Smart Computing and Sensing Technologies for Animal Welfare: A Systematic Review

Animals play a profoundly important and intricate role in our lives today. Dogs have been human companions for thousands of years, but they now work closely with us to assist the disabled, and in combat and search and rescue situations. Farm animals are a critical part of the global food supply chain, and there is increasing consumer interest in organically fed and humanely raised livestock, and how it impacts our health and environmental footprint. Wild animals are threatened with extinction by human induced factors, and shrinking and compromised habitat. This review sets the goal to systematically survey the existing literature in smart computing and sensing technologies for domestic, farm and wild animal welfare. We use the notion of \emph{animal welfare} in broad terms, to review the technologies for assessing whether animals are healthy, free of pain and suffering, and also positively stimulated in their environment. Also the notion of \emph{smart computing and sensing} is used in broad terms, to refer to computing and sensing systems that are not isolated but interconnected with communication networks, and capable of remote data collection, processing, exchange and analysis. We review smart technologies for domestic animals, indoor and outdoor animal farming, as well as animals in the wild and zoos. The findings of this review are expected to motivate future research and contribute to data, information and communication management as well as policy for animal welfare

Is There Light at the Ends of the Tunnel? Wireless Sensor Networks for Adaptive Lighting in Road Tunnels

Existing deployments of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are often conceived as stand-alone monitoring tools. In this paper, we report instead on a deployment where the WSN is a key component of a closed-loop control system for adaptive lighting in operational road tunnels. WSN nodes along the tunnel walls report light readings to a control station, which closes the loop by setting the intensity of lamps to match a legislated curve. The ability to match dynamically the lighting levels to the actual environmental conditions improves the tunnel safety and reduces its power consumption. The use of WSNs in a closed-loop system, combined with the real-world, harsh setting of operational road tunnels, induces tighter requirements on the quality and timeliness of sensed data, as well as on the reliability and lifetime of the network. In this work, we test to what extent mainstream WSN technology meets these challenges, using a dedicated design that however relies on wellestablished techniques. The paper describes the hw/sw architecture we devised by focusing on the WSN component, and analyzes its performance through experiments in a real, operational tunnel

Strengthening capacities for the use of GIS in disaster risk reduction

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a powerful tool for supporting disaster risk reduction (DRR). International agreements such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction call on high-income countries and other partners to support lower-income countries in strengthening their DRR capacities. This thesis explores the experiences of stakeholders in strengthening GIS capacities for DRR in lower and middle-income countries. It presents the theoretical concepts of DRR and capacity development as well as the applications of GIS in DRR. Based on semi-structured interviews with practitioners from different regions and a literature review, this thesis analyses practices and challenge encountered in strengthening GIS capacities for DRR as well as possibilities for overcoming these challenges. The findings show that there is a broad range of initiatives for strengthening GIS capacities. Whilst some of the challenges such as culture, politics and power relations are specific to the context, this study finds that stakeholders in different context often experience similar challenges such as lack of data, costs of GIS and lack of decision-maker support for GIS. Sustaining the capacities in the long-term was identified as a major challenge. To overcome these challenges and make GIS capacity development sustainable this thesis recommends tailoring the GIS solutions to the specific situation, developing low-cost solutions, integrating GIS into the organisational structure and demonstrating the benefits of GIS for DRR to decision-makers. This requires a long-term approach and strong stakeholder involvement in the capacity development process.A map is worth a thousand word. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - systems comprised of software, hardware and data can be used to capture, store, manipulate and analyse all kinds of different geographically referenced data and then visualise this data on a map. This can be used in disaster risk reduction– take for example a city with a river that regularly floods. In GIS, a map of the flood prone areas can be combined with a map of the city’s infrastructure so we can see where there is a risk of flooding. If we add population data to the system, we can also find out how many people will be affected, if we add the road network we can simulate evacuation routes and so on. In other words, GIS can be a very useful tool in disaster risk reduction. Most of the disaster losses occurs in lower income countries. GIS could help reduce risk in these countries, but at the same time, authorities in these countries often do not have the knowledge, resources or structures to use GIS for disaster risk reduction. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen these capacities, this is often done with the support of external partners, whether it is a national authority bringing GIS to the local level or an international agency trying to support a national disaster management authority. This research aims to identify challenges and success factors for such capacity development interventions. Therefore, 15 different practitioners from a wide range of regions were interviewed and the literature on GIS capacity development was studied. The results of this research indicate that there are several challenges to strengthening GIS capacity. First of all, GIS can be costly, particularly hiring qualified staff, buying proprietary software and collecting data. Secondly, there are challenges specific to the context: sometimes people may be unfamiliar with technology, there might be language barriers or security concerns over data sharing. However, the biggest challenge was sustaining the GIS capacities in the long-term. Data needs to be updated to be useful and GIS needs to be used for decision-making to have any effect. The study found two main factors leading to this, first the lack of support from the decision-making or management level, second the turnover of staff. The former may be either due to a lack of awareness of the benefits of GIS or be due to the fact that there are competing priorities for a limited budget. The latter is a frequent issue and sometimes related to the capacity development intervention, as the new GIS skills allow staff to find better employment elsewhere. This research thus identifies several considerations for strengthening GIS capacities – 1) GIS needs to be adapted to the specific context that means the needs of the organisation, the resources available to maintain it as well the wider cultural and political context; 2) to be maintained and used in the long-term GIS needs to be integrated in the organisation’s work practices; 3) lower the cost of GIS through using open source software, freely available data and creating synergies with existing institutions and 4) availability of quality data should be improved, mostly through policies and legislation for data collection, standardisation and sharing. These lead to two overarching considerations that are particularly relevant to those implementing and funding GIS capacity development interventions. First, changes such as changing an organisation’s practices or national legislation take a long time, therefore strengthening GIS capacities needs to be part of a long-term partnership with regular follow-ups. Second, strengthening GIS capacities is not simply the provision of a technical solution, it requires the ownership of those using GIS in order for them to be willing to maintain and use it. Therefore, the partner should be involved throughout the entire process and particular attention should be paid to convincing management of the benefits of GIS

Call to action for global access to and harmonization of quality information of individual earth science datasets

Knowledge about the quality of data and metadata is important to support informed decisions on the (re)use of individual datasets and is an essential part of the ecosystem that supports open science. Quality assessments reflect the reliability and usability of data. They need to be consistently curated, fully traceable, and adequately documented, as these are crucial for sound decision- and policy-making efforts that rely on data. Quality assessments also need to be consistently represented and readily integrated across systems and tools to allow for improved sharing of information on quality at the dataset level for individual quality attribute or dimension. Although the need for assessing the quality of data and associated information is well recognized, methodologies for an evaluation framework and presentation of resultant quality information to end users may not have been comprehensively addressed within and across disciplines. Global interdisciplinary domain experts have come together to systematically explore needs, challenges and impacts of consistently curating and representing quality information through the entire lifecycle of a dataset. This paper describes the findings of that effort, argues the importance of sharing dataset quality information, calls for community action to develop practical guidelines, and outlines community recommendations for developing such guidelines. Practical guidelines will allow for global access to and harmonization of quality information at the level of individual Earth science datasets, which in turn will support open science

Towards Ubiquitous Semantic Metaverse: Challenges, Approaches, and Opportunities

In recent years, ubiquitous semantic Metaverse has been studied to revolutionize immersive cyber-virtual experiences for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) users, which leverages advanced semantic understanding and representation to enable seamless, context-aware interactions within mixed-reality environments. This survey focuses on the intelligence and spatio-temporal characteristics of four fundamental system components in ubiquitous semantic Metaverse, i.e., artificial intelligence (AI), spatio-temporal data representation (STDR), semantic Internet of Things (SIoT), and semantic-enhanced digital twin (SDT). We thoroughly survey the representative techniques of the four fundamental system components that enable intelligent, personalized, and context-aware interactions with typical use cases of the ubiquitous semantic Metaverse, such as remote education, work and collaboration, entertainment and socialization, healthcare, and e-commerce marketing. Furthermore, we outline the opportunities for constructing the future ubiquitous semantic Metaverse, including scalability and interoperability, privacy and security, performance measurement and standardization, as well as ethical considerations and responsible AI. Addressing those challenges is important for creating a robust, secure, and ethically sound system environment that offers engaging immersive experiences for the users and AR/VR applications.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 3 table

Building Resilient Cities: A Simulation-Based Scenario Assessment Methodology for the Integration of DRR and CCA in a Multi-Scale Design Perspective

Resilience of the built environment and communities to natural and man-made hazards is consolidating worldwide as a key requirement in the field of urban planning and building design, and there is an increasing awareness that Sustainable Development Goals and priorities of the Sendai Framework cannot be achieved without a comprehensive approach able to promote the effective implementation of DRR and CCA measures within regeneration processes at various scales. In this sense, an “all-hazards” approach, addressing multiple risk conditions (including Natech and cascading effects) and integrating DRR and CCA design strategies, show a highly cost-effective potential, maximizing the effect of complementary measures and optimizing mitigation/adaptation design techniques within a multi-scale (building/neighbourhood/city) resilience perspective, delivering at the same time socio-economic benefits linked to the improvement of urban spaces’ liveability and environmental quality. Vulnerability and impact assessment represent an essential component of a simulation-based methodology aimed at increasing the potential for use of scientific results by decision-makers, through multi-hazard and dynamic impact scenarios combined with cost-benefit and multi-criteria analyses to assess the effectiveness of alternative options. The paper presents the methodological approach developed at PLINIVS Study Centre and the experimental applications implemented within recent EU and National projects, such as H2020-ESPREssO and SIMMCITIES_NA

The role of ICT in natural disaster management communication:a systematic literature review

Abstract. The number and severity of natural hazards has increased in recent decades. These natural hazards cause billions in financial damage, as well as loss of life every year. Fortunately, societies have learned to adapt to these phenomena and invested in managing and mitigating their effects. Communication plays a key role in managing these natural disasters and the effects they smite upon communities. At the same time, information and communication technologies have become ubiquitous and integral part of our lives. However, the available technologies and the ability to utilize these technologies vary. Thus, there is a need for up-to-date review of the use of these technologies. In this thesis, the role of information and communication technologies in natural disaster management communication is examined. The purpose of this thesis is to aggregate scientific knowledge on the role of information and communication technologies in natural disaster management communication. As a result, this study used systematic literature review as a research method. In addition, the aim is to identify possible best practices and discuss the findings of the systematic literature review. The results are used to inform future work on developing an opensource-based system for natural disaster management. The main contribution of this thesis is the summarization of the findings. These findings can be used as a knowledge base or to reflect upon new solutions in natural disaster management. The search strategy used in this study identified 584 studies in total from which 24 primary studies were selected. Recommended future actions involve further studying the identified best practices and their application in practice. In addition, further developing the proposed artifact is recommended