Showing papers in "Technology in Society in 2001"

TL;DR: In this article, the attitudes of students in four countries: the United States, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Pakistan, were asked to evaluate nine ethical scenarios of increasing consequence, and an analysis of the data produced three significant findings: software ethics are country-dependent; softlifting and piracy are distinct ethical problems; and Hofstede's cultural dimensions suggest a relationship between one of the four dimensions and softlifting.

TL;DR: In this article, Hughes' systems approach is used to understand how polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has been subject to various criticisms concerning health and environmental hazards, but despite and thanks to these criticisms became deeply entrenched in society.

TL;DR: Police technologies are evolving into machine systems that code and decode information embedded in urban spaces, with the ability to track movements of targeted individuals and groups and identify the unseen remnants left by targets of these surveillance machines.

TL;DR: In this paper, the extent to which farmers have adopted electronic communication was examined based on survey data from Iowa farms, and the analysis found that the capacity to receive information via various means of telecommunication reinforces producer support for more one-on-one and personalized communication.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the adoption of an agricultural innovation by Iowa farmers and found that complex terms are used in the adoption research, and this complexity can lead to generalizations and unreliable conclusions, and the validity of research when there is no consistency in operationalizing terms.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare innovation policies in the integrated circuit industries of the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the United States, and the People's Republic of China, focusing on three topics: (1) national preferences for innovation policy; (2) the influence of innovation policy on industry innovation requirements; and (3) the competitive advantages realized as a result of industrial innovation requirements in the four countries.

TL;DR: In this article, the research and development programs of the European Union (EU) contribute to a network effect of scientific cooperation and collaborative practices among participating institutions, and a study of the links established under EU research programs shows the development of a collective European research system.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the process of technology transfer at the operational level in industrially developing and developed countries, and reveal that many technology transfer projects do not or, at best, only marginally contribute to technological development.

TL;DR: In a survey of agricultural scientists throughout California universities, the researchers were asked to identify technologies they believe will have the widest impact on agriculture by 2010 as mentioned in this paper, and four major technologies were mentioned most frequently: global positioning systems, geographic information systems, biotechnology, and the Internet.

TL;DR: The dossiers of typhoid, diphtheria, cholera, tuberculosis, pneumonia/influenza, heart disease, cancer, and AIDS are shown, showing how improvements in water and air supply and other aspects of the environment provided cardinal defenses against infection.

TL;DR: The continuing development of wireless technology means ever-evolving impacts on the computer, telecommunications, and microprocessor industries and society in general will also see changes in the ways it handles tasks like trading stocks and banking.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify social, political, legal, and ethical areas of inquiry, and provide easy-to-understand examples of how biotechnology and genetic engineering are being applied.

TL;DR: The role of science and scientists in influencing foreign policy issues has diminished since the end of the Cold War as mentioned in this paper, arguing that scientists hold one among many legitimate claims of a role in the policy process.

TL;DR: A third megamachine, the inference engine, is under development, which will increasingly enable suppliers to go beyond the explicit selections of buyers and to infer and anticipate their needs and wishes and is beginning to produce another revolution in patterns of commerce.

TL;DR: In this paper, an overview of discussions at two international conferences on the role of scientists in international conflict resolution is presented, with special attention to conflicts in the Balkans, the Maghreb, and the Middle East.

TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that this effect is illusory and is due primarily to changes in the mix of fuels and to increasing importation of energy-intensive products.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined rural telephone companies in the State of Iowa and the organizational characteristics and environmental factors related to their adoption of innovative telecommunications technologies and services and found that the involvement of rural telephone company in local development activities was important to their technological innovativeness.

TL;DR: The origins of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) in the post-war reconstruction effort and its evolution as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are described in this paper.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the process of building competence and technological learning, with a specific focus on the role of international collaboration, foreign imports, and indigenous efforts during the technology acquisition and building of rocket launching systems, satellite control and tracking systems, and earth stations.

TL;DR: From the perspective of a longtime participant in scientific interchange at the international level, the authors explores a dichotomy of viewpoint between political and scientific leaders, the former tend to view science as a natural bridge for bringing people and nations together in greater harmony, while scientists themselves more often emphasize material benefits to society.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the underlying political, social and environmental factors that produce significant local divergences from the general developmental pattern of the forest industry and argue that the outcome of industrial development can be significantly altered in quite unexpected ways by the variable, local, social, and material conditions in which production occurs.

TL;DR: The universalism and objectivity inherent in the scientific process endow science and scientific communities with a natural potential for international cooperation and to harness this potential and transfer it into a flow of useful results for international peace is the objective of the NATO Science Program.

TL;DR: The authors argue that scientists are not uniquely qualified by training or the culture of science to prevent or resolve conflicts between nations and that whatever influence they do have for peace is outweighed by their role as developers of new weapons.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue about new moral and political responsibilities with which citizens are confronted in the emerging global technical system and point out that the same processes underlying the technological integration of the world and the globalization of society also seem to awaken new modes of citizenship in a global civil society.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that science and scientists have an important contribution to make to the mitigation and prevention of international conflicts, and they emphasize the search for the truth, which requires an attitude of openness and collaboration, and provide evidence and information that can settle differences of opinion or reduce tensions.

TL;DR: The European Organization for Nuclear Research, the European Space Agency, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory as mentioned in this paper are examples of such organizations that serve to move European nations beyond past conflicts and contribute to political unification.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that even if de-materialisation has not taken place, it does not follow that near-term "zero growth" becomes necessary, and if the scarcity and spillover effects of growth are appropriately priced, conservation and substitution will be induced.

TL;DR: The first successful flight of the Wright Flyer as discussed by the authors was performed by the first successful airplane by Wilbur Wright on Dec 17, 1903, and no one has been able to repeat or exceed the 59-second flight.

TL;DR: The authors explores the foundations of the current system of East-West scholarly exchanges in the social sciences, beginning with the Congress for Cultural Freedom in 1950, and traces the development of social sciences in post-war Europe to philosophical differences between Polanyi and Bernal concerning long-term planning in science.