Land Administration Systems Development Trends – A Case Study

Land management is aimed at generating optimal social, economic and environmental benefits while promoting sustainable development principles. An essential element of this process is the knowledge of the geospatial situation to support public decision-making at different levels: local, regional, national and global. Hence, there is a need for rapid access to complete and updated information about the physical characteristics of a property, rights, restrictions, responsibilities and interrelations. This information is provided by land administration systems (LAS). LAS are built and maintained by governments. The core of LAS is a multi-purpose cadastral system integrated with other spatial information systems and public registers. In this paper, the authors present the functional architecture and the assumptions of land administration systems built in Poland and Germany. The analysis results show the specificity of the systems' design in relation to socio-economic condition

Safe driving in a green world : a review of driver performance benchmarks and technologies to support ‘smart’ driving

Road transport is a significant source of both safety and environmental concerns. With climate change and fuel prices increasingly prominent on social and political agendas, many drivers are turning their thoughts to fuel efficient or ‘green’ (i.e., environmentally friendly) driving practices. Many vehicle manufacturers are satisfying this demand by offering green driving feedback or advice tools. However, there is a legitimate concern regarding the effects of such devices on road safety – both from the point of view of change in driving styles, as well as potential distraction caused by the in-vehicle feedback. In this paper, we appraise the benchmarks for safe and green driving, concluding that whilst they largely overlap, there are some specific circumstances in which the goals are in conflict. We go on to review current and emerging in-vehicle information systems which purport to affect safe and/or green driving, and discuss some fundamental ergonomics principles for the design of such devices. The results of the review are being used in the Foot-LITE project, aimed at developing a system to encourage ‘smart’ – that is safe and green – driving

The Impact of Technology on the Strategic Management of a Knowledge-Intensive Project Organization: Action Design Research of a Competence Management System

The combination of digitalization and globalization will have a dramatic impact on organizations and the way people work. Demographic upheavals and societal changes, as well as the inevitable focus on environmental issues, will amplify the effect of these trends. As a result, business executives around the world will face new challenges with business models on one hand and organizational practices on the other hand. There is now a great opportunity for information systems and human resources scientists and practitioners to work together in order to improve understanding of how technology can be utilized to make organizations more effective and inspiring. The “future of work” is already affecting strategic management, HR organizations, and technology in practice. As a result, this has created many exciting research opportunities, identified by scholars looking at human resource information systems, human resource management, enterprise systems, competence management systems, knowledge management, information management, agile software development, or design science. In this action design research I build on top of existing design science research on competence management systems and aim at 1) gaining more understanding about the organizational and technological aspects of enterprise systems design, especially regarding competence development, and 2) increasing understanding of the design of competence management as a strategic capability. In this action design research project we participated in the design, development, and evaluation of a particular organizational instantiation and a management system instantiation that both address important, previously unsolved problems. This study contributes to the existing body of scientific knowledge on information systems. The theoretical contribution is the improved design principles for competence management systems. The practical contribution of the study builds upon the guidance provided to system designers and managers through several frameworks, IT artifacts, and management practices for information systems design processes. In conclusion, this research provides new evidence of how action design research can lead to significant business benefits by integrating theory and practice in a real business context

Towards prefabricated sustainable housing - an introduction

Prefabricated building systems are once again gaining popularity. The new prefabricated paradigm offers the integration of several approaches previously ignored: automated manufacturing, integrated building services and environmental sustainable principles. Consistency, predictable environmental control, modular flexibility, quick assembly and affordability are promising features of modern manufactured construction. Though the concept of prefabricated building is not new, this type of construction may be the only hope in obtaining a truely sustainable architecture for our future.This paper attempts to define and evaluate several prefabricated building systems, ranging from a &lsquo;kit-of-parts&rsquo; to fully assembled &lsquo;volumetric&rsquo; modules. It aims to categorise various manufactured types among a vast amount of information, and to observe their attributes regarding materials, flexibility, structural integrity, delivery and constructability. This paper suggests that pre-fabricated architecture can deliver high order design and diversity within the framework of waste reduction, renewable systems integration and optimal performance. <br /

Managing the Future—State-of-the-art Environmental Scanning Systems and Initial Design Principles for a New Generation

The 2008/2009 economic crisis provided a sustainable impulse for improving environmental scanning systems (ESS).Although a rich body of knowledge exists, these concepts are not often used in practice. This article contributes a literaturereview addressing not only why this knowledge is not used, but what elements of it can be leveraged for the work on hand.The results are structured in terms of the elements of information system (IS) design theories and the research methodapplied. At the end, we derive six initial principles for reworked ESS that are more applicable than the state of the art. Theseprinciples should improve the grasp of weak signals and allow better incorporation of environmental scanning findings intothe executive decision-making process. Two instantiations helped us to highlight how current developments in IS contributeto successful design, implementation, and day-to-day operation of reworked ESS

Minimising Material Waste by Utilising BIM and Set-based Design in the Structural Design of Reinforced Concrete Slabs

Considering the significant amount of material wasted in the construction industry it should be a business case for companies to pay more attention to reducing waste, which would have also a major impact in the environmental issues of the projects. Although structural engineers and architectures have different roles in the design process in selecting construction systems and materials, they provide building information together. Building Information Modelling (BIM) could provide an opportunity for all relevant stakeholders to share their knowledge and experiences in the early stages of design and a platform for structural engineers to utilise Set-based Design to considering different alternatives for optimal design of systems. This research suggests enhancing an intelligent decision support model in parallel with stakeholder’s participation to achieve the optimal final solution in terms of material waste by narrowing down the structural alternatives. The example used in the paper is reinforced concrete slab, but the same principles are applicable to all structures. This research will focus on describing the BIM features, which could help the structural engineers to rank their criteria and select optimised design solutions. In addition, this paper will be a part of the first author’s PhD dissertation and analysis the pertinent literature

Microservice-based Reference Architecture for Semantics-aware Measurement Systems

Cloud technologies have become more important than ever with the rising need for scalable and distributed software systems. A pattern that is used in many such systems is a microservice-based architecture (MSA). MSAs have become a blueprint for many large companies and big software systems. In many scientific fields like energy and environmental informatics, efficient and scalable software systems with a primary focus on measurement data are a core requirement. Nowadays, there are many ways to solve research questions using data-driven approaches. Most of them have a need for large amounts of measurement data and according metadata. However, many measurement systems still follow deprecated guidelines such as monolithic architectures, classic relational database principles and are missing semantic awareness and interpretation of data. These problems and the resulting requirements are tackled by the introduction of a reference architecture with a focus on measurement systems that utilizes the principles of microservices. The thesis first presents the systematic design of the reference architecture by using the principles of Domain-driven Design (DDD). This process ensures that the reference architecture is defined in a modular and sustainable way in contrast to complex monolithic software systems. An extensive scientific analysis leads to the core parts of the concept consisting of the data management and semantics for measurement systems. Different data services define a concept for managing measurement data, according meta data and master data describing the business objects of the application implemented by using the reference architecture. Further concepts allow the reference architecture to define a way for the system to understand and interpret the data using semantic information. Lastly, the introduction of a frontend framework for dashboard applications represents an example for visualizing the data managed by the microservices

Linking indigenous territorial autonomy and environmental sustainability: a case study of the resguardo El Duya in Colombia

The aim of this dissertation is to understand the contributions of indigenous autonomous institutions to environmental sustainability in indigenous territories in Colombia. Past research has neglected to account for the role of indigenous territorial autonomy in spatial environmental planning and the overall goal of environmental sustainability. This gap is approached through the institutional design principles theory, informed by indigenous planning literature and the social-ecological systems framework. This research uses a case study, the resguardo El Duya, and a qualitative approach, where data collection was made through interviews, observation and document analysis. The results for this resguardo are presented in the context of Orinoquia region, which is analysed using the concept of frontier. This research asks about the way in which indigenous institutions mediate the relation of humans and the territory, finding that they have been going through a process of institutional change with several milestones characterised by external disturbances produced by non-indigenous actors. Currently, two institutional arrangements coexist in El Duya, customary and novel institutions, for which the analysis shows that the majority of design principles are present and some of them exhibit implementation problems. Thus, indigenous institutions have kept the integrity of ecosystems; despite changes in the social-ecological system and environmental impacts caused by oil extraction-related activities. This research further asks about spatial environmental planning, finding that it has been implemented by indigenous and non-indigenous actors, where the latter includes external governmental authorities and oil companies. This has resulted in an asymmetrical planning setting, in which the Salia people are deprived from significant planning powers in their territory. Furthermore, non-indigenous environmental authorities have contributed poorly in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystems of El Duya, under a frame in which the notion of environmental sustainability is not used by the people of this resguardo and is understood variably by governmental actors. Finally, this research asks about territorial autonomy concerning nature, which has been found to be partially exercised, since authority, decision-making and their enforcement are hindered by the intervention of environmental authorities. This corresponds to a jurisdictional encroachment over indigenous authorities, enabled by the Colombian State arrangement. Consequently, indigenous institutions do contribute to environmental sustainability in El Duya; however, this should be understood in terms of novel aspects enabled by the distinctiveness of Salia institutions and current territorial autonomy limitations.:Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Rationale of the research 1.2 Outline of the dissertation 2 Indigenous territories: essentials for their study 2.1 The colonial inheritance 2.1.1 The early years and the disruption of territoriality 2.1.2 Republics and the enthronement of private property 2.2 Current state of indigenous territories in Colombia 2.2.1 Indigenous territorial rights in Colombia 2.2.2 The spatial relevance of indigenous territories 3 Literature review 3.1 Indigenous territories 3.1.1 The rights approach 3.1.2 Boundary-making and indigenous territories 3.2 Environmental sustainability and indigenous territorial autonomy 3.2.1 Subnational arrangements, self-government and autonomy 3.2.2 Indigenous territorial autonomy 3.2.3 The concept of environmental sustainability 3.2.4 Types of sustainability 3.2.5 Indigenous management of natural resources 3.2.6 Environmental planning in indigenous territories 3.3 Research questions 4 Theoretical framework 4.1 Institutional design principles 4.2 The social-ecological systems framework 4.3 Indigenous planning principles 4.4 Dissertation’s approach 5 Methodology 5.1 Research design 5.1.1 Case study research 5.1.2 Unit of analysis and type of case study 5.1.3 Research design limitations 5.2 Methods 5.2.1 Document analysis 5.2.2 Interviews 5.2.3 Qualitative observations 6 Study area: variables in the social-ecological system framework 6.1 Social, economic and political settings; related ecosystems 6.1.1 Economic development; demographic trends; political stability; climate patterns; pollution patterns; flows into and out of focal SES 6.1.2 External governance systems 6.2 Resource systems 6.2.1 Sector; clarity of systems’ boundaries; size of resource system; location. 6.2.2 Human constructed facilities 6.2.3 Equilibrium properties (stable state). 6.2.4 Predictability of system dynamics 6.3 Actors 6.3.1 History or past experiences 6.3.2 Number of relevant actors; socioeconomic attributes; social capital 6.3.3 Location; knowledge of SES (mental models) 6.3.4 Technologies available 6.4 Governance systems 6.4.1 Indigenous organisation; network structure 6.4.2 Property rights systems 6.5 Action situations 6.5.1 Harvesting; importance of resource 6.5.2 Information sharing 6.5.3 Conflicts 6.5.4 Investment activities 6.5.5 Lobbying activities 6.5.6 Networking activities 7 The relation between humans and territory 7.1 The period before the titling of the resguardo 7.1.1 Salia customary rules 7.1.2 Design principles in the customary arrangement 7.2 The period after the titling of the resguardo 7.2.1 Organisational structures 7.2.2 Authorities in El Duya 7.2.3 Rules for natural resources appropriation 7.3 Drivers of institutional transformation 7.3.1 Design principles in El Duya 7.3.2 Robustness of the SES 8 Environmental planning in indigenous territories 8.1 Spatial environmental planning in Colombia 8.2 Planning in El Duya 8.3 Oil exploration and extraction concerning El Duya 8.3.1 Projects of interest for El Duya 8.3.2 Authority over activities related to hydrocarbons 8.4 Environmental sustainability: multiple understandings 8.4.1 State view: a blurry concept 8.4.2 Indicators for environmental sustainability 8.4.3 The ecological function of property 8.4.4 Indigenous view: ‘pervivencia’ 9 Autonomy over ecosystems in El Duya 9.1 Distribution of powers with regard to ecosystems in El Duya 9.2 Authority exercise over ecosystems in El Duya 9.3 Decision-making and agency over ecosystems in El Duya 9.4 Indigenous territorial autonomy in El Duya 10 Discussion of results 10.1 Human-nature relations in El Duya and institutional change 10.1.1 Law of origin, Mother Earth and indigenous ontologies 10.1.2 Salia institutions and change 10.1.3 Interpreting institutional design principles 10.2 Environmental planning: a question of institutional jurisdiction 10.2.1 Indigenous planning, order and territory 10.2.2 Salia way of planning 10.2.3 Looking after the territory 10.2.4 Indigenous jurisdiction and extractive industries 10.2.5 The concept of environmental sustainability in indigenous territories 10.3 Territorial autonomy: the need for further conceptualisation 10.3.1 Authority and decision-making as a component of autonomy 10.3.2 Indigenous territorial autonomy in Colombia 10.3.3 Planning and autonomy 11 Conclusions 11.1 Human relationship with the territory 11.2 Indigenous environmental planning 11.3 Indigenous territorial autonomy and nature 11.4 Contributions to environmental sustainability 11.5 Further research 12 References 13 Appendices 13.1 Appendix A 13.2 Appendix B 13.3 Appendix C 13.4 Appendix D 13.5 Appendix E 13.6 Appendix F 13.7 Appendix G 13.8 Appendix

Financial safety nets and incentive structures in Latin America

The literature on safety nets has become technically more precise by drawing on advances in contract theory and optimal governance structure. This paper begins with a treatment of some aspects of the theory. The author's approach draws more on institutional economics, and more precisely on the approach taken by Kindleberger (1978), in the sense that he believes the design of good financial safety nets for Latin America depends upon an understanding of the way that formal ex-ante safety nets have broken down during times of crisis over the past one hundred years. In this paper then author explores issues surrounding safety nets for financial systems in small open economies like those in Latin America. The starting point in Section 2 is the idea that asymmetric information will generally restrict the scope for lending to potential borrowers. Section 3 shows that government regulation of financial intermediaries can frequently lower the cost of lending. Section 4 discusses the creation of central banks in Latin America in the 1920s as an innovation to promote financial deepening. Section 5 shows that the extension of the safety net to depositors is a relatively new and untested development. Section 6 concludes with a discussion of the design of safety nets that takes into account the principles developed in the paper.Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Financial Intermediation,Banks&Banking Reform,Labor Policies,Financial Intermediation,Financial Crisis Management&Restructuring,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform

A Method Helping to Define Eco-innovative Systems Based on Upgradability

AbstractEnvironmental issues due to emerging markets and rapid development of consumer goods’ consumption require a new model to design more sustainable products. While traditional eco-design methods (LCA, Check-lists, Guidelines, DfX tools…) are generally restricted to a local optimization of the product or to macro-rules for defining an environmental strategy, this article presents an eco-innovative method based on product upgradability which is the integration of functional enrichments on the product. Indeed, the integration of upgrades offers new opportunities for facilitating the dissemination of the remanufacturing approach, the dissemination of Product-Service Systems, or for increasing the lifetime of product.This article presents an eco-innovative method based on upgradability consisting in: exploring the potential upgrades of modules - PMoL (SADT activity A4), the potential value network structures for upgradability - VaNS (A3) and the potential serviceable upgrades including eco-learning strategies - SMoL (A5). This method combines then the results PMoL, VaNS and SMoL to form promising Upgradable Modules Scenarios – UpMoS (A6), which are completed by the specification of an associated value network (A7) and the consolidation of eco-usage services and services offers (A8). The final result obtained, Upgradable systems concepts– UpSys are then assessed thanks to a multicriteria approach (A9) considering environmental, economic and user's and stakeholder's attractiveness criteria.To summarize, this method is structured in two rounds. The first round (A3, A4, A5) aims to explore widely the possibilities offered by the upgradability avoiding the complexity of an approach dealing with several parameters simultaneously. The purpose of the second round (A6, A7, A8, A9) is to specify and assess Upgradable systems encompassing the overall results of the exploration. Before performing this work, relevant information needs to be collected for the project (market information, customer segments, technologies, stakeholders, environmental impacts of the current product, etc.) and acceptability domains of upgradable systems have to be analyzed (A1, A2).This paper presents therefore this eco-innovative approach based on five founding principles and answering to the requirements identified in the literature for a good and effective eco-design method