SSHRC-funded projects concerning emerging technology

Synopsis:

Reliable, long-term data are increasingly recognized as important for studying immigration. But their use is limited due to the complexity of migration issues and processes. The use and application of “big data” within immigration studies is still in its infancy. The majority of immigration research that uses big data tends to focus on economic outcomes and returns, rather than other key aspects of the migration and settlement experience.

This project seeks to identify and synthesize literature on quantitative immigration and migration studies that are using big data. The review will identify key thematic research areas, benefits and challenges of such research, as well as knowledge gaps and limitations of the studies. It will seek to identify areas that could be enhanced by emerging big data in the context of new big data sets that will be released by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and Statistics Canada in 2016.

The project aims to stimulate discussion among academics, policy-makers and immigration stakeholders, and to enhance the use and application of big data within immigration and settlement policy-making.

“The number of immigration and migration studies drawing on big data is still relatively limited but rapidly increasing. This project aims to identify opportunities for further research and seek ways big data can be packaged to make it user-friendly for novice end-users.”

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Synopsis:

By 2026, eight million Canadians will be over the age of 65—almost double the number from the previous 10 years. Up against powerful aging stereotypes, often reinforced in technologies that project “oldness,” there is a strong desire among the aging population to be seen as competent, independent and self-reliant.

Understanding the role of self-image in aging adults’ decisions about adopting or rejecting technology is critical to ensuring that the growing numbers of older adults benefit from current and future technologies, and continue to face life with confidence.

This project will examine quantitative and qualitative evidence surrounding the role that self-image plays in the technology adoption process. A series of workshops will bring together older adult end-users with industry, community and policy stakeholders to work towards recommending technology for older adults that fits with their desired self-image.

“This practical research outcome should contribute to optimal usage of technologies by older adults, facilitating sustained engagement in meaningful activity, enhanced productivity, independence, self-confidence, enhanced quality of life, as well as supporting continued social participation within the community.”

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Synopsis:

Discussions on 3D printing have been in the media and on social networks for several years now, with many videos being shared about this “revolutionary” technology. However, there is a major gap between the dream of 3D printing transforming reality, and reality itself. 3D printing is not your average technology; it has the potential to significantly transform our industrial, economic, scientific and social environment. Yet, very few social science studies have been dedicated to this technology.

This knowledge synthesis project will allow us to better understand 3D printing technology’s economic and social issues and how various stakeholders take these into account. The analysis will be an opportunity to understand the technological, socio-economic, corporate and academic dimensions of 3D printing in Canada.

The project will involve creating a wiki on 3D printing as part of a course on technology design and transfer. Organizers are also planning a symposium on “3D printing and emerging technologies: societal changes and impacts on professional practices.”

“All technology has a societal and political impact, and the potential to transform its environment; the social sciences more than need to study the technical phenomenon of 3D printing.”

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Synopsis:

There are 1.3 million Canadians with disabilities who report that they do not have the assistive technology that they need, when they need it. With online instructions on how to create assistive technologies for people with disabilities, and access to fabrication tools—such as 3D printers and creative spaces through MakerSpace platforms in the community—building and designing assistive technologies seems more accessible than ever before. However, there are clear challenges in using these resources to create functional assistive technologies. Further research is needed on the ability of these tools and spaces to build technology that meets the needs of people with disabilities.

This synthesis project will examine the state of knowledge regarding the role and impact of emerging technologies to build assistive devices through the use of community resources in Canada. Barriers, including a lack of participation by people with disabilities and a lack of training, will be explored. Project results will include a compilation of innovations in policies and practices within and across academic, private and public sectors, and their contribution to increasing access to assistive technologies.

“Interdisciplinary studies on the issue of disability, culture and assistive technologies have been explored through the literature. However, the policy and access pathway changes informed by such knowledge within the Canadian context have yet to be explored in depth.”

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Synopsis:

With increasing globalization and ever-faster technological advances, mastery of digital technologies is a key labour market issue. To date, the scientific literature has done a good job of documenting disparities linked to digital inequality and related factors. However, it is still hard to determine how they affect individuals’ socio‑economic participation, and to recommend ways to improve them. Digital inequality could be reduced through improvements to economic growth and equality, social mobility, and the democratic process. It is, therefore, critical to find solutions to digital inequality in Canada through initiatives that put forward sound policies.

The knowledge synthesis will include a systematic review of the literature on socio‑economic impacts of digital inequality in Canada, and recommendations to actively support the country’s labour market, productivity and economic prosperity. The review will encourage the development of appropriate policies on access to digital technologies.

The final report and recommendations from this knowledge synthesis will be the basis for eight knowledge mobilization strategies targeted to economic development policy-makers. The synthesis will also be available through an online portal.

“Collaborative innovation approaches enable organizations to meet the market’s demands for fast, agile innovation, particularly by centring the innovation process around the needs of users.”

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Synopsis:

This project’s goal is to help protect against the acculturating and alienating effects of digital technologies, by ensuring they are used and integrated in ways that respect the values and culture of Aboriginal communities in Canada. The project aims, specifically, to fill a gap in how information and communications technologies (ICTs) contribute to the development, planning and construction of First Nations and Inuit housing.

Adopting a critical approach, the project asks Aboriginal communities’ opinions about the use of ICTs in their daily lives. The report will help improve understanding about how using ICTs can aid decision-making for culturally appropriate development, planning and architecture in Aboriginal communities. The study will undertake a “broad” inventory of ICTs, and of consultation and participation tools in general. These tools will be made more accessible to Aboriginal communities, particularly those with limited resources and those that are remote. The inventory will make it possible to learn particular characteristics of the Aboriginal technological landscape in Canada. The final report will be useful to stakeholders working in conjunction with Aboriginal communities, by providing them with access to the current state of knowledge about ICTs.

Northern Aboriginal communities will benefit directly from the results, which will make it possible to examine new ICT theories and develop better urban and architecture development policies.

“Few studies and seminars have looked at Aboriginal housing while including the broader range of social and cultural factors associated with ICTs that affect communities in Canada’s North and Quebec.”

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Synopsis:

Aboriginal groups across the Arctic are increasingly seeking to repatriate and reclaim cultural knowledge and material collections that were gathered from their ancestors as part of earlier colonial endeavours. The concept of digital repatriation, or “digital return,” has emerged as a means of rebuilding relationships between these institutions and source communities by transferring and sharing knowledge in the form of digital data.

There are several challenges to digitally repatriating material, which are usually held in trust by third party institutions. In addition to costly hardware and limited internet access in remote areas, power imbalances, tendencies to work in silos and minimal input from Aboriginal communities often results in unmet priorities.

This knowledge synthesis project will examine how challenges unique to the Canadian Arctic are—and are not—being addressed by past and current digital return projects. The identification of current gaps in knowledge will seek to ensure that digital technologies are used to the fullest to preserve Indigenous heritage in Canada’s North for decades to come.

“While collaboration remains a strong theme in their development, digital return projects still struggle to re-establish a sense of ownership in source communities.”

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Synopsis:

Digital literacy underpins a country’s ability to provide people with equitable access to social and economic opportunities. To increase digital competencies, educational approaches must change from traditional to transformative. They must embrace learning as a social process, where students and teachers work in partnership and are supported by digital technologies. This shift is especially challenging in Aboriginal communities, specifically those where teachers may lack training and access to technology.

This project will undertake a comprehensive review of digital literacy projects, focusing on Aboriginal culture, and their impact on teaching and learning in K-12 education across Canada. It will provide a national overview of such digital literacy projects, with a special look at success stories. It will suggest how these successes can be applied to other digital literacy initiatives and what can be learned from projects that failed, with a focus on facilitating learning as a social and cultural process.

The project will provide insights into the efficacy of digital technology projects, and their potential to develop digital literacy and confidence in Aboriginal youth to help them attain their educational and career goals.

“Using digital technologies as part of the educational environment poses a tremendous obstacle for teaching and learning in Aboriginal communities that may not have access, or experience a digital divide.”

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Synopsis:

The humanities have always tried to understand vast human histories and forms of expression. In an age where we seek to make sense of, and derive meaning from, overwhelming amounts of multilingual and multimedia information, digital humanities is addressing the critical challenges of man-machine interactions and research methods. A field in which Canada has emerged a strong international player, digital humanities is also contributing to Canada’s capacity to represent itself globally on the internet.

Digital humanities has developed into an interdisciplinary field training students to use and communicate through powerful web resources. Digital humanists are also working with libraries to develop electronic archives—durable research content that scholars use to understand themselves and their history.

This project will assess the latest developments of the digital humanities, and prepare for the future needs of Canadian researchers. By doing so, it will also assess the accessibility and use of technologies by both the research community and the public at large.

“The problem with information is knowing what questions to ask and how to make our information smart enough to help others answer meaningful questions.”

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Synopsis:

Electronic writing now competes with the spoken word to such an extent that adolescents are abandoning traditional writing forms, such as letter-writing, in favour of digital forms, such as blogs. In the digital era, schools are, as a result, facing a daunting challenge: incorporating technology in teaching and learning writing.

This knowledge synthesis project will try to take stock of digital forms of writing studied through Canadian and international scientific research from 2005 to 2015, and to identify studies on using digital technology to teach and learn writing. The project will also synthesize and assess the impacts digital technology have on texts, and on the writing process.

The results will be used to identify the most and least promising teaching practices. This will be useful to both scientists and teaching professionals. The team will use various channels to share the knowledge with teachers, including websites, video clips, media and articles.

“Digital technology has profoundly changed the relationship between writing and writers, both novice and expert.”

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Synopsis:

The idea of “gatekeeping” has been a central way of understanding information flows in society. Established news and information sources, like the Canadian Broadcasting Company and The Globe and Mail, have in the past largely held a stronghold on filtering, selecting and disseminating information to Canadians. New media purveyors such as social media platforms, search engines and news startups are raising questions about the nature of gatekeeping as they transform how Canadians get their news and information.

This project will provide an interdisciplinary overview of how one of the core theories in communications studies is being reshaped in the wake of emerging and disruptive digital media. The synthesis will explain how gatekeeping remains relevant as a complex, contextual and contested process, and how competing institutions, technologies and publics are vying to provide relevance, meaning and interpretation of news, which ultimately affects the ideas, choices and behaviour of citizens.

Findings of the project will be disseminated as a trade book to advance public understanding of how ideas and knowledge circulate in a mixed-media ecosystem, and how they are understood by Canadians.

“The rise of new gatekeepers, the persistence of existing gatekeepers and the digital technologies facilitating new social practices deserve detailed scrutiny as these forces are competing to determine how news stories are told, filtered and prioritized for the public.”

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Synopsis:

“Big data” analytics technologies have transformed the collection and use of personal information in a variety of fields, including politics. Using techniques to better target individual voters, political parties now hold large amounts of personal information. Recent examples of privacy breaches and the absence of federal laws to protect the privacy of data held by political parties have led to growing concerns about the risk of misused or inappropriate access to sensitive voter data.

Despite clear threats, there has been little academic study of the privacy practices of political parties in Canada and globally. Looking at existing knowledge and intersections across privacy, elections and big data, this project will assess the compliance of parties with fair information principles. It will also discuss the implications of gaps and tensions in legal and regulatory frameworks.

The information will be used to increase awareness among voters and policy-makers. It is hoped the findings will influence political parties to commit to better practices and, ideally, legislative reform.

“The legal framework protecting the data held by political parties about voters has not been updated to keep track with changes in political behaviour that have made big data analytics a core part of the activity of parties.”

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Synopsis:

Teacher learning and design work are of growing importance in today’s 21st century digital learning era. However, many teachers lack design expertise and do not see themselves as designers of technology-enhanced learning environments.

Focusing on teacher design knowledge and its impact on science, technology, engineering and mathematics pedagogy, this project will investigate how emerging technology can be leveraged to benefit both teachers and students. The project will be guided by the notion of the classroom as a space for creative apprenticeship where students and teachers build knowledge and develop curriculum together.

“Findings will reveal the opportunities and resources that will shape teacher design knowledge for technology integration, and teacher professional development to develop innovative pedagogies and adopt technological innovations.”

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Synopsis:

The blockchain technology that underlies Bitcoin, which uses decentralized networks of computers to securely publish anonymous yet verified transactions to a public ledger, is increasingly seen as a recordkeeping solution with the potential to provide individuals control over their online identity. It can provide more secure and efficient payment systems, and holds promise to develop new services to support marginalized people in both the developing and developed world.

However, blockchain technology also presents risks around organizational control, record reliability and authenticity, and long-term digital preservation. Bitcoin risks are known to include money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion.

This project will assess the current state of knowledge, research and practices related to blockchain technology for use in recordkeeping. It will include exploring the design and operations of blockchain technology, its current applications, and legal and regulatory standards in Canada and internationally.

“As this new technology expands from its original domain of application into new forms of recordkeeping, there is a need for Canada to better understand the economic, social, environmental, philosophical and legal implications of its development, adoption and use.”

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Synopsis:

The 2015 World Justice Project reported that Canada lags behind other nations in ensuring that all of its citizens have equal and effective access to justice. Low-income adults and youth, marginalized groups and those living in remote and rural communities are just some of those identified as experiencing significant barriers to legal aid.

Mobile and web-based applications (apps) present new opportunities to improve access to justice. These apps have the potential to provide inexpensive (if not free) and immediate legal information to users, help collect evidence that could be relevant in enforcing legal rights, and offer targeted solutions to legal problems without the barriers that can accompany traditional legal services.

However, with opportunity comes risk. Issues of privacy and security in the online environment, uneven internet access and regulatory concerns are critical issues that need to be addressed by technology developers and policy-makers alike.

This project will build an inventory of available apps that facilitate access to the legal system, and compile best practices and key policy issues. This work will lead to establishing a forward-looking agenda for future research in this area.

“Domestically, studies have shown that public confidence in the justice system is declining and inaccessibility is one major reason for this decline. Apps provide new opportunities to improve access to justice by offering targeted solutions to legal problems without the barriers that can accompany traditional legal services.”

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Synopsis:

In Canada, most academics are guided by shared research ethics principles and guidelines. Obtaining an ethics review can often be a formal—almost bureaucratic—process for many. However, human-centred research that deals with emerging interactive technologies, such as Human-Computer Interaction, is posing new ethical challenges, particularly with their use in the context of vulnerable or marginalized peoples.

Preliminary research shows there are significant gaps between existing ethical guidelines and the often unexpected and unpredictable realities of conducting fieldwork with emerging technologies in new contexts.

Adopting a knowledge-to-action approach, this project will analyze current policy frameworks and researchers’ experience on how they are either adapting their research to existing guidelines, or dealing with significant procedural gaps. The findings will be used to better protect the privacy and confidentiality of vulnerable people in the face of emerging ethical challenges related to technology. They will be used to update the body of knowledge used by Canadian scientists in addressing such emerging challenges, and to further grow Canada’s leadership in research ethics.

“Researchers find themselves facing various serious ethical dilemmas when the realities of their field research do not match, or even contradict, the formal requirements of the ethical approval process.”

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Synopsis:

Technology is largely held to be a significant driver of national economic prosperity and competitiveness. It has the potential to change the way individuals interact with each other, learn and conduct business.

When innovating, adapting or using a new technology, individuals choose from a set of socially or culturally defined beliefs and practices. Given this critical human role, an understanding of the social-cultural factors influencing technological change—and vice-versa—is required in order to ensure that the benefits of technology are extended to Canadians countrywide.

This project will review and integrate diverse literature on the relationship between social-cultural factors and technological change in the Canadian context. Findings will help organizations and policy-makers navigate through multiple, overlapping concepts, and make informed decisions on best strategies, practices and policy to advance access, acceptance and use of technology by different cultural groups throughout Canada.

“A fundamental problem when it comes to developing strategies, practices and policies in support of the technological advancement of Canadian society and organizations is that the existing knowledge regarding the socio-cognitive influences on technological change is not easy to identify.”

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Synopsis:

Indigenous community members of all ages are increasingly embracing digital technologies—social media in particular—as a means to reconnect with their languages and cultures. Digital platforms provide new opportunities to maintain, recover and reclaim language, culture and identity through sharing legends, songs, dances, creation stories and oral teachings. However, technology can also limit interactions between Indigenous peoples. Few technologies have been integrated into Indigenous education programs, and they are often only provided in the dominant English language.

This collaborative project will conduct a comprehensive literature review on digitally enabled learning, including the technologies, services and delivery strategies available to enrich Indigenous language education. Community leaders and policy-makers interested in advancing Indigenous education will be engaged.

Findings on how new digital opportunities can support Indigenous-led learning and preservation of languages and cultures will be linked to ongoing work on decolonization and support objectives to increase Indigenous peoples staying on the land.

“Canada has a unique opportunity to celebrate the diversity and richness of Indigenous cultures and languages and the role of digital technologies to support their resurgence.”

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Synopsis:

Collaborative innovation, involving different players in one innovation process, is an increasingly widespread phenomenon. Collaborative innovation approaches are on the rise and taking various forms: open data; open-source software; hackathons; co-design; crowdsourcing; living labs; and more. By encouraging citizens and users to take part in developing innovation processes and policies, these approaches seem to let organizations understand and meet market demands, and to improve services and technologies.

Typically used to promote the generation of innovative ideas, collaborative approaches can also play an important role in other phases of the innovation process. It is, therefore, important to understand how these approaches foster the implementation and dissemination of innovations, particularly those related to new digital technologies.

This project aims to synthesize the literature on four related trends in innovation—co-design, open innovation, knowledge and innovation communities, and the sociology of innovation—to better understand the potential of these collaborative innovation approaches. These approaches encourage the development of skills and abilities people need to harness new technologies, and so spur their distribution and user access. The project will develop a best practices guide, so Canadians from all backgrounds can gain digital knowledge adapted to today’s technologies.

“With its great capacity for knowledge creation and new technologies, Canada must consider how to ensure new digital technologies’ potential can be accessed and used by the public [with a view to empowering Canadians].”

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Synopsis:

Innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can play an important role in supporting quality of life. For example, ICTs can provide access to goods and services, maintain a safe and secure living environment and promote social participation.

Given their increasing use and importance, it is critical to ensure that the growing aging population has equal access to ICTs. This project aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the “digital divide” among middle-aged and older adults. The project will examine inequities among social groups in terms of access to and benefits from technologies. Using a realist synthesis review, this methodology will allow the research team to identify technologies that middle-aged and older adults are using, and which social groups are being included and excluded.

This project will seek to provide critical knowledge to service providers and agencies across Canada on the barriers and opportunities to develop and provide ICTs for the aging population and, in particular, inform new strategies to increase their access. Emerging findings will be shared at a knowledge café where users will have the chance to provide feedback that will further strengthen the findings.

“While there are many federal, provincial and municipal services that aim to help seniors live independently, these are not used equitably by all persons. Improving access to information can help with this.”

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Synopsis:

In Canada, the increasing age of the population and providing care for seniors with psychosocial adjustment disorders are major challenges. Technology involved in health, social and community services must be better adapted to seniors and encourage their independence.

Various technological solutions have been envisioned to improve seniors’ everyday functional abilities and encourage their independence, while curbing the rising costs of their health, social and community services. Using technology in this context is an effective strategy to help improve seniors’ quality of life, while having a positive effect on society as a whole.

With this in mind, this project aims to synthesize knowledge on the concept of an “enabling environment.” More specifically, it seeks to take stock of current knowledge on the use of new technologies that could improve the conditions in which seniors with health-related psychosocial adjustment disorders carry out their daily activities.

“Technological advances make it possible to now imagine environments that, among other things, allow people to overcome their disabilities, support their independence, empower them, and give users a greater sense of security. ”

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Synopsis:

The rapid integration of new digital technologies in the workplace has, in recent decades, helped change how work is organized, making it possible to create new workspaces that encourage collaboration, creativity and innovation.

This project aims to compile and better understand current knowledge on the human dimensions of new technologies—in particular, how they are applied in workplaces with new forms of organization such as shared workspaces (or “co-working”), open innovation research (or “living labs”) and digital manufacturing workshops (or “fab labs”). Many authors have tried to define and conceptualize these new collaborative workspaces, which encourage innovative projects, but a literature review remains to be done. The proposed synthesis will systematically collect data and analyze results related to innovation, knowledge co-creation, employment, work-life quality, and local and regional development.

The synthesis will help determine what roles various actors play in this context, and how the academic, public, private and not-for-profit sectors can contribute to innovation. The project aims to promote these sectors’ participation in open innovation.

“The theories on open innovation call for transforming rules and procedures to stimulate creativity and initiatives.”

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Synopsis:

Aboriginal languages and cultures are a cornerstone of Canada’s multicultural identity. Challenged by colonial institutions and processes, Indigenous cultures have suffered systemic harm and marginalization. The documentation and revitalization of First Nations, Inuit and Métis languages and cultural knowledge are increasingly cited as priorities in support of Indigenous communities’ well-being. Recent research shows that Aboriginal youth suicide rates in Canada drop to zero in communities where at least half of band members have conversational knowledge of their Indigenous language.

Digitized media provide an array of opportunities to address this issue. However, they pose significant infrastructure and resource challenges for Aboriginal organizations that have a mandate to enhance access to cultural heritage because of diverse protocols, cultural ownership and traditional knowledge. They are also challenged by differing levels of digital literacy across communities, researchers and policy-makers alike.

Yet, a vital part of this conversation is the rich insight offered by traditional Aboriginal knowledge, and the understanding of the different ways that intellectual property and ownership can function.  Indigenous cultural insights can help to inform national policy around access to, and engagement with, emerging technologies.

The Heiltsuk First Nation of British Columbia has been at the forefront of cultural heritage information management and the revitalization of the Heiltsuk language. Through a review of research and the practice of the Heiltsuk First Nation and beyond, this project seeks to synthesize the expansion and uptake of emerging technologies for collecting, protecting and connecting Indigenous cultures and languages. The project will identify gaps in knowledge as well as promising patterns and solutions to provide recommendations for policy-makers and practitioners.

“Addressing the needs of policy-makers within (and beyond) government for reliable data, this interdisciplinary and collaborative project will deepen the institutional understanding of the history of Canadian-Aboriginal relations, and expand the possibilities for new conversations that prioritize voices of Indigenous community members as creators, synthesizers and mobilizers of emerging technologies.”

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Synopsis:

The definition and implications of being part of the middle class have changed over time. Higher skills once equaled better jobs and a better economy. However, growing problematic trends in the domestic labour market have changed this ideology. Increased part-time and contract work and decreased unionization, as well as automation tools and techniques, and redistribution of work across the globe are limiting opportunities for even the most highly skilled Canadian workers.

This project aims to explore how new technologies and automation are changing work and society in Canada. It will include a critical exploration of the potential and real opportunity costs of the digital age, as well as how intersecting gender, ethnic and social class are impeding access to technology and employment.

Focusing on a current review of Prince Edward Island’s English language public education system, the project will in particular look at how education can best prepare students for the realities of the continually changing and complex knowledge economy. The project will include a formalized knowledge sharing process among provincial and local education stakeholders to help guide and shape education policy-making in today’s digital age.

“Though more youth today are earning postsecondary qualifications than ever before, the Canadian labour market has changed, and a degree or diploma is no longer a guarantee of stable, full-time employment indicative of a middle class life.”

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