5,528 research outputs found
The National Dialogue on the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review
Six years after its creation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) undertook the first Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) to inform the design and implementation of actions to ensure the safety of the United States and its citizens. This review, mandated by the Implementing the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007, represents the first comprehensive examination of the homeland security strategy of the nation. The QHSR includes recommendations addressing the long-term strategy and priorities of the nation for homeland security and guidance on the programs, assets, capabilities, budget, policies, and authorities of the department.Rather than set policy internally and implement it in a top-down fashion, DHS undertook the QHSR in a new and innovative way by engaging tens of thousands of stakeholders and soliciting their ideas and comments at the outset of the process. Through a series of three-week-long, web-based discussions, stakeholders reviewed materials developed by DHS study groups, submitted and discussed their own ideas and priorities, and rated or "tagged" others' feedback to surface the most relevant ideas and important themes deserving further consideration.Key FindingsThe recommendations included: (1) DHS should enhance its capacity for coordinating stakeholder engagement and consultation efforts across its component agencies, (2) DHS and other agencies should create special procurement and contracting guidance for acquisitions that involve creating or hosting such web-based engagement platforms as the National Dialogue, and (3) DHS should begin future stakeholder engagements by crafting quantitative metrics or indicators to measure such outcomes as transparency, community-building, and capacity
Enhancing the role of the voluntary and community sector - a case study of the Yorkshire and Humber Region
This report was commissioned by the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to evaluate at ground level, using the Yorkshire and Humberside region as a case study, what is currently being achieved by the Prison and Probation Services in working with the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS); and to identify and provide analysis of perceived barriers and make recommendations to improve the engagement of the sector
Cities and climate change: Strategic options for philanthropic support
Now, more than ever, cities are at the front lines of U.S. climate action. As national action stalls,
there is still a daunting amount to be done in reducing human-generated climate emissions.
Fortunately, this report comes in the wake of a groundswell of initiatives to engage on climate
change by cities, countries, and states across the U.S. Several important and thorough reports
on the types of mitigation actions cities can take have recently been released. We already have
examples of cities taking significant leadership roles in reducing their own climate emissions,
from New York and Boston to Austin, Boulder, and Los Angeles - yet U.S. climate emissions
continue to rise, and cities have an outsized role to play.
The purpose of this project is to review current U.S. city climate activities in order to identify
areas where additional investment by foundations could help accelerate city action to reduce
urban greenhouse gas emissions. The focus of the inquiry is on aggressive actions cities can take
that significantly increase their âlevel of ambitionâ to achieve emissions reductions on an
accelerated timetable. City strategies on climate adaptation are not encompassed in this
project. [TRUNCATED
Serbia - public sector accounting review : report on the enhancement of public sector financial reporting
The governmentâs public financial management (PFM) Reform Program 2016-2020 foresees the gradual transition of public sector financial reporting from a cash basis to an accrual basis of accounting and the application of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). This will significantly improve the quality of financial information and should enable better informed decision-making, more efficient use of public funds and resources and improved fiscal performance. This Report on the Enhancement of Public Sector Financial Reporting is one output of the Serbia Public Sector Accounting Reform Technical Assistance project funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) through the Strengthening Accountability and Fiduciary Environment (SAFE) Trust Fund under the Public Sector Accounting and Reporting Program (PULSAR) which provides support for the development and implementation of public sector accounting standards. This report supports the development of a plan towards that goal by assessing the institutional framework for public sector accounting as well as the gap between Serbian public sector generally accepted accounting principles (PS GAAP) and IPSAS
Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns
Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse
National Library initiatives : the UK Higher Education experience
Creation of internetworking infrastructure has long since taken on an international character and Derek Law's essay serves to inform us of just how variable the effort may be from one nation to the next, given differences in political traditions and institutional structures, not to mention the character of educational traditions. The Follet program in the United Kingdom has placed a premium on broad access by end users different from the somewhat market driven approach in the United States. It has also taken advantage of the opportunities provided by central authority which may seem unthinkable in the United States. At the same time common values and strategies are also evident, particularly the commitment to strengthening the information (read "knowledge ") creating role of higher education and promoting training of students in advanced information skills as a direct benefit to healthy economic growth. Similarly, the goals of access without charge to institutional users and subscription based funding will be familiar to American librarians who continue to pursue these goals
Transition UGent: a bottom-up initiative towards a more sustainable university
The vibrant think-tank âTransition UGentâ engaged over 250 academics, students and people from the university management in suggesting objectives and actions for the Sustainability Policy of Ghent University (Belgium). Founded in 2012, this bottom-up initiative succeeded to place sustainability high on the policy agenda of our university. Through discussions within 9 working groups and using the transition management method, Transition UGent developed system analyses, sustainability visions and transition paths on 9 fields of Ghent University: mobility, energy, food, waste, nature and green, water, art, education and research. At the moment, many visions and ideas find their way into concrete actions and policies.
In our presentation we focused on the broad participative process, on the most remarkable structural results (e.g. a formal and ambitious Sustainability Vision and a student-led Sustainability Office) and on recent actions and experiments (e.g. a sustainability assessment on food supply in student restaurants, artistic COP21 activities, ambitious mobility plans, food leftovers projects, an education network on sustainability controversies, a transdisciplinary platform on Sustainable Cities). We concluded with some recommendations and reflections on this transition approach, on the important role of âpolicy entrepreneursâ and student involvement, on lock-ins and bottlenecks, and on convincing skeptical leaders
More effective social services
In June 2014, the Productivity Commission was asked to look at ways to improve how government agencies commission and purchase social services. The final report was released in mid-September 2015. It makes several recommendations about how to make social services more responsive, client-focused, accountable and innovative.
The final inquiry report has two key messages. First, system-wide improvement can be achieved and should be pursued. Second, New Zealand needs better ways to join up services for those with multiple, complex needs. Capable clients should be empowered with more control over the services they receive. Those less capable need close support and a response tailored to their needs, without arbitrary distinctions between services and funds divided into âhealthâ, âeducationâ, etc. These are significant, but extremely worthwhile, changes for New Zealand
Information Outlook, September 2005
Volume 9, Issue 9https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2005/1008/thumbnail.jp
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