Browsing by Author "Longo, Justin"

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Open Access
5G Raises Tough Policy Choices for Canada
(2019-08) Longo, Justin
Fifth generation wireless telecommunications technology, commonly referred to as 5G, could provide an important foundation for the future of Saskatchewan's rural areas and the application of advanced technology to industries like agriculture, and long-promised advances in telemedicine. But central to the development of Canada's 5G system is the role that the equipment from the Chinese firm Huawei will play. With the United States lobbying Canada to follow it in banning Huawei from its 5G infrastructure, tensions between Canada and China on this and other fronts require the Canadian government to tread carefully. Where domestic policy and international politics collide, hard choices emerge. The risk assessment currently underway in Canada should guide Canada's decision making on what to do about Huawei and 5G, though the inherent uncertainties in this case ultimately require what could be a costly decision.
Open Access
A Tectonic Shift in the Digital Divide: It's now deeper than a technological gap
(2020-09-08) Camillo, Cheryl A.; Longo, Justin
This issue of JSGS Policy Brief is part of a series dedicated to exploring and providing evidence-based analysis, policy ideas, recommendations and research conclusions on the various dimensions of the pandemic, as it relates here in Canada and internationally.
Open Access
The End of the Policy Analyst? Testing the Capability of Artificial Intelligence to Generate Plausible, Persuasive, and Useful Policy Analysis
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2021-10) Safaei, Mehrdad; Longo, Justin; Dupeyron, Bruno; Phillips, Peter; Savard, Jean-Francois
Public servants provide support for decision makers through synthesis documents such as briefing notes. To develop recommendations for dealing with the problem, they use a variety of sources for research and analysis. This current research seeks to assess opportunities and challenges regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in public sector administration and policy development, focusing on whether AI can serve as a supplement and potential replacement for human policy analysts. The research questions focus on whether AI can plausibly ‘do’ policy analysis, support what human policy analysts currently do, and—based on those assessments—whether academia and governments need to reconsider what it means to teach and undertake policy analysis. This research tests these questions empirically by first creating briefing notes in three categories: AI generated; AI supported; and human created. Two panels of experts made up of retired senior public servants were then asked to judge the briefing notes from the perspective of a senior public sector decision maker (e.g., Deputy Minister) using a heuristic evaluation rubric to grade each note. I report on their evaluations as a basis for assessing whether current NLP technology is capable of generating plausible, persuasive, and useful policy analysis.
Open Access
Energy literacy in the Canadian elementary classroom
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2025-02) Mosscrop, Larkin Elizabeth; Hurlbert, Margot; Coates, Ken; Longo, Justin; Bazzul, Jesse; Novog, Dave
This dissertation presents a body of research that addresses the policy issue of the effectiveness and role of curriculum in building energy literacy. Energy literacy, which encompasses broad content knowledge as well as affective and behavioural characteristics, will empower students to make responsible and appropriate energy-related choices, and embrace changes in the way they use and produce energy. Students who are energy literate will be more capable of engaging in thoughtful energy-related decisions as they become adults, informing policies and energy projects moving forward. A framework to assess if the elementary science curricula across Canada would meet the required elements to establish energy literacy in elementary school students was developed. This framework suggests that many of the curricula do not support energy literacy but rather focus on content knowledge. The science curriculum assessment identified all aspects of energy expected to be understood by the end of grade 8. This assessment was used to formulate the student survey, and the in-class focus group. Students showed general energy literacy during the focus group discussions in addition to significant learning and interest in energy after the discussion. Grade 6 students showed surprisingly high degrees of understanding and application when compared to the middle-school students. Teachers were interviewed to evaluate their use of curriculum in the classroom, teaching practices, and understanding of science literacy. Teaching science was raised as a way to increase engagement and accessibility for those who struggle in other areas in school. Science through self-directed project-based learning does not require the same level of literacy or numeracy for engagement. However, this focus on inquiry-based learning was bound by the teacher having enough engagement to answer questions and involve students emphasizing the need for professional development for new or complex topics. The ever-increasing demands on teachers to integrate social issues (e.g., environmental and climate justice) to science education is particularly relevant when considering that energy literacy has three core pillars including affect or the values and beliefs one has. This is particularly important with an increasingly polarized world, where students are bombarded with polarized media and face teachers who have their own implicit and explicit biases. Education must focus on facts while still providing a strong foundation of scientific skills that enable students to develop their own beliefs about science. The curriculum is not structured in such a way as it too has many implicit biases, such as defining energy as either renewable or nonrenewable. These findings support the complex relationship between knowledge, affect, and behaviour, underscoring the importance of using educational strategies that focus not only on cognitive development but engage the whole student in the learning process while still maintaining balance and focus on scientific outcomes. The results also provide evidence for using educational pedagogies that incorporate projects and inquiry-based models to connect the content to student lives outside of school. The results of this study do provide some insight as to the utility of curriculum as a policy tool, that is that curriculum is only one part of a complex system and curriculum reform alone is unlikely to equate to changes in the classroom. Overall, the results of this study support the need for wider implementation of science professional development, including project-based energy education and the creation of resources that can be easily and freely accessed by teachers. Key words: education, energy literacy, science literacy, pedagogy
Open Access
Evaluating the effectiveness of analogies in an infographic on low-dose radiation
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2024-05) Sahagun, Francisco Javier; Hurlbert, Margot; Longo, Justin; Dalzell, Matthew
The aim of this research is to address misconceptions about Low Dose Radiation (LDR) by using analogies. The nuclear industry has shown that trust is asymmetrical, meaning it is easily lost and hard to regain. This was evident in Saskatchewan, where a public inquiry in 2008 revealed a significant lack of trust. Conversely, Saskatchewan possesses one of the largest uranium reserves globally, offering a carbon-neutral energy source. Additionally, it is increasingly cost-effective in the context of carbon pricing, making it an appealing option to fulfill the province’s energy and carbon objectives while ensuring energy security. The choice of analogies is based on their proven effectiveness as a teaching tool over time. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a brief training program, delivered through infographics, on the public’s perception of LDR. The effectiveness of this infographic was assessed by comparing it with another that presented LDR information differently, focusing on protocols and safety regulations in hospitals and nuclear power plants. Additionally, the training included an infographic that outlined basic benefits of LDR, such as its use in diagnosis and therapy, and highlighted scientific sources. The methodology employed involved focus groups, which were conducted in three provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario. Respondents were divided into three focus groups, with approximately eight individuals per infographic. With two infographics in total, this amounted to about 48 participants per province, culminating in a total sample size of 150 people across the three provinces. A Small Modular Reactor, known as an SMR, represents a compact version of traditional nuclear reactors and is engineered for simplified and adaptable installation due to its reduced size and power output. For the data analysis 4 outcome variables were created to make an SPSS binary logistic regression to assess the possibilities to generate positive LDR perceptions; the possibilities to generate positive LDR perceptions and/or concluding that LDR outweigh the risk; the possibilities to generate positive LDR perceptions and/or having positive SMR support; and the 4th variable was the generation of positive SMR support after accessing the infographic. For the qualitative analysis the responses of the open-ended questions pre-infographic, and the learning and concerns post-infographic were reviewed. This research indicates that females may have a more positive attitude towards LDR when presented with Infographic 2, which details protocols and safety rules in hospitals and nuclear power plants. Conversely, males may feel more secure when exposed to Infographic 1, which utilized analogies. Notably, in Saskatchewan, Infographic 1 effectively garnered positive support for SMRs among females. Age consistently emerged as an independent variable that negatively affected the outcome variables most of the time. Meanwhile, income and education levels had a minimal impact on these outcomes. Keywords: LDR positive perceptions, LDR misperceptions, positive SMR support, climate change solution, trust in scientists, benefits from LDR, teaching protocols and rules, teaching analogies.
Open Access
Exploring factors that influence trust in non-standard stem cell therapies among patients with musculoskeletal conditions
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2024-06) Shaker, Marina; Zarzeczny, Amy; Longo, Justin; Yang, Yang
Although stem cell interventions (SCIs) may offer some therapeutic potential, the development of regulatory frameworks for their safe clinical application remains a significant challenge. As the regulation of these innovative therapies is still being developed, it is crucial to examine the factors that shape patients’ trust in these interventions that lack clear oversight. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that influence the trust in nonstandard SCIs among patients with musculoskeletal disorders as well as their understanding of the role regulatory bodies play in ensuring safe and effective treatments. This understanding will be relevant to policy development and regulatory reform for innovative regenerative medicine therapies, potentially addressing the role that professional regulation plays in providing oversight of this developing field. This study employed a qualitative approach, using constructivist grounded theory. The data were obtained through in-depth, semi-structured one-on-one interviews with eight participants lasting from 45 to 75 minutes. The interview transcripts were analyzed initially with line-by-line coding, then focused coding. The codes were later collapsed and organized into categories, which guided theory construction. The findings unveiled a range of factors involving the patients, their knowledge of the intervention, and their practitioners that influence their trust in non-standard SCIs. The results also suggest that health practitioners play a central role in guiding participants' consideration of non-standard SCIs. This role also extends beyond medical doctors and includes allied healthcare professionals, as patients with musculoskeletal conditions often seek their services to manage their symptoms. Lastly, the results indicate a strong and implicit trust that patients place in regulatory bodies; suggesting that patients hold expectations of these bodies without a full understanding of how they meet them.
Open Access
Exploring the citizen engagement metaverse: Testing virtual reality for citizen feedback on public space design options
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2022-09) Anim, Prince; Longo, Justin; Katapelly, Tarun; Phillips, Peter; Gerhard, David
Some governments have begun to experiment with using technology to support citizen and stakeholder engagement in designing public spaces, moving beyond traditional forms such as printed documents and design charrettes structured around physical objects to take advantage of virtual platforms for sharing information and gathering citizen feedback. With the advance and dispersion of technology, the public can now contribute to the planning and design of public spaces through digital platforms such as online surveys, social media, interactive maps, and touchscreen kiosks. More recently, advances like virtual reality (VR) can now be used to give the public a better understanding of complex issues through a sensory immersion into the proposed public space. This thesis reports on an experiment simulating a public participation process on a community playground using both traditional methods and VR, revealing the potential benefits and challenges of public participation in the digital era. The difference between VR and more traditional approaches — from both citizen and public administrator perspectives — and the broader implications of advancing VR/AR and other technology for citizen engagement are discussed in the conclusion.
Open Access
How Do Parliamentarians Use ICTs?
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2019-11) El Bahlouli, Yassine; Longo, Justin; Coates, Ken; Rasmussen, Ken; Boda, Michael; Farney, James
Parliamentarians have many responsibilities, both in the legislative chamber and in their constituencies. From participating in house and committee deliberations, to proposing legislation or amendments to other proposed bills, and speaking on behalf of and defending the interests of their electors, parliamentarians are supported by the resources of the body that administers parliament. In the digital era, these resources usually include information and communication technologies (ICTs) that facilitate these important and challenging tasks and support parliamentary transparency and legislative functions. However, little is known about how parliamentarians currently use ICTs to accomplish their goals. This research assesses how parliamentarians in the Canadian House of Commons and in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly use ICTs to carry out their legislative and representative functions, and how the further use and adoption of ICTs can improve their performance. The research finds that the legislators surveyed are adopting ICTs and using Web 2.0 tools to accomplish their work, and that the use of laptop computers, smart phones, and social media to communicate, promote their objectives, and influence parliamentary and public discussion are all having a direct and often positive impact on their daily business. From these findings, core recommendations are made for the administrative offices of parliament to improve the effectiveness of existing tools, address emerging confidentiality and data security concerns, and strengthen legislator’s access to tools for the analysis of proposed legislation and the oversight of government actions.
Open Access
Policy Agenda Setting and Twitter - Three Cases from Canada
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2017-03) Deschamps, Bruno-Ryan Douglas; McNutt, Kathleen; Phillips, Peter; Longo, Justin; Rasmussen, Kenneth; Gruzd, Anatoliy
Social media sites are arenas for online collaboration, political controversy or, at times, mob justice. These sites are also arenas for discussion about policy problems. Dramatic events, amplified by Twitter, create an opportunity for citizens to support solutions to social problems or to hold politicians to account for decisions made or not made. While media portrays such events as transformative and heroic, most policy decisions have a historical pedigree that is invisible to the public. By focussing on three cases of political discussion on Twitter (Idle No More, Copyright, and Cyberbullying), this dissertation measures the extent that policy theory explains the role of online networks on the policy process using a social network analysis of Twitter users in communication with each other during notable policy events. Areas of interest include the national or regional character of the discussion, the role of actors with continued interest in the topic, changes to network demographics from issue to issue, the influence of organizations, the formation of strongly connected components in the network structure and the differences in structure between dramatic events and government announcements. In terms of the Twitter networks, policy theory does a poor job of explaining how Twitter networks form, although the Idle No More and copyright networks did reflect national interest and the importance of the organizational model (including organizations, stable actors and professional groups) on the networks. The cyberbullying networks were more international and less stable in terms of actor participation than the other groups. The networks were found to be less influential on policy than previous legislations and global agreements. The conclusion proposes the use of stakeholder analysis techniques to help manage public agendas for government, including an awareness of “thin” engagement approaches where the stability of networks cannot be assumed for policy issues.
Open Access
Policy issue networks: Social network analysis case studies
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2023-07) Katchuck, Michelle Lisa; McNutt, Kathleen; Longo, Justin; Rayner, Jeremy; Childs, Jason; Stoddart, Mark CJ
This research demonstrates that Social Network Analysis (SNA) can be a powerful, proactive tool for policy makers to understand the online policy networks in which they operate. It does so by undertaking SNA at two points in time to quantify the actor nodes of three Canadian public policy networks, comparing the network evolution over time, and visualizing their structure and relationships with related policy issues. The three Canadian policy case study subjects are cannabis legalization, nuclear energy development, and the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project (TMX). The cases were selected for their current social importance and national concern, and complexity as socio-technical systems. Cannabis legalization represents a social policy shift, while the other two policy issues involve highly technical infrastructure projects to provide the energy that drives modern society at a time when energy solutions and needs are shifting. The research was undertaken to answer three main questions: Does a network structure consist of multiple clusters of subnetworks primarily concerned with tangential issues but bridged together to form a network for this policy issue? Is there any evidence of network effects that affect the network’s evolution over time? Finally, is there evidence that regional or international networks are present? The study’s findings provide significant evidence that addresses these questions. For example, for question one, the cannabis legalization network shows an isolated online community primarily interested in the research and use of cannabis as a medical treatment, an issue tangential to the primary policy focus but connected to the policy issues. For question two, Canada’s stated nuclear policy shift toward small modular reactors reveals an online issue network dominated by industry rather than government actors. Finally, regarding question three, the study found that regional clusters were especially apparent in the cannabis legalization and TMX networks. This research provides insight into the policy networks of the specific cases, which contributes to the literature on these policy topics and network analysis in terms of network structure and evolution. It also validates the use of SNA in a policy analysis toolkit. Where existing literature has examined Internet-age government, it has found that governments often replicate routine procedures and processes in new, virtual forms rather than innovate or reimagine their capabilities. Government actors have improved their responsiveness, but they also need to fundamentally change their behaviour, particularly in engaging stakeholders in meaningful public policy analysis. SNA is a novel use afforded by technology that has gone unexplored to innovate government performance. This dissertation adds to the lengthy body of research in SNA by experimenting with a practical application of its theories and methods. The critical conceptual approach underpinning this thesis is complexity theory, which provides the framework to situate the dynamic environment of policy making and stakeholder engagement. It is hoped that this research will help policy makers by providing a toolkit that enables visualizing how issue patterns emerge in real-time, patterns that can represent the “unknown unknowns” — the voices not yet heard, the unanticipated concerns, and the opportunities not yet discovered to reach out to broader or underrepresented communities in the policy arena.
Open Access
Public acceptance of facial recognition technology: Surveying attitudes, preferences, and concerns to inform policy development
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2022-08) Sahlu, Kedist; Longo, Justin; Boyer, Kurtis; Hurlbert, Margot; Mouhoub, Malek
One application of artificial intelligence (AI) in public sector governance is facial recognition technology (FRT), which is used to identify or discover individuals by comparing an image of their face to a database of known faces for a match. Along with these applications, however, concerns surrounding FRT use by governments have emerged as critics raise issues not only about the technology itself, but also the implications for the expansion of the ‘surveillance society’ and specific concerns such as demonstrated racial biases in FRT. While FRT continues to be developed and used, and governments struggle to develop a legislative and regulatory response, the question of public acceptance of FRT emerges as timely and important for ongoing policy deliberations. This thesis reports on an empirical test of what the public deems acceptable in the context of FRT applications used in the public sector, focusing on citizens’ attitudes towards, preferences for, and concerns about public sector use of FRT. A survey of 266 residents of two comparative provincial jurisdictions in Canada — Saskatchewan and Ontario — gathered information on attitudes towards FRT used in a variety of settings using nine hypothetical scenario vignettes of FRT use. Descriptive statistics, correlation statistics, and regression analysis is used to identify which socio-economic and demographic factors predict support for public sector use of FRT. The findings from this research have implications for the adoption of FRT in the public sector and for the development of legislation and regulation in response to its use. Results indicate safety and security as a public priority and a general overall support for FRT use by public sector agencies regardless of sociodemographic characteristics, with the least favourable use being general public surveillance. Citizen service uses (particularly airport security) yielded the highest levels of support. The use of FRT by public sector agencies will require overt purpose and perceived public value. Public policy that has a strong focus on personal privacy is needed to balance the interests of Canadians with government public service.
Open Access
Publishing linked open data from spreadsheets
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2023-03) Amin, Parita Dipakkumar; Hepting, Daryl; Yao, Yiyu; Maguire, Brien; Longo, Justin
The World Wide Web (WWW), as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), is “the universe of network-accessible information, the embodiment of human knowledge”1. With development over the years, the global web of linked documents has become the global web of linked data, which is popularly known as the “semantic web”. The semantic web is now an established topic of research but there remain many unanswered questions. Data that are linked and open facilitate discovery and reuse. Likewise, vocabularies used to describe the semantic relationships amongst linked and open data facilitate discovery and reuse. Yet, it is not always a straightforward matter to take data that may be somehow accessible on a webpage written in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and publish it as Linked Open Data (LOD). Many complimentary technologies are used in handling Linked Open Data (LOD) on the web, particularly the Resource Description Framework (RDF), the Web Ontology Language (OWL), and the Simple Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL), to name a few. Tim Berners-Lee’s vision for a global hypertext system continues to be fulfilled. This thesis work contributes to the practice of publishing Linked Open Data (LOD) by following the lifecycle of a particular dataset from spreadsheet to Linked Open Data (LOD) that is accessible on the web. As such, this thesis can serve as a guide for researchers and citizens-at-large who want to contribute their data to the world. It talks about the methodology that can be used to describe a linked open vocabulary to map survey data from a spreadsheet file. 1. https://www.w3.org/WWW/
Open Access
Training Tomorrow's intelligence-Amplified Policy Analyst: A Public Administration Curriculum for the Digital Era
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2020-01) Sadaf, Syeda Tashfia; Longo, Justin; Coates, Ken; Rasmussen, Ken; Greenberg, Louise; Spooner, Marc
Technology change has continually affected the practice of public administration and policy analysis, and it is anticipated that an acceleration of this change will affect the required skill sets of public servants in the coming decade. This thesis focuses on two aspects of technology change as it might affect public policy analysis and the skill requirements of public servants: the transition from policy analysis to policy analytics; and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by knowledge workers as a complement to (rather than substitute for) their activities, conceptualized as Intelligence Amplification (IA). Interviews were conducted with Canadian public sector executives and leaders of Canadian university public administration and public policy schools. The research explores questions around how these changes— policy analytics and IA—may require a reconfiguration of the skills of future public servants. A policy analytics future suggests a need for more widespread capability in working with big data and undertaking data analytics. An IA future raises questions about what value policy analysts bring to the policymaking process, and what skill mix the public service workforce will need to effectively take advantage of the capabilities that AI will offer in the not-too-distant future. I conclude with recommendations as to how schools of public administration and public policy might adapt their curricula to better prepare future public servants for the impending changes of the digital era. I
Open Access
Why do people self-censor on social media? A metacognitive approach
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2022-08) Binnendyk, Jabin D.; Pennycook, Gordon; Oriet, Chris; Robinson, Katherine; Longo, Justin
A lot of focus has been put on the fact that people are sharing too much misinformation online; however, the failure to share accurate and high-quality content may be just as problematic. Indeed, although there is a growing body of work examining the psychological mechanisms that contribute to the spread of misinformation, little focus has been directed on why people fail to share accurate content online. One potential explanation is self-censorship—when an individual does not share their opinion with a group that they perceive to hold differing opinions. One possibility is that self-censorship may emerge from metacognitive factors, such as self-reflection about what is appropriate to share. If this is true, then it may be that the people who are most likely to self-censor are also those who should be sharing the most. Consistent with this, I found that people who were better able to distinguish between true and false news were actually more willing to self-censor. Self-censorship was also modestly associated with lower closemindedness and less overconfidence. However, counter to expectations, it was found that preference for effortful thought was negatively associated with self-censorship. These findings indicate that metacognitive factors do, in fact, impact willingness to self-censor but additional work is still needed as the effects were small.