An exploration of the role of web and mobile social media in the implementation of e-Government in Malaysia

This paper reports on an exploratory study of the role of web and social media in e-governments, especially in the context of Malaysia, with some comparisons and contrasts from other countries where such governmental efforts have been underway for awhile. It describes the current e-government efforts in Malaysia, and proposes that applying a theoretical framework would help understand the context and streamline these ongoing efforts. Specifically, it lays out a theoretical and cultural framework based on Mary Douglas’ (1996) Grid-Group Theory, Mircea Georgescu’s (2005) Three Pillars of E-Government, and Gerald Grant’s and Derek Chau’s (2006) Generic Framework for E-Government. Although this study is in its early stages, it has relevance to everyone who is interested in e-government efforts across the world, and especially relevant to developing countries.

Convenience, loyal, and customising users : a survey of the behaviours and intentions of young online news users in Australia

The implications of the shift to online news consumption for journalism cultures and practices have attracted considerable scholarly attention and public debate. Less well considered are the implications of online news consumption for and by young people. This paper reports on research into the behaviours and intentions of online news consumers, 18-30 years of age, to propose three distinctive types of user (convenience, loyal and customising). Also opened up for discussion are questions about the strategic value to commercial news organisations of audience-centred empirical research that seeks to respond the crisis of professional journalism.

Lingodroids : studies in spatial cognition and language

The Lingodroids are a pair of mobile robots that evolve a language for places and relationships between places (based on distance and direction). Each robot in these studies has its own understanding of the layout of the world, based on its unique experiences and exploration of the environment. Despite having different internal representations of the world, the robots are able to develop a common lexicon for places, and then use simple sentences to explain and understand relationships between places even places that they could not physically experience, such as areas behind closed doors. By learning the language, the robots are able to develop representations for places that are inaccessible to them, and later, when the doors are opened, use those representations to perform goal-directed behavior.

Autonomous aerial navigation and tracking of marine animals

In this paper, we describe the development of an independent and on-board visual servoing system which allows a computationally impoverished aerial vehicle to autonomously identify and track a moving surface target. Our image segmentation and target identification algorithms were developed with the specific task of monitoring whales at sea but could be adapted for other targets. Observing whales is important for many marine biology tasks and is currently performed manually from the shore or from boats. We also present hardware experiments which demonstrate the capabilities of our algorithms for object identification and tracking that enable a flying vehicle to track a moving target.

Towards participatory action design research : adapting action research and design science research methods for urban informatics

This paper proposes a new research method, Participatory Action Design Research (PADR), for studies in the Urban Informatics domain. PADR supports Urban Informatics research in developing new technological means (e.g. using mobile and ubiquitous computing) to resolve contemporary issues or support everyday life in urban environments. The paper discusses the nature, aims and inherent methodological needs of Urban Informatics research, and proposes PADR as a method to address these needs. Situated in a socio-technical context, Urban Informatics requires a close dialogue between social and design-oriented fields of research as well as their methods. PADR combines Action Research and Design Science Research, both of which are used in Information Systems, another field with a strong socio-technical emphasis, and further adapts them to the cross-disciplinary needs and research context of Urban Informatics.

Social implications of radical technology adoption within the livestock industry - a design investigation: Innovating disruptive technologies in traditional marketplaces

This thesis presents a design investigation into how traditional technology-orientated markets can use design led innovation (DLI) strategies in order to achieve better market penetration of disruptive products. In a review of the Australian livestock industry, considering historical information and present-day trends, a lack of socio-cultural consideration was identified in the design and implementation of products and systems, previously been taken to market. Hence the adoption of these novel products has been documented as extremely slow. Classical diffusion models have typically been used in order to implement these products. However, this thesis poses that it is through the strategic intent of design led innovation, where heavily technology-orientated markets (such as the Australian livestock industry), can achieve better final adoption rates. By considering a range of external factors (business models, technology and user needs), rather than focusing design efforts solely on the technology, it is argued that using DLI approach will lead to disruptive innovations being made easier to adopt in the Australian livestock industry. This thesis therefore explored two research questions: 1. What are the social inhibitors to the adoption of a new technology in the Australian livestock industry? 2. Can design be used to gain a significant feedback response to the proposed innovation? In order to answer these questions, this thesis used a design led innovation approach to investigate the livestock industry, centring on how design can be used early on in the development of disruptive products being taken to market. This thesis used a three stage data collection programme, combining methods of design thinking, co-design and participatory design. The first study found four key themes to the social barriers of technology adoption; Social attitudes to innovation, Market monitoring, Attitude to 3D imaging and Online processes. These themes were built upon through a design thinking/co-design approach to create three ‘future scenarios’ to be tested in participant workshops. The analysis of the data collection found four key socio-cultural barriers that inhibited the adoption of a disruptive innovation in the Australian livestock industry. These were found to be a lack of Education, a Culture of Innovation, a Lack of Engagement and Communication barriers. This thesis recommends five key areas to be focused upon in the subsequent design of a new product in the Australian livestock industry. These recommendations are made to business and design managers looking to introduce disruptive innovations in this industry. Moreover, the thesis presents three design implications relating to stakeholder attitudes, practical constraints and technological restrictions of innovations within the industry.

Designing and evaluating mobile multimedia user experiences in public urban places : Making sense of the field

The majority of the world’s population now lives in cities (United Nations, 2008) resulting in an urban densification requiring people to live in closer proximity and share urban infrastructure such as streets, public transport, and parks within cities. However, “physical closeness does not mean social closeness” (Wellman, 2001, p. 234). Whereas it is a common practice to greet and chat with people you cross paths with in smaller villages, urban life is mainly anonymous and does not automatically come with a sense of community per se. Wellman (2001, p. 228) defines community “as networks of interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, information, a sense of belonging and social identity.” While on the move or during leisure time, urban dwellers use their interactive information communication technology (ICT) devices to connect to their spatially distributed community while in an anonymous space. Putnam (1995) argues that available technology privatises and individualises the leisure time of urban dwellers. Furthermore, ICT is sometimes used to build a “cocoon” while in public to avoid direct contact with collocated people (Mainwaring et al., 2005; Bassoli et al., 2007; Crawford, 2008). Instead of using ICT devices to seclude oneself from the surrounding urban environment and the collocated people within, such devices could also be utilised to engage urban dwellers more with the urban environment and the urban dwellers within. Urban sociologists found that “what attracts people most, it would appear, is other people” (Whyte, 1980, p. 19) and “people and human activity are the greatest object of attention and interest” (Gehl, 1987, p. 31). On the other hand, sociologist Erving Goffman describes the concept of civil inattention, acknowledging strangers’ presence while in public but not interacting with them (Goffman, 1966). With this in mind, it appears that there is a contradiction between how people are using ICT in urban public places and for what reasons and how people use public urban places and how they behave and react to other collocated people. On the other hand there is an opportunity to employ ICT to create and influence experiences of people collocated in public urban places. The widespread use of location aware mobile devices equipped with Internet access is creating networked localities, a digital layer of geo-coded information on top of the physical world (Gordon & de Souza e Silva, 2011). Foursquare.com is an example of a location based 118 Mobile Multimedia – User and Technology Perspectives social network (LBSN) that enables urban dwellers to virtually check-in into places at which they are physically present in an urban space. Users compete over ‘mayorships’ of places with Foursquare friends as well as strangers and can share recommendations about the space. The research field of Urban Informatics is interested in these kinds of digital urban multimedia augmentations and how such augmentations, mediated through technology, can create or influence the UX of public urban places. “Urban informatics is the study, design, and practice of urban experiences across different urban contexts that are created by new opportunities of real-time, ubiquitous technology and the augmentation that mediates the physical and digital layers of people networks and urban infrastructures” (Foth et al., 2011, p. 4). One possibility to augment the urban space is to enable citizens to digitally interact with spaces and urban dwellers collocated in the past, present, and future. “Adding digital layer to the existing physical and social layers could facilitate new forms of interaction that reshape urban life” (Kjeldskov & Paay, 2006, p. 60). This methodological chapter investigates how the design of UX through such digital placebased mobile multimedia augmentations can be guided and evaluated. First, we describe three different applications that aim to create and influence the urban UX through mobile mediated interactions. Based on a review of literature, we describe how our integrated framework for designing and evaluating urban informatics experiences has been constructed. We conclude the chapter with a reflective discussion on the proposed framework.

When is a spinoff the best way to pursue a radical innovation? Insights from Shell technology ventures

The technology and innovation management literature offers somewhat conflicting evidence with regards to the formation of spinoff companies for radically new technologies. Sometimes spinoffs seem to be a very effective strategy—but not always. An obvious question emerges: under what conditions is a spinoff the best way to pursue a radical technology? This paper sheds light on this question by presenting case study evidence from spinoff firms within the Shell Technology Ventures portfolio. The data point to industry clockspeed as a potentially important variable in the decision to create a spinoff or not.

#qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods

Social media, including Facebook and Twitter, played an important role in crisis communication at the height of the 2011 South East Queensland floods crisis (10-16 January). This report examines the role of the short-messaging system Twitter in disseminating and sharing crisis information and updates from state and local authorities as well as everyday citizens. We assess the overall use of Twitter, as well as that of the most important emergency service account, the Queensland Police’s @QPSMedia account.

Learning informative features for indoor traversability

This paper presents a method for automatic terrain classification, using a cheap monocular camera in conjunction with a robot’s stall sensor. A first step is to have the robot generate a training set of labelled images. Several techniques are then evaluated for preprocessing the images, reducing their dimensionality, and building a classifier. Finally, the classifier is implemented and used online by an indoor robot. Results are presented, demonstrating an increased level of autonomy.

Engaging parents in STEM: Coteaching and cogenerative dialoguing in a Queensland high school

Diminished student interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is recognised by educators, researchers and public policy makers as a concerning global trend. Inviting stakeholders like scientists and industry specialists to discuss their work is one means schools use to facilitate student engagement in the sciences. However, these visits generally comprise one-off sessions with minimal relevance to students’ particular and ongoing learning needs. This case study investigated coteaching and cogenerative dialoguing with parents in teaching a Year-8 multidisciplinary unit with science and technology foci. Two parents cotaught alongside the resident teacher and researcher over eight months. This paper concentrates on one parent, a medical scientist by profession. Data sources included video and audio recordings of cogenerative dialogues and classroom interactions, student work samples and journal entries. Data were interrogated using the sociological constructs of fields and capitals and the dialectic of structure|agency. The findings reveal how (a) the parent’s science and technology knowledge was tailored to the students’ needs initially and continually and (b) student-generated data indicated enhanced engagement in science and technology. The research speaks to schools and governments about enhancing STEM education by furthering collaborative relationships with relevant stakeholders.

Gaussian process models for sensor-centric robot localisation

This paper presents an approach to building an observation likelihood function from a set of sparse, noisy training observations taken from known locations by a sensor with no obvious geometric model. The basic approach is to fit an interpolant to the training data, representing the expected observation, and to assume additive sensor noise. This paper takes a Bayesian view of the problem, maintaining a posterior over interpolants rather than simply the maximum-likelihood interpolant, giving a measure of uncertainty in the map at any point. This is done using a Gaussian process framework. To validate the approach experimentally, a model of an environment is built using observations from an omni-directional camera. After a model has been built from the training data, a particle filter is used to localise while traversing this environment

ICT for blended learning Queensland University of Technology, Australia

This report focuses on blended learning within the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) which is one of Australia’s largest public universities. Although the university in its current format was established in 1989, it contains several previous institutions that can be traced to the earliest forms of technical and teacher education in Queensland in the 19th century (Kyle et al., 1999). The focal point of the report is the experience of QUT’s Faculty of Education which was formed from the amalgamation of several teacher training colleges servicing pre-school and kindergarten, primary and secondary teacher education. While the broader university currently employs approximately 4,000 staff and has about 40,000 students, QUT’s Faculty of Education employs around 170 staff and has approximately 5,000 enrolled students. The Faculty of Education at QUT is the largest provider of pre-service teacher education in Australia and is one of the largest producers of educational research. A major theme of the Faculty of Education is its focus on education and research that provides teachers, schools and educational authorities with practical solutions to the multifaceted issues facing contemporary education.

The world of adolescence and the world of STEM : are they irrevocably separated?

Adolescents are indeed bothered by the complexities of the present and future and are concerned with making sense out of the multiple demands of parents, teachers, and peers while trying to develop identities as autonomous individuals. In this confused world, contemporary school science does not fit their view of desirable world as evident in the findings of the ROSE study. However, there are bright spots where teachers, community, parents and youth do engage with STEM. This paper will report on initiatives drawn from a decade of research in schools that have attempted to reconcile the interests of youth and the contemporary world of science. The aim is to identify those factors that do stimulate student interest. These case studies were conducted generally using both qualitative and quantitative data and findings analysed in terms of program outcomes and student engagement. The key finding is that the formation of relationships and partnerships in which students have high degree of autonomy and sense of responsibility is paramount to positive dispositions towards STEM. The findings raise some hope that innovative schools and partnerships can foster innovation and connect youth with the real world.

Technology transfer evaluation in the high technology industry : an interdisciplinary perspective

The underlying objective of this study was to develop a novel approach to evaluate the potential for commercialisation of a new technology. More specifically, this study examined the 'ex-ante'. evaluation of the technology transfer process. For this purpose, a technology originating from the high technology sector was used. The technology relates to the application of software for the detection of weak signals from space, which is an established method of signal processing in the field of radio astronomy. This technology has the potential to be used in commercial and industrial areas other than astronomy, such as detecting water leakages in pipes. Its applicability to detecting water leakage was chosen owing to several problems with detection in the industry as well as the impact it can have on saving water in the environment. This study, therefore, will demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary technology transfer. The study employed both technical and business evaluation methods including laboratory experiments and the Delphi technique to address the research questions. There are several findings from this study. Firstly, scientific experiments were conducted and these resulted in a proof of concept stage of the chosen technology. Secondly, validation as well as refinement of criteria from literature that can be used for „ex-ante. evaluation of technology transfer has been undertaken. Additionally, after testing the chosen technology.s overall transfer potential using the modified set of criteria, it was found that the technology is still in its early stages and will require further development for it to be commercialised. Furthermore, a final evaluation framework was developed encompassing all the criteria found to be important. This framework can help in assessing the overall readiness of the technology for transfer as well as in recommending a viable mechanism for commercialisation. On the whole, the commercial potential of the chosen technology was tested through expert opinion, thereby focusing on the impact of a new technology and the feasibility of alternate applications and potential future applications.