Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The rural areas experienced rapid changes in the last three decades. Producers have had to adapt to changes in forms of production, marketing and even social relations, involving the need to adhere to technological innovations, review the management of properties and adapt to the vision of enterprise agriculture business. The changes in the processes of technology transfer to the farmer tried to follow the technological developments, especially the advancement of the Internet. However, the uptake of new technologies is not so homogeneous by farmers. Considering that this study aimed to evaluate the overall influence of a system for monitoring farm online, the IrrigaSystem, the diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies - ICTs in rural areas. With this, it was possible to answer the question: systems that provide for the use of technologies in the field, as Irriga®, actually contribute to the diffusion of ICTs in rural areas? To achieve the proposed objectives, and discuss the theoretical framework on the main concepts involved in the issue, was chosen to conduct a field research study of the type of case, with a qualitative approach. Interviews with rural producers users of the system in the states of Goiás and Rio Grande do Sul were made to obtain information. The systematic application was face to face and selection of interviewees was made for convenience. To analyze the informations was used the technique of analysis of content. Showed that the move irreversibly ICTs in rural areas, however, this progress does not occur in the same way between Brazilian regions, differing mainly by reasons of economic order. Moreover, the interviews showed that the problem of diffusion of innovations in rural areas takes place, mainly from two factors: on the ICTs point of view, it is bounded to the connection obstacles in the Brazilian rural environment, and on the rural producers‟ point of view, it is due to the digital illiteracy problem. / O meio rural experimentou rápidas transformações nas últimas três décadas. Os produtores tiveram de se adaptar a mudanças nas formas de produção, de comercialização e, até mesmo, de relações sociais, que implicaram na necessidade de aderir a inovações tecnológicas, rever a gestão das propriedades e adequar-se a visão empresarial do negócio agrícola. As modificações nos processos de transferência de tecnologias para o agricultor buscaram acompanhar a evolução tecnológica, especialmente o avanço da Internet. Todavia, a adesão às novas tecnologias não ocorre de forma homogênea pelos produtores rurais. Diante disso o presente estudo teve como objetivo geral avaliar a influência de um sistema de monitoramento agrícola on-line, o Sistema Irriga®, na difusão de Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação TICs no meio rural brasileiro. Com isto, buscou-se possíveis respostas para o questionamento: sistemas que prevêem o uso de tecnologias no campo, como o Irriga®, realmente contribuem para a difusão das TICs no meio rural brasileiro? Para alcançar os objetivos propostos, além de discorrer no referencial teórico sobre os principais conceitos envolvidos no tema, optou-se por realizar uma pesquisa de campo do tipo estudo de caso, com abordagem qualitativa. A coleta de dados consistiu na realização de entrevistas semi-estruturadas em profundidade com produtores rurais usuários do Sistema Irriga, nos estados de Goiás e Rio Grande do Sul. A sistemática de aplicação foi face a face e a seleção dos entrevistados deu-se por conveniência. Para analisar os dados obtidos empregou-se a técnica da análise de conteúdo. Comprovou-se que as TICs avançam irreversivelmente no meio rural, todavia, este avanço não ocorre de maneira idêntica entre as regiões brasileiras, diferindo, principalmente, por razões de ordem econômica. Além disso, as entrevistas demonstraram que a problemática da difusão de inovações no meio rural decorre, principalmente, de dois fatores: do ponto de vista das TICs, vincula-se às barreiras de conexão no meio rural brasileiro e, do ponto de vista dos produtores rurais, à questão da alfabetização digital.

The current research considers the capacity of a local organic food system for producer and consumer empowerment and sustainable development outcomes in western Guatemala. Many have argued that the forging of local agricultural networks linking farmers, consumers, and supporting institutions is an effective tool for challenging the negative economic, environmental, and sociopolitical impacts associated with industrial models of global food production. But does this work in the context of agrarian development in the developing world? Despite the fact that there is extensive literature concerning local food system formation in the global north, there remains a paucity of research covering how the principles of local food systems are being integrated into agricultural development projects in developing countries. My work critically examines claims to agricultural sustainability and actor empowerment in a local organic food system built around non-traditional agricultural crops in western Guatemala. Employing a mixed methods research design involving twenty months of participant observation, in-depth interviewing, surveying, and a self-administered questionnaire, the project evaluates the sustainability of this NGO-led development initiative and local food movement along several dimensions. Focusing on the unique economic and social networks of actors and institutions at each stage of the commodity chain, this research shows how the growth of an alternative food system continues to be shaped by context specific processes, politics, and structures of conventional food systems. Further, it shows how the specifics of context also produce new relationships of cooperation and power in the development process. Results indicate that structures surrounding agrarian development in the Guatemalan context give rise to a hybrid form of development that at the same time contests and reinforces conventional models of food production and consumption. Therefore, participation entails a host of compromises and tradeoffs that result in mixed successes and setbacks, as actors attempt to refashion conventional commodity chains through local food system formation.

The methods currently used in innovation marketing research are focused on the late phases of the innovation process and are usually methodologically complex. This limits their practical impact. The presented thesis aims to create a simple self-report scale applicable in the initial and late phases of innovation process, highly modular and suitable for wide range of research. The main battery of questions was inspired by adopter categorization by Rogers. The questions determine both (1) general characteristics of innovation adopters and (2) their relationship to a specific innovation. The scale was tested during a robust longitudinal online research, thematically focused on users of modern technologies. Representative sample of 4,000 Internet users in the Czech Republic took part in the survey from April 2013 to January 2015. The result is a new self-report scale measuring consumer innovativeness applicable for prototyping, strategic decisions and effective communication of innovations to consumers.

The road of development through e-government is covered with deep potholes and dead ends. This is because Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are adopted and e-government policies are developed with a blind focus on the ICT tools and with little reflection on the contribution of ICT to development (Heeks and Bailur, 2007, p. 243, Avgerou, 2009, p. 14). To assist with this reflection Information Systems (IS) researchers are increasingly calling for the development of local contextual theory or a framework in ICT for Development (ICT4D) (Avgerou, 2009, p. 14, Madon et al., 2007, Walsham, 2003, Walsham, 1997). This thesis responds to that call by investigating the role of e-government towards development within the South African context. The means of inquiry was a three year ethnographic immersion in a longitudinal research project. The aim of the longitudinal research project was to investigate how a specialised type of ICT (Group Support Systems) can enable interaction between government and citizens in attaining specific human rights. The research project centred on creating an awareness among the public in South Africa of a newly enacted Act, the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act No 3 of 2000 (PAJA). The rich data collected was analysed using Grounded Theory, resulting in a substantive theory that suggests that within the South African context e-government could contribute to development if it is used to facilitate policy implementation within the spirit of Ubuntu. The thesis delineates the journey up to the emergence of the substantive theory. The substantive theory has important implications for IS theory and IS practice. For IS theory, the substantive theory demonstrates that research on ICT4D in Africa could usefully be undertaken by following an action research strategy within a critical-interpretive paradigm. The substantive theory also suggests the importance of taking into account the contextual collaborative nature of African culture in the spirit of Ubuntu when conducting such research. For practice, the substantive theory proposes a potential framework where ICT could provide the collaborative environment or shared space in the spirit of Ubuntu for policy implementation towards development. Checked against implementation requirements on the South African policy on entrepreneurship, the substantive theory framework proves to be equally valuable. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Informatics / unrestricted

[pt] A temática da Realidade Virtual concretiza sua aplicabilidade e vem se mostrando cada vez mais relevante como tecnologia para ultrapassar as barreiras físicas de comunicação e experimentação do aprendizado. Nesse contexto, a educação aparece como uma das áreas mais propensas a se beneficiar com essa tecnologia, visto que o uso da Realidade Virtual pode proporcionar experiências práticas inimagináveis na absorção de informações e ainda permitir interações complexas a distância, o que auxilia e inova as práticas e metodologias educacionais, contribuindo para a formação de profissionais capacitados aos desafios e necessidades do cenário tecnológico atual de mercado. O estudo propõe e testa um modelo de mensuração de fatores que podem influenciar a adoção da Realidade Virtual no ensino superior. Visando relacionar o tema da Realidade Virtual e a adoção de inovações, o modelo de estudo foi fundamentado nos atributos de inovação da teoria da difusão de inovações (IDT - ROGERS, 2003) e as hipóteses testaram os efeitos da vantagem relativa, da complexidade, da compatibilidade, da experimentabilidade, da observabilidade e da diversão percebida na atitude geral de adoção da Realidade Virtual, assim como o efeito de tal atitude na intenção de adoção dessa tecnologia. A pesquisa, de caráter quantitativo, tem por análise uma amostra de 382 estudantes do ensino superior público e/ou privado no Brasil. Os achados permitem inferir que diversos dos fatores estudados afetam a intenção de adoção da Realidade Virtual para o aprendizado, confirmando a maior parte das hipóteses da pesquisa. Os resultados da pesquisa representam avanços no conhecimento sobre adoção da Realidade Virtual na educação e sugerem importantes contribuições para estudantes e instituições de ensino superior, acerca da adoção e implementação de tecnologias de Realidade Virtual em práticas de ensino. / [en] The subject of Virtual Reality has solidified its applicability and shown itself to be increasingly relevant as a technology to overcome the physical barriers of communication and experiential learning. In this context, education appears as one of the areas most likely to benefit from this technology, since the use of Virtual Reality can provide unimaginable practical experiences in absorbing information as well as allowing for complex distance interactions, assisting and serving to innovate educational practices and methodologies, contributing to the qualification of professionals trained for the challenges and needs of the current technological market environment. The study proposes and tests a model for measuring factors that may influence the adoption of Virtual Reality in higher education. In order to relate the topic of Virtual Reality and innovation adoption, the study model was based on the innovation attributes of the innovation diffusion theory (IDT - ROGERS, 2003) and the hypotheses tested the effects of relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, trialability, observability and perceived playfulness in the general attitude of Virtual Reality adoption, as well as the effect of such attitude on the intention to adopt this technology. The quantitative research analyzes a sample of 382 students from public and / or private higher educational institutions in Brazil. The findings allow us to infer that several of the factors studied affect the intention to adopt Virtual Reality for learning, confirming most of the research hypotheses. The study results represent advances in knowledge about the adoption of Virtual Reality in education and suggest important contributions for students and higher education institutions, with regard to the adoption and implementation of Virtual Reality technologies in teaching practices.

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MySpace is a type of "social networking" website where people meet, socialize, and create friendships. The way MySpace members, particularly younger individuals, interact online underscores the changing nature of mass media. Media system dependency states that individuals become reliant on media in their daily life because of fundamental human goals. This reliance, termed a dependency, leads to repeated use. Media system dependency was applied in the current study to explain how and why individuals became habitual MySpace users. To attain results a survey was administered to a convenience sampling of 401 adult undergraduates at the University of Central Florida. Members reported MySpace dependency had a moderate correlation to MySpace use, and they actively used the website an average of 1.3 hours of use per day. Results indicated members use MySpace to primarily satisfy play and interaction orientation dependencies. MySpace use was found to have a correlation with number of MySpace friends. "Number of friends created" in turn had a correlation with MySpace dependency, as people returned to interact with their friends. Individual factors were also found to be a source of influence in MySpace dependency. These individual factors were demographics, psychological factors related to use of the Internet, and psychological factors related to use of MySpace. Factors related to MySpace, extroversion and self-disclosure, were positively correlated with intensity of dependency. The influence of factors related to the Internet was partly supported; computer self-efficacy was not significantly related to MySpace dependency, while computer anxiety was significantly related to MySpace dependency. Speed of connection to the Internet and available time to use the Internet were not related to MySpace dependency. Additionally, significant differences were found between genders in overall dependency, extroversion, self-disclosure, computer anxiety, and computer self-efficacy. These findings provide evidence that MySpace members were little, if at all, constrained by factors related to use of the Internet, but were attracted to the websites for similar reasons as real-life relationships. Finally, MySpace is just one of the large number of online resources that are predominantly social, such as email, message boards, and online chat. This study found that through a "technology cluster" MySpace members use these other social innovations more frequently than non-members. However, members also used significantly more non-social innovations, which may indicate that MySpace members are part of a larger technology cluster than anticipated or perhaps are in the same category of innovation adopter.

The purpose of this study was to understand boaters’ adoption and usage of smartphones and mobile apps as well as to obtain their opinion on potential features of a targeted mobile app being developed as part of a broader interdisciplinary Florida Sea Grant outreach project. Data were gathered from an online survey of a sample of 164 boaters from the surrounding Central Florida area. In contrast with previous empirical mobile app studies, many respondents reported using mobile apps for information-seeking versus escape gratifications. Further more than half of the respondents’ age sixty-five and over indicated using smartphones and mobile apps. These findings reflected recent national trend data showing shifting gratifications and an increase in technology use among older American adults. In regards to the planned mobile app, the study’s respondents had favorable reactions to its potential features and indicated an above average intent toward downloading the app