Model of access to natural language sources in electronic government

For the actual existence of e-government it is necessary and crucial to provide public information and documentation, making its access simple to citizens. A portion, not necessarily small, of these documents is in an unstructured form and in natural language, and consequently outside of which the current search systems are generally able to cope and effectively handle. Thus, in thesis, it is possible to improve access to these contents using systems that process natural language and create structured information, particularly if supported in semantics. In order to put this thesis to test, this work was developed in three major phases: (1) design of a conceptual model integrating the creation of structured information and making it available to various actors, in line with the vision of e-government 2.0; (2) definition and development of a prototype instantiating the key modules of this conceptual model, including ontology based information extraction supported by examples of relevant information, knowledge management and access based on natural language; (3) assessment of the usability and acceptability of querying information as made possible by the prototype - and in consequence of the conceptual model - by users in a realistic scenario, that included comparison with existing forms of access. In addition to this evaluation, at another level more related to technology assessment and not to the model, evaluations were made on the performance of the subsystem responsible for information extraction. The evaluation results show that the proposed model was perceived as more effective and useful than the alternatives. Associated with the performance of the prototype to extract information from documents, comparable to the state of the art, results demonstrate the feasibility and advantages, with current technology, of using natural language processing and integration of semantic information to improve access to unstructured contents in natural language. The conceptual model and the prototype demonstrator intend to contribute to the future existence of more sophisticated search systems that are also more suitable for e-government. To have transparency in governance, active citizenship, greater agility in the interaction with the public administration, among others, it is necessary that citizens and businesses have quick and easy access to official information, even if it was originally created in natural language.

Working Paper: Open Government Data

In diesem Working Paper sollen wesentliche Erkenntnisse und Forderungen aus der - bisher vor allem englischsprachigen - Diskussion über die webgerechte Freigabe öffentlicher Daten zusammengefaßt werden. Das Paper versteht sich als Ausgangspunkt für Diskussion und Strategieentwicklung, ohne letztere selbst leisten zu können. Die Entwicklungspotentiale von Open Government Data (OGD) sollen zunächst aus der Sicht verschiedener Beteiligter dargestellt werden. Mit den in den Sebastopol-Prinzipien formulierten grundlegenden Anforderungen an OGD wird der Begriff schließlich definiert. Anhand von Veröffentlichungen des W3C kann schließlich die Bedeutung der Verwendung und (Weiter-)Entwicklung offener Standards für OGD gezeigt werden, daneben aber auch die Hauptprobleme eines entsprechenden Change Managements im öffentlichen Sektor. Abschließend werden einige modellhafte Beispiele für die praktische Umsetzung von OGD angeführt.

Review of state government motor vehicle resources

The LAC was requested to review state motor vehicle resources and make recommendations. It focused on three statewide objectives posed by the committees: (1) Determine if any wasteful duplication exists among state-owned vehicle maintenance facilities. (2) Identify any waste or inefficiency in the use of state owned vehicles. (3) Identify unnecessary or personal use of state-owned vehicles.

The sectionalism of the tariff bill. Speech of Hon. John L. McLaurin, of South Carolina, in the Senate of the United States

This document contains a speech by John L. McLaurin, representative of South Carolina. Sections of the speech include: sectionalism exposed, the bill might have been defeated, the south plundered of its rights, not a protectionist, fraudulent demands of New England, Hon. Randolph Tucker, Hon. W.R. Morrison, and Hon. R.Q. Mills strangers to the doctrine in 1882, a tariff for revenue against the doctrine of free raw material, don’t want Cleveland’s interpretation, contest of schedules, and my remedy.

The tariff. Speech of Representative J. L. McLaurin, of South Carolina, in the House of Representatives, Tuesday, March 23, 1897

This document contains a speech of John L. McLaurin, representative of South Carolina, in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 23, 1897 about proposed tariffs.

Império e imagem : D. João de Castro e a retórica do Vice-Rei (1505-1548)

Tese de doutoramento, Ciências Sociais (Sociologia Histórica), Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Ciências Sociais, 2014

The First Government of Northern Ireland, Education Reform, and the Failure of Anti-populist Unionism, 1921–1925

This article examines education reform under the first government of Northern Ireland (1921–5). This embryonic period offered the Ulster Unionist leadership a chance to construct a more inclusive society, one that might diminish sectarian animosities, and thereby secure the fledgling state through cooperation rather than coercion. Such aspirations were severely tested by the ruling party’s need to secure the state against insurgency, and, more lastingly, to assuage the concerns of its historic constituency. The former led to a draconian security policy, the latter to a dependency on populist strategies and rhetoric. It is argued here, however, that this dependency was not absolute until July 1925. Before that, the Belfast government withstood growing pressure from populist agitators to reverse controversial aspects of its education reforms, only relenting when Protestant disaffection threatened the unity of the governing party and the existence of the state.

From the Government to the Streets: Why the U.S. is a Policy Innovator in Disability Rights

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2012

The Politics of Minister Retention in Presidential Systems: Technocrats, Partisans, and Government Approval

This article examines the impact of presidential approval and individual minister profiles on minister turnover. It claims that, in order to prioritize sustainable policy performance and cabinet loyalty, government chiefs protect and remove technocrats, partisans, and outsider ministers conditional on government approval. The study offers an operational definition of minister profiles that relies on fuzzy-set measures of technical expertise and political affiliation, and tests the hypotheses using survival analysis with an original dataset for the Argentine case (1983–2011). The findings show that popular presidents are likely to protect experts more than partisan ministers, but not outsiders.

Airborne Olive Pollen Counts are not Representative of 1 Exposure to the Major Olive Allergen Ole e 1

Pollen is routinely monitored, but it is unknown whether pollen counts represent allergen exposure. We therefore simultaneously determined olive pollen and Ole e 1 in ambient air in C"ordoba, Spain, and "Evora, Portugal, using Hirst-type traps for pollen and high-volume cascade impactors for allergen. Pollen from different days released 12-fold different amounts of Ole e 1 per pollen (both locations P < 0.001). Average allergen release from pollen (pollen potency) was much higher in C"ordoba (3.9 pg Ole e 1/pollen) than in "Evora (0.8 pg Ole e 1/pollen, P = 0.004). Indeed, yearly olive pollen counts in C"ordoba were 2.4 times higher than in "Evora, but Ole e 1 concentrations were 7.6 times higher. When modeling the origin of the pollen, >40% of Ole e 1 exposure in "Evora was explained by high-potency pollen originating from the south of Spain. Thus, olive pollen can vary substantially in allergen release, even though they are morphologically identical.

Transformation or bureaucratisation?: the changing role of community representation in local strategic partnerships in England

The debate about the need to build social capital and to engage local communities in public policy has become a central issue in many advanced liberal societies and developing countries. In many countries new forms of governance have emerged out of a growing realisation that representative democracy by itself is no longer sufficient. One of the most significant public policy trends in the UK has been the involvement of community organisations and their members in the delivery of national policy, mediated through local systems of governance and management. One such policy area is urban regeneration. Central government now requires local authorities in England to set up Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) to bring together stakeholders who can prepare Community Strategies and deliver social and economic programmes which target areas of deprivation. This paper reviews the key institutional processes which must be addressed, such as representation, accountability and transformation.