Multi-dimensional modelling for the national mapping agency: a discussion of initial ideas, considerations, and challenges

The Ordnance Survey, the National Mapping Agency (NMA) for Great Britain, has recently begun to research the possible extension of its 2-dimensional geographic information into a multi-dimensional environment. Such a move creates a number of data creation and storage issues which the NMA must consider. Many of these issues are highly relevant to all NMA’s and their customers alike, and are presented and explored here. This paper offers a discussion of initial considerations which NMA’s face in the creation of multi-dimensional datasets. Such issues include assessing which objects should be mapped in 3 dimensions by a National Mapping Agency, what should be sensibly represented dynamically, and whether resolution of multi-dimensional models should change over space. This paper also offers some preliminary suggestions for the optimal creation method for any future enhanced national height model for the Ordnance Survey. This discussion includes examples of problem areas and issues in both the extraction of 3-D data and in the topological reconstruction of such. 3-D feature extraction is not a new problem. However, the degree of automation which may be achieved and the suitability of current techniques for NMA’s remains a largely unchartered research area, which this research aims to tackle. The issues presented in this paper require immediate research, and if solved adequately would mark a cartographic paradigm shift in the communication of geographic information – and could signify the beginning of the way in which NMA’s both present and interact with their customers in the future

Social connectedness and retirement

It has been suggested that social connectedness is potentially important for a healthy and happy retirement. This paper presents evidence that levels of social connectedness (defined as being active in social organisations) increase at retirement, by 25 per cent compared to pre-retirement levels. However, there is not a consistently strong and positive association between social connectedness and health and well-being in retirement for everyone. Rather, the evidence suggests that social connectedness may matter most in bad times.Social capital, retirement, health and well-being

Can the retirement consumption puzzle be solved?

This paper uses UK panel data to shed further light on the fall in spending at retirement (the “retirement-consumption puzzle”). It compares the profiles of spending and well-being at retirement for different groups, defined according to whether retirement is voluntary or involuntary. Where retirement is voluntary, food spending and individual well-being are largely smoothed through retirement; where retirement is involuntary, both food spending and well-being fall. This is consistent with the retirement consumption puzzle being linked to negative wealth shocks. However, there remains one group for whom retirement appears to be voluntary, yet whose spending falls. Fully resolving the puzzle requires a better understanding of how the nature of retirement links to spending and of how different groups substitute leisure for consumption.Retirement spending, panel data

The retirement-consumption puzzle and involuntary early retirement: Evidence from the British Household Panel Survey

This paper uses data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to shed further light on the fall in consumption at retirement (the “retirement-consumption puzzle”). Comparing food spending of men retiring involuntarily early (through ill health or redundancy) with spending of men who retire voluntarily, it finds a significant fall in spending only for those who retire involuntarily. This is consistent with the observed fall in spending being linked to a negative wealth shock for some retirees.Retirement, life-cycle model of consumption and saving.

Benchmarking Branch Outcomes: Using Available Data to Analyze and Improve the Delivery of Retail Bank Services to Low-Wealth Communities

This report demonstrates that measuring how well a bank provides basic banking services to low-wealth consumers could be done using existing data. Using proprietary data collected from two bank branches located in low-wealth communities, it shows that the type of transaction level data, previously thought to be unavailable to regulators and costly to collect for financialinstitutions, is routinely collected by at least one large bank for marketing purposes

Bridging the Gap: Credit Scores and Economic Opportunity in Illinois Communities of Color

This report analyzed credit score data from a major national credit bureau in large Illinois zip codes and found significant disparities in credit characteristics between communities of color and predominantly white communities, as well as between major metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan areas. The report explains the importance of credit scores and how they are used, and recommends several policies to improve economic opportunity for people and communities impacted by low credit scores. Included is an appendix with demographics and credit score averages and distributions for large Illinois zip codes

The Chicago Region's Foreclosure Problem Continued to Grow in 2008

This report summarizes key foreclosure trends in the Chicago region for 2008 and updates Woodstock Institute reports and fact sheets released previously that illustrated key aspects of the foreclosure crisis such as the spread of the crisis to suburban communities, the potential impact of the foreclosures on Chicago's affordable rental housing market, and the growing number of foreclosures that were becoming bank-owned properties and likely sitting vacant. The report includes detailed appendices with data for City of Chicago community areas and municipalities in the Chicago Six County Area

The Feelings Group: A Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of the Outcomes of a Smaller Anger Management Group for Clients who have a Learning Disability

Referrals concerning problems with anger for people with learning disability (LD) are relatively common as they are thought to be prone to difficulty in managing their anger (Willner, et al., 2002), a problem associated with aggressive behaviour (Novaco, 1994). Aggression is also prevalent in this population, with obvious inherent risks to themselves and others (Harris, 1993; Kiely & Pankhurst, 1998). Research on direct therapy in people with a learning disability (LD) indicates that there was a period of disdain for these types of approaches (Sinason, 1992). This was followed by a period marked by doubt around the value of using cognitive principles in particular (Willner, 2006), which was eventually overcome by a more positive and less discriminatory approach (Willner, 2005). This hesitancy has delayed the generation of robust empirical evaluation, which has yet to catch up (Willner, Jones, Tams & Green, 2002). The guidelines from the NHS are then activated whereby “in the absence of well designed randomised trials, clinicians may legitimately draw upon analysis of expert opinion and past experience” (Department of Health, 1996; p26). In some ways this offers freedom to adopt novel approaches or ones adapted from principle applied in other areas of clinical work, however, it also represents a difficulty in operating using evidence-based practice (Willner, 2005), which to some may represent a ‘professional minefield’ (Mead, 2000). In the emergent evidence-base for interventions for anger in this group, one important distinction has been made between ‘anger management’ and ‘anger treatment’ (Novaco et al., 2000), where the former is seen as a psycho educational approach whilst the latter explicitly combines assessment with treatment. Anger treatment also “centrally involves substantial cognitive restructuring and the acquisition of arousal reduction and behavioural coping skills” (Rose, et al., 2000, p172) This article presents the results from a small anger-management group for clients with a learning disability that was to be called “The Feelings Group”, which was based on the “Self awareness group” resource pack from Willner & Tomlinson (Psychology Department, Learning Disabilities Directorate, Bro Morgannwg NHS trust). This intervention boasted effectiveness in an RCT evaluation published in an article by Willner and colleagues (2002). The data was taken as part of service evaluation for the group. Informed consent was given by the clients involved to write about the group in an article