BACKGROUND Letters of complaint written by patients and their advocates reporting poor healthcare experiences represent an under-used data source. The lack of a method for extracting reliable data from these heterogeneous letters hinders their use for monitoring and learning. To address this gap, we report on the development and reliability testing of the Healthcare Complaints Analysis Tool (HC...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest principles and framework for comprehensive societal knowledge management (SKM) for countries to provide acceptable conditions for their citizens and businesses and to participate equitable in the globalized knowledge economy. Design/methodology/approach – Foundations for SKM principles and framework are based on requirements and practical experi...

It would be desirable if, as a society, we could reduce the amount of landfill trash we create, the amount of carbon dioxide we emit, the amount of forest we clear, etc. Since we cannot (or are in any case not willing to) simultaneously pursue all these objectives to their maximum extent, we must prioritize among them. Currently, this is done mostly in an ad-hoc manner, with people, companies, ...

Risk perception is one of important subjects in management psychology and cognitive psychology. It is of great value in the theory and practice to investigate the societal hazards that the public cares a lot especially in Socio-economic transition period. A survey including 30 hazards and 6 risk attributes was designed and distributed to about 2, 485 residents of 8 districts, Beijing. The major...

This paper explores the applicability of the new paradigm of Multi-dimensional Dynamic Logic Programming to represent an agent’s view of the combination of societal knowledge dynamics. The representation of a dynamic society of agents is the core of MINERVA [11], an agent architecture and system designed with the intention of providing a common agent framework based on the unique strengths of L...

This report has looked at important cultural dimensions of a wide range of factors that impact multinational military operations. A number of issues, however, do not fall neatly within the parameters of the other chapters. This chapter will examine some of these topics under the general heading of “societal factors.” In particular, this chapter will explore the extent to which societal factors,...

As Social Computing has increasingly captivated the general public, it has become a popular research area for computer scientists. Social Computing research focuses on online social behavior and using artifacts derived from it for providing recommendations and other useful community knowledge. Unfortunately, some of that behavior and knowledge incur societal costs, particularly with regards to ...

It is widely recognized that software affects fundamental societal concerns, such as privacy. Software does not just appear, but is produced within a variety of societal institutions. This article analyzes how societal institutions shape the development of software and its resulting implications for society. Specifically, we consider how institutional rules are evident in the different structur...

Creativity refers to the potential to produce novel ideas that are task-appropriate and high in quality. Creativity in a societal context is best understood in terms of a dialectical relation to intelligence and wisdom. In particular, intelligence forms the thesis of such a dialectic. Intelligence largely is used to advance existing societal agendas. Creativity forms the antithesis of the diale...

BACKGROUND Societal instability and crises can cause rapid, large-scale movements. These movements are poorly understood and difficult to measure but strongly impact health. Data on these movements are important for planning response efforts. We retrospectively analyzed movement patterns surrounding a 2010 humanitarian crisis caused by internal political conflict in Côte d'Ivoire using two diff...