Technological Innovation and Social Change

Wendy is retiring, so I don't know how long her page here will remain active - get material on gender and STI before it goes!  Sorry for mis-spelling name in the title of this post!

‘Genders in/of engineering’, which was the subject of an ESRC funded ethnographic study of engineers and their work between 2003 and 2005. [click here for full research report] .

European collaborative study about strategies of gender inclusion in the information society (SIGIS), which has generated a massive resource for theory and policy development around gender and ICT. [See www.sigis.ist.org]

Another European collaborative project, Prometea, investigating women in engineering research [See www.prometea.info]

The politics and processes of enhancing public engagement in new or controversial areas of science and technology -  contributes to the programme of socioeconomic research on innovation in genomics at the University of Edinburgh INNOGEN Centre. [See www.talkingstemcells.ed.ac.uk]

the  course:
* Gender, Science and Technology (Honours course) [click here for course handout]

"Social Trends draws together social and economic data from a wide range of government departments and other organisations; it paints a broad picture of UK society today, and how it has been changing."
it is an enduring achioevment of the Social Indicators Mopvement of the 1960s/70s, and is now going online-only.

13 chapters  focus on specific policy areas:

• population,
• households and families,
• education and training,
• labour market, income and wealth,
• expenditure,
• health,
• social protection,
• crime and justice,
• housing,
• environment,
• transport,
• lifestyles
• social participation.

Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on "Gold Farming": Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games

Richard Heeks
Abstract

"From the start of the 21st century, a new form of employment has emerged in developing countries. It employs hundreds of thousands of people and earns hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Yet it has been almost invisible to both the academic and development communities. It is the phenomenon of "gold farming": the production of virtual goods and services for players of online games. China is the employment epicentre but the sub-sector has spread to other Asian nations and will spread further as online games-playing grows. It is the first example of a likely future development trend in online employment. It is also one of a few emerging examples in developing countries of "liminal ICT work"; jobs associated with digital technologies that are around or just below the threshold of what is deemed socially-acceptable and/or formally-legal.

This paper reviews what we know so far about gold farming, seeking to provide the first systematic analysis of the sub-sector. It assembles available data at the sectoral, enterprise and worker level. Five main analytical lenses are then applied. Economic analysis shows how exchange rate variations and scale economies do and do not impact gold farming; and the strong influence of information failure in the purchase of virtual items: known as "real-money trading". Analysis from the perspective of industrial sociology charts the commoditisation and globalisation of the sub-sector, while value chain models identify resource dependencies and power inequities. Enterprise analysis investigates enterprise entry, existence and progression, and outlines the competitive forces shaping the sub-sector's development; particularly threats. Developmental analysis investigates the impact of this sub-sector in macro and micro terms. Finally, there is a sociological analysis of the role played by perceptions and other social forces.

In using a broad base of analytical perspectives, the paper aims to encourage, and provide a stepping stone for, further research on this growing phenomenon. It concludes by outlining and justifying a future research agenda."

Prizes to incentivize innovation are going through a renaissance - they’re calling these “philanthropic prizes.” Interestingly, find that, “prizes are a unique and powerful tool that should be in the basic toolkit of many of today’s philanthropists.” Some benefits of the “prize inducement” model are:

• Identify new levels of excellence
• Encourage specific innovations
• Change wider perceptions
• Improve performance of communities of problem solvers
• Build the skills of individuals
• Mobilize new talent and capital

Some promising practices identified in the report include:

• Philanthropist matching a clear goal with a large group of potential problem solvers who are willing to absorb some risk.
• Start with a clearly define aspiration for society benefit which can be translated into prize objectives that are specific, motivational, actionable, results-focused and time bound.
• A good prize will invest significant resources into its design, specifying the competitor pool, rules and award attributes.
• An effective prize process is at least as important as the prize design, which will attract candidates, manage the competition, celebrate winners, and publicize the effort.
• A good sponsor will invest significant resources in post-prize activities that convert the awards result into long-term societal benefits.