Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The interface between science and technology and the society has led to the notion of science as a social contract, in which scientists, politicians and the general public are called upon to acknowledge the urgency of using all fields of science and technology to address human needs. Science and technology is used as an instrument of change for a better quality of life and sustainable development for the present and future generations. The object of science and technology policies is to achieve specific development objectives. It is thus imperative to adopt science and technology policies that support the national development strategies. It is also important to set up science and technology structures to facilitate the proper functioning of the science and technology system. Competitiveness constitutes one of the most important challenges facing Southern Africa today. With globalization and the expansion of world trade competition, it has become more difficult for Southern African enterprise to keep up with the pace of technological developments. In the light of these challenges, most countries are driving towards the adoption of a national system of innovation (NSI) to encourage the interaction of policies, research and development, human resource development and industrial development. The study is induced by major science and technology set backs, which are common across countries in Southern Africa namely, poor co-ordination mechanisms, poor science and technology infrastructure and a lack of funding. The study provides background information on the theoretical framework of the concept of NSI. For the research method, a qualitative research design was followed with content analysis of existing documents. Published documents were used to provide information on the three countries, which were used as case studies namely Malawi, Namibia and South Africa. The main focus of the case studies is on the following: an outline of the policy goals of each of the three countries, the concept of the NSI as it is expressed by each of the countries and the science and technology structures in the three countries. The study identified poor co-ordination of science and technology activities as the key problem of all three countries. The structures differ slightly and in particular, the placement of the management of science and technology determines the efficiency of the system. The South African NSI is well established as its network is strengthened by the National Advisory Council for Innovation and the National Research and Development Strategy. Next is Namibia which has a system in place, while Malawi is still at the initial stages of setting up its NS!. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die koppelvlak tussen wetenskap en tegnologie en die gemeenskap het gelei tot die siening van wetenskap as 'n sosiale kontrak waarin wetenskaplikes, politici en die algemene publiek versoek word om te erken dat dit nodig geword het om alle vertakkinge van wetenskap en tegnologie aan te wend om menslike nood te verlig. Wetenskap en tegnologie word gebruik as 'n instrument om verandering teweeg te bring ter bevordering van 'n beter kwaliteit lewe en volhoubare ontwikkeling vir die huidige en toekomstige generasies. Die doel van 'n wetenskap en tegnologiebeleid is om spesifieke ontwikkelingsdoelstellings te verwesenlik. Dit is dus noodsaaklik dat hierdie beleid in ooreenstemming met die nasionale onwikkelingsstrategieë ontwerp moet word. Dit is ook belangrik om wetenskap en tegnologiestrukture in plek te stel wat die effektiewe funksionering van die sisteem kan vergemaklik. Mededingbaarheid is een van die grootste uitdagings wat Suider Afrika tans in die gesig staar. Met globalisering en die uitbreiding van wêreldhandel het dit moeiliker geword vir Suider Afrikaanse ondernemings om in pas te bly met tegnologiese ontwikkeling. In die lig van hierdie uitdagings stuur die meeste lande in die rigting van 'n Nasionale Sisteem vir Innovasie (NSI) om interaksie tussen beleid, navorsing en ontwikkeling, menslike hulpbronontwikkeling en industriële ontwikkeling aan te moedig. Wat aanleiding gegee het tot hierdie studie is die wetenskap en tegnologieprobleme wat algemeen voorkom in die lande in Suider Afrikaanse, naamlik onvoldoende koërdinasie meganismes, swak wetenskap en tegnologie-infrastruktuur en 'n gebrek aan fondse. 'n Kwalitatiewe navorsingsontwerp is gevolg waarin analise van die inhoud van dokumente as navorsingsmetode gebruik is. Die studie verskaf agtergrond-inligting oor die teoretiese raamwerk van die NSI konsep. Gepubliseerde dokumente is gebruik om inligting te verskaf oor die drie lande wat as gevallestudies dien, naamlik Malawi, Namibië en Suid-Afrika. Die hooffokus van die gevallestudies is soos volg: 'n raamwerk van die beleidsdoelstellings van elk van die drie lande, die konsep NSI soos toegepas deur elkeen en die wetenskap en tegnologiestrukture in elk van die betrokke lande. Die studie het swak koërdinasie van wetenskap en tegnologie-aktiwiteite as die sleutelprobleem van aldrie lande geïdentifiseer. Die strukture verskil effens van mekaar en veral die plasing van die wetenskap en tegnologiebestuur bepaal die effektiwiteit van die stelsel. Die Suid Afrikaanse NSI is goed gevestig omdat sy netwerk versterk word deur die Nasionale Adviesraad vir Innovasie en die Nasionale Navorsing- en Ontwikkelingstrategie. Volgende is Namibië wat 'n sisteem in plek het, terwyl Malawi nog maar in die beginstadium is van die daarstelling van hul NSI.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis I look at the impact of technology on the concept of sculpture. However, I am more concerned with the principles behind technological change as influence, than looking at high-technology advances. A key issue that I address is the consideration of changes in society and art, and I ask the question, to what extent does three-dimensional art remain in any traditional sense 'sculpture'? It is my objective to show these changes, indicated by the transition from an object-oriented to a systems-oriented approach in art leading to a redefinition of the concept of sculpture. Although I deal with my practical work as a separate part in the thesis, there is a close integration and mutual objectives between the practical and theoretical components. The transition occurring in sculpture can directly be traced to the technological advances in society. Scientific knowledge in any period of history reflects the way people understand their world, thus affecting human perceptions of the natural world and in turn influencing artistic creation. In Chapter One, attention is given in general to some of these scientific discoveries, for example the shift from classical science to an organismic approach with its focus on the interconnectedness of all things. Also of importance is the beginning of Chaos Theory, introducing the element of chance. In Chapter Two, more specific changes in the concept of art and sculpture are dealt with. Referring to some important predecessors earlier in the zo" century. I look at art becoming an interactive system, and find the interrelationship between sculpture and architecture useful in illustrating this, because of the foregrounding of the concept of space. In Chapter Three, I examine the different way that artists deal with the issues of urbanity', for example, the Minimalists putting emphasis on the idea of sculpture as an infinitely malleable category. Shifting definitions of urbanity were responses to specific new conditions in the environment, for example, as seen in the changing features of the city. Chapter Four deals with contemporary artists' response to these conditions, starting with examples of an object-oriented approach to sculpture, moving step by step towards a different systems-oriented approach. To conclude, I speculate on all the possibilities that the virtual environments that modern computers allow us to create may for the first time open up. We are at the beginning of a new century full of promise to artists in all fields. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis kyk ek na die impak van tegnologie op die konsep van beeldhou. Maar, ek is egter meer geintereseerd in die invloed van die beginsels agter tegnologiese verandering as in die gebruik van uiters gevorderde tegnologiese instrumente. 'n Belangrike aspek vir my is die wyse waarop die veranderinge in die samelewing afgedruk work op kuns. Derhalwe vra ek tot watter mate drie-dimensionele kuns op enige tradisionele wyse steed as 'beeldhou' beskou kan word? Dit is my doelwit om hierdie veranderinge uit te wys, soos gesien kan word in die transformasie vanaf 'n objek-gerigte benadering na 'n sisteem-gerigte benadering tot die konsep van beeldhou. Hoewel ek die praktiese werk as 'n aparte deel van die tesis hanteer, is daar in nabye integrasie met gemeenskaplike doelwitte tussen die praktiese en teoretiese komponente. Die transformasie in beeldhou kan direk verbind word met die tegnologiese vooruitgang in die samelewing. Wetenskaplike kennis van enige tydperk, is 'n indikasie van die wyse waarop die mense hulomgewing verstaan. Dus affekteer dit mense se persepsie van die natuur, en in reaksie die persepsie van die kunstenaar. In hoofstuk een, word aandag gegee in die algemeen aan sommige van hierdie wetenskaplike ontdekkings, byvoorbeeld die skuif vanaf klassieke wetenskap na 'n organismiese benadering met sy fokus op die integrasie van alle dinge. Ook belangrik is die onstaan van Chaos Teorie wat klem plaas op die onvoorspelbaarheid van dinge. In hoofstuk twee kyk ek na meer spesifieke veranderinge in die konsep van kuns in die algemeen, asook beeldbou. Daar word terugverwys na sommige belangrike kunstenaars aan die begin van die 20ste eeu. Klem word geplaas op kuns as interaktiewe sisteem, en ek vind die interverhouding tussen beeldhou en argitektuur as 'n belangrike voorbeeld, as gevolg van die benadering tot die konsep van ruimte. Hoofstuk drie ondersoek die verskeie wyses waarop beeldhouers kyk na kwessies soos verstedeliking, byvoorbeeld die Minimaliste met hul beklemtoning van die idee van beeldhou as manipuleerbare kategorie. AI hierdie veranderinge is 'n reaksie op spesifieke nuwe kondisies binne die samelewing, byvoorbeeld soos gesien in die veranderende kenmerke van stede. Hoostuk vier deel dan spesifiek met hedendaagse beeldhouers se reaksie op hierdie kondisies, met die doelom voorbeelde te bespreek van van 'n objek-gerigte benadering tot beeldhou asook 'n sisteem-gerigte benadering tot beeldhou. Om af te sluit, spekuleer ek oor al die nuwe moontlikhede wat 'virtuele realiteif, daar gestel deur die moderne rekenaars, aan beeldhou kan bied. Ons staan aan die begin van 'n nuwe eeu vol potensiaal vir kunstenaars op alle gebiede.

In recent years there has been dramatic growth in mobile devices and technologies. According to reports from comScore [1], 47% users in the United States (aged more than 13) are using a smartphones as their primary phone. Smartphone offers more advanced computing ability and connectivity than contemporary phones. In today’s world, a user wants to keep their smartphones private, because of the personal information present in it. Among these users, some of them are minors. This thesis addresses the functionality to track/control the mobile activities of minors by their parents using mobile phones. As a parent they want to know, whom his/her child is talking to and for what they are accessing browser for. Cellular network companies are providing number blocking services from the carrier side, but those are monthly paid services. In this thesis, we propose application architecture for remotely control the child phone and grant access to selected numbers for call and text. We use the emerging Android mobile platform and Google nexus phones to implement and test the application. This architecture will help developers to make more innovative applications in future which helps parent to access child phone information. We performed a study and reported the result using the proposal. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.

The Smart Campus project envisions a university campus where technology assists faculty, staff, students and visitors to improve and more efficiently accomplish their daily activities. The objective of this project is to develop a smart phone application that assists users in finding a certain location on campus, locating their friends and professors, interacting with any student or professors of the campus, get the count of users at certain locations and remain updated about all the events and campus news. Through this project, an idea of ‘Futuristic Social Network’ in a Campus is modeled and developed on Android platform. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The purpose of this study was to determine if metropolitan newspapers from the Southwest, Midwest and Northeast--the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Indianapolis Star and News--have made an attempt to predict future developments in computer technology and warn their readers about what changes in society, work and the home might occur. The study also used the four newspapers to see if any regional biases existed that may have influenced the reporting from 1950 through 1980. In both cases, the author used a content analysis technique to examine the article content. In all, 331 articles were analyzed and a Chi-square test was applied to the results to determine if a significant difference existed in "favorable" or "unfavorable" treatment of high-tech news by each of the newspapers. Little research exists in this area, although some studies have been made in the treatment of general science, political and business news. The author found that the Los Angeles Times printed a significantly higher number of "future-oriented" articles, but none of the papers treated computer technology and automation more favorably, in regard to bias, than the others.

Bibliography: leaves 488-505. / Microfiche. / xx, 505 leaves, bound 28 cm

In the face of challenges of energy security, decarbonization, resilience, and the replacement of aging infrastructure systems, federal, state, and local actors are facilitating the development of smart electricity networks to transition towards a more sustainable electricity system. In the United States, development of "smart grids" is being pursued as a national policy mandate and goal, promising that the deployment of smart grid technologies -- referring in general to digital information and communication technologies that sense, monitor, control and manage the electric grid -- will make electricity systems more environmentally sustainable and reliable, and at the same time, provide opportunities for growth and innovation. This dissertation examines and analyzes three interconnected issues relating to these sociotechnical changes in electricity infrastructure: the material and discursive construction of the smart grid, urban smart grid experimentation, and the mobility of smart grid models and knowledge. A conceptual framework is proposed for investigating sociotechnical transitions that accounts for dimensions of power and politics that are commonly overlooked in conventional analysis, and highlights how governance regimes shape and are shaped by sociotechnical change. Utilizing Foucauldian discourse analysis and relational comparative case study methodology, this dissertation analyzes the development of the smart grid as a governmental program highlighting its rationalities, techniques, and imagined subjects. The findings of these analyses suggest that the transition to a smarter grid involves much more than top-down policy mandates; significant urban experimentation is involved, as well as inter-city learning that is shaped by local political economy and broader political rationalities. This dissertation also argues for a synthesis between policy mobilities and sociotechnical transitions theory, highlighting through case studies how urban smart grid experiments are influenced by experiences and knowledge generated from "vanguard" cities. The conclusion of this dissertation is that the creation of the smart grid is far from a purely technical infrastructural intervention, and instead, requires significant changes in the everyday social practices and conduct of energy consumers, while also reconfiguring the city, engaging in a material politics in order to govern energy transitions.

No description available.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the description of changes in Nigeria that result from agricultural developments during the precolonial period to the present time. Emphasis is placed on the relationship between agriculture and other institutions, and the effect of agricultural change upon social phenomena such as population growth, family, industrialization, urbanization, and education. The Nigerian agricultural institution may be divided into three periods: the precolonial, the colonial, and the Republican agricultural eras. The data were obtained from published research reports, United Nations reports, government documents, newsletters, and economic journals. Primarily descriptive in nature, the thesis consists of six chapters. Emphasis was placed upon the historical development of Nigerian agriculture and the reciprocal impact between it and other Nigerian institutions.

In this thesis I explore the relationship between the mobile phone and its user and argue that this relationship is crucial in merging the contexts of public and private, the physical and virtual, imagined and real, past and present, author and audience. I view this relationship as crucial to understanding the shift in the role of the audience from passive receivers of content to active producers ('Mobile Produsers'). Further, I argue that the diverse contexts of mobile content production and the definition of the content itself have become the central means by which mobile phone practices are emerging. I draw on anthropology, social science and media studies in order to explore the impact of mobile contexts, content, and use on identity. I propose that this approach allows for a new understanding of mobile practices as a form of spectacle, especially what I refer to as the spectacle of the self. Produsership theory informs an understanding of mobile practices, content production and performance, and the Bahktinian concept of carnival becomes a useful term in analysing the mobile as both performance and spectacle. Through an analysis of mobile content within cinematic culture, social interaction, and mixed media environments I consider the ways in which the mobile functions not only as a tool for positioning the individual, but also as performing an integral part in a multi-user process of mobile content production. In this sense, mobile content can be understood as a map, and the mobile as a compass used by the produser to navigate the mobile?s diverse contexts. Furthermore, I demonstrate that mobile content is collectively constructed while being individually absorbed. It is reflective of both the context and its user and open to constant questioning and interpretation, which is then shared with others. Finally, this thesis explores the notion of being t/here as mode of participating with the mobile in time and space, where one's identity is distributed across virtual and physical spaces, simultaneously locating the user as both here and there (t/here).