Enrico Nicolò

Building scenarios of digital television adoption: a pilot study

This study applies a multidisciplinary approach to build scenarios on both digital television (DTV) adoption and use of T-government services by citizens. Usability and socio-economic aspects were investigated earlier by an Italian pilot study. Dataset derived from this study was later analysed using the UTAUT (Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology) model in order to identify those factors affecting the usage as statistically reliable variables for the next step. In fact, a micro-simulation model on the diffusion of DTV and T-government services was built in order to better understand the user behaviour at various stages in the adoption course of this new digital technology. Microsimulation is also capable of predicting the consequences of certain policies at different levels (i.e. business and governmental). The model shows how some DTV and T-government scenarios on the adoption by the citizens can be influenced by different policy strategies: switch-off date, public communication campaigns, taxes reduction.

Metaproject analysis: multiagent virtual project networks for strategic decisions in preplanning

Abstract The paper describes metaproject analysis, a new scenario method. It is a systemic methodological aid for decision making in midterm and long-term strategic planning. It uses advanced techniques of modelling and simulating stochastic project-planning networks. This methodological approach describes the evolution from present to future (towards the achievement of a preestablished goal, for example the market introduction of a new public service or system) as a multiagent and cooperative virtual project plan (metaproject). Such a metaproject must be formally translated into a metaproject network (scenario), assembling the significant activities of all the agents involved, which are supposedly cooperating. An example case study related to telecommunications and a home-banking service is presented.

Fundamentals of the total ethical-risk analysis method (TERAmethod) with a study of crucial problems in managing distributed multimedia

Abstract This paper describes the concept of ethical-risk analysis, a new auxiliary approach for decision-making in project management leadership, which takes into account sources of ethical risks for “project end-users”, potential moral and social harms to them, negative feedbacks from users and subsequent risks for project-development organizations, such as legal, economic and distrust risks. This paper introduces a few fundamentals of the total ethical-risk analysis method (TERAmethod), a possible way of implementing ethical-risk analysis, that can contribute to developing codes of ethics and other policy frameworks and to stimulating engineering capable of safeguarding better user integrity. An example related to managing global distributed multimedia is presented and critical issues relevant to a distorted use of worldwide telecommunications networks are outlined.

Engaging technology-resistant elderly people: Empirical evidence from an ICT-enabled social environment.

ABSTRACT This paper presents a qualitative investigation on user reactions, opinions, and sentiments about a TV-based technological solution developed within the EasyReach Project of the EU Ambient Assisted Living Joint Program to promote social interaction of less educated elderly people, that is, those individuals who, because of poor scholarization, low income, and, possibly, linguistic barriers, still find it difficult to use computers in order to improve their socialization. Experimental data were collected by extensive trials involving 40 real-end users. A methodology called “scenario engagement” was applied to get participants engaged in a live demonstration with the mediation of a facilitator who assisted elderly people to interact with the system. Results point out that the system can be effectively employed to foster social interaction, particularly when it is introduced in a collective use environment (e.g., Senior Center). Although the focus of the investigation was on information and communication technology-enabled social environments, the end users themselves strongly suggested to include in future system releases extra functions considered as essential opportunities for their potential digital lives: that is, medical or health services and bridges toward public administration.

The diffusion of a new telecommunication service: Network constraints and service quality in a dynamic interpretative model☆

Abstract In this paper, a discrete time model for the adoption of a new telecommunication service is proposed. We analyze the interaction of three sets of agents involved in the process: users, information providers, and network providers. We consider the effects of the network constraint and of the expectations of the users and suppliers.

Children, Multimedia Content and Technological Artefacts: An Exploratory Study Using Text Analysis Tools.

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the user experience of young people with video content accessed through different technological artefacts. Design/methodology/approach – To this purpose, an essay has been assigned to the pupils of two lower secondary school classes (mean age 12 years) to know their diverse types of usage of multimedia content in their everyday lives. These compositions have been analysed using a plurality of text analysis tools to find out both the preferred artefacts and their mutual relationships. Findings – The results are here presented giving emphasis to qualitative and methodological aspects. Practical implications – The analysis is to be intended as a preliminary field research study mainly oriented to testing the visualization power of the selected technical tools, primarily network text analysis, in the context of children exposure to video content made available by today’s information and communication technologies. Originality/value – The originality of the paper is cha...

Scenario Transfer Methodology and Technology

Many research activities have been carried out over the years in the area of scenario methodologies (see, e.g. Godet 1987; Georgantzas and Acar 1995), but no great efforts have been devoted to facilitating the fruition, by end-users, of the results obtained through the application of these methodologies. That is, enormous attention has been paid over time to the theoretical aspects of formal scenario methods, but the gap between the analytical details of the ensuing findings in various application fields and the necessity of easy-to-learn knowledge by decision makers and strategic planners has not been adequately bridged. In other words, yet again, the availability of only complex mathematical outputs has often discouraged top managers from adopting suggestions derived from the utilization of the relevant methods and has frustrated the precious potentialities of their conceptual frameworks and computerized tools.

Getting and Keeping Aged People Socially Included

EasyReach is an Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme project aimed at fostering the social interaction of home-bound and less educated elderly people. The project proposed a web interfaced service, accessed through the EasyReach DTT Set Top Box and a special remote control, equipped with interactive multimedia and an inertial unit. Pilots were carried out in the Italian cities of Rome and Milan by engaging real end-users in the controlled development of tasks. In the pilot conducted in Rome and described in this paper, data were collected by using both group and personal interviews, video recording and non-participant observations. Scenario engagement with realistic tasks was properly arranged.