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The purpose of this paper is to challenge the traditional placement of CCTV within the realm of crime prevention technologies and to propose a conceptualisation of surveillance cameras that takes into account how different elements interact to shape how these are understood, defined and used in the day-to-day practices of the police.

Methodologically, the research draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in two medium-sized Italian cities where open-street CCTV systems have been recently implemented and is based on a combination of non-participant observations and interviews with police officers in both forces.

Overall, two main findings emerge from the fieldwork. First, cameras are rarely used and not for reasons pertaining to crime control; rather, they have become a tool for the efficient management of scarce policing resources, with particular emphasis on the co-ordination and real-time tracking of patrolling personnel. Second, this shift is understood in radically different ways by officers in the two cities, so that what is experienced as a benign form of peer-to-peer co-ordination in Central City becomes a form of undue surveillance on the part of higher ranks in Northern City.

The value of the present work is twofold. On one hand, it provides relevant information to police practitioners on how organisational and structural factors impact on the use of surveillance cameras in policing. On the other, embracing the idea that CCTV is constructed through the interaction of several distinct, yet related, processes can explain why the same technology is implemented, defined and used in different ways in comparable organisations.

The increasing need to access and elaborate dynamic and heterogeneous information sources distributed over the Internet calls for new models and paradigms for application design and development. The mobile agent paradigm promotes the design of applications where agents roam through Internet sites to locally access and elaborate information and resources, possibly co‐operating with each other. Focuses on mobile agent co‐ordination, and presents the TuCSoN co‐ordination model for Internet applications based on mobile information agents. TuCSoN exploits a notion of local tuple‐based interaction space, called a tuple centre. A tuple centre is a tuple space enhanced with the capability of programming its behaviour in response to communication events. This enables properties to be embedded into the interaction space, and a mobile agent to be designed independently of the peculiarities of the information sources. Several issues critical to Internet applications can then be charged on tuple centres transparently to agents. The effectiveness of the TuCSoN model is first shown by means of an application example in the area of Internet information retrieval, then discussed in the context of workflow management and electronic commerce.

Presents a multi‐agent system (MAS) for collaborative design in the construction sector. The system is intended to form a basis for integrating the often distributed cross‐functional activities that characterise collaborative design in construction. The MAS supports interaction and negotiation between the different agents that represent various participants that are usually engaged in a typical collaborative project design. The system is composed of different agents that provide services within the MAS environment. While some of the support services are provided by the agent platform, task agents that represent various functional disciplines undertake the real design activities. Describes details of the MAS, which simulates and demonstrates peer‐to‐peer interaction, communication and negotiation between the design agents in a collaborative design space. Also highlights important issues in MAS development and makes recommendations on how to improve collaborative design in construction using the MAS paradigm.

This article explores the impact of the Internet on the supply chain for music. Music is a massive global industry worth $38 billion annually. The global music industry is dominated by the “big five” major record companies. However, as this article will show, the advent of the Internet is having a significant impact on both the supply chain for music and the dominance of the big record labels. The article begins by describing the background to our research and the methods employed. It then goes on to examine how the Internet is transforming the supply chain for music. This is followed by a discussion of the impact of piracy on the music industry. The article concludes by arguing that while the future may look bleak for the major record labels, it looks much more positive for artists and consumers.

The maker movement has been gaining increased attention worldwide and has recently spread to universities, strengthening the entrepreneurial university. Makerspace communities are seen as open and democratic social spaces where knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer learning are essential. However, few scholars have examined the social learning dynamics in makerspace communities. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to these recent calls to investigate makerspaces and their relevance in enhancing learning in a university context.

The authors used a case study design to explore the social learning dynamics in the maker community. The authors used observations and interviews to gather rich data from ten members, including two founders. The study occurred over a five-month period.

In contrast to free-choice activities, this makerspace community practised a highly hierarchical and well-managed regulation of activities. The high emphasis on project work and serious play illustrates a community where technology is a means of delivering value through projects rather than a means to play and learn in itself.

Seen in the light of rapid technological development, educators are facing the danger of teaching outdated skills. The makerspace model represents an advanced type of pedagogy and mastery development in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects and has the potential to inspire educational designs while challenging traditional education.

The research provides insights into makerspace as a producer of talents, repositioning of technology transfer and value creation from an entrepreneurial university.

The purpose of this paper is to report on an evaluation of the UK Healthy Universities Network (UKHUN), which explored engagement of network members; identified what members value about the network; examined facilitators and barriers to engagement; and informed the network’s future development.

The study was a two phase mixed-method study, with participants being staff from Higher Education institutions. Phase 1 involved a documentary review and an online 14-question survey (n=32). Phase 2 comprised follow-up semi-structured interviews and focus groups, conducted using Skype (n=11). These were audio recorded and transcripts were thematically analysed in a two-stage process.

A number of key themes emerged from the thematic analysis: value of network meetings and events; popularity of the network website; increased communication and collaboration; sense of leadership offered by the network; interest and inclusion of an international perspective; importance of institutional support.

Only six universities who are involved in the network took part in Phase 2. Although a range of organisations were chosen purposively, it is possible that additional key issues at other universities were excluded.

The UKHUN is valued by its membership, particularly its biannual meetings, online presence, leadership, ethos and communication methods. Key barriers include the capacity of staff to attend meetings and contribute to the network, influenced by a lack of institutional commitment and prioritisation. Findings from the evaluation have informed a “refresh” of the network’s website and a revision of its membership structure, as well as guiding its positioning to achieve greater strategic influence.

This article examines the future of e‐money as a payment instrument and some of the microeconomic policy issues it will raise. The paper is in two parts. This first part focuses on the various forms which electronic money is likely to take in the future, and considers key technological and economic factors that will shape its evolution. Part 2, to be published in the next issue of foresight, examines some of the major regulatory and institutional issues that are likely to have a bearing on the adoption of e‐money, notably concerns related to the regulation of payment systems, security, privacy and consumer protection.

The purpose of this paper is to show the potential of self‐organized semantic storage services. The semantic web has provided a vision of how to build the applications of the future. A software component dedicated to the storage and retrieval of semantic information is an important but generic part of these applications. Apart from mere functionality, these storage components also have to provide good performance regarding the non‐functional requirements scalability, adaptability and robustness. Distributing the task of storing and querying semantic information onto multiple computers is a way of achieving this performance. However, the distribution of a task onto a set of computers connected using a communication network is not trivial. One solution is self‐organized technologies, where no central entity coordinates the system's operation.

Based on the available literature on large‐scale semantic storage systems, the paper analyzes the underlying distribution algorithm, with special focus on the properties of semantic information and corresponding queries. The paper compares the approaches and identify their shortcomings.

All analyzed approaches and their underlying technologies were unable to distribute large amounts of semantic information and queries in a generic way while still being able to react on changing network infrastructure. Nonetheless, as each concept represented a unique trade‐off between these goals, the paper points out how self‐organization is crucial to perform well at least in a subset of them.

The contribution of this paper is a literature review aimed at showing the potential of self‐organized semantic storage services. A case is made for self‐organization in a distributed storage system as the key to excellence in the relevant non‐functional requirements: scalability, adaptability and robustness.

This chapter introduces the concept of the Shared Mobility Services Agency for the planning and managing of collective transport services at urban and regional level.

Building on previous work which established the concept of the Flexible Transport Service (FTS) Agency as a single co-ordination centre for different flexible services, this chapter extends the concept to consolidate the role of the Agency as a Shared Mobility Centre, including the integration of different on-demand or New Mobility Services and the co-ordination of different key actors in a co-modal approach. Specific attention is given to the enabling information and communication technology (ICT) architecture and standards and to the actions needed for consolidating the Agency’s role.

Findings indicate the fundamental role of the Public Transport Authority (local or regional) to enable the implementation of the concept. Priorities include: recognizing the Agency as an added value service for the area; supporting possible interaction/synergy among different Dispatch Centres and/or with other paratransit services; and defining a specific set of indicators measuring the quality and quantitative of service that are different from those of the conventional transport service.

In a time when household and public expenditure are under pressure, coupled with rapid technology progress (especially enhanced connectivity) the shared mobility services Agency offers a co-ordinated solution to planning and managing collective transport services, including New Mobility Services (represented by recent solutions like Uber, Sidecar, Lyft and BlaBlaCar) which are not yet integrated with traditional transport services.