Building the Virtual State
Building the Virtual State

Author: Jane E. Fountain

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2004-05-28

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 9780815798903

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The benefits of using technology to remake government seem almost infinite. The promise of such programs as user-friendly "virtual agencies" and portals where citizens can access all sections of government from a single website has excited international attention. The potential of a digital state cannot be realized, however, unless the rigid structures of the contemporary bureaucratic state change along with the times. Building the Virtual State explains how the American public sector must evolve and adapt to exploit the possibilities of digital governance fully and fairly. The book finds that many issues involved in integrating technology and government have not been adequately debated or even recognized. Drawing from a rich collection of case studies, the book argues that the real challenges lie not in achieving the technical capability of creating a government on the web, but rather in overcoming the entrenched organizational and political divisions within the state. Questions such as who pays for new government websites, which agencies will maintain the sites, and who will ensure that the privacy of citizens is respected reveal the extraordinary obstacles that confront efforts to create a virtual state. These political and structural battles will influence not only how the American state will be remade in the Information Age, but also who will be the winners and losers in a digital society.

Building the Virtual State
Building the Virtual State

Author: Jane E. Fountain

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2004-05-28

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780815798903

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The benefits of using technology to remake government seem almost infinite. The promise of such programs as user-friendly "virtual agencies" and portals where citizens can access all sections of government from a single website has excited international attention. The potential of a digital state cannot be realized, however, unless the rigid structures of the contemporary bureaucratic state change along with the times. Building the Virtual State explains how the American public sector must evolve and adapt to exploit the possibilities of digital governance fully and fairly. The book finds that many issues involved in integrating technology and government have not been adequately debated or even recognized. Drawing from a rich collection of case studies, the book argues that the real challenges lie not in achieving the technical capability of creating a government on the web, but rather in overcoming the entrenched organizational and political divisions within the state. Questions such as who pays for new government websites, which agencies will maintain the sites, and who will ensure that the privacy of citizens is respected reveal the extraordinary obstacles that confront efforts to create a virtual state. These political and structural battles will influence not only how the American state will be remade in the Information Age, but also who will be the winners and losers in a digital society.

VIRTUAL STATES
VIRTUAL STATES

Author: Jerry Everard

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-02-28

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1134692757

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First published in 2000. Virtual States challenge the idea that the nation state is dead. In all the hype about the Internet, little thought has been given to the systematic inequalities being brought about by globalisation, and exacerbated by the global spread of the Internet. Jerry Everard argues that new disparities are emerging between the information 'haves' ad the information 'have-nots': between wealthy and poor states; and between the wealthy and poor in wealthy states. Virtual States systematically addresses these inequalities.

Building State Capability
Building State Capability

Author: Matt Andrews

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 0198747489

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Governments play a major role in the development process, and constantly introduce reforms and policies to achieve developmental objectives. Many of these interventions have limited impact, however; schools get built but children don't learn, IT systems are introduced but not used, plans are written but not implemented. These achievement deficiencies reveal gaps in capabilities, and weaknesses in the process of building state capability. This book addresses these weaknesses and gaps. It starts by providing evidence of the capability shortfalls that currently exist in many countries, showing that many governments lack basic capacities even after decades of reforms and capacity building efforts. The book then analyses this evidence, identifying capability traps that hold many governments back - particularly related to isomorphic mimicry (where governments copy best practice solutions from other countries that make them look more capable even if they are not more capable) and premature load bearing (where governments adopt new mechanisms that they cannot actually make work, given weak extant capacities). The book then describes a process that governments can use to escape these capability traps. Called PDIA (problem driven iterative adaptation), this process empowers people working in governments to find and fit solutions to the problems they face. The discussion about this process is structured in a practical manner so that readers can actually apply tools and ideas to the capability challenges they face in their own contexts. These applications will help readers devise policies and reforms that have more impact than those of the past.

Building Online Learning Communities
Building Online Learning Communities

Author: Rena M. Palloff

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2009-12-30

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 0470605464

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Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include: Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community. Establishing a sense of presence online. Maximizing participation. Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection. Assessing student performance. Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authors many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.

Big Book of Virtual Teambuilding Games: Quick, Effective Activities to Build Communication, Trust and Collaboration from Anywhere!
Big Book of Virtual Teambuilding Games: Quick, Effective Activities to Build Communication, Trust and Collaboration from Anywhere!

Author: Mary Scannell

Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional

Published: 2011-12-16

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 0071775129

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Get remote team members to interact as if they’re in the same room! Whether you’re videoconferencing with team members across the world or e-mailing a colleague sitting ten feet away, the truth is evident: technology has permanently altered the way we communicate. The virtual workplace can facilitate quicker decision making and reduced overhead. But the lack of face-to-face interaction can also impede trust, innovation, and creativity among team members. The Big Book of Virtual Team-Building Games is packed with games and activities for developing productive virtual teams across all digital platforms, including e-mail, mobile devices, web-based conferencing tools, and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Skype. The Big Book of Virtual Team-Building Games helps you: Build a greater sense of community and reduce conflict Increase levels of engagement Get the most out of more-introverted team members Boost team members’ productivity Make sure that the only thing separating your people is distance. The Big Book of Virtual Team-Building Games is just the tool you need to develop trusting relationships, foster clear communication, and use technology to enhance the team’s connections.

Building and Managing Virtual Private Networks
Building and Managing Virtual Private Networks

Author: David R. Kosiur

Publisher:

Published: 1998-10-12

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13:

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Everything you need to know about selecting, designing, building, and managing the right VPN for your company Building and Managing Virtual Private Networks Get complete answers to all your VPN questions in Building and Managing Virtual Private Networks. International networking guru Dave Kosiur provides a candid assessment of the current state of VPN technology. With the help of fascinating and informative case studies based on the experiences of organizations at the forefront of the VPN revolution, he clearly explains the basic concepts and technologies involved, as well as the business reasons for making the switch to an Internet-based network. And he provides practical guidance on all aspects of designing, building, and managing the best VPN for your organization. You get the complete lowdown on: * The pros and cons of all VPN types now available * All major classes of VPN hardware and software * Key VPN design issues and business solutions * Detailed cost comparison * Selecting the right ISP for your VPN * Building a high-performance extranet * Remote access * VPN security threats and solutions, including best-in-class cryptographic techniques * Firewalls and routers

Building a Virtual Assistant for Raspberry Pi
Building a Virtual Assistant for Raspberry Pi

Author: Tanay Pant

Publisher: Apress

Published: 2016-07-27

Total Pages: 109

ISBN-13: 1484221672

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Build a voice-controlled virtual assistant using speech-to-text engines, text-to-speech engines, and conversation modules. This book shows you how to program the virtual assistant to gather data from the internet (weather data, data from Wikipedia, data mining); play music; and take notes. Each chapter covers building a mini project/module to make the virtual assistant better. You'll develop the software on Linux or OS X before transferring it to your Raspberry Pi, ready for deploying in your own home-automation or Internet of Things applications. Building a Virtual Assistant for Raspberry Pi walks you through various STTs and TTSs and the implementation of these components with the help of Python. After that you will start implementing logic for handling user queries and commands, so that the user can have conversations with Melissa. You will then work to improve logic handling to detect what the user wants Melissa to do. You will also work on building some useful applications/modules for Melissa, which will allow you to gain interesting information from Melissa such as the time, weather information, and data from Wikipedia. You will develop a music playing application as well as a note taking application for Melissa, laying the foundations for how Melissa can be further extended. Finally, you will learn how to deploy this software to your Raspberry Pi and how you can further scale Melissa to make her more intelligent, interactive and how you can use her in other projects such as home automation as well. What You'll Learn Design the workflow and discover the concepts of building a voice controlled assistant Develop modules for having conversations with the assistant Enable the assistant to retrieve information from the internet Build utilities like a music player and a note taking application for the virtual assistant Integrate this software with a Raspberry Pi Who This Book Is For Anyone who has built a home automation project with Raspberry Pi and now want to enhance it by making it voice-controlled. The book would also interest students from computer science or related disciplines.