Archive of past activities conducted by the Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP)
James White Addresses the Social Media Phenomenon
Wireless RERC researcher Dr. James White presented a paper entitled, Social Media: Approaches to Defining an Ill-defined Phenomenon at HCI International 2013. The conference convened July 21-26, 2013 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Conference sessions covered topics such as adaptive and personalized interfaces, Computer–augmented environments, Computer–based learning, Gesture and eye–gaze based interaction, Human Centered Design and User Centered Design, and Universal Usability.
Helena Mitchell Presented at NENA 2013 Conference and Expo
The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) held its annual Conference and Expo on June 5-20, 2013 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wireless RERC Principal Investigator and CACP Executive Director, Helena Mitchell, PhD, presented Current 9-1-1 & Alerting Trends for People with Disabilities, reporting data on how people with disabilities receive public alerts and their preferences and practices for contacting emergency services. NENA’s educational tracks, among other things, addressed NG911, accessibility, text-to-911, public outreach, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). By attending NENA 2013 you can join thousands of public safety professionals, telecommunications specialists, and federal, state, and local policymakers for a week aimed at developing an understanding the near and long-term issues facing public safety and the skills needed to address challenges.
CACP announced the departure of Dr. Paul M.A. Baker to join the Center for 21st Century Universities
Dr. Paul. M.A. Baker who served as Director of Research for CACP and its predecessor, the Office of Technology Policy, Georgia Centers for Advanced Telecommunications Technology (GCATT), spearheaded research initiatives for 11 years. Under his leadership the research portfolio of CACP has grown in status. He is also credited with the success of a number of alums who served as graduate research assistants under his tutelage. Paul has accepted a newly created position at Georgia Tech as Associate Director of the Center for 21st Century Universities (C21U). The good news is we have an opportunity to continue to interact with Paul as he remained as an associate of CACP and serve as chair of the CACP Policy Advisory Council to ensure we are always at the forefront of the 21st century policy arena. He can be reachable at his CACP email address.
Helena Mitchell Speaker at AEGIS conference in Brussels, Belgium
Helena Mitchell spoke at the AEGIS International Conference, on “Accessibility Reaching Everywhere”, held November 28-30 2011 in Brussels, Belgium. The co-authored paper “Planning for Accessible Emergency Communications: mobile technology and social media” was delivered on November 29th. AEGIS brings together people with disabilities, as well as platform and application accessibility developers, representative organizations, the assistive technology industry, and policy makers to discuss scientific and policy developments in accessibility and showcase projects and initiatives in the area of assistive technology.
Helena Mitchell Panelist @ Broadband 2020 Symposium
Helena Mitchell participated in a panel discussion at the one day Broadband 2020 Symposium, held at the Global Learning Center on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology on Wednesday, October 26, 2011.
This full day symposium recapped steps taken towards measuring progress regarding providing Broadband-for-All by the year 2020, and implementation of the National Broadband Plan, as well as the dimensions of future challenges in the areas of: technology, services, economics and policy.
Helena Mitchell Presented at the FEMA Conference “Getting Real II”
Helena Mitchell presented “Providing Accessible Alerts to People with Disabilities” at the Getting Real II-Promising Practices in Inclusive Emergency Management conference on September 12, 2011 in Arlington, VA. The presentation discussed the potential of wireless technologies to provide accessible public warnings and alerts to people with disabilities as revealed in the findings of twelve field tests and two focus groups.
Social Media: Offering New Opportunities for Engagement
Paul M.A. Baker presented a paper “The Persistence of Participation: Community, Disability, and Social Networks” (Paul M.A. Baker, John C. Bricout, Nathan W. Moon, Barry Coughlan and Jessica Pater) as part of a panel at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4, 2011. In Seattle, WA.
Abstract: (in Press)
Communication-oriented Internet technologies and activities such as social media sites and blogs, have become an important component of community and employment participation, not just in the specific function of activities, but as a link to larger communities of practice and professional connections. The occurrence of these activities, evident in their presence on Facebook, LinkedIn and other online communities, represented an important opportunity to re-frame and re-conceptualize manifestation of communities especially those in which distributed networks and communities substitute for geographic proximity, offering new opportunities for engagement, especially those who might be functionally limited in terms of mobility. For people with disabilities, as well as the aging, increasingly interacting online, the readiness of social networking sites to accommodate their desire to participate, in conjunction with their readiness as users to maximize the potential of platform interfaces and architecture, are critical to achieving the medium’s potential for enhancing community and employment benefits. This paper explored representation/presence of disability and aging using as frames, Facebook and LinkedIn groups. Target identity/member groups on Facebook and LinkedIn were catalogued to explore the presence and representation of disability and aging identities in a socially networked setting. The groups for this study were identified using the search feature designed into the platform architecture, which allow a user to search on specifically designated entities or keywords. Findings suggest that from a policy perspective, institutions need to be cognizant of population characteristics as well as platform opportunities implementing advocacy and relevant support services for people with disabilities and older adults to full ensure engagement and participation.
Salimah LaForce Presented at NENA 2011 on Alerts and Social Media
Salimah LaForce presented “Social Media, Emergency Communications and People with Disabilities” at the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) 2011 conference held in Minneapolis, MN June 18-23, 2011. Her presentation covered the Wireless RERC’s research and development projects on the accessibility of emergency alerting and public safety communications and the results of a 2011 survey conducted to better understand how people with disabilities communicate during emergencies, including the use of social media. She discussed the precedent being set by the rise in government use of social media and the resultant public expectation to receive information via this medium.
Paul M.A. Baker Reported on Civic Participation by People with Disabilities
Paul M.A. Baker presented “Results from a DBTAC study on municipal compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the effects on civic participation by citizens with disabilities.” (Paul M.A. Baker and James White), at the RESNA 2011 Annual Conference, Toronto, June 8th.
Paul M.A. Baker Presented at the National Association of Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (NARRTC)
Paul M.A. Baker, CACP Research Director, presented “Social Media, Participation and E-Accessibility” at the National Association of Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers (NARRTC) 2011 Annual Conference held in Bethesda, MD, April 27-28, 2011. The NARRTC mission is “to promote the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in American society.”
Helena Mitchell Presented at the National Hurricane Conference
Helena Mitchell spoke at the National Hurricane Conference on April 20th, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on the panel “Social Vulnerability in Emergency Public Information” from 8:30 - 10:00 a.m. Helena delivered remarks on “Overcoming the challenges of emergency communication for disabled residents” and provided insights of the wireless emergency communications efforts of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies.
Former CACP GRA Now a Google Policy Fellow
Congratulations to former CACP graduate research assistant, Avonne Bell, who received a coveted Google Policy Fellowship.
Ms. Bell spent three semesters at CACP as editor for the Wireless RERC’s Technology and Disability Policy Highlights newsletter and Workplace Accommodations newsletter. In addition she conducted policy research and analysis regarding accessibility barriers to municipal wireless networks. In 2007, she graduated from Georgia Tech with a M.S. in Public Policy, specializing in Science and Technology Policy. After Georgia Tech, she served as an Eben Tisdale Technology Policy Fellow at Hewlett Packard and then spent three years as a homeland security telecommunications policy consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. CACP is proud to have been part of Ms. Bell’s journey and accomplishments and wishes her continued success in all of her endeavors.
More details area available in Google’s announcement.
CACP International - Paul Baker – Irish Research Collaborations
CACP Director of Research, Paul M.A. Baker, gave a presentation "Engaged Aging: Policy and Perspectives and Technological Approaches” on March 24, 2011, at the Research Centre for Education and Professional Practice (RCEPP), University of Limerick, Research Seminar. Following this, he travelled to National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway), where he was appointed as Adjunct Professor at the Center for Disability Law and Policy. NUI Galway, along with University of Limerick and Georgia Institute of Technology, are members of a joint Translational Research Institute. In conjunction with his primary research activities at CACP he will be working with Irish faculty and students on assistive technology, smart environments and international collaborative policy research.
CTIA 2011 - Spotlight on Emergency Communications in a Wireless Environment
Helena Mitchell, CACP Executive Director, attended and contributed her expertise and perspective to the CTIA Show 2011. She sat on the panel “Public Safety in a Wireless World: E-911 and More “ where she discussed 911 considerations for people with disabilities, the benefits of next generation IP based capabilities and the issues that need to be resolved for the successful deployment of NG 911. Helena also moderated the panel “Help! Accessibility and Wireless Emergency Communications.” Panelists included Brad Hodges, American Foundation for the Blind; Charles McCobb, FEMA; and John Morris, Wireless RERC. This was an annual workshop that CTIA sponsors with the Wireless RERC. The panel this year discussed emergency communications issues from different perspectives – Federal government, industry, academic, and consumer advocates. Some of the topics covered included emergency alerting systems, the use of social media as a emergency communications tool, and transition and problems with 911 and benefits of NG 911 for people with disabilities.
Gadgets, Geeks & Gizmos Showcase Competition 2011
Gadgets, Geeks, and Gizmos (G3) Showcase Competition was held on March 10th, 2011. It was the first annual technology focused BCS-The Chartered Institute for IT, USA Section, Southeast Regional Group (SRG) event, and attracted more than 70 attendees representing high schools, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and IT professionals from small and large companies. Thirteen contestants competed for the three prizes.
Human Factors Considerations in Mobile Emergency Alerting
Helena Mitchell, PhD, presented The Human Side of Regulation: Emergency Alerts, at the 8th @ WAS International Conference on Mobile Computing and Multimedia (MoMM2010) in Paris France, November 8-10, 2010. Since 2001, entities in the U.S. have encouraged the development of emergency communication technologies that serve both the general population and people with disabilities. Since 2004 regulatory initiatives by the Federal government have addressed the development of next-generation warning systems that integrate technologies and consider the needs of persons with disabilities. This paper discussed how regulations and societal issues can complement each other to ensure accessible alerting in next-generation, mobile emergency alerting systems.
Accessible Higher Education: Perspectives and Approaches
Paul M.A. Baker Ph.D., (CACP) and Robert L. Todd, (AEI Lab/CATEA ) gave a presentation, “Accessible Higher Education: Perspectives and Approaches,” at the 2010 Alternative Media Services Conference, Atlanta, GA November, 10, 2010.
Reception for FCC Commissioner
CACP and the Federal Communications Bar Association hosted a reception for FCC Commissioner, The Honorable Mignon Clyburn, on October 25, 2010.
The Persistence of Participation: Representation of the Disability Community on Facebook
Paul M.A. Baker presented “The Persistence of “Participation: Representation of the Disability Community on Facebook” at the 11th Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (Internet Research 11.0), Gothenburg, Sweden, Oct. 20-22, 2010.
The Next Generation Workforce
Nathan Moon, Ph.D. presented "The Next Generation Workforce" focusing on how emerging customs will transform the workforce of tomorrow at the Georgia Digital Government Summit 2010.
“Social Media Strategies”
Paul M.A. Baker, Ph.D. moderated the panel “Social Media Strategies” at the Georgia Digital Government Summit 2010
WEC R&D - Impact Strategy
WEC R&D - Impact Strategy Helena Mitchell, Ph.D., presented Strategies for Accessible Emergency Communications Adoption, at ICADI 2010 in Newcastle, UK. The presentation focused on the findings from the Wireless RERC’s Wireless Emergency Communications (WEC) research and development project, how the experiences were utilized to inform industry and stakeholders on accessible emergency information formats, how the results have contributed to improving Federal emergency alert policies on adoption of accessible emergency alerting techniques, and the effectiveness of accessible emergency communications across a broad spectrum of users.
International Conference on Ageing, Disability and Independence (ICADI) 2010
CACP researchers Paul M.A. Baker, Ph.D. and Nathan Moon, Ph.D., presented three papers at ICADI 2010, September 7-10, 2010 in Newcastle, UK. The ICADI organizers introduced a focus on aging in the workplace, as many people are staying in the workplace well past the traditional retirement age and retirees are returning to work. There are many assistive, adaptive and universally designed technologies and workplace policies that can enable and empower the aging population to sustain their careers and increase independence.
CACP Celebrated Inauguration of BCS-USA Southeast Regional Group
On August 18th and 19th, 2010 CACP inaugurated the BCS - The Chartered Institute for IT, BCS -- USA Section, Inc. , Southeast Regional Group (SRG). They celebrated their award as the BCS, USA Section, SRG by hosting Ian Ryder, Deputy CEO, BCS and Clinton Jones, Young Professionals Group Representative - BCS USA Section Inc. Dr. Ron Hutchins, Chief Technology Officer and Vice Provost for research technology at Georgia Tech, also delivered remarks.
BCS-The Chartered Institute for IT, is an international organization with more than 70,000 members worldwide, 40 branches in the UK, 16 international sections, and over 45 specialist groups including a young professionals group and BCS women. The USA Section is among the 16 international sections. The BCS, USA Section, has a Southeast Regional Group (SERG) which is comprised of members from GA, FL, AL, TN, AR, NC and SC. SERG hosts a number of networking and informational events each year which offer the opportunity for those in industry and academia to share stimulating discussions on a wide range of information, communications and technology topics and cutting edge issues.
Helena Mitchell Leads the Academic Services Committee
Helena Mitchell Ph.D, was elected for a second term as Chair of the Academic Services Committee of Georgia Tech. The Academic Services Committee (ASC) is a standing committee of the General Faculty which reviews and makes recommendations concerning the policies and procedures governing academically oriented, supportive institutional functions, among which are the Library, Continuing Education, and the Computer and Research centers. The election was held August 31st.