Multi-dimensional modelling for the national mapping agency: a discussion of initial ideas, considerations, and challenges

The Ordnance Survey, the National Mapping Agency (NMA) for Great Britain, has recently begun to research the possible extension of its 2-dimensional geographic information into a multi-dimensional environment. Such a move creates a number of data creation and storage issues which the NMA must consider. Many of these issues are highly relevant to all NMA’s and their customers alike, and are presented and explored here. This paper offers a discussion of initial considerations which NMA’s face in the creation of multi-dimensional datasets. Such issues include assessing which objects should be mapped in 3 dimensions by a National Mapping Agency, what should be sensibly represented dynamically, and whether resolution of multi-dimensional models should change over space. This paper also offers some preliminary suggestions for the optimal creation method for any future enhanced national height model for the Ordnance Survey. This discussion includes examples of problem areas and issues in both the extraction of 3-D data and in the topological reconstruction of such. 3-D feature extraction is not a new problem. However, the degree of automation which may be achieved and the suitability of current techniques for NMA’s remains a largely unchartered research area, which this research aims to tackle. The issues presented in this paper require immediate research, and if solved adequately would mark a cartographic paradigm shift in the communication of geographic information – and could signify the beginning of the way in which NMA’s both present and interact with their customers in the future

A conceptual framework for development of sustainable development indicators

There was a boom in the development of sustainable development indicators (SDIs) after notion of sustainability became popular through Bruntland Commission's report. Since then numerous efforts have been made worldwide in constructing SDIs at global, national and local scales, but in India not a single city has registered any initiative for indicator development . Motivated by this dearth of studies added to the prevailing sustainability risks in million plus cities in India, a research is being undertaken at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development and Research (IGIDR), Mumbai, India, to develop a set of sustainable indicators to study the resource dynamics of the city of Mumbai. As a first step in the process, the ground for development of SDIs is prepared through the development of a framework. A multi-view black box (MVBB) framework has been constructed by eliminating the system component from the extended urban metabolism model (EUMM) and introducing three-dimensional views of economic efficiency (EE), social wellbeing (SW), and ecological acceptability (EA). Domain-based classification was adopted to facilitate a scientifically credible set of indicators. The important domain areas are identified and applying MVBB framework, a model has been developed for each domain.Urban metabolism, Resources transformation, Economic efficiency, Society, Ecology, Monitoring and evaluation, City development, Black box, Productization of process

Neural networks versus multiple regression : can they explain strategic performance?

This paper evaluates how effective are neural networks versus multiple regression on identifying the economic and financial variables that determine the goodness of the corporate strategic choices and releases the results obtained on the evaluation of strategies. As research sample, we used the strategic decisions taken by the Portuguese financial services industry (banks and insurance companies). Based on the data collected by a questionnaire that was sent to all of the Portuguese financial firms, we were able to run several linear regressions, as well as neural networks, towards justifying firms performance based on their strategic choices, which were decomposed into four dimensions: technology adoption, strategic alliances, geographic based strategies and attention focused on competitive aspects. Even though the relevance of the four strategic dimensions was observable through linear regression analysis, neural networks always provided an R-square several points above the equivalent multiple linear regression.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

What turns a product into a traditional one?

Consumer interest in traditional food products (TFPs) has increased in recent decades. The concept of TFPs is made up of seven dimensions. However, it is not yet clear what the contributions of these dimensions are to the perception of the traditional image of a specific product. In addition, the effects of constructs such as habit, product involvement and objective and subjective knowledge on the traditional character of a product have not been explored either. The aims of this work were to evaluate the influence of the dimensions of the traditional food concept on the perception of mezcal and tequila and to understand consumer’s perception of the traditional character of the beverages through their segmentation characteristics. Eight hundred consumers were surveyed in four Mexican cities. A questionnaire was designed to assess the constructs, TFPs’ dimensions, sociodemographic information and consumption patterns. Results showed that the dimensions of the traditional concept allowed a better understanding of the traditional character of the product, as well as their individual relevance showing that frequent consumption is not always linked to the traditional character of a product. Three clusters were obtained for both products based on the assessed dimensions of the traditional concept. The presence of the segments showed variations in the contribution of the different dimensions to the concept of “traditional”. Geographic location, special dates and sensory dimensions are determinant in the traditional perception of both beverages, which is useful to design effective strategies to promote rational and responsible consumption.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Types of governance in education: a quantitative analysis

This study creates a typology of education systems. It uses empirical analysis to deter-mine six types of education governance on the basis of various factors such as the de-gree of state involvement or funding sources, and structural differences of average time spent on homework or the degree of support for low achievers. It reveals differences in output among these types as measured by student performance, and relative equality of performance. The typology reflects similarities in governance of education among groups of countries, and indicates that common geography and history may be more of a linking factor than expected in a globalized world. --

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

Tourism and integrated development: a geographic perspective

This article discusses the influence of tourism on integrated development from spatial and temporal points of view. The growth of tourism as an activity has been acknowledged from all parts of the world and it appears the tourism sector is making a lot of contribution to economic development of countries that have developed their tourism potentials. Many empirical studies have come up with evidence that suggests that there exists a relationship between tourism demand and other variables such as transportation and spatial behaviour of tourists. Due to the infancy of tourism as a development strategy in the developing countries only little work has been done to address theoretical underpinnings of tourism and integrated development within the geographic framework. The importance of spatial integration makes geography an integral aspect of development that may be of invaluable relevance to the understanding of tourism growth. Arguments in this paper are marshalled on three levels: the geographers’ view of integrated development; tourism and economic development; and geographic question in tourism and integrated development. It is believed that with the integrated development of tourism at all geographic scales, spatial inequity would be drastically reduced