Communication and Common Good

Lorenzo Cantoni,  Communication and Common Good, Philosophical News, 6/2013

In this article the close relationship between common good and communication – especially verbal communication – is presented and discussed. Four paths, in particular, are explored to shed light onto this relationship: (i) their common linguistic roots; (ii) language as the very condition for the common good to be discussed; (iii) language as part of the common good; and (iv) language as a powerful image of what the common good is. At the end of the article, (v) a brief reflection on the Allegory of the Good Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti helps to further clarify the studied connection.

Design, User Experience, and Usability. Web, Mobile, and Product Design

• Asta Adukaite, Alessandro Inversini & L. Cantoni, Examining User Experience of Cruise Online Search Funnel, in Aaron Marcus (Ed.), Design, User Experience, and Usability. Web, Mobile, and Product Design. Proceedings of the Second International Conference, DUXU 2013 [held as Part of HCI International 2013. Las Vegas, NV, USA, July 21-26, 2013], Springer, Berlin – Heidelberg 2013, pp. 163-172 

• Aaron Marcus, Theresa Karolina Schieder & Lorenzo Cantoni, The Travel Machine: Mobile UX Design That Combines Information Design with Persuasion Design, in A. Marcus (Ed.), Design, User Experience, and Usability. Web, Mobile, and Product Design. Proceedings of the Second International Conference, DUXU 2013 [held as Part of HCI International 2013. Las Vegas, NV, USA, July 21-26, 2013], Springer, Berlin – Heidelberg 2013, pp. 696-705

 

Patrimonio Mondiale Ticino (Svizzera) – Versione Beta

La app presenta i due siti del Patrimonio Mondiale dell’UNESCO in Ticino (Svizzera): il sito culturale dei Castelli di Bellinzona, la cinta muraria del borgo e la Murata, e il sito naturale del Monte San Giorgio.

San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment. Putting science into the assessment of research

absolutely worth a visit >>>

At the Big Data Crossroads: New Report Available for Download

At the Big Data Crossroads
by Hervé Couturier 
Head of R&D, Amadeus IT Group 

Making Sense of MOOCs: Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox and Possibility

Making Sense of MOOCs: Musings in a Maze of Myth, Paradox and Possibility
by Sir John Daniel
Academic Partnerships. 2012

cattedra UNESCO in Tecnologie dell’informazione e della comunicazione per lo sviluppo e la promozione del turismo sostenibile nei siti del patrimonio mondiale

L'ultimo numero di SQUARE, il magazine dell'Università della Svizzera italiana (USI, Lugano), dedica la storia di copertina alla cattedra UNESCO >>>.

great driving experience at Protoscar

LAMPO3 is a battery powered electric demonstration sports car developed on the base of 30.000 km lessons learned with its predecessors LAMPO and LAMPO2.
It features a purpose designed light weight chassis, a 2+2 coupé design and a fast charge option. The BRUSA powertrain (3 motors with a total output of 420 kW) guarantee extreme performances without compromises in terms of efficiency.
More on Protoscar website

Encyclopedia of Media and Communication

Encyclopedia of Media and Communication
Edited by Marcel Danesi
University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division © 2013
now available
I've contributed with two articles: eGovernment, and www (with Stefano Tardini)

 

12th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries

12th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries
Conference Theme: Into the Future: Themes, insights and agendas for ICT4D research and practice
Ocho Rios Jamaica,  19-22 May, 2013
Proceedings are now available

• S. Vannini, Lucía Aguirre-Sanchéz, I. Rega & L. Cantoni, Images of Community Multimedia Centres in Mozambique: A Participatory Photo-Elicitation Study, in Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries (Ocho Rios, Jamaica, May 2013), pp. 348-362

• L. Aguirre Sánchez, S. Vannini, I. Rega & L. Cantoni, Fictional Characters, Real Data: Personas Depicting Staff and Users of Community Multimedia Centres in Mozambique, in Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries (Ocho Rios, Jamaica, May 2013), pp. 917-933 

• Salomão David, I. Rega, S. Vannini & L. Cantoni, Co-designed Improvement Actions in Mozambican Community Multimedia Centres, in Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries (Ocho Rios, Jamaica, May 2013), pp. 1004-1017

Christopher Dawson, La crisi dell’istruzione occidentale

appena uscito, con una mia presentazione >>>

alla SUPSI con i partecipanti al corso promosso da NetComm Suisse

 

più info sul sito di NetComm Suisse

Centros Multimédia Comunitários em Moçambique: um mapa

The White Paper in Portuguese “Centros Multimédia Comunitários em Moçambique: um mapa”, edited by Isabella Rega and Lorenzo Cantoni and researched by Sara Vannini, Salomão David, Alexandre Baia and Gertrudes Macueve, has now been published!
The paper presents the history, typologies and number of Community Multimedia Centres in Mozambique, as well as the description of a sample of 10 of them, one per each province of the country. The information provided has been collected within the field work of the project RE-ACT (Social REpresentations of community multimedia centres and ACTions for improvement), a research and development project run by the NewMinE Lab in collaboration with the Centre for African Studies and the Department of Mathemathics and Informatics of the University Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique.
The paper can be downloaded for free from this page.

HCI International 2013

15th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

21 - 26 July 2013, Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

The program is now online >>>

I'm going to chair the following section:

Design, User Experience and Usability in Tourism-related Applications
Chair(s): Lorenzo Cantoni

• Examining User Experience of Cruise Online Search Funnel
  Asta Adukaite, Alessandro Inversini, Lorenzo Cantoni
• Meta-design Approach for Mobile Platforms Supporting Creative Tourism Experiences
  Iis P Tussyadiah
• The Effect of Feedback within Social Media in Tourism Experiences
  Jeongmi (Jamie) Kim, Dan Fesenmaier, Steven Johnson
• The Travel Machine: Mobile UX Design that Combines Information Design with Persuasion Design
  Aaron Marcus, Theresa Karolina Schieder, Lorenzo Cantoni
• Fulfilled and Missed Requirements for Online Reservation Systems: An Empirical Investigation of Austrian and Swiss Hotels
  Gerhard F. Knolmayer, Viola Sini, Polina Chelnokova
• Sharing Life Experiences with Friends Based on Individual’s Locality
  Mohsin Ali Memon, Jiro Tanaka

Luxury in Hospitality: an Analysis of Online Reviews of Chinese and Indian Hotels

Luxury tourism has a multiple identity and can be interpreted from different perspectives. However, understanding the elements and emotions involved in a luxury tourism experience are essential to identify guests’ expectations.
The new webatelier.net report by Laura Malinverno, Asta Adukaite and Lorenzo Cantoni, is looking at how travelers comment online about luxury Chinese and Indian hotels: “Luxury in Hospitality: an Analysis of Online Reviews of Chinese and Indian Hotels. April 2013.”
This research is based on the analysis of user-generated contents (UGC) from the Hotel Reviews Website TripAdvisor.com. Reviews written about Chinese and Indian luxury hotels, namely 5*+, were selected to explore elements and perceptions emerging from guests’ comments. 390 reviews were analyzed, 8 dimensions divided into 78 categories were identified as elements of the luxury hotels experience. Moreover, five luxury characteristics, extracted from previous research, were tested to verify this existing structure for the case of luxury tourism. Results showed that luxury concept is a dynamic and changing element in the context of luxury Chinese and Indian hotels, and that UGCs can be a useful tool to understand expectations of prospective guests, and priorities of luxury experiences.
To download the report, follow the next link: http://www.webatelier.net/luxury-hotels

Associated Press @ hacked Twitter account

"Twitter Testing Two-Step Authorisation To Foil Hacking Attempts" >>>

Using Self-Efficacy to measure primary school teachers’ perception of ICT: results from two studies

Francesca Fanni, Isabella Rega, & Lorenzo Cantoni (2013, April 19). Using Self-Efficacy to measure primary school teachers’ perception of ICT: results from two studies. International Journal of Education and Development using ICT [Online], 9(1). 

Available in pdf at: http://ijedict.dec.uwi.edu/include/getdoc.php?id=5401&article=1528&mode=pdf. 

Switzerland in the eyes of Chinese travellers

The World Tourism Organization has confirmed yesterday that China’s expenditure on travel abroad reached US$ 102 billion in 2012, making it the first tourism source market in the world in terms of spending. Moreover UNWTO estimates that by 2020 there will be 100 million Chinese tourists traveling around the world. Additionally, Switzerland is a dream destination for 80% of Chinese youth aged 20 to 45 years. It makes a great  growth opportunity for Swiss tourism and hospitality industry.
The new webatelier.net report by Tu Hu, Nadzeya Kalbaska, Lorenzo Cantoni, is looking at how Switzerland is perceived by Chinese travellers: “A picturesque online representation of Switzerland: a research conducted on Chinese social network Weibo. April 2013.”
To download the report, follow the next link: http://www.webatelier.net/swiss-images

eLearning in hospitality and tourism mini-track

webatelier.net researchers, prof. Lorenzo Cantoni and Nadzeya Kalbaska, in collaboration with Oriol Miralbell (Open University of Catalonia) and with the support of IFITT (International Federation for IT in Travel and Tourism) are organizing a special mini-track dedicated to the understanding of the “Role of eLearning Applications within the tourism and hospitality sector”.
The mini-track will be a part of the 3rd International Conference on Tourism Management and Tourism Related Issues, and will be held in Barcelona (Spain) on October 3-4, 2013.
for more info see the call for papers on www.elearning4tourism.com.
 

Silenzio e ascolto: seminario all'Università della Svizzera italiana

Martedì 9 aprile 2013, ore 17.30
Aula A21, campus di Lugano

Il Consigliere di Stato, direttore del Dipartimento dell'educazione, della cultura e dello sport, sarà il relatore d'onore alla prima lezione del seminario Silenzio e ascolto organizzato dalla Facoltà di scienze della comunicazione dell'USI. 

Il termine “comunicazione”, dopo il periodo dell’entusiasmo a cavallo tra la fine degli anni Novanta e l’inizio di questo secolo, corre oggi il rischio di venire frainteso e svilito. Una considerazione riduttiva dei destinatari come semplici “target” (bersagli) da colpire ha infatti frenato una più profonda riflessione sulla valenza dell’ascolto, componente in realtà fondante dell’intero processo comunicativo. Si tratta di ripensare la comunicazione nel suo significato autentico di condivisione di un valore – secondo la sua etimologia: communicatio, da cum (con) e munus (valore) –, reinterpretandola quale elemento fondamentale di ogni attività umana e della vita sociale.

La Facoltà di scienze della comunicazione dell’USI, nell’intento di superare ogni visione riduttiva e di sottolineare l’importanza dell’ascolto, ha organizzato un seminario – dedicato agli studenti ma aperto al pubblico – incentrato sul tema del silenzio e dell’ascolto, tenuto da quattro professori della Facoltà (Lorenzo Cantoni, Eddo Rigotti, Carlo Ossola, Maurizio Viroli).