Planning for smart urban ecosystems : information technology applications for capacity building in environmental decision making

Since the industrial revolution, our world has experienced rapid and unplanned industrialization and urbanization. As a result, we have had to cope with serious environmental challenges. In this context, an explanation of how smart urban ecosystems can emerge, gains a crucial importance. Capacity building and community involvement have always been key issues in achieving sustainable development and enhancing urban ecosystems. By considering these, this paper looks at new approaches to increase public awareness of environmental decision making. This paper will discuss the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), particularly Webbased Geographic Information Systems (Web-based GIS) as spatial decision support systems to aid public participatory environmental decision making. The paper also explores the potential and constraints of these webbased tools for collaborative decision making.

Measuring factors that influence the utilisation of preventive care services provided by general practitioners in Australia

Background: Relatively little research attention has been given to the development of standardised and psychometrically sound scales for measuring influences relevant to the utilisation of health services. This study aims to describe the development, validation and internal reliability of some existing and new scales to measure factors that are likely to influence utilisation of preventive care services provided by general practitioners in Australia.----- Methods: Relevant domains of influence were first identified from a literature review and formative research. Items were then generated by using and adapting previously developed scales and published findings from these. The new items and scales were pre-tested and qualitative feedback was obtained from a convenience sample of citizens from the community and a panel of experts. Principal Components Analyses (PCA) and internal reliability testing (Cronbach's alpha) were then conducted for all of the newly adapted or developed scales utilising data collected from a self-administered mailed survey sent to a randomly selected population-based sample of 381 individuals (response rate 65.6 per cent).----- Results: The PCA identified five scales with acceptable levels of internal consistency were: (1) social support (ten items), alpha 0.86; (2) perceived interpersonal care (five items), alpha 0.87, (3) concerns about availability of health care and accessibility to health care (eight items), alpha 0.80, (4) value of good health (five items), alpha 0.79, and (5) attitudes towards health care (three items), alpha 0.75.----- Conclusion The five scales are suitable for further development and more widespread use in research aimed at understanding the determinants of preventive health services utilisation among adults in the general population.

Practice briefing : Is BOT the best financing model to procure infrastructure projects? A case study of the Hong Kong-Shuhai-Macau Bridge

Abstract: Purpose – Several major infrastructure projects in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) have been delivered by the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model since the 1960s. Although the benefits of using BOT have been reported abundantly in the contemporary literature, some BOT projects were less successful than the others. This paper aims to find out why this is so and to explore whether BOT is the best financing model to procure major infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach – The benefits of BOT will first be reviewed. Some completed BOT projects in Hong Kong will be examined to ascertain how far the perceived benefits of BOT have been materialized in these projects. A highly profiled project, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which has long been promoted by the governments of the People's Republic of China, Macau Special Administrative Region and the HKSAR that BOT is the preferred financing model, but suddenly reverted back to the traditional financing model to be funded primarily by the three governments with public money instead, will be studied to explore the true value of the BOT financial model. Findings – Six main reasons for this radical change are derived from the analysis: shorter take-off time for the project; difference in legal systems causing difficulties in drafting BOT agreements; more government control on tolls; private sector uninterested due to unattractive economic package; avoid allegation of collusion between business and the governments; and a comfortable financial reserve possessed by the host governments. Originality/value – The findings from this paper are believed to provide a better understanding to the real benefits of BOT and the governments' main decision criteria in delivering major infrastructure projects.

Rostering ambulance services

This paper developed a model for rostering ambulance crew in order to maximise the coverage throughout a planning horizon and minimise the number of ambulance crew. Rostering Ambulance Services is a complex task, which considers a large number of conflicting rules related to various aspects such as limits on the number of consecutive work hours, the number of shifts worked by each ambulance staff and restrictions on the type of shifts assigned. The two-stage models are developed using nonlinear integer programming technique to determine the following sub-problems: the shift start times; the number of staff required to work for each shift; and a balanced schedule of ambulance staff. At the first stage, the first two sub-problems have been solved. At the second stage, the third sub-problem has been solved using the first stage outputs. Computational experiments with real data are conducted and the results of the models are presented.

The innovation deficit in public services : the curious problem of too much efficiency and not enough waste and failure

It has long been recognised that government and public sector services suffer an innovation deficit compared to private or market-based services. This paper argues that this can be explained as an unintended consequence of the concerted public sector drive toward the elimination of waste through efficiency, accountability and transparency. Yet in an evolving economy this can be a false efficiency, as it also eliminates the 'good waste' that is a necessary cost of experimentation. This results in a systematic trade0off in the public sector between the static efficiency of minimizing the misuse of public resources and the dynamic efficiency of experimentation. this is inherently biased against risk and uncertainty and therein, explains why governments find service innovation so difficult. In the drive to eliminate static inefficiencies, many political systems have susequently overshot and stifled policy innovation. I propose the 'Red Queen' solution of adaptive economic policy.

TraSe algorithm : automatic evolutionary morphing of electronic dance music

The TraSe (Transform-Select) algorithm has been developed to investigate the morphing of electronic music through automatically applying a series of deterministic compositional transformations to the source, guided towards a target by similarity metrics. This is in contrast to other morphing techniques such as interpolation or parameters or probabilistic variation. TraSe allows control over stylistic elements of the music through user-defined weighting of numerous compositional transformations. The formal evaluation of TraSe was mostly qualitative and occurred through nine participants completing an online questionnaire. The music generated by TraSe was generally felt to be less coherent than a human composed benchmark but in some cases judged as more creative.

The impact of health information technology on the quality of medical and health care : a systematic review

Objective: To systematically review the published evidence of the impact of health information technology (HIT) on the quality of medical and health care specifically clinicians’ adherence to evidence-based guidelines and the corresponding impact this had on patient clinical outcomes. In order to be as inclusive as possible the research examined literature discussing the use of health information technologies and systems in both medical care such as clinical and surgical, and other health care such as allied health and preventive services.----- Design: Systematic review----- Data Sources: Relevant literature was systematically searched on English language studies indexed in MEDLINE and CINAHL(1998 to 2008), Cochrane Library, PubMed, Database of Abstracts of Review of Effectiveness (DARE), Google scholar and other relevant electronic databases. A search for eligible studies (matching the inclusion criteria) was also performed by searching relevant conference proceedings available through internet and electronic databases, as well as using reference lists identified from cited papers.----- Selection criteria: Studies were included in the review if they examined the impact of Electronic Health Record (EHR), Computerised Provider Order-Entry (CPOE), or Decision Support System (DS); and if the primary outcomes of the studies were focused on the level of compliance with evidence-based guidelines among clinicians. Measures could be either changes in clinical processes resulting from a change of the providers’ behaviour or specific patient outcomes that demonstrated the effectiveness of a particular treatment given by providers. ----- Methods: Studies were reviewed and summarised in tabular and text form. Due to heterogeneity between studies, meta-analysis was not performed.----- Results: Out of 17 studies that assessed the impact of health information technology on health care practitioners’ performance, 14 studies revealed a positive improvement in relation to their compliance with evidence-based guidelines. The primary domain of improvement was evident from preventive care and drug ordering studies. Results from the studies that included an assessment for patient outcomes however, were insufficient to detect either clinically or statistically important improvements as only a small proportion of these studies found benefits. For instance, only 3 studies had shown positive improvement, while 5 studies revealed either no change or adverse outcomes.----- Conclusion: Although the number of included studies was relatively small for reaching a conclusive statement about the effectiveness of health information technologies and systems on clinical care, the results demonstrated consistency with other systematic reviews previously undertaken. Widescale use of HIT has been shown to increase clinician’s adherence to guidelines in this review. Therefore, it presents ongoing opportunities to maximise the uptake of research evidence into practice for health care organisations, policy makers and stakeholders.

Understanding Shared Services : an exploration of the IS literature

In a competitive environment, companies continuously innovate to offer superior services at lower costs. ‘Shared services’ have been extensively adopted in practice as one means for improving organisational performance. Shared services is considered most appropriate for support functions, and is widely adopted in Human Resource Management, Finance and Accounting; more recently being employed across the Information Systems function. IS applications and infrastructure are an important enabler and driver of shared services in all functional areas. As computer based corporate information systems have become de facto and the internet pervasive and increasingly the backbone of administrative systems, the technical impediments to sharing have come down dramatically. As this trend continues, CIOs and IT professionals will need a deeper understanding of the shared services phenomenon and its implications. The advent of shared services has consequential implications for the IS academic discipline. Yet, archival analysis of IS the academic literature reveals that shared services, though mentioned in more than 100 articles, has received little in depth attention. This paper is the first attempt to investigate and report on the current status of shared services in the IS literature. The paper presents detailed review of literature from main IS journals and conferences, findings evidencing a lack of focus and definitions and objectives lacking conceptual rigour. The paper concludes with a tentative operational definition, a list of perceived main objectives of shared services, and an agenda for related future research.

The development of an evidentiary on-board massmonitoring application for heavy vehicles

This paper reports on the development of specifications for an on-board mass monitoring (OBM) application for regulatory requirements in Australia. An earlier paper reported on feasibility study and pilot testing program prior to the specification development [1]. Learnings from the pilot were used to refine this testing process and a full scale testing program was conducted from July to October 2008. The results from the full scale test and evidentiary implications are presented in this report. The draft specification for an evidentiary on-board mass monitoring application is currently under development.

Developing authentic achievement for disengaged young people using an electronic portfolio system

Credentials are a salient form of cultural capital and if a student’s learning and productions are not assessed, they are invisible in current social systems of education and employment. In this field, invisible equals non-existent. This paper arises from the context of an alternative education institution where conventional educational assessment techniques currently fail to recognise the creativity and skills of a cohort of marginalised young people. In order to facilitate a new assessment model an electronic portfolio system (EPS) is being developed and trialled to capture evidence of students’ learning and their productions. In so doing a dynamic system of arranging, exhibiting, exploiting and disseminating assessment data in the form of coherent, meaningful and valuable reports will be maintained. The paper investigates the notion of assessing development of creative thinking and skills through the means of a computerised system that operates in an area described as the efield. A model of the efield is delineated and is explained as a zone existing within the internet where free users exploit the cloud and cultivate social and cultural capital. Drawing largely on sociocultural theory and Bourdieu’s concepts of field, habitus and capitals, the article positions the efield as a potentially productive instrument in assessment for learning practices. An important aspect of the dynamics of this instrument is the recognition of teachers as learners. This is seen as an integral factor in the sociocultural approach to assessment for learning practices that will be deployed with the EPS. What actually takes place is argued to be assessment for learning as a field of exchange. The model produced in this research is aimed at delivering visibility and recognition through an engaging instrument that will enhance the prospects of marginalised young people and shift the paradigm for assessment in a creative world.

Are the financial services external complaints resolution schemes subject to judicial review?

In Australia seven schemes (apart from the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal) provide alternative dispute resolution services for complaints brought by consumers against financial services industry members. Recently the Supreme Court of New South Wales held that the decisions of one scheme were amenable to judicial review at the suit of a financial services provider member and the Supreme Court of Victoria has since taken a similar approach. This article examines the juristic basis for such a challenge and contends that judicial review is not available, either at common law or under statutory provisions. This is particularly the case since Financial Industry Complaints Service Ltd v Deakin Financial Services Pty Ltd (2006) 157 FCR 229; 60 ACSR 372 decided that the jurisdiction of a scheme is derived from a contract made with its members. The article goes on to contend that the schemes are required to give procedural fairness and that equitable remedies are available if that duty is breached.

Communication infrastructure study for precise positioning services in regional Queensland

Providing precise positioning services in regional areas to support agriculture, mining, and construction sectors depends on the availability of ground continuously operating GNSS reference stations and communications linking these stations to central computers and users. With the support of CRC for Spatial Information, a more comprehensive review has been completed recently to examine various wired and wireless communication links available for precise positioning services, in particular in the Queensland regional areas. The study covers a wide range of communication technologies that are currently available, including fixed, mobile wireless, and Geo-stationary and or low earth orbiting satellites. These technologies are compared in terms of bandwidth, typical latency, reliability, coverage, and costs. Additionally, some tests were also conducted to determine the performances of different systems in the real environment. Finally, based on user application requirements, the paper discusses the suitability of different communication links.

EMI issues in modern power electronic systems

Electromagnetic compatibility of power electronic systems becomes an engineering discipline and it should be considered at the beginning stage of a design. Thus, a power electronics design becomes more complex and challenging and it requires a good communication between EMI and Power electronics experts. Three major issues in designing a power electronic system are Losses, EMI and Harmonics. These issues affect system cost, size, efficiency and quality and it is a tradeoff between these factors when we design a power converter.

ePortfolios and preservice teachers : governing at a distance through non-human actors

This chapter seeks to develop an analysis of the contemporary use of the ePortfolio (Electronic Portfolio) in education practices. Unlike other explorations of this new technology which are deterministic in their approach, the authors seek to reveal the techniques and practices of government which underpin the implementation of the e-portfolio. By interrogating a specific case study example from a large Australian university’s preservice teacher program, the authors find that the e-portfolio is represented as eLearning technology but serves to govern students via autonomization and self responsibilization. Using policy data and other key documents, they are able to reveal the e-portfolio as a delegated authority in the governance of preservice teachers. However, despite this ongoing trend, they suggest that like other practices of government, the e-portfolio will eventually fail. This however the authors conclude opens up space for critical thought and engagement which is not afforded presently.