Review of remote monitoring systems for the delivery of sustainable and resilient water infrastructure

Purpose This paper aims to present a literature review of remote monitoring systems for water infrastructure in the Global South. Design/methodology/approach Following initial scoping searches, further examination was made of key remote monitoring technologies for water infrastructure in the Global South. A standard literature search methodology was adopted to examine these monitoring technologies and their respective deployments. This hierarchical approach prioritised “peer-reviewed” articles, followed by “scholarly” publications, then “credible” information sources and, finally, “other” relevant materials. The first two search phases were conducted using academic search services (e.g. Scopus and Google Scholar). In the third and fourth phases, Web searches were carried out on various stakeholders, including manufacturers, governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations/charities associated with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in the Global South. Findings This exercise expands the number of monitoring technologies considered in comparison to earlier review publications. Similarly, preceding reviews have largely focused upon monitoring applications in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper explores opportunities in other geographical regions and highlights India as a significant potential market for these tools. Research limitations/implications This review predominantly focuses upon information/data currently available in the public domain. Practical implications Remote monitoring technologies enable the rapid detection of broken water pumps. Broken water infrastructure significantly impacts many vulnerable communities, often leading to the use of less protected water sources and increased exposure to water-related diseases. Further to these public health impacts, there are additional economic disadvantages for these user communities. Originality/value This literature review has sought to address some key technological omissions and to widen the geographical scope associated with previous investigations

The Big Society and the Conjunction of Crises: Justifying Welfare Reform and Undermining Social Housing

The idea of the “Big Society” can be seen as culmination of a long-standing debate about the regulation of welfare. Situating the concept within governance theory, the article considers how the UK coalition government has justified a radical restructuring of welfare provision, and considers its implications for housing provision. Although drawing on earlier modernization processes, the article contends that the genesis for welfare reform was based on an analysis that the government was forced to respond to a unique conjunction of crises: in morality, the state, ideology and economics. The government has therefore embarked upon a programme, which has served to undermine the legitimacy of the social housing sector (most notably in England), with detrimental consequences for residents and raising significant dilemmas for those working in the housing sector

The cultural power metric: Toward a reputational analysis of China’s soft power in the Asia-Pacific

The advent of new media technologies has changed how people watch, engage with, and share digital media. Conventionally, audiences were surveyed selectively, and the results were collated by professional agencies and often kept confidential. However, the conspicuous ratings given to media and cultural products outside their country of origin and their very public success and failure raises questions about the validity of such methods, particularly at a time when media and cultural products are used as proxies for cultural “soft power.” This term, first used by Joseph Nye in a political context, evokes reputational impact: a particular nation’s cultural and media products can “go global” if they prove sufficiently popular, reflecting positively on the originating nation. This article examines the various methods used to evaluate China’s “cultural power.” It notes the current weighting given to the humanities and social sciences. By applying some basic big data analysis and machine-learning techniques, the authors build on previous studies by offering new insights into the rise of “Digital China” and China’s digital and Internet trailblazers. The authors consider two major international metrics, as well as China’s early experimental attempts at devising its own standard, before introducing an alternative model, the cultural power metric

The topographic evolution of the Tibetan Region as revealed by palaeontology

The Tibetan Plateau was built through a succession of Gondwanan terranes colliding with Asia during the Mesozoic. These accretions produced a complex Paleogene topography of several predominantly east–west trending mountain ranges separated by deep valleys. Despite this piecemeal assembly and resultant complex relief, Tibet has traditionally been thought of as a coherent entity rising as one unit. This has led to the widely used phrase ‘the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau’, which is a false concept borne of simplistic modelling and confounds understanding the complex interactions between topography climate and biodiversity. Here, using the rich palaeontological record of the Tibetan region, we review what is known about the past topography of the Tibetan region using a combination of quantitative isotope and fossil palaeoaltimetric proxies, and present a new synthesis of the orography of Tibet throughout the Paleogene. We show why ‘the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau’ never occurred, and quantify a new pattern of topographic and landscape evolution that contributed to the development of today’s extraordinary Asian biodiversity

Mary of Modena Queen Consort of James II and III

SIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

The 'forty-five re-examined

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:8033.07(34) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

A lover of the sea and skilful in shipping King Charles II and his navy

The Betty Loosely Memorial Lecture 1992SIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Catholicism and the late Stuart army The Tangier episode

SIGLEGBUnited Kingdo