Solving Legal Issues in Electronic Government: Jurisdiction, Regulation, Governance

This paper looks at who can be governed, what can be governed, and how it can be governed in an electronic world. Whether law aims to be enabling (i.e., confirming the ground rules and the legal effectiveness of general conduct) or normative (i.e., imposing standards of conduct on more or less willing subjects), the new media presents difficulties for its rational evolution. These are distinct questions from those raised by government online. Electronic service delivery issues tend to focus on how government can carry on its traditional programs using electronic means and how the law can support it in doing so. The programs themselves evolve through the changing media, but not so much that they stop being recognizable. The transformation of government to deliver services electronically is just beginning, and the changes are not yet dramatic. Here we start with a view of ‘‘jurisdiction’’, which considers how governments can regulate private conduct, whether in resolving disputes, protecting consumers, or repressing criminal or other offensive behaviour. The discussion looks at the courts and other dispute resolution methods, administrative processes, and alternative means to achieve the goals that have traditionally been sought by systems of direct commands and penalties. We then look at questions of the role of government faced with an electronic economy, particularly monetary and fiscal policy and taxation in general. The impact of electronic communications on the functioning of the democratic system is next: electronic publication of laws, electronic voting, governance models and public expectations. Finally, we review how technical rules and standards affect conduct that has been the purview of government, and some of the technical standards bodies whose role becomes more important in the electronic age

HSCI2012: proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Hands-on Science

Including 1st Childrens’ Summit on Hands-on Science & Environmental Education. The core topic of the 9th Hands-on Science Conference are “Science Education, Environment and Society" and "Reconnecting Society with Nature through Hands-on Science”.Livro que reúne os trabalho extensos aceites para publicação nos proceedings da 9th HSCI conferenc

model driven reverse engineering approaches a systematic literature review

This paper explores and describes the state of the art for what concerns the model-driven approaches proposed in the literature to support reverse engineering. We conducted a systematic literature review on this topic with the aim to answer three research questions. We focus on various solutions developed for model-driven reverse engineering, outlining in particular the models they use and the transformations applied to the models. We also consider the tools used for model definition, extraction, and transformation and the level of automation reached by the available tools. The model-driven reverse engineering approaches are also analyzed based on various features such as genericity, extensibility, automation of the reverse engineering process, and coverage of the full or partial source artifacts. We describe in detail and compare fifteen approaches applying model-driven reverse engineering. Based on this analysis, we identify and indicate some hints on choosing a model-driven reverse engineering approach from the available ones, and we outline open issues concerning the model-driven reverse engineering approaches

Third international conference on irrigation and drainage

Presented during the Third international conference on irrigation and drainage held March 30 - April 2, 2005 in San Diego, California. The theme of the conference was Water district management and governance.Includes bibliographical references.Sponsored by USCID; co-sponsored by Association of California Water Agencies and International Network for Participatory Irrigation Management.The changing face of western irrigated agriculture: structure, water management, and policy implications -- Proven institutional, financing and pricing principles for rural water services -- Involving stakeholders in irrigation and drainage district decisions: who, what, when, where, why, how -- Implementing district level irrigation water management with stakeholder participation -- WUA development and strengthening in the Kyrgyz Republic -- Variations in irrigation district voting and election procedures -- Water Users Association governance in developing countries: fragility and function -- Viet Nam: creating conditions for improved irrigation service delivery -- the case of the Phuoc Hoa Water Resources Project -- Technical and institutional support for water management in Albanian irrigation -- Reconciling traditional irrigation management with development of modern irrigation systems: the challenge for Afghanistan -- Field testing of SacMan Automated Canal Control System -- An infrastructure management system for enhanced irrigation district planning -- NCWCD efforts toward improving on-farm water management -- A web-based irrigation water use tracking system -- Using GIS to monitor water use compliance -- Development of a water management system to improve management and scheduling of water orders in Imperial Irrigation District -- Radar water-level measurement for open channels -- Non-standard structure flow measurement evaluation using the flow rate indexing procedure - QIP -- A GIS-based irrigation evaluation strategy for a rice production region -- Total Channel Control™ - an important role in identifying losses -- Commencing the modernization project of the Gila Gravity Main Canal -- Obtaining gains in efficiency when water is free -- A qualitative approach to study water markets in Pakistan -- Local groundwater management districts and Kansas state agencies share authority and responsibility for transition to long term management of the High Plains Aquifer -- Water user management and financing of irrigation facilities through use of improvement districts -- Irrigation management transfer to water user organizations in Turkey -- Farm size, irrigation practices, and on-farm irrigation efficiency in New Mexico's Elephant Butte Irrigation District -- The ITRC Rapid Appraisal Process (RAP) for irrigation districts -- Relationships between seepage loss rates and canal condition parameters for the Rapid Assessment Tool (RAT) -- Zarafshan Water District Improvement Project in Uzbekistan -- Technological modernization in irrigated agriculture: factors for sustainability in developing countries -- Reliability criteria for re-engineering of large-scale pressurized irrigation systems -- Upgrading existing databases: recommendations for irrigation districts -- Groundwater use in irrigated agriculture in Amudarya River basin in socio-economic dimensions -- Regional ET estimation from satellites

Victory over Chaos? Constantinos A. Doxiadis and Ekistics 1945-1975

Constantinos A. Doxiadis (1913-1975) was an important figure in the realm of postwar urbanism, and yet his contribution has been largely neglected. This study reviews his trajectory and analyzes key projects related to different phases of his career: the housing programs of the Ministry of Reconstruction developed during the Greek Civil War and with Marshall Plan funds; the National Housing Program of Iraq in the context of the Third World modernization; and the Urban Detroit Area project developed against the suburbanization of the American city and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Each one of these episodes is examined against the background of the opposing but interacting “processes” that characterized the forging of the postwar world: the efforts to internationalism and the schism of the Cold War. The first two projects reveal Doxiadis’ persistence on the importance of housing as a motor of economic development and his seminal contribution to aided self-help programs. In parallel, I examine his ideas on urban-regional development in relation to the modernization theory, namely the doctrine that advanced the development of Third World countries according to the paradigm of the West. Finally, his connections with the Ford Foundation and his participation in events organized by the Congress for Cultural Freedom offer an opportunity to examine his oeuvre in relation to the Cold War cultural policies. The second half of the thesis broadly coincides with the period 1960-1975 and focuses on ekistics, an action-oriented interdisciplinary approach to global urbanization problems that Doxiadis coined the science of human settlements. It examines the emergence of the ekistic movement, the establishment of the Athens Center of Ekistics as a hub in the European periphery “operating” between East and West, the intellectual forum of the Delos Symposia, and the journal Ekistics. In a parallel line, the analysis of the ekistic research programs aims to assess Doxiadis’ efforts to unite two different cultures of planning, that is, the sociological perspective with the calculative spirit of mathematics and statistics. The study of Doxiadis’ plan for Detroit reveals the flaws of his comprehensive approach and discusses the ekistic methodologies in reference to the systems approach to planning. Altogether, Doxiadis and ekistics epitomize the transition from the heroic modernism to the visionary approaches that explored the consequences of a world turning into a global village. Doxiadis, however, sought to plan the city of the future as part of a global urban system. In his eyes, facing the urban crisis was an attainable ideal. Eventually, the contradictions between his work and theory were the outcome of his commitment to plan an inevitable development and his anxiety to put order in the urban chaos.Constantinos A. Doxiadis (1913-1975) fue una figura importante en el ámbito de la planificación urbana de la posguerra, y sin embargo, su contribución ha sido descuidada en gran medida. El presente estudio repasa su trayectoria analizando los principales proyectos que corresponden a diferentes etapas de su carrera: la Reconstrucción de Europa, la modernización del Tercer Mundo, la suburbanización de la ciudad estadounidense y la Gran Sociedad de Lyndon Johnson. Cada uno de estos episodios está estrechamente vinculado a las transformaciones geopolíticas que se entienden como la Guerra Fría. Doxiadis comenzó su carrera en el sector público dirigiendo los programas de reconstrucción de Grecia. Su profesionalidad y la alineación ideológica con el intervencionismo estadounidense fueron fundamentales para su colaboración con las misiones de ayuda internacional y su posterior carrera. Despedido de su cargo, Doxiadis fundó Doxiadis Associates (DA) a principios de los años cincuenta. En pocos años, DA ha obtenido numerosos proyectos de vivienda en el mundo en desarrollo, convirtiéndose en una de las empresas más grandes de ingeniería y consultoría en el ámbito internacional. El punto de partida fue el Programa de Vivienda Nacional de Irak, contratado en 1955.El Plan Maestro de Bagdad vino después .El análisis de estos proyectos se centra en el modelo de planificación llamado Dynápolis - es decir, la respuesta de Doxiadis tanto al crecimiento urbano como a la conservación de la ciudad histórica - y la aplicación de la "comunidad humana”, una versión de la Unidad Vecinal. A mediados de 1960, Doxiadis fue encargado del proyecto Urban Detroit Area (UDA), un plan integral y exhaustivo que prácticamente examinó el desarrollo de la región de Michigan. Aunque no llegó a implementarse, el UDA fue uno de los mayores retos en la carrera de Doxiadis. En primer lugar, porque se desarrolló de acuerdo con su teoría y metodologías sistémicas. En segundo lugar, porque el avance del plan coincidió con el cambio de paradigma en la arquitectura moderna y el final de la década el desarrollo. En una línea paralela esta tesis examina ekistics, un enfoque holístico que contemplaba los problemas de urbanización global, y que Doxiadis nombró la ciencia de los asentamientos humanos .Ekistics fue concebido como un campo interdisciplinario que combinaba los conocimientos de otras áreas como la economía, la sociología, la estadística, la arquitectura y la geografía. Su objetivo era proporcionar un marco integral para planificar la ciudad del futuro, la llamada Ecumenópolis. Para desarrollar y difundir sus ideas, Doxiadis fundó el Athens Center of Ekistics (ACE) y puso en marcha diversas actividades institucionales. Las más importantes fueron la organización de los Simposios de Delos, y la publicación de la prestigiosa revista Ekistics. Esta tesis revisará el ACE como un centro de planificación en la periferia europea y los Simposios de Delos como un foro independiente entre el Este y el Oeste. Por otro lado, y para ofrecer una perspectiva crítica sobre los esfuerzos intelectuales de Doxiadis, la tesis analiza la "Ciudad del Futuro" y el proyecto de investigación de "la Comunidad Humana". Ambos apuntaban a la consolidación de ekistics ya la legitimación científica de los modelos de planificación y estrategias de diseño de Doxiadis. En total, la tesis utiliza el trabajo y la teoría de Doxiadis para revisar la redefinición de la planificación urbana y la arquitectura frente a los fenómenos y las transformaciones que marcaron las tres primeras décadas de la posguerra. Según Doxiadis los problemas de la ciudad contemporánea eran globales, mientras el futuro era urbano, universal e inevitable. Al final, su pensamiento estaba imbuido tanto con la ansiedad de enfrentar la crisis universal que con el optimismo de la década de desarrollo. Sin duda, Doxiadis fue uno de los últimos modernos.Postprint (published version

Web information systems: A study of maintenance, change and flexibility

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Information Systems (IS’s) have provided organisations with huge efficiency gains and benefits over the years; however an outstanding problem that is yet to be successfully tackled is that of the troublesome maintenance phase. Consuming vast resources and thwarting business progression in a competitive global market place, system maintenance has been recognised as one of the key areas where IS is failing organisations. Organisations are too often faced with the dilemma of either replacement or the continual upkeep of an unwieldy system. The ability for IS’s to be able to adapt to exogenous influences is even more acute today than at any time in the past. This is due to IS’s namely, Web Information Systems (WIS’s) increasingly and continually having to accommodate the needs of organisations to interconnect with a plethora of additional systems as well as supporting evolving business models. The richness of the interconnectivity, functionalities and services WIS’s now offer are shaping social, cultural and economic behaviour on a truly global scale, making the maintenance of such systems and evermore pertinent issue. The growth and proliferation of WIS’s shows no sign of abating which leads to the conclusion that what some have termed as the ‘maintenance iceberg’ should not be ignored. The quandary that commercial organisations face is typically driven by two key aspects; firstly, systems are built on the cultural premise of using fixed requirements, with not enough thought or attention being paid to systems abilities to deviate from these requirements. Secondly, systems do not generally cope well with adapting to unpredictable change arising from outside of the organisations environment. Over the recent past, different paradigms, approaches and methods have attempted to make software development more predictable, controllable and adaptable, however, the benefits of such measures in relation to the maintenance dilemma have been limited. The concept of flexible systems that are able to cope with such change in an efficient manner is currently an objective that few can claim to have realised successfully. The primary focus of the thesis was to examine WIS post-development change in order to empirically substantiate and understand the nature of the maintenance phase. This was done with the intention to determine exactly ‘where’ and ‘how’ flexibility could be targeted to address these changes. This study uses an emergent analytical approach to identify and catalogue the nature of change occurring within WIS maintenance. However, the research framework design underwent a significant revision as the initial results indicated that a greater emphasis and refocus was required to achieve the research objective. To study WIS’s in an appropriate and detailed context, a single case study was conducted in a web development software house. In total the case study approach was used to collect empirical evidence from four projects that investigated post-development change requests in order to identify areas of the system susceptible to change. The maintenance phases of three WIS projects were considered in-depth, resulting in the collection of over four hundred change requests. The fourth project served as a validation case. The results are presented and the findings are used to identify key trends and characteristics that depict WIS maintenance change. The analytical information derived from the change requests is consolidated and shown diagrammatically for the key areas of change using profile models developed in this thesis. Based on the results, the thesis concludes and contributes to the ongoing debate that there is a discernable difference when considering WIS maintenance change compared to that of traditional IS maintenance. The detailed characteristics displayed in the profile models are then used to map specific flexibility criteria that ultimately are required to facilitate change. This is achieved using the Flexibility Matrix of Change (FMoC) tool which was developed within the remit of this research. This tool is a qualitative measurement scheme that aligns WIS maintenance changes to a reciprocal flexibility attribute. Thus, the wider aim of this thesis is to also expand the awareness of flexibility and its importance as a key component of the WIS lifecycle

State of the Art and Future Perspectives in Smart and Sustainable Urban Development

This book contributes to the conceptual and practical knowledge pools in order to improve the research and practice on smart and sustainable urban development by presenting an informed understanding of the subject to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. This book presents contributions—in the form of research articles, literature reviews, case reports, and short communications—offering insights into the smart and sustainable urban development by conducting in-depth conceptual debates, detailed case study descriptions, thorough empirical investigations, systematic literature reviews, or forecasting analyses. This way, the book forms a repository of relevant information, material, and knowledge to support research, policymaking, practice, and the transferability of experiences to address urbanization and other planetary challenges

Web Engineering for Workflow-based Applications: Models, Systems and Methodologies

This dissertation presents novel solutions for the construction of Workflow-based Web applications: The Web Engineering DSL Framework, a stakeholder-oriented Web Engineering methodology based on Domain-Specific Languages; the Workflow DSL for the efficient engineering of Web-based Workflows with strong stakeholder involvement; the Dialog DSL for the usability-oriented development of advanced Web-based dialogs; the Web Engineering Reuse Sphere enabling holistic, stakeholder-oriented reuse