5,506 research outputs found
The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report 2018-2019
An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains
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Towards evaluation design for smart city development
Smart city developments integrate digital, human, and physical systems in the built environment. With growing urbanization and widespread developments, identifying suitable evaluation methodologies is important. Case-study research across five UK cities - Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Peterborough - revealed that city evaluation approaches were principally project-focused with city-level evaluation plans at early stages. Key challenges centred on selecting suitable evaluation methodologies to evidence urban value and outcomes, addressing city authority requirements. Recommendations for evaluation design draw on urban studies and measurement frameworks, capitalizing on big data opportunities and developing appropriate, valid, credible integrative approaches across projects, programmes and city-level developments
Dangerous degrees
This booklet argues that a rise of only a few degrees in the average global temperature risks our prosperity, security, and health.SynopsisToday, CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are around 50 per cent higher than they were 20 years ago, and have been rising each year. This kind of change to the chemical mixture in the air doesn’t come without consequences. Acting like a blanket, the build-up of greenhouse gases is the main reason why the average global temperature has risen by nearly 1°C in the last century. This booklet explains why a rise of only a few degrees in the average global temperature risks our prosperity, security, and health. It explains why it is so important to reverse the rise in emissions within the decade. And why it is still within our means to do so
Sidebar : desalination opens a new spigot for water utilities
Water-supply ; Federal Reserve District, 5th
The Impact of Smart City Initiatives on Cities’ Local Economic Development
The problem explored in this mixed-method action research is that challenges to sustainable economic development and basic community services increase, as populations in cities and towns increase. A city is a human settlement with well-defined demarcation points. A city’s infrastructure consists of complex systems, such as sewage treatment plants, water treatment plants, police stations, fire departments, utility services, schools, libraries, business, houses, etc. A smart city, on the other hand, is an urban vision that fosters citizens’ engagement and technological integration of the city’s infrastructure. The purpose of this mixed-method action research was to identify the characteristics of a smart city and determine to what extent smart city initiatives impact economic development. Using a combative analysis methodology, the study examined five major smart cities. The research results revealed that cities apply smart solutions by focusing on 5 major areas: Economic Development, Public Safety, Energy & Environment, Infrastructure, and Transportation. The study concluded that Smart city initiatives contribute directly and indirectly to the economic growth of cities in the United States. The study indicated that smart cities are socially engaged, financially stable, business-oriented, data-driven, environmentally friendly, and energy-efficient cities. The study also concluded that smart city initiatives can alleviate cities’ challenges, thus, enhancing economic development
Renewing America's Economic Promise Through Older Industrial Cities
An in-depth analysis of the key attributes of dozens of older industrial cities across the country, this report argues that bottom-up efforts to better leverage their advantages, and address their disadvantages, can help achieve improved economic growth, prosperity, and inclusion for all.This report was published by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings with support, in part, by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation
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