Stakeholder analysis combined with social network analysis provides fine-grained insights into water infrastructure planning processes

Environmental policy and decision-making are characterized by complex interactions between different actors and sectors. As a rule, a stakeholder analysis is performed to understand those involved, but it has been criticized for lacking quality and consistency. This lack is remedied here by a formal social network analysis that investigates collaborative and multi-level governance settings in a rigorous way. We examine the added value of combining both elements. Our case study examines infrastructure planning in the Swiss water sector. Water supply and wastewater infrastructures are planned far into the future, usually on the basis of projections of past boundary conditions. They affect many actors, including the population, and are expensive. In view of increasing future dynamics and climate change, a more participatory and long-term planning approach is required. Our specific aims are to investigate fragmentation in water infrastructure planning, to understand how actors from different decision levels and sectors are represented, and which interests they follow. We conducted 27 semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders, but also cantonal and national actors. The network analysis confirmed our hypothesis of strong fragmentation: we found little collaboration between the water supply and wastewater sector (confirming horizontal fragmentation), and few ties between local, cantonal, and national actors (confirming vertical fragmentation). Infrastructure planning is clearly dominated by engineers and local authorities. Little importance is placed on longer-term strategic objectives and integrated catchment planning, but this was perceived as more important in a second analysis going beyond typical questions of stakeholder analysis. We conclude that linking a stakeholder analysis, comprising rarely asked questions, with a rigorous social network analysis is very fruitful and generates complementary results. This combination gave us deeper insight into the socio-political-engineering world of water infrastructure planning that is of vital importance to our well-being.

Towards an SMS-based Social Network for Health Workers in Rural Areas in Myanmar

Seventy percent of the population in Myanmar lives in rural areas. Although health workers are adequately trained, they are overburdened due to understaffing and insufficient supplies. Literature confirms that information and communication technologies can extend the reach of healthcare. In this paper, we present an SMS-based social network that aims to help health workers to interact with other medical professionals through topic-based message delivery. Topics describe interests of users and the content of message. A message is delivered by matching message content with user interests. Users describe topics as ICD- 10 codes, a comprehensive medical taxonomy. In this ICD-10 coded SMS, a set of prearranged codes provides a common language for users to send structured information that fits inside an SMS.

Social network size and perceived network sufficiency as predictors of perceived health status

This study focused on the relationship between social network size (number of friends and relatives), perceived sufficiency of the network and self-rated health utilizing data from the National Survey of Personal Health Practices and Consequences, 1979. For men neither perceived sufficiency nor number of relatives were associated with self-rated health status. The number of friends was positively associated with health status. For women perceived network sufficiency was positively and significantly related to health status, independent of network size. The number of friends and relatives was not associated with self-rated health status. The sociodemographic variables accounted for most of the explained variance in health status for both males and females. Social networks may hold different meanings for women and men, and may require qualitative as well as quantitative analysis. There may have been insufficient variance in the major variables to produce meaningful results. ^

A framework for building distributed social network websites

Las redes son la esencia de comunidades y sociedades humanas; constituyen el entramado en el que nos relacionamos y determinan c��mo lo hacemos, c��mo se disemina la informaci��n o incluso c��mo las cosas se llevan a cabo. Pero el protagonismo de las redes va m��s all�� del que adquiere en las redes sociales. Se encuentran en el seno de m��ltiples estructuras que conocemos, desde las interaciones entre las prote��nas dentro de una c��lula hasta la interconexi��n de los routers de internet. Las redes sociales est��n presentes en internet desde sus principios, en el correo electr��nico por tomar un ejemplo. Dentro de cada cliente de correo se manejan listas contactos que agregadas constituyen una red social. Sin embargo, ha sido con la aparici��n de los sitios web de redes sociales cuando este tipo de aplicaciones web han llegado a la conciencia general. Las redes sociales se han situado entre los sitios m��s populares y con m��s tr��fico de la web. P��ginas como Facebook o Twitter manejan cifras asombrosas en cuanto a n��mero de usuarios activos, de tr��fico o de tiempo invertido en el sitio. Pero las funcionalidades de red social no est��n restringidas a las redes sociales orientadas a contactos, aquellas enfocadas a construir tu lista de contactos e interactuar con ellos. Existen otros ejemplos de sitios que aprovechan las redes sociales para aumentar la actividad de los usuarios y su involucraci��n alrededor de alg��n tipo de contenido. Estos ejemplos van desde una de las redes sociales m��s antiguas, Flickr, orientada al intercambio de fotograf��as, hasta Github, la red social de c��digo libre m��s popular hoy en d��a. No es una casualidad que la popularidad de estos sitios web venga de la mano de sus funcionalidades de red social. El escenario es m��s rico a��n, ya que los sitios de redes sociales interaccionan entre ellos, compartiendo y exportando listas de contactos, servicios de autenticaci��n y proporcionando un valioso canal para publicitar la actividad de los usuarios en otros sitios web. Esta funcionalidad es reciente y a��n les queda un paso hasta que las redes sociales superen su condici��n de bunkers y lleguen a un estado de verdadera interoperabilidad entre ellas, tal como funcionan hoy en d��a el correo electr��nico o la mensajer��a instant��nea. Este trabajo muestra una tecnolog��a que permite construir sitios web con caracter��sticas de red social distribu��da. En primer lugar, se presenta una tecnolog��a para la construcci��n de un componente intermedio que permite proporcionar cualquier caracter��stica de gesti��n de contenidos al popular marco de desarrollo web modelo-vista-controlador (MVC) Ruby on Rails. Esta t��cnica constituye una herramienta para desarrolladores que les permita abstraerse de las complejidades de la gesti��n de contenidos y enfocarse en las particularidades de los propios contenidos. Esta t��cnica se usar�� tambi��n para proporcionar las caracter��sticas de red social. Se describe una nueva m��trica de reusabilidad de c��digo para demostrar la validez del componente intermedio en marcos MVC. En segundo lugar, se analizan las caracter��sticas de los sitios web de redes sociales m��s populares, con el objetivo de encontrar los patrones comunes que aparecen en ellos. Este an��lisis servir�� como base para definir los requisitos que debe cumplir un marco para construir redes sociales. A continuaci��n se propone una arquitectura de referencia que proporcione este tipo de caracter��sticas. Dicha arquitectura ha sido implementada en un componente, Social Stream, y probada en varias redes sociales, tanto orientadas a contactos como a contenido, en el contexto de una asociaci��n vecinal tanto como en proyectos de investigaci��n financiados por la UE. Ha sido la base de varios proyectos fin de carrera. Adem��s, ha sido publicado como c��digo libre, obteniendo una comunidad creciente y est�� siendo usado m��s all�� del ��mbito de este trabajo. Dicha arquitectura ha permitido la definici��n de un nuevo modelo de control de acceso social que supera varias limitaciones presentes en los modelos de control de acceso para redes sociales. M��s a��n, se han analizado casos de estudio de sitios de red social distribu��dos, reuniendo un conjunto de carater��sticas que debe cumplir un marco para construir redes sociales distribu��das. Por ��ltimo, se ha extendido la arquitectura del marco para dar cabida a las caracter��sticas de redes sociales distribu��das. Su implementaci��n ha sido validada en proyectos de investigaci��n financiados por la UE. Abstract Networks are the substance of human communities and societies; they constitute the structural framework on which we relate to each other and determine the way we do it, the way information is diseminated or even the way people get things done. But network prominence goes beyond the importance it acquires in social networks. Networks are found within numerous known structures, from protein interactions inside a cell to router connections on the internet. Social networks are present on the internet since its beginnings, in emails for example. Inside every email client, there are contact lists that added together constitute a social network. However, it has been with the emergence of social network sites (SNS) when these kinds of web applications have reached general awareness. SNS are now among the most popular sites in the web and with the higher traffic. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter hold astonishing figures of active users, traffic and time invested into the sites. Nevertheless, SNS functionalities are not restricted to contact-oriented social networks, those that are focused on building your own list of contacts and interacting with them. There are other examples of sites that leverage social networking to foster user activity and engagement around other types of content. Examples go from early SNS such as Flickr, the photography related networking site, to Github, the most popular social network repository nowadays. It is not an accident that the popularity of these websites comes hand-in-hand with their social network capabilities The scenario is even richer, due to the fact that SNS interact with each other, sharing and exporting contact lists and authentication as well as providing a valuable channel to publize user activity in other sites. These interactions are very recent and they are still finding their way to the point where SNS overcome their condition of data silos to a stage of full interoperability between sites, in the same way email and instant messaging networks work today. This work introduces a technology that allows to rapidly build any kind of distributed social network website. It first introduces a new technique to create middleware that can provide any kind of content management feature to a popular model-view-controller (MVC) web development framework, Ruby on Rails. It provides developers with tools that allow them to abstract from the complexities related with content management and focus on the development of specific content. This same technique is also used to provide the framework with social network features. Additionally, it describes a new metric of code reuse to assert the validity of the kind of middleware that is emerging in MVC frameworks. Secondly, the characteristics of top popular SNS are analysed in order to find the common patterns shown in them. This analysis is the ground for defining the requirements of a framework for building social network websites. Next, a reference architecture for supporting the features found in the analysis is proposed. This architecture has been implemented in a software component, called Social Stream, and tested in several social networks, both contact- and content-oriented, in local neighbourhood associations and EU-founded research projects. It has also been the ground for several Master���s theses. It has been released as a free and open source software that has obtained a growing community and that is now being used beyond the scope of this work. The social architecture has enabled the definition of a new social-based access control model that overcomes some of the limitations currenly present in access control models for social networks. Furthermore, paradigms and case studies in distributed SNS have been analysed, gathering a set of features for distributed social networking. Finally the architecture of the framework has been extended to support distributed SNS capabilities. Its implementation has also been validated in EU-founded research projects.

AFRICA BUILD Portal: developing a social network of African health researchers and educators

One of the main outputs of the project is a collaborative platform which integrates a myriad of research and learning resources. This article presents the first prototype of this platform: the AFRICA BUILD Portal (ABP 1.0). The ABP is a Web 2.0 platform which facilitates the access, in a collaborative manner, to these resources. Through a usable web interface, the ABP has been designed to avoid, as much as possible, the connectivity problems of African institutions. In this paper, we suggest that the access to complex systems does not imply slow response rates, and that their development model guides the project to a natural technological transfer, adaptation and user acceptance. Finally, this platform aims to motivate research attitudes during the learning process and stimulate user?s collaborations.

Exploring three approaches to offer distance learning courses through a social network of health researchers in three African countries

The Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp hereby presents the results of two pilot distance learning training programmes, developed under the umbrella of the AFRICA BUILD project (FP7). The two courses focused on evidence-based medicine (EBM): with the aim of enhancing research and education, via novel approaches and to identify research needs emanating from the field. These pilot experiences, which were run both in English-speaking (Ghana), and French-speaking (Mali and Cameroon) partner institutions, produced targeted courses for the strengthening of research methodology and policy. The courses and related study materials are in the public domain and available through the AFRICA BUILD Portal (http://www.africabuild.eu/taxonomy/term/37); the training modules were delivered live via Dudal webcasts. This paper assesses the success and difficulties of transferring EBM skills with these two specific training programmes, offered through three different approaches: fully online facultative courses, fully online tutor supported courses or through a blended approach with both online and face-to-face sessions. Key factors affecting the selection of participants, the accessibility of the courses, how the learning resources are offered, and how interactive online communities are formed, are evaluated and discussed.

HealthEye: The Social Network : the social network for rare diseases

HealthEye es la red social para unir a personas con la misma enfermedad rara. Este proyecto, es considerado como una startup social, abordando tanto el desarrollo de la plataforma as�� como el modelo de negocio del proyecto. La parte m��s complicada del proyecto, sin duda alguna, es encontrar un modelo sostenible para la empresa, y por supuesto, el crear una web de buena calidad para el beneficio del usuario.

A Qualitative Investigation of Social Network Efficacy Relative to Employee Recruitment and Generational Needs

Non-traditional means of recruitment for the twenty-first century knowledge worker need to accompany traditional means of recruitment due to an increased usage of technology by the twenty-first century knowledge worker. In this capstone project, the author examined the recruiting efficacy of social networks. Non-traditional means of recruitment through social networks via the World Wide Web can help organizations compete for potential applicants and assist job seekers in securing employment. These means are cost effective for the employer. Examples of organizational usage in this investigation illustrate that social networking can improve efficacy for recruitment and generational needs.

Social Network Analysis and Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Their mutual benefit for the explanation of policy network structures

By switching the level of analysis and aggregating data from the micro-level of individual cases to the macro-level, quantitative data can be analysed within a more case-based approach. This paper presents such an approach in two steps: In a first step, it discusses the combination of Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in a sequential mixed-methods research design. In such a design, quantitative social network data on individual cases and their relations at the micro-level are used to describe the structure of the network that these cases constitute at the macro-level. Different network structures can then be compared by QCA. This strategy allows adding an element of potential causal explanation to SNA, while SNA-indicators allow for a systematic description of the cases to be compared by QCA. Because mixing methods can be a promising, but also a risky endeavour, the methodological part also discusses the possibility that underlying assumptions of both methods could clash. In a second step, the research design presented beforehand is applied to an empirical study of policy network structures in Swiss politics. Through a comparison of 11 policy networks, causal paths that lead to a conflictual or consensual policy network structure are identified and discussed. The analysis reveals that different theoretical factors matter and that multiple conjunctural causation is at work. Based on both the methodological discussion and the empirical application, it appears that a combination of SNA and QCA can represent a helpful methodological design for social science research and a possibility of using quantitative data with a more case-based approach.

A potential case of attitude change: The Spanish spoken in the city of Malaga and used on social network sites

The Spanish spoken in the city of Malaga, as Andalusian Spanish in general, was in the past often times considered an incorrect, low prestige variety of Spanish which was strongly associated with the poor, rural, backward South of Spain. This southern Spanish variety is easily recognised because of its innovative phonetic features that diverge from the national standard, even though in the past years in the case of some features a convergence to the standard could be observed. Despite its low prestige the local variety of Spanish is quite often used on social network sites, where it is considered as urban, fashion and cool. Thus, this paper aims at analysing whether the Spanish used in the city of Malaga is undergoing an attitude change. The study draws on naturally occurring speech, data extracted from Facebook and a series of questionnaires about the salience, attitude and perception of the local variety of Spanish. The influence of the social factors age and gender is analysed, since they are both known to play a crucial role in many instances of language change. The first is of special interest, as during the Franco dictatorship dialect use was not accepted in schools and in the media. Results show that, on the one hand, people from Malaga hold a more positive attitude towards non-standard features used on social network sites than in spoken language. On the other hand, young female users employ most non-standard features online and unsurprisingly have an extremely positive attitude towards this use. However, in spoken Spanish the use and attitude of some features is led by men and speakers educated during the Franco dictatorship, while other features, such as elision of intervocalic /d/, elision of final /��/, /l/ and /d/ and ceceo, are predominantly employed by and younger speakers and women. These features are considered as salient in the local variety and work as local identity markers.

The Relationship between Adolescent Social Network Structure and Perceptions of School Climate

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06