Linda Dawson

E-government services in the local government context: an Australian case study

Purpose – To examine the progress local governments in Victoria. Australia have made utilizing the internet to deliver traditional services, and examine models that attempt to define the maturity of local government electronic service delivery.Design/methodology/approach – The research approach comprised two components. The first was to examination and assess local government web sites in Victoria, and the second part involved an in‐depth case study with one local government.Findings – The findings suggest that conventional linear e‐commerce and e‐Government maturity models are not applicable in the case of local government as this level of government traditionally focuses more on active community participation and interaction.Research limitations/implications – The research examines a wide sample of council web sites but the case study is limited to one council. It suggests that the implementation and uptake of e‐commerce and e‐Government across the local government sector have been mixed and more detail...

Implementation Issues for Mobile-Wireless Infrastructure and Mobile Health Care Computing Devices for a Hospital Ward Setting

AbstractmWard is a project whose purpose is to enhance existing clinical and administrative decision support and to consider mobile computers, connected via wireless network, for bringing clinical information to the point of care. The mWard project allowed a limited number of users to test and evaluate a selected range of mobile-wireless infrastructure and mobile health care computing devices at the neuroscience ward at Southern Health’s Monash Medical Centre, Victoria, Australia. Before the project commenced, the ward had two PC’s which were used as terminals by all ward-based staff and numerous multi-disciplinary staff who visited the ward each day. The first stage of the research, outlined in this paper, evaluates a selected range of mobile-wireless infrastructure.

Emerging issues in location based tourism systems

Location based tourism systems (LETS) are computerized systems that depend on the automated detection of the location of a target (e.g. a tourist on the move, a tour vehicle) to either deliver or collect information. Currently mobile phones are seen as the obvious (but not the only) means of information delivery/collection for LBTS. This technology has considerable potential for the Australian tourism industry. This paper aims to assess the state of knowledge regarding LBTS technologies, the potential usefulness of LBTS for the Australian tourism industry, recommend potential future commercial exploitation of LBTS technologies in the Australian tourism industry and crucially to identify emerging issues where further research may be needed.

A systematic review of speech recognition technology in health care

BackgroundTo undertake a systematic review of existing literature relating to speech recognition technology and its application within health care.MethodsA systematic review of existing literature from 2000 was undertaken. Inclusion criteria were: all papers that referred to speech recognition (SR) in health care settings, used by health professionals (allied health, medicine, nursing, technical or support staff), with an evaluation or patient or staff outcomes. Experimental and non-experimental designs were considered.Six databases (Ebscohost including CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE including the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, OVID Technologies, PreMED-LINE, PsycINFO) were searched by a qualified health librarian trained in systematic review searches initially capturing 1,730 references. Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were retained.ResultsThe heterogeneity of the studies made comparative analysis and synthesis of the data challenging resulting in a narrative presentation of the results. SR, although not as accurate as human transcription, does deliver reduced turnaround times for reporting and cost-effective reporting, although equivocal evidence of improved workflow processes.ConclusionsSR systems have substantial benefits and should be considered in light of the cost and selection of the SR system, training requirements, length of the transcription task, potential use of macros and templates, the presence of accented voices or experienced and in-experienced typists, and workflow patterns.

Internal and external factors impacting in e-government maturity: a local government case study

Abstract Changes in Australian government policy, demands for cost cutting and funding initiatives, and promoting the use of the Internet have resulted in Australian local governments considering electronic service provision. Funding to support local e-Government developments however has been modest with only limited uptake of e-Commerce amongst local government agencies. Unlike higher levels of government framing an e-Government strategy, local government has other pressures that impact on the direction it takes with electronic service delivery. Research is needed to better understand the factors impacting on the move by local councils to electronic service delivery. This paper presents the findings from an ethnographic case study describing the decision making and development process of one local council’s move to e-Government, particularly electronic service delivery, and highlights the factors that have influenced the decisions made to implement e-Government initiatives.

A usability framework for speech recognition technologies in clinical handover: A pre-implementation study

A multi-disciplinary research team is undertaking a trial of speech-to-text (STT) technology for clinical handover management. Speech-to-text technologies allow for the capture of handover data from voice recordings using speech recognition software and systems. The text documents created from this system can be used together with traditional handover notes and checklists to enhance the depth and breadth of data available for clinical decision-making at the point of care and so improve patient care and reduce medical errors. This paper reports on a preliminary study of perceived usability by nurses of speech-to-text technology based on interviews at a “test day” and using a user-task-technology usability framework to explore expectations of nurses of the use of speech-to-text (STT) technology for clinical handover. The results of this study will be used to design field studies to test the use of speech-to-text (STT) technologies at the point of care in several hospital settings.

Gestural Interface Technology in Early Childhood Education: A Framework for Fully Engaged Communication

Gestural Interface Technology (GIT) has changed the way technology is adopted in classrooms for all ages. The accessibility of control through touch means that technology such as Apples iPad can be used in early childhood education. In this paper, we introduce a framework for fully-engaged communication, developed from educational pedagogy and critical engagement in information systems. The intersection of these dimensions creates a view of a GIT life world approach which allows it to be used to understand multiple layers of engagement that exist within an early childhood education environment.

E-Government Services

While electronic service delivery is the main thrust of e-Government policies at all levels, greater community contact is often seen as more practical and achievable at a local level (Musso et al., 2000; Steyaert, 2000). In recent times, greater focus has been given to local e-Government where significant citizen to government interaction takes place (SOCITM and ID Gerritsen and Osborn, 1997; Kloot, 1999; Sanderson, 2001; Steyaert, 2000). Local governments today are under pressure to provide efficient and effective e-Government information and services as a result of increased accountability and performance management. The aim has been to increased consumer choice, often by the decrease in direct service provision as the result of outsourcing and competitive tendering, while at the same time reducing costs.

The Natural Hospital Environment: A Socio-Technical-Material perspective

OBJECTIVES This paper introduces two concepts into analyses of information security and hospital-based information systems-- a Socio-Technical-Material theoretical framework and the Natural Hospital Environment. METHOD The research is grounded in a review of pertinent literature with previously published Australian (Victoria) case study data to analyse the way clinicians work with privacy and security in their work. The analysis was sorted into thematic categories, providing the basis for the Natural Hospital Environment and Socio-Technical-Material framework theories discussed here. RESULTS Natural Hospital Environments feature inadequate yet pervasive computer use, aural privacy shortcomings, shared workspace, meagre budgets, complex regulation that hinders training outcomes and out-dated infrastructure and are highly interruptive. DISCUSSION Working collaboratively in many cases, participants found ways to avoid or misuse security tools, such as passwords or screensavers for patient care. Workgroup infrastructure was old, architecturally limited, haphazard in some instances, and was less useful than paper handover sheets to ensure the quality of patient care outcomes. Despite valiant efforts by some participants, they were unable to control factors influencing the privacy of patient health information in public hospital settings. CONCLUSION Future improvements to hospital-based organisational frameworks for e-health can only be made when there is an improved understanding of the Socio-Technical-Material theoretical framework and Natural Hospital Environment contexts. Aspects within control of clinicians and administrators can be addressed directly although some others are beyond their control. An understanding and acknowledgement of these issues will benefit the management and planning of improved and secure hospital settings.

Laptops on Trolleys: Lessons from a Mobile-Wireless Hospital Ward

Most hospital-based staff can be considered to be mobile but many hospital information systems (HIS) are based on fixed desk top computers. Wireless networks allow HIS to be brought to the point of care using mobile devices such as laptops on trolleys thus providing data which can aid in clinical decision-making. The research objective of this project focusses on the collaborative design of a laptop solution for providing data at the point of care. The research approach was based on a combination of action research and design science. Action research techniques including participant observation and informal one-to-one discussions were used to obtain information that was used to evolve the trolley design as a design artefact while addressing usability limitations. This paper presents three versions of the trolley design and how they evolved based on the feedback provided to the researchers from clinical use. Also these results show that using iterative action research techniques (planning, action, evaluation and reflection) in collaborative research can provide productive outcomes addressing a specific design objective within an acute care setting.