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Politique, médias et développement : l'usage des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) dans le cas du Gabon en Afrique centrale / Politics, media and development : The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the case of Gabon in Central AfricaDitengou, Rockaya 08 December 2016 (has links)
La Gabon, pays d’Afrique centrale, compte une population d’environ 1 500 000 habitants.L’économie gabonaise repose principalement sur ses ressources en matières premières.Ouvert à l’environnement international le Gabon est depuis le tournant des années 1990 inscrit dans une logique de développement visant une diversification de ses secteurs économiques. C’est dans ce contexte que le pays s’intéresse aux TIC et à leur insertion dans son processus de développement. Ces TIC posent pourtant un triple défi : celui du savoir-faire ; du savoir-être ; et celui du maintien de l’intérêt général. Néanmoins, comme dans d’autres Etats africains francophones (notamment le Maroc, le Sénégal), les dirigeants gabonais ont perçu l’enjeu stratégique que constituent les TIC pour l’avenir du pays. En effet, l’usage et l’appropriation des TIC peuvent, s’ils sont maîtrisés et accompagnés par une politique publique clairvoyante, être une formidable chance de cohésion et d’intégration sociale. Ou, au contraire, en cas d’échec, un moment occasionnant une fracture sociale supplémentaire. Car si l’environnement défini par les TIC est celui de l’évolution accélérée et de la performance structurante, les difficultés restent importantes quant à l’adaptation et l’appropriation de ces outils par le plus grand nombre. Cette recherche s’intéresse précisément aux conditions d’une réelle cohésion sociale qui serait induite par les TIC. Celle-ci nécessite un contexte politique capable de favoriser l’accès à l’information au sens le plus large du terme. Dans cette perspective, cette thèse interroge l’exercice du pouvoir au Gabon et en Afrique centrale, les projets initiés par les acteurs étatiques et non étatiques, ainsi que divers mécanismes d’appropriation pouvant faciliter ou ralentir une intégration efficace de ces nouvelles technologies. / Gabon, a country of central Africa, has a population of about 1 500 000 inhabitants. TheGabonese economy relies mainly on its natural resources. Since the begining of 1990, this countryhas chosen a development plan, aiming at the diversification of its economic sectors. It is in thisperspective that the country pays a particular attention to ICT (Information and CommunicationTechnology) and to its intergration in the process of development. However, ICT poses a triplechallenge: that of know-how; social skills; and that of the preservation of the general interest. Asin the other french-speaking countries, Gabonese leaders have understood the strategic importanceof ICT in the future of Gabon. The fact remains that the use and appropriation of ICT can bebeneficial, if they are mastered and guided by a farsighted public policy,which is a greatopportunity for social cohesion and intergration. On the other hand, when this fails, it can bringabout additional inequalities. As a matter of fact, if the environment defined by ICT is that ofaccelerating change and structural performance, the difficulties are significant when it comes tothe adaptation and the appropriation of these tools by many people. This research is interested inthe conditions of a real social cohesion which would be fostered by ICT. This requires a politicalcontext which favours access to Information Technology in the largest sense. We are thereforefocusing our attention on the political structures.
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Exploring the creation and evolution of ICT for development initiatives in India : issues of scaling through bricolage, business model design and inclusive innovationGaur, Aakanksha 18 November 2016 (has links)
Cette thèse de doctorat étudie la façon dont les organisations, en particulier les entreprises sociales, créent et mettent en œuvre des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) pour les populations vivant "au bas de la pyramide" (BoP) et comment de tels projets permettent de lutter contre l'exclusion (ICT4D). Ce travail de recherche est basé sur des données recueillies à partir de deux organisations situées en Inde, l'une opérant principalement dans les zones rurales et l'autre dans les milieux urbains. Ces deux organisations ciblent principalement les populations marginalisées, et opèrent dans un marché strictement réglementé. Ces données ont été collecté principalement à partir d'approches qualitatives. comprenant des interviews, et des documents d'archives. Après un chapitre introductif présentant les motivations et spécificités de ce travail, cette thèse est composée de trois articles. Le premier article explique comment les entreprises sociales répondent à la fois à une mission sociale et une mission de profit, en fournissant des services TIC aux populations marginalisées. Cet article explique comment les entreprises sociales utilisent différentes formes de bricolage pour faire face aux défis liés aux ressources disponibles et aux contraintes réglementaires. Le deuxième article examine l'importance des composants d'un modèle d'affaire dans la fourniture de TIC. Cet article suggère que, en plus de la proposition, l'architecture et la finance, le réseau "innofusion" et la valeur de co-création sont deux éléments supplémentaires essentiels à un modèle d'affaire pertinent pour les communautés marginalisées. Le troisième article propose une théorisation du rôle de l'innovation inclusive (une forme d'innovation émergente pour les marchés à faible revenu) pour permettre le développement des communautés marginalisées. Cette approche propose de tenir compte (1) du rôle des institutions financières dans les zones rurales et (2) de la prolifération rapide des TIC pour faciliter l'innovation inclusive, en prenant pour exemple les femmes en milieu rural. Enfin, cette thèse offre plusieurs contributions théoriques et pratiques. Tout d'abord, en mobilisant le concept de bricolage, cette recherche fournit des indications utiles à la compréhension des TIC pour les populations marginalisées, en particulier dans un contexte de ressources limitées et d'environnement restrictif. Le deuxième article propose également une contributions théorique majeure puisqu'il souligne l'importance des composants d'un modèles d'affaire en proposant l'addition de deux nouveaux composants pour l'introduction des TIC au sein des populations marginalisées à savoir le réséau innofusion, et la co-création de valeur. Et le troisième article fournit une analyse précise et détaillée de l'innovation inclusive pour les populations marginalisées. Enfin, cette thèse suggère aux professionnels comment structurer leurs opérations et leurs modèles de revenus pour des populations à faible revenu. De manière générale, cette thèse ouvre la voie pour l'étude des populations marginalisées, en terme de recherche en système d'information, qui a reçu jusqu'alors une attention trop limitée / This dissertation investigates how organizations (specifically social enterprises) create and implement information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) projects for the people at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) and how such initiatives achieve scale. Building upon the case of mobile money in India, it explains how organizations develop ICT4D projects for the BoP, and explores the issues of business models, inclusivity and scaling in such projects. It is based on data collected from two organizations, one with operations mainly in rural areas and the other one in an urban setting. These organizations which primarily target marginalized communities, operate in a strictly regulated market, and face initial resource challenges. The data is collected from multiple sources, including interviews and archival material such as organizational records, annual reports, formal project reports, etc. Following the introductory chapter, the dissertation comprises three related papers. The first explains how social enterprises that have both a social and a profit mission, provide ICT-enabled services to the people at the BoP and achieve scale. It discusses how ICT social enterprises employ different forms of bricolage to cope with resource challenges and regulatory constraints and scale up. The second paper examines the role of business models in providing ICTs to the BoP and discusses the key components of such business models. It proposes that in addition to the previously discussed value proposition, value architecture and value finance components, innofusion network and value co-creation are also crucial components of such business models due to the specific characteristics of the BoP communities. The final paper of this dissertation theorizes the role of inclusive innovation (an emerging form of innovation in low income markets) in enabling development for marginalized communities. Taking into account 1) the role of micro financial institutions in rural areas and 2) the rapid proliferation of mobile technologies, it studies the ways in which micro financial institutions leverage mobile technologies to facilitate inclusive innovation in marginalised communities, specifically those for women. The dissertation offers contributions to theory and practice. First, by investigating bricolage, it provides useful insights into understanding aspects of scaling for ICT social enterprises, particularly in resource constrained and restrictive environments. Second, it discusses the particular importance of business models for the BoP. Given the specificities of BoP communities, I propose five key dimensions of business models that are appropriate for delivering ICTs. Extending this, the third paper also proposes contributions to the emerging field of inclusive innovation and provides a novel way to understand innovation in marginalised communities. The dissertation also provides practitioners (that deal with BoP communities) useful insights into the ways in which they might structure their operations and revenue models and deal with the partners they could engage with to expand and scale. Finally, this dissertation argues for more focus on marginalised communities such as women in rural areas that have received limited attention in IS research
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Asset seeking foreign direct investment : the role of lead users / L'investissement direct étranger à la recherche d'actifs : le rôle des utilisateurs à l'avant-garde du marchéAhmed Ibrahim El-Demery, Noha 16 March 2011 (has links)
La littérature de l’IDE à la recherche d’actifs ignore le rôle des utilisateurs à l’avantgardedu marché («lead users»). La thèse, à travers deux modèles de théorie des jeux,montre l’impact des «lead users» sur l’arbitrage entre l’IDE et l’exportation. Touteschoses égales par ailleurs, selon le 1er modèle, l’IDE est plus profitable dans uneinnovation poussée par l’offre, pour apprendre sur les besoins avancés des «lead users»,mais plus élevé est le risque de spécification erronée du produit par rapport aux besoinslocaux. La probabilité de spécification erronée augmente avec la radicalité de latechnologie et la différence entre l’environnement d’usage des deux pays. Selon le 2èmemodèle, le «lead user» révélant son innovation attire l’IDE en augmentant laconnaissance tacite incorporée dans l’innovation. Pour pousser l’investisseur àdévelopper l’innovation, le «lead user» maximise la généralité de l’innovation et sacomposante tacite. Si la multinationale a un niveau élevé d’actifs spécifiques, unarrangement l’avantagera par rapport à ses concurrents potentiels. Pour un équilibre dePareto, l’investisseur maximise l’amélioration qu’il apporte à l’innovation et privilégiele «lead user» par rapport aux autres utilisateurs. En Egypte, des obstacles interviennententre la volonté d’adopter la technologie de l’information et de la communication (TIC)et son adoption effective. Des filiales intégrées dans les réseaux d’innovation locauxcontribuent à la réduction de la fracture numérique liée à l’usage. Les entretiens avec lesresponsables du gouvernement électronique montrent que le gouvernement voulantdiffuser les TICs peut devenir un «lead user» innovateur. / Literature on asset seeking foreign direct investment (FDI) ignores the role of the hostcountry’s lead users. The thesis through two game theoretic models shows the impact oflead users on FDI decision versus exports. All other things equal, the 1st model proposesthat, FDI is more profitable in a technology push innovation, in order to learn about leadusers’ advanced needs, the higher the risk of product misspecification relative to localneeds. The probability of misspecification increases in the radicalness of the technologyand in the difference in the use environment between the two countries. The 2nd modelstudies the impact of lead users’ innovation. All other things equal, lead users whoreveal their innovation attract FDI, the higher the tacit knowledge incorporated in theirinnovation. To push the foreign investor to develop their innovation, lead users shallmaximize its generality and its tacit component. If the multinational has high firmspecificassets, then an arrangement to privilege the foreign investor relative to hispotential competitors would arise. To have a Pareto optimum equilibrium, the foreigninvestor shall maximize the improvements he brings to lead users’ innovation and shallprivilege lead users relative to other users. The thesis observes Egyptian informationand communication technology sector (ICT). There are obstacles interfering betweenthe adoption decision and actual adoption. Integrated subsidiaries within localinnovation networks can play a role in reducing the digital divide related to usage.Interviews with electronic government’s executives show that the government in orderto diffuse ICT may become an innovator lead user.
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Le droit de l'OHADA face au commerce électronique / OHADA law pertaining to e-commerceSanni Yaya, Mouhamadou 11 July 2011 (has links)
Le droit de l’OHADA face au commerce électronique est une réflexion épistémologique sur les questions juridiques que posent les transactions électroniques au sein des pays de l’Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA). Plus précisément, cette réflexion est une prospective sur l’encadrement juridique du commerce électronique par l’OHADA à partir des expériences menées notamment en Amérique du Nord (Canada-Québec) et en Europe. Les nouvelles technologies de l’information posent en Afrique comme elles l’ont fait ailleurs des défis au droit. Plusieurs initiatives régionales et nationales ont vu le jour au cours des dernières années pour relever ces défis. Seulement, le caractère hétérogène des législations mises en place est à même d’altérer la sécurité juridique régionale tant recherchée par l’organisation. Prenant appui sur la théorie de la circulation des modèles juridiques, cette thèse propose une véritable harmonisation dans le cadre de l’OHADA. Harmonisation qui veillera à prendre en compte les « spécificités africaines » tout en faisant de la Cour commune de Justice et d’Arbitrage (CCJA) d’Abidjan la plus haute juridiction communautaire en matière de commerce électronique. / Le droit de l’OHADA face au commerce électronique (OHADA law pertaining toe-commerce) is an epistemological reflection on the legal issues raised by e-tradeconducted among members of the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Lawin Africa (OHADA). This forward-looking analysis of the organization’s legalframework governing e-commerce draws upon relevant experiments carried out notablyin North America (Canada-Québec) and Europe. In Africa, as elsewhere, the newinformation technologies pose certain legal challenges. During the past several years,various regional and national initiatives have addressed these challenges. However, the heterogeneous nature of the different laws implemented impairs the regional-level legalsecurity sought by OHADA. Building on legal transplant, this dissertation proposes,within the context of OHADA, a true harmonization that will ensure that “Africanspecificities” are taken into account while making the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) in Abidjan the highest community jurisdiction in matters of e-commerce.
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Le design des programmes : des façons de faire du numérique / Program design : ways of doing digitalMasure, Anthony 10 November 2014 (has links)
Cette thèse interroge le design depuis les pratiques de programmation en montrant qu'elles ne se réduisent pas à une industrie des programmes, qui empêche les inventions de naître tout à fait. Pour cela, elle confronte au sein d'une lecture non linéaire cinq moments de l'histoire du numérique (depuis Vannevar Bush en 1945, dont une traduction inédite est proposée en appendice, jusqu'aux usages contemporains du site web GitHub) à quatre formulations conceptuelles issues d'un corpus philosophique. Le choix d'auteurs qui n'ont pas directement voué leurs réflexions au design (comme Jacques Derrida, Hannah Arendt ou Walter Benjamin) permet de déconstruire un certain nombre de discours entourant la réception des technologies dites nouvelles. Critiquant nombre d'usages faits des notions de conception et de projet et s'appuyant finalement sur Gilbert Simondon, cette thèse s'intéresse à ce qui n'est pas prévisible dans les programmes. Elle soutient cinq axes ou directions pour une recherche dans le champ concerné: décentrer, authentifier, appareiller, traduire et désarticuler. La plausibilité de ces façons de faire du numérique, encore à l'état d'ébauche dans les productions contemporaines, peut intéresser les designers au-delà des spécialistes. Elle est avérée en fin d'ouvrage dans la description d'une fiction curatoriale. / This dissertation questions design through programming practices, showing how they cannot be summed up in program industries which prevent inventions from happening. To this end, it confronts, by a non-linear reading, five periods in the Digital History (since Vannevar Bush in 1945, including a new unpublished translation available as an appendix, to the contemporary use of the website GitHub) with four concepts extracted from a philosophical corpus. The choice of author who have not directly dedicated their writings to Design (such as Jacques Derrida, Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin) can deconstruct a number of discourses regarding the arrival of so-called new technologies. After redefining concept and project in design practices and project, and then supported by Gilbert Simondon, this dissertation focuses on what is not predictable in programs. It defends five lines or directions for researches in the relevant field: decentralize, certify, kit or translate and dislocate. The plausibility of these ways to make digital, still in draft form in contemporary productions, may interest designers beyond specialists. A demonstration is made at the end of the dissertation with the description of curatorial fiction.
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Sustainable photocatalytic oxidation processes for the treatment of emerging microcontaminantsDavididou, Konstantina January 2018 (has links)
This work investigates the elimination of new and emerging microcontaminants (EMs) from water by means of photochemical oxidation processes, namely heterogeneous and homogeneous photocatalysis. Representative compounds of artificial sweeteners (saccharin, SAC), endocrine disruptors (bisphenol-A, BPA), and pharmaceutica ls (antipyrine, AP) of high environmental persistence and widespread occurrence in the water cycle are used as case studies. Novel concepts that can make photochemica l oxidation a more cost-effective and environmentally benign technology are tested. In Chapter 4, the photocatalytic treatment of SAC and BPA is investigated. Novel submicronic anatase-rutile nanocomposite particles with tuned phase ratio are used as catalysts to increase the photocatalytic performance under UVA irradiation. At the best-assayed conditions (C0 = 3 mg/L, catalyst = 400 mg/L), SAC and BPA are completely degraded within 90 and 150 min of photocatalytic treatment, respectively. [variables: anatase-rutile ratio; initial substrate concentration; catalyst concentration; catalyst reuse; sonication during catalyst recovery] In Chapter 5, a UVA light-emitting diode (UVA-LED) and sunlight are used as irradiation sources to reduce energy requirements and environmental impacts of photocatalytic processes. The photocatalytic degradation of SAC and BPA is studied under UVA irradiation provided by either a UVA-LED or a conventional fluoresce nt blacklight UVA lamp (UVA-BL) and solar irradiation. At the best-assayed conditions (C0 = 2.5 mg/L, TiO2 = 250 mg/L), BPA is completely degraded within 20, 30, and 120 min under UVA-LED, solar, and UVA-BL irradiation, respectively. The treatment time required for the complete elimination of SAC is 20 min under UVA-LED and 90 min under UVA-BL irradiation. [variables: initial substrate concentration; catalyst concentration; water matrix; light source; reactor configuration] In Chapter 6, a comparative study is carried out among the photocatalytic systems of Chapters 4 and 5 in terms of EMs removal, photonic and energy efficiencies. Technica l and economic aspects of all the processes are assessed. LED-driven photocatalysis achieves the highest efficiency in terms of organic removal with the minimum energy consumption, rendering it the most sustainable technology for the treatment of EMs. In Chapter 7, olive mill wastewater (OMW) is used as an iron-chelating agent in the photo-Fenton reaction to obviate the need for water acidification at pH 2.8. Conventional, OMW- and EDDS-assisted photo-Fenton treatment is applied for SAC degradation in a solar compound parabolic collector (CPC). It was found that OMW forms iron complexes able to catalyse H2O2 decomposition and generate hydroxyl radicals. At the optimal OMW dilution (1:800), 90% of SAC is degraded within 75 min. [variables: pH; iron-chelating agent; initial SAC concentration; OMW dilution] In Chapter 8, other complexing and oxidising agents, namely oxalate and persulfate, are used for the intensification of AP degradation during UVA-LED photo-Fenton treatment. Neural networks are applied for process modelling and optimisation. At the optimal conditions (hydrogen peroxide = 100 mg/L, ferrous iron = 20 mg/L, oxalic acid = 100 mg/L), complete degradation of AP and 93% mineralisation is achieved within 2.5 and 60 min, respectively. [variables: initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide, ferrous iron, oxalic acid, persulfate] It is concluded that LED-driven photocatalysis is a sustainable technology for the elimination of EMs from water. Results from this work highlight the need for development and optimisation of engineering proper LED reactors. Furthermore, this work introduces a new concept towards the sustainable operation of photo-Fenton that is based on the use of wastewaters rich in polyphenols instead of pricey and hazardous chemicals for iron chelation. The addition of ferrioxalate complexes is proposed for the intensification of EMs mineralisation during UVA-LED photo-Fenton treatment. Finally, the findings of this work encourage the use of chemometric tools as predictive and optimisation tools.
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Conception d’un service de transport par navettes autonomes acceptable et sécurisé : approche ergonomique par l’analyse des expériences vécues et des valeurs en acte / Lived experiences and actual values of the supervisors for the design of a shuttles transport service intended in becoming autonomousMonéger, Ferdinand 30 November 2018 (has links)
Dans le cadre d’un projet industriel de conception de navettes de transport autonomes (sans chauffeur), nous avons analysé les expériences vécues et les valeurs en acte des régulateurs afin d'identifier leur contribution à l'acceptation et à la sécurité des navettes et du service associé. En effet, à l'étape du développement actuel du projet, le système de transport n'atteint pas le niveau d'autonomie visé et des régulateurs œuvrent au fonctionnement du service – dont des accompagnants qui sont systématiquement présents à bord de chaque navette. Nous avons mis en perspectives ces analyses avec les analyses des activités et des valeurs d’autres acteurs impliqués dans le processus de conception : les passagers, les usagers des sites non-utilisateurs des navettes, les exploitants des navettes, les concepteurs. Entre 2013 et 2016, des investigations ont été menées sur six sites européens sur lesquels les navettes étaient mises à l'essai. Ont alors été réalisés : des analyses systématiques des situations critiques gérées par les régulateurs, des entretiens composites (semi-directifs inspirés des techniques d'explicitation) auprès des régulateurs, des exploitants, des concepteurs, des questionnaires à destination des usagers des sites (passagers ou non). Les investigations menées ont montré que les régulateurs mobilisaient principalement 7 valeurs. Les investigations ont également révélé l’existence de 19 situations critiques (situations dans lesquelles les régulateurs doivent arbitrer entre des valeurs en conflit). Les réponses apportées par les régulateurs en situations critiques révèlent que la hiérarchisation de ces valeurs dépend d’arbitrages variables et situés. Nous discutons enfin de la contribution de ces réponses à l’acceptation du système de transport, notamment en fiabilisant sa performance, en gérant sa sécurité, en maximisant son utilité et en développant une relation de service auprès des passagers. Ces résultats conduisent ainsi à interroger le statut de l’humain dans les processus de conception et d’acceptation de technologies autonomes et sécurisées. / As part of an industrial project to design autonomous (driverless) shuttles, we have analyzed the experiences and values of the supervisors, so as to identify their contribution to the acceptance of the shuttles and related services and to be able to continue to design this transport service. It would seem that the system under investigation is currently not autonomous to the degree that had been expected, with a human supervisor operating on-board during every trip. In 2015 and 2016, studies were carried out at six european sites where shuttles were being tested. The following were performed : systematic analyses of critical situations dealt with by the supervisors, composite interviews (semi-structured, based on elicitation interviews) with supervisors, owners, designers, and questionnaires to sites users. Results show that supervisors mobilize seven values in their activity. We have identified 19 critical situations involving arbitration, in which these values appear to be contradictory. The responses of the supervisors, in situation, show that the prioritization of these values depends on various situated arbitrations. We then discuss how these responses contribute towards the acceptance of the transport system, notably by making its performance more reliable, maximizing its usefulness and developing a service relationship with the passengers. These results thus lead us to question the status of the human being in autonomous technology and related services, design and acceptance processes
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Predicting mature consumers' attitudes towards use of self-service technologies in the financial services contextRose, Janelle January 2007 (has links)
[Abstract]: The combination of increased numbers of ageing consumers, decreased access to personal services, and reluctance to use self-service technologies (SSTs) among some mature consumers highlighted the need to identify the factors that influence the use of these technologies. In the Australian context, research investigating mature consumers is an emerging area with limited knowledge relating to their use of SSTs.Through extending the original technology acceptance model (TAM), a well-established model from the information technology domain, this thesis incorporated six external variables into the model and investigated the use of SSTs among mature consumers in the financial services context. The thesis also examined the moderating effects of demographic characteristics on the relationships within the extended TAM (ETAM).Using cross sectional data from a sample of 208 mature consumers in Study 1, the original TAM and ETAM were tested. Based on these findings, improvements were made for Study 2, where the modified models were tested on data from a national sample of 2,253 mature consumers. Path analysis indicated that self-efficacy, technology discomfort, perceived risk and personal contact made a significant unique contribution to predicting attitude and behaviour over and above the two belief variables in TAM, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The four variables in the ETAM were significant predictors of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Results also suggested that age and education act as moderating variables in this model. These findings can serve as a basis for designing educational and communication strategies to foster greater use of SSTs in the financial context among mature consumers.A second aim of this thesis was to explore usage patterns of self-service banking technologies (SSBTs) among different segments of the mature consumer market in Australia. The diversity of the mature consumer market was reflected through establishing three behavioural segments, namely non-users, low users and medium-to-high users of SSBTs, providing a deeper understanding of mature consumers’ knowledge and patterns of behaviour towards using these technologies and personal services in the financial context.The findings contributed to the understanding of mature consumers’ behaviour towards SSBTs for academics, financial practice and policy formation by government and not-for-profit senior organisations responsible for improving financial literacy and productive ageing among mature consumers.
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Vulnerability, Care, Power, and Virtue: Thinking Other Animals AnewThierman, Stephen 07 January 2013 (has links)
This thesis is a work of practical philosophy situated at the intersection of bioethics, environmental ethics, and social and political thought. Broadly, its topic is the moral status of nonhuman animals. One of its pivotal aims is to encourage and foster the “sympathetic imaginative construction of another’s reality” and to determine how that construction might feed back on to understandings of ourselves and of our place in this world that we share with so many other creatures.
In the three chapters that follow the introduction, I explore a concept (vulnerability), a tradition in moral philosophy (the ethic of care), and a philosopher (Wittgenstein) that are not often foregrounded in discussions of animal ethics. Taken together, these sections establish a picture of other animals (and of the kinship that humans share with them) that can stand as an alternative to the utilitarian and rights theories that have been dominant in this domain of philosophical inquiry.
In my fifth and sixth chapters, I extend this conceptual framework by turning to the work of Michel Foucault. Here, I develop a two-pronged approach. The first direction – inspired by Foucault’s work on “technologies of power” – is a broad, top-down engagement that explores many of the social apparatuses that constitute the power-laden environments in which human beings and other animals interact. I focus on the slaughterhouse in particular and argue that it is a pernicious institution in which care and concern are rendered virtually impossible. The second direction – inspired by Foucault’s later work on “technologies of the self” – is a bottom-up approach that looks at the different ways that individuals care for, and fashion themselves, as ethical subjects. Here, I examine the dietary practice of vegetarianism, arguing that it is best understood as an ethical practice of self-care.
One virtue of my investigation is that it enables a creative synthesis of disparate strands of philosophical thought (i.e. analytic, continental, and feminist traditions). Another is that it demonstrates the philosophical importance of attending to both the wider, institutional dimension of human-animal interactions and to the lived, embodied experiences of individuals who must orient themselves and live their lives within that broader domain. This more holistic approach enables concrete critical reflection that can be the impetus for social, and self-, transformation.
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Toward an Understanding of "Weak Signals" of Technological Change and Innovation in the Internet IndustryNoriega Velasco, Julio January 2013 (has links)
Identifying the emergence and development of new technologies has become an essential ability for firms competing in dynamic environments. Nonetheless, current technology intelligence practices are unstructured and vaguely defined. Moreover, the existing literature in future technology studies lacks strong, systematic explanations of what technologies are, where technologies come from, and how new technologies emerge and evolve. The present study builds on Structuration Theory, and proposes the structurational model of emerging technologies (SMET). The SMET suggests not only an ongoing view of technologies as social objects, but also a process for thinking through scientifically the complex, multidimensional and emergent dynamic of social and technological change. The SMET proposes that the emergence and development of a new technology can be tracked by examining systematically and collectively the extent of development of its technology-related social structure – its degree of structuration. The degree of structuration of a technology is an ongoing process instantiated in social practices, and can be observed through visible patterns or specific social outcomes of systemic activity organized in three analytical dimensions: structures of meaning, power, and legitimacy. The SMET assumes that the conceptual initiation of a new technology triggers new patterns of social activity or a signal of technological change; thus, the variation in the slope or trajectory of the degree of structuration of a technology may indicate an early signal of technological change. The SMET sets a foundation for identifying early signals of technological change when it is used on a systematic basis.
Empirically, the study conducted an exploratory case study in the Internet industry. The study employed a sequential transformative mixed method procedure, and relied on 77 Internet experts to create retrospectively a systematic and collective interpretation of the Internet industry in the last ten (10) years. The test of hypotheses was based on only seven (7) Internet technologies due to time and instrumental constraints. The results confirm the fundamental relationships among constructs in the model, and support, thus, the SMET. The degree of structuration of a technology is revealed as a process independent of individuals’ participation in the enactment of a technology. Technological outcomes are explained by the extent of development of structures of meaning, power, and legitimacy (i.e., the degree of structuration of a technology). Moreover, influential technological outcomes shape individuals’ perspectives over time – i.e., the structurational effect. Hence, the study not only provides evidence that supports this novel theoretical framework, but also illustrates methodologically how to identify the emergence and development of new technologies. Likewise, the study discusses the implications of these results for technology management practices (e.g., product and technology development, innovation policies, and technology transfer activities). Lastly, the study recognizes limitations and suggests further research avenues.
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