses were tested: that nominal heading perception is determined by the relative motion of images of objects positioned at different depths (R. F. Wang & J. E. Cutting 1999) and that static depth information contributes to this determination. By manipulating static depth information while holding retinal-image motion constant during  simulated self-movement, the authors found that static depth information played a role in determining perceived heading. Some support was also found for the involvement of R. F. Wang and J. E. Cutting’s (1999) categories of object-image relative motion in determining perceived heading. However, results suggested an unexpected functional dominance of information about heading relative to apparently near objects.

Predicting self-esteem during unemployment: the effect of gender, financial deprivation, alternate roles, and social support

Two hundred and one unemployed men and women participated in a cross-sectional study that assessed self-esteem, financial deprivation, number of alternate roles, and use of social support. Financial deprivation, alternate roles, and social support each had a main effect on self-esteem. In addition, these variables interacted with gender to affect self-esteem. Specifically, financial deprivation had a greater negative association with self-esteem in men as compared with women. In contrast, alternate roles and social support had a stronger positive relationship to self-esteem in women than in men. The incorporation of these findings into intervention programs for unemployed persons is discussed.

Roles of MFI support of ICTs to aid socio-economic development

Today there is a consensus on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for development and ICTs are widely recognized as vital tools to promote various social goals. These collections of technologies ICTs have also enabled and smoothed an avenue for monumental tran formation in the process of socio-economic development in developing countries. In this paper, we discuss two major areas in the development arena associated with socio-economic development in South Asia, namely, the role of Microfinance in expansion of ICT in the region and its effects on development and poverty alleviatiori. We put forward the argument that through the intervention of microfinance, ICT can both directly and indirectly impact on growth and the way in which the adoption of ICT can be distributed to the poor.

Allocative and informational pricing roles in MBA program choice

This paper reports on a study of how prospective and current MBA students (n = 699) made tradeoffs between tuition price and other variables in choosing a university program in the Australian market. Two price segments were identified: price-negative and price-positive. The price-positive segment constituted 13 per cent of the sample. The behaviour of the two price segments is interpreted in relation to the allocative and informational roles of price. Price-positive respondents were found to be more concerned with the reputational characteristics of universities and programs in making their choice. Age, enrolment mode, and residential state were found to be associated with segment membership. The results suggest that an MBA by distance education can be regarded as a prestige product for some market segments.

E-governance-inhibitor or facilitator for democracy and citizen empowerment?

Democracies of the globalised world has been have been striving towards citizen empowerment in the recent decade where E-Governance is perceived as a facilitator. Democratic governments in general feel that being accessible online 24/7 to the average citizen not only makes them transparent, but also empowers the average citizen. In this process, citizen data privacy, information sharing across nations and uniform accessibility to electronic services delivery, emerge as pertinent issues. Through a critical discourse analysis, we take a deeper look at the perception of egovernance being a catalyst in empowering citizens in the global progress towards electronic democracies.

Australian consumers expectations for expanded nursing roles in general practice - choice not gatekeeping

While research has focussed on the current and potential role of the practice nurse (PN) in Australia, the acceptability of this role by consumers has not been investigated. In 2002, two independent studies were carried out into consumer perceptions of PNs. A discussion between the two groups of researchers at the inaugural National Practice Nurse Conference in 2003, identified significant similarities in the findings of these studies. This article reports the combined findings as they relate to consumers' desire for access to the health practitioner of their choice, and their concern that PNs may assume a gatekeeping role. These perceptions may have significant impact on the acceptance of PNs across Australia.

Raising the funds - spending the funds: a case study of the effectiveness of both roles of NGO's

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) must be effective in both raising funds and using these funds to implement programs in order to improve the circumstances of the poor. This chapter presents a case study of World Vision Australia's (WVA) fundraising and programming responses to the Asian Tsunami. The initial stages of the fundraising campaign were largely unplanned and reactive. Yet WVA received over $110 million for its tsunami appeal in just a little over three months. This is incomparable with other recent large-scale disaster fundraising campaigns. The experiences of how the initial phases of the response were implemented arc gauged through a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with twenty-one staff members who completed short-term secondments during the initial tsunami response. These interviews extract a number of reflections of WVA's programming and provide a number of lessons for WVA for future complex humanitarian emergencies. This chapter thus reviews the effectiveness of both roles of NGOs - raising funds and expending these funds to implement programs.

Do knowledge and experience have specific roles in triage decision-making?

Accuracy of triage decisions is a major influence on patient outcomes. Triage nurses' knowledge and experience have been cited as influential factors in triage decision-making. The aim of this article is to examine the independent roles of factual knowledge and experience in triage decisions. All of the articles cited in this review were research papers that examined the relationship between triage decisions and knowledge and/or experience of triage nurses. Numerous studies have shown that factual knowledge is an important factor in improving triage decisions. Although a number of studies have examined the role of experience as an independent influence on triage decisions, none have found a significant relationship between experience and triage decision-making. Factual knowledge appears to be more important than years of emergency nursing or triage experience in triage decision accuracy. Many triage education programs are underpinned by the assumption that knowledge acquisition will result in improved triage decisions. A better understanding of the relationships between clinical decisions, knowledge, and experience is pivotal for the rigorous evaluation of education programs.

The roles of prior experience and the timing of misinformation presentation on young children's event memories

The current study addressed how the timing of interviews affected children's memories of unique and repeated events. Five- to six-year-olds (N= 125) participated in activities 1 or 4 times and were misinformed either 3 or 21 days after the only or last event. Although single-experience children were subsequently less accurate in the 21- versus 3-day condition, the timing of the misinformation session did not affect memories of repeated-experience children regarding invariant details. Children were more suggestible in the 21- versus 3-day condition for variable details when the test occurred soon after misinformation presentation. Thus, timing differentially affected memories of single and repeated events and depended on the combination of event-misinformation and misinformation-test delays rather than the overall retention interval.

Roles, responsibilities and futures of chief information officers (CIOs) in the public sector

This paper discusses in its entirety, the CIO (Chief Information Officer) position in the public sector. Governments are increasingly adopting Information Technology for internal processes and for the delivery of service to their citizens. It includes literature on CIO roles and responsibilities which is heavily based on the private sector, due to the recognition of the role in this sector over twenty years. The position is just evolving in the public sector, and due to the context in which the public sector operates there are some similarities as well as vast differences. An evaluation of existing CIO models and theories form the basis for research on CIO roles, responsibilities and future within the public sector.