Consultative Committee Research Articles

An efficient lossless compression technique for remote sensing images using segmentation based band reordering heuristics

ABSTRACT The size of remote sensing (RS) image is indeed massive due to hundreds capturing wavelengths bands used for collecting information about the ground surface. The data in the RS images are often redundant spatially, spectrally and temporally which thus give a sufficient prospect for compressing the images in different domains. In this paper, we propose a band reordering scheme to be applied on the segmented subgroup datasets of an original RS image dataset towards presenting a hybrid lossless compression technique. The proposed dataset segmentation-based band reordering process employs two heuristics, i.e. consecutive continuity limit of previous bands and continuity breakdown thresholds to be used for efficient coding of reordered dataset towards attaining better on-board compression. The aim of the proposed compression strategy is thus to increase compression gain through reordering each highly correlated bands’ segment in the RS data-cube for efficient coding. The performance of the proposed band reordering method is measured using the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) recommended lossless CCSDS 123.0-B-1 and three-dimensional (3D) Context-based Adaptive Lossless Image Codec (CALIC) predictors. The experimental results illustrate substantially higher compression of the proposed method than that of the state-of-the-art standards using various real RS hyperspectral and hyperspectral sound datasets. Quantitatively, the compression performances are increased by 0.10%–0.66% using CCSDS and 0.65–2.52% using 3D-CALIC for hyperspectral Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) datasets, 0.26%–1.00% using CCSDS and 2.16–2.57% using 3D-CALIC for hyperspectral Hyperion datasets and 4.61%–7.36% using CCSDS and 4.05%–4.88% using 3D-CALIC for hyperspectral sounder datasets by the proposed compression technique. Besides, the proposed compression scheme outperforms state-of-the-art investigated compression methods.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Digital Preservation

We have learned from the debate on diversity and inclusion that archiving is not neutral or unbiased even though it is presented in this way. Seen from the perspective of cultural humility, we need to keep learning and challenge power imbalances from both the individual and the organizational level. This article discusses what this means for digital preservation concepts.

An Efficient NB-LDPC Decoder Architecture for Space Telecommand Links

In the framework of error correction in space telecommand (TC) links, the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) currently recommends short block-length BCH and binary low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes. Other alternatives have been discarded due to their high decoding complexity, such as non-binary LDPC (NB-LDPC) codes. NB-LDPC codes perform better than their binary counterparts over AWGN and jamming channels, being great candidates for space communications. We show the feasibility of NB-LDPC coding for space TC applications by proposing a highly efficient decoding architecture. The proposed decoder is implemented for a (128,64) NB-LDPC code over GF(16) and the design is particularized for a space-certified Virtex-5QV FPGA. The results prove that NB-LDPC coding is an alternative that outperforms the standardized binary LDPC, with a coding gain of 0.7 dB at a reasonable implementation cost. Given that the maximum rate for TC recommended by the CCSDS is 2 Mbps, the proposed architecture achieves a throughput of 2.03 Mbps using only 9615 LUTs and 5637 FFs (no dedicated memories are used). In addition, this architecture is suitable for any regular (2,4) NB-LDPC (128,64) code over GF(16) independently of the H matrix, allowing flexibility in the choice of the code. This brief places NB-LDPC codes as the excellent candidates for future versions of the telecommand uplink standard.

Reliability Analysis of the SHyLoC CCSDS123 IP Core for Lossless Hyperspectral Image Compression Using COTS FPGAs

Hyperspectral images can comprise hundreds of spectral bands, which means that they can represent a large volume of data difficult to manage with the available on-board resources. Lossless compression solutions are interesting for reducing the amount of information stored or transmitted while preserving it at the same time. The Hyperspectral Lossless Compressor for space applications (SHyLoC), which is part of the European Space Agency (ESA) IP core’s library, has been demonstrated to meet the requirements of space missions in terms of compression efficiency, low complexity and high throughput. Currently, there is a trend to use Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) on-board electronic devices on small satellites. Moreover, commercial Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have been used in a number of them. Hence, a reliability analysis is required to ensure the robustness of the applications to Single Event Upsets (SEUs) in the configuration memory. In this work, we present a reliability analysis of this hyperspectral image compression module as a first step towards the development of ad-hoc fault-tolerant protection techniques for the SHyLoC IP core. The reliability analysis is performed using a fault-injection-based experimental set-up in which a hardware implementation of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) 123.0-B-1 lossless compression standard is tested against configuration memory errors in a Xilinx Zynq XC7Z020 System-on-Chip. The results obtained for unhardened and redundancy-based protected versions of the module are put into perspective in terms of area/power consumption and availability/protection coverage gained to provide insight into the development of more efficient knowledge-based protection schemes.

New Zealand and the Colombo Plan in the long 1950s

This article suggests that the Colombo Plan provided significant ways for New Zealand governments to engage cautiously with the process of decolonisation in Asia and to perform New Zealand to the world. The Colombo Plan facilitated New Zealand’s experience of post-war conference diplomacy when Wellington hosted the annual meeting of the Colombo Plan’s Consultative Committee in 1956, New Zealand’s first such international diplomatic meeting of this kind. One well-promoted aspect of New Zealand’s involvement in the Colombo Plan was its sponsorship of Asian students. In addition, having promoted themselves as ‘the empire’s dairy farm’ in the interwar years, New Zealand governments offered milk as development assistance and as a means of connecting Asia’s needs with their own national story. Through the long 1950s the Colombo Plan was helpfully suggestive to New Zealand politicians and civil servants interested in what the changing international landscape meant for their role in a decolonising world; and as a case study, it is also suggestive for what it offers to historians of development more generally.

CCSDS-MHC on Raspberry Pi for Lossless Hyperspectral Image Compression

This paper is about Consultative Committee for Space Data System for Lossless Multispectral and Hyperspectral Image Compression (CCSDS-MHC) algorithm that is implemented on Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ system using Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP). CCSDS-MHC algorithm along with the full prediction mode is opted due to its best compression ratio (CR) performance. The issue of Hyperspectral Image Compression is the loss of data when compress, thus CCSDS algorithm is used in this research. Besides, with current technologies that require low-power but high-performance devices, Raspberry Pi was chosen to be tested in terms of its performances while being compared to other platforms. AVIRIS (airborne) and Hyperion (spaceborne) are used to test the performance of the system. OpenMP is introduced to simplify the computational operation through parallelization to take advantage of the multi-core architecture of the hardware system. In term of execution time, CCSDS-MHC algorithm when parallelize using OpenMP gave the best performances about 69.4% for AVIRIS 1997 dataset, 69.3% for AVIRIS 2006 dataset and 67.7% for Hyperion dataset. The execution time of performance CCSDS-MHC in Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ comparing with other different multicore platform is validate and the mean parallelize is measured. The result of comparison proves that faster performing task gives the best result due to higher speed of CPU-cores performances. From this research, it is proven that Raspberry Pi which is a low-power embedded platform able to compress the hyperspectral images at optimized speed with the implementation of OpenMP through CCSDS algorithm. Therefore, this research will be useful for further studies in lossless of hyperspectral images.

Lossy Hyperspectral Image Compression on a Reconfigurable and Fault-Tolerant FPGA-Based Adaptive Computing Platform

This paper describes a novel hardware implementation of a lossy multispectral and hyperspectral image compressor for on-board operation in space missions. The compression algorithm is a lossy extension of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) 123.0-B-1 lossless standard that includes a bit-rate control stage, which in turn manages the losses the compressor may introduce to achieve higher compression ratios without compromising the recovered image quality. The algorithm has been implemented using High-Level Synthesis (HLS) techniques to increase design productivity by raising the abstraction level. The proposed lossy compression solution is deployed onto ARTICo3, a dynamically reconfigurable multi-accelerator architecture, obtaining a run-time adaptive solution that enables user-selectable performance (i.e., load more hardware accelerators to transparently increase throughput), power consumption, and fault tolerance (i.e., group hardware accelerators to transparently enable hardware redundancy). The whole compression solution is tested on a Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)-based MPSoC using different input images, from multispectral to ultraspectral. For images acquired by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), the proposed implementation renders an execution time of approximately 36 s when 8 accelerators are compressing concurrently at 100 MHz, which in turn uses around 20% of the LUTs and 17% of the dedicated memory blocks available in the target device. In this scenario, a speedup of 15.6× is obtained in comparison with a pure software version of the algorithm running in an ARM Cortex-A53 processor.

Modelization of recommendation framework advice for children immunization to Beninese decision makers

The coverage of immunization against avoidable disease in the Republic of Benin as in other West African countries, is declining nowadays. To sustain the government effort, National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAG) were created technically and funded by the West African health organization (WAHO) and Preventive Medicine Agency in countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) including the Republic of Benin. The variation in experts’ methods of analyzing evidence sometimes results in risk error and lack of statistical power. This situation does not allow for the comparison of the scientific validity of certain recommendations made to policy makers, due to the lack of a rigorous framework. The aim of this paper is to design an improved framework to be used in the Republic of Benin in order to encourage a more harmonized approach based on evidence used by expert consultative committees. This framework shows four fundamental scientific steps including a Ministerial referral procedure, recommendation framework, evidence-based data collection, model analyses appropriate for expert advice on vaccines and child immunization, as well as three administrative steps including scientific discussion and work meetings without forgetting ethical aspects.

Thermodynamic-temperature data from 30 K to 200 K

New measurements of thermodynamic temperature T with Dielectric-Constant Gas Thermometry (DCGT) were performed at PTB from 50 K to 200 K. Particular care was taken to check for possible systematic sources of errors by performing experiments applying three working gases, namely helium, neon, and argon, the polarizability of which differs by a factor of up to eight. Together with former DCGT values of thermodynamic temperature the new results yield a consistent dataset in the range from 30 K to 200 K. This dataset is in good agreement with the newest results of Acoustic Gas Thermometry (AGT) and Refractive-Index Gas Thermometry (RIGT), which have quite different sources of uncertainty compared with DCGT. The combination of these DCGT, AGT, and RIGT data with the ‘Estimates of the differences between thermodynamic temperature and the ITS-90’, being as an appendix of the ‘Mise en pratique for the definition of the kelvin in the SI’ the present-day recommendation of the Consultative Committee for Thermometry, yields a new function T − T90 versus ITS-90 temperature T90 for the range from 35 K to 195 K, the uncertainty of which is reduced by a factor up to about four.

Indian Academy of Pediatrics Position Paper on Kawasaki Disease

To formulate practice guidelines on diagnosis and management of Kawasaki disease (KD) for Indian children. KD is a systemic vasculitis that predominantly affects infants and children less than 5 years of age. Coronary artery abnormalities (CAA) develop in around 15-25% of untreated children with KD. Coronary artery involvement can lead to long-term cardiovascular implications such as development of premature coronary artery disease. Diagnosis of KD is essentially clinical based on recognition of a constellation of characteristic symptoms and signs. Timely diagnosis and initiation of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy is known to produce five-fold reduction in the incidence of CAA. As there is no confirmatory laboratory test for KD, the diagnosis may be missed if one is not familiar with the nuances of clinical diagnosis. A committee was formed under the auspices of Indian Academy of Pediatrics in early 2018 for preparing guidelines on KD in Indian children. A meeting of the consultative committee was held in Mumbai, and a draft protocol was devised. All members scrutinized the recent publications on the subject and an attempt was made to arrive at a broad consensus. Published guidelines on the subject were also reviewed. The diagnosis is clinical and is aided by laboratory and 2D echocardiography. First line of therapy is IVIG, and should be started expeditiously once the diagnosis is made.

Implementing Convention 108+: Observers and NGO contributions

The Consultative Committee of data protection Convention 108 has among its accredited Observers five non-government organisations (NGOs) with strong interests in data privacy. This article considers how such NGO Observers can contribute to Convention 108+, the ‘modernised’ and strengthened version of the Convention now undergoing ratification by parties to the existing Convention, and considers whether the roles proposed for 108+ involvement by NGO Observers are satisfactory, or whether they need to be strengthened. It concludes NGOs have good reasons for wanting 108+ to maintain high standards, and to advocate for that. It is easy to say in theory, but will they have the opportunity in practice? Four distinct reasons for NGO Observer interest are identified. The involvement of three NGOs in the Consultative Committee’s deliberations on the accession and periodic follow-up evaluation mechanisms is shown to have resulted in improvements to an already very strong set of evaluation criteria. From an NGO perspective, these Council of Europe processes are significantly more transparent, participatory and responsive, than those adopted by APEC (Privacy Framework and Cross-border Privacy Rules system), the OECD (Privacy Guidelines) and European Union (‘adequacy’ under the GDPR).

The variation of ionosonde-derived hmF2 and its comparisons with International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) and Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) over Pakistan longitude sector during solar cycle 22

Variations of maximum height of F2 ionospheric layer are analysed over ionospheric stations of Pakistan located at Islamabad (geog. coord. 33.75°N, 72.87°E), Multan (30.18°N, 71.48°E) and Karachi (24.95°N, 67.14°E) during the years, 1987 (LSA), 1990 (HSA) and 1993 (MSA) representing low, high and moderate solar activity years, respectively. Results showed that hmF2 in summer is higher than in winter during LSA and MSA at all stations. However, diurnal pattern is not consistently followed during winters of LSA and MSA. The lowest hmF2 values are observed around sunrise and sunset; whereas, higher values are observed around noon and midnight which may be due to upward and downward plasma drift velocity as diurnal behaviour of hmF2 is similar to diurnal behaviour of E×B drift. No specific latitudinal trend is observed in hmF2 during the period of this study over Pakistan which may be due to the combined effect of E×B drift and energy transferred to ionosphere by atmospheric planetary waves. Solar quiet current seems responsible for the variation of hmF2 over Multan and Islamabad. For Karachi equatorial electrojet seems controlling the daytime hmF2 during LSA. The hmF2 is found to have linear correlation with solar activity and this correlation is stronger with solar index F10.7 as compared to the sunspot numbers. The correlation coefficients for both solar indices are above 80%; whereas, geomagnetic indices Ap and Kp are weakly correlated having correlation coefficients less than 30%. Ionosonde-derived hmF2 are compared with regional model based on expansion of Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) with linear and spline interpolation of coefficients of time, seasons, magnetic dip & sunspot numbers and, global model, International Reference Ionosphere (IRI), with International Union of Radio Science (URSI) and Consultative Committee for International Radio (CCIR) options of IRI-2012 and AMTB-2013, SHU-2015 and BSE-1979 sub-models in combination with URSI and CCIR of IRI-2016 versions. The daytime hmF2 values over Pakistan modelled by AMTB of IRI-2016 (with URSI and CCIR) are found to be the most converging of all IRI options during all solar periods. AMTB-2013 also predicted nighttime values with least errors in most cases except during LSA. In addition, IRI showed better equinoctial and annual correlations with ionosonde-derived hmF2 as compared to EOF model. EOF based model showed higher nighttime Mean Absolute Errors (MAE) as compared to IRI. The lowest daytime and nighttime errors in hmF2 are observed over Multan during LSA shown by IRI-2016-AMTB-2013 (using URSI and CCIR) with MAE being 7.8 km and IRI-2016-SHU-2015 (using URSI and CCIR) with MAE being 4.7 km.

Ionospheric Behavior of foF2 over Chinese EIA Region and Its Comparison with IRI-2016

The ionograms, which were recorded by the ionosonde located at Pu’er station (PUR, 22.7° N, 101.05° E, Dip Latitude 12.9° N) in the Southwest of China in the year of 2016, were used to study the ionospheric behavior of the ordinary critical frequency of the F2 layer (foF2) in the region of the northern equatorial ionization anomaly. To verify the performance of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) over the Southwest of China, a comparative study of the observed foF2 and the latest version of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2016) was carried out. We found that the foF2 in equinox months is greater than summer and winter. Moreover, a higher frequency of the observed bite-out of foF2 in January and April than other months and the IRI-2016 cannot represent the bite-out of foF2 in diurnal variations. Compared to the observations at Pu’er Station, the IRI-2016 underestimated foF2 for most time of the year. The IRI with the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR) option overestimated foF2 is higher than that with the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) option. Furthermore, the normalized root mean square error of foF2 from the IRI-2016 with the CCIR option is less than that with the URSI.

A 13.3 Gbps 9/7M Discrete Wavelet Transform for CCSDS 122.0-B-1 Image Data Compression on a Space-Grade SRAM FPGA

Remote sensing is recognized as a cornerstone monitoring technology. The latest high-resolution and high-speed spaceborne imagers provide an explosive growth in data volume and instrument data rates in the range of several Gbps. This competes with the limited on-board storage resources and downlink bandwidth, making image data compression a mission-critical on-board processing task. The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) Image Data Compression (IDC) standard CCSDS-122.0-B-1 is a transform-based 2D image compression algorithm designed specifically for use on-board a space platform. In this paper, we introduce a high-performance architecture for a key-part of the CCSDS-IDC algorithm, the 9/7M Integer Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). The proposed parallel architecture achieves 2 samples/cycle while the very deep pipeline enables very high clock frequencies. Moreover, it exploits elastic pipeline principles to provide modularity, latency insensitivity and distributed control. The implementation of the proposed architecture on a Xilinx Kintex Ultrascale XQRKU060 space-grade SRAM FPGA achieves state-of-the-art throughput performance of 831 MSamples/s (13.3 Gbps @ 16bpp) allowing seamless integration with next-generation high-speed imagers and on-board data handling networking technology. To the best of our knowledge, this is the fastest implementation of the 9/7M Integer DWT on a space-grade FPGA, outperforming previous implementations.

Is it ‘you’ or ‘your workplace’? Predictors of job‐related training in the Anglo‐American world

This paper examines the determinants of job‐related training and workplace voice. Using data from a unique 2016 cross‐national survey of Australian, British, Canadian and American employees, the paper contrasts two classic formulations in the literature; (1) the neoclassical/human capital approach which predicts that individual characteristics (such as age and education) which increase the efficiency of learning, will have the largest impact on the allocation of training (i.e. younger and more educated employees will be afforded training) and (2) the traditional institutional approach which favors the structural characteristics present at the industry and firm level, the nature of the job itself and the strategic choices of firms as the major predictors of job‐related training. We find that age – a key factor in the human capital model – plays a significant role in the allocation of training but that education (in keeping with recent evidence) does not. In sum the human capital model provides, at best, only a partial explanation for the differences in training observed across individuals. In contrast, variables invoked by the institutional literature (i.e. occupation level; industry; ownership type; and market structure) are highly significant and account for a much greater proportion of the variance in training observed across workers. Other institutional factors such as the presence of a union and a human resource department were strong positive predictors of job‐related training. But most important were product‐market strategy and employee voice. Respondents working in firms utilizing a ‘high road/high quality’ product/service strategy and with a workplace consultative committee were significantly more likely to receive training than similar workers employed in observably similar firms. This last finding supports the industrial relations view of voice as an important channel by which training is optimally delivered inside the firm.

CFDP PDU Tunneling Service over DTN Between Heterogeneous Deep Space Communication Assets

In space exploration missions, the spacecraft have limited computing resources. In particular, the communications environments for these spacecraft, whether in deep space or the cislunar region, are characterized by intermittent connectivity loss, long signal-propagation delay, and high bit-error rates between spacecraft and their ground stations. Delay-Tolerant Network (DTN) has been introduced to enable automated, efficient communication among flight-mission entities in these environments. However, most flight-mission entities are not yet equipped for DTN; a mechanism is needed whereby DTN-enabled entities and non-DTN-enabled entities can easily interoperate. The CCSDS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems) File Delivery Protocol (CFDP) is supported in both DTN and non-DTN communication fabrics, so perhaps CFDP file transmission can serve as the common communication medium that bridges the two. When CFDP runs without a Bundle Protocol (BP), it requires a more complex CFDP implementation, and multi-hop communication is more difficult to configure. This paper presents a tunneling mechanism that relays CFDP protocol data units (PDUs) between a non-DTN-enabled CFDP entity and a DTN-enabled CFDP entity. This enables CFDP-over-link implementations to bridge into BP networks to simplify multi-hop forwarding through the BP network. A proof-of-concept implementation of the tunneling service has been developed and tested using the Interplanetary Overlay Network (ION) DTN software to evaluate this concept of CFDP PDU relay/forward functionality to enable communication between the two heterogeneous space communication fabrics. Test setup, test results, and future work on the tunneling service are also discussed.

JAPAN � U.S. BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE COOPERATION: THE IMPLEMENTATION OF �THE JOINT STATEMENT OF THE SECURITY CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE (SCC)� IN COUNTERING NORTH KOREA�S BALLISTIC MISSILES PROGRAM (2015-2019)

Asia-Pacific (now also known as Indo-Pacific) region has a highly complex geopolitics and strategic environment with the fact that some political confrontation and conflicts still remain unsolved within the region. One of important issues in the region also includes North Korea�s ballistic missiles program. This program has become a rapid growing threat for both regional and global security. The lack of accountability on the program and erratic leadership of Kim Jong-Un have also projected threats for the United States and its allies, including Japan. The alliance between Washington and Tokyo has been able to become a remarkable resilient security partnership and has served as the cornerstone for the region�s stability. Both countries have conducted many defense cooperation in several areas, including for ballistic missiles defense cooperation. As one of the forms of the ballistic missiles defense cooperation between Japan and the U.S., the Security Consultative Committee (SCC) as the alliance�s primary defense forum produces joint statement which also highlights the ballistic missiles defense cooperation of Japan and the U.S. to counter North Korea�s ballistic missiles program. Therefore, this article analyzes the implementation of the joint statement of the SCC in deterring North Korea�s ballistic missiles program, particularly the joint statement in the period of 2015 to 2019. In analyzing that, this article uses qualitative method that relies on the primary and secondary resources found that Japan and the U.S. implemented their joint statement of the SCC by enhancing the capabilities of their ballistic missiles defense system.

CCSDS 131.2-B-1 telemetry transmitter: A VHDL IP core and a validation architecture on board RTG4 FPGA

During the last years, improvement in the resolution of Earth observation satellite instruments has been leading to the necessity of high throughput transmitters, featuring efficient encoding and modulation schemes. For that reason, the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) issued the CCSDS 131.2-B-1 standard describing the architecture of a flexible telemetry transmitter featuring Serially Concatenated Convolutional Codes (SCCCs). Such flexibility allows CCSDS 131.1-B-1 implementations to take full advantage of the channel by dynamically changing the coding-rate and type of modulation (Adaptive Code and Modulation, ACM).This work presents a VHDL Telemetry Transmitter IP Core fully compliant to the CCSDS 131.2-B-1 standard. The IP Core is technology independent and as such can be fitted on different Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), including space grade devices, realizing a broad spectrum of solutions that differ in terms of transmission throughput, radiation hardness and cost figures. In particular, this work shows that the IP Core is able to reach 259.3 Mbaud and 1355 Mbit/s data transfer on the Microsemi RTG4 FPGA. To verify the IP Core functionalities on board the different FPGAs, register-transfer level (RTL) and post-layout simulations were performed through a custom verification environment. The latter allowed 100% functional and code coverage according to a dedicated test plan. Finally, the IP was validated through an appropriate validation system on board the Microsemi RTG4 FPGA exploiting a hardware/software co-design approach.

The organisational adoption of soft law encouraging joint consultative committees in Mauritius

PurposeJoint consultative committees (JCCs) involving employee representatives exist to stimulate positive employee relations and unlock employee involvement to build organisational performance. They are rare in Africa. Mauritius is a successful, beacon economy for Africa. We therefore investigate which categories of an organisation implemented the 2008 Mauritian government Code of Practice on JCCs, to discover how effective this “soft law” for of institutional change had been three years after its inception, when post-Code JCCs were formed.Design/methodology/approachWe test propositions derived from institutional theory broadly conceived, through analysis of data from 120 organizations in Mauritius responding to a comprehensive HR survey covering a wide range of organisational level policies and practices conducted during the JCC formation period 2011–2012.FindingsBy 2012, nearly 30% of our sample had JCCs. Three quite distinct categories of an organisation created them, as follows: those with substantial union influence, those where strategic HRM was practiced and recently formed organisations. Remarkably, no interaction effects existed between the three categories.Originality/valueSeveral contributions are made to shed light on a previously unstudied institution. First, we empirically establish that over a limited period in response to institutional change in the form of the code of practice, JCCs increased from 10% of organizations to almost 30%. Our second central contribution is to show three principal, quite separate organisational antecedents of JCCs, which do not interact statistically.

Environmental impact assessment procedures for projects in marine environment – evaluation analysis

Appropriately high level of marine environment protection implies taking the measures of prudence, precaution, reasonable and rational use of marine natural resources, and that is achieved also through the assessment of potential significant negative impacts at the early stage of planning of a particular project. Marine fish and shellfish farms, marine ports, minerals exploitation, shore nourishment, seabed deepening and drying, construction in and at the sea and other projects in marine environment are subject to implementation of environmental impact assessment and screening projects based on environmental reports. The description of main features of technological processes of planned projects and their impact on marine environment constitute an integral part of environmental reports, as technical baselines for assessing potential significant negative impacts. In order to prevent pollution, pursuant to law provisions, it is necessary to apply technologies that are most efficient for achieving high level of marine environment protection. In assessing at the planning stage whether most acceptable technologies are used, consultative expert committee consisting of scientists and professionals is engaged in environmental impact assessment procedures. Paper analyses the parts of environmental reports describing technological procedures and proposes the methods of upgrading their quality by involving experts and scientists in examining thereof.