The special section on professional communication in Russia: anAmerican perspective

Enormous changes that have taken place in the last few years in Russia have revealed a need for Russian technical communicators to refocus their expertise and skills in order to enter the global marketplace successfully and competitively. Rather than dwell on the familiar differences between Americans and Russians, Cold War adversaries, a common ground exists and is growing. We share a mutual interest in the successful entry of Russian technical communicators in the global marketplace. We also share an understanding that technology is central to civilization as we know it, and that the masters of technology have a substantial influence on all activities that they touch; a belief that technology has had a major beneficial effect on the peoples of the world, but that with such power comes the potential for large, serious, and potentially devastating influences; the idea that the embrace of technology is a good cultural fit with cultures formed from revolutions, for technology in the later part of this century has come to be synonymous with rapid change, and cultures with revolutionary heritage welcome change; the notion that technological breakthroughs have profound influences on the nature of work, liberating the traditional intensive physical nature of labor to the emergence of a knowledge worker; and the belief that the global marketplace forces the need for clear and rapid communication across borders, as well as among cultures. If we can agree on these technical communications issues, then we have a firm foundation for building a gateway to communication in the global market     

Introduction to the special section-issues in corporate andorganizational communication: communication and change

Corporations are changing; they are reinventing, rethinking, transforming, and reengineering themselves. And with change comes chaos, uncertainty, and renewal. For everyone involved, change represents either a threat to security or an opportunity to move forward. What are the forces at work in changing corporations? In the author's own research on corporate culture and on the forces affecting corporate communication, marketing, and advertising, five general categories of forces have emerged: a new sophistication in customers or audience; new media and technologies or communication tools; a more complex ethical environment; stronger economic factors; and new strategic alliances     

Guest editorial. Introduction to the special section: 4G Health--the long-term evolution of m-Health

In the last decade, the seminal term and concept of "m-health" were first defined and introduced in this transactions as "mobile computing, medical sensor, and communications technologies for healthcare." Since that special section, the m-health concept has become one of the key technological domains that reflected the key advances in remote healthcare and e-health systems. The m-health is currently bringing together major academic research and industry disciplines worldwide to achieve innovative solutions in the areas of healthcare delivery and technology sectors. From the wireless communications perspective, the current decade is expected to bring the introduction of new wireless standards and network systems with true mobile broadband and fast internet access healthcare services. These will be developed around what is currently called the fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication systems. In this editorial paper, we will introduce the new and novel concept of 4G health that represents the long-term evolution of m-health since the introduction of the concept in 2004. The special section also presents a snapshot of the recent advances in these areas and addresses some of the challenges and future implementation issues from the evolved m-health perspective. It will also present some of the concepts that can go beyond the traditional "m-health ecosystem" of the existing systems. The contributions presented in this special section represent some of these developments and illustrate the multidisciplinary nature of this important and emerging healthcare delivery concept.