Susana Herrero Olarte , Joan Torrent , Kamila Aguirre
{"title":"Internet use at work and income inequality in Ecuador","authors":"Susana Herrero Olarte , Joan Torrent , Kamila Aguirre","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102738","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102738","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the impact of technological advancements, particularly Internet access, on labor income inequality. The Internet is a versatile technology with wide-ranging applications. We argue that in environments characterized by limited innovation and a polarized job market, Internet access can positively influence worker income, especially for those in lower income brackets. Our research conducted in Ecuador from 2010 to 2017 employs instrumental variable quantile regression to analyze how Internet access affects wages across various income levels. Our findings indicate that using the Internet at work correlates with higher wages in Ecuador, particularly benefiting workers in the higher quantiles of the income distribution. While the income gap between employees with and without Internet access is largest in the lowest quantile, it decreases in the second quantile and widens again in the third, but never surpasses the gap observed in the first quantile. Public policy should thus provide citizens, particularly in the lowest income deciles, with education on effective Internet usage to improve their conditions and reduce inequality. By concentrating on these groups, we can better distribute the advantages of Internet access, ultimately creating a more balanced and equitable society.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102738"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142528585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Technology readiness assessment: Case of clinical decision support systems in healthcare","authors":"Oussama Laraichi , Tugrul Daim , Saeed Alzahrani , Liliya Hogaboam , Gulin Idil Bolatan , Mahdieh Mokthtari Moughari","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102736","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102736","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) play a critical role in modern healthcare by supporting healthcare providers in making well-informed decisions, improving patient safety and outcomes, enhancing efficiency, and promoting evidence-based practices. Their integration into clinical workflows can lead to more effective and patient-centered care. CDSS is essential tools for healthcare organizations as well as for healthcare providers to improve clinical care. However, successful implementation of CDSS can be challenging. Therefore, before implementing CDSS, it is crucial to assess the readiness of healthcare organizations to implement these tools. CDSS is essential tools in healthcare for several compelling reasons. For instance, enhanced patient safety, improved diagnostic accuracy, optimized treatment plans, consistency in care, and support for complex decisions. This study's aim is to develop a model that will help healthcare organizations identify the challenges of implementing CDSS, and to assess their readiness for such an implementation in a comprehensive and multi-dimensional manner. Through a literature review, the first step of this research explores the concept of clinical decision support and CDSS, discussing their features, characteristics, and organizational hurdles to implementation. It also provides perspectives on CDSS adoption in the context of information systems and health technology. The review helped to identify research gaps, objectives, and questions. To address these gaps and to attempt to answer the research questions, a Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM) is proposed. The model allows us to assess the readiness of healthcare organizations for CDSS implementation. It presents four perspectives and sixteen criteria for a multi-dimensional assessment. The methodology involves expert panels for the HDM model's refinement, validation, and quantification. Two case studies are then presented to demonstrate the HDM model's application to identify real-world CDSS implementation challenges and to provide insights and recommendations. The research contributions are evaluated against the identified gaps in the literature review, with limitations and future research presented. In conclusion, this research provides valuable insights into CDSS implementation readiness assessment and highlights the need for careful consideration and planning. The proposed HDM model offers a valuable framework for healthcare organizations to evaluate their readiness for CDSS implementation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102736"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142554501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Categorical and resource inequalities in self-reliant internet use and use-by-proxy among older adults in Slovenia during the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"Andraž Petrovčič , Anabel Quan-Haase , Bianca C. Reisdorf , Štěpán Žádník , Simona Hvalič-Touzery , Jerneja Laznik","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102735","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102735","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The COVID-19 pandemic had a considerable impact on how older adults engaged online, with many using the internet for the first time or relying on family, friends, and peers to perform an activity online on their behalf, a form of internet use known as use-by-proxy. Since we lack large-scale research that compares what factors influence self-reliant internet use and use-by-proxy in older adults during the pandemic, this study seeks to fill this gap. Drawing on resources and appropriation theory, we examine how categorical (e.g., age, gender, education) and resource inequalities (e.g., social, material) shape internet use among older adults as well as the availability and activation of use-by-proxy among older internet non-users. We conducted three binary logistic regression models to analyze survey data collected in 2021 during the fourth wave of pandemic public health measures in Slovenia from a sample of 701 older adults aged 65+. The results show that personal and positional categorical disparities among older adults were significantly associated with their internet use during the pandemic, whereas bridging social capital was the only social resource positively associated with internet use. Conversely, categorical inequalities played a less important role in the availability of use-by-proxy than social resources. In fact, apart from occupation, bonding and bridging social capital were the only positive correlates of availability of proxy users among older internet non-users. Surprisingly, neither type of social capital was linked with the activation of use-by-proxy, which was only associated with two positional categorical disparities: marital status and residential area. Our findings suggest that addressing age-related digital inequalities after the pandemic requires a diversified approach that considers the heterogeneity of categorical and resource inequalities shaping older adults' self-reliant internet use and use-by-proxy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102735"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142528560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Digital transition, data-and-tasks crowd-based economy, and the shared social progress: Unveiling a new political economy from a European perspective","authors":"Joan Torrent-Sellens","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102739","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102739","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The current unequal distribution of the benefits of digital transition and data-and-tasks crowd-based economy is directly linked to an incomplete interpretation of the behaviour of economic agents and their effects. This article proposes a new economic vision of digitalisation based on overcoming the postulates of neoclassical (automation-oriented and implemented mainly in the US) and autocratic (control-oriented and implemented mainly in China) economics. It suggests recovering the evolutionary, social, institutional, ethical and humanistic precepts of political economy. Following this more plural and European conceptual orientation, the analysis shows that current inequality arises from a digital R&D&I process plagued by network, platform, bias and polarisation effects, from business models that foster automation, and from the emergence of large superstar firms or control organisations with excessive market and political power. The redirection of technological progress towards more democratic individual values and shared social welfare requires digital governance based on new incentives and taxes, a greater strategic and political orientation towards social sustainability, and a new transformative role for the State.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102739"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142528562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of industry technology complexity on audit quality","authors":"Jianmin Liu , Qin Xia","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102737","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102737","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the continuous upgrading of Chinese industries, industry technology complexity has increased dramatically, to which audited units and audit subjects have adaptive responses, affecting audit quality. However, relevant studies have not been conducted. This paper takes A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2021 as a sample to investigate the impact of industrial technology complexity on audit quality and its mechanism. It is found that industry technology complexity can significantly enhance audit quality; in enterprises at the front-end of industrial technology, industry technology complexity has a more significant role in promoting audit quality. Adopting the demonstration zone for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements as an exogenous impact policy, the study finds that the impact of industry technology complexity on audit quality still holds. Further research finds that the adaptation of audited units and audit subjects to industry technology complexity has a positive incentive effect on audit quality. The findings extend the audit consequences of industrial technology complexity and provide empirical evidence for the role of industrial technology complexity in enhancing audit quality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102737"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142442519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Potential risk and efficiency analysis of decision-making dilemmas in connected dual-vehicle interactions at uncontrolled intersections","authors":"Miaomiao Yang, Qiong Bao, Yongjun Shen, Qikai Qu, Rui Zhang, Tianyuan Han, Huansong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102734","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102734","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In dual-vehicle interactive scenarios, drivers often encounter decision-making dilemmas, even with connected information, thus posing significant risk challenges to traffic operations. This study explored the impact of such dilemmas on decision-making and traffic operations for drivers involved in straight-going (SG) and left-turning (LT) vehicles at uncontrolled intersections. Employing driving simulation technology, a decision-making experiment incorporating preemptive (P) and yielding (Y) strategies was conducted with 72 S G and 72 L T drivers under connected information provision. By analyzing joint decisions (P-P, Y-P, and Y-Y) made by drivers on both sides, we investigated implications for traffic operational safety and efficiency. Furthermore, recognizing the diversity in individual characteristics and time pressure, we developed a random parameters multinomial logit model to examine the relationship between potential traffic operational performance (both safety and efficiency) and various contributing factors. Moreover, we calculated the marginal effects of these contributing factors. By assessing the probability change of Y-P joint decisions balancing safety and efficiency, we identified reference values for each contributing factor that promote effective interactive operations. The findings suggest that: (1) Regarding interactive dilemmas conditions, Conditions where the SG vehicle had higher speed and farther distance than the LT vehicle were more likely to result in heterogeneous Y-P joint decisions, in which one driver chooses to yield and the other party passes quickly, thereby improving traffic performance. (2) Time pressure increased the likelihood of heterogeneous Y-P joint decisions but also increased P-P joint decisions. (3) heterogeneous individual attributes did not always lead to higher heterogeneous decisions. Overall, this study provides insights into factors influencing joint decisions and traffic operational performance under connected information provision, considering individual heterogeneity and time pressure, aiming to the advancement of more efficient and safer vehicle-connected transportation systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102734"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142438468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hamlet Reynoso Vanderhorst, David Heesom, Komali Yenneti
{"title":"Technological advancements and the vision of a meta smart twin city","authors":"Hamlet Reynoso Vanderhorst, David Heesom, Komali Yenneti","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent digital advancements have led the construction industry to reassess its core principles. Critical issues such as construction site impacts, aesthetics, methodologies, and sustainability are under rigorous scrutiny. The challenges hindering the digital transformation of construction remain unclear. Addressing the technical questions of when, where, why, and how the industry is evolving is crucial, especially as digital operations become more prevalent compared to traditional methods.</div><div>The “digital twin” concept has emerged as a key approach in shaping the industry's future. Integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) with the Internet of Things (IoT) has enhanced project engagement, though challenges persist. Traditionally, a digital twin represents the construction process and its interactions. But it misses the transactional and experiential aspects that integrate users into the process. Technologies like blockchain and the metaverse, combined with the digital twin, offer insights into the future of construction projects. Municipalities that adopt digital twins and metaverse representations of their commercial activities throughout construction phases are likely to set future standards for societal specifications.</div><div>As some specifications such as architectural designs should be grounded in the diverse aspirations and experiences sought by citizens. This paper aims to explore the ways digital twins, smart urban environments, blockchain technology, and other reality capture datasets contribute to the vision of digital and physical construction domains. It examines the interaction and convergence of new spatial constructs, highlight the critical role of data acquisition technologies, and present a comprehensive framework for user experience and the future of Meta Smart Twin Cities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102731"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142442518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hongyi Qin, Yifan Zhu, Yan Jiang, Siqi Luo, Cui Huang
{"title":"Examining the impact of personalization and carefulness in AI-generated health advice: Trust, adoption, and insights in online healthcare consultations experiments","authors":"Hongyi Qin, Yifan Zhu, Yan Jiang, Siqi Luo, Cui Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102726","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102726","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, exemplified by health chatbots, are transforming the healthcare industry. Their widespread application has the potential to enhance decision-making efficiency, improve the quality of healthcare services, and reduce medical costs. While there is ongoing discussion about the opportunities and challenges brought by AI, more needs to be known about the public's attitude towards its use in the healthcare domain. Understanding public attitudes can help policymakers better grasp their needs and involve them in making decisions that benefit both technological development and social welfare. Therefore, this study presents evidence from two between-subjects experiments. This study aims to compare the public's adoption and trust levels in health advice provided by human vs. AI doctors and explore the potential effects of personalization and carefulness on the public's attitudes. Experimental designs adopt a trust-centered, cognitively and emotionally balanced perspective to study the public's intention to adopt AI. In Experiment 1, the experimental conditions involve the types of decision-makers providing online consultation advice, either AI or human doctors. In Experiment 2, the experimental conditions involve varying levels of perceived personalization and carefulness (high vs. low). A total of 734 participants took part in the study. They were randomly assigned to one of the intervention conditions and responded to manipulation checks after reading the materials. Using a seven-point Likert-type scale, participants rated their cognitive and emotional trust levels and intention to adopt the advice. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) is conducted to estimate the proposed theoretical perspective. Qualitative interviews on both real-world and AI-generated treatment recommendations further enriched the understanding of public perceptions.The results show that AI-generated advice is generally slightly less trusted and adopted by the public. However, a noticeable inclination towards AI-generated advice emerges when AI demonstrates proficiency in understanding individuals' health conditions and providing empathetic consultations. Further analyses confirm the mediating influence of emotional trust between cognitive trust and adoption intention. These findings provide deeper insights into the process of adoption and trust formation. Moreover, they offer guidance to digital healthcare providers, empowering them with the knowledge to co-design AI implementation strategies that cater to the public's expectations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102726"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142444954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Knowledge source switching under state interventions of latecomer regions: A case study of Shenzhen","authors":"Jingluan Yang , Weidong Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102730","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102730","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper aims to unpack the process and analyze the mechanisms of knowledge source switching in latecomer regions that have evolved from peripheral to core positions. Drawing on four decades of matched patent-company data from Shenzhen, we classify patents into various knowledge classifications and calculate their percentage changes to observe the dynamics of knowledge source switching. Furthermore, we employ Difference-in-Differences (DiD) estimation to examine the causal effects of state interventions on this dynamic. The findings indicate that Shenzhen's knowledge sources have switched from multinational corporations (MNCs) and foreign subsidiaries to global inventors. Notably, state interventions exhibit a significant positive causal effect on this dynamic, particularly following the implementation of independent innovation policies. These findings contribute to the cross-fertilization of regional innovation studies and the Global Production Networks (GPN) approach, highlight the critical role of the state in ensuring the right and dynamic mode of global knowledge sourcing and offer implications for local innovation policies in latecomer regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102730"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142434516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teoh Ming Fang , Noor Hazlina Ahmad , Hasliza Abdul Halim , Qaisar Iqbal , T. Ramayah
{"title":"Pathway towards SME competitiveness: Digital capability and digital business model innovation","authors":"Teoh Ming Fang , Noor Hazlina Ahmad , Hasliza Abdul Halim , Qaisar Iqbal , T. Ramayah","doi":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102728","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.techsoc.2024.102728","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Digital transformation has irrevocably redefined the landscape of contemporary business operations, heralding a new era in which DBMI has emerged as a critical strategic lever for competitive survival. Anchored on the dynamic capabilities theory, present study aims to meticulously investigates the influence of digital capability (antecedent) on DBMI and a keen focus on how DBMI, in turn, influences SME competitiveness (outcome). By adopting purposive sampling approach, data were collected from 132 SMEs representatives holding management positions in Malaysia using Google Form. The PLS-SEM analysis was rigorously carried out to verify the proposed hypotheses. The empirical findings illustrate that digital capability positively affects all components of DBMI. Of these, value creation, value proposition, and value capture innovation significantly bolster SME competitiveness, whereas value delivery innovation does not exhibit a similar effect. Considering the scarcity of empirical research on the antecedents and outcomes of DBMI, this study contributes to the theory of dynamic capabilities and improves the current literature on DBMI by providing empirical insights from Malaysian SMEs context. By affirming the role of digital capability and elucidating how DBMI can enhance competitiveness, the findings offer actionable guidance for SMEs navigating the complexities of a volatile business environment. Since this study focuses specifically on Malaysian SMEs within emerging economies, it paves the way for future investigations in developed economies and diverse regional contexts to further validate and expand upon the relationships identified between DBMI antecedents and outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47979,"journal":{"name":"Technology in Society","volume":"79 ","pages":"Article 102728"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142417865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}