The ongoing development of e-services gains much interest from many groups in the society, ranging from citizens and organizations to research communities. Initiatives are taken both from separate private persons to authorities themselves. Looking at the UN e-government survey 20101 we find Sweden (ranked 12) and Estonia (ranked 20) among the top20 in the e-government development index, and when it comes to the e-participation index only Estonia is found, this time ranked 9. Thus, Estonia2 has come furthest with involvement of citizens, while Sweden3 and Iceland4 is not as mature. Also the cultural heritage sector would benefit by being able to offer e-services that are developed from the citizen's focus. Thus, the main questions are e.g.; what public information is of interest to citizens? And how would they like to access this information? What kind/s of service/s would they prefer? The APIS project set out to investigate what e-services could be developed, that increases the accessibility and use of public information that resides in governmental agencies and archives. ; Godkänd; 2011; 20121003 (marrun)
Information technology facilitates production and spreading of information, as well as enables the transformation towards e-government and e-services. As a consequence, numerous official documents are born digital, i.e. no paper originals exist. Although there is a lot of ongoing research in digital preservation and digital curation, how digital material is to be preserved for the long-term is still an issue. In the area most research concerns technological aspects. However, the point of departure for this thesis is that the challenge of long-term digital preservation also demands human, social and organizing considerations. This is explored on the basis of how people involved in digital preservation understand, experience and interpret the current situation. The methodological approaches for this thesis are found in interpretative and feminist technoscience perspectives. The Research is also influenced by design perspectives, such as participatory design and systems design, where the latter involves Viable System theories. The empirical material was gathered through participant observations, brainstorming, future workshops, and individual and group interviews. Additional contributions to this study consists of recurrent discussions with systems developers at the Long-term Digital Preservation Centre. The empirical material has been analyzed through ongoing interpretations, discourse analysis, by mapping actors and agendas, and also by themes that have arisen during the research. The research was initiated by exploring the current situation as understood, experienced and interpreted by archivists. Findings from the initial studies suggested that cooperation and communication around digital preservation were not functioning well in many organizations today. Also, responsibility questions were unclear, such as which functions and roles are responsible for digital preservation and what kinds of responsibility are then involved. These questions constituted the continuation of the research and additional studies were made, now from organizing perspectives. A governmental authority has contributed with a 'best practice' case, which is demonstrated through the lenses of the Viable System Model (VSM) and its underlying theories. The VSM is in this research used as a plan for how to organize digital preservation. However, a plan needs recurrent revisions since people (and technologies) do not always act as supposed. Rather the actions tend to be based on available understandings and knowledges, i.e. situated actions. These in turn, can be viewed as related to ongoing reconfigurations of the world - agency. The main findings are that in order to organize for digital preservation, archival creating organizations should pay attention to humans, technology and the overall organization, and the interplay between these parts. There should be efforts for facilitating collaboration and communication among staff. Identification of preservation processes and where they take place in the organization is important. This can be the foundation for clarification of tasks and responsibilities, where the responsibilities are threefold; the practical, the technological and the strategic. When working on a plan for organizing digital preservation, it is also preferable to involve the staff concerned.Moreover, information technology makes possible the accessibility of the digital material in a totally different way than paper, or analogue archival material. This makes it necessary to modify the view of archives. Hence, a new view of archives is provided; as a more active and living part of the entire information assets held by an organization. ; Godkänd; 2009; 20090504 (mar_run); DISPUTATION Ämnesområde: Informatik / Social Informatics Opponent: Dr /Docent Agneta Ranerup, IT-universitetet vid Göteborgs Universitet Ordförande: Dr/Professor Ann Hägerfors, Luleå tekniska universitet Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Fredag 5 juni 2009, klockan 10:00 Plats: A-huset, sal A109, LTU
This paper discusses the strategy of gender mainstreaming which is adopted by the European Union and the Swedish Government in order to increase gender equality in the entire society. Gender mainstreaming and its goal - gender equality - are not easily understood. In this paper I will discuss different interpretations of the concept gender mainstreaming within the area of education. Since the intention with gender mainstreaming is that a gender perspective should permeate all levels in society, this indicates that the area of Information Technology should be embraced by the strategy as well. Building information structures involve classification and categorization. Thus, I will also discuss what implications gender mainstreaming hold for the future Information Technology society for all. The research draws on empirical research conducted during 2003-2004 and is based on documentary analyses and semi-structured interviews with policy makers and teachers. The material has been analysed by discourse analysis. ; Godkänd; 2004; 20080619 (mar_run)
Today openness is regarded the main driver to achieve organisational and societal growth. This openness will happen, it is believed, through the means of open data. There are high expectations of what the realization of open data will lead to, such as transparent democracy and administration, increased business competitiveness, new economic opportunities and help in tackling societal and environmental challenges. In this paper we explore and discuss the need for a roadmap to achieve openness in public authorities, as well as mechanisms of governance, and what is needed in order for a public authority to become innovative. We conclude that there is a range of issues that public authorities need to consider, if the openness initiative is to succeed, from how to redesign organisational roles, administrative tasks, control systems and decision making to organisational culture. ; Today openness is regarded the main driver to achieve organisational and societal growth. This openness will happen, it is believed, through the means of open data. There are high expectations of what the realization of open data will lead to, such as transparent democracy and administration, increased business competitiveness, new economic opportunities and help in tackling societal and environmental challenges. In this paper we explore and discuss the need for a roadmap to achieve openness in public authorities, as well as mechanisms of governance, and what is needed in order for a public authority to become innovative. We conclude that there is a range of issues that public authorities need to consider, if the openness initiative is to succeed, from how to redesign organisational roles, administrative tasks, control systems and decision making to organisational culture.
In this paper we present findings from the CASSANDRA project, in the area of energy efficiency. We set out to explore what view on energy efficiency elderly individual tenants and the European Union (EU) convey, respectively, as well as whether their respective views differ or not. Data used are a) qualitative interviews with 15 tenants at a multi-residential building for elderly people; and b) EU Directives in relation to energy efficiency. We find that environmental concerns are shared by both parties, and that resources are limited is also agreed upon. Where they differ is around growth and lack of information, of which the first is not an issue for the tenants, and the other they regard to be wrong – they see themselves as informed. Of specific interest was whether the tenants was aware, knowledgeable and motivated or not, since this is regarded to be preconditions for energy efficiency, according to the EU. Our findings show that most individual consumers show great concern for the environment, and they claim that they are raised and taught in being economic with all resources. ; Godkänd; 2014; 20140825 (marrun)
Information technology offers the possibility to produce and archive more recorded information than ever before. Thus it is has become feasible to preserve and have access to information in almost unlimited amounts. In sharp contrast, the situation today suggests that societal data has become significantly less accessible than was previously the case. This is both ironic and tragic. In this paper, we recognize that the cultural heritage is at risk, given current circumstances as revealed through observation and dialogue with an archivist. While there are many projects, cultural heritage institutions, government agencies and private enterprises involved in an ambitious research agenda, the majority of these are focussed on technical solutions. In contrast, we provide an indepth point of view of an archivist who is expected to preserve information in order to safeguard the long-term preservation of the cultural heritage. This report reveals the challenges as well as the systemic implications related to the full implementation of the Archival Information Systems guidelines, that fully involve archivists and users in systems design features and functionalities, in order to enable the advancement of longterm digital preservation.
Information technology offers the possibility to produce and archive more recorded information than ever before. Thus it is has become feasible to preserve and have access to information in almost unlimited amounts. In sharp contrast, the situation today suggests that societal data has become significantly less accessible than was previously the case. This is both ironic and tragic. In this paper, we recognize that the cultural heritage is at risk, given current circumstances as revealed through observation and dialogue with an archivist. While there are many projects, cultural heritage institutions, government agencies and private enterprises involved in an ambitious research agenda, the majority of these are focussed on technical solutions. In contrast, we provide an in-depth point of view of an archivist who is expected to preserve information in order to safeguard the long-term preservation of the cultural heritage. This report reveals the challenges as well as the systemic implications related to the full implementation of the Archival Information Systems guidelines, that fully involve archivists and users in systems design features and functionalities, in order to enable the advancement of long-term digital preservation. ; Validerad; 2007; 20070918 (mar_run)
Websites constitute one category of official records and as such should be preserved for the long term in compliance with Swedish legislation. Collaborative Archiving Services Testbed (CAST) supports actors involved in the selective web archiving process, from harvesting to the creation of an information package ready for transfer to a long-term archive at National Archives of Sweden. CAST is developed in compliance with the ISO standards Open Archival Information System (OAIS) and Producer-Archive Interface Methodology Abstract Standard (PAIMAS), and do also consider other well-known and established standards and recommendations in digital preservation area. CAST promotes cooperation, knowledge acquisition and sharing among users in an experimental step-by-step workflow, encouraging a proactive approach resulting in authority websites better adapted to digital preservation recommendations. CAST is developed at LDP Centre, a national competence centre in Sweden, within the digital preservation area. ; Godkänd; 2011; 20111218 (ysko)
The on-going transformation process of e-government and e-services permeates most sectors in society. Initiatives are taken not only by public agencies, but also by the private sector, research communities and individuals. This paper focuses on e-services in the cultural heritage sector and presents the results from a joint networking project of archives and academia from Estonia, Iceland and Sweden - the Access to Public Information in Governmental Agencies and Archives (APIS) project. ; Godkänd; 2011; 20121003 (marrun)
