A Tale of Two Sovereigns: Federal and State Use and Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Despite claims to the contrary, the federal government is severely limited in what it can do to regulate unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). States, on the other hand, as governments of general jurisdiction, have expansive powers that they are already using to grapple with the questions posed by UAS related to privacy, crime, and public safety. This chapter outlines the evolution of federal measures, noting their limitations, before delving into three categories of state law, related to law enforcement, criminal measures, and regulatory regimes. The chapter then turns to the history of state sovereignty, looking at states’ jurisdiction over persons and land within their bounds, before turning to the limits of federal interstate commerce authorities. With river navigation and aviation serving as the forerunners of federal power, the chapter distinguishes the types of questions that accompany UAS, arguing that it is in relation to adjacent airspace and noneconomic activities where the federal government is at its weakest in any effort to regulate the states. Up to 500 ft above the ground, states have sovereignty, with authority over roads, land, and waterways. Within this domain, federal Commerce Clause powers only occupy a narrow area, leaving state police powers the dominant framework for UAS. The chapter concludes by highlighting the advantages of having states take the lead for UAS, focusing on the risk to rights of allowing the federal government to move into this realm and underscoring the importance in the role of the states as incubators of innovation

Intelligent Management and Efficient Operation of Big Data

This chapter details how Big Data can be used and implemented in networking and computing infrastructures. Specifically, it addresses three main aspects: the timely extraction of relevant knowledge from heterogeneous, and very often unstructured large data sources, the enhancement on the performance of processing and networking (cloud) infrastructures that are the most important foundational pillars of Big Data applications or services, and novel ways to efficiently manage network infrastructures with high-level composed policies for supporting the transmission of large amounts of data with distinct requisites (video vs. non-video). A case study involving an intelligent management solution to route data traffic with diverse requirements in a wide area Internet Exchange Point is presented, discussed in the context of Big Data, and evaluated.Comment: In book Handbook of Research on Trends and Future Directions in Big Data and Web Intelligence, IGI Global, 201

A Just and Sustainable Solution to the Boat People Predicament in Australia?

Since the year 2000, there have been close to two thousand deaths of asylum seekers at sea as a result of foiled attempts to travel to Australia in order to seek protection under the United Nations Convention and Protocol on the Status of Refugees.[1] Many thousands more have made it to shore. Growing numbers of irregular or unauthorized migrants attempting to reach the United States and the European Union has long been known as a contentious policy issue in these states, but perhaps less known is the situation on the other side of the Pacific. Australia is the eight-largest recipient of asylum seekers in the industrialized world, receiving around 4% of the global applications for asylum, a relatively minimal amount considering that the state has the capacity to take on a much greater burden of the international refugee crisis.[2] In addition, the policies that are currently in place are primarily seeking to deter the arrival of ‘boat people’ and associated people smuggling activity, rather than to constructively manage the flow while upholding the individual rights of those seeking refuge under international law. This paper deconstructs the restrictive policies of the Australian government and proposes a more sustainable solution, drawing widely from research literature, government publications and media reports that use both primary and secondary sources to build a strong case for an alternative program. The policy that I found best balances the costs and benefits for both the asylum seekers in question as well as the Australian government is a combination of short-term onshore detention and community-based processing and integration. There is a robust debate in Australia over refugees and asylum policy, but in order for such a bill to be feasible in the Australian context, a major transformation of the public’s attitude is essential. [1] The study sponsored by Monash University has compiled a database of border deaths, and has found that 1911 deaths have occurred at sea since 2000, how the true numbers are not known as there is no official government database that has been published. See: Macleod, Kenneth. Deadly Voyages: Border Related Deaths Associated with Australia. SBS News. April 23, 2015, and Australian Border Deaths Database. Monash University: The Border Crossing Observatory. October, 2014 and Bullock, Chris. Asylum Seekers: Drowning on Our Watch. ABC Radio National. September 1, 2013.[2] Australia Asylum: Why Is It Controversial? - BBC News. BBC News. December 5, 2014

Payment systems in Latin America : a tale of two countries - Colombia and El Salvador

Payment systems include all the paper (including cash) and electronic systems a country uses to exchange financial value to discharge obligations. Financial markets rely on promptness and certainty of payment and settlement for borrowing and investing. Consumers want convenience, choice (of payment options), privacy, and low cost. Inefficiencies in payment systems cause a drag on the national economy. The authors compare trends and areas for improvement in payment systems in Colombia and El Salvador, two countries that differ in size, volume of check-based transactions, and national issues. Check standards have developed slowly in both countries, which has retarded automation, particularly in Colombia, where the volume of checks handled makes manual processing unmanageable. Both countries need stronger leadership from central banks and bankers associations; incentives to adopt common check standards; streamlined check sorting and encoding, microfilming, and manual data processing; alternative (especially credit-based) payment mechanisms and private check-processing bureaus; and settlement of stock exchange transactions through several banks, rather than one bank. The countries differ in important ways: 1) it will be easier to reach economies of scale in check processing in Colombia (which has too many local clearinghouses) than in El Salvador (which has too few). Both countries need a more balanced approach; 2) same day payments are possible in Colombia; payments in El Salvador are next day, at best; 3) financial markets are less mature in El Salvador and may not need to be as sophisticated as markets in other countries; and 4) Colombia has yet to create effective disincentives for writing checks against insufficient funds. Both countries must take certain actions to develop a system for electronic payment and the settlement of payments at the central bank: 1) draft new laws and regulations; 2) provide more systematic data collection and analysis of payment flows; 3) undertake more risk analysis and prevention in the central banks and supervisory agencies, and draft contingency plans for major failures; 4) reexamine the dual roles of the central banks and other government agencies in operating and supervising payment systems; 5) review check-clearing pricing policies; and 6) analyze the economics of automating check processing.Banks&Banking Reform,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,Banking Law,Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Banking Law,Economic Theory&Research

INNOVATIVE CITY IN WEST CHINA CHONGQING

This working paper offers insights on science and technology in China with supporting official and interview data. The paper, as evidenced from the title, is indicating the future role of Chongqing and its evolution primarily focusing on the period of rapid development of the Municipality after Chongqing became a political entity on the same level as provinces of China. This has coincided with the planning, construction and completion of the Three Gorges Dam Project involving the resettlement of 1,000,000 people – most them coming to the rural areas Chongqing Municipality. Three major sub-themes are highlighted. First, the city played important role during more than 2000 years of its history (in 1981, for example it became first inland port in China open for foreign commerce). In the XX century Chongqing was national capital during the Second World War and the Japanese invasion (Nationalists government). Since then it enjoyed higher political status and economic independence than any other city of the same size in whole western China. Second, the municipality’s geographical position and demographic condition makes it quite unique in West China. It has a population of 31 million, an area of 82 square km, a population density of 379 persons per km2 and a location at the upper reaches of Chang (Yangtze) River. This makes it the gate of Southwest China. Third, Chongqing has a strong basic multi-faced economy in the region. Central investment since the 1950s has assisted the development of a relatively strong modern industrial base in the city. Despite the post-Mao reform era’s impact on social and economic disparities as between the coastal areas and the west, Chongqing remains one of the China’s strongest city economies. Its industrial output value ranked 11th among the 35 biggest city economies in China in 2000, though it ranked behind the top ten most industrialized coastal cities, all of which had attracted much greater foreign investment during the reform era. The campaign to Open up the West provides Chongqing with the opportunity to act as the growth pole for a number of less industrialized provincial-level units in north-west and south-west China. Fourth, the initiatives by central authorities and the extraordinary task of Three Gorges Dam project required among other great tasks also relocation of over 1,2 million people, the rebuilding of two cities, eleven county towns and one hundred sixteen townships from the site of Three Gorges Dam water reservoir. Until 2005 there were already almost one million residents resettled. Less than 20 per cent moved outside Chongqing municipality and the majority was to be accommodated within the region of Chongqing Municipality.Regional development; clusters; Regional innovation System (RIS); Development block; competence block; technology system; High Technology Parks; Overview of Science and Technology; FDI