The Case of the Mexican Mobile Government: Measurement and Examples

The mobile government has become a reality in a large majority of countries around the world. The use of apps to link government websites and information is a recent trend that is capturing citizens and public officials. The uses, advantages and disadvantages have recently become a study field for several scholars around the globe. The mobile government is not new for e-government scholars; however, the explosion of apps and the increase of smart phones have created a new trend in the mobile government field. In order to understand these phenomena in the Mexican society we have gathered data from different sources: government, companies and citizen organizations. Based on this information, we analyzed the impact of apps across the country and suggest a classification method that can be used for a better understanding of this new field. We finish with five small case studies, which we consider good examples to be followed by different government organizations. To accomplish this objective we divided this chapter into seven main sections: this first section is the introduction. The second section includes a literature review. The third section describes the method we suggest to classify the apps. The fourth section discusses the findings with the model application. The fifth section presents the case studies we suggest for government apps. The sixth section discusses future research on government apps. In the seventh section, we present some remarks and the conclusion of this topic

Mangroves As Coastal Bio-Shield: A Review of Mangroves Performance in Wave Attenuation

Mangroves have been recognized as soft structures that provide coastline protection. The capability of dampening waves helps minimize destruction from catastrophic events including erosive wave attacks, torrential storms, and tsunamis. Mangroves act as the first line of coastal defense in natural tragedies such as during the Super Typhoon Haiyan 2013 and Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004, whereby the leeward mangrove area encountered less damage than the unprotected area. This has further brought the attention of researchers to study the attenuation performance of these coastal vegetations. Based on an extensive literature review, this paper discusses the attenuation mechanism of mangroves, the factors influencing the dissipation performance, studies on mangrove dissipation via different approaches, the dissipation efficiency, mangrove conservation and rehabilitation efforts in Malaysia and implementation of mangrove as coastal bio-shield in other countries. The study highlights that mangrove parameters (such as species, width, density etc.) and wave parameters (such as wave period and incident wave height) are among the contributing factors in mangroves-induced wave attenuation, with different efficiency rates performed by different mangroves and waves parameters. Towards that end, several improvements are proposed for future research such as to incorporate all influencing dissipation factors with specific analysis for each species of mangroves, to perform validation on the studied mangroves attenuation capacity in different settings and circumstances, as well as to address the extent of protection by the rehabilitated mangroves. A systematic and effective management strategy incorporating ecological, forestry, and coastal engineering knowledge should be considered to ensure a sustainable mangroves ecosystem and promising coastline protection by mangroves. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2021-03091772 Full Text: PD

Harnessing Markets for Water Quality

This issue of IMPACT is devoted to exploring and understanding the opportunities and challenges of harnessing markets to improve water quality. It looks at how markets could be implemented to address the growing concern of nonpoint source pollution as well as point sources. Recently, the EPA proposed a water quality trading proposal, which is summarized, reviewed, and critiqued

Preliminary assessment of elasmobranch occurrence, and mapping of potential overlap with human activities, using noninvasive methods: the case study of the Berlengas Natural Reserve

Dissertação de Mestrado da Doutora Sofia Henriques e do Doutor Miguel Pais, apresentada no ISPA – Instituto Universitário para obtenção de grau de Mestre na especialidade de Biologia Marinha e ConservaçãoComo predadores e mesoconsumidores, os elasmobrânquios têm um papel fundamental em regular a saúde dos ecossistemas. Devido à enorme falta de conhecimento científico sobre estas espécies, e às suas características de vida vulneráveis (i.e., baixa fecundidade e maturidade tardia), os tubarões e raias têm-se tornado, progressivamente, uma preocupação na agenda da conservação. A Reserva Natural das Berlengas (RNB) é casa destas espécies com relatos históricos importantes habitats para estas espécies (Carreiro dos Cações). Neste estudo, a presença de elasmobrânquios foi avaliada através de três métodos não invasivos: câmaras com isco georreferenciadas (BRUVs), questionários semiestruturados aos diferentes usuários da área marinha protegida e dados de observações a bordo das frotas de palangre locais. Para além disso, as diferentes atividades que ocorrem dentro da MPA – pesca comercial, pesca recreativa e turismo náutico – foram caracterizadas e mapeadas usando o software QGIS. Para identificar potenciais áreas de risco de sobreposição de áreas humanas com espécies vulneráveis um índice de vulnerabilidade foi desenvolvido. Segundo o índice, áreas como o Rinchão e a zona a sul da ilha da Berlenga destacaram-se como apresentando risco elevado devido à presença de espécies de elevada sensibilidade, como o tubarão-anequim (Isurus oxyrinchus) e indivíduos da família Sphyrnidae, em zonas onde ocorrem atividades de alto impacto como pesca por palangre. Este trabalho contribuiu para a caracterização dos elasmobrânquios das Berlengas, na ausência de dados à priori, usando apenas dados não invasivos, provando assim o valor destas como fonte de informação complementar à informação científica.As predators and mesoconsumers, elasmobranchs play key roles in regulating ecosystems’ health. Due to the lack of knowledge about these species and to their vulnerable life-history traits (i.e. low fecundity and late maturity) sharks and rays have progressively become a concern in the conservation agenda. The Berlengas Natural Reserve (RNB) is home to these species with several historical reports of key habitats (Carreiro dos Cações) for elasmobranchs. In the present study, the occurrence of elasmobranchs was assessed using three non-invasive methods: georeferenced Baited Remote Underwater Videos (BRUVs), Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) through map-based semi-structured questionnaires and on board observational data from the local longline fleets. Moreover the different activities – commercial and recreational fisheries and nautical tourism - occurring within the Marine Protected Area, were registered, and characterized. Both species occurrence and human presence were mapped out using the QGIS software. To identify possible risk zones where high impact activities overlap with sensitive shark and ray species, a vulnerability index was developed. According to the index, areas such as Rinchão and the southern side of the Berlenga island stood out as high risk areas due to presence of vulnerable species such as the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) and individuals of the Sphyrnidae family overlapping with high impact activities such as longline. This study contributed for the characterization of the Berlengas’ elasmobranch species occurrence, in the absence of information, using only non-invasive cost-effective methods proving their value as complementary approaches

Climate change and disaster impact reduction

Based on papers presented at the 'UK - South Asia Young Scientists and Practitioners Seminar on Climate Change and Disaster Impact Reduction' held at Kathmandu, Nepal on 5-6 June, 2008

Towards an entrepreneurial leadership based on kindness in a digital age

This study identifies the main competencies required for an entrepreneurial leadership style in the digital age and for effectiveness in innovative organisations. A total of 119 leaders in the technology sector were surveyed. Seven latent variables that give meaning to a new style are identified through a factor analysis. The results show that Teamwork, Motivation and Risk-taking have a direct and significant impact. They are the most developed competencies and, therefore, the ones that have the greatest impact on the Kinder Leadership style (that is, one based more on kindness, caring, gentleness, and graciousness towards colleagues). Creativity and Caring for Others had the least effect. A number of tools are offered for improving the competences with the lowest impact and pushing towards kind entrepreneurship. An entrepreneurial attitude improves the quality of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for business management

Once and Future Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem: Restoration Recommendations of an Expert Working Group

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) well blowout released more petroleum hydrocarbons into the marine environment than any previous U.S. oil spill (4.9 million barrels), fouling marine life, damaging deep sea and shoreline habitats and causing closures of economically valuable fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. A suite of pollutants—liquid and gaseous petroleum compounds plus chemical dispersants—poured into ecosystems that had already been stressed by overfishing, development and global climate change. Beyond the direct effects that were captured in dramatic photographs of oiled birds in the media, it is likely that there are subtle, delayed, indirect and potentially synergistic impacts of these widely dispersed, highly bioavailable and toxic hydrocarbons and chemical dispersants on marine life from pelicans to salt marsh grasses and to deep-sea animals. As tragic as the DWH blowout was, it has stimulated public interest in protecting this economically, socially and environmentally critical region. The 2010 Mabus Report, commissioned by President Barack Obama and written by the secretary of the Navy, provides a blueprint for restoring the Gulf that is bold, visionary and strategic. It is clear that we need not only to repair the damage left behind by the oil but also to go well beyond that to restore the anthropogenically stressed and declining Gulf ecosystems to prosperity-sustaining levels of historic productivity. For this report, we assembled a team of leading scientists with expertise in coastal and marine ecosystems and with experience in their restoration to identify strategies and specific actions that will revitalize and sustain the Gulf coastal economy. Because the DWH spill intervened in ecosystems that are intimately interconnected and already under stress, and will remain stressed from global climate change, we argue that restoration of the Gulf must go beyond the traditional "in-place, in-kind" restoration approach that targets specific damaged habitats or species. A sustainable restoration of the Gulf of Mexico after DWH must: 1. Recognize that ecosystem resilience has been compromised by multiple human interventions predating the DWH spill; 2. Acknowledge that significant future environmental change is inevitable and must be factored into restoration plans and actions for them to be durable; 3. Treat the Gulf as a complex and interconnected network of ecosystems from shoreline to deep sea; and 4. Recognize that human and ecosystem productivity in the Gulf are interdependent, and that human needs from and effects on the Gulf must be integral to restoration planning. With these principles in mind, the authors provide the scientific basis for a sustainable restoration program along three themes: 1. Assess and repair damage from DWH and other stresses on the Gulf; 2. Protect existing habitats and populations; and 3. Integrate sustainable human use with ecological processes in the Gulf of Mexico. Under these themes, 15 historically informed, adaptive, ecosystem-based restoration actions are presented to recover Gulf resources and rebuild the resilience of its ecosystem. The vision that guides our recommendations fundamentally imbeds the restoration actions within the context of the changing environment so as to achieve resilience of resources, human communities and the economy into the indefinite future

Can ecosystem-based deep-sea fishing be sustained?

Can there ever be a truly sustainable deep-sea fishery and if so, where and under what conditions? Ecosystembased fisheries management requires that this question be addressed such that habitat, bycatch species, and targeted fish populations are considered together within an ecosystem context. To this end, we convened the first workshop to develop an ecosystem approach to deep-sea fisheries and to ask whether deep-sea species could be fished sustainably. The workshop participants were able to integrate bycatch information into their framework but found it more difficult to integrate other ecosystem indicators such as habitat characteristics. (First two paragraphs from the Executive Summary