Getting research data ‘out there’ : collaborative solutions to identifying, describing and making research data more visible

At QUT research data refers to information that is generated or collected to be used as primary sources in the production of original research results, and which would be required to validate or replicate research findings (Callan, De Vine, & Baker, 2010). Making publicly funded research data discoverable by the broader research community and the public is a key aim of the Australian National Data Service (ANDS). Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has been innovating in this space by undertaking mutually dependant technical and content (metadata) focused projects funded by ANDS. Research Data Librarians identified and described datasets generated from Category 1 funded research at QUT, by interviewing researchers, collecting metadata and fashioning metadata records for upload to the Australian Research Data commons (ARDC) and exposure through the Research Data Australia interface. In parallel to this project, a Research Data Management Service and Metadata hub project were being undertaken by QUT High Performance Computing & Research Support specialists. These projects will collectively store and aggregate QUT’s metadata and research data from multiple repositories and administration systems and contribute metadata directly by OAI-PMH compliant feed to RDA. The pioneering nature of the work has resulted in a collaborative project dynamic where good data management practices and the discoverability and sharing of research data were the shared drivers for all activity. Each project’s development and progress was dependent on feedback from the other. The metadata structure evolved in tandem with the development of the repository and the development of the repository interface responded to meet the needs of the data interview process. The project environment was one of bottom-up collaborative approaches to process and system development which matched top-down strategic alliances crossing organisational boundaries in order to provide the deliverables required by ANDS. This paper showcases the work undertaken at QUT, focusing on the Seeding the Commons project as a case study, and illustrates how the data management projects are interconnected. It describes the processes and systems being established to make QUT research data more visible and the nature of the collaborations between organisational areas required to achieve this. The paper concludes with the Seeding the Commons project outcomes and the contribution this project made to getting more research data ‘out there’.

Preface : sustainable urban and regional infrastructure development : technologies, applications and management

The concept of ‘sustainability’ has been pushed to the forefront of policy-making and politics as the world wakes up to the impacts of climate change and the effects of the modern urban lifestyle. Climate change has emerged to be one of the biggest challenges faced by our planet today, threatening both built and natural systems with long term consequences which may be irreversible. While there is a vast literature in the market on sustainable cities and urban development, there is currently none that bring together the vital issues of urban and regional development, and the planning, management and implementation of sustainable infrastructure. Large scale infrastructure plays an important part in modern society by not only promoting economic growth, but also by acting as a key indicator for it. More importantly, it supplies municipal/local amenity and services: water, electricity, social and communication facilities, waste removal, transport of people and goods, as well as numerous other services. For the most part, infrastructure has been built by teams lead by engineers who are more concerned about functionality than the concept of sustainability. However, it has been widely stated that current practices and lifestyle cannot continue if we are to leave a healthy living planet to not only the next generation, but also to the generations beyond. Therefore, in order to be sustainable, there are drastic measures that need to be taken. Current single purpose and design infrastructures that are open looped are not sustainable; they are too resource intensive, consume too much energy and support the consumption of natural resources at a rate that will exhaust their supply. Because of this, it is vital that modern society, policy-makers, developers, engineers and planners become pioneers in introducing and incorporating sustainable features into urban and regional infrastructure.

Planning online : a community-based interactive decision-making model

The first use of computing technologies and the development of land use models in order to support decision-making processes in urban planning date back to as early as mid 20th century. The main thrust of computing applications in urban planning is their contribution to sound decision-making and planning practices. During the last couple of decades many new computing tools and technologies, including geospatial technologies, are designed to enhance planners' capability in dealing with complex urban environments and planning for prosperous and healthy communities. This chapter, therefore, examines the role of information technologies, particularly internet-based geographic information systems, as decision support systems to aid public participatory planning. The chapter discusses challenges and opportunities for the use of internet-based mapping application and tools in collaborative decision-making, and introduces a prototype internet-based geographic information system that is developed to integrate public-oriented interactive decision mechanisms into urban planning practice. This system, referred as the 'Community-based Internet GIS' model, incorporates advanced information technologies, distance learning, sustainable urban development principles and community involvement techniques in decision-making processes, and piloted in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan.

Design Led Innovation : exploring the synthesis of needs, technologies and business models

The term Design is used to describe a wide range of activities. Like the term innovation, it is often used to describe both an activity and an outcome. Many products and services are often described as being designed, as they describe a conscious process of linking form and function. Alternatively, the many and varied processes of design are often used to describe a cost centre of an organisation to demonstrate a particular competency. However design is often not used to describe the ‘value’ it provides to an organisation and more importantly the ‘value’ it provides to both existing and future customers. Design Led Innovation bridges this gap. Design Led Innovation is a process of creating a sustainable competitive advantage, by radically changing the customer value proposition. A conceptual model has been developed to assist organisations apply and embed design in a company’s vision, strategy, culture, leadership and development processes.

Neo-planning : location-based social media to engage Australia’s new digital locals

Community engagement with time poor and seemingly apathetic citizens continues to challenge local governments. Capturing the attention of a digitally literate community who are technology and socially savvy adds a new quality to this challenge. Community engagement is resource and time intensive, yet local governments have to manage on continually tightened budgets. The benefits of assisting citizens in taking ownership in making their community and city a better place to live in collaboration with planners and local governments are well established. This study investigates a new collaborative form of civic participation and engagement for urban planning that employs in-place digital augmentation. It enhances people’s experience of physical spaces with digital technologies that are directly accessible within that space, in particular through interaction with mobile phones and public displays. The study developed and deployed a system called Discussions in Space (DIS) in conjunction with a major urban planning project in Brisbane. Planners used the system to ask local residents planning-related questions via a public screen, and passers-by sent responses via SMS or Twitter onto the screen for others to read and reflect, hence encouraging in-situ, real-time, civic discourse. The low barrier of entry proved to be successful in engaging a wide range of residents who are generally not heard due to their lack of time or interest. The system also reflected positively on the local government for reaching out in this way. Challenges and implications of the short-texted and ephemeral nature of this medium were evaluated in two focus groups with urban planners. The paper concludes with an analysis of the planners’ feedback evaluating the merits of the data generated by the system to better engage with Australia’s new digital locals.

High resolution tiled display walls

Scalable high-resolution tiled display walls are becoming increasingly important to decision makers and researchers because high pixel counts in combination with large screen areas facilitate content rich, simultaneous display of computer-generated visualization information and high-definition video data from multiple sources. This tutorial is designed to cater for new users as well as researchers who are currently operating tiled display walls or 'OptiPortals'. We will discuss the current and future applications of display wall technology and explore opportunities for participants to collaborate and contribute in a growing community. Multiple tutorial streams will cover both hands-on practical development, as well as policy and method design for embedding these technologies into the research process. Attendees will be able to gain an understanding of how to get started with developing similar systems themselves, in addition to becoming familiar with typical applications and large-scale visualisation techniques. Presentations in this tutorial will describe current implementations of tiled display walls that highlight the effective usage of screen real-estate with various visualization datasets, including collaborative applications such as visualcasting, classroom learning and video conferencing. A feature presentation for this tutorial will be given by Jurgen Schulze from Calit2 at the University of California, San Diego. Jurgen is an expert in scientific visualization in virtual environments, human-computer interaction, real-time volume rendering, and graphics algorithms on programmable graphics hardware.

Sustainable fashion textiles research : engaging with new technologies

This article provides a discussion about how new technologies will enable Fashion Textiles Research to be disseminated amongst a new generation of producers and consumers via interactive and web technologies. How appropriate are these methods for Fashion Textiles Research? What are the advantages of these mediums and what will this mean for researchers, producers and consumers now and in the future, as the traditional platforms such as Journal Papers and Conferences, become obsolete? Can we predict the future of communicating textile research by assessing the way in which research is being conducted with the use of electronic databases, the Internet and with the emergence of electronic journals?

Embedding gifted education in preservice teacher education : a collaborative school-university approach

A country’s prosperity relies on the creative potential of its people. Educating gifted students must be a priority for educators and education systems if society is to capitalise on their potential to contribute to an economical and sustainable future. Given the importance of teachers in supporting academic achievement, educating preservice teachers on how to cater for gifted students commences the process as they can foster the implementation of current teaching practices that draw on substantial research into the education of gifted children. This study investigated preservice teachers’ perceptions for teaching gifted students after participating in a school-based intervention with gifted students. The teachers implemented differentiated curriculum activities that catered for the diverse needs of learners. Participants (n=22) were surveyed at the end of the program on their perceptions of how to differentiate the curriculum for meeting the needs of the student. Analysis of the survey indicated these preservice teachers agreed or strongly agreed they had developed skills in curriculum planning (91%) with well-designed activities (96%), and lesson preparation skills (96%). They also claimed they were enthusiastic for teaching (91%) and had understanding of school practices and policies (96%). However, only 46% agreed they had knowledge of syllabus documents with 50% claiming an ability to provide written feedback on the student’s learning. Furthermore, only 64% suggested they had educational language from the syllabus and effective student management strategies. Preservice teachers require direction on how to cater for diversity by building knowledge from direct gifted education experiences. The survey may be used as a diagnostic tool to determine areas for developing education experiences related to the education of the gifted for preservice teachers.

Project alliancing at National Museum of Australia : the collaborative process

Project alliancing is a new alternative to traditional project delivery systems, especially in the commercial building sector. The Collaborative Process is a theoretical model of people and systems characteristics that are required to reduce the adversarial nature of most construction projects. Although developed separately, both are responses to the same pressures. Project alliancing was just used successfully to complete the National Museum of Australia. This project was analyzed as a case study to determine the extent to which it could be classified as a “collaborative project”. Five key elements of The Collaborative Process were reviewed and numerous examples from the management of this project were cited that support the theoretical recommendations of this model. In the case of this project, significant added value was delivered to the client and many innovations resulted from the collective work of the parties to the contract. It was concluded that project alliances for commercial buildings offer many advantages over traditional project delivery systems, which are related to increasing the levels of collaboration among a project management team.

Towards the adoption of low-cost rail level crossing warning devices in regional areas of Australia : a review of current technologies and reliability issues

This paper discusses major obstacles for the adoption of low cost level crossing warning devices (LCLCWDs) in Australia and reviews those trialed in Australia and internationally. The argument for the use of LCLCWDs is that for a given investment, more passive level crossings can be treated, therefore increasing safety benefits across the rail network. This approach, in theory, reduces risk across the network by utilizing a combination of low-cost and conventional level crossing interventions, similar to what is done in the road environment. This paper concludes that in order to determine if this approach can produce better safety outcomes than the current approach, involving the incremental upgrade of level crossings with conventional interventions, it is necessary to perform rigorous risk assessments and cost-benefit analyses of LCLCWDs. Further research is also needed to determine how best to differentiate less reliable LCCLWDs from conventional warning devices through the use of different warning signs and signals. This paper presents a strategy for progressing research and development of LCLCWDs and details how the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Rail Innovation is fulfilling this strategy through the current and future affordable level crossing projects.

Addressing sustainable living using a collaborative approach and multi-disciplinary techniques

In order to achieve meaningful reductions in individual ecological footprints, individuals must dramatically alter their day to day behaviours. Effective interventions will need to be evidence based and there is a necessity for the rapid transfer or communication of information from the point of research, into policy and practice. A number of health disciplines, including psychology and public health, share a common mission to promote health and well-being and it is becoming clear that the most practical pathway to achieving this mission is through interdisciplinary collaboration. This paper argues that an interdisciplinary collaborative approach will facilitate research that results in the rapid transfer of findings into policy and practice. The application of this approach is described in relation to the Green Living project which explored the psycho-social predictors of environmentally friendly behaviour. Following a qualitative pilot study, and in consultation with an expert panel comprising academics, industry professionals and government representatives, a self-administered mail survey was distributed to a random sample of 3000 residents of Brisbane and Moreton Bay (Queensland, Australia). The Green Living survey explored specific beliefs which included attitudes, norms, perceived control, intention and behaviour, as well as a number of other constructs such as environmental concern and altruism. This research has two beneficial outcomes. First, it will inform a practical model for predicting sustainable living behaviours and a number of local councils have already expressed an interest in making use of the results as part of their ongoing community engagement programs. Second, it provides an example of how a collaborative interdisciplinary project can provide a more comprehensive approach to research than can be accomplished by a single disciplinary project.

A survey on the relationship between trust and interest similarity in online social networks

A remarkable growth in quantity and popularity of online social networks has been observed in recent years. There is a good number of online social networks exists which have over 100 million registered users. Many of these popular social networks offer automated recommendations to their users. This automated recommendations are normally generated using collaborative filtering systems based on the past ratings or opinions of the similar users. Alternatively, trust among the users in the network also can be used to find the neighbors while making recommendations. To obtain the optimum result, there must be a positive correlation exists between trust and interest similarity. Though the positive relations between trust and interest similarity are assumed and adopted by many researchers; no survey work on real life people’s opinion to support this hypothesis is found. In this paper, we have reviewed the state-of-the-art research work on trust in online social networks and have presented the result of the survey on the relationship between trust and interest similarity. Our result supports the assumed hypothesis of positive relationship between the trust and interest similarity of the users.

Managing Trust in Online Social Networks

In recent years, there is a dramatic growth in number and popularity of online social networks. There are many networks available with more than 100 million registered users such as Facebook, MySpace, QZone, Windows Live Spaces etc. People may connect, discover and share by using these online social networks. The exponential growth of online communities in the area of social networks attracts the attention of the researchers about the importance of managing trust in online environment. Users of the online social networks may share their experiences and opinions within the networks about an item which may be a product or service. The user faces the problem of evaluating trust in a service or service provider before making a choice. Recommendations may be received through a chain of friends network, so the problem for the user is to be able to evaluate various types of trust opinions and recommendations. This opinion or recommendation has a great influence to choose to use or enjoy the item by the other user of the community. Collaborative filtering system is the most popular method in recommender system. The task in collaborative filtering is to predict the utility of items to a particular user based on a database of user rates from a sample or population of other users. Because of the different taste of different people, they rate differently according to their subjective taste. If two people rate a set of items similarly, they share similar tastes. In the recommender system, this information is used to recommend items that one participant likes, to other persons in the same cluster. But the collaborative filtering system performs poor when there is insufficient previous common rating available between users; commonly known as cost start problem. To overcome the cold start problem and with the dramatic growth of online social networks, trust based approach to recommendation has emerged. This approach assumes a trust network among users and makes recommendations based on the ratings of the users that are directly or indirectly trusted by the target user.