43 research outputs found

    How to Achieve Inclusive Growth

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    Rising inequality and widespread poverty, social unrest and polarization, gender and ethnic disparities, declining social mobility, economic fragility, unbalanced growth due to technology and globalization, and existential danger from climate change are urgent global concerns of our day. These issues are intertwined. They therefore require a holistic framework to examine their interplay and bring the various strands together. This book brings together leading academic economists and experts from several international institutions to explain the sources and scale of these challenges. The book summarizes a wide array of empirical evidence and country experiences, lays out practical policy solutions, and devises a comprehensive and unified plan of action for combatting these economic and social disparities. This authoritative book is accessible to policy makers, students, and the general public interested in how to craft a brighter future by building a sustainable, green, and inclusive society in the years ahead

    Air Traffic Management Abbreviation Compendium

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    As in all fields of work, an unmanageable number of abbreviations are used today in aviation for terms, definitions, commands, standards and technical descriptions. This applies in general to the areas of aeronautical communication, navigation and surveillance, cockpit and air traffic control working positions, passenger and cargo transport, and all other areas of flight planning, organization and guidance. In addition, many abbreviations are used more than once or have different meanings in different languages. In order to obtain an overview of the most common abbreviations used in air traffic management, organizations like EUROCONTROL, FAA, DWD and DLR have published lists of abbreviations in the past, which have also been enclosed in this document. In addition, abbreviations from some larger international projects related to aviation have been included to provide users with a directory as complete as possible. This means that the second edition of the Air Traffic Management Abbreviation Compendium includes now around 16,500 abbreviations and acronyms from the field of aviation

    An evaluation of the phase-out management system of an ozone depleting substance HCFC-22 and its environmental and socioeconomic implications in Botswana

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    Climate change and ozone depletion are topical challenges the world over and are both attributed mainly to human activities, particularly emissions of ozone depleting substances (ODSs). One such substance is chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22), a cheap, widely used refrigerant with a high global warming potential of 1780. Botswana is a signatory to the Montreal Protocol (MP), which guides international efforts to phase-out HCFC-22 and requires signatories to develop and implement a country-level Hydrochlorofluorocarbon Phase-out Management Plan (HPMP). This study, which used a mixed methods approach, was conducted to evaluate the phase-out of HCFC-22 management strategies and their environmental and socioeconomic implications in Botswana. A census of nine HCFC-22 importing companies was conducted and probability sampling proportional to size was used to select a sample of 159 respondents from the Department of Meteorological Services, HCFC-22 importers, customs officers from 20 purposively selected Botswana entry ports and HCFC-22 consumers from the importing companies. Category-specific respondent questionnaires and interview guides, site visits and assessment of records were used to gather data. Of particular interest were the annual HCFC-22 importation figures for each company, the Botswana Unified Revenue Services and the National Ozone Unit, as well as the level of compliance of the companies’ HCFC-22 phase-out management practices with relevant national regulations, the Botswana HPMP and the MP resolutions. Botswana’s HCFC-22 importers were found to be moderately to highly compliant to nonregulatory elements rather than regulatory elements. Overall, HCFC-22 consumption decreased from the baseline to 10.5% for the first stage (2013-2015), which was slightly more than the 10% reduction expected. A steady decrease in HCFC-22 consumption was noted towards the 35% target for 2020, largely due to awareness-raising initiatives directed at the surveyed stakeholders. Absolute HCFC-22 consumption dropped by approximately 510400 kgs from 2011-2017 or 28072 ozone depleting potential saved. On the downside, gaps were identified in the industry-wide quota-system, data reporting, prevention of illegal ODS trade, service technician training, user knowledge of alternatives and disposal of ODS equipment. The study recommends the use of a planning, policy formulation and implementation framework that integrates and balances three fundamentals, namely, stakeholder involvement, the process and the plan enablers

    Model Transformation Languages with Modular Information Hiding

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    Model transformations, together with models, form the principal artifacts in model-driven software development. Industrial practitioners report that transformations on larger models quickly get sufficiently large and complex themselves. To alleviate entailed maintenance efforts, this thesis presents a modularity concept with explicit interfaces, complemented by software visualization and clustering techniques. All three approaches are tailored to the specific needs of the transformation domain

    Closing the Loop: the Capacities and Constraints of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D)

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    As a mechanism for collecting and sharing information, information and communications technologies (ICT) hold immense potential for individuals and institutions in low- and middle-income countries. Currently the distribution and adoption of ICTs--particularly mobile devices--has far outpaced the provision of other household services like clean water, sanitation, hygiene, or energy services. At the same time, the development and deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices including cellular- and satellite-connected sensors is facilitating more rapid feedback from remote regions where basic services are most limited. When used in conjunction with economic development or public health interventions, these devices and the feedback they provide can inform operation and maintenance activities for field staff and improve the monitoring and evaluation of outcomes for project stakeholders. This dissertation includes three chapters written as journal articles. While each chapter is framed around the work and research efforts being undertaken by the Sustainable Water, Energy, and Environmental Technologies Lab (SweetLab) at Portland State University, the common thread that weaves all three investigations together is the theme of ICT-enabled programmatic feedback. The first chapter introduces the three theoretical lenses that inform these investigations and the ways that ICTs and the data they provide can (1) serve as more appropriate proxies for measuring access to services, (2) reduce information asymmetries between various stakeholders including communities, governments, implementers, and funders, and (3) enable more robust methodologies for measuring outcomes and impacts of interventions within complex adaptive systems. The second chapter presents a critical review of the methodologies and technologies being used to track progress on sanitation and hygiene development goals. Chapter three describes how simple sensors and weight measurements can be combined with complex machine learning algorithms to facilitate more reliable and cost-effective latrine servicing in informal settlements. Chapter four presents the results from an investigation exploring how near-time feedback from sensors installed on motorized boreholes can improve water service delivery and drought resilience in arid regions of Northern Kenya. Finally, chapter five provides a summary of the three manuscripts and discusses the significance of this research for future investigations

    The use of information and communication technology by emerging commercial farmers in their development in the Western Cape, South Africa

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    Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)Although many researchers have shown JCT can enable development it remains a great challenge to understand the link between ICT4D projects and the development of emerging commercial agriculture. There is a need to realize the potential of information and communication technologies (JCT) for emerging commercial farmer development in order to achieve agriculture expansion and transformation in South Africa. This is important in order for them to partake in the knowledge economy visualized in the 2030 National development plan of South Africa and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030. However in South Africa, it is not yet established which specific JCT are used, how they are used and the extent of deployment if used in the emerging commercial agricultural sector. Few studies have focused on the factors that influence the use of JCT in South African emerging agriculture. This study investigates and attempts to understand the usage of JCT by emerging commercial farmers and the issues that influence ICT use on the West Coast of the Western Cape Province in South Africa. The study investigates the different forms of JCT used, how they are being used, what they are used for, how important these technologies are as enablers of production and the factors that affect their use. The study involved a survey response of 42 emerging commercial farmers and 46 of their farm employees in the Matzikama and Cederberg municipalities. A literature review draws from studies globally. regionally and in South Africa on how ICTs have penetrated and contributed to delivering development in emerging commercial agriculture. Although most emerging commercial farmers cannot afford to adopt JCT fools that are essential in their farming activities almost all who were interviewed acknowledged !he importance of JCT to their businesses. However, among other JCT, mobile phones and television were found to be primarily used for social and entertainment reasons rather than for agricultural purposes. The general findings showed that occupation on farm and JCT Literacy influence the use of ICT by farm employees. On the other hand the gender, capacity of the farmer, off farm income and farm size influences the use of ICT by emerging commercial farmers. Our literature review established some examples from the studies of other researchers and the efforts of multi-lateral institutions such as the FAO and ITU to illustrate how we can improve policy. I recommend that the South African government develop an e-agriculture strategy to monitor development and validation of good practices on the use of ICTs in agriculture and rural development. This strategy will examine emerging trends on the role of ICTs and the challenges faced in reaching scaled, sustainable information service models. This can increase the sustainability of emerging commercial agriculture to contribute to the improvement of the lives of the poor in rural areas. Finally I present research questions for future research

    From survival to social mobility: supporting the informal economy in Santiago de Chile

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    The informal economy represents two-thirds of worldwide employment (OECD 2009) and contributes more than 40% of global GDP (Schneider et al. 2010). It is an especially significant feature of urban labour markets in the Global South, having been a persistent phenomenon in all regions, and expanding in the wake of economic growth in Latin America and Asia in recent decades (OECD 2009). Governmental policies toward the informal economy have taken various forms based on several theoretical approaches (Chen et al. 2001, WIEGO 2014). These range from repressive policies that perceive informal entrepreneurship as a drag on economic growth and poverty reduction, to those promoting their legalisation to foster economic development and others encouraging informal workers’ organisation to resist capitalist forms of exploitation. More recently, strongly supportive municipal initiatives have been put in place to increase informal productivity. This study aims to understand the rationality behind, and the impact and limitations of this emerging supportive policy approach aimed at improving the livelihoods of informal entrepreneurs. It analyses these practices using a mixed-methods approach (ethnography complemented with statistical analysis), on the basis of primary data drawn from 97 face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions, together with a randomised questionnaire survey of 906 workers conducted with the collaboration of a team of field assistants across three informal subsectors in Santiago de Chile: waste-pickers, street vendors and home-based enterprises. In light of the evidence, I argue that granting informal entrepreneurs the right to succeed through municipal support effectively promotes the social and economic inclusion of vulnerable populations. Municipal policy support, in the form of training, capitalisation, access to markets and organisation, can be key to speeding up the growth of enterprises otherwise condemned to stagnation or limited expansion. As part and parcel of this argument, I contend that supporting informal entrepreneurs is vital in a situation in which informal entrepreneurship typically becomes a ‘one way street’ in the absence of decent employment alternatives in the lower tiers of the formal economy. My thesis also suggests that understanding formal-informal linkages can benefit from a selective amalgamation of divergent theoretical approaches, as these two markets operate both in integration (as per structuralist and legalist perspectives), a structure commonly described as exploitative, and separately in a parallel network of informal enterprises (as per dualist perspectives), described as a fairer alternative for informal enterprises to trade products. In light of my findings, I offer concrete suggestions for further improving the nature of municipal policies and the necessity for higher-level supportive approaches to fully unlock the informal economy’s potential

    Juggling with the norms:Everyday practice in an emergency service in Niger

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