Internet Technologies

Copenhagen.
The next speaker at COST298 is Kresten Bjerg, who points us to problems in the health system. How can daily diaries created using the Phenomenalog software be used to track personal health information, for example? What role does telemedical monitoring play? How can they be connected?

This requires a consideration of how such interfaces model the doctor/patient interface, and how and whether personal information entered by the patient is transmitted to third parties. This is largely also a problem of psychology (in patients and their caretakers), and of developing such systems with patient needs and abilities in mind, rather than based purely on medical practitioners' needs or on technological possibilities.

Copenhagen.
The final session on this second day of COST298 starts with Inge Røpke and Toke Haunstrup Christensen, whose interest is in the environmental impact of ICT use. What new environmental threats are likely to emerge from current trends? This research was conducted through in-depth interviews with Danish users, and found pervasive, creative, and diversified ICT uses.

ICTs can be used for a wide range of activities, and are now integrated in almost any form of everyday life - this is different for example from the Hungarian example which we heard about earlier today, where being online is still an activity in its own right, rather than a condition for participating in a range of more specific activities. Inge now runs through a number of examples demonstrating the pervasiveness of ICTs - Webcams to monitor rooms, computers to monitor exercise activities, community email newsletters and Websites, and so on.

Copenhagen.
Finally now in this COST298 session we move on to Enid Mante-Meijer. Her interest is in the adoption of ICT innovation, which is a policy goal, for example, in the European Union especially in the context of broadband Internet access. What is innovation in the broadband society, though; what are the roles of push and pull factors; what helps or hinders innovation?

Innovation may be revolutionary, radical, or incremental; it is a concept relative to what exists already. Creativity plays an important role in adoption, as does the social context, and adoption may take time. Adoption is driven by push and pull factors, and Enid has examined examples for both as well as examples which show both elements. Online income tax forms or the new health system in Holland were clearly pushed by government decisions, for example, even in the face of user opposition; the adoption of digital TV in Flanders, on the other hand, was driven by both government and industry push and market pull, as was the adoption of Internet fridges in Denmark (!); use of mobile phones to network birdwatchers in Sweden, finally, was driven entirely by the birdwatchers themselves.

Copenhagen.
The next speaker at COST 298 is Philip Ely. He notes a long history of DIY activities; in the UK, for example, some 63% were involved in DIY activities in 2004. Digital DIY (d-DIY) is less visible - a process of customising and modifying, installing and reinstalling our electronic technologies, especially in the context of residential moves - that is, of often substantial life changes. In the process, people reconfigure their existing technologies.

This area has been underresearched so far. There is little observation, for example, of gender or socioeconomic differences, or from any other disciplinary perspectives. Philip observed the activities of a hobbyist computer group involved in building their own computers, and established a technology biography of a number of the group members - all of them middle-class white males, incidentally - but points out that mutatis mutandis such practices exist throughout society. Philip also conducted an autoethnography of his own d-DIY practices following a major life change of his own.

Copenhagen.
The next COST298 speaker is Ágnes Urbán, who wants us to move beyond innovators and early adopters in studies of Web 2.0 and other innovative developments. This builds on Rogers's diffusion theory and its extension in the context of new communication theory (network effects, user-led diffusion of ideas).

In Hungary, 41% of the population used the Net in 2007; another 7% have access to computers, but are not online. The rest of the population lag behind in technology adoption. What are the incentives and obstacles to their Internet usage, then? The study divided its focus on non-users with positive attitudes towards ICTs, non-users with negative attitudes, and light users who use computers and the Net,but have no access at home.

Copenhagen.
Lene Sørensen is up next at COST298, presenting on user demands for the next generation of social networking sites. Social networking is a very widespread activity now, and takes place across a large number of sites; it is no longer the domain of young users or a space for private activities only. Social network users engage in creative activities, and in self-management in relation to activities.

A number of further developments (towards Web 3.0 and Web 4.0) have already been foreshadowed by various authors - but what is it that actual users are interested in? To establish answers to such questions is non-trivial; for the most part, user expectations are limited by their knowledge of what is possible using existing information technology. Developers, too, operate mainly on their best guess of what additional features users may want.

Copenhagen.
Finally on to Selva Ersöz, who continues the Turkish theme at COST298. She notes the change in political discourse with the increasing use of the Internet - as some hope, Internet use may improve citizens' knowledge of political affairs, and enable them to participate in political processes more directly, while others fear misinformation, polarisation, and the continued domination of particular social classes.

Selva's study (during May/June 2007) examined the interactive features of four key political sites in Turkey, focussing on the question of whether they enabled better online political communication between citizens or whether they simply republished information available elsewhere. (Interactivity is divided here into user-to-user, user-to-document, and user-to-system interactivity.)

Copenhagen.
Next up at COST298 is Lelia Green, who shifts our interest to online participation by minors. The Net is often perceived as a risky place, but at the same time also as educational, fun, and communal - we must therefore consider what potential opportunities are cut off if the focus on risk comes to the fore.

A recent report from the US, for example, raises concerns about social networking sites; in February 2009, in fact, MySpace admitted the expulsion of 90,000 registered sex offenders during 2007-9 (out of a total number of 70 million members). EU Kids Online has similarly examined conduct, content, and contact online, and highlighted risks and challenges. In Australia, a 2007 Media and Communications in Australian Families report surveyed children aged 8-17 and their families.

Copenhagen.
The post-lunch session at COST298 kicks off with Lilia Raycheva, who notes that TV is still the most significant source of nformation in European households; they view an average of 3 hours per day, and by 2010 there will be some 120 HDTV channels. Analogue switchoff is supposed to be complete by 2012, but a number of European countries are lagging behind and may not meet that deadline. There is also a question whether current content regulations (diversity, local programming, etc.) will be able to be sustained in the new DTV environment.

Copenhagen.
And this pre-lunch session here at COST298 ends with Chantal de Gournay and Frank Thomas, who approach digital cities from a different perspective. Amongst the key issues for them are how to combine real, virtual, and social spaces, how to address local and global identities,communities, and neighbourhoods, and how to understand different modes of participation in the digital city.

Chantal highlights the possibility for a fifth screen (after TV, PC, videogames, and mobile phones) as urban spaces become augmented realities through the introduction of digital screens that allow both more traditional forms of broadcasting and new forms of 'egocasting', perhaps in response to people in the vicinity. This ubiquitous paradigm creates the 'seamless city', in which real and virtual life merge and different times and spaces blend into one. Potentially, in such spaces, everywhere is nowhere, and there is no sense of the here and now.