Named data networking for efficient IoT-based disaster management in a smart campus

Disasters are uncertain occasions that can impose a drastic impact on human life and building infrastructures. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a vital role in coping with such situations by enabling and integrating multiple technological resources to develop Disaster Management Systems (DMSs). In this context, a majority of the existing DMSs use networking architectures based upon the Internet Protocol (IP) focusing on location-dependent communications. However, IP-based communications face the limitations of inefficient bandwidth utilization, high processing, data security, and excessive memory intake. To address these issues, Named Data Networking (NDN) has emerged as a promising communication paradigm, which is based on the Information-Centric Networking (ICN) architecture. An NDN is among the self-organizing communication networks that reduces the complexity of networking systems in addition to provide content security. Given this, many NDN-based DMSs have been proposed. The problem with the existing NDN-based DMS is that they use a PULL-based mechanism that ultimately results in higher delay and more energy consumption. In order to cater for time-critical scenarios, emergence-driven network engineering communication and computation models are required. In this paper, a novel DMS is proposed, i.e., Named Data Networking Disaster Management (NDN-DM), where a producer forwards a fire alert message to neighbouring consumers. This makes the nodes converge according to the disaster situation in a more efficient and secure way. Furthermore, we consider a fire scenario in a university campus and mobile nodes in the campus collaborate with each other to manage the fire situation. The proposed framework has been mathematically modeled and formally proved using timed automata-based transition systems and a real-time model checker, respectively. Additionally, the evaluation of the proposed NDM-DM has been performed using NS2. The results prove that the proposed scheme has reduced the end-to-end delay up from 2% to 10% and minimized up to 20% energy consumption, as energy improved from 3% to 20% compared with a state-of-the-art NDN-based DMS

Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

Financial Risks Management in Public Sector Organisations

Effectiveness of financial risk management predicts the successful implementation of different government projects and programmes. Empirical facts, however, indicate the existing financial risk management framework is not that effective for enhancing effective identification and mitigation of financial risks in the contemporary complex South African public sector organisations. Using a qualitative research method, this study provides a meta-synthesis of theories and empirical studies on financial risk management in the South African public sector. The motive was to identify the major inhibitors and appropriate financial risk management framework that can be suggested. Despite highlighting the existence of essential regulatory frameworks, findings revealed the effectiveness of financial risk management in the contemporary South African public sector is still constrained by poor culture of financial risk avoidance, poor commitment of managers and political leaders, limited integration of financial risk management measures at municipal levels, weak internal audit systems, and technical loopholes in the existing regulatory frameworks. In addition to relying on the existing regulatory frameworks, it is suggested that public sector risk managers must adopt a comprehensive financial risk management framework coherently integrating essential key success factors encompassing a culture of risk avoidance, risk management structures, training and development, good governance and ethics. Other postulated strategies included the allocation of sufficient resources, integration of risk management in outsourcing, monitoring and evaluation, and the establishment of the financial risk information system. With appropriate environment created after the integration of these key success factors, it is posited that it becomes possible for public sector financial risk managers to successfully apply a six steps’ (step 1: identification of risks, step 2: analysis of the causing factors, step 3: analysis of the likelihood of occurrence, step 4: prioritisation of the identified risks, step 5: formulation and implementation of risk response, and step 6: continuous evaluation of the effectiveness of risk response undertaken) approach for risk identification and management. Keywords: financial risk management; public sector organisations; performance; risk managemen

A novel cross-layer framework for large scale emergency communications

This paper explores the problem of improving coverage and capacity of large-scale communication networks in disaster-struck areas. We propose a novel integrated dynamic cross-layer distributed energy aware emergency framework, E3F, that spans large geographical areas and variable time ranges. E3F enables adaptive storage, dynamic packet scheduling and utility driven forwarding that avoids congestion and energy depletion. Our extensive experiments with realistic traces show significantly improved energy efficiency and low overheads while maintaining high success ratios for both data dissemination and query answering

Reputation and credit based incentive mechanism for data-centric message delivery in delay tolerant networks

In a Data-centric Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs), it is essential for nodes to cooperate in message forwarding in order to enable successful delivery of a message in an opportunistic fashion with nodes having their social interests defined. In the data-centric dissemination protocol proposed here, a source annotates messages (images) with keywords, and then intermediate nodes are presented with an option of adding keyword-based annotations in order to create higher content strength messages on path toward the destination. Hence, contents like images get enriched as there is situation evolution or learned by these intermediate nodes, such as in a battlefield, or in a disaster situation. Nodes might turn selfish and not participate in relaying messages due to relative scarcity of battery and storage capacity in mobile devices. Therefore, in addition to content enrichment, an incentive mechanism is proposed in this thesis which considers factors like message quality, battery usage, level of interests, etc. for the calculation of incentives. Moreover, with the goal of preventing the nodes from turning malicious by adding inappropriate message tags in the quest of acquiring more incentive, a distributed reputation model (DRM) is developed and consolidated with the proposed incentive scheme. DRM takes into account inputs from multiple users like ratings for the relevance of annotations in the message, message quality, etc. The proposed scheme safeguards the network from congestion due to uncooperative or selfish nodes in the system. The performance evaluation shows that our approach delivers more high priority and high quality messages while reducing traffic at a slightly lower message delivery ratio compared to ChitChat --Abstract, page iv

Ending Poverty in Our Generation: Save the Children's Vision for a Post-2015 Framework

The Millennium development Goals -- one of the most resonant and unifying agreements in political history -- reach a turning point in 2015, the deadline for their realisation. We must do everything in our power to achieve them. But we also need to find an agreed way forward on work that will remain to be accomplished. This report sets out save the Children's vision for a new development framework -- consisting of ten goals, plus targets and indicators -- that will support the creation of a world where all people everywhere realise their human rights within a generation.Recognising that the global consultation is ongoing, and many voices are still to be heard, we do not present this as a final position. Rather, it as an indicator of our priorities and -- we hope -- a contribution to the process of crystallising the eventual solution

A Constitutive Communication Lens of Stakeholder Participation in Post-Disaster Construction

A diverse set of stakeholders converge to facilitate reconstruction and recovery in post-disaster settings. Shared decision-making, implementation and evaluation are crucial to ensure reconstructed infrastructure delivers a high level of service that reflects local needs and capacities. Despite attempts by organizations to include local knowledge in post-disaster design and construction to enhance operation and maintenance of infrastructure, participation processes are failing consider local perspectives. In contrast to technocratic solutions, this research focuses on the communication processes that constitute participation to understand how local knowledge might be better incorporated in reconstruction efforts. Building on theory of participation archetypes, we analyzed twenty shelter reconstruction projects in the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan, examining how communication practice shaped membership. Findings show that stakeholder groups use different communicative strategies to participate in reconstruction. Non-governmental organization processes created a communication deficit in their favor through a reliance on textual sources and aggregation of local input, government agencies distanced themselves to limit uncertainty of losing infrastructure support and communities withheld knowledge to limit resource contributions. Based upon this analysis, we recommend that aid organizations ensure that communication moves beyond unidirectional approaches by starting design development earlier with communities and that alternatives to textual sources are provided for local partners.National Science Foundatio

Environmentally-Aware and Energy-Efficient Multi-Drone Coordination and Networking for Disaster Response

In a Disaster Response Management (DRM) Scenario, Communication and Coordination Are Limited, and Absence of Related Infrastructure Hinders Situational Awareness. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Drones Provide New Capabilities for DRM to Address These Barriers. However, There is a Dearth of Works that Address Multiple Heterogeneous Drones Collaboratively Working Together to Form a Flying Ad-Hoc Network (FANET) with Air-To-Air and Air-To-Ground Links that Are Impacted By: (I) Environmental Obstacles, (Ii) Wind, and (Iii) Limited Battery Capacities. in This Paper, We Present a Novel Environmentally-Aware and Energy-Efficient Multi-Drone Coordination and Networking Scheme that Features a Reinforcement Learning (RL) based Location Prediction Algorithm Coupled with a Packet Forwarding Algorithm for Drone-To-Ground Network Establishment. We Specifically Present Two Novel Drone Location-Based Solutions (I.e., Heuristic Greedy, and Learning-Based) in Our Packet Forwarding Approach to Support Application Requirements. These Requirements Involve Improving Connectivity (I.e., Optimize Packet Delivery Ratio and End-To-End Delay) Despite Environmental Obstacles, and Improving Efficiency (I.e., by Lower Energy Use and Time Consumption) Despite Energy Constraints. We Evaluate Our Scheme with State-Of-The-Art Networking Algorithms in a Trace-Based DRM FANET Simulation Testbed Featuring Rural and Metropolitan Areas. Results Show that Our Strategy overcomes Obstacles and Can Achieve 81-To-90% of Network Connectivity Performance Observed under No Obstacle Conditions. in the Presence of Obstacles, Our Scheme Improves the Network Connectivity Performance by 14-To-38% While Also Providing 23-To-54% of Energy Savings in Rural Areas; the Same in Metropolitan Areas Achieved an Average of 25% Gain When Compared with Baseline Obstacle Awareness Approaches with 15-To-76% of Energy Savings