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In the mid-2000s, the operator of New York City’s mass transit network committed more than a half-billion dollars to military contractor Lockheed Martin for a security technology capable, in part, of inferring threats based on analysis of data streams, of developing response strategies, and taking automated action toward alerts and calamities in light of evolving circumstances. The project was a failure. This chapter explores the conceptualization and development of this technology – rooted in cybernetics – and compares its conceptual underpinnings with some situated problems of awareness, communication, coordination, and action in emergencies as they unfold in one of the busiest transport systems in the world, the New York subway. The author shows how the technology, with all the theatrical trappings of a “legitimate” security solution, was apparently conceived without a grounded understanding of actual use-cases, and the degree to which the complex interactions which give rise to subway emergency can be anticipated in – and therefore managed through – a technological system. As a case-study, the chapter illustrates the pitfalls of deploying technology against problems which are not well-defined in the first place, to the neglect of investments against much more fundamental problems – such as inadequate communication systems, and unstable relationships with emergency response agencies – which might offer guaranteed benefits, and indeed lay a firm groundwork for future deployment of more ambitious technology.

Homelessness has many causes and also is stigmatized in the United States, leading to much misunderstanding of its causes and what policy solutions may ameliorate the problem. The problem is of course getting worse and impacting many communities far removed from the West Coast cities the authors examine in this study. This analysis examines the socioeconomic variables influencing homelessness on the West Coast in recent years. The authors utilize a panel fixed effects model that explicitly includes measures of healthcare access and availability to account for the additional health risks faced by individuals who lack shelter. The authors estimate a spatial error model (SEM) in order to better understand the impacts that systemic shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have on a variety of factors that directly influence productivity and other measures of welfare such as income inequality, housing supply, healthcare investment, and homelessness.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought unexpected implications for the world of work, accelerating the use of digital technologies and hybrid workspaces, and posing new questions on how to manage working relationships. This chapter explores whether employee empowerment experiences can ensure better work-life connections. Empowerment involves a permanent transfer of power from the line manager to the employee. Although not all line managers are willing to use it as a development tool for fear of seeing their role downsized, research has been conducted to better understand the empowerment experiences of Generation Z employees, identifying positive and negative aspects of the relationship with their line managers. Generation Z employees have certain expectations when it comes to their job that are not always met, and understanding and managing these expectations through empowerment has great value to shape the future of organizations and create a better work-life connection for upcoming generations of workers. The chapter adopts a new conceptual framework for understanding employees’ empowerment experiences, proposes specific structural actions that line managers can take and reflects on the implications of employee empowerment for the HR function in terms of work-life interface.