Mapping Big Data into Knowledge Space with Cognitive Cyber-Infrastructure

Big data research has attracted great attention in science, technology, industry and society. It is developing with the evolving scientific paradigm, the fourth industrial revolution, and the transformational innovation of technologies. However, its nature and fundamental challenge have not been recognized, and its own methodology has not been formed. This paper explores and answers the following questions: What is big data? What are the basic methods for representing, managing and analyzing big data? What is the relationship between big data and knowledge? Can we find a mapping from big data into knowledge space? What kind of infrastructure is required to support not only big data management and analysis but also knowledge discovery, sharing and management? What is the relationship between big data and science paradigm? What is the nature and fundamental challenge of big data computing? A multi-dimensional perspective is presented toward a methodology of big data computing.Comment: 59 page

Visual analytics: The role of design and art in the emerging field of big data

Driven by the increasing complexity of data sets the need for sophisticated analytics algorithms coupled with visualization of both data and information is growing exponentially in every discipline and industry. Artists, designers and visual thinkers have an important role to play in the presentation and interpretation of data. The Visual Analytics Lab (VAL) at OCAD University is a preeminent research lab for innovation and training in information and scientific visualization and visual analytics. As well as its perspective on the field, two brief case studies are provided, one for health care and the second for media navigation and analysi

Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

Birdwatching and birding by ear : An accessible and inclusive tourism proposal for the city of Lagos

Accessible tourism goes beyond the physical dimension, associating services with sensory experiences, considering the specificities of people with disabilities. Birdwatching and birding by ear can be a good example of an activity that links visiting new places with outdoor activities. It can bring positive outcomes to the visitors through the benefits of being outside and connecting with nature, consequently, with ecosystem services; moreover, it can be an inclusive and accessible activity. Urban areas are increasing all over the world. In a sustainable context, green and blue infrastructures have received increasing attention in urban strategies. They create new habitats, contributing to urban biodiversity and, at the same time, providing many ecosystem services that guaranty well-being for the communities. The main goal of this study was to inventory and characterize the bird community in the urban area of Lagos, a touristic city in the South of Portugal. Birdwatching and birding by ear in the city could have the potential for an inclusive and accessible touristic activity. Three different sites along the city were sampled and a total of 35 species were sighted and identified. Some of these species could be identified through specific websites which describe the bird and give the respective bird singing sound. Most species identified were migratory, which increases the potential to sight different species through the year. The three sites' location has high potential to be integrated into accessible walking routes or tours, which increases the relevance of this study.Peer Reviewe

Sensing the Waterscape - Re-Assembling the Politics of Climate Change and Displacement in Bangkok, Thailand

The effects of climate change on human society and urban metropolises in the Global South, such as Bangkok, have been widely discussed in academic and policy circles. In the last few decades, debates on climate change and displacement have particularly captured the attention of the media, policymakers and academics. So-called “climate refugees” have advanced as the “human face of climate change”. Critically examining the literature on the relationship between climate change and displacement that either sees this relationship as deterministic (so-called Maximalist position) or complex (so-called Minimalist position), this dissertation seeks to reorient debates on climate change and displacement to consider the link between both compounds as an emerging assemblage. The dissertation argues that such a perspective allows for a more-than Western ontology, a nuanced engagement with urban spaces such as Bangkok, in which climate change and displacement begin to materialise and contribute to a political quest for open futures. Within this emerging assemblage, affective forces, human and non-human actors, the urban materiality of a fragmented waterscape shapes and influences the politics of climate change and displacement. Through an intra-urban comparative research design that utilises a range of qualitative and ethnographic methods (e.g. participant observations, semi-structured interviews, walk-along interviews), the emerging heterogeneous urban climate change and displacement assemblage is investigated. In three empirical chapters, the dissertation attends to the historical fragmentation of Bangkok’s waterscape and its connections to contemporary and future climate change and displacement; the 2011 inundation in which wide parts of the city were flooded, involving diverse topologies of displacement; and finally two urban struggles over the re-engineering of Bangkok’s waterscape, in which the political contestations that are at stake within the climate change and displacement assemblage are analysed and compared. The dissertation argues that through re-framing debates on climate change and migration through an assemblage approach, a more sensory, nuanced, and ultimately more complex understanding of the political nature of the relationship between climate change and displacement is advanced

Eight grand challenges in socio-environmental systems modeling

Modeling is essential to characterize and explore complex societal and environmental issues in systematic and collaborative ways. Socio-environmental systems (SES) modeling integrates knowledge and perspectives into conceptual and computational tools that explicitly recognize how human decisions affect the environment. Depending on the modeling purpose, many SES modelers also realize that involvement of stakeholders and experts is fundamental to support social learning and decision-making processes for achieving improved environmental and social outcomes. The contribution of this paper lies in identifying and formulating grand challenges that need to be overcome to accelerate the development and adaptation of SES modeling. Eight challenges are delineated: bridging epistemologies across disciplines; multi-dimensional uncertainty assessment and management; scales and scaling issues; combining qualitative and quantitative methods and data; furthering the adoption and impacts of SES modeling on policy; capturing structural changes; representing human dimensions in SES; and leveraging new data types and sources. These challenges limit our ability to effectively use SES modeling to provide the knowledge and information essential for supporting decision making. Whereas some of these challenges are not unique to SES modeling and may be pervasive in other scientific fields, they still act as barriers as well as research opportunities for the SES modeling community. For each challenge, we outline basic steps that can be taken to surmount the underpinning barriers. Thus, the paper identifies priority research areas in SES modeling, chiefly related to progressing modeling products, processes and practices.</jats:p

SSAT 2021: abstracts of the International Conference on Smart, Sustainable, Social, and Accessible Tourism

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