Search results for "technology"
showing 10 items of 30343 documents
Realizing the social acceptance of community renewable energy: A process-outcome analysis of stakeholder influence
2014
This study shows how stakeholders influence the development of community renewable energy (CRE) schemes and how they are influenced by their outcome. It relies on information collected during 41 structured interviews with local people involved in CRE initiatives in seven regions of Europe. The interviews were thematically analyzed to identify different types of stakeholder influence. The findings show that stakeholder influence on CRE schemes take place at three distinct levels: macro, intercommunity and intracommunity. In addition, key stakeholders can support or hinder the development of a project according to whether or not they perceive that the output of the project may benefit or harm…
The relationship between context, structure, and processes with outcomes of 6 regional diabetes networks in Europe
2018
BackgroundWhile health service provisioning for the chronic condition Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) often involves a network of organisations and professionals, most evidence on the relationships between the structures and processes of service provisioning and the outcomes considers single organisations or solo practitioners. Extending Donabedian's Structure-Process-Outcome (SPO) model, we investigate how differences in quality of life, effective coverage of diabetes, and service satisfaction are associated with differences in the structures, processes, and context of T2D services in six regions in Finland, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Spain, and UK.MethodsData collection consisted of: a) systemat…
Equal access to the top? Measuring selection into finnish academia
2019
In this article, we draw a parallel between equality of opportunity in educational transitions and equality of opportunity in academic careers. In both cases, many methodological problems can be ameliorated by the use of longitudinal rather than cross-sectional data. We illustrate this point by using Finnish full-population register data to follow the educational and academic careers of the 1964–1966 birth cohorts from birth to the present day. We show how the Finnish professoriate is highly selected both in terms of parental background and in terms of gender. Individuals of different backgrounds differ greatly in the likelihood of completing different educational and academic transitions, …
Gender segregation in the employment of higher education graduates
2014
This article examines the employment and placement in the working life of Finnish higher education graduates (i.e. graduates from universities and polytechnics), focusing on gender equality. It reports a study on gender segregation in higher education and working life, considered in relation to Nordic gender equality policies. The data were gathered via a questionnaire administered to graduates in business and administration (n = 1067) and in technology (n = 1087), three years after their graduation. The results showed that men were able to secure permanent and full-time employment more often than women, and men achieved better correspondence between their degree and their employment. Howev…
Making the case for policy : persuasiveness in higher education, science and technology policy discourse
2015
Policy texts present problems, propose solutions to those problems and persuade multiple audiences of the legitimacy of the proposed problems and solutions. The rhetorical analysis of two decades of higher education and science and technology discourse in Finland, Germany, UK, Portugal and USA highlights the discursive elements that contribute to persuasiveness of policy, construe it as rational and logical, and create a sense of urgency in bringing it about. I argue that the analytical and hortatory registers of policy discourse foreground competitive and hierarchical relations of countries and their higher education systems. By construing certain state of affairs and courses of action as …
Does corn market uncertainty impact the US ethanol prices?
2018
The growing interest in biofuel as a green energy source has intensified the linkages between corn and ethanol markets, especially in the United States that represents the largest producing and exporting country for ethanol in the world. In this study, we examine the effect of corn market uncertainty on the price changes of US ethanol applying a set of GARCH-jump models. We find that the US ethanol price changes react positively to the corn market volatility shocks after controlling for the effect of oil price uncertainty. In addition, we document that the impact of corn price volatility on the US ethanol prices appears to be asymmetric. Specifically, only the positive corn market volatilit…
Harnessing Women’s Potential as a Soft Engine for Growth : Lessons from Contrasting Trajectories between Finland and Japan for Growing Economies
2017
Harnessing the vigor of women’s potential is essential for inclusive economic growth in a digital economy moving toward aging society. This can be a soft engine for sustainable growth substitutable for costly hard investment. While there exists explicit evidence of a virtual cycle between economic growth and gender balance improvement, emerging countries cannot afford to overcome the constraints of low income. Given the foregoing, this paper analyzed possible co-evolution between economic growth, gender balance improvement and digital innovation initiated by information and communication technology (ICT) advancement. Using a unique dataset representing the state of gender balance improvemen…
Digital generations, but not as we know them
2019
The aim of this article is to see whether or not adolescents were the real leaders of the digital ‘revolution’ in the 1990s and whether they have sustained or even improved their position in the 2000s. The analysis is based on two surveys carried out in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain in 1996 ( N = 6609) and in 2009 ( N = 7255). The results show that the adolescents belonging to the first digital generation in 1996 were the most equipped with new technologies, although not the most intensive users. In 2009, the adolescents lost their position as the leading adopters and lagged behind youth and young adults regarding the use of new technologies and computer skills.
International artists-in-residence 1990-2010 : mobility, technology and identity in everyday art practices
2016
Considering the exponential growth of artistic residencies between 1990 and 2010 at an international level, artists working in associated mobility programmes have been challenged by unsettled transnational working practices and competition. This, in turn, provides them with the opportunity to develop their creative processes. It is shown that artists’-in-residence openness and willingness to travel internationally is, on the one hand, related to the development of information technology, and on the other, supported by travelling facilities, which have impact on lifelong learning and cultural maintenance. Whereas change of geographical environment is often associated to psychological and phy…
Design of mobile phones for older adults : An empirical analysis of design guidelines and checklists for feature phones and smartphones
2017
Design guidelines and checklists are suggested as a useful tool in the development and evaluation of interface design of mobile phones for older adults. Given the intense evolution of mobile phone design, understanding how the design guidelines and checklists have taken into account the advances in mobile phone usability for older adults is important for their correct application and future development. Thus, this study explores the usability dimensions of mobile phone design for older adults and the related changes in terms of time and the type of device (feature phones vs. smartphones) based on an expert coding of the eight mobile phone design guidelines and checklists for older adults pu…