Potential applications of geospatial information systems for planning and managing aged care services in Australia

[Abstract]: This paper discusses the potential applications of Geospatial Information Technology (GITs) to assist in planning and managing aged care programs in Australia. Aged care is complex due to the numbers of participants at all levels of including planning of services, investing in capacity, funding, providing services, auditing, monitoring quality, and in accessing and using facilities and services. There is a vast array of data spread across the entities that are joined to aged care. The decision-making process for investment in capacity and service provision might be aided by technology including GIT. This is also expected to assist in managing and analysing the vast amount of demographic, geographic, socio-economic and behavioral data that might indicate current and future demand for services the aged and frail-aged population. Mapping spatio-temporal changes in near real time can assist in the successful planning and management of aged care programs. Accurate information on the location of aged care services centres and mapping the special needs of clients and their service needs may assist in monitoring access to services and assist in identifying areas where there are logistic challenges for accessing services to meet needs. GIT can also identifying migrations of aged people and of the cohorts of the population who are likely to be the next wave of clients for aged care services. GITs include remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) technologies, which can be used to develop a user friendly digital system for monitoring, evaluating and planning aged care and community care in Australia. Whilst remote sensing data can provide current spatiotemporal inventory of features such as locations of carer services, infrastructure, on a consistent and continuous coordinate system, a GIS can assist in storing, cross analysing, modeling and mapping of spatial data pertaining to the needs of the older people. GITs can assist in the development of a single one-stop digital database which will prove a better model for managing aged care in Australia. GIT will also be a component of technologies such as activity monitors to provide tracking functionality. This will assist in tracking dementia sufferers who may be prone to wandering and be exposed to risk

Towards a Layered Architectural View for Security Analysis in SCADA Systems

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems support and control the operation of many critical infrastructures that our society depend on, such as power grids. Since SCADA systems become a target for cyber attacks and the potential impact of a successful attack could lead to disastrous consequences in the physical world, ensuring the security of these systems is of vital importance. A fundamental prerequisite to securing a SCADA system is a clear understanding and a consistent view of its architecture. However, because of the complexity and scale of SCADA systems, this is challenging to acquire. In this paper, we propose a layered architectural view for SCADA systems, which aims at building a common ground among stakeholders and supporting the implementation of security analysis. In order to manage the complexity and scale, we define four interrelated architectural layers, and uses the concept of viewpoints to focus on a subset of the system. We indicate the applicability of our approach in the context of SCADA system security analysis.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Artificial reef monitoring in Florida coastal counties

This bulletin describes artificial reef monitoring programs in Florida. At least half the nation’s human-made marine reefs are estimated to be in Florida waters and high interest exists statewide among fishing, diving, governmental, economic and other stakeholders in the performance of these structures and the habitats that they create. Further, the level and breadth of activity in Florida makes it a bellwether, nationally and worldwide, for interests concerned with aquatic science, ecosystem management and environmental technology for habitat restoration or creation. Recent developments in Florida have prompted increased interest and effort in “monitoring” of reefs. These include extensive studies and disseminating results by the academic research community and the advent of governmental funding for monitoring projects in Florida counties. In response, this study was undertaken to gauge this growing field. Assessment of reef performance—including evaluation of how well they meet objectives for which they were created—has been a neglected subject in many areas of the world. More immediate issues of reef materials selection, siting and deployment usually take precedence in the short-term. A principal readership for this paper is the network of county-level organizations and individuals whose largely independent efforts, taken as a composite, make up much of the Florida reef “program.” Information presented here describes the extent and nature of reef monitoring in Florida counties, how data are managed and aspects of communication about reefs. (16pp.

Areas of outstanding natural beauty management plans - a guide

This is a summary of the guidance produced by the Countryside Agency to assist local authorities, AONB staff units, AONB partners and others concerned with the production and implementation of AONB Management Plans in England. A parallel text has been produced by the Countryside Council for Wales to cover Welsh AONBs. The aims of the guide are to: • assist local authorities and conservation boards to discharge their statutory functions with regard to the production of AONB Management Plans; • help ensure that Management Plans that are produced are appropriate to the needs of the AONB, have the commitment of all AONB partners1 and other stakeholders, are implemented, and their policy objectives achieved. The guide is has statutory force under the 2001 Countryside and Rights of Way Ac

Urban management revolution: intelligent management systems for ubiquitous cities

A successful urban management support system requires an integrated approach. This integration includes bringing together economic, socio-cultural and urban development with a well orchestrated transparent and open decision making mechanism. The paper emphasises the importance of integrated urban management to better tackle the climate change, and to achieve sustainable urban development and sound urban growth management. This paper introduces recent approaches on urban management systems, such as intelligent urban management systems, that are suitable for ubiquitous cities. The paper discusses the essential role of online collaborative decision making in urban and infrastructure planning, development and management, and advocates transparent, fully democratic and participatory mechanisms for an effective urban management system that is particularly suitable for ubiquitous cities. This paper also sheds light on some of the unclear processes of urban management of ubiquitous cities and online collaborative decision making, and reveals the key benefits of integrated and participatory mechanisms in successfully constructing sustainable ubiquitous cities

Why Consultations? The public participation in water management and local spatial planning in two Polish cases

Despite many novelties in participation: participatory budgeting, citizens jury, deliberatice poll etc. the engagement of different stakeholders’ groups in the decision making processes concerning detailed planning issues (local spatial management plans, water management plans, the preservation management plans of the Natura 2000 sites) is usually based on the organization of open discussion meetings. The study looks at the social consultations regarding acceptance of local spatial management plans managed by Poznań City Hall and consultations concerning the preparation of water management plans managed by Regional Water Management Board in Poznań. The comparative analysis served to exhibit similarities and differences between the processes in terms of legal conditions, the organization of meetings, the length and the scale of the process and the actors engaged

A review of GIS-based information sharing systems

GIS-based information sharing systems have been implemented in many of England and Wales' Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). The information sharing role of these systems is seen as being vital to help in the review of crime, disorder and misuse of drugs; to sustain strategic objectives, to monitor interventions and initiatives; and support action plans for service delivery. This evaluation into these systems aimed to identify the lessons learned from existing systems, identify how these systems can be best used to support the business functions of CDRPs, identify common weaknesses across the systems, and produce guidelines on how these systems should be further developed. At present there are in excess of 20 major systems distributed across England and Wales. This evaluation considered a representative sample of ten systems. To date, little documented evidence has been collected by the systems that demonstrate the direct impact they are having in reducing crime and disorder, and the misuse of drugs. All point to how they are contributing to more effective partnership working, but all systems must be encouraged to record how they are contributing to improving community safety. Demonstrating this impact will help them to assure their future role in their CDRPs. By reviewing the systems wholly, several key ingredients were identified that were evident in contributing to the effectiveness of these systems. These included the need for an effective partnership business model within which the system operates, and the generation of good quality multi-agency intelligence products from the system. In helping to determine the future development of GIS-based information sharing systems, four key community safety partnership business service functions have been identified that these systems can most effectively support. These functions support the performance review requirements of CDRPs, operate a problem solving scanning and analysis role, and offer an interface with the public. By following these business service functions as a template will provide for a more effective application of these systems nationally

Annual report RUAF - Cities farming for the future, South and South East Asia Region, 2008

Urban agriculture / Training / Development projects / India / Sri Lanka

The application of GIS to analyse occupier chains and property market filtering

With funding from the RICS Education Trust, Paul Greenhalgh and Helen King of Northumbria University, UK sought to investigate whether using Geographic Information System (GIS) can enhance the representation and analysis of property occupier chaining data – the method used to analyse the chain of moves that take place when firms occupy new premises. The way that they tested this was by transferring a dataset of office and industrial occupier chains in Tyne and Wear that had been collected by Paul Greehalgh for his PhD study into a GIS to illustrate, measure and analyse the chaining data more effectively than had previously been possible. What they were able to show was that, although the process is time-consuming, it is a relatively straightforward and logical process to translate property occupier chaining data into a GIS. The resultant GIS representation was able to replicate and verify findings of the original research. For example, it confirmed the accuracy of the original calculation of the distances that occupiers move, but it also revealed that the average distance moved diminished the further that they occur along a chain. The team then used rateable value and VAT registration datasets to interpret the origin of occupiers of new office and industrial developments, and the location of vacant chain end property. Of the two, the strongest correlation was with new VAT registrations within a three year period. New VAT registrations are associated with levels of economic activity and enterprise which would generate new businesses or start-ups that would typically take up small office and industrial units, thus absorbing vacant accommodation and contributing to property market filtering. Although the work used the Tyne and Wear region as a practical example, the key objective of the work was to test the applicability and robustness of the approach. As such, the key findings from the work relate as much to the process involved as to any specific insights into the Tyne and Wear region: • The application of GIS to property occupier chaining data was successfully demonstrated and was able, not only to verify the findings of the original research, but was able to extend the breadth and depth of analysis • The GIS was used to produce maps of the Tyne and Wear conurbation, displaying occupier chaining data, to enable further interpretation and analysis • By exploiting existing datasets it was possible to characterise the locations where occupiers relocate from and where property voids persist; this enhances our understanding of the impact of occupier displacement on the dynamics of commercial property markets • a multi-criteria analysis Business Activity Score (BAS) was developed with which to measure the relative performance of Middle Super Output Areas within the conurbation • The property chaining GIS may be used, not only to evaluate previous property market interventions, but also to inform the development of spatial strategies that shape new ones. The detailed and comprehensive investigation of occupier chains, generated by occupiers relocating to new commercial and industrial developments, makes an important contribution to our understanding of the spatial impact of development on local property markets, in terms of the displacement of property occupiers, the operation of property market filtering and the side-effects of public sector intervention in land and property markets