title: Applying machine learning to agricultural data

authors: McQueen, Robert J.

subjects: computer science

abstract: Many techniques have been developed for abstracting, or "learning," rules and relationships from diverse data sets, in the hope that machines can help in the often tedious and error-prone process of acquiring knowledge from empirical data. While these techniques are plausible, theoretically well-founded, and perform well on more or less artificial test data sets, they stand or fall on their ability to make sense of real-world data. This paper describes a project that is applying a range of learning strategies to problems in primary industry, in particular agriculture and horticulture. We briefly survey some of the more readily applicable techniques that are emerging from the machine learning research community, describe a software workbench that allows users to experiment with a variety of techniques on real-world data sets, and detail the problems encountered and solutions developed in a case study of dairy herd management in which culling rules were inferred from a medium-sized database of herd information.

text: Applying machine learning to agricultural data Many techniques have been developed for abstracting, or "learning," rules and relationships from diverse data sets, in the hope that machines can help in the often tedious and error-prone process of acquiring knowledge from empirical data. While these techniques are plausible, theoretically well-founded, and perform well on more or less artificial test data sets, they stand or fall on their ability to make sense of real-world data. This paper describes a project that is applying a range of learning strategies to problems in primary industry, in particular agriculture and horticulture. We briefly survey some of the more readily applicable techniques that are emerging from the machine learning research community, describe a software workbench that allows users to experiment with a variety of techniques on real-world data sets, and detail the problems encountered and solutions developed in a case study of dairy herd management in which culling rules were inferred from a medium-sized database of herd information.

year: 1994-07

title: Including design guidelines in the formal specification of interfaces in Z

authors: Bowen, Judy

subjects: computer science

abstract: For any sort of computer system, the problems of being sure you have asked for the right thing and then being sure you are implementing the right thing are important and hard problems. For systems with a graphical user interface there are the analogous additional problems of making sure that the interface allows any interaction that is required, and works in a usable way. Design guidelines are used in both the design and evaluation of user interfaces to try and ensure that the systems we build are both usable and conform to specific requirements. This paper discusses practical ways in which we can use formal methods to model guidelines for interface design and then use these as a basis for the formal proof that a specified system has the desired properties described in the guidelines.

text: Including design guidelines in the formal specification of interfaces in Z For any sort of computer system, the problems of being sure you have asked for the right thing and then being sure you are implementing the right thing are important and hard problems. For systems with a graphical user interface there are the analogous additional problems of making sure that the interface allows any interaction that is required, and works in a usable way. Design guidelines are used in both the design and evaluation of user interfaces to try and ensure that the systems we build are both usable and conform to specific requirements. This paper discusses practical ways in which we can use formal methods to model guidelines for interface design and then use these as a basis for the formal proof that a specified system has the desired properties described in the guidelines.

year: 2005

title: Māori data sovereignty and privacy

authors: Kukutai, Tahu

abstract: Privacy is a fundamental human right. One of its most important aspects is information privacy – providing individuals with control over the way in which their personal data is collected, used, disclosed and otherwise handled. Existing information privacy regulation neither recognises nor protects the collective privacy rights of Indigenous peoples. This paper explores Indigenous data
privacy, and the challenges and opportunities, in the context of Aotearoa. It has two aims: to identify gaps in existing data privacy approaches with regards to Indigenous data, and to provide a foundation for progressing alternative privacy paradigms. We argue that while personal data protection is necessary, it is insufficient to meet the needs of Māori and Aotearoa more broadly. In so doing, we draw on three areas of research: Indigenous and Māori data sovereignty; data and information privacy,
including collective privacy; and Māori and Indigenous privacy perspectives. We examine key features of the Aotearoa privacy context – including the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ) – and consider the implications of te Tiriti o Waitangi and tikanga Māori for alternative privacy approaches. Future options, including legal and extra-legal measures, are proposed.

text: Māori data sovereignty and privacy Privacy is a fundamental human right. One of its most important aspects is information privacy – providing individuals with control over the way in which their personal data is collected, used, disclosed and otherwise handled. Existing information privacy regulation neither recognises nor protects the collective privacy rights of Indigenous peoples. This paper explores Indigenous data
privacy, and the challenges and opportunities, in the context of Aotearoa. It has two aims: to identify gaps in existing data privacy approaches with regards to Indigenous data, and to provide a foundation for progressing alternative privacy paradigms. We argue that while personal data protection is necessary, it is insufficient to meet the needs of Māori and Aotearoa more broadly. In so doing, we draw on three areas of research: Indigenous and Māori data sovereignty; data and information privacy,
including collective privacy; and Māori and Indigenous privacy perspectives. We examine key features of the Aotearoa privacy context – including the Privacy Act 2020 (NZ) – and consider the implications of te Tiriti o Waitangi and tikanga Māori for alternative privacy approaches. Future options, including legal and extra-legal measures, are proposed.

year: 2023