Sensory semantic user interfaces (SenSUI)

Rapid evolution of the World Wide Web with its underlying sources of data, knowledge, services and applications continually attempts to support a variety of users, with different backgrounds, requirements and capabilities. In such an environment, it is highly unlikely that a single user interface will prevail and be able to fulfill the requirements of each user adequately. Adaptive user interfaces are able to adapt information and application functionalities to the user context. In contrast, pervasive computing and sensor networks open new opportunities for context aware platforms, one that is able to improve user interface adaptation reacting to environmental and user sensors. Semantic web technologies and ontologies are able to capture sensor data and provide contextual information about the user, their actions, required applications and environment. This paper investigates the viability of an approach where semantic web technologies are used to maximize the efficacy of interface adaptation through the use of available ontology

Trust and obfuscation principles for quality of information in emerging pervasive environments

Non peer reviewedPostprin

The Greening of China’s Food - Green Food, Organic Food, and Eco-labelling

China is rapidly adopting, adapting and developing green technology and ideas. China is now a world leader in organic production and this can have implications for world food production. This paper examines the rapid rise of green food and organic agriculture in China, the multiple motivations that have driven it, and the innovative implementation strategies underpinning it. The first organic export from China was in 1990. The Chinese national organic standard and national organic logo were established in 2005. Thirty eight certifiers now operate in China servicing both domestic and export markets. While “Organic” is still poorly understood in the Chinese domestic market, “Green Food” is well known and readily available. Green Food is a Chinese innovation and dates from 1990. The China Green Food Development Centre was founded in 1992 to oversee the implementation of this food production innovation. Certification for Green Food production involves the regulation of inputs, with the objective of reduced use of pesticides, the oversight of production, and the residue testing of the produce. This Green Food strategy has been used as a “half-way house” between chemical food and organic food production. In 1995 Green Food certification was split into Grade A and Grade AA. It is this bifurcation of Green Food standards that laid the groundwork for the rapid articulation from Green Food certification to organic certification, and thus enabled the reported dramatic ten-fold increase in organic hectares in China in 2006 - and thereby placed China second in the world in terms of hectares under organic management, after only Australia. Longitudinal data are examined to reveal China’s organic and green trajectories, and potential future scenarios are presented. The new phenomenon of Chinese certified organic produce raises many questions. Data is presented to illuminate what role country of origin labelling (CoOL) might play, now and in the future, in a world market that is wary of Chinese food quality. China has gone well beyond being an adopter of organic concepts, and is now an active organic innovator - how successful and how exportable might these innovations be? Is the development of Chinese organics a threat or an opportunity, and for whom? China's organic sector production is valued at between US$5.6 and US$10.2 billion. China's Green Food production is valued at US$20.7 billion. China's Hazard-free agricultural production is valued between US$29.1 an US$39.7 billion. The total value of China's eco-labelled food production is between US$55.4 and US$70.6 billion. This paper reports on the new phenomenon of the export of China's Green Food production standards and certification procedures to other countries, including Canada

Building capacity in climate change policy analysis and negotiation: methods and technologies

Capacity building is often cited as the reason “we cannot just pour money into developing countries” and why so many development projects fail because their design does not address local conditions. It is therefore a key technical and political concept in international development. Some of the poorest countries in the world are also some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Their vulnerability is in part due to a lack of capacity to plan and anticipate the effects of climate change on crops, water resources, urban electricity demand etc. What capacities do these countries lack to deal with climate change? How will they cope? What steps can they take to reduce their vulnerability? This innovative and high-profile research project was part of a larger project (called C3D) and conducted with non-governmental organisations in Senegal, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The research involved several participatory workshops and a questionnaire to all three research centres

The Immune System: the ultimate fractionated cyber-physical system

In this little vision paper we analyze the human immune system from a computer science point of view with the aim of understanding the architecture and features that allow robust, effective behavior to emerge from local sensing and actions. We then recall the notion of fractionated cyber-physical systems, and compare and contrast this to the immune system. We conclude with some challenges.Comment: In Proceedings Festschrift for Dave Schmidt, arXiv:1309.455

Human-agent collectives

We live in a world where a host of computer systems, distributed throughout our physical and information environments, are increasingly implicated in our everyday actions. Computer technologies impact all aspects of our lives and our relationship with the digital has fundamentally altered as computers have moved out of the workplace and away from the desktop. Networked computers, tablets, phones and personal devices are now commonplace, as are an increasingly diverse set of digital devices built into the world around us. Data and information is generated at unprecedented speeds and volumes from an increasingly diverse range of sources. It is then combined in unforeseen ways, limited only by human imagination. People’s activities and collaborations are becoming ever more dependent upon and intertwined with this ubiquitous information substrate. As these trends continue apace, it is becoming apparent that many endeavours involve the symbiotic interleaving of humans and computers. Moreover, the emergence of these close-knit partnerships is inducing profound change. Rather than issuing instructions to passive machines that wait until they are asked before doing anything, we will work in tandem with highly inter-connected computational components that act autonomously and intelligently (aka agents). As a consequence, greater attention needs to be given to the balance of control between people and machines. In many situations, humans will be in charge and agents will predominantly act in a supporting role. In other cases, however, the agents will be in control and humans will play the supporting role. We term this emerging class of systems human-agent collectives (HACs) to reflect the close partnership and the flexible social interactions between the humans and the computers. As well as exhibiting increased autonomy, such systems will be inherently open and social. This means the participants will need to continually and flexibly establish and manage a range of social relationships. Thus, depending on the task at hand, different constellations of people, resources, and information will need to come together, operate in a coordinated fashion, and then disband. The openness and presence of many distinct stakeholders means participation will be motivated by a broad range of incentives rather than diktat. This article outlines the key research challenges involved in developing a comprehensive understanding of HACs. To illuminate this agenda, a nascent application in the domain of disaster response is presented

Seeing the trees as well as the forest: the importance of managing forest genetic resources

Reliable data on the status and trends of forest genetic resources are essential for their sustainable management. The reviews presented in this special edition of Forest Ecology and Management on forest genetic resources complement the first ever synthesis of the State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources (SOW-FGR) that has just been published by the Food and Agriculture Organization. In this editorial, we present some of the key findings of the SOW-FGR and introduce the seven reviews presented in this special edition on: (1) tree genetic resources and livelihoods; (2) the benefits and dangers of international germplasm transfers; (3) genetic indicators for monitoring threats to populations and the effectiveness of ameliorative actions; (4) the genetic impacts of timber management practices; (5) genetic considerations in forest ecosystem restoration projects using native trees; (6) genetic-level responses to climate change; and (7) ex situ conservation approaches and their integration with in situ methods. Recommendations for action arising from the SOW-FGR, which are captured in the first Global Plan of Action for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Development of Forest Genetic Resources, and the above articles are discussed. These include: increasing the awareness of the importance of and threats to forest genetic resources and the mainstreaming of genetic considerations into forest management and restoration; establishing common garden provenance trials to support restoration and climate change initiatives that extend to currently little-researched tree species; streamlining processes for germplasm exchange internationally for research and development; and the intelligent use of modern molecular marker methods as genetic indicators in management and for improvement purposes