Approche pédoarchéologique des espaces de production agricole à l'Âge du bronze dans les montagnes méditerranéennes (exemples des Pyrénées-Orientales et de la Haute-Corse, France)

National audienceIn 2002, carbonized sheafs of rye were found in the eastern Pyrenees (Carlit mountain) under the destruction levels of an early medieval pastoral hut, at 1950 m height. This discovery was the starting point of a pedoarchaeological survey and excavation project. The study led within this research program concentrated on the characteristics of soils behind the retaining walls of terraces on the (sometimes steep) slopes between 1500 and 2000 m height. The mapping of terraced areas and then the identification, characterization and dating of palaeosols brought into light a period of cultivation on a sunny slope (soulane) of the granitic Carlit mountain, as soon as the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age.Using the same method in Corsica, we demonstrate the existence of a more complex pedosedimentary history than it was admitted before. Agricultural terracing was put into practice since the Bronze Age in place of nowadays lands of degraded vegetation (maquis), as in the Désert des Agriate.A more favourable climate in Bronze Age Europe may have played a role in this evolution of land patterns, but it is certainly not the major cause. Neither were the other factors generally used to explain changes like a massive demographic growth (invisible on archaeological sites) or a period of troubles that would have fled the populations toward the mountainous slopes.It rather seems to be an onward and progressive movement to occupy all ecological niches suitable for agricultural and pastoral economy.La découverte de gerbes de seigle carbonisées sous les couches de destruction d’une cabane pastorale altomédiévale, à 1950 m d’altitude dans les Pyrénées cerdanes en 2002, a été à l’origine d’un programme de prospections et de fouilles pédoarchéologiques. Il s’est concentré sur la nature des sols contenus derrière les murs de terrasses visibles sur les pentes parfois raides, entre 1500 et 2000 m d’altitude. La réalisation d’une carte des zones terrassées puis l’identification, la caractérisation et la datation des paléosols ont permis de mettre en évidence une phase de mise en culture des pentes d’une soulane du massif granitique du Carlit dès le Néolithique Final et l’âge du Bronze.En Haute-Corse, les mêmes méthodes éprouvées dans les Pyrénées orientales ont permis de démontrer une histoire pédosédimentaire plus complexe que celle communément admise et une agriculture sur des champs étagés en terrasses dès l’âge du Bronze, dans des espaces aujourd’hui occupés par le maquis, comme dans le Désert des Agriate.Une des causes de ce changement dans l’occupation des sols est vraisemblablement à rechercher dans l’amélioration climatique reconnue en Europe au cours de l’âge du Bronze, mais ce n’est certainement pas la principale. Ce ne sont pas non plus une augmentation démographique conséquente et rapide, invisible à partir des sites connus, ni une recherche de refuge dans une période troublée, causes habituellement évoquées pour ces mutations, qui permettent d’aboutir à ce constat. Il s’agit plutôt d’un mouvement inéluctable d’occupation progressive de toutes les niches écologiques favorables à l’agriculture et au pastoralisme

E-GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A NEOINSTITUIONAL APPROACH TO EXPLAIN FAILURE. An example from Lebanon

This paper presents the results of an ongoing study of e-government implementation in Lebanon. Following suggestions by various scholars that students of e-government employ theory to strengthen our knowledge about ICT for development, we apply a neoinstitutional theoretical lens to understand the principal explanatory factors that led the Lebanese public authorities, since 2000, to invest in e-services despite the country’s serious economic difficulties and heavy debt. We take an historical view that situates the implementation of an e-government infrastructure in the context of external pressures that Lebanese public administrators confronted. We focus on the social embeddedness, environment, and processes of Lebanese public administration to understand why Lebanese public officials responded when faced with pressures to modernize government. This analysis is based on the triangulation of evidence from semi-structured interviews with senior officials in government agencies who led the implementation effort, official government documents, and newspaper reports on the progress of this project. We find that the response by Lebanese public officials can be explained by the three isomorphic processes of coercion, mimesis, and transmission of norms. This case study suggests that implementing e-administration by developing countries is not necessarily motivated by a search for efficiency; under certain conditions, adoption results from external institutional pressures. Nonetheless, this implementation needs to be understood as only a very small part of a larger story of the history and politics of Lebanon which contributed to what has been called the “still born” implementation of e-government in Lebanon

ANTECEDENTS OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AT THE MACRO LEVEL

This paper reports the results of two studies that investigated factors that influence the digital divide at the macro level. We propose a telecommunications infrastructure index as a measure of the country-level digital divide that is composed of five primary indices that define a country\u27s ICT infrastructure capacity. The first part of the analysis identifies economic, socio-demographic, political, and cultural factors that differentiate 86 developed and developing countries. The second part of the analysis examines factors that differentiate ICT penetration rates for 21 Arab nations. Overall, results show that for the 86 countries political variables are the most important factor that influences the digital divide. Cultural differences, specifically gender disparities in literacy, influence the digital divide in the 21 Arab countries. The availability of secondary data published by official government sources is a serious limitation. Nonetheless, this research has practical and managerial implications for public management and for policy makers, including information about how to segment citizens into more refined groups to facilitate better resource allocation; development of policies designed to raise the literacy level, particularly ones that are specifically targeted at educating women; and training programs to educate the underserved about technology and to provide subsidized access to disadvantaged people

ANTECEDENTS OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN LEBANON

This paper reports the results of a study to investigate the digital divide in Lebanon based on data collected in August 2008 from 330 potential users of Lebanese public e-services. The study investigated factors that make a difference for e-access and e-skills and how socio-economic, demographic, and cultural factors explain the digital divide. Overall, results show that gender, age, religion, and geographic disparities related to income, to educational attainment, and to occupation influence the e-skills and e-access divides. Income and education have effects on e-skills but no effect on the e-access divide. When educational attainment increases, the e-skills divide decreases. Gender and religion have an impact on the e-skills divide but no significant impact on the e-access divide: men and Christians have more e-skills than women and Muslims. The impact of urban-rural disparities is unambiguous. Age is the only factor that impacts both the e-access and e-skills divide. Young urban males with high income and high educational attainment levels have more advanced eskills than their less advantaged counterparts; thus, these elite members of the Lebanese society are expected to benefit from the advantages of public online services. That will, however, not be the case of those in the less advantaged segments of the population. Inequalities in Lebanese society will continue

THE ROLE OF CULTURAL VALUES IN THE INDIVIDUAL INTENTION TO ACCEPT ADMINISTRATION E-SERVICES (ITA E-AD): A TWO COUNTRY STUDY

E-services, if accepted by users, have the potential to improve the relation of the Administration with the citizen (Heeks 2002). In France, Accenture Institute Study1 found that, by the end of 2006, 74 percent of French Citizens were seduced by the Administration e-services. But it is not the case of all countries. In Maghreb countries, for example, despite incentives and media campaigns that encourage them to go online for government and private transactions, most Tunisians, Moroccans and Algerians still hesitate to use the Internet services2. So it seems that in some countries, citizens are unwilling to use e-administration services. In Lebanon, despite the country growing debt, Administration continues investing in Information Technology (IT), and e-administration has become the government priority. However, Lebanese do not often use Internet. Studies found that only 28 percent of Lebanese use the Internet services. Will the Lebanese citizens use the Administration’s e-services? What are the external and internal variables that influence the acceptance and use of these e-services at the first stages of the acceptance process? Is there any individual’s cultural value that influences the evaluation of the IT and the e-services acceptance? This work-in-progress develops an integral model of users’ intention to accept e-administration services (ITA e-ad Model). It captures the influence of different external and internal variables on eservices acceptance and use at the first stages of the acceptance process. The ITA e-ad Model focuses on the association between (1) Administration e-services perceived outcomes (2) individual’s cultural variables, specifically Hofstede (1980) cultural values (masculinity/femininity, individualism/collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance), (3) environmental variables, and (4) their evaluations in the first stages of the acceptance process. The innovation of this model is that it focuses on the association between cultural values and the evaluations of the Administration eservices acceptance. This model can help Administrations better deploy and manage their IT investments by better understanding their citizens. Administration’s communication can incorporate these cultural values that influence the evaluation of e-services acceptance

Challenges To Increase Government e-Services Take-Up In Lebanon

Governments around the world are introducing the virtual channel of public service delivery system (UNDESA 2008). This channel allows for integrated public e-services that are available 24/7. However, citizens who do not have access to ICTs, who do not have the ability to use ICTs, and/or who do not accept to use government e-services cannot benefit from these advantages. Therefore, introducing e-services will create three types of divide: access, e-skills, and acceptance divides. This e-service divide will lead to an inferior quality public service translated in a low e-services’ Take-Up. In Lebanon for example, the government is heavily investing in public online services. However, only 26.28 per cent of the Lebanese population has Internet access, 11.45 per cent have PC at home, and only 30.53 per cent have a mobile telephone (OMSAR 2008). It means that e-government will lead to a system where only privileged segments of the population may have access to the government e-services. Therefore the e-government implementation will create a public online service divide constituted of three types of inequalities: (1) inequality in the access to e-services between citizens, (2) inequality in the ability to use e-services among those who have access, and (3) inequality in e-services acceptance among those who have the access and the ability to use ICTs and e-services. Reducing this e-services divide can enhance the value of services to the citizens and that can dramatically increase e-services Take-Up

Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and extended reality: emerging digital technologies to turn the tide on illegal logging and illegal wood trade

Illegal logging which often results in forest degradation and sometimes in deforestation remains ubiquitous in many places around the globe. Managing illegal logging and illegal wood trade constitutes a global priority over the next few decades. Scientific, technological, and research communities are committed to respond rapidly, evaluating the opportunities to capitalize on emerging digital technologies for treating this formidable challenge. The innovative potentials of these emerging digital technologies at tackling illegal logging-related challenges are here investigated. We propose a novel system, WoodchAInX, combining explainable artificial intelligence (X-AI), next-generation blockchain, and extended reality (XR). Our findings on the most effective means of leveraging each technology’s potential and the convergence of the three technologies infer a vast promise for digital technology in this field. Yet, we argue that, overall, digital transformations will not deliver fundamental, responsible, and sustainable benefits without revolutionary realignment

eGovernment Implementation and Acceptance: Challenges to Increase Public eServices Take-Up in Lebanon

Governments continue investing in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and e-services have become governments’ priority. But research shows that e-services implementation accentuate inequalities. Using a study of egovernment implementation in Lebanon as a background, this paper shows that e-government will lead to a system where only privileged segments of the population may have access to the government e-services. Thus, government online services implementation will create three types of inequalities: (1) inequality in access to ICTs and e-services, (2) inequality in the ability to use ICT and e-services among those who have access, and (3) inequality between those who will accept to use eservices and those who will not. What are the reasons of this e-services divide? The aim of this study is to explore the reasons of these three inequalities. Results show that reducing the gap can enhance the value of services to the citizen which dramatically increase e-services Take-Up

The Effect of Sedimentation Levels on Tarebia granifera in Freshwater Lagoons in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Punta Cana, one of the largest tourist destinations in the Caribbean, is located in the western part of the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola. Increased human activity has had a negative impact on the aquatic ecosystems, significantly decreasing the number of coral reefs, mangroves and sea grasses. The decline is not only occurring in the Caribbean, but also worldwide and is attributed to human and natural causes. It is believed that the degradation of aquatic ecosystems is partially driven by increased sedimentation. Sedimentation levels directly impact the wellbeing of aquatic ecosystems. Suspended particles reduce the amount of light that penetrates the water, which reduces photosynthesis and the production of dissolved oxygen. The suspended material can clog fish gills reducing their resistance to disease, lowering growth rates and affecting egg and larval production. Increased sedimentation means a thicker layer of particles accumulates on the floor of the aquatic biome and smothers eggs and benthic macroinvertebrates. The Indigenous Eyes Ecological Reserve, situated on 1500 acres of protected land on the resort, has twelve freshwater lagoons. Since only three of them are open to swimming, it was an ideal natural setting to conduct an experiment to compare the effect of human activity on the levels of sedimentation in two lagoons – one open and one closed to swimming. We also measured the effect of sedimentation levels on the size of the Tarebia granifera in each of the lagoons. The data was analyzed using One-Way ANOVA