Living with personal data: Australians' understandings and practices. This project aims to involve citizens and other stakeholders in generating new knowledge about Australians' practices and understandings related to their personal data and data futures. Personal digital data have possible benefits not just for the individuals from whom the data are generated, but also for society, government and the economy. Yet there are also potential harms, such as challenges to civil rights, life opportuni ....Living with personal data: Australians' understandings and practices. This project aims to involve citizens and other stakeholders in generating new knowledge about Australians' practices and understandings related to their personal data and data futures. Personal digital data have possible benefits not just for the individuals from whom the data are generated, but also for society, government and the economy. Yet there are also potential harms, such as challenges to civil rights, life opportunities and data privacy. The project intends to develop applied and theoretical insights into the nature of people’s understandings of and engagements with their data. Its findings are expected to contribute knowledge relevant to policy development and data privacy advocacy.Read moreRead less
E-Government: prospects for public administration, citizenship and social theory. This project examines how electronic technologies effect modes of governing and citizenship in liberal democracies. It focuses on electronic client records and electronic communications in social security, taxation and primary health care. It uniquely adopts and extends a theoretical framework (of 'governmentality') and applies an innovative research design to the study of e-government. Attention is given to how e- ....E-Government: prospects for public administration, citizenship and social theory. This project examines how electronic technologies effect modes of governing and citizenship in liberal democracies. It focuses on electronic client records and electronic communications in social security, taxation and primary health care. It uniquely adopts and extends a theoretical framework (of 'governmentality') and applies an innovative research design to the study of e-government. Attention is given to how e-government differently affects rural, urban, young, old, rich and poor persons. Outcomes include theoretical developments in studies of technology, government and citizenship, and the identification of practical ways to realise governmental objectives such as active citizenship, individualised service delivery, access and equity.Read moreRead less
Institutional Configurations, Religioisty and Public Influence of Religious Institutions Muslim Societies: A Comparative Study. Religious fundamentalism is a growing and important part of social change in Muslim countries. Using current religious, political, and social conditions as contrasting environments the proposed research will investigate the competing theories of Islamic fundamentalism, sociological correlates of Muslim religiosity and public influence of religious institutions in contra ....Institutional Configurations, Religioisty and Public Influence of Religious Institutions Muslim Societies: A Comparative Study. Religious fundamentalism is a growing and important part of social change in Muslim countries. Using current religious, political, and social conditions as contrasting environments the proposed research will investigate the competing theories of Islamic fundamentalism, sociological correlates of Muslim religiosity and public influence of religious institutions in contrasting institutional configurations by focusing on the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey and Nigeria. This will be achieved through a study of random/purposive samples of respondents in the three countries using survey methodology. The objective is to develop a theoretically and empirically grounded model of social, political and religious trajectories of Muslim societies.Read moreRead less
The Spatial Impact of Digital Technology on Contemporary Art and New Art Institutions. Our aim is to explore the impact of digital technology on the production and display of contemporary art. Our focus is the spatial formation of the art institution at a time of historic transition, as object based collections are joined by new forms of technological imagery. We propose a distinct interdisciplinary methodology using spatial analysis derived from theories of contemporary art, new media theory an ....The Spatial Impact of Digital Technology on Contemporary Art and New Art Institutions. Our aim is to explore the impact of digital technology on the production and display of contemporary art. Our focus is the spatial formation of the art institution at a time of historic transition, as object based collections are joined by new forms of technological imagery. We propose a distinct interdisciplinary methodology using spatial analysis derived from theories of contemporary art, new media theory and critical social theory. The project's significance lies in developing insights into the new parameters of cultural production and cultural exchange. This will have strategic relevance for analysing the cultural impact of the emergent information society.Read moreRead less
Public screens and their transformation of social interactions in public spaces. This project will provide the first Australian analysis of public interaction with large electronic screens. The installation of large screens in public spaces is rapidly expanding in cities around the world. Our project will explore the potential for these screens to support new cultural practices and generate new social interactions. The research involves a cross-cultural comparison of screens in Europe, Asia ....Public screens and their transformation of social interactions in public spaces. This project will provide the first Australian analysis of public interaction with large electronic screens. The installation of large screens in public spaces is rapidly expanding in cities around the world. Our project will explore the potential for these screens to support new cultural practices and generate new social interactions. The research involves a cross-cultural comparison of screens in Europe, Asia and North America, along with the 'Big Screen' in Federation Square, Melbourne. The strategic value of the project is its capacity to inform public policy, and to improve understanding of the dynamics of public culture in mediated societies.Read moreRead less
Experimental workers of the world - the labour of human research subjects in the emerging bioeconomies of China and India. China and India have become significant new hubs for domestic and multinational clinical trials, the process by which new drugs are tested for global consumption. Developing the concept of experimental labour, this project will investigate the growing numbers of the poor and uninsured who enrol in clinical trials as a means of making a living.
Generating insights for the future: A retrospective, comparative study of attempts to implement large-scale electronic health record systems. This is a retrospective, comparative study of five attempts to set up regional and national systems for sharing electronic health records in Australia and Britain. The purpose is to learn from the mistakes and successes of the past, so that complex technology projects such as these can be better managed in the future.
Investigating Conversational AI: Development, Usage and Governance. The project aims to provide new and powerful understandings of the consequences of chatbot technologies in terms of economy, society and governance. In doing so it will enable an integrated approach to understanding the ecosystem of developers, users and regulators of conversational AI in the retail and services sector. Expected outcomes and benefits include breakthrough theory, publications, and significant contributions to aca ....Investigating Conversational AI: Development, Usage and Governance. The project aims to provide new and powerful understandings of the consequences of chatbot technologies in terms of economy, society and governance. In doing so it will enable an integrated approach to understanding the ecosystem of developers, users and regulators of conversational AI in the retail and services sector. Expected outcomes and benefits include breakthrough theory, publications, and significant contributions to academic research and policy discussions across science, government, and industry. This should also place Australia at the forefront of the international scientific community and policy regulation in a fast-emerging area of technological development.
Read moreRead less
Social Division and the Pursuit of Harmony Across the Antipodes in the Twentieth Century. Into the twentieth century,reformers envisaged the antipodes as a liberal utopia. The social laboratory in Australia and New Zealand is now viewed as a reactionary social model. This project sets out to place Paul Kelly's influential notion of an Australian Settlement within a series of frames which establish the extent of division and the limits to inclusion alongside the achievements of the antipodean exp ....Social Division and the Pursuit of Harmony Across the Antipodes in the Twentieth Century. Into the twentieth century,reformers envisaged the antipodes as a liberal utopia. The social laboratory in Australia and New Zealand is now viewed as a reactionary social model. This project sets out to place Paul Kelly's influential notion of an Australian Settlement within a series of frames which establish the extent of division and the limits to inclusion alongside the achievements of the antipodean experiment. It considers Arbitration as the core institution of the new liberal utopia, and its transformation by Labor into the 1980s. It will result in a major book, two shorter books and two doctoral theses.Read moreRead less
Australian Global Identities: Images of Globalization, Transnationalism and Individualism among New Expatriates. Globalization is dramatically transforming Australian society. By exploring the neglected terrain of emergent 'Australian global identities', this research will benefit policy analysts, government and the public they serve. Research findings on how globalization influences the decisions of Australians to live and work abroad, promoting new lifestyles and international careers, will ....Australian Global Identities: Images of Globalization, Transnationalism and Individualism among New Expatriates. Globalization is dramatically transforming Australian society. By exploring the neglected terrain of emergent 'Australian global identities', this research will benefit policy analysts, government and the public they serve. Research findings on how globalization influences the decisions of Australians to live and work abroad, promoting new lifestyles and international careers, will be used by organizations and government to shape policy in employment, education and professional development. The research will shed new light on the rising numbers of Australians working abroad, as well as detail ways Australia might better adapt to global institutional networking in order to attract expatriates back to Australia.Read moreRead less