11,192 research outputs found

    From Social Data Mining to Forecasting Socio-Economic Crisis

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    Socio-economic data mining has a great potential in terms of gaining a better understanding of problems that our economy and society are facing, such as financial instability, shortages of resources, or conflicts. Without large-scale data mining, progress in these areas seems hard or impossible. Therefore, a suitable, distributed data mining infrastructure and research centers should be built in Europe. It also appears appropriate to build a network of Crisis Observatories. They can be imagined as laboratories devoted to the gathering and processing of enormous volumes of data on both natural systems such as the Earth and its ecosystem, as well as on human techno-socio-economic systems, so as to gain early warnings of impending events. Reality mining provides the chance to adapt more quickly and more accurately to changing situations. Further opportunities arise by individually customized services, which however should be provided in a privacy-respecting way. This requires the development of novel ICT (such as a self- organizing Web), but most likely new legal regulations and suitable institutions as well. As long as such regulations are lacking on a world-wide scale, it is in the public interest that scientists explore what can be done with the huge data available. Big data do have the potential to change or even threaten democratic societies. The same applies to sudden and large-scale failures of ICT systems. Therefore, dealing with data must be done with a large degree of responsibility and care. Self-interests of individuals, companies or institutions have limits, where the public interest is affected, and public interest is not a sufficient justification to violate human rights of individuals. Privacy is a high good, as confidentiality is, and damaging it would have serious side effects for society.Comment: 65 pages, 1 figure, Visioneer White Paper, see http://www.visioneer.ethz.c

    What about local climate governance? A review of promise and problems

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    A large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions is produced in urban areas, particularly in high income countries. Cities are also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and particularly so in developing countries. Therefore, local climate policies for mitigation and adaptation have to play an important role in any effective global climate protection strategy. Based upon a systematic literature review, this article gives a comprehensive overview of motivation and challenges for local climate governance. A large part of the literature focuses on mitigation and cities in industrialized countries. The review also includes the smaller and emerging body of literature on adaptation and cities in developing or industrializing countries. Motivations and challenges we find fall into broad categories like ‘economic’, ‘informational’, ‘institutional’, ‘liveability’ or ‘political/cultural’. We conclude that the mix of motivation and challenges is city-specific, and that the national framework conditions are important. It matters, whether cities engage in mitigation or adaptation policies, whether they are located in developing, industrializing or industrialized countries, and at which stage of climate policy-making cities are. For many cities, cost savings are a primary motivation for local mitigation policies, while perceived vulnerability and a commitment to development is the primary motivator for adaptation policies. The collective action problem of climate protection (also known as ‘Tragedy of the Commons’) and inappropriate legal frameworks are key barriers to mitigation policies. Challenges for adaptation include financial constraints, and a lack of expertise, cooperation, leadership and political support. Understanding their specific motivation and challenges may support cities in developing appropriate local climate action plans. Furthermore, the understanding of motivation and challenges can inform other policy levels that want to help realize the local climate protection potential.Climate policy, local authorities, cities, mitigation, adaptation, energy, local climate governance

    Travel Behaviour Response to Major Transport System Disruptions: Implications for Smarter Resilience Planning

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    Weak nodes detection in urban transport systems: Planning for resilience in Singapore

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    The availability of massive data-sets describing human mobility offers the possibility to design simulation tools to monitor and improve the resilience of transport systems in response to traumatic events such as natural and man-made disasters (e.g. floods terroristic attacks, etc...). In this perspective, we propose ACHILLES, an application to model people's movements in a given transport system mode through a multiplex network representation based on mobility data. ACHILLES is a web-based application which provides an easy-to-use interface to explore the mobility fluxes and the connectivity of every urban zone in a city, as well as to visualize changes in the transport system resulting from the addition or removal of transport modes, urban zones, and single stops. Notably, our application allows the user to assess the overall resilience of the transport network by identifying its weakest node, i.e. Urban Achilles Heel, with reference to the ancient Greek mythology. To demonstrate the impact of ACHILLES for humanitarian aid we consider its application to a real-world scenario by exploring human mobility in Singapore in response to flood prevention.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, IEEE Data Science and Advanced Analytic

    CIARD Activities in the CGIAR: Final Report on activities, outputs and lessons from the implementation of the CIARD grant to the CGIAR

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    CIARD activities for the CGIAR have been led by the CGIAR ICT-KM program, which has worked closely with scientists, researchers, research managers and information and communication specialists across the CGIAR: Centers, Programs and projects. This document reports on activities implemented by the CGIAR ICT-KM program through a grant (PO245548) from FAO, originally from the DFID CIARD grant, but is based on activities being undertaken by Centres, Programs and projects of the CGIAR. Special acknowledgement and appreciation is given to ILRI for hosting the CIARD CGIAR grant coordinator and its great support to learning, documentation and promotion of CIARD principles and pathways

    Identifying shifts in multi-modal travel patterns during special events using mobile data: Celebrating Vappu in Helsinki

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    Large urban special events significantly contribute to a city's vibrancy and economic growth but concurrently impose challenges on transportation systems due to alterations in mobility patterns. This study aims to shed light on mobility patterns by utilizing a unique, comprehensive dataset collected from the Helsinki public transport mobile application and Bluetooth beacons. Earlier methods, relying on mobile phone records or focusing on single traffic modes, do not fully grasp the intricacies of travel behavior during such events. We focus on the Vappu festivities (May 1st) in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, a national holiday characterized by mass gatherings and outdoor activities. We examine and compare multi-modal mobility patterns during the event with those during typical non-working days in May 2022. Through this case study, we find that people tend to favor public transport over private cars and are prepared to walk longer distances to participate in the event. The study underscores the value of using comprehensive multi-modal data to better understand and manage transportation during large-scale events.Comment: 6 pages, 12 figures, Submitted to ITSC202

    Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (1/4)

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    Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 1 of
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