The State of the Science in Technology Transfer: Implications for the Field of Assistive Technology

The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology Transfer (T²RERC) hosted a “State of the Science” conference in November, 2001. The conference reviewed technology transfer work within the field of assistive technology, and summarized related work in public, private and academic sectors. Invited speakers prepared papers on various topics concerning technology transfer, and related their findings to the field of assistive technology during the ensuing discussion sessions. This paper provides an overview of the material presented by the participants, and explores the implications of their findings for one particular field of application—assistive technology for people with disabilities.     

Dokumentation Europa

Diese übersicht enth?lt eine Aufstellung wichtiger zwischen 6. Oktober und 10. Dezember 2009 von der Europ?ischen Kommission verabschiedeter Vorschl?ge für von Rat und Europ?ischem Parlament zu beschlie?ende Rechtsakte, sowie von Initiativen der Mitgliedstaaten und Entwürfen des Rates im Rahmen des Titels VI des Vertrages über die Europ?ische Union. Zus?tzlich wird auf rechtspolitisch interessante Texte der Europ?ischen Kommission wie zB Grünbücher oder Erfahrungsberichte hingewiesen. Damit soll dem Leser die M?glichkeit gegeben werden, in einem m?glichst frühen Stadium von neuen Entwicklungen im Gemeinschaftsrecht Kenntnis zu erhalten. Die übersicht enth?lt umgekehrt keine Angaben über vom Rat endgültig verabschiedete Texte. Als Fundstelle wird grunds?tzlich die Referenz des Kommissionsdokumentes angegeben (COM, SEC). Soweit nicht anders angegeben, handelt es sich um EG- (und nicht EAG-) Rechtsakte.     

Anticorruption agencies: expressive,constructivist and strategic uses

This article explores the reasons for the introduction of anticorruption agencies of a specific type in Eastern Europe. It is argued that one of the important functions of these agencies—which are stronger on information gathering, coordination and strategy rather than on investigation of concrete cases—is to give to the government some leverage over the anticorruption discourse. Presenting the anticorruption commissions and agencies as (discourse-controlling) instruments gives an answer to the troubling question why governing parties are at all interested in the introduction of such bodies. Apart from instrumentalization in political discourse, anticorruption bodies in Eastern Europe have had other effects as well. As shown in the Baltic case, institutional engineering provides for a brief window of opportunity during which political forces committed to integrity could gain the upper hand. The problem in Eastern Europe, however, is not the lack of such windows of opportunities—it is more the lack of really committed political forces capable of continuous and consistent anticorruption effort.     

THE BENEFITS AND RISKS OF CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATORS MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE COURT:

In their article, Tippins and Wittmann articulate a strong position against custody evaluators making specific custody recommendations to the court. This response will focus on my thoughts about their concepts and my belief that recommendations can be useful and appropriate some of the time, even though there may be significant problems with certain types of recommendations and problems with some evaluators.     

Using the state to change society: The example of ‘domestic violence’

North American research on the policing of ‘domestic violence’ has been very influential among policy makers in Great Britain. In particular, research which purports to verify the deterrence value of arrest has prompted the establishment of over thirty domestic violence units in London and similar initiatives elsewhere in Britain. The paper will outline the nature of the traditional police response to ‘family violence’ in London and the nature of the experimental innovations. Changes in police practice with regard to this type of violence will be put in the context of the organizational constraints and possibilities of policing. Finally, changing police responses to domestic violence will be evaluated in terms of the debate over the possibility of using the state or its organs to achieve social change.