Search results

The Eurobarometer series is a unique cross-national and cross-temporal survey program conducted on behalf of the European Commission. These surveys regularly monitor public opinion in the European Union (EU) member countries and consist of standard modules and special topic modules. The standard modules address attitudes towards European unification, institutions and policies, measurements for general socio-political orientations, as well as respondent and household demographics. The special topic modules address such topics as agriculture, education, natural environment and resources, public health, public safety and crime, and science and technology.

This round of Eurobarometer surveys covers the following special topics: (1) energy in the EU, (2) citizens' rights, (3) e-communications, (4) the internal market, and (5) carbon dioxide capture and storage. Information was collected on potential policies and ways to reduce energy consumption, the performance of EU administration, opinions about citizens' most important rights, and report access, use, and providers of various technology and media, including the Internet. Additional information includes respondents' views on employment across EU countries, counterfeiting and piracy, the handling of carbon dioxide, and effects on climate change.

Demographic and other background information collected includes age, gender, nationality, marital status and parental relations, left-right political self-placement, occupation, age when stopped full-time education, household composition, ownership of a fixed or a mobile telephone and other durable goods, difficulties in paying bills, level in society, and Internet use. In addition, country-specific data includes type and size of locality, region of residence, and language of interview (select countries).

The Eurobarometer series is a unique cross-national and cross-temporal survey program conducted on behalf of the European Commission. These surveys regularly monitor public opinion in the European Union (EU) member countries and consist of standard modules and special topic modules. The standard modules address attitudes towards European unification, institutions and policies, measurements for general socio-political orientations, as well as respondent and household demographics. The special topic modules address such topics as agriculture, education, natural environment and resources, public health, public safety and crime, and science and technology.

This round of Eurobarometer surveys diverged from the Standard Eurobarometer measures and queried respondents on the following major areas of focus: (1) the European Parliament (EP), (2) energy supply, (3) data protection and electronic identity, (4) chemical labeling, and (5) rare diseases. For the first major area of focus, the European Parliament, respondents were asked about their knowledge and opinion of the EP, whether the EP should play a more important or less important role, which policies should be given priority by the EP, and which values should be defended by the EP. For the second major area of focus, energy supply, respondents were queried about what goals should be prioritized in energy policies, what energy policies should be adopted, and whether or not there should be a communal European Union (EU) energy policy. Additionally, respondents were asked whether they believed it was in their country's energy security interest to assist other EU member states facing energy supply problems, as well as whether they believed it was desirable that their country provide assistance to other EU member states in the name of European solidarity. For the third major area of focus, questions address activities one performs on the Internet, opinions about types of information and data considered to be personal, types of information disclosed on social networking and online shopping sites and the risks, and measures taken to protect one's identity. Opinions were also collected on how personal information and data are acquired, treated, stored and protected by public and private organizations. For the fourth major area of focus, chemical labeling, respondents were asked about their use and perception of chemical products in various circumstances, how they determine whether or not a chemical product is hazardous, what the proper handling of chemical products is, where respondents find information about the potential dangers of chemical products, who to trust for information about chemical product safety, and whether or not they could correctly identify chemical product warning labels. For the fifth major area of focus, rare diseases, respondents were interviewed about what they believe rare diseases are, whether or not they knew or heard of someone with a rare disease, what society should do about rare diseases, what specific policy responses to rare diseases should be implemented by national health services and the EU as a whole, as well as whether or not they had heard of certain rare diseases.

Demographic and other background information collected includes age, gender, nationality, marital status and parental relations, left-right political self-placement, occupation, age when stopped full-time education, household composition, ownership of a fixed or a mobile telephone, difficulties in paying bills, level in society, and Internet use. In addition, country-specific data includes type and size of locality, region of residence, and language of interview (select countries).

Despite the critical information security issues faced by academic institutions, little research has been conducted at the policy, practice, or theoretical levels to address these issues, and few policies or cost-effective controls have been developed. The purpose of this research study was three-fold: (1) to create an empirically-based profile of issues and approaches, (2) to develop a practical road map for policy and practice, and (3) to advance the knowledge, policy, and practice of academic institutions, law enforcement, government, and researchers. The study design incorporated three methods of data collection: a quantitative field survey, qualitative one-on-one interviews, and an empirical assessment of the institutions' network activity.

Survey data collection involved simple random sampling of 600 academic institutions from the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) database, recruitment via postcard, telephone, and email, Web-based survey administration, and three follow-ups. Results are contained in Part 1, Quantitative Field Survey Data. Interview data collection involved selecting a sample size of 15 institutions through a combination of simple random and convenience sampling, recruitment via telephone and email, and face-to-face or telephone interviews. Results are contained in Part 2, Qualitative One-on-One Interview Data. Network analysis data collection involved convenience sampling of two academic institutions, recruitment via telephone and email, installing Higher Education Network Analysis (HENA) on participants' systems, and six months of data collection. Results are in Part 3, Subject 1 Network Analysis Data, and Part 4, Subject 2 Network Analysis Data.

The Quantitative Field Survey Data (Part 1) contains 19 variables on characteristics of institutions that participated in the survey component of this study, as well as 263 variables derived from responses to the Information Security in Academic Institutions Survey, which was organized into five sections: Environment, Policy, Information Security Controls, Information Security Challenges, and Resources. The Qualitative One-on-One Interview Data (Part 2) contains qualitative responses to a combination of closed-response and open-response formats. The data are divided into the following seven sections: Environment, Institution's Potential Vulnerability, Institution's Potential Threat, Information Value and Sharing, End Users, Countermeasures, and Insights. Data collected through the empirical analysis of network activity (Part 3 and Part 4) include type and protocol of attack, source and destination information, and geographic location.

Information and communication technology (ICT) are playing an important role in the criminal justice chain, but very little is known about public prosecutor's offices, while there is a strong need to exchange information among practitioners, decision makers, and scholars in order to share experiences, knowledge, and facilitate the adoption of common ICT solutions and practices in a cost-effective way.

This Research Project stresses the need to pursue judicial cooperation in the area of criminal law, and it contributes to fostering mutual knowledge of European legal and judicial systems as well as best practices and technological solutions. The Project is not limited to legal literature, but it has an inter-disciplinary approach, and it focuses on practical experiences and policies implemented. The project will lead to a conference to disseminate the information collected, to pass on knowledge of immediate use in carrying on professional activities, as well as to increase the number of practitioners, academics, and policy makers who will take advantage of and profit from the research. The research entails six in-depth case studies. Four of them will be carried on by the organizations' partners in this research: England and Wales, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, two others are in the process to be identified.

After a description of the governance system of public prosecution in the countries considered in this study, since ICT application are not developed in a vacuum, the research will describe, study, and compare through an in-depth analysis: (1) the use of ICT in case investigations, (2) the use of ICT for case management, (3) the ICT interoperability between public prosecutor's offices, courts, police and prisons, and (4) the use of ICT for sharing prosecutorial information between countries.

The research will allow to: (a) detect the valuable and successful implementations of ICT in criminal investigations (e.g. decision support systems, access to data bases, multimedia applications), (b) disseminate technical information about these applications, (c) explore the feasibility for cross-border exchange of data such as criminal history records and illegal immigration records, (d) develop a network of scholars and practitioners about ICT for public prosecutor's offices.

This report structure, should serve as a guide to the researchers working on the various countries. It is divided into three main sections. Section 1 will deal with the institutional setting of public prosecutor. Section 2 will deal with ICT history, governance and infrastructures. Section 3 will deal with technologies for investigation and prosecution of crimes.