Adding Dimensions to Information: GIS for the Divisions of General Practice Setting

With the rapid increase in uptake of information technologies in the health sector, and with concurrent trends in the need to be able to quantify health outcomes, the demands for access to information about a population and health services at a given location has increased. The Geographic Information Systems for General Practice Project was a pilot study in Victoria whereby a GIS was developed for use in the primary health care setting on whose areas the data was collected. This paper discusses the methodology adopted in the project and describes the implementation of the system on the Internet environment. Two different web sites have been prepared for use on the Internet, with access to data contingent on the user population. The practical application of the GIS in the field, and issues relating to evaluation of its utility in the primary care setting are detailed in this paper

A Cognitive TV White Space Access Framework

Given the current boom in applications and services for mobile devices, data traffic is rapidly expanding, with the consequence that increasing spectrum capacity is being mandated. Following the switchover from analogue to digital platforms, Television White Space (TVWS) affords a fertile opportunity to supplement existing licensed spectrum to ease this scarcity. There are however, a number of obstacles to wide-scale TVWS adoption, including the accurate detection of primary users (PU), the hidden node problem and bandwidth availability for unlicensed secondary users (SU). Regulatory and industry bodies have sought to address some of these issues using a static database for spectrum access decisions, though this involves manual maintenance and accuracy can be compromised due to a lack of real-time information. While the new IEEE802.11af wireless local area network (WLAN) standard attempts to resolve some SU access issues, there remain many challenges, such as the critical asymmetry between mobile and base station power resources. This thesis presents a new cognitive TVWS access framework encompassing a real-time sensing paradigm for TVWS deployment that uses a spectrum-efficient scheme to uphold quality-of-service (QoS) for both PU and SU. A novel dynamic spectrum allocation (DSA) model has been formulated allied with a resilient interference management system which exploits the unique way digital terrestrial TV channels are allocated in different geographical areas. A margin strategy has been framed to support efficient TVWS channel reuse, with an exclusion zone established to overcome the hidden node problem, while an innovative routing algorithm using cross-layer information, both extends coverage capacity and maximises QoS provision by ensuring a more balanced resource allocation. Critical evaluation of the new access framework confirms that significant QoS improvements for SU are achieved compared to existing TVWS techniques. It importantly embodies a generic, practical, resource-efficient solution for TVWS deployment, which is compliant with current PU regulatory requirements

Connecting stakeholders to water information : an assessment of New Mexico\u27s leading water resources websites

The State of New Mexico is in the process of developing a 2015 Water Plan. Water resource planners, managers, and other stakeholders are looking to the internet for pertinent information to aid in the planning process. However, a multitude of stakeholders historically lack a voice to participate in the wide array of water-sharing agreements. Through internet communication, government agencies and non-governmental organizations can utilize their websites to communicate, negotiate, and collaborate with stakeholders. This study applies Senecah\u27s Trinity of Voice Theory (2004) as the basis to evaluate access to information on websites through website performance usability and design to promote information transparency; standing through online educational components to promote stakeholder participation; and influence through community outreach call to action to promote stakeholder collaboration. A practical tool, in the form of a website score card, was designed for evaluating water resource websites. Thirty-one of New Mexico\u27s leading water resource websites were analyzed, evaluated, and ultimately scored using the A-F grading system. The websites were assessed based on the provision of information and the quality of education and community outreach offered to New Mexico stakeholders affected by complex water issues. The results of this study can be used for the analysis and improvement of the websites assessed; the scoring tool itself can be used for future evaluation and improvement of web-based communications within the water resource community

Enhancing travel experience with the combination of information visualization, situation awareness, and distributed cognition

With the new forms of travel introduced by new technologies of transportation and communication, a satisfied travel experience could be affected by various factors before and during a trip. Especially for road trips, traveling by car provides freedom on time control while leading to more possibilities of rescheduling initial plans made under time constraints. When overwhelmed with the need for changed travel context to avoid unexpected events that will require a serious change of initial plans, travelers need to find and access helpful contextual information quickly. This is a context-related decision making process that requires amplifying human situation awareness and supporting distributed cognition, since travel information offers multiple choices. To solve this problem, I applied information visualization as the main design solution. When comparing it with a traditional representation of lists, information visualization displays the advantages of visual representation of abstract data to clarify and depict the information and amplify cognition while improving travel experience intuitively in the domain of user experience design. Therefore in this thesis I will address the approach of implementing recontextualized situation awareness, distributed cognition, and information visualization in a travel-aid system. By using both theoretical and practical design perspectives, I will discuss how to enhance travel experience with represented contextual information that users desire or expect before and during a road trip. I will also explore the new values of this design with strategic business support. Additionally, after conducting research and analysis on existing interaction design parts, I selected a smartphone app to serve as a proper platform with connected multifunctions. Briefly, I begin the thesis with a review of previous theories and aspects of travel planning, information visualization as it relates to travel, situation awareness, and distributed cognition in the design context and related smartphone apps. Then I discuss the process of identifying the specific issues to be solved or improved with a preliminary research of empirical study, followed by an interview, online survey, insights synthesis, and business model design. After a visual-system design was developed, heuristic evaluation was employed to assess the outcome. Lastly, a new round of refined design results is introduced based on outcomes of the evaluation

How do government agencies use evidence?

Executive summary: Significant research gaps remain in our understanding about what happens in side government agencies in relation to the production, commissioning, assessment and incorporation of research-based evidence into their policy advice and their program delivery and review activities. Practices and capabilities vary enormously across types of public agencies, levels of government, and policy areas. Understanding these patterns and potentialities better would help focus attention on effective methods for improving the quality of decision-making through evidence­-informed processes. Currently, public agencies gather administrative information from their own operations, as a necessary component of undertaking program management and reporting; but there is little information about how rigorous information related to programs is actually used for performance management and program review. Little is known about how agencies access information from ‘external’ sources of expertise, which external sources are favored over others, and how external information is used for developing better programs or performance metrics. One key feature of an evidence-­based policy process would be extent to which evaluation processes are built into the standard operating procedures of policy and service delivery units. Building an analysis and evaluation culture requires the availability of skilled staff as well as organizational leadership that values high quality analysis. Although it is widely agreed that evidence-­based improvements to policy and administrative systems are both desirable and possible, we cannot expect that a democratic public policy system could be primarily shaped by objective research findings. Various forms of evidence, both rigorous and otherwise, will continue to inform the policy process. Democratic leaders will pay attention to stakeholders and public opinion as well as scientific evidence. However, persistent efforts and targeted investments could help to create more systematic link ages between rigorous research and the processes of policy-­making. Progress towards a more evidence-­informed policy and administrative system would require commitment and investment at several levels – individuals, organizational units, and cross-­organizational relationships. Rigorous research findings on key issues are not yet available in many areas for informing policy and program managers. Creating such a research base takes time and resources. Even where reliable evidence has been documented, it is not always available in formats that meet the practical needs of policy and program managers. The professional knowledge of experienced service providers and program managers is especially relevant in social care domains where robust experimental knowledge is unlikely to emerge. Scientific and professional knowledge need to interact. The ‘translation’ of research findings into 7 codes, standards and procedures for professional practice has advanced in many areas but extracting ‘lessons’ from research findings and adopting them successfully in professional practice entails complex issues of education, relation ships and collaboration. This brief review highlights known areas of strength in the research base for evidence-­based policies and programs, together with matters where there are significant research gaps hindering a solid understanding of evidence­use by government agencies in social policy-making and program development. The review draws attention to important background differences between the roles and resources for the various levels of government, and differences in administrative cultures and practices between policy areas and across national boundaries. This analysis leads to the identification of several key priorities for further research, taking into account what is already known concerning the key re search issues. These priorities include better understanding of: how major policy reforms, and associated program implementation, have been significantly assisted by rigorous research; the lessons that emerge from implementation and translational research in service innovation; sources of variation in the use of expert information by a range of different public agencies; factors that might improve the use of research-­based evidence by government agencies in priority fields of social policy; support for lower levels of government to conduct their core activities in ways that make effective use of relevant information; methods for encouraging best practice in relation to evidence-­based tri als, improving interaction and exchange processes, organizing expert fo rums and civic engagement, improving research receptivity and capabil ity within public agencies; methods for institutionalizing respect for rigorous evidence across the turbulence of political and electoral changes; the appropriate adoption and adaptation of international experience

Integrating groupware technology into the learning environment

This paper presents the hard lessons learned from the introduction of groupware technology within a final‐year software engineering module. The module began in 1997 and is now in its fourth year. The paper provides a detailed account of our successes and failures in each year, and describes what the authors now feel is a successful model for integrating groupware into the learning environment. The paper is important because it provides a longitudinal study of the use of groupware within a learning environment and an insight into the key success factors associated with the use of groupware. Success factors relate not only to the technology but also to social factors such as group facilitation and social protocols, to factors associated with monitoring and assessment, and to factors related to the skills development associated with being a member of a global team

Remote laboratories in teaching and learning – issues impinging on widespread adoption in science and engineering education

This paper discusses the major issues that impinge on the widespread adoption of remote controlled laboratories in science and engineering education. This discussion largely emerges from the work of the PEARL project and is illustrated with examples and evaluation data from the project. Firstly the rationale for wanting to offer students remote experiments is outlined. The paper deliberately avoids discussion of technical implementation issues of remote experiments but instead focuses on issues that impinge on the specification and design of such facilities. This includes pedagogic, usability and accessibility issues. It compares remote experiments to software simulations. It also considers remote experiments in the wider context for educational institutions and outlines issues that will affect their decisions as to whether to adopt this approach. In conclusion it argues that there are significant challenges to be met if remote laboratories are to achieve a widespread presence in education but expresses the hope that this delineation of the issues is a contribution towards meeting these challenges