The Use of Wikis for Regional Development Processes
Manfred Walser (IMP-HSG, Switzerland)Ulrich Radzieowski (engineering consultant, Austria)
RSA Conference 2013, Tampere
Institut for Systemic Managementand Public Governance
An Empirical Analysis in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland
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Main hypothesis
It seems to be promising to use the web 2.0 applications to foster processes of regional development. Such platforms can achieve new actors and upgrade the public discourse.
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Structure of the Presentation
1. Web 2.0 and Wiki - some definitions and insights2. Scientific aspects of a social and technological change3. An empirical analysis of local and regional Wikis4. Final considerations of the use of wikis for regional
development
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Definition: Social Web (Web 2.0)
…is the sum of new internet- tools and applicationsusing the world wide web as a platform for datawhich are created and controlled by the users collectively
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Definition: Social Network Sites (SNS)
- allow individuals to construct a (semi-)public profile within a bounded system
- users can define a list of other users to share a connection with
- users can view and traverse their list of connections and those made by other users
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Technological change may cause social change
Group formingsharingcollaboratingcollective acting
new culture of participation
user generated (created) contentcompletes and partly replacesexperts / professional knowledge
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Technological preconditions for social change
- the possibility to reach a global audience with nearly no costs
- the access to a huge amount of contents to be used for creating new information
- the possibility to communicate with other users sharing the same interest
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Decreasing Transaction Costs (Coase Theorem)
• complexity grows faster than size of a system• also rapidly the transaction costs for
management grow- hierarchical organisation needed
new tools for large-scale coordinationwith nearly no costs -but no central definition of goals and strategies
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Wiki
Definition:A wiki is a website which allows users to add, remove, edit, and change contents and to structure the existing contents from other users in a very simple way.
- integrates different expertise and viewpoints- offers the opportunity for participation- enables flexible time management- improves transparency
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Added value of a local / regional Wiki(…as a hypothesis)
• to manage the amount of information and to increase the quality of information
• to motivate regional actors to participate• to support the marketing of regional
development processes
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Regio - Wikis
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Hypothesis 1
The added value of a local / regional wiki is to manage the amount and to increase the quality of information.
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Number of thematic articles per Wiki
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
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RegioWiki Top Categories
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 20%
associations / societies
leisure / recreation
internal / about the wiki
main page / starting page
persons
transportation
social / political institutions
current issues, events...
enterprise
city / municipality
region
history
3737
5862
7682
8596
112
140
196
209
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RegioWiki Detail Categories
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
religious institutionother public institution
streets (overview)markets
programmes and projectsregion (overview)
about Wikissubregion
school / institutions of educationevents / organizers
enterprise (single case)newspaper / media
association (single case)city (overview)
waterhistorical site (single case)
historical events (overview)street (sinbgle case)
gastronomic enterpriseyear /decade / century
public transport route (single case)historical sites (overview)
person (single case)urban district / quarter
city / municipality (single case)
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Hypothesis 2
The added value of a local / regional wiki is to motivate regional actors to participate.
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0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 450001
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
31
33
35
37
39
41
43
45
47
49
51
Number of (active) users
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
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Number of adaptations per article
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
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Organising Institution
0
5
10
15
20
25
association media enterprise municipality private activity
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Hypothesis 3
The added value of a local / regional wiki is to support the marketing of regional development processes.
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Article traffic statistics
0
2'000'000
4'000'000
6'000'000
8'000'000
10'000'000
12'000'000
Total traffic per wiki and year
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Top 25 – average number of accesses per article
0
20'000
40'000
60'000
80'000
100'000
120'000
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Conclusion
1. It’s an own world – worth to be observed2. Useful complement of existing tools3. Cultural change will affect regional
development processes4. Learning a new culture5. The tip of an iceberg (from a researchers
point of view)
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Thank you very much for your attention
www.alexandria.unisg.ch-> Personen: Manfred_Walser