From feces to data: A metabarcoding method for analyzing consumed and available prey in a bird‐insect food web

Diets play a key role in understanding trophic interactions. Knowing the actual structure of food webs contributes greatly to our understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The research of prey preferences of different predators requires knowledge not only of the prey consumed, but also of what is available. In this study, we applied DNA metabarcoding to analyze the diet of 4 bird species (willow tits Poecile montanus, Siberian tits Poecile cinctus, great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus) by using the feces of nestlings. The availability of their assumed prey (Lepidoptera) was determined from feces of larvae (frass) collected from the main foraging habitat, birch (Betula spp.) canopy. We identified 53 prey species from the nestling feces, of which 11 (21%) were also detected from the frass samples (eight lepidopterans). Approximately 80% of identified prey species in the nestling feces represented lepidopterans, which is in line with the earlier studies on the parids' diet. A subsequent laboratory experiment showed a threshold for fecal sample size and the barcoding success, suggesting that the smallest frass samples do not contain enough larval DNA to be detected by high‐throughput sequencing. To summarize, we apply metabarcoding for the first time in a combined approach to identify available prey (through frass) and consumed prey (via nestling feces), expanding the scope and precision for future dietary studies on insectivorous birds.</p

Artificial Intelligence in Government Services: A Systematic Literature Review

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on how artificial intelligence is shaping the digital era, in policy making and governmental terms. In doing so, it discloses new opportunities and discusses its implications to be considered by policy-makers. The research uses a systematic literature review, which includes more than one technique of data analysis in order to generate comprehensiveness and rich knowledge, we use: a bibliometric analysis and a content analysis. While artificial intelligence is identified as an extension of digital transformation, the results suggest the need to deepen scientific research in the fields of public administration, governmental law and business economics, areas where digital transformation still stands out from artificial intelligence. Although bringing together public and private sectors, to collaborate in the public service delivery, presents major advantages to policy makers, evidence has also shown the existence of negative effects of such collaboration.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Addressing sustainability or following political climate rhetoric?:anatomy of government agency’s performance management

Abstract This paper examines how environmental sustainability is addressed, acted on, measured and communicated by the performance management system of a government agency. The Finnish Transport Safety Agency (Trafi) is the researched object, the activities and services of which cover a wide range of environmental sustainability goals set at different levels. The goals originate from international agreements, national strategies, performance agreements between the agency and the governing ministry, as well as from in-agency strategies and managerial planning. The results of the case research suggest that, instead of balanced and holistic addressing the different environmental sustainability dimensions, the agency’s portfolio of activities focused on climate change. More extensive sustainability goals did not trickle down to action or performance measurement metrics, but topical political discussions and pressures had narrowed the scope down. The analysis concludes with suggestions on how the existing performance management systems could be improved in the future

Trafin vaikuttavuustutkimus:loppuraportti

Abstract This is the final report in a series of reports covering the impact evaluation research on Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi. The adopted approach focused on evaluating the observable sovereign impacts induced by public services while simultaneously isolating other external variables (such as changes and trends in the surrounding operational environment) from the impact mechanism. The final conclusions rely on the detailed analysis of individual services that are clustered into service families covering the full range of the service architecture. In socio-economical terms the operation of Trafi yields to net benefits as a whole. Overall, the current return on investment (i.e. costs of producing the services) is positive with a minimum expected benefit-to- cost ratio of 2.6, or even up to 4.3. Traffic safety issues are and will remain in the epicenter of the agency’s responsibility portfolio but the future impact potential lies in services concerning the environment. In general, robust, transparent and high-quality administration goes hand in hand with a good quality national transportation system. Increasing international and national regulation may impose extra administrational burden to various stakeholders within the transport sector but overall the net impacts of regulation are positive. The agency’s performance management system comprises valid indicators per-se, but at present the coverage is not ideal and the selected metrics still need further consideration and development. Within scientific research, evaluation and scrutiny that covers public entities’ full spectrum of socio-economic impacts is still very limited both in volume and with regard to methodology.Abstrakti Tutkimuksessa arvioitiin viranomaisen toiminnan vaikuttavuutta. Viranomaistoiminnan vaikuttavuus pyrittiin eristämään muista toimintaympäristön muutoksista johtuvista vaikutuksista. Mittaamisen ongelmaa lähestyttiin mikrotasolla tarkastelemalla yksittäisten palveluiden ja muiden viranomaistuotteiden todennettavissa olevaa vaikuttavuutta. Makrotason päätelmät johdettiin näihin yksityiskohtaisiin havaintoihin nojautuen. Trafin toiminta on yhteiskuntataloudellisesti kannattavaa. Jokainen virastoon sijoitettu euro palautuu takaisin vähintään noin kolmin- tai nelinkertaisena. Liikenneturvallisuus tulee edelleen olemaan viraston vaikuttavuuden keskiössä, mutta tulevaisuuden potentiaaleja ovat todennäköisesti ympäristöön vaikuttavat palvelut ja toiminnot. Laadukas, läpinäkyvä ja eheä viranomaistoiminta kulkee käsi kädessä korkeatasoisen liikennejärjestelmän kanssa. Kansainvälinen ja kansallinen sääntely sekä sen lisääminen on toisaalta kuormittavaa, mutta nettovaikutuksiltaan lopulta positiivista. Viraston tulosohjausindikaattorit ovat valideja mutta niiden kattavuus ei ole ihanteellinen ja mittaamista on kehitettävä edelleen. Vaikuttavuuden kriittinen tutkimus on edelleen hyvin vähäistä – sekä metodiikka että tutkimusperinne on vasta alussa

Trafin vaikuttavuustutkimus, osaraportti 3:palveluiden vaikuttavuusarviot

Abstract This is the 3rd and final volume in a series of sub-reports covering the socio-economic impact evaluation study of Finnish Transport Safety Agency, Trafi. This sub-report first summarizes the preceding phases of the research. The research data and the applied evaluation and price valuation methods are discussed next. The main content of the report consists of the detailed analysis of a total of 21 services. This analysis is followed by a description of clustering Trafi services into service families, and the analysis of these clusters. Lastly, the validity and reliability of the results are discussed. The final results, conclusions and recommendations covering the entire research entity will be published in a final report, which will follow shortly after this sub-report.Tiivistelmä Tämä on kolmas ja viimeinen osaraportti Trafia koskevassa vaikuttavuustutkimuksessa. Aluksi raportissa esitetään lyhyt katsaus tutkimuksen edeltävistä vaiheista. Seuraavaksi käsitellään analyysien pohjana olleet aineistot ja käytetyt vaikutusten arviointi- ja hinnoittelumenetelmät. Raportin pääsisältö koostuu tarkemmin tutkittavaksi valittujen palveluiden eli näytteen vaikuttavuuden analyyseistä. Raportti sisältää lisäksi palveluiden klusteroinnin palveluperheisiin, sekä palveluperheiden arvioinnin. Lopuksi käsitellään tulosten luotettavuuden arviointi. Tutkimuskokonaisuuden lopputulokset, johtopäätökset ja suositukset esitetään tämän osaraportin jälkeen julkaistavassa vaikuttavuustutkimuksen loppuraportissa

Trafin vaikuttavuustutkimus, osaraportti 2:Trafin vaikuttavuustutkimuksen rajaus:palveluiden priorisointi

Abstract This is the second volume in a series of reports covering an impact evaluation study of Finnish Transport Safety Agency (Trafi). This report presents the design and application of the method to select an appropriate sample, i.e., the most promising products (in the case of an agency: functions and services), for quantitative impact evaluation research on a research subject. The prioritizing process entails four main iterative steps, namely 1) service catalogue mapping, 2) design of the evaluation criteria, 3) compilation of the decision matrix and 4) MCDA and recommendations thereof. he end result was a classification and a sorting of a conclusive list of services into three baskets: 1) services that will undergo the full-scale quantitative impact evaluation process; 2) services that will be evaluated with qualitative methods; and 3) services that are excluded from further analysis. The prioritization process designed and applied proved to be a valid tool to aid the selection of most promising services for the full scale impact evaluation research.Tiivistelmä Tämä on toinen osaraportti Liikenteen turvallisuusvirastoa Trafia koskevassa vaikuttavuustutkimuksessa. Raportissa käsitellään vaikuttavuustutkimuksen rajaus sekä esitellään rajauksessa käytetyn prosessin suunnittelu ja käyttö. Rajausta varten muodostettiin kattava palvelulistaus Trafin toiminnoista. Arviointia varten laadittiin arviointikriteeeristöt ja -asteikot. Palvelut arvioitiin työpajassa, jonka lopputuloksena saatiin päätösmatriisi. Päätösmatriisi analysoitiin monikriteerisellä päätösanalyysimenetelmällä ELECTRE III. Päätösanalyysi tuotti suositukset tutkimuksen rajauspäätöksiä varten, suosituksissa palvelut luokiteltiin kolmeen koriin seuraavasti: Kori 1: Palvelut, joille pyritään suorittamaan täysimittainen laskennallinen kvantitatiivinen vaikuttavuuden arviointi. Kori 2: Palvelut tai toiminnot, joista laaditaan kattava pääosin laadullinen (l. kvalitatiivinen) vaikuttavuuden arviointi. Kori 3: Palvelut, joihin ei tämän tutkimuksen yhteydessä tulla jatkossa puuttumaan tai keskittymään, joko a) esiarvioinnin perusteella vähäisemmän merkittävän vaikuttavuuden johdosta tai b) vaikutusmekanismin epäsuoruuden johdosta. Rajaukseen tarvittavan tiedon määrittely ja keräys kyettiin hallitsemaan hyvin ja siihen valitut prosessit ja menetelmät olivat toimivia

Digitalisation of industries:a comparative analysis from Australia and Finland

Abstract This paper features a two-country study on digitalisation: Australia and Finland. The empirical data was acquired from the national accounts for 1995–2015 in Australia and for 1998–2012 in Finland. This data was averaged for a cross-sectional comparison of industries and then for the two countries. Different industries’ advancement in digitalisation seems to follow approximately the same pacing in both countries. Financial and insurance services, telecommunications and media, and professional, technical and scientific services are the most active digitalisers. The empirical testing of the a priori assumption that digitalisation over a long period of time leads to greater productivity shows that the observed correlation between information and communication technology (ICT) investment and productivity is weak. The results partly confirm Solow’s productivity paradox

From business models to value networks and business ecosystems:what does it mean for the economics and governance of the transport system?

Abstract The entire transport sector is experiencing disruption on a global scale due to a number of drivers. These include the drivers of technology, changes in governance structures, a range of environmental challenges, and the need to provide mobility and accessibility regardless of social status or income level. To realize socio-economically worthwhile investments in the transport system, particularly where new technologies are involved, fresh views of the economy and investment are needed. This paper explores the relationship between business models, value chains and business ecosystems, and demonstrates a meta-model for transport-related services that involve profound incorporation of new technologies. The meta-model consists of four elements: end customer value (value proposition to the end user), business value (shareholder value), collaborative value (business value to the supply chain) and societal value (value creation in the supply chain and control of negative externalities). The meta-model is tested with a case study