Next Edition of IHO S-57 (Edition 4): Much more than ENCs

The primary goal for the next edition of S-57 (Edition 4) is to support a greater variety of hydrographic-related digital data sources, products, and customers. This includes matrix and raster data, 3-D and time-varying data (x, y, z, and time), and new applications that go beyond the scope of traditional hydrography (e.g., high-density bathymetry, seafloor classification, marine GIS). It will also enable the use of web-based services for data discovery, browsing, query, analysis, and transfer. S-57 Edition 4.0 will not be an incremental revision of Edition 3.1. Edition 4 will be a new standard that includes both additional content and a new data exchange format. Due to the world-wide prominence of ISO standards, IHO S-57 will conform to the “ISO way” of standards development. However, alignment with the ISO 19100 series of geographic standards will require a re-structuring of S-57 Edition 4. More specifically, this requires a new framework, and a new (or revised) set of terms used to describe the components of S-57 Edition 4.0. The present intention is to release Edition 4.0 in late 2006. Edition 3.1 will continue to be valid for many years to come -- even after Edition 4.0 has been released. Since most ECDIS equipment use ENC data conforming to the ENC Product Specification contained in S-57 Edition 3.1, Hydrographic Offices should continue to produce Edition 3.1 ENC data in order to continue to improve world-wide ENC coverage. Current plans are to release a new ENC Product Specification approximately one year after publication of S-57 Edition 4.0

Global-Scale Resource Survey and Performance Monitoring of Public OGC Web Map Services

One of the most widely-implemented service standards provided by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to the user community is the Web Map Service (WMS). WMS is widely employed globally, but there is limited knowledge of the global distribution, adoption status or the service quality of these online WMS resources. To fill this void, we investigated global WMSs resources and performed distributed performance monitoring of these services. This paper explicates a distributed monitoring framework that was used to monitor 46,296 WMSs continuously for over one year and a crawling method to discover these WMSs. We analyzed server locations, provider types, themes, the spatiotemporal coverage of map layers and the service versions for 41,703 valid WMSs. Furthermore, we appraised the stability and performance of basic operations for 1210 selected WMSs (i.e., GetCapabilities and GetMap). We discuss the major reasons for request errors and performance issues, as well as the relationship between service response times and the spatiotemporal distribution of client monitoring sites. This paper will help service providers, end users and developers of standards to grasp the status of global WMS resources, as well as to understand the adoption status of OGC standards. The conclusions drawn in this paper can benefit geospatial resource discovery, service performance evaluation and guide service performance improvements.Comment: 24 pages; 15 figure

Factors Affecting QoS in Tanzania Cellular Networks

Quality of service in cellular communication system is a topic that recently has raised much interest for many researchers. This paper presents the findings obtained from the study on factors affecting QoS in Tanzania cellular networks. The study was carried out in Dodoma Municipal, Tanzania. The study employed cross sectional research design. Information was gathered from structured questionnaire of 240 subscribers during the study of quality of service for the four leading cellular networks in Tanzania. Both qualitative and quantitative data from field survey were collected and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Excel software. The study findings show that the major factors that degrade QoS in Tanzania cellular networks are inadequate network infrastructure, lack of fairness from service providers and little efforts taken by the government in enforcing the national agreed standards. Other factors are lack of reliable end to end systems, geographical terrain, low quality handsets, poor government monitoring on standards and lack of subscriber skills and training.Comment: 7 Page

A Survey of Volunteered Open Geo-Knowledge Bases in the Semantic Web

Over the past decade, rapid advances in web technologies, coupled with innovative models of spatial data collection and consumption, have generated a robust growth in geo-referenced information, resulting in spatial information overload. Increasing 'geographic intelligence' in traditional text-based information retrieval has become a prominent approach to respond to this issue and to fulfill users' spatial information needs. Numerous efforts in the Semantic Geospatial Web, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), and the Linking Open Data initiative have converged in a constellation of open knowledge bases, freely available online. In this article, we survey these open knowledge bases, focusing on their geospatial dimension. Particular attention is devoted to the crucial issue of the quality of geo-knowledge bases, as well as of crowdsourced data. A new knowledge base, the OpenStreetMap Semantic Network, is outlined as our contribution to this area. Research directions in information integration and Geographic Information Retrieval (GIR) are then reviewed, with a critical discussion of their current limitations and future prospects

Identifying and Evaluating Equity Provisions in State Health Care Reform

Identifies state policies that promote equitable access to quality health care and analyzes whether reform proposals in five states meet those equity benchmarks. Discusses innovative measures and the need to implement truly universal health insurance

Accessing Social Statistics

published or submitted for publicatio

Health Insurance Exchanges Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)

[Excerpt] A health insurance exchange is a structured marketplace for the sale and purchase of health insurance. “Customers” can include individuals and businesses. The insurance companies (“issuers”) that choose to sell their products through an exchange may be required to comply with consumer protections, such as offering insurance to every qualified applicant. Exchanges, however, are not issuers; rather, exchanges contract with issuers who will make insurance products available for purchase through exchanges. Essentially, exchanges are designed to bring together buyers and sellers of insurance, with the goal of increasing access to coverage. This rather broad definition allows for a great deal of latitude, and therefore variance, in the number and scope of responsibilities covered in a particular exchange. For example, the role of an exchange may be more or less administrative: facilitating the sale and purchase of health insurance. An administrative-only exchange may function similar to websites that allow individuals to find airline travel options and purchase tickets (e.g., Kayak). Such an approach does not necessarily change or establish standards for the products being sold (whether they are health plans or airline tickets), or limit the types of buyers and sellers participating in the exchange, beyond what already exists in the private market. An example of a minimalist health insurance exchange is the Utah Health Exchange. Essentially, Utah’s exchange is an Internet portal that is “designed to connect consumers to the information they need to make informed health care choices, and in the case of health insurance, to execute that choice electronically.” At the other end of the spectrum, an exchange may have multiple functions beyond the role of insurance marketplace. For instance, an exchange may be responsible for implementing regulatory standards, such as requiring standardization of all products offered through it or imposing requirements on exchange participants. An exchange may be responsible for determining eligibility for exchange plans and government-provided subsidies. An example of a more regulatory-oriented exchange is the Health Connector (“Connector”) in Massachusetts. Similar to Utah’s exchange, the Connector provides an online tool to allow consumers and others to find commercial health insurance options available to them. In addition, the Connector also manages a publicly subsidized coverage program for low-income state residents, and offers certificates to exempt individuals from the state’s individual mandate, among other duties. An exchange may occupy a physical location and/or be virtual (i.e., performing its functions on the Internet). It may be governed by a public agency, a private entity, or a hybrid organization. The insurance options offered through an exchange may also vary across insurance markets and plan types. Nonetheless, while the authority and responsibilities of an exchange may vary, its fundamental purpose is to provide a venue where insurance companies may sell their insurance products and purchasers can compare and choose from multiple options available to them. Thus an exchange allows for “one-stop shopping” with respect to health insurance. The exchange concept was included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA, P.L. 111-148, as amended), as a means to increase access to health insurance. While ACA places many restrictions on the design and function of exchanges, the law also leaves many operational decisions to the states. Such flexibility will likely lead to variation in exchange models across the states. For example, a state may decide to operate an exchange by itself, establish an exchange in partnership with the federal government, or leave this work entirely to the federal government. States had to declare whether they will have a state exchange by December 14, 2012. By February 15, 2013, states must declare whether they will operate an exchange in partnership with the federal government. The initial open enrollment period for all exchanges will begin on October 1, 2013, and all exchanges are to be operational and offering coverage on January 1, 2014. This report looks at the requirements for exchanges established in ACA and provides information on the requirements and choices available to states for the establishment, functions, financial responsibilities, and coverage of the ACA exchanges. It also includes a brief discussion of the interactions between exchanges and other provisions in the law

The Next Edition of IHO-S-57 (4.0): A Primer

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is an intergovernmental consultative and technical organization that was established in 1921 to support the safety of navigation and the protection of the marine environment. IHO Special Publication 57 (IHO S-57) is the IHO Transfer Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data. It is the standard to be used for the exchange of digital hydrographic data between hydrographic offices (HOs), and for the distribution of hydrographic data to manufacturers, mariners and other data users (e.g., GIS). It was developed so that the transfer all forms of hydrographic data would take place in a consistent and uniform manner. To date, S-57 3.0/3.1 has been used almost exclusively for encoding Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) required for ECDIS. However, S-57 is intended to support all types of hydrographic data. In order to do so, S-57 Edition 3.1 needs to expand in order to accommodate new requirements. This “Primer” explains what is planned in regard to the next edition of IHO S-57 (Edition 4). In particular, it provides a brief description about process required to align with ISO geospatial standards and the benefits to be gained. Included is an explanation about the scope of activity of the TSMAD S-57 Edition 4 Sub-WG, and how others may contribute to the process

Private Health Insurance Market Reforms in the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

[Excerpt] This report provides background information about the private health insurance market, including market segments and regulation. It then describes each ACA market reform. The reforms are grouped under the following categories: obtaining coverage; keeping coverage; cost of purchasing coverage; covered services; cost-sharing limits; consumer assistance and other health care protections; and plan requirements related to health care providers. The Appendix of the report provides details about the types of plans that are required to comply with the different reforms

MSUO Information Technology and Geographical Information Systems: Common Protocols & Procedures. Report to the Marine Safety Umbrella Operation

The Marine Safety Umbrella Operation (MSUO) facilitates the cooperation between Interreg funded Marine Safety Projects and maritime stakeholders. The main aim of MSUO is to permit efficient operation of new projects through Project Cooperation Initiatives, these include the review of the common protocols and procedures for Information Technology (IT) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). This study carried out by CSA Group and the National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG) reviews current spatial information standards in Europe and the data management methodologies associated with different marine safety projects. International best practice was reviewed based on the combined experience of spatial data research at NCG and initiatives in the US, Canada and the UK relating to marine security service information and acquisition and integration of large marine datasets for ocean management purposes. This report identifies the most appropriate international data management practices that could be adopted for future MSUO projects