MODELING OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

The authors present an overview of agricultural systems models. Beginning with why systems are modeled and for what purposes, the paper examines types of agricultural systems and associated model types. The broad categories range from pictorial (iconic) models to descriptive analogue models to symbolic (usually mathematical) models. The uses of optimization versus non-optimizing mechanistic models are reviewed, as are the scale and aggregation challenges associated with scaling up from the plant cell to the landscape or from a farm enterprise to a world market supply-demand equilibrium Recent modeling developments include the integration of formerly stand-alone biophysical simulation models, increasingly with a unifying spatial database and often for the purpose of supporting management decisions. Current modeling innovations are estimating and incorporating environmental values and other system interactions. At the community and regional scale, sociological and economic models of rural community structure are being developed to evaluate long-term community viability. The information revolution is bringing new challenges in delivering agricultural systems models over the internet, as well as integrating decision support systems with the new precision agriculture technologies.Farm Management,

Pushing the Boundaries of Clinical Law: Exploring How Student and Community Legal Clinics Engage with International Human Rights Practice

Explores methods of bringing stories of victims of human rights abuses to the international human rights bodies that conduct periodic reviews of country compliance with international human rights instruments. The project involved law students and community legal workers looking at innovative ways to use internet technologies to enhance and strengthen non-government (NGO) reports to UN Committees involved in monitoring Canada’s compliance with our international legal obligations

Meeting Europe’s Connectivity Challenge. The Role for Community Networks. CEPS Special Report, 4 July 2018

More than 3.5 billion people use the internet today, up from a mere 738 million in 2000, according to a new report from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). That’s about half the world’s population. But what about the other half? While the ITU says that most of the world’s other internet-less users will be connected by traditional internet service providers (ISPs), many remote and rural regions risk remaining without access – unless they connect themselves. This digital divide exists even in developed Europe, where governments are pouring billions of euros into high-speed internet networks. Community networks can help fill the gap. Built and operated by people from within the community working together and combining their efforts, these networks complement traditional access networks. They provide local access in areas where commercial operators do not find it economically viable to operate. Given the challenges with economic viability in underserved areas, it is crucial to build a sound business model to ensure the sustainability of these projects. Community Networks must overcome serious regulatory, political and commercial hurdles. Regulation is often inadequate – or inappropriate. Needed spectrum remains expensive or unavailable. In response, the European Commission has given its support for these bottom-up projects, recognising Community Networks as one of the four main investment models for bringing internet coverage throughout the continent This paper looks at the challenges and opportunities involved in setting up, maintaining and expanding operations of Community Networks within the European Union and elsewhere in Europe. Based on personal interviews with officials in Brussels as well as telephone conversations with leaders of Community Networks throughout Europe, it draws lessons learned from a selection of projects ranging from Spain in the West to the Republic of Georgia in the East

Towards incentive-compatible pricing for bandwidth reservation in community network clouds

Community network clouds provide for applications of local interest deployed within community networks through collaborative efforts to provision cloud infrastructures. They complement the traditional large-scale public cloud providers similar to the model of decentralised edge clouds by bringing both content and computation closer to the users at the edges of the network. Services and applications within community network clouds require connectivity to the Internet and to the resources external to the community network, and here the current besteffort model of volunteers contributing gateway access in the community networks falls short. We model the problem of reserving the bandwidth at such gateways for guaranteeing quality-of-service for the cloud applications, and evaluate different pricing mechanisms for their suitability in ensuring maximal social welfare and eliciting truthful requests from the users. We find second-price auction based mechanisms, including Vickrey and generalised second price auctions, suitable for the bandwidth allocation problem at the gateways in the community networks.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Deployment of Mathematical Resources to a Philippine High School through a Community LTE Network

In the Philippines, one challenge that continues to be faced by the Department of Education in bringing educational content in a blended learning modality is the lack of internet access of the learners. This paper discusses the distribution, through a community LTE network, of mathematical resources for Grades 7 to 10 to teachers and students of a particular high school in the Philippines. It also gives details on particular technological tools (mathematical applications) that were created to help the mathematical learning of students in a remote setting

Assessing the UK policies for broadband adoption

Broadband technology has been introduced to the business community and the public as a rapid way of exploiting the Internet. The benefits of its use (fast reliable connections, and always on) have been widely realised and broadband diffusion is one of the items at the top of the agenda for technology related polices of governments worldwide. In this paper an examination of the impact of the UK government’s polices upon broadband adoption is undertaken. Based on institutional theory a consideration of the manipulation of supply push and demand pull forces in the diffusion of broadband is offered. Using primary and secondary data sources, an analysis of the specific institutional actions related to IT diffusion as pursued by the UK government in the case of broadband is provided. Bringing the time dimension into consideration it is revealed that the UK government has shifted its attention from supply push-only strategies to more interventional ones where the demand pull forces are also mobilised. It is believed that this research will assist in the extraction of the “success factors” in government intervention that support the diffusion of technology with a view to render favourable results if applied to other national settings

Alternative Network Deployments: Taxonomy, Characterization, Technologies, and Architectures

This document presents a taxonomy of a set of "Alternative Network Deployments" that emerged in the last decade with the aim of bringing Internet connectivity to people or providing a local communication infrastructure to serve various complementary needs and objectives. They employ architectures and topologies different from those of mainstream networks and rely on alternative governance and business models. The document also surveys the technologies deployed in these networks, and their differing architectural characteristics, including a set of definitions and shared properties. The classification considers models such as Community Networks, Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), networks owned by individuals but leased out to network operators who use them as a low-cost medium to reach the underserved population, networks that provide connectivity by sharing wireless resources of the users, and rural utility cooperatives

Pendampingan Pembuatan Sistem Informasi Wisata Berbasis Website Menggunakan Wordpress Desa Sajang Kecamatan Sembalun

Currently, technological developments have developed very rapidly and quickly, bringing about very big changes because they make the information obtained available quickly, easily, accurately and not limited by place and time. One example of developments in the world of technology is internet technology. With the existence of internet technology, the dissemination of information becomes more practical and easy to access anywhere, anytime, and anyone can access the information. Internet technology not only has an effect on business or trade development, but also has a role in the tourism sector. Because with internet technology, the delivery of information on tourist attractions can be more connected or interactive and the information is easy to obtain. East Lombok Regency, in Sembalun sub-district, especially in Sajang village, there are potential tourist destinations such as Mount Rinjani, Camping Grounds, and Waterfalls as well as Agrotourism, namely Coffee Gardens. This service activity helps design a web-based information system using WordPress which can introduce tourism potential to the community and tourists who want to know about tourist attractions in Sajang village. Keywords: System, Information, Sajang village, We

Business 2.0 : a novel model for delivery of business services

Web 2.0, regardless of the exact definition, has proven to bring about significant changes to the way the Internet was used. Evident by key innovations such as Wikipedia, FaceBook, YouTube, and Blog sites, these community-based Website in which contents are generated and consumed by the same group of users are changing the way businesses operate. Advertisements are no longer dasiaforcedpsila upon the viewers but are instead dasiaintelligentlypsila targeted based on the contents of interest. In this paper, we investigate the concept of Web 2.0 in the context of business entities. We asked if Web 2.0 concepts could potentially lead to a change of paradigm or the way businesses operate today. We conclude with a discussion of a Web 2.0 application we recently developed that we think is an indication that businesses will ultimately be affected by these community-based technologies; thus bringing about Business 2.0 - a paradigm for businesses to cooperate with one another to deliver improved products and services to their own customers.<br /

Internet Use and Environmental Justice: An Exploratory Study

My study examined how inner-city adults perceive and experience the Internet as a civic engagement tool, and if they view the Internet as a tool for environmental advocacy. Research shows a consistent divide between those with Internet access and those without. Individuals living in low-income minority communities are the least likely groups to be Internet connected. Consequently, the Internet could further separate historically marginalized communities from important government and social resources rather than bringing them closer. Qualitative research methods were used to reveal socially-constructed perceptions of the Internet as a civic engagement tool in the inner city. Grounded theory techniques helped develop a solid final interpretation. My objective was not to compare low-end of the divide users with more affluent users but to broadly explore whether inner city adults perceive the Internet as a tool for environmental advocacy. My findings revealed problems of crime, drugs and violence as a result of persistent unemployment in the inner city far outweigh concerns of environmental risks. Overall,participants were confident in their ability to solve local problems and bridge with local organizations, but they feared retaliation, community apathy, and misplaced priorities would keep them from achieving their goals. Participants preferred face-to-face communication for mobilizing support and media for staying informed. Experienced users viewed the Internet as a valuable information-seeking tool. Participants viewed the Internet in positive and productive ways that helped them with school, employment, and important personal matters. Noticeably absent from the findings was participants’ view of the Internet as a communication technology. Finally, the primary barriers to Internet access in the community were costs, personal time, insufficient public access, and navigation problems. For important matters, though, participants found ways around barriers by reaching out to social support networks, including friends, family and co-workers. My study contributes to both theory and practice. Diffusion of Innovation predicts adoption of new technologies based on certain attributes. Findings reveal relative advantage and compatibility of the Internet shapes participants’ view of the Internet. The findings also offer important insight to environmental policy makers and civic leaders for engaging inner city residents in 21st century environmentalism