Panorama de la contratación pública electrónica en Colombia

La implementación de los procesos de contratación pública electrónica permite aprovechar las ventajas de los avances tecnológicos en el manejo de la información y las telecomunicaciones, con el fin de aumentar la eficiencia y la eficacia de los procesos de contratación estatal, así como la transparencia de los mismos. En ese sentido, el presente trabajo de investigación se centrará en analizar si, de acuerdo con nuestro modelo jurídico, el procedimiento administrativo electrónico como “equivalente funcional” del procedimiento administrativo tradicional, posibilita la simplificación y racionalización de trámites en los procesos de contratación que adelanta la Administración Pública, permitiendo la realización de los principios de igualdad, moralidad, eficacia, economía, eficiencia, celeridad, imparcialidad y publicidad.

Impacto del proceso de eliminación del doble conteo del material importado por Carbones del Cerrejón Limited en términos de eficiencia y efectividad en el proceso de nacionalización y liberación del material

La operación de mega minería que abarca CERREJON se desarrolla bajo lo más altos estándares de seguridad y calidad, con el compromiso de entregar al mercado un excelente producto y evitando el deterioro del entorno. Uno de los puntos más fuertes de la compañía se haya en la integración de los procesos productivos entre la mina de carbón, el ferrocarril y el puerto, logrando que la operación sea eficiente y que garantice niveles altos de óptimos resultados y que los porcentajes de falla no existan o cada vez sean menores en el proceso de explotación y transporte del carbón de Colombia hacia el mundo. El departamento de MATERIALES es el punto de origen para garantizar que se desarrolle la operación, dado que el departamento tiene la gran labor de adquirir y entregar los bienes y servicios requeridos por la Compañía al más bajo costo total evaluado, en el menor tiempo posible y bajo el marco de la legislación Colombiana en el proceso de nacionalización, con un alto énfasis en el desarrollo de relaciones fuertes y sinérgicas entre todos los eslabones de la cadena. Todo el proceso del departamento se enmarca dentro de un ciclo que debe encaminarse a ser cada vez más efectivo y eficiente; de allí que se busquen opciones de mejoramiento para afinar los procesos. Para que sea posible y factible manejar una mega operación como esta se requiere afinar al máximo la red que se establece en su cadena de abastecimiento, buscando lograr un flujo de producto, información y fondos que garanticen disponibilidad del producto, para así generar una rentabilidad alta a la compañía, y controlar los costos por la operación. Dado que la cadena de suministro es susceptible a mejoras, gracias a la interacción con los proveedores, colaboradores y clientes; se pretende sacar el mejor provecho de esto, a través del análisis de la cadena actual de CERREJON; presentando una opción de mejora en uno de los eslabones del proceso productivo, esta opción ha sido contemplada desde años anteriores, pero en esta ocasión gracias a la integración de afinamientos en los sistemas de información, y la participación activa de los proveedores, se encuentra una opción viable de la eliminación de un reproceso, que garantiza eficiencia y efectividad en la agilización del ciclo de producción en CERREJON. A través de la ejecución del proyecto de reforma del conteo, se presenta la oportunidad de mejoramiento en la cadena del departamento; el proceso de reconteo en la mina, realizado posteriormente al conteo inicial en Puerto Bolívar, de los materiales que llegan importados vía marítima. El proceso de afinamiento del recibo documental en el consolidador de carga y los mayores proveedores de entrega directa (HITACHI y MCA) al transportador, genera la opción del uso de terminales portátiles, que de la mano con los ajustes documentales, permitirán que la carga sea contada y separada por localización, para enviarla vía tren a LMN, reduciendo tiempo de entrega al cliente final, los costos de remanejo al volver a contar, y los costos asociados a las entregas no oportunas de devolución de contenedores.

Propuesta de mejoramiento del sistema de inventarios para Diageo Colombia en la categoría vinos

La gestión de inventarios es uno de los grandes retos que afrontan las empresas hoy en día, especialmente aquellas que manipulan productos con altas probabilidades de daños y averías, razón por la cual definir políticas o un sistema de gestión de inventarios garantizaría una perdurabilidad y sostenibilidad en el mercado más prolongada. Es por ello que el proyecto planteado a continuación desarrollado en la empresa Diageo, multinacional de consumo masivo del sector licores, está inscrito en la línea de investigación de Gerencia de la Universidad del Rosario. De esta manera, bajo el programa de Áreas funcionales para la dirección que cuenta con un enfoque en perdurabilidad empresarial, la línea de investigación en Gerencia busca generar conocimientos sobre finanzas, mercadeo, operaciones y gestión humana. Por lo anterior, partiendo de la premisa de que una empresa perdurable es aquella que “adecúa su manejo a la intensidad de las condiciones del entorno sectorial y las fuerzas del mercado” (Leal, Guerrero, Rojas, & Rivera, 2011), se hace necesario orientar los recursos y esfuerzos de la empresa hacia una nueva política de inventarios en el portafolio de vinos, de modo que al incrementar el nivel de servicio se afecten positivamente indicadores de rentabilidad y liquidez.

Creating and implementing a biodiversity recording app for teaching and research in environmental studies

This case study reports on the development of a bespoke mobile recording app for collating records of biodiversity sightings on a University campus. This innovative project was achieved through a multi-disciplinary partnership of staff and students. It is hoped that the app itself will benefit lecturers by streamlining data collection during teaching and learning activities, whilst engaging students and highlighting the wealth of diversity available on campus

E-government: a possible solution to the problems of the agricultural input market in Bangladesh?

Although e-government offers unique opportunities for streamlining good governance, there remains considerable skepticism about its applicability in developing countries due to their lack of required level of infrastructural, technological, legal and human development. This paper argues that developing countries can introduce e-government practices by re-engineering their existing infrastructure rather than waiting for massive investments and perfect technological advancements. Using Bangladesh- a developing country- as an exemplar, this paper assesses the applicability and prospects of e-government practices in dealing with the problems in the agricultural input sector which is predominantly associated with poor, marginalised and semi-illiterate farmers. The utilization of the Bangladesh case study has important implications for examining and highlighting the probable introduction of e-government practices in developing countries.

RFID-based real-time smart waste management system

In an environmental context, the use of RFID (radio frequency identification) and load cell sensor technology can be employed for not only bringing down waste management costs, but also to facilitate automating and streamlining waste (e.g., garbage, recycling, and green) identification and weight measurement processes for designing smart waste management systems. In this paper, we outline a RFID and sensor model for designing a system in real-time waste management. An application of the architecture is described in the area of RFID and sensor based automatic waste identity, weight, and stolen bins identification system (WIWSBIS).

Nursing handovers : do we really need them?

Aim This study attempts to address the content of nursing handover when compared with formal documentation sources.

Background The nursing handover has attracted criticism in the literature in relation to its continuing role in modern nursing. Criticisms include those related to time expenditure, content, accuracy and the derogatory terms in which patients are sometimes being discussed.

Methods Twenty-three handovers, covering all shifts, from one general medical ward were audio-taped. Their content was analysed and classified according to where, within a ward's documentation systems, the information conveyed could be located.

Findings Results showed that almost 84.6% of information discussed could be located within existing ward documentation structures and 9.5% of information discussed was not relevant to ongoing patient care. Only 5.9% of handover content involved discussions related to ongoing care or ward management issues that could not be recorded in an existing documentation source.

Limitations The results of this study are representative of only one ward in one Australian Hospital. Specific documentation sources were also not checked to determine their content.

Conclusion Streamlining the nursing handover may improve the quality of the information presented and reduce the amount of time spent in handover.

Advice on assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education, student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects, especially at the undergraduate level.
Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges, not least in the assessment of student learning. Perhaps most troubling, large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students.
In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students, academic staff are responding through:
• greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to students;
• the development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams;
• the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts — as well as to guide marking and grading — including the modelling of discipline-based thinking, writing and performance; and
• the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups.
The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike. Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal, qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-à-vis their educational effectiveness.
There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program — developing criteria, guides, exemplars and models; discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff — will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities.
However, this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains. The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission. The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading, through a streamlining of marking and grading practices. Finally, the availability of clear, transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning.

Real-time early infectious outbreak detection systems using emerging technologies

The use of emerging technologies ( such as RFID - Radio Frequency Identification and remote sensing) can be employed to reduce health care costs and also to facilitate the automatic streamlining of infectious disease outbreak detection and monitoring processes in local health departments. It can assist medical practitioners with fast and accurate diagnosis and treatments. In this paper we outline the design and application of a real-time RFID and sensor-base Early Infectious (e.g., cholera) Outbreak Detection and Monitoring (IODM) system for health care.

Against settlement? Owen Fiss, ADR and Australian discrimination law

In his celebrated article, Against Settlement, Owen Fiss objected to settlement for, among other things, securing the peace while not necessarily delivering justice and denying the court the opportunity to interpret the law. Fiss sees settlement as a technique for streamlining court dockets, the civil equivalent of plea bargaining. This paper explores Fiss’s criticisms through the lens of resolving discrimination complaints in Australia. It argues that although it is valuable to offer complainants a system for resolving complaints quickly and informally, especially in a jurisdiction in which complainants are often from marginalised groups, it is also necessary to recognise that this system is limited in how effectively it can develop the law and, by extension, eradicate discrimination. In essence, the system’s operation epitomises Fiss’ opposition to settlement. Modifying the complaint resolution system would improve this situation. The paper concludes by proposing three reforms based on mechanisms used in comparable countries: introducing direct access to the court or tribunal; strengthening ADR by making it voluntary and incorporating a ‘rights-based’ approach; and encouraging the regular publication of specific information about settlements and significant cases.

Early predictors of hospital admission in emergency department patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background: Streamlining emergency department (ED) care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be an important strategy in managing the increasing burden of this disease.

Study objectives: The aim of this study was to identify factors predictive of hospital admission in ED patients with COPD, specifically factors that can be used early in the ED episode of care.

Methods: Using retrospective regression analysis, case data from 321 randomly selected medical records from five Australian EDs were analysed. Patient characteristics, triage and ED system features, physiological status, and ED treatment during the first four hours of ED care were compared between discharged and admitted patients.

Results: Factors available on ED arrival associated with increased likelihood of admission were: age (OR = 1.04, p = 0.008) respiratory symptoms affecting activities of daily living (OR = 1.8, p = 0.043) and signs of respiratory dysfunction (OR = 2.5, p = 0.005). Factors available from the first four hours of ED care associated with increased likelihood of admission were: age (OR = 1.04, p = 0.021), oxygen use at four hours (OR = 3.5, p = 0.002) and IV antibiotic administration (OR = 2.6, p = 0.026). There were conflicting findings regarding the association between ambulance transport and admission.

Translating evidence-based guidelines to improve feedback practices: the interACT case study

BACKGROUND: There has been a substantial body of research examining feedback practices, yet the assessment and feedback landscape in higher education is described as 'stubbornly resistant to change'. The aim of this paper is to present a case study demonstrating how an entire programme's assessment and feedback practices were re-engineered and evaluated in line with evidence from the literature in the interACT (Interaction and Collaboration via Technology) project. METHODS: Informed by action research the project conducted two cycles of planning, action, evaluation and reflection. Four key pedagogical principles informed the re-design of the assessment and feedback practices. Evaluation activities included document analysis, interviews with staff (n = 10) and students (n = 7), and student questionnaires (n = 54). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the questionnaire data. Framework thematic analysis was used to develop themes across the interview data. RESULTS: InterACT was reported by students and staff to promote self-evaluation, engagement with feedback and feedback dialogue. Streamlining the process after the first cycle of action research was crucial for improving engagement of students and staff. The interACT process of promoting self-evaluation, reflection on feedback, feedback dialogue and longitudinal perspectives of feedback has clear benefits and should be transferable to other contexts. CONCLUSIONS: InterACT has involved comprehensive re-engineering of the assessment and feedback processes using educational principles to guide the design taking into account stakeholder perspectives. These principles and the strategies to enact them should be transferable to other contexts.

Sobre o custo do tempo para a competitividade da indústria brasileira: diagnóstico e síntese dos impactos econômicos da facilitação do comércio no Brasil

Este artigo analisa a importância dos atrasos portuários para a competitividade da indústria de transformação no Brasil. Com base em estimativas recentes sobre o custo diário dos atrasos comerciais e em bases de dados do Banco Mundial e do GTAP (Global Trade Analysis Project), revela a magnitude destas barreiras sob a forma de seus equivalentes ad valorem. Em seguida, por meio de simulações em equilíbrio geral, estima o impacto da melhoria dos processos aduaneiros sobre o desempenho da indústria de transformação no Brasil, sob diferentes cenários. Os resultados obtidos ressaltam o caráter estratégico da facilitação do comércio para o Brasil e da sua inclusão como item relevante para a agenda de crescimento de longo prazo do país

Análise do processo judicial eletrônico (PJe) sob os parâmetros da discursividade processual e do acesso democrático à justiça

The conceptions of the judicial function, the process and the factors of legitimacy of the norm of decision are changed according to the model of State (liberal, social democratic and constitutional). The right of access to justice, likewise, follows the ideals present in constitutional movements experienced in different historical moments. The deficit of legitimacy of the judiciary is recurring subject of study in the doctrine, especially in the face of democratic standards that permeate the current paradigm of state. Under the process law, the essential element for the distinction of the states based on the rule of law (formal and material) and the democratic constitutional state lies in the democratic guarantee of participation to the litigants in the process of elaborating the norm of decision. The concern about the participatory democracy and the concretion of fundamental rights has as presupposition the conception of popular sovereignty. Keeping this effort in mind, the civil procedure cannot be oblivious to such considerations, especially when it justifies its constitutional conformation from the institutionalization of discourse within the procedural field (democratic principle) and of the democratization of access to justice, leading to the necessary contestation of the theory of instrumentality of the process. The democratic prospects of civil procedure and the concern about the legitimacy of the rule of decision cannot be moved away from the analysis of the judicial function and the elements that influence the legal suit s progress. The computerization of the judicial process entails extensive modification in the way the judicial function is developed, in view of automation of activities held, of the eliminating of bureaucratic tasks, manual and repetitive, and of streamlining the procedure. The objective of this study is to analyze the dogmatic changes and resulting practices from the implementation of the Judicial Electronic Process (JEP), prepared by the National Council of Justice, under the parameters of procedural discourse and democratic access to justice. Two hypotheses are raised, which, based on a bibliographic-documentary, applied and exploratory research, are contested dialectically. The expansion of publicity of procedural acts and the facilitating of communication and practice of such acts are elements that contribute to the effective participation of the recipients of the norm of decision in its making process and, therefore, the democratic principle in the procedural field. Ensuring access (to the parts) to the case files and reasonable duration of the process along with the preservation of its founding principles (contradictory, legal defense and isonomy) are essential to ensure democratic access to justice within the virtual system

Avaliação técnica e econômica da colheita de florestas de eucalipto com harvester

The acquisition of machinery used in timber harvesting depends on high financial investment, which implies the need for assessments that allow defining more precisely, what is the machine or the whole more recommended for streamlining the operation. This study aimed to technically and economically evaluating the performance of a harvester in Eucalyptus forest harvest first cut. The technique analysis included a time and movements, productivity, efficiency operational and mechanical availability. The economic analysis included the parameters operational cost, harvesting cost and energy consumption. The results obtained from the technological-economic parameters evidenced that of Diameter at Breast Height directly influenced the productivity of harvester. Consequently the lower costs of forest harvest were obtained for the compartments with wider diameter trees.