Network of Networks: Preliminary Lessons from the Antwerp Port Authority on Crisis Management and Network Governance to Deal with the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this article, the authors describe and illustrate what they call a “network of networks” perspective and map the development of a lead network for the Antwerp Port Authority that governed organizations and networks in the port community before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. They find that setting a collective focus and selective integration are crucial in the creation and reproduction of an effective system to adequately deal with a wicked problem like the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings on crisis management and network governance are used to engage practitioners and public policy planners to revisit the current design and governance of organizational networks within organizational fields that have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Identity Statuses Based on 4 Rather Than 2 Identity Dimensions: Extending and Refining Marcia's Paradigm

Four identity dimensions (Commitment Making, Identification with Commitment, Exploration in Depth, and Exploration in Breadth) were used to derive identity statuses by means of cluster analysis in a sample of late adolescents. This strategy resulted in both a qualitative refinement and a quantitative extension of Marcia's (1966) model. Five clusters were retained. Four of those (the Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, and Diffused Diffusion Cluster) bore a striking resemblance to Marcia's original identity statuses in terms of their definition and their associations with criterion variables. Adolescents in the fifth cluster, the Carefree Diffusion Cluster (low to moderate on both commitment dimensions and low on both exploration dimensions), scored as high as the 2 high Commitment Making clusters (i.e., the Achievement and Foreclosure Cluster) on several indicators of adjustment. Personality characteristics further differentiated these clusters in accordance with theory. The advantages of expanding the identity status paradigm, through additional distinctions that pertain to both commitment and exploration, are discussed and practical implications are outlined. Doctoral Researcher for the Special Research Fund (B.O.F.)—Flanders (Belgium). Current research focuses on adolescent identity formation and development. Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology, Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. Received PhD in developmental psychology from the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium, 1988. Current research interests include adolescent identity, autonomy, and loneliness. Doctoral Researcher for the Fund of Scientific Research (F.W.O.)—Flanders (Belgium) at the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. Research interests include parent–adolescent relationships, identity processes, and acculturation orientations of ethnic minority members. Postdoctoral Researcher for the Fund of Scientific Research (F.W.O.)—Flanders (Belgium). Received PhD in developmental psychology from the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium, 2001. Current research focuses on adolescent autonomy, parenting and mediators of parenting effects on individuation and identity. Doctoral Researcher for the Fund of Scientific Research (F.W.O.)—Flanders (Belgium) at the Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. Research interests include motivational processes, self-determination theory, parent–adolescent relationships, and identity processes.     

Discourse and reality in international information society policy: the dominant scenario and its application in the developing world

Abstract

Since the early 1990s the concept of the information society has taken centre stage on the political agendas of several national governments in the North and South, as well as regional and international institutions, donor organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This article first sets out to analyse and describe both the content of, the evolution in, this policy discourse. It attempts to assess the validity of this discourse in light of the current changes at the global level and in the light of the problems associated with the practical implementation of policy in a developmental context. By so doing, it questions the basic – and overly simplistic – assumptions of the dominant scenario.     

Voluntary environmental agreements in developing countries: the Colombian experience

Voluntary agreements (VAs) negotiated between environmental regulators and polluters are increasingly popular in developing countries. According to proponents, they can sidestep weak institutions and other pervasive barriers to conventional mandatory regulation in such countries. Yet little is known about the drivers of their use and their effectiveness in poor countries. The considerable literature on voluntary initiatives in industrialized countries, where both VAs and socioeconomic conditions differ, may not apply. Using a conceptual framework drawn from the economics literature, we examine four prominent VAs in Colombia, a global leader in the use of this policy. We find that the main motive for using VAs has been to build capacity needed for broader environmental regulatory reform and that partly as a result, VAs’ additional effect on environmental performance has been limited. These findings contrast with those from industrialized country studies, which typically conclude VAs are used as a low-cost substitute for impending mandatory regulation and have few benefits because of weak regulatory pressure. Our findings suggest that in developing countries, VAs may be best suited to capacity building, not environmental management per se.     

The limits of privacy in automated profiling and data mining

Automated profiling of groups and individuals is a common practice in our information society. The increasing possibilities of data mining significantly enhance the abilities to carry out such profiling. Depending on its application, profiling and data mining may cause particular risks such as discrimination, de-individualisation and information asymmetries. In this article we provide an overview of the risks associated with data mining and the strategies that have been proposed over the years to mitigate these risks. From there we shall examine whether current safeguards that are mainly based on privacy and data protection law (such as data minimisation and data exclusion) are sufficient. Based on these findings we shall suggest alternative policy options and regulatory instruments for dealing with the risks of data mining, integrating ideas from the field of computer science and that of law and ethics.     

Primer composition and memory effect of weapons--some trends from a systematic approach in casework

Since 2008, our laboratory has adopted a systematic approach to the examination of gunshot residues (GSR) in casework by analysing, whenever possible, the inorganic composition present in ammunition (cartridge cases and unused ammunition). By compiling the results of these analyses in a database, it is possible to observe some trends during the period of interest: on the one hand, the prevalence of primers containing lead, barium and antimony is about 50%, and even as high as 70% when including lead-barium-antimony based primers also containing tin; on the other hand, the prevalence of non-toxic primers is for the time being very low. Still using the same approach, test firings were performed with recovered weapons and litigious ammunition whenever possible in order to estimate the influence of the well known "memory effect" of the weapons on the GSR analysis results. The first results show a quite strong memory effect for the .22 and the .32 caliber, unlike the .38 caliber. This is probably due to a high prevalence of lead-barium-antimony based primers for the latter caliber.