Paschal Preston's Main Research Projects and related Activities
Major Research Projects & Activities, 2000--2008
Prior Research Projects & Activities, 1995--1999
Early Research Projects & Activities, 1990--1994
Major Research Projects & Activities, 2000--2008
Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP) (October 2007 -- September 2011)
The Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP) links together researchers from 8 institutions and 19 disciplines in the SS&H fields on an all-Ireland basis. The ISSP is strongly orientated towards inter-university collaboration (including the North-South dimension). ISSP comprises a “network of excellence” for H&SS research in the Irish context and is funded by HEA's PRTLI-4 programme. A key aim is to share and leverage research activities, findings, resources. The ISSP's research agenda is centred on three research pillars : .i) Knowledge Society (leader: Paschal Preston of DCU) .ii) Balanced Regional & Rural Development, and .iii) Sustaining Communities. ISSP also accords special emphasis on collaboration in postgrad research [doctoral] student education and training activities, including summer schools and mutual recognition of such training between institutions.
DCU's contribution to KISS comprises two complementary research strands undertaken by specialist teams drawn from two faculties: H&SS and DCU-BS. The research of the H&SS team is focused on conceptual and empirical aspects of Innovation in Digital Media Domains and is led by Prof. Paschal Preston.
Industrial Innovation and Performance -- Evolution of the Web Design Technology Cluster (October 2007 -- January 2008)
This project undertakes a history-friendly study of the key stages in the evolution of web design technologies as an innovative new industry, beginning with the invention of the WWW in 1989 - a seminal free and open source technology produced at CERN, which proved so crucial for the growth of the Internet. The project explores whether and how each subsequent period is characterized by clusters of open or proprietary technologies, new or established actors, the dominance of one or two standards and the process of innovation leading to, and typifying, their roles.
eMEDIATE : Media and Ethics of a European Public Sphere from the Treaty of Rome to the ‘War on Terror’ (2004-2007)
DCU project team manager and contact: Prof. Paschal Preston This EU-funded project undertakes an innovative theoretical and empirical study of the evolution and meaning a European public sphere (EPS). eMEDIATE will engage in original research in two fields: a) the evolution of European media (including visual) narratives that transcend national or language-based cultural frames and political boundaries; b) the actual and potential use of the Internet as a means to constitute the EPS and to increase citizen participation.
The eMEDIATE consortium brings together researchers from 10 countries to analyse national editorial cultures and their evolution in five crisis periods with a view to comparing how they frame notions of a European ‘ethical responsibility’. The project team engage with new, networked and fluid conceptualisations of the public sphere to examine the development of Western and Eastern EPS since the Rome Treaty to the ‘War on Terror’. These issues will be mainly addressed through the analysis of media texts, but the research also undertakes multi-country interviews with senior media practitioners as well as reviews of the relevant media studies research literature. The project is expected to cast new light upon the forms and extent of intellectual and popular European integration processes since the second half of the 20th century.
‘Young Persons and Mobile Communications in Ireland’ (2006)
Mentors: Prof. P. Preston & Dr. Pat Brereton Post-Doc Researcher: Dr. Anthony Cawley & Dr. Deirdre Hynes
This project investigated the evolving patterns and forms of mobile communication practices amongst young persons. It explored variations in consumption practices with respect to social group differences and space (urban and rural settings) in contemporary Ireland.
Beacon : The Potential Socio-Economic Impact of Broadband Access and Use on New Forms of pan-European Work, Trading, and Advanced Public Service Provision (2004-2006)
COMTEC project manager and contact: Prof. Paschal Preston Post-Doc Researcher: Dr. Anthony Cawley
This EU-funded project examined trends and socio-economic issues related to the access, use and application of broadband communication networks and services. The main objective was to conduct socio-economic impact assessments of broadband access and use in the context of the expanding role of electronic services in a networked, ‘knowledge based’ economy. The results of this multi-country project will help to better identify the challenges with regard to broadband enabled new forms of business, collaborative working and public service provision (eBusiness, eWork and eGovernment). The research and analysis covered societal and economic issues both at the micro and macro level, lead the research on digital content applications, new media models and user/consumption issues.
Digital Games : Design, Production, User and Textual Aspects of a Major New Media Sector (2001-2004)
Post-Doc Researcher: Dr. Aphra Kerr Mentors: Prof. Paschal Preston, Prof. F. Corcoran & Dr. O'Connor
The expanded project explored computer games as texts and the consumption of computer games in the context of their role in everyday life. The project adopted a comparative media approach and identify the connections between traditional cultural forms and new online and offline digital games. This project built on the DCU funded project ‘Digital Games: Production Processes in Ireland’. The Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences and DCU's Research Advisory Committee and other sources provided the funding to expand and extend this project for 2.5 additional years.
Contours of A ‘New Economy’ ? : Assessing the Trends and “Performance” of the Telecommunications, Media and ICT Sectors (2003-2007)
Drawing on recent work on the ‘new economy’ and innovation in services, and neo-Schumpeterian approaches, this project undertakes an innovative study of the trends of change in three major sub-sectors of the information economy.
GD-ie (2003-2005)
Project Author and Manager: Dr. Aphra Kerr Advisor/Mentor: Paschal Preston This project was conceived by Aphra Kerr having identified some important gaps in institutional supports for this emergent sector (in the Irish context) during her post-doctoral research. The idea was further developed and implemented by Aphra Kerr. The ‘GamesDevelopers.ie’ online resource was launched in April 2003. In 2005, Dr. Kerr took up a new appointment and this project transferred to NUIM (where it still continues).
Innovation in Digital Media ‘Content’ Sectors : Marie Curie Research Training Site Award (2001-2006)
Paschal Preston won an EU Framework project grant for hosting and training of European postgraduate researchers working on socio-economic aspects of Digital Media and ‘Content’ sector developments. This project was funded under the Marie Curie sub-programme of the EC 5th Framework R&D programme.
SIGIS ‘Strategies for Inclusion : Gender in the European Information Society’. (2001-2004)
SIGIS is one of the largest ever studies to examine the process shaping women's in/exclusion in the production, application and use of new ICTs. This EU funded project examined public and private sector strategies related to the issues of ‘Inclusion and Gender in the European Information Society’. Linking research centres in 6 EU member states, the project examined the changing role of women in the production and consumption/use of new ICTs in Europe. All of the SIGIS project's research reports are now available on-line at : www.sigis-ist.org
iDiM: ‘Industrial Innovation Trends in Digital Media Sector, 1994-2004’. (2002-2004)
Paschal Preston received local DCU (RAP Albert College Fellow) funding for a project focused on Industrial Innovation Trends in the Digital Media Sector (1994-2004).
Digital Media Industries and Future Skills Trends (2003-2004)
Project manager and contact: Prof. Paschal Preston
STeM director Paschal Preston and researcher Aphra Kerr were commissioned to undertake research on ‘Skills requirements of the Digital Content Industry in Ireland’. This project examined the trends of change with respect to the new clusters of skills and expertise relevant to the digital media sector over the next 5-7 years. Subsequently the project was extended to include a case study of wireless and mobile media firms which was undertaken by Dr. Anthony Cawley. This project is one of a series of national studies commissioned as a follow-up to a major policy report on the digital media sector (published by Forfas in December 2002). This STeM project was funded and supervised by FAS on behalf of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs.
‘New Media, New Pleasures’ (2003-2004)
The ‘New Media, New Pleasures’ project examined users' engagement with digital games and ludic media. Paschal Preston has only a small advisory role in this project. The major work was undertaken by DCU colleagues Aphra Kerr, Pat Brereton and Roderick Flynn.
EMTEL-2 : The European Media Technology & Everyday Life Network (2000-2003)
COMTEC Project manager and contact: Prof. Paschal Preston Post-Doc Researcher: Dr. Katie Ward
The EMTEL project was focused on the implications of new media technologies (ICTs) for household users - and everyday life activities - in different EU countries. Thus, this research was strongly focused on users and consumption/demand aspects of new ICTs. The EMTEL project linked researchers from eight other centres and is funded by the European Commission. Following the successful completion of the first phase (EMTEL1, 1994-1998), the EU agreed to finance a second phase (EMTEL-2) for the period 2000-2003. The COMTEC contribution to the second phase of the EMTEL project was centred on ‘New Media and Public Communication’.
EKB-SEIS : Mapping the European Knowledge Base of Socio-Economic Impact Studies of IST (2003)
COMTEC Project manager : Prof. Paschal Preston
Paschal Preston participated as a member of the evaluation team for an EU-funded project ‘Mapping the European Knowledge Base of Socio-Economic Impact Studies of IST’. The aim of this project was to increase the visibility and usability of socio-economic research on new ICT. This project aimed to ‘make socio-economic research on ISTs more transparent’ ‘increase its usability and potential contribution to technology development and applications and to policies’, especially in policy domains concerned with developing the knowledge society in Europe. To those ends, the project undertook five thematic reviews of IST research in Europe.
MEDA Telecom Project : New Approaches to Telecommunications Policy in Mediterranean Countries (2000-2003)
DCU Project manager and contact: Prof. Paschal Preston
Paschal Preston was a partner in the multi-country MEDA Telecom Project “New Approaches to Telecommunications Policy in Mediterranean Countries”. This project provided a platform for multilateral dialogue and experience sharing between Mediterranean countries and EU member states. The project was funded by the European Commission and managed by ENCIP. Throughout the project, several events were organised annually to support the exchange of knowledge: regional fora, policy workshops, study tours and training seminars. In addition, specific training sessions were organised to support the creation of a community of relevant professional expertise across the MEDA region. The overall project was managed by the European Network for Communication & Information Perspectives (ENCIP).
Digital Media Uses and Consumption in the Irish Household Setting (1999-2004)
This project undertook in-depth qualitative research on the use and consumption of Digital Media in the Household setting in Ireland. This externally-funded doctoral study was conducted by Deirdre Hynes.
Culture, Trade and Citizens' Communication Rights in a Global Market (1999-2003)
This project examined the implications of European and International trade policies for the media and cultural industries.
Innovation in the Irish Digital Media Industry, 1999-2003 (1999-2003)
Conducted during the 1999-2003 period of the dot.com boom, this project undertook in-depth qualitative research on Innovation processes in a number of firms based in the Irish digital media services sector. This externally-funded doctoral study was conducted by Anthony Cawley.
Broadband Infra-structure Rollout in Ireland : Review of Projects. (1999-2001)
Paschal Preston participated as part of multi-disciplinary team advising on the government's programme for Broadband infrastructure rollout in Ireland.
‘Building Bridges between Cultures?’ (1999-2000)
Paschal Preston directed the Irish leg of a multi-country study of media representations and coverage of the election campaigns for the European Parliament, 1999.
TCV : The Information Society and Change in Urban Systems (1998-2000)
Project manager and contact: Prof. Paschal Preston Post-Doc Researcher: Dr. Roderick Flynn
This EU Framework funded project was focused on the Impacts of new ICTs on development of urban systems and planning in EU. This six-country research project examined both the potential for, and barriers to, innovation and development in selected aspects of the urban system in contemporary Europe. It investigated how the increasing use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) was impacting upon urban development and planning in Europe. Funded by the European Commission, this international study also explored how the key actors involved in the process of urban development (a) seek to harness, use and apply new ICT-based innovations, and (b) react with appropriate institutional and organisational changes. Dr. Roderick Flynn, now lecturer in the School of Communications, Dublin City University, was the main researcher on this project.
European Research Networks & Networking
Euro CPR: Scientific Board Member, European Communication Policy Research Conference (1994-2007)
Paschal Preston is a member of the Scientific Board, which plans and organises the annual European Communication Policy Research Conference
The aim of the annual Euro CPR is to stimulate research and reflection on strategic policy matters related to new ICTs and the Communications sector in the European context. Critical and counterintuitive contributions are preferred. Papers must be empirically and theoretically well grounded. The selected papers are critiqued by independent discussants and each is given good time for discussion by conference participants. The Euro CPR is a unique forum which brings together academic, policy and industrial professionals to engage with strategic European communication policy issues. The Euro CPR organising committee has close links with the equivalent annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) in the USA.
ENCIP : European Network for Communication and Information Perspectives (1993-2006)
ENCIP comprised a group of major research centres researching diffusion, application, user and policy aspects of new ICTs in European information sector. Members include : Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), Sussex; IDATE, France; FUNDESCO, Spain; MERIT, Maastricht, NL as well as COMTEC (DCU), Ireland.
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Major Research Projects & Activities, 2000--2008
Early Research Projects & Activities, 1990--1994
Prior Research Projects & Activities, 1995--1999
Socio-Economic Research on Multi-Media Content and Tools in Framework Prog. 5 : Prospects and Proposals (1999)
Briefing report by Paschal Preston (Director, COMTEC) for panel session at Expert Workshop organised by DG-XIII/E, Luxembourg, 2 March 1999. Commissioned and organised by DG-XIII/E.
Information and Citizenship in Europe : Implications of new ICTs (1995-1996)
Paschal Preston led COMTEC's contribution this EU-funded project which adopted an information-centred approach to the issues of citizenship, participation and the factors shaping the information rich/poor divides in the mid-1990s. The project examined the evolving role, scope and range of specialist information relevant to effective participation and the implications of new ICTs with respect to the information rich-poor divides. The project's findings indicated that new technological innovations, including the then emerging Internet, were unlikely to provide any tech-fix or direct amelioration of the information cleavages evident in the several European countries that were studied.
SLiM : Social Learning in Multimedia (1996-1999)
Funded by the European Commission's Fourth Framework Programme this research network project focused on the factors shaping the development, adoption and use of multimedia applications and services in seven different national settings. Paschal Preston co-ordinated the stream of research studies focused on multimedia ‘content’ projects, with a particular emphasis on those directed at final/household users. This research stream explored the various stages of the innovation process, the role of networking linkages between the different actors, skills/competencies, the industrial, textual and other strategies adopted. Dr. Aphra Kerr was research officer on the project and worked full-time on the conduct of the case-studies.
Cross-National Political Media Spaces in Europe : Cast Study of Elections to European Parliament (1999)
Project manager and contact: Prof. Paschal Preston Members of the research team: Roderick Flynn and Debbie Ging
COMTEC was partner in a pan-European research project focused on an analysis of media coverage of European political and cultural news in France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Conducted in co-operation with partners from 8 countries and the European Institute for the Media, the project was conducted around the time of the elections for members of the European Parliament. The research investigated the potential role for the media in the process of European integration and the promotion of understanding between cultures. The introduction of a Single Currency in Europe, plans for expansion into Eastern Europe, the recent crisis in Kosovo and the European Parliament elections were important issues during the research period. The project monitored the coverage of major influential news outlets in eight European countries. The research project also engaged with current debates regarding integration and identity in Europe, assess the possible role of the media in this process, and contribute to and open up public debate on these issues. Interviews with politicians and media practitioners throughout Europe provided additional perspectives on these debates.
An Info-Age Town? : Socio-Economic aspects of Advanced Communication Trials and Experiments (1997-1998)
Research and consultancy related to the selection, design and shaping of Telecom Éireann's Information Age Town project.
SLiM : The Social Shaping of Multimedia and ‘Content’ services (1996-1998)
Partner in multi-country SLiM study of the factors shaping the design and production of new Multimedia. Paschal Preston was Leader of the research stream on cultural and ‘content’ product/services.
IEGIS : Conference on ‘Ireland in the European and Global Information Society’ (April 1997)
Paschal Preston proposed and co-organised of this conference focused on social and policy issues. The conference had presentations by a range of Irish and European researchers.
For more information about IEGIS, click here.
‘Landmark’ International Conference : Internet Access, Pricing and Regulation : Communication and Info Infrastructure Services (June 1996)
COMTEC director, Paschal Preston organised and hosted one of the first major international conferences on Internet regulation and policy issues in Dublin on the 20th and 21st June 1996. This landmark event was organised in collaboration with the OECD's Information, Computer and Communications Policy Division, and the EC's DG XIII-(IS2) dept.
Attended by 80 participants from government, industry and academia based in Europe, Asia and the Americas, this landmark meeting provided a truly international perspective on many of the strategic regulation and policy issues and challenges being posed by the rapidly diffusing Internet. The sessions ranged over the major existing and emerging issues in respect to Internet access, tariff, competition and content developments as well as other key policy and socio-economic issues. The session titles, provided below, indicate the scope of the key topics and discussions.
Session 1: Welcomes and Keynote Addresses
Session 2: OECD paper on info infrastructure & pricing
Session 3: Pricing New Services over the PSTN
Session 4: Pricing new services over alternative infrastructure
Session 5: New Applications and Regulation
Session 6: Internet Telephony, Pricing and Regulation
Session 7: International Traffic Exchange
Session 8: Internet Addresses & Domain Name System
Session 9: Closing Remarks
FOR96 : ‘Content Matters: Policy Issues and Strategy for the Digital Content Industries’ (1996)
Paschal Preston was commissioned to undertake this Irish policy study addressing current and emerging developments in the digital media (‘content’) services domains.
IR-ISH : ‘Ireland & the European Information Society : A Scoping Study’ (1995)
Paschal Preston was commissioned to lead this first ever Irish policy study framed around (European and global) ‘information society’ developments and discourse.
Intellectual Property Rights and Development of the Media & Cultural Industries in Ireland (1993-1998)
This project examined the development and implications of intellectual property rights policies in Ireland, with specific reference to the cultural industries sector. Although the main focus was on more recent technological, policy etc developments, the project was informed by a historical perspective.
NETEPS : Network on Communications, the Peripheral Regions and Small Countries (1993-1998)
Paschal Preston was convenor of NETEPS. This was an informal network of university-based and other researchers focused on current developments in electronic communications technologies, markets and policy fields. It had a particular concern with regulatory models and techniques and their specific implications for the smaller countries and less developed regions of Europe. NETEPS also organised a number of workshops focused on related policy and regulatory issues.
NETEPS Conference on Telecommunications Policies, the Smaller Countries and Peripheral Regions in Europe (1994)
Paschal Preston was organiser of this conference focused on the implications of the EC's radical new telecoms policies for the smaller countries and peripheral regions in the EU area.
EMTEL Project: European Media Technology and Everyday Life (1994-1997)
Comparative studies of new media in the household and everyday life setting in different national contexts.
New ICTs and Everyday life in Dublin Households (1993-1997)
This project examined changes in the consumption of audiovisual and other media by working class households in Dublin. Using ethnographic, oral history and other methods it examined the changing use patterns, and meanings of the consumption of audiovisual media between the 1920s - 1990s.
Household uses of new/innovative telephone-based communications/services (1993-1996)
Study of the demand and use of advanced telephone-based services in Irish households. Funded by Telecom Éireann.
The Rise and Fall of ‘Irish Press’ Newspapers (1992-1996)
A detailed study of the rise and decline of one of the major national newspaper groups in twentieth-century Ireland.
Information and Citizenship and Role of New Technologies in European Countries (including Ireland) (1994-1995)
This examined national and EU-level trends, concepts and debates concerning citizenship and information access, paying particular attention to the actual and potential role of new ICTs and services. COMTEC was partner with four other research centres in this EC-funded multi-country project.
COST 248 Project : “The Future of the European Residential Telecoms User”. (1993-1995)
Paschal Preston was Vice-Chairperson and Management Committee member of the EC-funded COST 248 initiative, a networking project focused on “The Future of the European Residential Telecoms User”. This network addressed use, demand and consumption aspects of existing and new/innovative telecoms products and services aimed at the residential user. Comprising researchers from 12 EC countries, it exchanged research findings related to trends in the use and consumption of communication services and products.
IPSN : Information Policy Support Network (1993-1995)
Paschal Preston was appointed the only Irish member of this (European) policy advisory forum was established by the EC's DGXIII, in October 1993.
The Role of Users and Users Associations in Shaping Telecoms Developments in the EU and Ireland, 1980-95. (1993-1995)
This project examined empirical and theoretical aspects of the changing role of users in the telecoms sector. It placed particular focus on the household/residential user, considered as both citizen and consumer. This project was part of a major collaborative study of the role of telecoms users by network members based in 10 different countries.
Telecommunications and ‘Universal Service’ in Ireland : 1890-1995 (1992-1995)
This project examined the historical development of successive generations of telecoms technologies and services, conceptions of ‘universal service’ and related policies in Ireland.
ANET: Academic Network on European Telecoms (1991-1996)
Paschal Preston was a key member of ANET, one of the first multi-country research networks to engage in research on user, socio-economic and policy aspects of the ‘new telecommunications’ innovations and services in the early 1990s. ANET conducted some of the first comparative studies of user aspects of videotext and audiotex, as well as user orientated studies of telecoms and information society initiatives in Europe and the USA during the early 1990s. Key ANET publications include : Harry Bouwman & Mads Christoffersen (Eds.) (1992) ‘Relaunching videotex’. Boston ; Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers, and Michael Latzer & Graham Thomas (Eds.) (1993) ‘Cash lines : the development and regulation of audiotex in Europe and the United States’. Amsterdam : Het Spinhuis.
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Major Research Projects & Activities, 2000--2008
Prior Research Projects & Activities, 1995--1999
Early Research Projects & Activities, 1990--1994
The Application of ISDN in Irish Media & Communication Services Sector (1992-1994)
Study of the potential implications of new broadband technologies in three media/cultural industries
Socio-Economic and Political Factors Shaping the Diffusion and Adoption of MMDS In Ireland (1991-1994)
In 1988 Ireland pioneered the large-scale adoption of Micro-wave Multi-point Distribution System (MMDS) to provide a national ‘wireless’ cable TV services to homes outside the major cities. Initially, it was anticipated that this ‘tried-and-tested’ technology would be adopted by a large number of households within three years. But the level of adoption remained very low. This study examined the factors which have shaped the pace and forms of adoption and use of this new ICT in the Irish context.
The Role of User Associations in Shaping Telecoms Policy Developments in EU countries (1993)
Paschal Preston examined the role of user associations in Ireland as part of this Multi-country study undertaken by Members of the Academic Network for European Telecomms (ANET).
Audiotex Developments and Policies in Ireland (1992-1993)
Paschal Preston is the Irish member of Academic Network for European Telecoms (ANET). ANET has been undertaking comparative research on new ICT-based services and innovations in EU & USA countries since 1988.
Local Radio & Media Change in ‘the West’: the Case of Galway (1991-1993)
This project examined the emergence and development of local radio broadcasting services in Galway, their characteristics and implications. It addressed theses issues in relation to broader patterns of socio-economic & media change in the area.
New Media & Changing Leisure Patterns in North Dublin (1991-1993)
Implications of new media and leisure patterns and urban change in North Dublin households
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Major Research Projects & Activities, 2000--2008
Prior Research Projects & Activities, 1995--1999
Early Research Projects & Activities, 1990--1994