This paper studies asylum-related migrants' Internet use and smartphone ownership. In total, 2,454 asylum-related migrants originating from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East (37 countries) answered the surveys in the European Union migration hotspots (Lesvos in Greece and Lampedusa in Italy) and in transit/host countries (Iran, Jordan, and Turkey). Internet use was studied at three phases: before the actual journey in the country of origin, during the journey before entering the hotspot or transit/host location, and at the hotspot or transit/host location where smartphone ownership was also studied. During their journeys (from the country of origin to hotspot or transit/host location), the differences in Internet use regarding education and urban/rural backgrounds diminished and vanished in regards to gender. In the transit/host or hotspot location, many respondents started to use the Internet even if they had not used it before in their country of origin.
The article examines asylum-related migrants' social-media use along their asylum journeys. In total, 2,454 migrants from 37 countries answered a semistructured survey conducted in Jordan; Turkey; Iran; and in the European "hotspots," Lesvos, Greece, and Lampedusa, Italy. Of the respondents, 83% used at least one social-media service in their current locations, 55% acknowledged that social media makes their asylum-related life easier, and 51% responded that social media helped them decide where to move to in Europe. Migrants' socioeconomic and demographic differences, social capital, and future views explain their social-media use in relation to their mobility decisions and resilience.
Innovation has long been considered one of the key engines of economic growth, and patents as important incentives for research and development activity. Particularly in terms of intellectual property rights (IPR), however, little is known about how cities contribute to regional innovation: are they containers, facilitators or innovators? This is investigated here through empirical material derived from 27 interviews with top departmental management in three Finnish cities (Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa). The results show that local city governments (LCGs) consider cities as facilitators of innovation activities but also admit that there are limits (time constraints and lack of resources) to the influence of LCGs over the innovation environment. Still, many of the public sector innovations (especially social innovations) that do not necessarily have a clear market potential would not have been created without the active role of LCGs as innovators. City employees are innovative-the seeming lack of public sector innovation is actually a result of measurement issues that favour (patentable) technological innovations rather than those more common to LCGs, meaning service and organisational types. Therefore, LCGs can be seen as highly innovative organisations. There are, however, barriers to innovation in the public sector, such as the cost of innovation activity, the lack of incentives for it and a working culture that does not support it. Lastly, the results show that LCGs have not really fully considered the possibilities and potential of owning their own IPR; to be specific, potentially lucrative opportunities should be explored.
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