Web 2.0 and Internet Social Networking: A New tool for Disaster Management? - Lessons from Taiwan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Internet social networking tools and the emerging web 2.0 technologies are providing a new way for web users and health workers in information sharing and knowledge dissemination. Based on the characters of immediate, two-way and large scale of impact, the internet social networking tools have been utilized as a solution in emergency response during disasters. This paper highlights the use of internet social networking in disaster emergency response and public health management of disasters by focusing on a case study of the typhoon Morakot disaster in Taiwan.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>In the case of typhoon disaster in Taiwan, internet social networking and mobile technology were found to be helpful for community residents, professional emergency rescuers, and government agencies in gathering and disseminating real-time information, regarding volunteer recruitment and relief supplies allocation. We noted that if internet tools are to be integrated in the development of emergency response system, the accessibility, accuracy, validity, feasibility, privacy and the scalability of itself should be carefully considered especially in the effort of applying it in resource poor settings.</p> <p>Summary</p> <p>This paper seeks to promote an internet-based emergency response system by integrating internet social networking and information communication technology into central government disaster management system. Web-based networking provides two-way communication which establishes a reliable and accessible tunnel for proximal and distal users in disaster preparedness and management.</p

Integrating Diplomacy and Social Media: A Report of the First Annual Aspen Institute Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology

This report is a result of the first annual Aspen Institute Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology, or what we call ADDTech. The concept for this Dialogue originated with longtime communications executive and Aspen Institute Trustee Marc Nathanson. Since his tenure as Chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Nathanson has been concerned with how American diplomacy could more rapidly embrace the changing world of social media and other technologies. He is also a graduate of the University of Denver where former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's father, Josef Korbel, namesake of the Josef Korbel School of International Relations there, was his professor. Thus, Albright, another Institute Trustee, was a natural partner to create the first Dialogue on Diplomacy and Technology. The cast is ably supplemented with Korbel School Dean and former U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill and Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson, who himself was also recently the chair of the BBG.The topic for this inaugural dialogue is how the diplomatic realm could better utilize new communications technologies. The group focused particularly on social media, but needed to differentiate among the various diplomacies in play in the current world, viz., formal state diplomacy, public diplomacy, citizen diplomacy and business diplomacy. Each presents its own array of opportunities as well as problems. In this first Dialogue, much of the time necessarily had to be used to define our terms and learn how technologies are currently being used in each case. To help us in that endeavor, we focused on the Middle East. While the resulting recommendations are therefore rather modest, they set up the series of dialogues to come in the years ahead

Impact of E-government on the Government Performance Management

Abstract. With the world-wide economic globalization, marketization, informatization and knowledge economy era coming, our government is facing an unprecedented challenge, which makes that improving government performance is the only way to survive. As an integrated product of modern government management and information technology, e-government has a huge impact and promotion in government performance management. This article will give a brief description of our government status quo of performance management combining with the support of e-government to government performance management. Keywords: e-government; performance management; government function; impact Both e-government and performance management are important tools for government reform. They have a lot in common. Government performance management has the typical character of process and systematization, while government performance management is a sequential process containing some links of management activities. Performance appraisal is just a link among government performance management, and a whole government performance management runs through the planning, implementing, evaluating and so on in the process of government management. We can understand government performance management from these three aspects of the macro level, medium level and micro level. It includes cognizance of work achievement and contribution of government staff; management evaluation of each government branch and particular government organization; performance appraisal of the whole government. The Design Concept Of E-Government E-government refers to government agencies using modern information and communication technology, integrating management and service through the network technology, to achieve governmental organizations structure and work flow optimization and reorganization in the network, without the constraints of time and space and the separation between departments, and to provide quality and comprehensive, standardized and transparent, international standards of management and services to society. E-government model can be simply summarized into two aspects: First, government departments can achieve office automation, information management, scientific decision-making with the advanced network information technology; Second, with the help of network information platform, the government departments and the community are able to share information and offer services fully, strengthen supervision by the pubic, improve efficiency and promote openness in government affairs and so on. According to the business form of government, e-government consists of three major applications: government information inquiries, public government office and government office automation, Among them, the government information inquiries is to provide policies, rules, regulations and processes the query services for the public and business organizations; public government office is to achieve the government&apos;s office to the pubic ,such as: application and reporting, etc, through the Internet, and increase government efficiency as well as transparency; government information office automation is a way to improve the efficiency of government agencies, such as the submitting documents, message notification and information inquiries. Public and business mainly communicate with e-government platform through government inquiries and public government office, and relevant requests will be delivered to the government staff by th

Banking on Nature's Assets: How Multilateral Development Banks Can Strengthen Development by Using Ecosystem Services

Outlines the benefits of integrating the management of ecosystem services and trade-offs into strategies to improve economic development outcomes, mitigate climate change effects, and reduce economic and human costs. Recommends tools and policy options

Exploring knowledge management integration through EAI in local government domain

Information Technology (IT) infrastructure integration and knowledge management share communal objectives e.g. to make organisations more effective and efficient, agile and innovative, and more responsive to market changes. Such association when assimilates bona fide knowledge management philosophy, it offers the IT departments a headship opportunity for organisational transformation in affiliation with the rest of the establishment. Notwithstanding, in the context of Local Government Authorities (LGAs), the non-integrated nature of the IT infrastructure is associated with inefficient data and knowledge exchange and reduction in LGA services’ quality. Therefore, numerous data inconsistencies and redundancies occur that impact LGA services to their citizenry. LGAs have deployed Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) technological solutions to integrate their legacy with new developed Information Systems (IS). Literature indicates that EAI achieves integration at five layers namely: (a) connectivity, (b) transportation, (c) transformation, (d) process integration and (e) knowledge integration. This research adapts a Revised Model for Integration Layers (REAL) and tests through a case study in a local authority. The results indicate that cases leading to data inconsistencies and replication can be prevented by integrating knowledge through EAI

Integrating Building Information Modeling and Health and Safety for Onsite Construction

Background: Health and safety (H&S) on a construction site can either make or break a contractor, if not properly managed. The usage of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for H&S on construction execution has the potential to augment practitioner understanding of their sites, and by so doing reduce the probability of accidents. This research explores BIM usage within the construction industry in relation to H&S communication. Methods: In addition to an extensive literature review, a questionnaire survey was conducted to gather information on the embedment of H&S planning with the BIM environment for site practitioners. Results: The analysis of responses indicated that BIM will enhance the current approach of H&S planning for construction site personnel. Conclusion: From the survey, toolbox talk will have to be integrated with the BIM environment, because it is the predominantly used procedure for enhancing H&S issues within construction sites. The advantage is that personnel can visually understand H&S issues as work progresses during the toolbox talk onsite

A State of the Art of Governance Literature on adaptation to climate change. Towards a research agenda

This report provides a state-of-the-art overview of governance literature on adaptation strategies. What has recent research taught us on adaptation from the perspective of governance and to what research agenda does this lead? This report is structured as followed. Firstly, it will be argued why adaptation is a matter of governance. Secondly, the research methods for the literature study will be outlined. Thirdly, the results of the literature study will portray the findings in terms of the themes and foci with, respectively, environmental studies, spatial planning and development studies, and public administration studies. Finally, a comparative analysis of these findings will lead to a research agenda for future research on governance of adaptatio

Integrating information and knowledge for enterprise innovation

It has widely been accepted that enterprise integration, can be a source of socio-technical and cultural problems within organisations wishing to provide a focussed end-to-end business service. This can cause possible “straitjacketing” of business process architectures, thus suppressing responsive business re-engineering and competitive advantage for some companies. Accordingly, the current typology and emergent forms of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) technologies are set in the context of understanding information and knowledge integration philosophies. As such, key influences and trends in emerging IS integration choices, for end-to-end, cost-effective and flexible knowledge integration, are examined. As touch points across and outside organisations proliferate, via work-flow and relationship management-driven value innovation, aspects of knowledge refinement and knowledge integration pose challenges to maximising the potential of innovation and sustainable success, within enterprises. This is in terms of the increasing propensity for data fragmentation and the lack of effective information management, in the light of information overload. Furthermore, the nature of IS mediation which is inherent within decision making and workflow-based business processes, provides the basis for evaluation of the effects of information and knowledge integration. Hence, the authors propose a conceptual, holistic evaluation framework which encompasses these ideas. It is thus argued that such trends, and their implications regarding enterprise IS integration to engender sustainable competitive advantage, require fundamental re-thinking

BIMing the architectural curricula: integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) in architectural education

Building Information Modelling (BIM) reflects the current heightened transformation within the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Industry and the Facilities and Management (FM) sector, offering a host of benefits from increased efficiency, accuracy, speed, co-ordination, consistency, energy analysis, project cost reduction etc to various stake holders from owners to architects, engineers, contractors and other built environment professionals. Many countries around the world are responding to this paradigm shift including the United Kingdom (UK). The Cabinet office took the decision in 2011 to make the use of collaborative 3D BIM technology mandatory for all public sector construction contracts by 2016 (Cabinet Office, 2011). According to Smith and Tardif, despite certain myths and misconceptions surrounding BIM, its rate of implementation has been much faster in comparison to the availability of professionals skilled in use of BIM, thus creating a skill gap in the design and construction industry (Smith and Tardif, cited in Barison and Santos, 2010a). This article aims at bridging the gap between the graduate skill sets and the changing needs of the profession. The research methodology adopted consists of thoroughly reviewing the existing literature in this subject area coupled with carrying out a survey of accredited Schools of Architecture in the UK. The analysis of the survey questionnaire results shows the extent to which BIM is currently being taught and identifies the barriers where its implementation has either been slow or not yet started. The paper highlights the fact that there has been considerable delay in the successful integration of BIM in the Schools of Architecture in the UK, thus emphasising the need for expeditiously training and preparing students in the use of BIM making them ready to effectively perform in a BIM enabled work arena