Context Of Infrastructure Research Articles

Financial Eco-Innovation as a Mechanism for Fostering the Development of Sustainable Infrastructure Systems

This paper aims to propose a financial framework based on mezzanine-type debt for financing Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (SIS). In our analysis, an exploratory-type methodology based on a post-positivist approach for describing the financial eco-innovation in the sustainable infrastructure context is used and consequently, the essential framework’s theory is developed, as well as the characteristics and schemes for its functioning. Moreover, the theoretical foundations of financial eco-innovations are analyzed. It was concluded that researchers could benefit from this framework by acquiring a better knowledge of how a mezzanine-debt type could work together sustainability criteria. This paper is expected to contribute to expanding the existing knowledge and expanding funding knowledge frontiers for SIS, as well as contributes to providing a foundation for new research topics. The originality of the proposed framework is intended to establish new ways in order to close the gap between the development of SIS and financing sources using the incorporation of sustainability criteria in the financing process. Thus, the importance of this work is based on the fact that it can be used as an academic support for producing practical solutions.

Interconnections among Homelessness, Family Separation, and Mental Health: Implications for Multi-Sectoral Social Services

This qualitative study explored the interconnections among the phenomena of homelessness, family separation, and mental health and substance abuse issues within the social services, geographic, and infrastructure context of northern Ontario. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen participants. Findings revealed the effects of colonization in the form of poor and overcrowded housing conditions in the northern First Nations, difficulties in obtaining affordable and suitable housing in northern towns and cities, reliance on the scarce social services for survival, and valiant attempts to cope with the cold climate of northern Ontario. All participants reported multiple and intergenerational experiences of separation from family due to involvement of child welfare system, placement in residential schools, death of family member(s), flooding, and epidemics. Participants described their lifelong struggles with mental health and substance abuse issues. All three phenomena were tied together in various configurations of causes and consequences. The implications include the need for critical examination of the historical policies and practices, early intervention for mental health and substance abuse issues, greater support for youth transitioning out of care, creation of a continuum of housing options, collaboration across multiple social services sectors, and incorporation of Indigenous worldview and practices in the mainstream services.

Microwave Radar Interferometry as a Cost-Efficient Method of Monitoring the Structural Health of Bridges in New Zealand

The health monitoring of civil infrastructure is becoming more common for investigating actual structural behaviour, allowing early damage detection and helping to protect critical structures. In the New Zealand infrastructural context in particular, the introduction of high-productivity motor vehicles (HPMVs) along with the damage caused by recent earthquakes has resulted in a growing need for verification that bridges are performing as expected. The application of “classical” instruments such as accelerometers and linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) are very expensive due to high installation costs and the need for a continuous power supply. However, radar interferometry is a promising alternative which can detect structural displacements without directly accessing the bridge, offering not only time and cost savings but also the capability to investigate structures where access is difficult or hazardous. This paper presents a health assessment of a bridge crossing the Rangitata River in New Zealand using this radar technology. Previous surveys of the bridge indicated that it was under capacity for supporting full HPMV loads. The structural performance was assessed by monitoring the maximum vertical mid-span displacements under live traffic conditions. The fundamental resonant frequencies were also measured to confirm the actual support conditions associated with the pier joints.

The appearance of the book: towards a history of the reading lives and worlds of black South African readers

This paper elucidates the material, spatial, social and infrastructural contexts of reading in early twentieth century South Africa. It adds to a growing body of work on reading practices and patterns of book consumption by drawing attention to the neglected question of the “where of reading” – the physical contexts and settings of reading and the ways in which the organisation of space and the allocation of resources impacted on particular reading experiences and habits. The article also takes up a related set of questions pertaining to the access of books, the nature of specific reading encounters, the social relations that developed in these contexts and the reading practices that ensued. It focuses in detail on the contexts of reading which developed around the various “Non-European” reading initiatives and advances the concepts of the “poor library” and “fugitive reading” in order to describe both the rudimentary and improvisational nature of black reading spaces at this time and the various practices of tactical, opportunistic and itinerant reading which arose in response. Finally, it draws attention to the sociable, convivial and inherently public nature of black reading encounters and highlights a pervasive practice of mediated reading in which book interests were shared and encouraged.Keywords: History of reading and reading practices, geographies of reading, “Non-European Library” initiatives in South Africa, early twentieth-century South Africa

The Economic Value of Climate Information in Adaptation Decisions: Learning in the Sea-level Rise and Coastal Infrastructure Context

Traditional methods of investment appraisal have been criticized in the context of climate change adaptation. Economic assessment of adaptation options needs to explicitly incorporate the uncertainty of future climate conditions and should recognise that uncertainties may diminish over time as a result of improved understanding and learning. Real options analysis (ROA) is an appraisal tool developed to incorporate concepts of flexibility and learning that relies on probabilistic data to characterise uncertainties. It is also a relatively resource-intensive decision support tool. We test whether, and to what extent, learning can result from the use of successive generations of real life climate scenarios, and how non-probabilistic uncertainties can be handled through adapting the principles of ROA in coastal economic adaptation decisions. Using a relatively simple form of ROA on a vulnerable piece of coastal rail infrastructure in the United Kingdom, and two successive UK climate assessments, we estimate the values associated with utilising up-dated information on sea-level rise. The value of learning can be compared to the capital cost of adaptation investment, and may be used to illustrate the potential scale of the value of learning in coastal protection, and other adaptation contexts.

Cloud computing and security issues in the cloud

Cloud computing has formed the conceptual and infrastructural basis for tomorrow’s computing. The global computing infrastructure is rapidly moving towards cloud based architecture. While it is important to take advantages of cloud based computing by means of deploying it in diversified sectors, the security aspects in a cloud based computing environment remains at the core of interest. Cloud based services and service providers are being evolved which has resulted in a new business trend based on cloud technology. With the introduction of numerous cloud based services and geographically dispersed cloud service providers, sensitive information of different entities are normally stored in remote servers and locations with the possibilities of being exposed to unwanted parties in situations where the cloud servers storing those information are compromised. If security is not robust and consistent, the flexibility and advantages that cloud computing has to offer will have little credibility. This paper presents a review on the cloud computing concepts as well as security issues inherent within the context of cloud computing and cloud infrastructure.

Inhabiting the Delta: A Landscape Approach to Transformative Socio-Ecological Restoratio

Current legislation and plans for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) call for large-scale restoration of aquatic and terrestrial habitats, which will require significant changes in waterways, land uses, and cultural patterns. These re-made landscapes will be subject to a variety of new human uses, which Delta planning and adaptive management literature has yet to adequately consider. Failing to account for human uses and evolving place values can lead to diminished performance and public support for Delta restoration efforts.Our empirical study examined restored and naturalized Delta landscapes using an integrative landscape approach that seeks to reconcile multiple goals and land-use agendas that span ecological, social, economic, and political domains. The research design consisted of six overlapping methods that included a planning, policy, and law review specific to the Delta; surveys and interviews with approximately 100 land managers, scientists, land-owners, law-enforcement personnel, agency representatives, and Delta residents; nine case studies of restored and naturalized delta landscapes; GIS mapping; and extensive field work. Findings derived from the synthesis of these methods show that human uses of the Delta’s re-wilded landscapes are diverse and pervasive. Given the infrastructural and urbanized context of the region, these environments are subject to multiple and sometimes conflicting uses, perceptions, and place values. Though these myriad uses cannot be fully predicted or controlled (nor should they be), findings showed that more proactive and inclusive planning for human uses can encourage or discourage particular uses while also building constituency, support, and active engagement in ecological restoration efforts. We conclude that reconciling human uses with ecological recovery in the Delta will require a more localized, multi-functional, and creative approach to designing and adaptively managing these emergent landscapes. We recommend that more resources and experimental prototyping be dedicated to such work.

Smart Technical Street Furniture Design: Case study of ''New Cairo Administrative Capital''

The high pace of technology has redefined street furniture as smart devices that contribute to build future cities. Thus, it is a combination of passion; skills, ideas and tools of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) converted into finished products. ICT is a catalyst for cities to address these challenges in a ‘smart’ manner that links and strengthens networks of people, businesses, infrastructures, resources, energy and spaces. On the other hand, one of the most important components to be adopted for designing Smart Cities is the IT service management (ITSM). It refers to the entirety of the activities directed by policies, organized and structured to plan, design, operate and control ITSM offered to citizens by adopting a process approach towards management, focusing on their needs and stressing continual improvement.New trends in urban planning are heading to draw a new future- a Smart City that is able to link the physical capital with the social one. Street furniture, as an important element of Smart Cities, is a term used to define objects in public spaces. Such concept is related to the context of wireless infrastructure and house small-cell units. They are considered –visually- as common and tolerable places to the public.This research will focus on smart Street-Furniture design as a standard guide for designers and planners of the ''New Cairo Administrative Capital'', which is currently under construction as the first Smart City in Egypt.

Determining critical infrastructure risks using social network analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a novel risk analysis method named fuzzy critical risk analysis (FCRA) for assessing the infrastructure risks from a risk-community network perspective. The basis of this new FCRA method is the integration of existing risk magnitude analysis with the novel risk impact propagation analysis performed in specific infrastructure systems to assess the criticality of risk within specific social-infrastructure interrelated network boundary.Design/methodology/approachThe FCRA uses a number of scientific methods such as failure mode effect and criticality analysis (FMECA), social network analysis (SNA) and fuzzy-set theory to facilitate the building of risk evaluation associated with the infrastructure and the community. The proposed FCRA approach has been developed by integrating the fuzzy-based social network analysis (FSNA) method with conventional fuzzy FMECA method to analyse the most critical risk based on risk decision factors and risk impact propagation generated by various stakeholder perceptions.FindingsThe application of FSNA is considered to be highly relevant for investigating the risk impact propagation mechanism based on various stakeholder perceptions within the infrastructure risk interrelation and community networks. Although conventional FMECA methods have the potential for resulting in a reasonable risk ranking based on its magnitude value within the traditional risk assessment method, the lack of considering the domino effect of the infrastructure risk impact, the various degrees of community dependencies and the uncertainty of various stakeholder perceptions made such methods grossly ineffective in the decision-making of risk prevention (and mitigation) and resilience context.Research limitations/implicationsThe validation of the model is currently based on a hypothetical case which in the future should be applied empirically based on a real case study.Practical implicationsEffective functioning of the infrastructure systems for seamless operation of the society is highly crucial. Yet, extreme events resulted in failure scenarios often undermine the efficient operations and consequently affect the community at multiple levels. Current risk analysis methodologies lack to address issues related to diverse impacts on communities and propagation of risks impact within the infrastructure system based on multi-stakeholders’ perspectives. The FCRA developed in this research has been validated in a hypothetical case of infrastructure context. The proposed method will potentially assist the decision-making regarding risk governance, managing the vulnerability of the infrastructure and increasing both the infrastructure and community resilience.Social implicationsThe new approach developed in this research addresses several infrastructure risks assessment challenges by taking into consideration of not only the risk events associated with the infrastructure systems but also the dependencies of various type communities and cascading effect of risks within the specific risk-community networks. Such a risk-community network analysis provides a good basis for community-based risk management in the context of mitigation of disaster risks and building better community resilient.Originality/valueThe novelty of proposed FCRA method is realized due to its ability for improving the estimation accuracy and decision-making based on multi-stakeholder perceptions. The process of assessment of the most critical risks in the hypothetical case project demonstrated an eminent performance of FCRA method as compared to the results in conventional risk analysis method. This research contributes to the literature in several ways. First, based on a comprehensive literature review, this work established a benchmark for development of a new risk analysis method within the infrastructure and community networks. Second, this study validates the effectiveness of the model by integrating fuzzy-based FMECA with FSNA. The approach is considered useful from a methodological advancement when prioritizing similar or competing risk criticality values.

Ports Matter: Supply Chain Logics and the Sociocultural Context of Infrastructure in Port Studies

Viewed from a distance, a large container port looks like any other. Terminals and stacked containers are marked by a narrowing set of multinational operators and shipping companies. Fences project promises of security and safety that are often enacted by the local hires of global security firms. Perhaps longshoremen are visible locking a container into place aboard a vessel, although the docks of contemporary container terminals are more notable for the seeming lack of men at work. Critical scholars of supply chains are revealing the global logics behind such visible similarities in port economy and governance. While this work responds to the call of John Shaw and James Sidaway to recognize how “[ports] matter beyond being entities in and of themselves,” ports are also shaped by more proximate, sociocultural logics.

Making Democracy Harder to Hack

With the Russian government hack of the Democratic National Convention email servers and related leaks, the drama of the 2016 U.S. presidential race highlights an important point: nefarious hackers do not just pose a risk to vulnerable companies; cyber attacks can potentially impact the trajectory of democracies. Yet a consensus has been slow to emerge as to the desirability and feasibility of reclassifying elections—in particular, voting machines—as critical infrastructure, due in part to the long history of local and state control of voting procedures. This Article takes on the debate—focusing on policy options beyond former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s decision to classify elections as critical infrastructure in January 2017—in the U.S., using the 2016 elections as a case study, but putting the issue in a global context, with in-depth case studies from South Africa, Estonia, Brazil, Germany, and India. Governance best practices are analyzed by reviewing these differing approaches to securing elections, including the extent to which trend lines are converging or diverging. This investigation will, in turn, help inform ongoing minilateral efforts at cybersecurity norm building in the critical infrastructure context, which are considered here for the first time in the literature through the lens of polycentric governance.

Block-by-Block: Leveraging the Power of Blockchain Technology to Build Trust and Promote Cyber Peace

There has been increasing interest in the transformative power of not only crypto-currencies like Bitcoin, but also the technology underlying them—namely blockchain. To the uninitiated, a blockchain is a sophisticated, distributed online ledger that has the potential, according to Goldman Sachs, to “change ‘everything.’” From making businesses more efficient to recording property deeds to engendering the growth of ‘smart’ contracts, blockchain technology is now being investigated by a huge range of organizations and is attracting billions in venture funding. Even the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is investigating blockchain technology to “create an unhackable messaging system.” However, the legal literature has largely ignored the rise of blockchain technology outside of its finance, securities, and copyright implications. This Article seeks to address this omission by analyzing the potential impact of blockchain technology on advancing the cybersecurity of firms across an array of sectors and industries with a particular focus on certificate authorities and the critical infrastructure context. Moreover, we examine the rise of blockchains through the lens of the literature on polycentric governance to ascertain what lessons this research holds to build trust in distributed systems and ultimately promote cyber peace.

Examining the Spatial Structural Determinants of Child Poverty in Nigeria

In spite of the global and national concerted efforts reflected in the goal four of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to half the incidence of child mortality by 2015, Nigerian children are still greatly affected by the incidence of poverty vis-a-vis malnutrition. Government attempts at reducing child poverty and malnutrition through formulation and implementation of policies, and huge investments have yet to yield significant effects, as the country is still ranked among the top countries of the world plagued with child poverty and malnutrition. This can be attributed to the non-consideration of the heterogeneous nature of child poverty and spatial contiguity of geographical units in their designs. Using spatial error regression techniques to analyze data from Demographic Health Survey, we examined spatial differentiation in the relationships that generate child poverty and further explore their determining factors. Child poverty was found to be more prominent in the Northern region of the country. However, results from the analysis also established that there is a spillover of child poverty existed among the GPZs. While social and economic factors that influence probability of child poverty varied across different Geopolitical Zones (GPZs). Results also showed that local-area processes are at play with implications for more nuanced theoretical models and anti-child poverty policies that consider systematic differences in factors contributing to child poverty according to the social, infrastructural, agro ecological and economic contexts.

More Landscape, Less Language: Digital Gaming, Moral Panic, and the Linguistic Landscapes of Southern Peru

AbstractIn this article, I offer an account of the “linguistic landscapes” associated with the commodification and purchase of internet services in southern Peru. Through an account of public signage deployed by internet lounges in this area as well as the ideologies that make sense of it, the analysis reveals one of the ways in which moral panic over digital gaming gets semiotically mediated. To do this, the article develops a theoretical machinery that makes sense of the ways in which public signs—relative to their infrastructural contexts—come to project channels for their uptake. When these relationships are considered relative to the ideologies that target them, what gets revealed are the moral contours of Southern Peruvian public life. The analysis ultimately shows how the concept “linguistic landscape” can be useful for the semiotic study of infrastructure as well as the forms of the public life that it helps to mediate.

An Innovative Solution for Transportation among Caspian Region

Abstract Globalization and liberalization of the economies in worldwide raise the importance of transportation strategies to make difference in competitive environment. The rise of Asian economies attracted the attention of other countries. As a result of, the center of gravity of the World trade has shifted towards the east, Eurasian countries has appeared as ensuring sustainable economic growth by developing the trade relations among Eurasian countries as well as with other countries, and also European countries decided to expand the transport networks which facilitate trade relations. In line with these strategies, Asia-Europe transport corridor projects have been created. Some of these projects are; the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T), Pan-European Corridors (PEC), Modern Silk Road and Europe-Caucasia-Asia Transport Corridor (TRACECA). But, there are deficiencies (like infrastructure, legislation) existing when these projects put into practice, and also, Caspian Sea (as an important land defect) necessitates intermodal transportation. In this paper, it has been aimed to examine alternative transportation lines in the region, reveal the current problems, and propose solutions within the context of infrastructure or transport policies. In scope of the study, qualitative research technique used, several visits were made to stakeholder countries to obtain data from field studies, and workshops were held as closed sessions.

E-commerce as a techno-managerial innovation ecosystem: Policy implications

Innovation can be viewed as a adoption and dissemination of something new in a given context. E-commerce is thus an innovation when it is introduced to a new environment in an emerging market or when adopted by a new class of user industries. As a techno-managerial innovation, it requires business adaption, organizational learning, and supportive environment that could lead to wide diffusion and transformational impact. Several global forces drive the adoption of e-commerce such as global competition, trade liberalization, and increasingly, ICT advances and Internet diffusion. National factors, such as governance, education, and infrastructure, then shape and differentiate the speed of adoption across enterprises within a country, the breadth and depth of use within an enterprise, and ultimately the impact on the firm and the nation. Understanding the national environment, the policy, technological and infrastructural contexts, and the common drivers and barriers to adoption and effective use within firms should provide a guide to promoting e-commerce as a techno-managerial innovation, and realizing its full potential for the nation.

Developing the information infrastructure based on LADM – the case of Poland

In this paper, the possibilities of developing the national information infrastructure by applying the Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) are discussed. Confirmation of the legitimacy of using the LADM within the (Spatial) Information Infrastructure (SII) context is illustrated with the case of Poland. Creating the information infrastructure is an immense challenge because its components are usually dispersed among various institutions responsible for their maintenance and dissemination. Co-existing spatial and non-spatial components of the information infrastructure require their proper integration. Moreover, the interdisciplinary nature of the SII results in combining objects from physical and legal world in one computer environment. The process of standardisation is the first step to refine land administration system and to make it more understandable and transparent for involved parties. The LADM, being officially adopted as an international standard ISO 19152, gives a basis for building national profiles and supports creating the European information infrastructure, enabling communication based on common terminology. This paper provides a brief overview of the current land information system in Poland emphasising the main issues in creating the national information infrastructure. Then, the general concept of the country profile for Poland with the adaptation of the LADM is described. With respect to the users’ expectations and requirements, the conceptual model is extended to information being outside the scope of LADM. As a final point, several technical aspects of implementing the complemented LADM country profile are explored. The results indicate that effective functioning of the information infrastructure requires proper integration of data, proceeded by analysing the contents of existing data sets, indicating key registers and defining a linkage system between them.

Consumerization in the IT Service Ecosystem

Most of the available literature on IT consumerization focuses on current practices--from operational aspects of BYOD to its disruptive effects--but does little to illuminate the dynamics behind the trend's emergence. Exploring the driving forces behind consumerization is essential if IT organizations are to both make sense of the current dynamics of transformation and disruption and formulate effective strategies in response. This article is one of the first attempts to explain these dynamics as part of a logical progression, from the Web's invention in 1989 to its evolution into machine-to-machine communication through Web services to SOA's role as an application discipline in virtualized cloud infrastructure context--all of which brings us to today's BYOD and BYOA.

Cloud Computing and Security Issues in the Cloud

Cloud computing has formed the conceptual and infrastructural basis for tomorrow’s computing. The global computing infrastructure is rapidly moving towards cloud based architecture. While it is important to take advantages of could based computing by means of deploying it in diversified sectors, the security aspects in a cloud based computing environment remains at the core of interest. Cloud based services and service providers are being evolved which has resulted in a new business trend based on cloud technology. With the introduction of numerous cloud based services and geographically dispersed cloud service providers, sensitive information of different entities are normally stored in remote servers and locations with the possibilities of being exposed to unwanted parties in situations where the cloud servers storing those information are compromised. If security is not robust and consistent, the flexibility and advantages that cloud computing has to offer will have little credibility. This paper presents a review on the cloud computing concepts as well as security issues inherent within the context of cloud computing and cloud infrastructure.

Is inclusive policyand health care on media's agenda in India?

The paper explores how policy implementation and change management can be improved in India, with the health insurance scheme as the basis for narrative exploration. It sets out the similarities and differences in assumptions between supra-national organizations such as the World Bank and World Health Organization on policy implementation and change management and those contained in the Indian national health policy. The study provides a framework of the dimensions that should be considered in policy implementation and change management in India, the nature of structural and infrastructural problems and wider societal context, and the ways in which conceptions of organizations and the variables that impact on organizations'capability to engage in policy implementation and change management differ from those in the West. This paper further investigates concepts in management studies with those in policy studies, with the use of narrative approaches to the understanding of policy implementation and change management. Elements of culture, religion and ethical values are introduced to further the understanding of policy making and implementation in non-Western contexts.