Lloyd Waller, Stephen Christopher Johnson, Nicola Satchell, Damion Gordon, Gavin Leon Kirkpatrick Daley, Howard Reid, Kimberly Fender, Paula Llewellyn, Leah Smyle and Patrick Linton
This paper aims to investigate the potential challenges that governments in the Commonwealth Caribbean are likely to face combating crimes facilitated by the dark Web.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the potential challenges that governments in the Commonwealth Caribbean are likely to face combating crimes facilitated by the dark Web.
Design/methodology/approach
The “lived experience” methodology guided by a contextual systematic literature review was used to ground the investigation of the research phenomena in the researchers’ collective experiences working in, living in and engaging in research with governments in the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Findings
The two major findings emerging from the analysis are that jurisdictional and technical challenges are producing major hindrances to the creation of an efficient and authoritative legislative framework and the building of the capacity of governments in the Commonwealth Caribbean to confront the technicalities that affect systematic efforts to manage problems created by the dark Web.
Practical implications
The findings indicate the urgency that authorities in the Caribbean region must place on reevaluating their administrative, legislative and investment priorities to emphasize cyber-risk management strategies that will enable their seamless and wholesome integration into this digital world.
Originality/value
The research aids in developing and extending theory and praxis related to the problematization of the dark Web for governments by situating the experiences of Small Island Developing States into the ongoing discourse.
Details
Keywords
Lloyd Waller and Aldrane Genius
This study aims to highlight the barriers inhibiting the implementation of initiatives that seek to transform the efficiency, effectiveness and service delivery of government…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to highlight the barriers inhibiting the implementation of initiatives that seek to transform the efficiency, effectiveness and service delivery of government processes and systems through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs, e-Government) in Jamaica.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used for this study was “Qualitative Description”. Qualitative Description is guided by the Qualitative Descriptive Research Design and is epistemologically located within the Interpretivist Paradigm. The data collected for this study were based on the principle of judgmental sampling. In total, 23 experts working at various levels of e-Government implementation in Jamaica were interviewed for this study.
Findings
It can be argued from the data analyzed that the factors which undermine the use of ICTs to improve government efficiency, effectiveness and public service delivery in Jamaica include: technical issues (ICT infrastructure, privacy and security), social issues (culture and the digital divide) and financial issues. Organizational issues such as top management support, resistance to change to electronic ways, lack of collaboration, lack of qualified personnel and training courses were not identified as barriers to e-Government in Jamaica.
Research limitations/implications
The direct implications of the study are confined to the shores of Jamaica.
Practical implications
This study provides government agencies in Jamaica with an opportunity to identify the practical gaps in e-Government implementation. At the global level, the study provides international development agencies that are currently funding, and those that have an interest in funding e-Government initiatives in Jamaica, with an understanding of the challenges to e-Government implementation in the country. Additionally, the study provides an opportunity for scholars doing cross-national qualitative study to compare and contrast the e-Government barriers identified in Jamaica with other countries and to further determine factors which may contribute to these similarities and differences and explore a possible holistic solution to these barriers.
Social implications
The study draws attention to the problem of exclusion for those citizens affected by the digital divide, the problem of infrastructure and/or structural challenges such as poverty and are unable to access e-Government services. The study also highlights the problem of trust in the government by Jamaican citizens and the implication of this trust issue for e-Government implementation in the country.
Originality/value
The study addresses the global scholarly and policy gap in the literature, as it relates to Caribbean experiences with barriers to e-Government implementation and, therefore, provides data for global comparative analysis. The study also contributes to global attempts to holistically understand the e-Government phenomenon by extending the current discourse to the Caribbean.
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In the last two decades, there has been much research and attention on information and communications technologies (ICTs) as tools that can contribute to the economic and social…
Abstract
Purpose
In the last two decades, there has been much research and attention on information and communications technologies (ICTs) as tools that can contribute to the economic and social lives of persons with disabilities (PWDs). However, few studies have sought to explore and document the experiences of PWDs who use these technologies to access the democratic space. Using Democratic Governance as a conceptual framework, this qualitative study seeks to address this gap in the literature by exploring the experiences of several visually impaired Caribbean youth with the use of ICTs to access the democratic space.
Methodology/approach
This study uses the qualitative research design and is guided by Husserl’s Descriptive phenomenology. The study sought to explore common patterns elicited from the specific experiences of 14 visually impaired citizens in Jamaica and 9 in Barbados through the use of semi-structured interviews.
Findings
The findings suggest that ICTs have in some ways contributed to the lives of these visually disabled youth, specifically as it relates to improving their ‘political knowledge’ and encouraging ‘political talk’. In other words, ICTs have played a contributive role in terms of including visually impaired Caribbean youth in the democratic space.
Originality/value
This study contributes to improving our understanding of how and in what ways ICTs can promote the inclusion of visually impaired persons in the democratic space.
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Keywords
We issue a double Souvenir number of The Library World in connection with the Library Association Conference at Birmingham, in which we have pleasure in including a special…
Abstract
We issue a double Souvenir number of The Library World in connection with the Library Association Conference at Birmingham, in which we have pleasure in including a special article, “Libraries in Birmingham,” by Mr. Walter Powell, Chief Librarian of Birmingham Public Libraries. He has endeavoured to combine in it the subject of Special Library collections, and libraries other than the Municipal Libraries in the City. Another article entitled “Some Memories of Birmingham” is by Mr. Richard W. Mould, Chief Librarian and Curator of Southwark Public Libraries and Cuming Museum. We understand that a very full programme has been arranged for the Conference, and we have already published such details as are now available in our July number.
Sally Moyle and Richard Waller
The ever-changing landscape of healthcare policy has impacted significantly on the development of nursing roles (Lloyd–Rees, 2016), and consequently seen the growth and…
Abstract
The ever-changing landscape of healthcare policy has impacted significantly on the development of nursing roles (Lloyd–Rees, 2016), and consequently seen the growth and transformation of existing professions and introduction of new healthcare roles. While the Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP) role is now well established within urgent care settings, it has evolved in an adhoc manner, responding to service demand. This has resulted in varying levels of job satisfaction and inconsistency in titles, uniform and scope of practice.
Using photographs or images to describe their perceptions of the role, experience and perceived professional identity, participants reported moving away from their traditional nursing practice into something different that bought new challenges and often conflict. Applying Bhabha's (1994) concept of the ‘third space’ to our findings suggests that ENPs have adopted a hybrid role that is operating within a ‘third (or hybrid) space’, where new identity is formed. Our participants' uncertainty around this (and that of others) could negatively impact the development of professional identity during transition into this new role.