Dispelling ageing myths in technology design

We present a review of literature from the fields of gerontology, gerontechnology, HCI and government policy that deals with social and technical solutions for the ageing population. We highlight common assumptions about ageing people, which we argue are still embedded in much of the research related to the domain of ageing. This paper challenges six common assumptions across four broad themes that we identified in the literature. It aims to provide a reminder and resource for designers to eschew assumptions during designing technology for 'older' users.

Beyond online preprints : formalization of open initiatives in China

A growing number of online journals and academic platforms are adopting light peer review or 'publish then filter' models of scholarly communication. These approaches have the advantage of enabling instant exchanges of knowledge between academics and are part of a wider search for alternatives to traditional peer review and certification processes in scholarly publishing. However, establishing credibility and identifying the correct balance between communication and scholarly rigour remains an important challenge for digital communication platforms targeting academic communities. This paper looks at a highly influential, government-backed, open publishing platform in China: Science Paper Online, which is using transparent post-publication peer-review processes to encourage innovation and address systemic problems in China's traditional academic publishing system. There can be little doubt that the Chinese academic publishing landscape differs in important ways from counterparts in the United States and Western Europe. However, this article suggests that developments in China also provide important lessons about the potential of digital technology and government policy to facilitate a large-scale shift towards more open and networked models of scholarly communication.

An Aboriginal nurse-led working model for success in graduating Indigenous Australian nurses

Australia needs more Indigenous nurses. This is widely recognised in both academic literature and government policy. In 2012, only 0.8 percent of the Australian nursing workforce was Indigenous (AIHW, 2012). In spite of the clear need, there is little discussion about how to successfully recruit, retain and graduate Indigenous nursing students. This paper describes a successful program being implemented at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). Between 2000 and 2012, USQ graduated 80 Indigenous nurses and midwives, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In this paper, the authors outline the journey they undertook to develop the successful program at USQ: the Indigenous Nursing Support (INS) Model: Helping Hands. They argue that four elements underpin success for Indigenous nursing students: the availability of Indigenous academics, Indigenous health content in the nursing curriculum, Indigenous-specific recruitment materials, and individual mentoring and nurturing of Indigenous students.

Australian innovation ecosystem: A critical review of the national innovation support mechanisms

Innovation is understood as the combination of existing ideas or the generation of new ideas into new processes, products and services, and widely viewed as the main driver of growth in contemporary economies. In the age of the knowledge economy, successful economic development is intimately linked to a country’s capacity to generate, acquire, absorb, disseminate, and apply innovation towards advanced technology products and services. This development approach is labelled as knowledge-based economic development and highly associated with a capacity embodied in a country’s national innovation ecosystem. The research reported in this paper aims to critically review the Australian innovation ecosystem in order to provide a better understanding on the potential impacts of policy and support mechanisms on the innovation and knowledge generation capacity. The investigation places Australia’s innovation system and national-level innovation support mechanisms under the microscope. The methodology of the study is twofold. Firstly, it undertakes a critical review of the literature and government policy documents to better understand the innovation policy and support mechanisms in the country. It, then, conducts a survey to capture Australian innovation companies’ perceptions on the role and effectiveness of the existing innovation incentive programs. The paper concludes with a discussion on the key insights and findings and potential policy and support directions of the country to achieve a flourishing knowledge economy.

Educating generationE in Australasia : US lessons, New Zealand experience

Australasian countries have huge numbers of young entrepreneurs. Yet the state of entrepreneurship education in this region has yet to come to grips with their needs. Elsewhere in the world, the growth and development in the curricula and programs devoted to raising the level of enterprise and new venture creation has been remarkable. The researcher undertook field study in North America and Europe to examine interdisciplinary initiatives that take the study of entrepreneurship and personal enterprise out of the Business School, integrate it across the campus and make it available to the widest range of students. The paper first describes GenerationE in Australasian countries and in New Zealand. It then classifies and categorises best-practice models of enterprise education, focusing especially on non-business entrepreneurship and university-wide enterprise requirements. The paper summarises these data and formulates “models of enterprise education” outside the business school environment. It offers generalisations that may prove helpful to educationalists and government policy planners about how to accelerate the development of personal enterprise within individuals and thereby to increase the supply of young people who launch their own businesses and social enterprises. The goal of this paper is to help universities in our region and elsewhere move toward infusing entrepreneurship throughout the curriculum.

Educating generationE in Australasia : US lessons, New Zealand experience

Australasian countries have huge numbers of young entrepreneurs. Yet the state of entrepreneurship education in this region has yet to come to grips with their needs. Elsewhere in the world, the growth and development in the curricula and programs devoted to raising the level of enterprise and new venture creation has been remarkable. The researcher undertook field study in North America and Europe to examine inter-disciplinary initiatives that take the study of entrepreneurship and personal enterprise out of the Business School, integrate it across the campus and make it available to the widest range of students. The paper first describes GenerationE in Australasian countries and in New Zealand. It then classifies and categorises best-practice models of enterprise education, focussing especially on non-business entrepreneurship and university-wide enterprise requirements. The paper summarises these data and formulates “models of enterprise education” outside the business school environment. It offers generalisations that may prove helpful to educationalists and government policy planners about how to accelerate the development of personal enterprise within individuals and thereby to increase the supply of young people who launch their own businesses and social enterprises. The goal of this paper is to help universities in our region and elsewhere move toward infusing entrepreneurship throughout the curriculum.

New ways to educate Asia-Pacific entrepreneurs

Asia-Pacific countries have huge numbers of young entrepreneurs. Yet the state of entrepreneurship education in this region has yet to come to grips with their needs. Elsewhere in the world, the growth and development in the curricula, textbooks, Websites and degree programs devoted to raising the level of enterprise and new venture creation has been remarkable.

The researcher undertook field study to examine best-practice models of enterprise education. He then carried out a content analysis of leading entrepreneurship textbooks to examine their applicability to the Asia-Pacific circumstance. Working with Thomson Learning Australia, he acquired the rights to re-write one leading textbook and entirely “asianised” it. He also produced a highly interactive Website to attract Internetnet savvy young entrepreneurs and students in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

The paper offers generalization that may prove helpful to educationalists and government policy planners about how to increase the supply of young people who launch their own businesses and social enterprises. The goal of this paper is to help universities in our region move toward launching entrepreneurship education in a relevant and interesting way.

Bibliographic survey of folklore in Australia 1790-1990

The study of folklore within Australia to date has been consistently hampered by the lack of any systematic and comprehensive subject bibliography available to researchers interested in the area. The present work provides a conceptual framework for folklore generally, and Australian folklore, specifically. The framework utilises contemporary scholarship and government policy formulations in the subject area. Based upon that framework, a comprehensive bibliographic listing of all folklore material published within Australia between the years 1790 and 1990 is provided comprising 1661 works. An account of the bibliographic problems pertinent to the subject area is provided together with an explanation of the causes of those problems. An historical summary and interpretation of the bibliography is presented in conjunction with an appraisal of the state of folklore research in Australia at the present time.

Product innovation in a new technology based firm

This thesis examines the "state of the art" of product innovation in new technology In the UK. The roles in innovation attributed to small and large firms are examined. Growing attention is being focused upon the small firm sector as a seedbed for Innovation and government policy has been changing to encourage the entrepreneurial new technology based firm (NTBF). The novel perspective of this research results from working in such a firm. It provides a longitudinal study of the management of innovation in conjunction with the corporate strategy of the firm. Given that the researcher was a participant and observer in the firm studied, the research is akin to action research in methodology but is better described as grounded theory. Theoretical concepts are drawn from the prescriptive literature describing corporate strategy, and from the empirical literature which has evaluated new product success and failure. Models of the Innovation process are discussed and appropriate strategies and reasons for product innovation failure in NTBFs are described. The strategy, structure and new product development progress of the company are examined, using both the researcher's observations and company documents. This provides information on the methods and practices adopted for product innovation in a NTBF. The thesis analyses the performance of the firm In terms of product innovation. The models and strategies derived from the literature are then tested in the light of the experience of the company. Conclusions are drawn regarding strategies for innovation in NTBFs and about the innovation process in general. The importance of a NTBF adopting a synergistic strategy is shown. Links are established between the existence of synergy in the strategy and coupling in the management of innovation. Innovation is shown to be a laterally interdisciplinary exercise and therefore the "pipeline model" Is criticised. Finally a set of guidelines Is produced for the managers of NTBFs.

Monitoring and benchmarking government policies and actions to improve the healthiness of food environments : a proposed Government Healthy Food Environment Policy Index

Government action is essential to increase the healthiness of food environments and reduce obesity, diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and their related inequalities. This paper proposes a monitoring framework to assess government policies and actions for creating healthy food environments. Recommendations from relevant authoritative organizations and expert advisory groups for reducing obesity and NCDs were examined, and pertinent components were incorporated into a comprehensive framework for monitoring government policies and actions. A Government Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) was developed, which comprises a ‘policy’ component with seven domains on specific aspects of food environments, and an ‘infrastructure support’ component with seven domains to strengthen systems to prevent obesity and NCDs. These were revised through a week-long consultation process with international experts. Examples of good practice statements are proposed within each domain, and these will evolve into benchmarks established by governments at the forefront of creating and implementing food policies for good health. A rating process is proposed to assess a government's level of policy implementation towards good practice. The Food-EPI will be pre-tested and piloted in countries of varying size and income levels. The benchmarking of government policy implementation has the potential to catalyse greater action to reduce obesity and NCDs.

The role of operations management in public sector policy and practice alignment: a local government analysis

In responding to the demand for change and improvement, local government has applied a plethora of operations management-based methods, tools and techniques. This article explores how these methods, specifically in the form of performance management models, are used to improve alignment between central government policy and local government practice, an area which has thus far been neglected in the literature. Using multiple case studies from Environmental Waste Management Services, this research reports that models derived in the private sector are often directly ‘implanted’ into the public sector. This has challenged the efficacy of all performance management models. However, those organisations which used models most effectively did so by embedding (contextualisation) and extending (reconceptualisation) them beyond their original scope. Moreover, success with these models created a cumulative effect whereby other operations management approaches were probed, adapted and used.

Policy change to create supportive environments for physical activity and healthy eating : which options are the most realistic for local government?

The objective is to identify and test regulatory options for creating supportive environments for physical activity and healthy eating among local governments in Victoria, Australia. A literature review identified nine potential areas for policy intervention at local government level, including the walking environment and food policy. Discussion documents were drafted which summarized the public health evidence and legal framework for change in each area. Levels of support for particular interventions were identified through semi-structured interviews conducted with key informants from local government. We conducted 11 key informant interviews and found support for policy intervention to create environments supportive of physical activity but little support for policy changes to promote healthy eating. Participants reported lack of relevance and competing priorities as reasons for not supporting particular interventions. Promoting healthy eating environments was not considered a priority for local government above food safety. There is a real opportunity for action to prevent obesity at local government level (e.g. mandate the promotion of healthy eating environments). For local government to have a role in the promotion of healthy food environments, regulatory change and suitable funding are required.

Government patent policy. : Hearings before the Subcommittee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-seventh Congress, first session, pursuant to S. Res. 55 on S. 1084 and S. 1176.

Mode of access: Internet.

E-Government, targeting and data profiling: Policy and ethical issues of differential treatment

Networked information and communication technologies are rapidly advancing the capacities of governments to target and separately manage specific sub-populations, groups and individuals. Targeting uses data profiling to calculate the differential probabilities of outcomes associated with various personal characteristics. This knowledge is used to classify and sort people for differentiated levels of treatment. Targeting is often used to efficiently and effectively target government resources to the most disadvantaged. Although having many benefits, targeting raises several policy and ethical issues. This paper discusses these issues and the policy responses governments may take to maximise the benefits of targeting while ameliorating the negative aspects.