Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health From Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, 2011

Highlights examples of preparedness programs and capacities at risk of federal budget cuts or elimination, examines state and local public health budget cuts, reviews ten years of progress and shortfalls, and outlines policy issues and recommendations

PADL: A Modeling and Deployment Language for Advanced Analytical Services

In the smart city context, Big Data analytics plays an important role in processing the data collected through IoT devices. The analysis of the information gathered by sensors favors the generation of specific services and systems that not only improve the quality of life of the citizens, but also optimize the city resources. However, the difficulties of implementing this entire process in real scenarios are manifold, including the huge amount and heterogeneity of the devices, their geographical distribution, and the complexity of the necessary IT infrastructures. For this reason, the main contribution of this paper is the PADL description language, which has been specifically tailored to assist in the definition and operationalization phases of the machine learning life cycle. It provides annotations that serve as an abstraction layer from the underlying infrastructure and technologies, hence facilitating the work of data scientists and engineers. Due to its proficiency in the operationalization of distributed pipelines over edge, fog, and cloud layers, it is particularly useful in the complex and heterogeneous environments of smart cities. For this purpose, PADL contains functionalities for the specification of monitoring, notifications, and actuation capabilities. In addition, we provide tools that facilitate its adoption in production environments. Finally, we showcase the usefulness of the language by showing the definition of PADL-compliant analytical pipelines over two uses cases in a smart city context (flood control and waste management), demonstrating that its adoption is simple and beneficial for the definition of information and process flows in such environments.This work was partially supported by the SPRI–Basque Government through their ELKARTEK program (3KIA project, ref. KK-2020/00049). Aitor Almeida’s participation was supported by the FuturAAL-Ego project (RTI2018-101045-A-C22) granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. Javier Del Ser also acknowledges funding support from the Consolidated Research Group MATHMODE (IT1294-19), granted by the Department of Education of the Basque Government

Iot-enabled smart cities: evolution and outlook

For the last decade the Smart City concept has been under development, fostered by the growing urbanization of the world’s population and the need to handle the challenges that such a scenario raises. During this time many Smart City projects have been executed–some as proof-of-concept, but a growing number resulting in permanent, production-level deployments, improving the operation of the city and the quality of life of its citizens. Thus, Smart Cities are still a highly relevant paradigm which needs further development before it reaches its full potential and provides robust and resilient solutions. In this paper, the focus is set on the Internet of Things (IoT) as an enabling technology for the Smart City. In this sense, the paper reviews the current landscape of IoT-enabled Smart Cities, surveying relevant experiences and city initiatives that have embedded IoT within their city services and how they have generated an impact. The paper discusses the key technologies that have been developed and how they are contributing to the realization of the Smart City. Moreover, it presents some challenges that remain open ahead of us and which are the initiatives and technologies that are under development to tackle them.This research was partially funded by Spain State Research Agency (AEI) by means of the project FIERCE: Future Internet Enabled Resilient CitiEs (RTI2018-093475-A-I00). Prof. Song was supported by Smart City R&D project of the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA) grant funded by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) (Grant 18NSPS-B149386-01)

Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to embed itself in our daily lives, many focus on the threats it poses to privacy, security, due process, and democracy itself. But beyond these legitimate concerns, AI promises to optimize activities, increase efficiency, and enhance the accuracy and efficacy of the many aspects of society relying on predictions and likelihoods. In short, its most promising applications may come, not from uses affecting civil liberties and the social fabric of our society, but from those particularly complex technical problems lying beyond our ready human capacity. Climate change is one such complex problem, requiring fundamental changes to our transportation, agricultural, building, and energy sectors. This Article argues for the enhanced use of AI to address climate change, using the energy sector to exemplify its potential promise and pitfalls. The Article then analyzes critical policy tradeoffs that may be associated with an increased use of AI and argues for its disciplined use in a way that minimizes its limitations while harnessing its benefits to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions

Artificial Intelligence and Climate Change

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to embed itself in our daily lives, many focus on the threats it poses to privacy, security, due process, and democracy itself. But beyond these legitimate concerns, AI promises to optimize activities, increase efficiency, and enhance the accuracy and efficacy of the many aspects of society relying on predictions and likelihoods. In short, its most promising applications may come, not from uses affecting civil liberties and the social fabric of our society, but from those particularly complex technical problems lying beyond our ready human capacity. Climate change is one such complex problem, requiring fundamental changes to our transportation, agricultural, building, and energy sectors. This Article argues for the enhanced use of AI to address climate change, using the energy sector to exemplify its potential promise and pitfalls. The Article then analyzes critical policy tradeoffs that may be associated with an increased use of AI and argues for its disciplined use in a way that minimizes its limitations while harnessing its benefits to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions

Green Cities Artificial Intelligence

119 pagesIn an era defined by rapid urbanization, the effective planning and management of cities have become paramount to ensure sustainable development, efficient resource allocation, and enhanced quality of life for residents. Traditional methods of urban planning and management are grappling with the complexities and challenges presented by modern cities. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI), a disruptive technology that holds immense potential to revolutionize the way cities are planned, designed, and operated. The primary aim of this report is to provide an in-depth exploration of the multifaceted role that Artificial Intelligence plays in modern city planning and management. Through a comprehensive analysis of key AI applications, case studies, challenges, and ethical considerations, the report aims to provide resources for urban planners, City staff, and elected officials responsible for community planning and development. These include a model City policy, draft informational public meeting format, AI software and applications, implementation actions, AI timeline, glossary, and research references. This report represents the cumulative efforts of many participants and is sponsored by the City of Salem and Sustainable City Year Program. The Green Cities AI project website is at: https://blogs.uoregon.edu/artificialintelligence/. As cities continue to evolve into complex ecosystems, the integration of Artificial Intelligence stands as a pivotal force in shaping their trajectories. Through this report, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of how AI is transforming the way cities are planned, operated, and experienced. By analyzing the tools, applications, and ethical considerations, we hope to equip policymakers, urban planners, and stakeholders with the insights needed to navigate the AI-driven urban landscape effectively and create cities that are not only smart but also sustainable, resilient, and regenerative.This year's SCYP partnership is possible in part due to support from U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well as former Congressman Peter DeFazio, who secured federal funding for SCYP through Congressionally Directed Spending. With additional funding from the city of Salem, the partnerships will allow UO students and faculty to study and make recommendations on city-identified projects and issues

The Impact of injury control research centers : advancing the field of injury and violence prevention--an update

cdc:48485Injury Control Research Centers (ICRCs) put research into action to prevent injuries and violence. Underlying all other ICRCs\u2019 core functions is their ability to bring together multiple stakeholders from disparate disciplines, perspectives, and agencies to tackle critical public health problems. They advance the field of injury and violence prevention through leadership that combines their injury topic and core areas of expertise\u2014research, outreach, and training.The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded seven ICRCs from 2012\u20132019 (2012 funding cycle) and three ICRCs from 2014\u20132019 (2014 funding cycle). These 10 ICRCs had a major impact on the field of injury and violence prevention. They conducted groundbreaking research, contributed to local and state policies, and trained hundreds of future researchers and practitioners. This report describes key achievements from their annual and interim progress reports from 2012\u20132019.Publication date from document properties.the-impact-of-injury-control-research-centers_final_508.pd

The Internet of Things Connectivity Binge: What are the Implications?

Despite wide concern about cyberattacks, outages and privacy violations, most experts believe the Internet of Things will continue to expand successfully the next few years, tying machines to machines and linking people to valuable resources, services and opportunities