Surface water flood warnings in England: overview, Assessment and recommendations based on survey responses and workshops

Following extensive surface water flooding (SWF) in England in summer 2007, progress has been made in improving the management and prediction of this type of flooding. A rainfall threshold-based extreme rainfall alert (ERA) service was launched in 2009 and superseded in 2011 by the surface water flood risk assessment (SWFRA). Through survey responses from local authorities (LAs) and the outcome of workshops with a range of flood professionals, this paper examines the understanding, benefits, limitations and ways to improve the current SWF warning service. The current SWFRA alerts are perceived as useful by district and county LAs, although their understanding of them is limited. The majority of LAs take action upon receipt of SWFRA alerts, and their reactiveness to alerts appears to have increased over the years and as SWFRA superseded ERA. This is a positive development towards increased resilience to SWF. The main drawback of the current service is its broad spatial resolution. Alternatives for providing localised SWF forecast and warnings were analysed, and a two-tier national-local approach, with pre-simulated scenario-based local SWF forecasting and warning systems, was deemed most appropriate by flood professionals given current monetary, human and technological resources

Global Innovation Policy Index

Ranks fifty-five nations' strategies to boost innovation capacity: policies on trade, scientific research, information and communications technologies, tax, intellectual property, domestic competition, government procurement, and high-skill immigration

The effective implementation of total quality management and leadership in Saudi universities: A review and framework to enhancing HE strategy

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) and the best relevant leadership practice in order to improve quality and ranking of Saudi Arabian universities. Many universities and colleges around the world have applied TQM as a tool to enhance the quality of higher education. Due to the increase of recent competition in higher education industry (HE) (e.g., expansion of new universities and research centres in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain), many Middle Eastern universities are trying their best to increase their efficiency and effectiveness in H.E.by adopting TQM principles. Data were collected from four major universities with regards to the ranking and establishment age, primarily through semi-structured interviews, which was supplemented by observations and document analysis. A framework is developed to mitigate and to address the adoption of both TQM and leadership in Saudi Arabian universities

Export Control Regulations in the United Arab Emirates - Comparative Analysis with the United Kingdom

Governments across the world appreciate the need for checks on the transfer or exportation of commodities, information, software, and technology considered of strategic value. In order to control exports, countries rely on laws, treaties, international arrangements and other related instruments. In the current case, the UAE is largely dependent on Federal Law No. 12 of 2008 while the UK depends on the Export Control Act of 2002. It is established that the legislations enact amendments to reflect the dynamic nature of the state environment. However, the entry into international arrangements supports the view that the fight against trading in dual-use, military, or sensitive products require cooperative efforts from state parties in order to attain success. The current paper assesses export controls in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom

Export Control Regulations in the United Arab Emirates - Comparative Analysis with the United Kingdom

Governments across the world appreciate the need for checks on the transfer or exportation of commodities, information, software, and technology considered of strategic value. In order to control exports, countries rely on laws, treaties, international arrangements and other related instruments. In the current case, the UAE is largely dependent on Federal Law No. 12 of 2008 while the UK depends on the Export Control Act of 2002. It is established that the legislations enact amendments to reflect the dynamic nature of the state environment. However, the entry into international arrangements supports the view that the fight against trading in dual-use, military, or sensitive products require cooperative efforts from state parties in order to attain success. The current paper assesses export controls in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom

The complexities of technology-based care : telecare as perceived by care practitioners

Telecare, which offers ‘care at a distance’ (Pols, 2012) through a variety of remote monitoring technologies, has developed rapidly across health and social care policy in many developed countries. Nonetheless, approaches to this development differ; the focus of this paper is the United Kingdom, where implementation has been particularly rapid and ambitious in scope. The paper argues that, while there are clear and tangible benefits from the use of some telecare technologies, there is insufficient research about the complexities of implementation with end users. These complexities include ethical questions raised by the use of monitoring and surveillance equipment, the ability to fine tune technologies to the needs of individuals, and the way in which care relationships may be altered by remote care mediated through technologies. This paper addresses these issues through a particularly under researched area; that is, the perceptions of care practitioners who assess for, and interact with, these technologies. The research was conducted with practitioners using qualitative research methodology. The paper concludes that Telecare practice is uneven in the way it addresses complexities and that more needs to be done to understand the way in which technologies are discussed and utilised by those charged with their implementation

The Untapped Power of Soda Taxes: Incentivizing Consumers, Generating Revenue, and Altering Corporate Behavior

Globally, soda taxes are gaining momentum as powerful interventions to discourage sugar consumption and thereby reduce the growing burden of obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Evidence from early adopters including Mexico and Berkeley, California, confirms that soda taxes can disincentivize consumption through price increases and raise revenue to support government programs. The United Kingdom’s new graduated levy on sweetened beverages is yielding yet another powerful impact: soda manufacturers are reformulating their beverages to significantly reduce the sugar content. Product reformulation – whether incentivized or mandatory – helps reduce overconsumption of sugars at the societal level, moving away from the long-standing notion of individual responsibility in favor of collective strategies to promote health. But as a matter of health equity, soda product reformulation should occur globally, especially in low- and middleincome countries (LMICs), which are increasingly targeted as emerging markets for soda and junk food and are disproportionately impacted by NCDs. As global momentum for sugar reduction increases, governments and public health advocates should harness the power of soda taxes to tackle the economic, social, and informational drivers of soda consumption, driving improvements in food environments and the public’s health

Ex post evaluation of the management and implementation of cohesion policy 2000-06 (ERDF)

This report has been drafted by the European Policies Research Centre (University of Strathclyde) as part of an ex post evaluation of the management and implementation systems for Cohesion policy, 2000-06, which has been commissioned by DG REGIO and which is being managed by EPRC and Metis (Vienna) under European Commission contract no: 2007.CE.16.0.AT.034. The report provides an overview of the main features of management and implementation systems across the EU25 in the 2000-06 period (2004-06 for the EU10) and has been drafted by Professor John Bachtler, Laura Polverari and Frederike Gross, with assistance from Dr Sara Davies and Ruth Downes. The research is based on studies of individual countries undertaken by EPRC together with national experts from each of the EU25 Member States. The authors are grateful for helpful comments from the DG REGIO Evaluation Unit and Geographical Units, in particular Anna Burylo, Veronica Gaffey and Kai Stryczynski. Any errors or omissions remain the responsibility of the authors