Welcome to the QUAD to be archived by The British Library

The old website is archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine going back to 1999 and so is W2tQ.

The British Library also has a web archive, UK based of course. The website's there and now I've news that Welcome to the QUAD will be too.

Drupal 8 An Introduction

From: Slow is beautiful (Bloomstein, net, July 2014)

The quotes below are from a one page article in the July issue of net magazine. The message is that while efficiency in online experiences is critical especially in ecommerce and business there is still a place for 'slow' and content that asks questions (I hope so):

"Second thoughts undermine efficient ecommerce experiences. But if we only value efficiency, we ignore opportunities for learning and validation that characterise effective, less transactional experiences.

... (How several brands - "Foster Good Decisions")

DESIGN FOR QUESTIONS

These content types and design patterns aren't necessarily the fastest way for users to complete transactions. Instead, they help users engage with purchases with greater confidence, satisfaction and certainty. When content pushes us to weigh options and wrestle with difficult concepts, it pushes us to ask questions - and place greater weight on their answers."

It does not take a giant leap of imagination to consider this in health and social care contexts?

Margot Bloomstein, .net, July 2014, Issue 255, p. 42.

MEMO: .health as a top-level domain

m e m o r a n d u m

Date:	20 May 2014
To:	ICANN
From:	PETER JONES
Subject:

Please do not try to put a full stop to ongoing efforts to utilise the internet to benefit the true health and well-being of the world's citizens.

The work is a challenge, much has been achieved and there is great promise for the future and not merely through the quantified self, personalised medicine, biotechnology and the virtual healthcare market. ...

The self, indeed this whole effort must be assured, integrated and qualified.

This means of course that the provenance, standards and values vested in health related data, information and knowledge must be of the highest quality.

Then - we can start to think about -




Yours sincerely,

Peter Jones

Additional link:
http://www.jmir.org/2014/3/e73/

[hifa2015] World Medical Association calls for a moratorium on the sale of the .health top-level domain

Dear colleagues,

The World Medical Association has called for a moratorium on the sale of the .health top-level domain (TLD). This is significant as the WMA 'is an international organization representing approximately 9 million physicians of all specialties and sectors.'

Below are extracts from a letter from the WMA Secretary-General dated 8th March to ICANN (the body that administers internet domains). The full letter is available here:

http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/kloiber-to-chehade-et-al-11mar14-en.pdf

'By now the ICANN Board is aware that .health is one of the ten most opposed new gTLDs...'

'... We, the World Medical Association (WMA), add our voice to recommend that the auction of the .health gTLD not go forward.'

Best wishes,
Neil
-----
[ c/o Neil Pakenham-Walsh ]

Let's build a future where people are no longer dying for lack of healthcare knowledge: Join HIFA www.hifa2015.org

Help Doctoori.net deliver Health Information For All

Doctoori brings to you, high quality, reliable health information in the Arabic language, through our syndicated partnership with NHS Choices. Our engaging, patient focused articles and interactive tools provide an invaluable, trusted health resource for you and your family. 

Doctoori is more than just a website. Whether you want advice on how to get fit, which super foods actually boost your health, or a guide to your pregnancy and keeping your baby healthy, we have it covered. Also if you need to see a clinician face-to-face, our find a clinic healthcare directory will give you the information you need to choose who is best for you.

Our UK based editorial team ensure all our articles are:

• Based on the latest medical evidence
• Rigorously reviewed
• Thoroughly monitored to ensure they are up to date
• In keeping with the high standards set by the Information Standard.

Doctoori.net

 ..... with you on your journey to better health

My source: Zain Sikafi CEO and Founder of doctoori.net  - info AT doctoori.net

The Health Foundation launch new Person-Centred Care resource centre

Dear CHAIN member,

We would like to draw your attention to the following new resources.  
Please pass on as appropriate.  Thank you.

The Health Foundation has launched their new person-centred care resource centre:

http://personcentredcare.health.org.uk/

The resource centre is designed to help healthcare professionals implement a more person-centred healthcare service, where people are supported to more effectively manage and make informed decisions about  their own health and care. Initially focusing on shared decision making and self-management support.

Regards,
Wendy Zhou
CHAIN Manager

CHAIN - Contact, Help, Advice and Information Network  
– is an online international network for people working in health and social care.  
For more information on CHAIN and joining the network please visit website: 
http://chain.ulcc.ac.uk/chain/index.html

[hifa2015] How can we stop ICANN decision that could profoundly damage global health?

Dear HIFA colleagues,

A few weeks ago I posted the Lancet article below, which highlights the threat of a commercial sale of the new top-level domain ".health".

The authors point out that ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which controls all internet naming, could be about to make a decision to sell ".health" to the highest commercial bidder. The decision is imminent. I have indeed heard that an ICANN meeting that will include discussion of ".health" is being held over the *next few days*.

As the authors of the Lancet article point out, sale of ".health" to a commercial enterprise "could have a profound effect on health information access and quality for generations to come". This is something that should concern all of us, everywhere.

ICANN hosts a wiki which apparently can only be edited by them and which briefly describes the issue in rather difficult-to-follow language, without actually explaining the nature of the objections that have been raised by leading health organisations, including WHO, and by national governments:
http://icannwiki.com/index.php/.health

These objections may be found elsewhere by googling. Essentially, there is a *great* deal of concern among health agencies worldwide, and a small handful of governments, of the public health consequences of commercialising ".health". In particular, there will be little if any assurance that the content of websites carrying the ".health" domain name will contain reliable health information. There is a serious risk that misinformation and/or commercially biased information could be propagated using the ".health" suffix. It is likely that many citizens worldwide will see the ".health" suffix as an indication that the information is primarily intended for their health, whereas the reality would be that much of the information would inevitably be wholly unreliable, and driven by commercial (or even ideological) motives.

I was especially concerned to read the latest news on this wiki, which read as follows: "The IO [Independent Objector - see below] lost its objection to Afilias' applicant for .health in a ICC determination by 3 panelists made on 6 November 2013. The determination was the first Limited Public Interest Objection to be decided, as well as the first objection filed by the IO to be decided. [19]

I am not entirely clear how the proceedings work, but the wiki tells us that "[ICANN's Independent Objector] is an appointed authority on international law whose role is to object to strings on the grounds of Community harm and Limited Public Interest were detailed in the applicant guidebook. His objections are official objections and are funded by ICANN, though his office is otherwise independent. Reasons for the specific case against .health were not initially given, but, in the case of Limited Public Interest, "the applied-for gTLD string must be contrary to generally accepted legal norms of morality and public order that are recognized under fundamental principles of international law. The expert panel appointed by the ICC will base its decision on the existence of such a contradiction." The applied for string must threaten an incitement to violence of lawless action, discrimination, child pornography, or "be contrary to specific principles of international law as reflected in relevant international instruments of law.""

This reference to "violence of lawless action, discrimination, child pornography..." is bizarre and I cannot claim to understand how this is relevant. What is at issue here is the availability of reliable versus unreliable healthcare information. I hope that others on HIFA may be able to enlighten us further.

Regrettably, there has been an almost total absence of advocacy and awareness-raising about the issue, apart from The Lancet article. Other than the authors of the Lancet article, there is no advocacy leadership of which I am aware. This is the kind of issue that needs a prominent global health leader to speak out. I do not know whether Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO, is free to speak out on this, but I feel that we need a strong statement from someone at the highest level.

In the meantime, what can we (HIFA members) do to stop ICANN making - or at least deferring - a decision that could profoundly damage global health?

Best wishes,
Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is the coordinator of the HIFA2015 campaign and co-director of the Global Healthcare Information Network. ...
[ As mentioned above Neil also posted the Lancet article - I have just copied the link below ]

Below is the citation and extracts of a new article in The Lancet. The full text is freely available here:
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)62215-1/fulltext

Ensuring the future of health information online
Tim K Mackey, Bryan A Liang, Amir Attaran, Jillian C Kohler
The Lancet, Volume 382, Issue 9902, Page 1404, 26 October 2013
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62215-1Cite or Link Using DOI

Graduate Study in Philosophy/Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford

From: Luciano Floridi - lfloridi at gmail.com

Please circulate

If you are interested in pursuing interdisciplinary graduate study at the University of Oxford in philosophy and/or ethics of information in connection with digital technologies, the Oxford Internet Institute offers:

1. The eleven-month residential MSc in Social Science of the Internet.
Students from a wide variety of backgrounds can combine their interests in philosophical/ethical issues with Internet-related courses in law, policy and other social sciences.
  2. This is for students wishing to undertake groundbreaking, detailed research.
Students are encouraged to ask original, concrete questions and to adopt incisive methodologies for exploring them, in order to help to shape the development of digital realities.
  3. The Summer Doctoral Programme.
This provides top doctoral students from around the world with the opportunity to work for a few intensive weeks with leading figures in Internet/digital research.

For more information, please check: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/graduatestudy/

For an initial expression of interest, please send a short CV (max 1500 words) and a short outline of research interests or project (max 1500 words) to:

Mrs. Penny Driscoll, BA (Hons), MA
PA to Prof Luciano Floridi
Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information
Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
1 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3JS
penny.driscoll8 at gmail.com

HealthTap: Invited to add their widget... I asked a question...

No doubt it was a bulk email, but I received an invitation from HealthTap to add their widget here on W2tQ. The widget provides the means to access their service, that of putting questions to medical experts.

I have minimized the side bar content, stripping out buttons and other media paraphernalia and yet suitably intrigued I asked a question - ;-)

Q. Is there a conceptual framework that can help

 assure holistic (physical - mental, social) and integrated care 

that is also person-centered? 

Fourteen hours later news of an answer duly arrived by email:

Holistic Medicine
I believe that Holistic Medicine, when properly practiced, assures all of that. For the principles delineated by the American Holistic Medical Association see http://www.holisticmedicine.org/content.asp?pl=2&sl=22&contentid=22

Also see http://www.abihm.org/general-public


I greatly appreciate Dr. Randy S. Baker's response and the above links. This is helpful in several respects despite not exactly being the answer I was hoping for.

The answer is itself holistic in a sense in wrapping the question up in an organisational wrapper. That's a safe response, with medicine in there for wholistic measure. Who ever said medicine is reductionist! Judging from his profile holistic medicine is Dr Baker's forte.

Also interesting in the answer is the way the hook in the question was deemed to be the reference to 'holistic' and not the conceptual framework element.

Another point in Dr Baker's reply that reflects on Hodges' model and the health news media in England (UK) next week* is the bit about when properly practiced.

The adoption of Hodges' model is no guarantee of 

person-centered, 

integrated, 

holistic care.

Although the term conceptual framework (Hodge's model !) is not given in the answer: assure is.

What ever conceptual framework (care model, care philosophy...) is adopted to deliver health care, they must contribute towards the assurance of high quality care - that which ultimately positively engages the patient, carer, family and communities.

My question still remains and is usefully extended, passed to the above organisations.

So does the AHMA and the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine have a conceptual framework that helps support their holistic objectives and assurance of care? I will contact them to see if I can obtain a further response.

Thanks again to Dr Baker and HealthTap.

* The Francis Inquiry Report is anticipated on Wednesday.

Hodges' model paper in the Journal of Community Informatics

As a full-time nurse with an interest in informatics I am already in a sense looking over the fence at that other garden. Well, why not? It looks quite enticing, there's a special sandpit and frameworks to climb with learning curves that run on and on ...

News of a paper on Hodges' model in the Journal of Community Informatics finds me trying to look over not one, but several fences. Whether or not the project is successful is a matter of opinion which sums up this latest exercise.

I'm very grateful to the editors and reviewers who helped to shape what was a very wandersome paper into something that strives to see beyond Central and West Lancashire in NW England:

Exploring several dimensions of local, global and glocal
using the generic conceptual framework Hodges's model

If you have any comments or questions please get in touch - h2cmng AT yahoo.co.uk. I can supply a copy of figure 3.


Jones, P. (2012). Exploring several dimensions of local, global and glocal using the generic conceptual framework Hodges's model. The Journal Of Community Informatics, 8(3). Retrieved from http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/876/941

[Two related items] Public consultation opens for World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12)

Firstly:

Stakeholders from across industry, civil society and general public
are encouraged to make their voices heard 

Geneva, 15 August 2012 – The public consultation process for WCIT-12 opened today, with interested parties able to make their written contributions to the WCIT-12 discussions via ITU’s website in any of the six official UN languages.

The site opened for contributions today at 15:00 CET. It can be accessed at
 www.itu.int/en/wcit-12/Pages/public.aspx

The site is the result of a decision by ITU Council on 11 July 2012 to make a draft of the principal input document to the WCIT-12 conference publicly accessible, and to establish a website where all stakeholders can express their views and opinions on the content of that document or any other matter related to WCIT.

 

Paul Budde Communication Pty Ltd

5385 George Downes Drive

Bucketty NSW 2250, Australia

www.budde.com.au

email: paul AT budde.com.au

Secondly:

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Date: Tue, Aug 7, 2012 at 8:40 AM
Subject: [ISOC] NEWS RELEASE: Internet Society Board of Trustees Expresses Concern about the Potential Impact of the World Conference on International Telecommunications on the Internet
To: isoc-members-announce AT elists.isoc.org

Internet Society Board of Trustees Expresses Concern about the Potential Impact of the World Conference on International Telecommunications on the Internet

[Washington, D.C. and Geneva, Switzerland – 07 August 2012] – The Internet Society Board of Trustees, during its recent meeting in Vancouver, Canada, discussed the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) and expressed concern that some proposed changes to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs) Treaty could have a negative impact on the Internet.

Eva Frölich, Chair of the Internet Society Board of Trustees, remarked, “The Internet Society believes that the International Telecommunication Regulations should contain high level principles and that revisions should focus on things that have clearly worked in the field of global communications: competition, privatization, and transparent and independent regulation.  It is our sincere hope that revisions to the ITRs will not interfere with the continued innovation and evolution of telecommunications networks and the Internet.”

The Board noted that the success of the Internet has been driven by open, consensus-based standards processes embodied in organizations such as the Internet Engineering Task Force and other critical parts of the Internet ecosystem that rely on openness and transparency.

The Internet Society Board of Trustees highlighted concerns about certain changes to the ITRs, which it found troubling.  Among other things, these proposals would:

• Make ITU-T standards mandatory;
• Create a new model for Internet interconnection via the ITRs;
• Adversely impact Internet naming, numbering, and addressing;
• Regulate network aspects that have never been part of telecommunications, including IP routing; and,
• Extend the scope and application of the ITRs to the Internet and Internet providers.

The Board is of the view that these types of provisions, if adopted, could jeopardize global connectivity and the future growth of the Internet, particularly in developing countries; impact the architecture, security, and global interoperability of the Internet; and impose detrimental burdens on the free and open Internet that billions of people around the world depend upon today.

Recognizing that developing countries face challenges in building Internet infrastructure and in bringing down connectivity costs, the Board of Trustees emphasized the Internet Society’s commitment to helping these countries overcome those challenges in ways that support global interoperability and the free flow of information, such as via the development of Internet Exchange Points to improve Internet performance and drive down Internet connectivity costs.

The Internet Society is a strong proponent of the open, consensus-based, multistakeholder model for standards setting and Internet policy development.  “Transparency and the multistakeholder model are essential to developing sustainable and effective Internet public policy,” said Internet Society President and Chief Executive Officer, Lynn St. Amour.

The Internet Society Board of Trustees called on governments not to adopt changes to the ITRs that would undermine the security, stability, and innovative potential of networks worldwide. In preparing for the WCIT, the Board urged all governments to engage in an open and participatory national dialogue, and encouraged Internet Society members to contribute actively to these national discussions that have a global impact.

For more information on WCIT, visit http://internetsociety.org/wcit

Link: http://www.internetsociety.org/news/internet-society-board-trustees-expresses-concern-about-potential-impact-world-conference

My source: Community Informatics List