bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Study on Combined Test-Data Compression and Test Planning for Testing of Modular SoCs
Authors: Larsson Anders , Ingelsson Urban , Larsson Erik , Chakrabarty Krishnendu
Published: May 2011

Test-data volume and test execution times are both costly commodities. To reduce the cost of test, previous studies have used test-data compression techniques on system-level to reduce the test-data volume or employed test architecture design for module-based SOCs to enable test schedules with low test execution time. Research on combining the two approaches is lacking. Therefore, this chapter studies how core-level test-data compression can be combined with test architecture design to reduce test cost further. The study is conducted in three steps. The first step analyzes how the TAM width influences three test-data compression techniques, namely Selective Encoding, Vector Repeat and the combination of the two. The second step investigates in what order to consider test architecture and test-data compression in the SOC design process to best reduce test cost. It is observed that test architecture design and test-data compression-technique selection should be performed in an integrated process. The third step presents a novel approach to integrate test-data compression-technique selection in the test architecture design process. Experiments on benchmarks with realistic cores show that the integrated approach achieves up to 32% reduction in test cost (7.8% on average) compared to non-integrated test architecture design and test-data compression technique selection.
Architecture-Centered Integrated Verification
Authors: Fu Yujian , Dong Zhijang , He Xudong
Published: May 2011

The approach aims at solving the above problems by including the analysis and verification of two different levels of software development process–design level and implementation level-and bridging the gap between software architecture analysis and verification and the software product. In the architecture design level, to make sure the design correctness and attack the large scale of complex systems, the compositional verification is used by dividing and verifying each component individually and synthesizing them based on the driving theory. Then for those properties that cannot be verified on the design level, the design model is translated to implementation and runtime verification technique is adapted to the program. This approach can highly reduce the work on the design verification and avoid the state-explosion problem using model checking. Moreover, this approach can ensure both design and implementation correctness, and can further provide a high confident final software product. This approach is based on Software Architecture Model (SAM) that was proposed by Florida International University in 1999. SAM is a formal specification and built on the pair of component-connector with two formalisms – Petri nets and temporal logic. The ACV approach places strong demands on an organization to articulate those quality attributes of primary importance. It also requires a selection of benchmark combination points with which to verify integrated properties. The purpose of the ACV is not to commend particular architectures, but to provide a method for verification and analysis of large scale software systems in architecture level. The future research works fall in two directions. In the compositional verification of SAM model, it is possible that there is circular waiting of certain data among different component and connectors. This problem was not discussed in the current work. The translation of SAM to implementation is based on the restricted Petri nets due to the undecidable issue of high level Petri nets. In the runtime analysis of implementation, extraction of the execution trace of the program is still needed to get a white box view, and further analysis of execution can provide more information of the product correctness.
Modeling Services Using ISE Framework
Authors: Biçer Veli , Borgert Stephan , Winkler Matthias , Scheithauer Gregor , Voigt Konrad , Cardoso Jorge , Aitenbichler Erwin
Published: May 2011

The Internet of services introduces new requirements for service engineering in terms of addressing both business and technical perspectives. The inherent complexity of the new wave of services that is emerging requires new approaches for an effective and efficient service design. In this chapter a novel service engineering framework is introduced: the Integrated Service Engineering (ISE) framework. With its ISE workbench, it can address the emerging requirements of Internet of services. The chapter presents the foundations on how the service engineering process can be conducted by applying the separation of concerns to model different service dimensions within various layers of abstraction. Additionally, three novel extensions are presented to the aforementioned ISE workbench in order to enrich the capabilities of the service modeling process.
Description, Classification and Discovery Approachesfor Software Components
Authors: Khemakhem Sofien , Drira Khalil , Jmaiel Mohamed
Published: May 2011

The successfulness of the Component-Based Development (CBD) process relies on several factors, including: the structuration of the component repositories, and the comparison procedures for interface exploring while comparing the expected and the provided services. Both functional and non-functional features should be considered. This chapter presents three key factors to guarantee the successfulness of the repository reuse: the description, the classification and the discovery of components. Through this study, first, the type of information is specified. Next, the style of adopted search is indicated, and then the type of comparison, and the level of specification. Then, the chapter analyzes the importance of non-functional constraints in the description of the components, and studies the advantages and the disadvantages of existing techniques.
Model-Driven Development of Multi-Core Embedded Software
Authors: Lin Shang-Wei , Lin Chao-Sheng , Lu Chun-Hsien , Chen Yean-Ru , Hsiung Pao-Ann
Published: May 2011

Multi-core processors are becoming prevalent rapidly in personal computing and embedded systems. Nevertheless, the programming environment for multi-core processor based systems is still quite immature and lacks efficient tools. This chapter will propose a new framework called VERTAF/Multi-Core (VMC) and show how software code can be automatically generated from high-level SysML models of multi-core embedded systems. It will also illustrate how model-driven design based on SysML can be seamlessly integrated with Intel’s Threading Building Blocks (TBB) and Quantum Platform (QP) middleware. Finally, this chapter will use a digital video recording (DVR) system to illustrate the benefits of the proposed VMC framework.
Business Agility and Process Agility
Authors: Bruno Giorgio
Published: May 2011

Agility is an essential feature for SMEs and this chapter intends to examine if and how business processes, as currently understood, are able to promote it. Over the last years a number of viewpoints have emerged which exerted great influence on the design of notations and languages for business processes: the majority of them can be referred to as the centralized viewpoint, the role viewpoint, the conversational viewpoint, the case viewpoint and the cooperative one. These viewpoints provide different levels of agility and then beneficial results can be expected from their integration, which is the purpose of the proof-of-concept notation, AgileBPN, presented in this chapter. In AgileBPN, business processes are organized around conversations and role processes (encompassing the tasks pertaining to a given role); shared artifacts are represented as cooperative objects. The notation is illustrated with the help of an example referring to a business process meant to handle applications in a certain organization.
Collaborative Networks
Authors: Cormican Kathryn
Published: May 2011

The business landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. Innovative organisations are restructuring their business models. They are moving away from discrete linear value chains towards open innovation models such as networks. Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) recognise that in order to survive they must be equipped with the relevant competencies required to design, develop and deploy innovative solutions that meet the needs of the end user. More and more small firms are collaborating with each other in order to create value added products and access new markets. However, the task of working in a collaborative network is not easy. SMEs find it particularly difficult to engage in these activities and experience many challenges in this regard. Moreover, there are very few support structures and systems available to guide successful knowledge sharing and collaboration. This chapter explores the fundamental concepts of collaborative networks and knowledge sharing, synthesises and presents some of the challenges faced by SMEs and identifies some critical success factors that should be considered to help overcome the barriers identified.
E-Sourcing Electronic Platforms in Real Business
Authors: Sampaio Luís , Figueiredo José
Published: May 2011

The authors carried out this research in a specific context within the electronic markets - business-to-business (B2B). The purpose is to assert the major blocks needed to be covered by an e-purchasing tool in order to be successful. Another goal is to identify how this e-purchasing tool allows buyers (firms) to practice Strategic Sourcing. After an enlarged literature review on E-Sourcing Electronic Platforms (ESEP) and e-purchasing markets they defined a methodological framework and construct a case study. Their strategy was to use one case study only. The use of a single case study is addressed and justified. Within their case study the authors took advantage of the data collected in a survey recently conducted by Vortal (Portuguese firm that owns several B2B platforms in different electronic markets). Finally some conclusions are tentatively constructed.
Internationalization of Online Professional Communities
Authors: Yu Martin Yuecheng , Lang Karl R. , Kumar Nanda
Published: May 2011

We report on an empirical investigation of the internationalization of an online community of practice situated in academe and which fosters among its members communication and collaboration. Attracting additional active participants throughout the world is an important goal for many online professional communities. Based on theories and findings in the innovation diffusion and international business literature, we propose that cultural distance has significant negative effects on the activity of an online community encompassing different countries, while economic conditions will moderate this negative impact. An empirical study based on the archival data from AIS-ISWorld, an online community of information systems academics, supports our central hypotheses.
Information Technology and Diversification
Authors: Shin Namchul
Published: May 2011

While the importance of IT coupled with organizational changes for business performance has been widely discussed in the information systems (IS) literature, there has been little empirical research on the issue. This research examines empirically the relationship between IT and diversification by employing multiple diversification measures. It also examines empirically the relative impact on performance of IT and diversification. Results show that diversification coupled with increased IT spending improves firm performance when its strategic emphasis is on related diversification. The results also show that firms place strategic focus on related diversification when they increase IT spending, and that they require more IT when their strategic emphasis is tilted toward related diversification. The findings imply that by providing a better means of coordination, IT enables scope economies, efficient utilization of business resources and collaboration across individual business units, eventually leveraging the benefits of diversification.
What Drives Firms to Engage in Interorganizational Information Sharing in Supply Chain Management?
Authors: Madlberger Maria
Published: May 2011

With growing use of interorganizational systems, the scope of interfirm collaboration has increased considerably, particularly in the supply chain context. An important prerequisite of interfirm collaboration is information sharing. Extant research suggests clear advantages of information sharing. The research at hand addresses antecedents of interorganizational information sharing. Based on findings from interorganizational systems adoption and interfirm collaboration research, a structural model is developed and validated by a quantitative survey among Austrian retailers and manufacturers in the fast-moving consumer-goods sector. The proposed model analyzes the effect of internal factors (commitment, information policy, and technical readiness), interorganizational factors (relationship, trust, power, and trading partners’ technical readiness), and economic factors (perceived benefits and costs) on information-sharing behavior. The results show the relevance of internal factors and perceived benefits. The study reveals particularities of information-sharing behavior and can help practitioners to understand what motivates their trading partners to share information.
A Framework Describing the Relationships among Social Technologies and Social Capital Formation in Electronic Entrepreneurial Networking
Authors: Burke Kelly , Calton Jerry M
Published: May 2011

E-commerce technologies—including online exchanges—focus heavily on transaction support. They are designed primarily to reduce transaction costs between suppliers, producers, distributors, and customers. Entrepreneurs however are not likely to realize the full business potential of e-commerce unless the transaction technologies are simultaneously supported by technology-enabled social learning networks used to stimulate the formation of social capital in its three primary manifestations. Toward that end this article argues that a number of Internet-based social technologies (e.g., email, chat, blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc.) can be used more effectively when it is understood that each technology offers different characteristics in support of the formation of different dimensions of social capital. This article presents a conceptual framework describing the capacities of various social technologies for supporting the formation of social capital. A primary thrust of the article is that alignment of a social technology infrastructure with the social capital requirements in entrepreneurial communities will facilitate the formation of electronic learning networks, enabling more collaborative and therefore more successful entrepreneurial communities.
Exploring Dialogue Games for Collaborative Modeling
Authors: Hoppenbrouwers S.J.B.A. , Weigand H. , Rouwette E.A.J.A.
Published: May 2011

In our search for better understanding and support of the activities constituting collaborative modeling processes, we have developed a framework viewing them as enacted dialogue games. We have also developed and evaluated a number of experimental game-like procedures, exploring ‘modeling as a game’. In this chapter, we present our generalized findings and experiences so far, discussing some key aspects underlying the analysis and design of collaborative modeling activities as dialogue games, with some emphasis on the support and guidance of novice modelers (as opposed to expert modelers).
Participant-Driven Approach to Autonomously Cluster Brainstorming Ideas
Authors: Helquist Joel H. , Krus John , Nunamaker Jay
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an exploratory examination of the impact of synchronicity and quantity of brainstorming ideas on the ability of a group to autonomously cluster brainstorming ideas. Groups were tasked with clustering brainstorming ideas through the use of a Group Support Systems (GSS) tool. The tool allowed each participant to create and modify categories to which individual brainstorming ideas could be aligned. No explicit means of coordination were available; each participant worked autonomously to cluster the brainstorming ideas. The results indicated that the groups working synchronously displayed improved performance and satisfaction ratings. Likewise, groups categorizing the smallest quantity of brainstorming ideas performed better than the larger quantities.
Integrating Telehealth into the Organization’s Work System
Authors: Jean-Jules Joachim , Villeneuve Alain O.
Published: May 2011

With increased use of telehealth to provide healthcare services, bringing telehealth technology out of experimental settings into real life settings, it is imperative to gain a deeper understanding of mechanisms underlying the assimilation of teleheath systems. Yet, there is little understanding of how information systems are assimilated by organizations, more work is then warranted to understand how telehealth can be integrated into administrative and clinical practices and to identify factors that may impinge onto telehealth integration. Borrowing from institutional, structural and organizational learning theories, the authors develop a multilevel model for understanding assimilation of telehealth systems. Their study addresses limitations of past work and will be helpful for guiding research and managerial actions while integrating telehealth in the workplace.
Sustainability Constraints as System Boundaries
Authors: Ny Henrik , MacDonald Jamie P. , Broman Göran , Robèrt Karl-Henrik
Published: May 2011

Sustainable management of materials and products requires continuous evaluation of numerous complex social, ecological, and economic factors. Many tools and methods are emerging to support this. One of the most rigorous is life-cycle assessment (LCA). But LCAs often lack a sustainability perspective and bring about difficult trade-offs between specificity and depth, on the one hand, and comprehension and applicability, on the other. This article applies a framework for strategic sustainable development to foster a new general approach to the management of materials and products, here termed “strategic life-cycle management.” This includes informing the overall analysis with aspects that are relevant to a basic perspective on (1) sustainability, and (2) strategy to arrive at sustainability. Early experiences indicate that the resulting overview could help avoiding costly assessments of flows and practices that are not critical from a sustainability or strategic perspective and help in identifying strategic knowledge gaps that need further assessment.
Sustainable Transport Infrastructure
Authors: Dur Fatih , Yigitcanlar Tan , Bunker Jonathan
Published: May 2011

Many economic, social and environmental sustainability problems associated with typical urban transportation systems have revealed the importance of three domains of action: vehicle, infrastructure and user. These domains need to be carefully reconsidered in search of a sustainable urban development path. Although intelligent transportation systems have contributed substantially to enhancing efficiency, safety and comfort of travel, questions related to users’ behaviors and preferences, which stimulate considerable environmental effects, still needed to be further examined. In this chapter, options for smart urban transportation infrastructure development and the technological means for achieving broader goals of sustainable communities and urban development are explored.
Green ICT and Architectural Frameworks
Authors: Goel Amit , Tiwary Amit , Schmidt Heinz
Published: May 2011

Green ICT Practices fall in two different extremes of either only recommendations to reduce the resource usage such as electricity, or high level strategic management techniques such as Green Balanced Scorecard. The one extreme is very micro level operational approach and the other extreme is just paper strategies without a roadmap for total sustainability. This chapter proposes the enterprise architecture framework and mathematical model providing dynamic model for total sustainability. A brief description of currently popular Green ICT Metrics in practice is presented, together with a discussion of architectural frameworks providing three different architecture layers and a roadmap to achieve desirable “total sustainability indicator (TSI™) - a measurement framework based on mathematical models and game theory.
Green ICT System Architecture Frameworks
Authors: Curtis Dave , Lingarchani Amit
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the concept of using Enterprise Architecture and associated practices as a method for helping establish and align Green ICT initiatives within organizations as part of an overall ICT Strategy. The chapter introduces the reader to the use of architectural layers – Business, Information, System and Technical as a means of analyzing areas within the ICT environment where Green ICT implementations can have a positive impact. Enterprise Architecture as a function can assist in driving Green ICT initiatives because it is specifically focused as a practice in the long term planning, development and management of an organisation’s ICT environment. This provides the opportunity to embed Green ICT objectives in a way not necessarily possible with traditional business planning.
Green Semicondoctor Design Techniques and Challanges
Authors: Rajain Somesh , Shingala Chetan , Mehul Ekata
Published: May 2011

The large emission of Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not only affecting our ecology but also affecting human life. In schools, offices, factory and crowded railway/bus stations i.e crowded places with insufficient ventilations CO2 affects human life most. In a closed environment like school, If CO2 level starts raising above 700 parts per million (ppm) people will feel objectionable body odors and as it increase further people will feel very uncomfortable, dizzy and have headache etc. Our goal is to reduce CO2 emission and lower global warming. In Semiconductor Industry as the digital technology grows, the functionality of our electronics devices (For example: - Mobile phone, PC’s, home appliances etc) is constantly improves and mean while the demand for electronic devices to be more environment friendly is increasing. So we have to design systems with Low power consumption to curtail down green house gas emission as well as low power design are also a requirement of today’s market. The usage of mobile device in all kinds of applications is increasing day by day. These applications and corresponding devices also have their power requirements. The demand for mobile consumer device has made the power management the number one consideration in today‘s system design. To increase battery life, system chip designer needs to adopt an aggressive power management technique which includes multi voltage Design Island, power gating, dynamic voltage, frequency scaling, clock gating etc in the system. Adding all these greatly complicates the verification for the chip. Normally the designer neglects the implementation of power saving techniques due to the tradeoff between power reduction and verification costs. The costs become more important in terms of business, which leads to more power consumption. Those details can still be implemented provided we use right kind of tools & techniques that are also combined with design experience. In this chapter the focus is to firstly describe low power design techniques, its verification challenges and its solutions followed by the case study. It also guides for the selection of programmable device & RTL Core design criteria. To make green electronics devices we have to design system with low power design techniques.
A Decision Support System for Sustainable Urban Development
Authors: Dur Fatih , Yigitcanlar Tan , Bunker Jonathan
Published: May 2011

Broad, early definitions of sustainable development have caused confusion and hesitation among local authorities and planning professionals. This confusion has arisen because loosely defined principles of sustainable development have been employed when setting policies and planning projects, and when gauging the efficiencies of these policies in the light of designated sustainability goals. The question of how this theory-rhetoric-practice gap can be filled is the main focus of this chapter. It examines the triple bottom line approach–one of the sustainability accounting approaches widely employed by governmental organisations–and the applicability of this approach to sustainable urban development. The chapter introduces the ‘Integrated Land Use and Transportation Indexing Model’ that incorporates triple bottom line considerations with environmental impact assessment techniques via a geographic, information systems-based decision support system. This model helps decision-makers in selecting policy options according to their economic, environmental and social impacts. Its main purpose is to provide valuable knowledge about the spatial dimensions of sustainable development, and to provide fine detail outputs on the possible impacts of urban development proposals on sustainability levels. In order to embrace sustainable urban development policy considerations, the model is sensitive to the relationship between urban form, travel patterns and socio-economic attributes. Finally, the model is useful in picturing the holistic state of urban settings in terms of their sustainability levels, and in assessing the degree of compatibility of selected scenarios with the desired sustainable urban future.
A Taxonomy of Green Information and Communication Protocols and Standards
Authors: Ryoo Jungwoo , Choi Young
Published: May 2011

Due to increased awareness of human’s adverse effect on the environment, many new technologies to mitigate the environmental damage are under development. Although innovative, many of these technologies are often developed in isolation and consequently incompatible with each other. From the viewpoint of Systems Engineering, this presents an enormous challenge since compatibility among different elements of a system is crucial in achieving an optimal operational state that minimizes energy consumption. Therefore, standardization in the form of protocols is a key to accomplishing the goal of green Information and Communication Technology (ICT). In this chapter, the authors examine the existing green ICT technologies and their protocols to identify both obvious and subtle strengths and weaknesses. Particularly, the authors scrutinize the interoperability of the existing green ICT protocols and provide insights on how to improve the status quo. In addition, information on emerging governing bodies of green ICT protocols is provided.
Building Capacity for Better Water Decision Making through Internet-Based Decision Support Systems
Authors: Salewicz Kazimierz A. , Nakayama Mikiyasu , Bruch Carl
Published: May 2011

Decision making processes for developing water resources systems infrastructure and operational policies have ceased to be the exclusive domain of just a few, privileged persons making decisions. Now, more and more groups of the society at both the international and national levels are demanding opportunities to participate in decision making, as well as information about potential consequences of policy decisions. In some countries, public participation in the decision making process has been already sanctioned by law, for example through Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), public permitting processes, and notice and comment rulemaking procedures. However, in many developing countries, public participation remains unfulfilled despite growing awareness and pressure exercised by various interest groups. To be effective, public participation – either active or passive (through access to knowledge and information concerning the decisions and their impact) – needs appropriate political and legal regulations, in addition to technical means to disseminate objective, complete, and comprehensive information about nature of the decisions to be made, potential alternatives, feasibility of solutions, impact of the potential decisions, etc. Among plethora of the available methods and means for providing the information to the broad circles of the society, the Internet already plays a special and powerful role. This chapter presents the concepts and notions underlying formal approaches to decision making processes, as well as providing a review of the possibilities offered by the Internet to enable access to various sources and types of information that can directly or indirectly support the decision making processes in complex water resources systems.
Comprehensive Energy Systems Analysis Support Tools for Decision Making
Authors: Cosmi C. , Di Leo S. , Loperte S. , Pietrapertosa F. , Salvia M. , Macchiato M. , Cuomo V.
Published: May 2011

Sustainability of energy systems is a common priority that involves key issues such as security of energy supply, mitigation of environmental impacts - the energy sector is currently responsible for 80% of all EU greenhouse gas emissions (European Environment Agency, 2007), contributing heavily to the overall emissions of local air pollutants - and energy affordability. In this framework, energy planning and decision making processes can be supported at different stages and spatial scales (regional, national, pan-European, etc.) by the use of comprehensive models in order to manage the large complexity of energy systems and to define multi-objective strategies on the medium-long term. This Chapter is aimed to outline the value of model-based decision support systems in addressing current challenges aimed to carry out sustainable energy systems and to diffuse the use of strategic energy-environmental planning methods based on the use of partial equilibrium models. The proposed methodology, aimed to derive cost-effective strategies for a sustainable resource management, is based on the experiences gathered in the framework of the IEA-ETSAP program and under several national and international projects.
Using Geographic Information System to Infollow the Fertilizers Pollution Migration
Authors: Sallam Gehan A.H. , Youssef Tahani , Embaby Mohamed El-Sayed , Shaltot Fatma
Published: May 2011

In recent years, many countries have faced great challenges due to their limited water resources. According to these challenges, they have undertaken large scale projects to reuse agricultural drainage water in irrigation purpose. The Governments in these countries can enhance water management and sustainable development by adopting policies that enable them to meet water demands and supply management. Therefore, there is a need for unconventional methods to provide better tools for the assessment and management of water quality problems to adopt management policies and set the limits for sustainable drainage water reuse. The implementation of Geographic Information System (GIS) in this field offers an ideal tool for measurements with limited number of sampled points. Statistical analysis that can be provided within GIS is rapidly becoming an impressive tool for statistical analysis of continuous data. The main objective of this chapter is to discuss using GIS to in-follow the pollution caused by fertilizers migration to the water and the soil by applying statistical analysis within the GIS using geostatistical analyst. Geostatistical analyst is an extension of Arc Map™ that bridges the gap between geostatistics and GIS and provides a powerful collection of tools for the management and visualization of spatial data by applying Spatial Statistics.
Construction of Agri-Environmental Data Using Computational Methods
Authors: Uchida Susumu , Hayashi Kiyotada , Sato Masaei , Hokazono Shingo
Published: May 2011

Increased public focus on agri-environmental issues and recent policies on agricultural sustainability have necessitated the construction of a life cycle inventory (LCI) database for agricultural production systems. However, the current progress of LCI database construction is far from being complete in both developed and developing countries. In this chapter, an integrated view for a data-construction methodology for agri-environmental assessment is proposed. The applications of computational methods to the construction processes are also proposed, with a special focus on Japanese case studies. After discussing the methods for construction, the implications of LCI construction are presented, which includes the following issues: how to make a transition to sustainability, and how to achieve informed and science-based policy decisions by increasing the applicability of life cycle assessment and the level of preparedness. The Japanese case studies should support assessment and decisions in developed and developing countries.
Flow-Based Structural Modelling and Dynamic Simulation of Lake Water Levels
Authors: Adero Nashon Juma , Kiema John Bosco Kyalo
Published: May 2011

The continuing decline in lake water levels is both a concern and daunting challenge to scientists and policymakers in this era, demanding a rethinking of technological and policy interventions in the context of broader political and socio-economic realities. It is self-evident that diverse factors interact in space and time in complex dynamics to cause these water-level changes. However, the major question demanding sound answers is how these factors interact and by what magnitude they affect lake water balance with time. This chapter uses Lake Victoria’s hydrological system to shed light on the extensive and flexible modelling and simulation capabilities availed by modern computer models to understand the bigger picture of water balance dynamics. The study used the 1950-2000 hydrological data and riparian population growth to develop a dynamic simulation model for the lake’s water level. The intuitive structure of the model provided clear insights into the combined influence of the main drivers of the lake’s water balance. The falling lake water levels appeared to be mainly due to dam outflows at the outlet and reduced rainfall over the lake. The ensuing conclusions stressed the need for checks against over-release of lake water for hydropower production and measures for sustainable land and water management in the entire basin.
Integrated Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Management
Authors: Au-Yeung Benson , Yigitcanlar Tan , Mayere Severine
Published: May 2011

Sustainable urban development and the liveability of a city are increasingly important issues in the context of land use planning and infrastructure management. In recent years, the promotion of sustainable urban development in Australia and overseas is facing various physical, socio-economic and environmental challenges. These challenges and problems arise from the lack of capability of local governments to accommodate the needs of the population and economy in a relatively short timeframe. The planning of economic growth and development is often dealt with separately and not included in the conventional land use planning process. There is also a sharp rise in the responsibilities and roles of local government for infrastructure planning and management. This increase in responsibilities means that local elected officials and urban planners have less time to prepare background information and make decisions. The Brisbane Urban Growth Model has proven initially successful in providing a dynamic platform to ensure timely and coordinated delivery of urban infrastructure. Most importantly, this model is the first step for local governments in moving toward a systematic approach to pursuing sustainable and effective urban infrastructure management.
Integrated Watershed Management for Sustainable Development
Authors: Worku Goshu
Published: May 2011

The over exploitation of natural resources (soil, water, fauna and flora) is critically affecting the social, economic and environmental needs of the current generation and is feared to risk the ability of the future generation to meet its needs. Nowadays citizens in many countries are facing severe livelihood challenges ranging from seeking for external aids for existence to massive life devastation due to natural hazards such as flooding & land slide imposing death tolls. The degradation of the natural environment imposes the threatening of life not only in those less developed nations but also life all over the globe. The problem is more pronounced in less developed countries like the Eastern Nile Catchment nations. Sustainable development is hoped nowadays to be a promising solution. In this regard integrated watershed management is a potential tool for bringing about such a promising tool, by laying better ground for sustainable development. This chapter is prepared with the intent of showing the link between integrated watershed management and sustainable development which a country envisages to reach, and the contribution of integrated watershed management to sustainable development. Various previous documents are reviewed and used as sources of information for the preparation of the write up. The author’s professional experience on the current overall natural resources condition is an added value, too. Sustainable development, which can be achieved through proper conservation and utilization of the existing resources by employing integrated watershed management, is development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,. Integrated watershed management is the process of formulation and carrying out a course of actions involving the manipulation of resources in the watershed to provide goods and services without adversely affecting the soil, water, vegetation base and other elements of the ecosystem, by employing multi-disciplinary teams.
Supply Chain Optimization Audit (SCOA) for Green ICT Opportunities
Authors: Mukerji Saugato , Ghose Aditya K.
Published: May 2011

Green ICT is a lot more than efficient air-conditioning of data centers and switching off monitors and desktop PCs. ICT has the ability to give rise to and continuously enable energy saving on a scale 50 to 100 times bigger by becoming the technology that detects and prevents process inefficiency of energy intensive supply chains. Energy efficiency that can only be sustainably achieved as a result of using ICT creatively is outlined in this chapter. The authors consider the optimization of supply chain as a crucial enabler of the overall effort of an organization to improve its environmental credentials. Therefore, undertaking the audits of an organization’s supply chains, and ensuring that the end result improves its efficiency is one way of limiting the carbon generated during its activities.
Sustainable Infrastructure Assets
Authors: Too Eric , Betts Martin , Kumar Arun
Published: May 2011

Building for a sustainable environment requires sustainable infrastructure assets. Infrastructure capacity management is the process of ensuring optimal provision of such infrastructure assets. Effectiveness in this process will enable the infrastructure asset owners and its stakeholders to receive full value on their investment. Business research has shown that an organisation can only achieve business value when it has the right capabilities. This paradigm can also be applied to infrastructure capacity management. With limited access to resources, the challenge for infrastructure organisations is to identify and develop core capabilities to enable infrastructure capacity management. This chapter explores the concept of capability and identifies the core capability needed in infrastructure capacity management. Through a case study of the Port of Brisbane, this chapter shows that infrastructure organisations must develop their intelligence gathering capability to effectively manage the capacity of their infrastructure assets.
Technology Transfer and Diffusion in Developing Economies
Authors: Igbokwe Edwin M. , Ozor Nicholas
Published: May 2011

The early years of the green revolution heralded a new era of technology adoption and increasing productivity in agriculture. This momentum has not been sustained, giving rise to food shortages and widespread poverty in developing countries. This chapter reviews processes and models of technology transfer in agriculture in developing economies and concludes that previous efforts were not demand driven and therefore lacked the ingredients for diffusion. The drivers of technology transfer are discussed. A number of factors responsible for the low rate of technology transfer especially the absence of public policies on technology transfer are identified and linked to the transfer of emerging technologies, mainly biotechnology and nanotechnology. The chapter recommends the development of public policies, development of the private sector, establishment of partnerships between the two sectors and development of infrastructures especially in rural areas.
Using Carbons Emissions Management Solutions in Practice
Authors: Tran Vu Long
Published: May 2011

Carbon emissions and their impact on the overall climate are increasingly becoming a major issue and topic of discussion for individuals, organisations and Governments all over the world. Attempts are underway to bring about sustainable practices at all these levels. Information Technology (IT) can be viewed as major contributor of carbon emissions due to the large power requirements for running IT. While may be the case, IT can also be a means to facilitate the mitigation and reduction of carbon emissions by enabling organisations. These IT tools typically come in the form of Carbon Emission Management solutions (CEMS), custom-built spreadsheets, along with other customised varieties. Each can be implemented to support and address some of these challenges although they each pose challenges of their own. They are available that facilitate improved positioning and visibility for the organisations and to provide desired functionality, including:*Record, measure, monitor and forecast carbon emissions within the organisation, *Report and comply with the growing number of legislative requirements, *Participate in carbon trading more efficiency and effectively. These CEMS tools can allow organisations to have greater awareness and be able to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their current processes and procedures and meet carbon emission challenges. This chapter discusses the practical aspects of the use of such CEMS tools. This chapter first outlines the three categories of CEMS tools, followed by a comparative analysis of the various advantages and limitations of each of these tools. Finally, this chapter outlines the ways in which the CEMS software can be used in organisations. Challenges related to configuring and implementing the software is discussed from a practical viewpoint.
Enhancing the Efficiency of ICT by Spatial Data Interoperability
Authors: Cerba Otakar , Charvat Karel , Jezek Jan , Kafka Stepan
Published: May 2011

In the present world of information and communication technologies (ICT) “Green ICT” represents a topic of immense interest. The meaning, sense and scope of Green ICT are quite varied and very wide. Hardware technologies, for example (virtualization of hardware) and corresponding methods are considered initiatives towards environment protection and sustainable growth. At the same time, however, improved development and implementation of existing tools influencing environment by implication (for example due to reducing travel costs or energy savings) are very important in terms of Green ICT. ICT solutions could also work as a device or medium of implementation of new environmentally friendly methods, for instance in agriculture or industry. Spatial data or data with a direct or indirect reference to a specific location or geographic area (INSPIRE Registry, 2009), like digital maps, data in navigation tools, are a significant means of correlating otherwise disparate sources of information. This chapter tries to show the relationship of spatial data and how it can benefit Green ICT. This relationship is vital, as spatial data plays a very important role in system and application (e.g. Geographic Information Systems) with the potential for making direct impact on environmental protection. Spatial data continues to be an integral part of common equipment like mobile phones, car navigation systems and computers. The numbers of these gadgets are constantly growing and so is the corresponding volume of spatial data sets. Within the context of this rapid growth, the costs of data capture, management, updating, processing and distribution are increasing. For example the operation of servers containing the same spatial data sets is energy-consuming and results in burdening the influence on environment. Spatial data sharing, re-use and possibilities of interconnection of existing spatial data sources pose a solution. Therefore, the spatial data interoperability assurance (e.g. by private spatial data providers, state administration etc.) is required. The spatial data interoperability enables more efficient management and use of spatial data sets and achieving of desired savings.The principles of spatial data interoperability are described in the first part of this document. Emphasis is put on spatial data heterogeneities as the main problem of spatial data interoperability. Moreover, technologies focused on elimination of spatial data heterogeneities are discussed here. Subsequent paragraphs introduce selected instruments (metadata, schema languages, ontologies) which are based on data description and support data interoperability. The last section of this document is composed of examples of several international projects focused on spatial data description and processing of well-described spatial data through web services.
Standards and Legislation for the Carbon Economy
Authors: Pradhan Alok
Published: May 2011

The implementation of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) at the wide scale expected by the Australian government within the next 5 years would require adjustments of practices from practically all industries. The political influence in the establishment of the Australian CPRS has skewed the focus on actually lowering the national emission levels. However, honest organizations need to adopt and implement practices in line with the ISO 14001 standard to achieve this goal. Furthermore, actual monitoring of emissions and trading challenges can be managed with technology such as emissions monitoring systems, known as Predictive Emissions Monitoring Systems (PEMS) and Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) and online trading applications. Recently, the Copenhagen International Summit was held to combat the impacts of climate change; however the results were ineffective in comparison to the Kyoto Summit in 1997. However, if an ethical view on the Kyoto Protocol is taken, then its results are also seen to be ineffective of achieving the goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions on an international scale, as organisations with profits as large as some national GDP’s and greenhouse gas emissions even larger have no such restrictions or imposed targets from an international standard.
The Negative Impact of ICT Waste on Environment and Health
Authors: Askarzai Walied
Published: May 2011

Global warming and climate change are growing issues of concern for businesses, governments and individuals. This is so because business activities in particular, based around the philosophies of ‘profit maximization’, play a crucial role in the harming of the environment. Therefore, achieving a sustainable future is also a responsibility of businesses. Furthermore, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and its components are directly responsible for production of significant amount of electronic waste and Green House Gases (GHGs). This chapter will examine and analyze the negative impact of ICTs waste on environment and health. The chapter will also discuss how ICTs can be used as a tool to mitigate climate change and assist businesses reach a sustainable green goal.