Texas 9-1-1: Emergency telecommunications and the genesis of surveillance infrastructure

Infrastructures of surveillance—everyday, taken-for-granted, institutionalized and technically mediated practices which identify, observe, and analyze individual actions—permeate society. These infrastructures mediate the production of social knowledge and action toward individuals. This article examines the genesis of one such infrastructure, namely the coordinated practices of identifying and locating mobile phone users during emergency (9-1-1) calls. Implementing this infrastructure has entailed creating and coordinating systems to locate wireless phones, to deliver the emergency calls to the appropriate service agency, and to deliver appropriate services to the emergency event. This implementation has occurred within historically specific regulatory, political, cultural, technological, and economic contexts and has specific implications for general surveillance practice. Focusing primarily on the state of Texas, this article examines the development of systems which store and deliver individuals’ geographic location. It argues that, despite privacy laws tightly restricting the use of information generated in the 9-1-1 process, and despite the special purpose to which the 9-1-1 system is dedicated, the wireless 9-1-1 initiative has created the infrastructure for a general purpose locational surveillance infrastructure capable both of surveilling broad patterns of activities and of responding to particular individuals. Moreover, the infrastructure is more available to police agencies and to well-established and well-funded corporate entities than to grass roots organizations. This trend is driven by the need to coordinate a national emergency response system within a fractured telecommunication industry, by the desire of marketers to understand and address their customers’ habits of mobility, and by an increasing willingness of police agencies to include widespread surveillance under the rubric of “emergency services.” Policy responses such as greater ability to opt out of the surveillance system, public oversight of emergency operations, and greater public access to the infrastructure itself might mitigate the most harmful potential social effects of this infrastructure, while distributing its benefits in a more democratic and egalitarian way.     

Quality infomediation in search markets

We examine the effects of informational intermediation by a third party ‘infomediary’ in a search model with heterogeneous seller qualities and asymmetric information. The infomediary earns revenue by selling a list of accredited sellers (a ‘guidebook’) to buyers and selling accreditations to sellers. We show that such information always improves welfare but can hurt informed buyers (as well as the uninformed) if it is not sufficiently informative about seller qualities. The model also provides a number of insights concerning the private and social incentives to create information, and the determinants and nature of demand for infomediation services by buyers and sellers.     

Library support for industrial marketing research

The literature of business and management often discusses the need for timely information as a prerequisite to decision-making and planning. The role of the corporate library in supporting management's information needs has rarely been discussed in professional management literature. This article examines the library's role in supporting industrial marketing research. Special reference is made to new technologies that enhance traditional library services.     

More effective sales force reporting

As the need for marketing intelligence by sales and marketing managers grows more essential, field sales personnel are increasingly being asked to gather and report information. Many executives realize the potential value of using salespersons to supply information useful to management decision making. The sales force is familiar with their territories, their customers' needs and sources of information inside customer organizations, their competitors' marketing activities, and trends in product acceptance. The incremental costs and effort required are low compared to other research methods, since information can be submitted within the context of a regular call report system [2, 6, 8].But salespersons have been found to be inadequate and uncooperative reporters in many instances. Numerous field salespersons believe that reporting infringes on their primary responsibility of selling, and furthermore that management apparently doesn't make use of the resulting information anyway. Thus, while salespersons have access to a wealth of marketing information of potentially great value to the firm, they are often inadequate, unreliable, and unmotivated reporters [4, 5].This article reports the results of a study designed to investigate what management practices contribute to, or detract from, effective reporting of marketing information by salespersons. Current practices in reporting are noted and some recommendations are made to help management improve sales force reporting.     

Communications and information resources in Canada

The author details Canada's efforts to maintain unity and national economic and cultural identity through its communication and information resources. The country's dependence on the USA is stressed. Computer communications, broadcasting and publishing industries, telephone and satellite communications, and research and development are covered and several Canadian innovations are introduced. It is concluded that, with appropriate action, Canadian communications and information resources could be used to strengthen national sovereignty.     

The information society in California: Social factors influencing its emergence

The authors identify three elements which will influence California's future. First, demographic shifts in the state's population have altered California's ethnic and cultural foundations. Second, the state educational system does not seem prepared to train larger numbers for information work, especially members of its growing ethnic population. Third, almost half the state's workforce is now employed in information-oriented work, whether in the industrial, service, or agricultural sectors. The authors demonstrate that the interaction of these elements has profound implications for California's development.     

Universal service and public access in the networked society

Concern about access to the new services and facilities emerging from the technologically dynamic telecommunications industry and its ‘convergence’ with broadcasting and information technology has resulted in calls for a reconsideration of the nature and scope of Universal Service Obligations (USOs) so that they are more adequate and relevant in an era of technological acceleration towards a networked information society. This paper assesses approaches to upgrading USOs and to developing policies for public access to the networked society undertaken thus far in various OECD countries, and proposes frameworks for conducting the tasks in a systematic manner.     

Teledemocracy from the top

Teledemocracy, the use of new communications and information technology to widen the scope of the public's political participation, is a hot topic. Over the past few years a number of wide-scale teledemocratic experiments have taken place, for example in New Zealand, the State of Washington, and Hawaii, and the idea is being increasingly discussed in the scholarly as well as popular literature.¹ The reasoning behind, and justification for, teledemocracy has been expounded before.² This Comment, however, attacks the problem from a new perspective - where do politicians fit into such a system, and why should they nurture its development?     

Policy globalization and the “information society”: a view from Canada

The Canadian example suggests that recent shifts in communication policy frameworks should be understood as a transformation in how technology is organized politically, and not simply as a policy reaction to technological innovation. The process is tracked chronologically in three sections: institutional renewal (1993–1994); accelerated vertical slippage between national, regional and global policy levels (1995–1996); and horizontal dispersal of communication policy into new other sectors (1997). Across these stages, a series of convergences characterized by increased fluidity between territorial as well as sectoral jurisdictions are discussed; implications for the understanding of communication policy frameworks within the context of the “information society” project are identified.     

Information technology today and tomorrow

This article discusses the innovations that have occurred in information technologies, which have led to the development of ‘intelligent’ electronics- based systems such as robots and computer-controlled tools. The author analyses the debate that has arisen surrounding the production and use of these systems, relating them to employment levels. He considers the future of industry and the economy, which will both see great changes in their structure as intelligent machines become ubiquitous.     

Resale and bundling in auctions

The possibility of resale increases bidders' incentives to jointly reduce demand in multi-object auctions, because resale increases low-value bidders' willingness to pay and reduces high-value bidders' willingness to pay. Therefore, resale may reduce the seller's revenue. In a simple model with complete information, however, allowing resale and bundling the objects on sale are “complement strategies” for the seller (under reasonable conditions)—by bundling and allowing resale the seller earns a higher revenue than by selling the objects separately and/or forbidding resale. We also show why allowing resale may reduce efficiency.     

Electronic information services : An emerging market opportunity?

This article considers the key market development issues of electronic information services (EIS). Two variables — technology and demand — are used to model the past behaviour of the market (1975–1984) and to propose a process to stimulate EIS market development in the 1990s. The changes in the supply side of the EIS market since 1984 are summarized and interpreted as moves to realize greater market integration. The author concludes by outlining policy implications for the 1990s and noting the need for a shift in emphasis towards demand-oriented measures.     

Effects of broadband availability on total factor productivity in service sector firms: Evidence from Ireland

While broadband is widely believed to augment productivity, there is little firm-level evidence of a generalised causal effect. In this paper we examine whether the introduction of digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband services increased firms' productivity in nine sub-sectors within the services and distribution sector in Ireland from 2006 to 2012. Firm-level panel data on firms' characteristics are linked to spatial information on the rollout of DSL. While we do not find significant productivity effects in the services sectors taken together, we do find positive and significant effects on firm's total factor productivity in Information & Communication and Administrative & Support Services.     

Towards a new theory of information

A new theory of information was presented by the author to Expert Systems 86, the Conference of the Specialist Group on Expert Systems of the British Computer Society at Brighton, 15–18 December. He envisions information to be a property of the universe, as real a property as matter and energy. This comment explains some of the thinking behind the paper.     

An industrial analysis market information system

The United States maritime industry share of world cargo movement has declined steadily for the last decade. The authors maintain that this situation is partially due to the industry's lack of a marketing orientation. Successful marketing hinges upon an effective market information system. This paper presents such a system for the U.S. maritime industry and discusses various information sources as a foundation for this system.     

On-line information retrieval aids new product development

Innovation is one of a firm's most effective weapons in the war against competition. The need for new products is now greater because the production function is called upon to maintain, if not improve, the quality of life while using fewer resources. Accelerating innovation, is partially based on a crucial element, information. An-on-line information retrieval can be used in every phase of the new product development cycle.     

The Soviet burden on the world food system : Challenge and response

Through its disruptive entry into western food markets and its non —participation in global efforts at food policy management the Soviet Union has placed a burden upon the world food system. Dr Paarlberg examines this burden and the US response which has been to seek better information on Soviet agriculture, impose ad hoc controls on food sales and to enter a bilateral agreement in 1975. Three other suggested responses —grain reserves held without Soviet participation, a US wheat board, and a North American export cartel —are discussed. The author concludes that the Soviet burden is decreasing and is best lifted by increasing the free supply available for export. In future. Soviet reliance on food imports may draw it into a greater dependence on the non-socialist world.     

The value of knowledge spillovers in the U.S. semiconductor industry

This paper aims at quantifying the economic value of knowledge spillovers by exploring information contained in patent citations. We estimate a market valuation equation of the U.S. semiconductor firms during the 1980s and 1990s, and find an average value of $0.6 to 1.2 million “R&D-equivalent” dollars for knowledge spillovers embodied in one patent citation. For an average semiconductor firm, such an estimate implies that the total value of knowledge spillovers the firm received during the sample period can be as high as half of its actual total R&D expenditures in the same period. This provides a direct measure of the economic value of social returns or externalities of relevant technological innovations. We also find that the value of knowledge spillovers declines as the size of firm's patent portfolio increases, and that self citations are more valuable than external citations, indicating a significant amount of tacit knowledge or know-how spillovers that occur within the firm.     

Entry, exit, and shakeouts in the United States in new manufactured products

During their early evolution, new manufacturing industries commonly experience a ‘shakeout’ period during which the number of producers declines by 50% or more. In order to gain additional insight into shakeouts, we develop new information on the patterns of entry and exit for 16 major new manufactured products from their commercial inception through 1980. We use a model in which entry and exit coordination problems can generate shakeouts to structure the analysis of the data. We find that shakeouts are distinguished by entry falling off sharply but rates of exit remaining steady or rising over time.     

A causal analysis of the impact of information systems and supply chain management practices on operational performance: Evidence from manufacturing SMEs in Turkey

This study has empirically tested a framework identifying the causal links among supply chain management (SCM) and information systems (IS) practices, SCM–IS related inhibiting factors and operational performance based on a sample of 203 manufacturing SMEs operating in the manufacture of fabricated metal products and general purpose machinery within the greater metropolitan area of Istanbul in Turkey. Moderating effect of SCM and IS related enabling factors on the above mentioned relationships is also investigated in this study. Tests of hypotheses indicate that both SCM and IS practices positively and significantly influence the operational performance of sample firms. The results of the structural model also indicate a strong support for negative relationships between SCM–IS related inhibitors and the implementation levels of both SCM and IS practices. Similarly, a strong support was found for the hypothesized negative relationship between SCM–IS inhibitors and operational performance of SMEs. Finally, we verified the moderating impact of SCM–IS enablers on the link between SCM practices and operational performance. A similar moderating impact was also found with regard to the relationship between IS practices and operational performance.