The CRITO Hour

May 18, 2005: Anita S. Coleman, of the University of Arizona, presented a talk entitled “Information Technology, Cognition, and Communication” that discussed two studies examining the use and impact of information technology on various levels. One study applied student feedback about the use of citations and hyperlinks in course pages to analyze the impact of web links as an instrument of cognition in e-learning. The second study briefly examined IT as a means of scholarly communication, such as digital repositories, invisible colleges, and DLIST (Digital Library of Information Science & Technology).

May 25, 2005: In “Fingerprinting: Between Humans and Machines,” Simon Cole, from the School of Social Ecology at UC Irvine, elaborated upon some of the problems that exist in the field of the fingerprint examiner. Focusing on the case of Brandon Mayfield, who was wrongly held as a suspect in the 2004 Madrid train bombings, Cole discussed the occurrence of false positive outcomes resulting from human error in matching latent fingerprints to those in a database. He also discussed the potential for false negative outcomes that can occur when the AFIS, or Automated Fingerprint Identification System, fails to match prints from a suspect to a corresponding set of fingerprints in the system. Cole explored the unique sociological aspects of the profession of Latent Print Examiners and the technical limitations of the AFIS when used simply as an automated tool for matching data files.

October 21, 2005: Chris Harrington of Toshiba America emphasized the environmental awareness that has come to play as part of a company’s social responsibility in his talk, “The Corporate Perspective on Environmental Issues for a High Tech Company.” His presentation demonstrated how Toshiba is responding to demands for environmental awareness from customers, employees, and the law through such channels as green procurement, zero emission in manufacturing, recycling programs for end-of-use consumer products, and environmentally-oriented technology in its R&D sector. Another example of Toshiba’s innovation was Factor T, an eco-efficiency indicator developed by the company to determine the eco-efficiency of a product by weighing both its value and environmental impact.

November 4, 2005: A presentation was given by James Pick, Visiting Professor at UC Irvine and Professor at the University of Redlands, reviewing research on spatial technologies and GIS, or Geographic Information Systems, as well as some of the benefits associated with using such technologies in business. In his talk “A Framework for Spatial Technologies in Business,” Pick discussed how the ability of spatial technologies to use spatial data has extended information systems and caused its growth in industries like transportation, retail, and real estate. Spatial enabling technologies that run on web integrated platforms are able to service a larger user base and provide more innovative possibilities for enterprises. Presenting a framework for the uses of spatial technologies in business, several case studies were discussed that demonstrated the uses and applications of spatial technology for firms.