Samhällets digitala förändringsprocess förutsätter alla medborgares deltagande. Detta väcker frågor kring medborgares digitala förmågor att delta samt ansvarsfördelningen för möjliggörande av alla medborgares digitala deltagande. Socialtjänstens förutsättningar att uppfylla sitt uppdrag och mål att tillgodose alla människors rätt till jämlika levnadsvillkor, ekonomisk och social trygghet samt aktivt deltagande i samhällets digitala utveckling motiverar denna studie. Syftet är att undersöka socialtjänstens förutsättningar att, i en digital samhällsutveckling, uppfylla uppdrag och mål enligt socialtjänstlagen. Offentliga dokument gällande digitalisering av samhället och offentliga verksamheter utgör grunden för studien. Forskningsmaterialet består av strategier, visioner och överenskommelser från statlig, regional och kommunal nivå. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys av forskningsmaterialet resulterar i empirins centrala teman, vilka tolkas och analyseras genom teoretiska begrepp ur Castells teori om nätverkssamhället samt Tillys teori om ojämlikhet. För att driva den digitala samhällsutvecklingen framåt framkommer av resultatet att incitament för medborgare, företag och offentliga verksamheter skall användas för att motivera till deltagande i utvecklingsprocessen.  Resultatet visar även att offentliga verksamheter har ett övervägande fokus på effektivisering och optimerad resursfördelning, vilket teoretiskt förstås som en risk för en digital klyfta om medborgerliga rättigheter i form av deltagande på jämlika villkor förbises. Vidare uppmärksammas en brist på konkreta lösningar för att möjliggöra digitalt deltagande för alla, vilket ur för socialtjänstens verksamhet kan förstås som ett hinder för att uppfylla mål enligt 1 kap. 1§ socialtjänstlagen. Slutligen framkommer riskfaktorer gällande näringslivets roll i den digitala utvecklingen, vilket ej återfinns i den tidigare forskningen som studien utgår från och således förstås som ett intressant fynd för framtida forskning.

Aim – The paper aims to acknowledge female microentrepreneurs' situation, using a feminist perspective, by identifying affecting aspects and factors when relying on borrowing a smartphone in order to run their business. Further, the study will have the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals number 8. Decent work and economic growth, and number 10. Reduced inequality, as an overall guideline.  Design / methodology / approach – To acknowledge the female microentrepreneurs' situation, we used feminist standpoint to understand the female mictroentreprenuers. The method for the data collection was a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews in the urban area of Accra, with a total of 15 female microentrepreneurs. The data were analysed and generated five concepts; relation to the mobile owner, feelings about borrowing, limitations with borrowing, impact of smartphone use in the microenterprise and impact of smartphone use for the female.  Findings – The findings of this paper point to the importance and positive aspects of using a smartphone when running a business, but also how smartphones have become a symbol of power when borrowing, as the female microentreprenuers are in reliance of the mobile owner. The study found six salient aspects affecting the social relations when borrowing a smartphone; relationships, mutual understanding, compensation, attitude, control and dependence. Further, four factors; customer relations, marketing, self-empowerment and financial empowerment, had an impact on the female microentrepreneurs and their businesses.  Originality / value – By using a feminist standpoint, this study extends the existing knowledge of the usage of smartphones in order to run a business and how operating a business empowers females. It also expands the current understanding about how borrowing a smartphone affects female microenterprises.

The uprooting of trees due to high winds, or blowdown, is a common occurrence throughout the world. Rare, large scale blowdown events have the ability to drastically alter forest landscapes on a timescale of hours. Alone or when combined with other forest disturbances such as fires and insect outbreaks, blowdowns have the potential to modify existing watershed characteristics. Little information is known about how large-scale blowdowns affect the physical environment in general and watershed-wide sediment yield and deposition rates in particular. The few studies that have taken place have yielded inconclusive or somewhat contradictory results. Given the large scale of some events and the potential impact of such events it is important that the geomorphological effects of blowdowns be better understood, not only from a basic process but also from an applied perspective. Lakes receive and store a significant fraction of the disturbed sediment formerly found in the soil column and lake sediments have proven to be reliable and accurate records of sedimentation characteristics within their catchments. For the purpose of this study, it was hypothesized that areas subjected to blowdown will have increased erosion rates. It was also hypothesized, that lakes within blowdown areas will be subjected to accelerated sedimentation rates following events. In order to test these hypotheses and isolate the effects of a blowdown on sedimentation rate three small mountain lakes in the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area, Colorado were cored. The lakes selected consist of a control lake with no known recent history of blowdown in its watershed and two lakes that receive direct runoff from watersheds and slopes that were affected by a major blowdown event in 1997, the Routt-Divide Blowdown. One core was dated using the 210Pb method and multiple cores were analyzed for organic and inorganic matter concentrations to determine if changes in sedimentation rates and/or sediment compositions occurred following the event. In the case of the two lakes studied that had catchment slopes affected by blowdown, somewhat surprisingly, no significant change was observed with respect to sedimentation rates or sediment composition. In fact, sedimentation rates obtained from the dated core exhibited a decreasing trend that began decades prior to and continued through the blowdown event. This suggests that in the area affected by the Routt-Divide Blowdown it is likely that long-term changes in climate and the effect these changes have on the amount and type of vegetation present are the dominant influence on sedimentation rates, and that the Routt-Divide Blowdown of 1997 did not increase the rates. Based on further evaluation of the sites and the event it appears that slope characteristics and treefall orientation may be significant factors controlling the amount and type of disturbed sediment that moves downslope. In the case of future large-scale blowdowns, where their effect on water quality or sedimentation rates is in question, dominant treefall orientation with respect to slope should be an integral part of initial assessment, especially in remote area, and be considered when interpreting data from any similar study.

Conceptualising an understanding of home within South African law and how certain relationships create such an understanding. Home can be thought of as a place of safety, security, peace and identity. Home encapsulates values such as human dignity, freedom and equality. Furthermore, it is a space where one can exercise your identity autonomously. Home is a space for autonomy. However, some relationships give rise to this positive concept of home and autonomy whilst others are detrimental thereto. These relations are explored, specifically relations of domestic violence which threaten the values of home. Furthermore, the public/private divide is a contributing factor to domestic violence that occurs within the home. Efforts used to protect the private sphere has resulted in the public sphere compromising the privacy and autonomy of the victim. Privacy should not solely be equated with the private sphere and should rather be understood in terms of autonomy and a right which should be afforded to individuals. Autonomy itself, has for a long time been equated with the private sphere, and has, therefore, been used as a tool to protect the abusive party from state action, rather than protecting the abused party from the actions of the abuser. Therefore, autonomy itself should not be equated with the private sphere, as this conception lacks creativity in achieving autonomy within the collective. Therefore,an alternative understanding of autonomy is suggested: relational autonomy. Relational autonomy examines how specific relationships are beneficial to the meaning of autonomy. Relational autonomy calls for the restructuring of destructive relations which stand in the way of achieving autonomy and therefore also stands in the way of achieving a positive concept of home. / Thesis (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Private Law / LLM Research / Unrestricted

An exploratory study was conducted examining Internet usage among African-American college students. The study examined both psychosocial correlates, including technological anxiety and racial identity as well as socioeconomic measures, as they impacted Internet usage. Additionally, three distinct measures of Internet usage, thin access, thick access and the Internet Connectedness Index (ICI), were used as criterion variables in three separate multiple regression analysis (MRA) models. The results of the study found differences in predictive validity based on the criterion variable used, with the ICI accounting for the greatest amount of variance (54%). Racial identity, in terms of internal beliefs and feelings about being African American and internalization of Afrocentric values in a political context were found to be predictive of Internet usage as measured by the ICI.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the relationship between the digital divide and the Latino-White achievement gap in online education. Through an analysis of archival enrollment and academic performance data a comparison was conducted between online and face-to-face courses by ethnicity. Additionally, academic performance data was then compared to survey responses from online students on digital motivation, material access, internet skills, and internet usage. Findings and recommendations for future research are discussed and provided to continue the exploration of disparities of digital access and academic performance in an effort to inform decisions in higher education.

A civil-military divide exists within the United States and is perpetuated by a distinct lack of communication between the civilian and military sectors within the population. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine whether attitudes and behaviors of combat veterans affect their positive reintegration into civilian communities. Binder’s social ecology theory provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from 255 combat veterans who responded to a survey. Results were analyzed using a hierarchical multiple linear regression model to determine the influence of military job satisfaction, post-deployment stressors, post-deployment support, and civic engagement on community reintegration efforts, while controlling for age, branch of military service, place of residence, political party affiliation, education, rank, reason for ending military service, and sex. There were statistically significant results that indicate prediction for successful community reintegration may be dependent upon the identification of key associations, including post-deployment support, education, rank, and the reason an individual transitioned out of military service. Findings may also provide policymakers with information about the community reintegration process, which may be used to improve reintegration efforts of combat veterans transitioning back to civilian life for positive social change.

The contemporary world is continuously evolving and changing. This can be ascribed to technological development. There exists an expanding digital realm that is changing the way society interacts with its surroundings and context. Interior design is a discipline that alters existing structures. This dissertation explores the role of interior design in adapting existing structures to technological development, focusing on digital development. Theories concerning hybrid design were investigated and compared in order to generate a design approach to the problem. Contextual analysis was done in order to establish important factors that would contribute to the generation of an appropriate programme. Thereafter precedents were analysed in order to supplement the body of knowledge. The final product is a mixed-use facility which includes an electronic book (e-book) publishing facility for Van Schaik Publishers as well as a facility for the contextual public where interaction with digital media is facilitated. The dissertation provides a project that acts as a mediator between the material and digital realms. Simultaneously, the product acts as a catalyst for bridging the great ‘digital divide’ one finds in a country like South Africa, where the larger population has no access to the digital realm. / Dissertation MInt(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Architecture / MInt(Prof) / Unrestricted

A l’ère de la troisième révolution internet, celle de l’internet des objets (IoT), beaucoup d’espoir sont tournés vers les technologies numériques pour développer les économies et notamment dynamiser le commerce local. Dans les pays du Maghreb, en Tunisie notamment, ses espoirs sont tournés du côté de la demande. Plus précisément, à l’issu du printemps arabe, et en raison du rôle qu’ont joué les réseaux sociaux (Facebook notamment) pour mobiliser les jeunes à manifester dans les rues de Tunis, le nouveau ministère du commerce fonde ses espoirs dans cette population jeune pour développer le commerce électronique. Partant de ce constat, cette thèse propose d’étudier si les jeunes tunisiens sont les early adopters qui permettront de diffuser le commerce électronique en Tunisie. Pour cela, la problématique de recherche porte sur les facteurs d’adoption du commerce électronique par les jeunes en Tunisie. Pour répondre à cette question de recherche, la thèse propose dans un premier temps de dresser l’état des lieux de la diffusion de l’internet au sein d’un population de jeunes étudiants. Préalablement, elle propose dans la première partie de la thèse un état des lieux de la couverture du territoire en technologies d’accès aux services numériques. Cet état des lieux est discuté à l’appui d’une revue de la littérature sur la fracture numérique. Dans un deuxième temps, elle propose une analyse empirique et exploratoire menée auprès d’un échantillon de 400 étudiants tunisiens environ. Cette étude porte sur les facteurs d’adoption de l’internet et des services marchands (commerce électronique). Structurée en deux parties, le premier volet de l’enquête est exploité à l’aide de statistiques économétriques et le deuxième volet mobilise les méthodes d’analyse d’équations structurelles. Les résultats de la thèse montrent que si l’usage de l’internet est relativement bien diffusé auprès des jeunes tunisiens, la disposition à adopter le commerce électronique doit en revanche être encouragée. Pour cela, un modèle d’adoption est proposé en deuxième partie de la thèse. Il met en évidence quels facteurs favorisent ou inhibent l’adoption du commerce électronique en Tunisie. Les résultats de ce modèle et des travaux menés dans la partie 1 permettent dans la partie conclusive de la thèse de formuler différentes recommandations à l’égard des entreprises engagées dans un projet de mise en ligne de leur activité commerciale d’une part, et d’autre part envers les acteurs publics pour favoriser l’adoption des services internet marchands en Tunisie. / In the era of the third Internet revolution, that of the Internet of Things (IoT), a lot of hope is turned to digital technologies to develop economies and boost local trade. In the Maghreb countries, especially in Tunisia, those hope are turned on the demand side. More specifically, at the end of the Arab Spring, and because of the role played by social networks (Facebook in particular) to mobilize young people to demonstrate in the streets of Tunis, the new Ministry of Commerce hopes in this population young to develop e-commerce. Based on this observation, this thesis proposes to study whether young Tunisians are the early adopters who will disseminate e-commerce in Tunisia. For this, the research problematic focuses on the factors of adoption of e-commerce by young people in Tunisia. To answer this research question, the thesis proposes at first to draw up the inventory of the diffusion of the internet within a population of young students. Before doing so, we propose in the first part of the thesis an inventory of the technologies territory’s coverage of the access to digital services. This inventory is discussed in support of a review of the literature on the digital divide. In a second step, she proposes an empirical and exploratory analysis conducted with a sample of about 400 Tunisian students. This study focuses on the adoption factors of the Internet and market services (e-commerce). Structured in two parts, the first part of the survey is exploited using econometric statistics and the second part uses structural equation analysis methods. The results of the thesis show that while the use of the internet is relatively well distributed to young Tunisians, the willingness to adopt e-commerce should be encouraged. For this, an adoption model is proposed in the second part of the thesis. It highlights what factors encourages or inhibit the adoption of e-commerce in Tunisia. The results of this model and the work carried out in Part 1 allow in the concluding part of the thesis to make various recommendations to companies engaged in a project to put their commercial activity online on one hand, and on the other hand towards the public actors to encourage the adoption of the internet marketing services in Tunisia.

The thesis deals with the global information flows and its aim is to find factors which influence them. Firstly, the visibility of the country in international news is explored, i.e. which countries are dominantly represented in the international news. Secondly, the exposure of the country towards international news is observed, i.e how countries vary in the openness towards the international news. The thesis also seek to reveal factors which have an impact on the visibility of the country and on the exposure. The thesis consists of a recherche part with the theory of globalization and a quantitative analysis based on the dataset from 2014-2017. The thesis concludes that countries are represented unevenly with few dominant countries (the most dominant country is China, followed by USA and Ukraine) in the international news and that the most exposed countries have been found small developing countries (Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, etc.) from South America. Regarding the factors of visibility of the country, the highest impact has the size of population,and also GNI and the presence of violent correlated. On the contrary, all factors impacting the exposure of the country were found statistically insignificant.