To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Environmental informatics.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Environmental informatics'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Environmental informatics.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Räsänen, T. (Teemu). "Intelligent information services in environmental applications." Doctoral thesis, Oulun yliopisto, 2011. http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:9789514296574.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract The amount of information available has increased due to the development of our modern digital society. This has caused an information overflow, meaning that there is lot of data available but the meaningful information or knowledge is hidden inside the overwhelming data smog. Nevertheless, the large amount of data together with the increased capabilities of computers provides a great opportunity to learn the behaviour of different kinds of phenomena at a more detailed level. The quality of life, well-being and a healthy living environment, for example, are fields where new information services can assist the creation of proactive decisions to avoid environmental problems caused by industrial activity, traffic, or extraordinary weather conditions. The combination of data coming from different sources such as public registers, companies’ operational information systems, online sensors and process monitoring systems provides a fruitful basis for creating new valuable information for citizens, decision makers or other end users. The aim of this thesis is to present the concept of intelligent information services and a methodological background in order to add intelligence using computational methods for the enrichment of multidimensional data. Moreover, novel examples are presented where new significant information is created and then provided for end users. The data refining process used is called data mining and contains methods for data collection, pre-processing, modelling, visualizing and interpreting the results and sharing the new information thus created. Information systems are a base for the creation of information services, meaning that stakeholder groups have access only to information but they do not own the whole information system that contains measurement systems, data collecting, and a technological platform. Intelligence in information services comes from the use of computational intelligent methods in data processing, modelling and visualization. In this thesis the general concept of such services is presented and concretized using five cases that focus on environmental and industrial examples. The results of these case studies show that the combination of different data sources provides fertile ground for developing new information services. The data mining methods used such as clustering and predictive modelling together with effective pre-processing methods have great potential to handle the large amount of multivariate data in this environmental context also. A self-organizing map combined with k-means clustering is useful for creating more detailed information about personal energy use. Predictive modelling using a multilayer perceptron (MLP) is well suited for estimating the number of tourists visiting a leisure centre and to find the correspondence between pulp process characteristics and the chemicals used. These results have many indirect effects on reducing negative concerns regarding our surroundings and maintaining a healthy living environment. The innovative use of stored data is one of the main elements in the creation of future information services. Thus, more emphasis should be placed on the development of data integration and effective data processing methods. Furthermore, it is noted that final end users, such as citizens or decision makers, should be involved in the data refining process at the very first stage. In this way, the approach is truly customer-oriented and the results fulfil the concrete need of specific end users<br>Tiivistelmä Informaation määrä on kasvanut merkittävästi tietoyhteiskunnan kehittymisen myötä. Käytössämme onkin huomattava määrä erimuotoista tietoa, josta voimme hyödyntää kuitenkin vain osan. Jatkuvasti mitattavan datan suuri määrä ja sijoittuminen hajalleen asettavat osaltaan haasteita tiedon hyödyntämiselle. Tietoyhteiskunnassa hyvinvointi ja terveellisen elinympäristön säilyminen koetaan aiempaa tärkeämmäksi. Toisaalta yritysten toiminnan tehostaminen ja kestävän kehityksen edistäminen vaativat jatkuvaa parantamista. Informaatioteknologian avulla moniulotteista mittaus- ja rekisteritietoa voidaan hyödyntää esimerkiksi ennakoivaan päätöksentekoon jolla voidaan edistää edellä mainittuja tavoitteita. Tässä työssä on esitetty ympäristöalan älykkäiden informaatiopalveluiden konsepti, jossa oleellista on loppukäyttäjien tarpeiden tunnistaminen ja ongelmien ratkaiseminen jalostetun informaation avulla. Älykkäiden informaatiopalvelujen taustalla on yhtenäinen tiedonlouhintaan perustuva tiedonjalostusprosessi, jossa raakatieto jalostetaan loppukäyttäjille soveltuvaan muotoon. Tiedonjalostusprosessi koostuu datan keräämisestä ja esikäsittelystä, mallintamisesta, tiedon visualisoinnista, tulosten tulkitsemisesta sekä oleellisen tiedon jakamisesta loppukäyttäjäryhmille. Datan käsittelyyn ja analysointiin on käytetty laskennallisesti älykkäitä menetelmiä, josta juontuu työn otsikko; älykkäät informaatiopalvelut. Väitöskirja pohjautuu viiteen artikkeliin, joissa osoitetaan tiedonjalostusprosessin toimivuus erilaisissa tapauksissa ja esitetään esimerkkejä kuhunkin prosessin vaiheeseen soveltuvista laskennallisista menetelmistä. Artikkeleissa on kuvattu matkailualueen kävijämäärien ennakointiin ja kotitalouksien sähköenergian kulutuksen pienentämiseen liittyvät informaatiopalvelut sekä analyysi selluprosessissa käytettävien kemikaalien määrän pienentämiseksi. Näistä saadut kokemukset ja tulokset on yleistetty älykkään informaatiopalvelun konseptiksi. Väitöskirjan toisena tavoitteena on rohkaista organisaatioita hyödyntämään tietovarantoja aiempaa tehokkaammin ja monipuolisemmin sekä rohkaista tarkastelemaan myös oman organisaation ulkopuolelta saatavien tietolähteiden käyttämistä. Toisaalta, uudenlaisten informaatiopalvelujen ja liiketoimintojen kehittämistä tukisi julkisilla varoilla kerättyjen, ja osin yritysten hallussa olevien, tietovarantojen julkaiseminen avoimiksi
2
Yang, Haofan. "Reputation modelling in citizen science for environmental acoustic data analysis." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2012. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/54657/1/Haofan_Yang_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Citizen Science projects are initiatives in which members of the general public participate in scientific research projects and perform or manage research-related tasks such as data collection and/or data annotation. Citizen Science is technologically possible and scientifically significant. However, as the gathered information is from the crowd, the data quality is always hard to manage. There are many ways to manage data quality, and reputation management is one of the common approaches.
In recent year, many research teams have deployed many audio or image sensors in natural environment in order to monitor the status of animals or plants. The collected data will be analysed by ecologists. However, as the amount of collected data is exceedingly huge and the number of ecologists is very limited, it is impossible for scientists to manually analyse all these data. The functions of existing automated tools to process the data are still very limited and the results are still not very accurate. Therefore, researchers have turned to recruiting general citizens who are interested in helping scientific research to do the pre-processing tasks such as species tagging. Although research teams can save time and money by recruiting general citizens to volunteer their time and skills to help data analysis, the reliability of contributed data varies a lot. Therefore, this research aims to investigate techniques to enhance the reliability of data contributed by general citizens in scientific research projects especially for acoustic sensing projects. In particular, we aim to investigate how to use reputation management to enhance data reliability.
Reputation systems have been used to solve the uncertainty and improve data quality in many marketing and E-Commerce domains. The commercial organizations which have chosen to embrace the reputation management and implement the technology have gained many benefits. Data quality issues are significant to the domain of Citizen Science due to the quantity and diversity of people and devices involved. However, research on reputation management in this area is relatively new. We therefore start our investigation by examining existing reputation systems in different domains. Then we design novel reputation management approaches for Citizen Science projects to categorise participants and data. We have investigated some critical elements which may influence data reliability in Citizen Science projects. These elements include personal information such as location and education and performance information such as the ability to recognise certain bird calls. The designed reputation framework is evaluated by a series of experiments involving many participants for collecting and interpreting data, in particular, environmental acoustic data. Our research in exploring the advantages of reputation management in Citizen Science (or crowdsourcing in general) will help increase awareness among organizations that are unacquainted with its potential benefits.
3
Thapa, Shiva. "Ecological Informatics: An Agent Based Model on Coexistence Dynamics." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2017. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3303.
Full textAbstract:
The coexistence of species is probably one of the most interesting and complex phenomenon in nature. We constructed an agent based model to study the coexistence dynamics of prey - predator populations by varying productivity levels of producers in fragmented and connected habitats along with different levels of quality of predators. Our results indicated that productivity levels of producers in fragmented and connected habitats along with levels of predator quality are significantly responsible for overall predator - prey population size and survivorship. In the absence of predation, competition between identical prey populations is more probable in connected habitats than in unfragmented or fragmented habitats. Implementing low quality predators in the habitats positively influences the overall coexistence dynamics whereas implementing high quality predators tend to decrease the prey populations. Fragmented habitats provide for greater prey population survival time in highly productive environments but low prey population survival time in less productive environments.
4
Carty, Paula Christine Carleton University Dissertation Geography. "Thinking environmentally; environmental information and environmental education." Ottawa, 1996.
Find full text
5
Arantes, Ariana Fernandes [UNESP]. "Identificação e disseminação de práticas ambientais na cadeia de suprimento: estudo de casos em empresas manufatureiras do segmento de informática." Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11449/93002.
Full textAbstract:
Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0
Previous issue date: 2012-10-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:54:26Z : No. of bitstreams: 1
arantes_af_me_bauru.pdf: 1402105 bytes, checksum: 761541e8364747f26812eaa6f44c0532 (MD5)<br>Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)<br>Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)<br>O presente trabalho teve como objetivo identificar quais práticas de green supply chain management estão sendo adotadas nas empresas brasileiras atuantes no segmento de informática e como estas práticas são disseminadas pelos atores da cadeia de suprimentos. Foram analisados cinco estudos de casos em montadoras do segmento de informática, localizadas no Brasil. Na pesquisa de campo, para a obtenção dos dados necessários para a elaboração do presente trabalho, foram realizadas entrevistas, observações diretas e a obtenção de folders, panfletos, documentos e pesquisa no website das empresas, sendo os dados obtidos em casa um dos casos, posteriormente, analisados quantitativamente, a fim de compará-los de maneira a entender o cenário em que essas empresas se encontram. O resultado mostrou que este segmento possui características semelhantes àquelas encontradas na literatura em que são analisadas as empresas dos países emergentes como, por exemplo, a China. Nos casos relatados, percebeu-se que as principais práticas adotadas nas empresas estudadas são as mesmas encontradas na literatura, entre as quais estão: 1º Gestão ambiental interna; 2º Compra verde; e 3º Recuperação do investimento. Este fato evidencia a similaridade entre os procedimentos adotados pelo segmento de informática dos países emergentes. Ao analisar os mecanismos de práticas e de disseminação de green supply chain management, o estudo mostrou que estas práticas dependem principalmente de ações junto com fornecedores (de montante a jussante da cadeia) e as formas de disseminação dependem predominantemente de açõs com clientes (de jusante a montante da cadeia). Deste modo, pode-se afirmar que a cadeia de suprimentos é dirigidas pelos clientes (marca), que compõem o elo mais forte da cadeia de suprimentos. Portanto, o termo green chain management é...<br>The goal of this study was to identify which green supply chain practices are adopted by computer manufacturing companies in Brazil and how these practices are disseminated to stakeholders in the supply chain. Then, five case studies on computer companies were conducted, in which data was collected via interviews, direct observations and available documentation (folders, pamphlets and/or reports), and companies' websites. Later, a qualitative analysis of each case was administered, wherein they were compared and the data was synthesized in order to understand the current situation as it pertains to the topic. When compared with the international literature, the results showed that this sector in Brazil has similar features to its equivalent sectors in developing countries where it has been studied (e.g., China). In reported cases, it was discovered that the main practices adopted in the studied companies are the same as those found in the literature which are: 1. Internal environmental management; 2. Green purchasing; 3. Investment recovery, which demonstrates the similarities in developing countries. In analyzing the green supply chain practices and mechanisms of dissemination, this study showed that these green supply chain practices depend on theirs suppliers (from an upstream to downstream chain) and the green supply chain dissemination depends more on custormes' actions (form a downstream to upstream chain). Thus, it can say that the supply chain is consumer driven (brand) in; therefore being the strongest link in the supply chain. Therefore, the green supply chain management approach is considered an extension of envirommental management practices and supply chain management practices to control... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)
6
Tsamis, Thanassis. "Description of a virtual learning environment for preliminary schools." Thesis, Växjö University, School of Mathematics and Systems Engineering, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1245.
Full textAbstract:
<p>This project is associated with the field of Information Systems and more specifically with Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). These environments are becoming very popular the last years, especially in higher education. However we decided to focus in lower level education since there is lack of these learning platforms and their spreading is limited.</p><p>More specifically our project will focus on the description of a Virtual Learning Environment for preliminary schools. The target age will be 5-8 years old. The design of our system is based on the guidelines of a preliminary schoolteacher in Spain, who is actually our stakeholder. Designing a system for so young students means that various aspects have to be taken into consideration such as their level of computer knowledge, their maturity, their not still developed studying abilities and the fact that it is their first approach to school as a learning environment. However we believe that if they can be integrated in the information society in such an early age, it will be beneficial for their future and the future of information technologies as well. We hope that through this project we will be able to contribute to computer based education and equip the young students with new ways and potentials of learning.</p><p>On a theoretical basis, we could say that our project contains two different parts: a theoretical part and a more practical one. In the theoretical part, all the related work of similar VLEs is presented in an effort to see what products already exist in the market and try to create a new, innovative system taking into consideration various educational aspects. In addition, a review of our literature research concerning computer based education and VLEs is included in order to provide the necessary theoretical background before starting to design our system. Finally, a summary of our research made including questionnaires and interviews as well as the analysis and the conclusions of this research are presented since before designing our system we tried to include the opinion of the different people involved in this system like the students and their parents, the teachers and the pedagogues. On the other hand, the second more practical part focuses on the description of the learning platform. The architecture of the system as well as the use cases is included here. A prototype of the system is also provided but we were not able to complete the whole implementation due to time limitations.</p>
7
Najm, Leandro Halle. "Arquitetura orientada a serviços para aquisição de dados de experimentos em Weblab de abelhas." Universidade de São Paulo, 2011. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/3/3141/tde-26082011-141314/.
Full textAbstract:
Experimentos ambientais são fundamentais para entender os efeitos das mudanças climáticas, como o decréscimo de polinizadores encontrados na natureza. Esses experimentos devem ser compartilhados com uma metodologia integrada. Desenvolver e aplicar ferramentas de tecnologia da informação em diferentes áreas de pesquisa é primordial para melhorar processos de controle e análise de dados, sem requisitar que pesquisadores de outras áreas tenham conhecimentos avançados em tecnologias da computação. Para isso, é importante a utilização de uma infraestrutura de hardware e software aberta e disponível aos pesquisadores, por meio de portais na web conhecidos como Weblabs, para aquisição e compartilhamento de dados obtidos através de sensores. Este trabalho apresenta uma arquitetura de sistemas de informação para a implementação de Weblabs a partir dos conceitos de SOA, para solucionar o problema de heterogeneidade e interoperabilidade de ambientes, visto que os dados são coletados por diferentes tecnologias de redes de sensores em suas bases de dados. Para tanto, fez-se necessária a modelagem de uma base de dados central capaz de armazenar dados oriundos de diferentes sistemas, acessíveis por meio do consumo de serviços disponibilizados pelo Weblab.<br>Environmental experiments are fundamental to understand the effects of climate change, such as the decline of pollinators in nature. These experiments should be shared with an integrated methodology. Develop and apply tools of information technology in different areas of research is essential for improving process control and data analysis, without requiring that researchers from other fields have advanced knowledge in computing technologies. For this it is important to use an open infrastructure of hardware and software made available to researchers through web portals, known as Weblab for acquisition and sharing of data obtained by sensors. This paper presents a model of information systems architecture for the implementation of a Weblab based on the concepts of SOA, to solve the problem of heterogeneity and interoperability of environments, since the data is collected by different network technologies of sensors in its databases. It was necessary for the modeling of central database capable of storing data from different systems accessible through the consumption of the service provided by the Weblab.
8
Ihlström, Joakim, and Fredrik Westerlund. "Interactive learning environments : The effects of interactivity in online learning environments." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för informatik, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-73182.
Full textAbstract:
We live in an era where interactivity is gradually becoming more available, yet our schoolsare not catching up to this trend, instead we are faced with passive learning environmentswhere active construction of knowledge is limited. In this study we looked at theconstructivist approach to learning and compared it to the objectivist approach that iscommonly used in most schools of today. We looked at other successful interactive learningenvironment and how they may look like. We developed a passive educational video and aprototype of an interactive learning environment, where the interactive environmentworked as a supplement to the educational video. We further conducted a quantitative testthrough a questionnaire on these environments to see if the learning outcome of theinteractive learning environment outperformed the learners of the educational video. Thedata we collected did not show any significant difference between passive and interactivelearning, it did, however, show some interesting trends such as younger participants ingeneral performed better than older participants in our interactive learning environment.
9
Fu, Yang. "Managing Customer Services Using GIS in Banks : A Case in Chinese Competitive Environment." Thesis, Linköping University, Department of Computer and Information Science, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-9138.
Full textAbstract:
<p>In recent years, Geographic information system (GIS) is becoming a useful tool for location related analysis and decision making. Linking huge data using space, as in a GIS, is a new way to help any bank understands better its data and its customers. China's banking industry opens to full foreign competition in 2006; banks in China have to focus on developing their strengths in the competition. Chinese local banks need to improve their abilities by providing high quality services and using information technology more intelligently. GIS technology can help this.</p><p>The thesis from two aspects investigates how GIS can help bank for customer services, one is site selection of bank branches or ATMs and another is providing bank loan to customers. We choose case study as a research strategy for this thesis. The research is based on the theoretical frameworks starting with GIS analysis methods, GIS processes, customer service management and GIS applications in banks. We learn from previous author's experiences and use Norrkoping spatial data for analyzing as methodology demo to acquire an understanding of how to utilize GIS to support customer services for banks.</p><p>As a result, GIS can help banks to improve customer services management. The general processes are data collection, data analysis, and data display. Building a GIS support system based on "customer focus" in a bank is a good choice under the pressure of commercial competitions. Nevertheless, for offering better service to customers, bank can combine web in GIS support system. How to optimize Web GIS for customer query from World Wide Web could be one opportunity for the future research.</p>
10
Yeang, Chen-Hsiang 1969. "Implementation of a virtual environment system based on geographical information system and environmental models." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40227.
Full text
11
Parker, Jonathan Duguid Edward. "Environmental reporting and environmental indices." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1991. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.358483.
Full text
12
Gomez, Hernandez Maria del Carmen. "Information system for environmental technologies." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2005. http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/u?/NOD,210.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.S.)--University of New Orleans, 2005.<br>Title from electronic submission form. "A thesis ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science"--Thesis t.p. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.
13
Comte, Jessica. "Towards an evaluation framework for web application environments." Thesis, Karlstads universitet, Handelshögskolan (from 2013), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-82428.
Full text
14
Duffy, Timothy Richard. "An environmental information system for planners." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/8750.
Full textAbstract:
This research proposes an on-line Environmental Information System for Planners (EISP). The Environmental Information System for Planners has been developed in collaboration with five local authorities as a web-based system designed to support decision making within the UK planning framework. It has been built as a ‘proof-of-concept’ system to demonstrate the value to urban planning of making information on environmental issues more widely accessible. The EISP has been designed to support three principal planning functions carried out by Local Authorities: Pre-planning enquiries; Development control decisions; and Strategic planning. The system incorporates 12 environmental themes: Air quality (PM10); Shallow undermining; Landslide susceptibility; Groundwater protection; Flood risk; Drainage; Land contamination; Proximity to landfill; Biodiversity; Natural heritage designations; Man-made heritage; and Natural Ground Stability (Geohazards). The design framework is based upon a series of decision flow diagrams, each covering one of the above themes. These decision flows take account of current planning procedures in the UK. Industry-standard web technologies have been employed to integrate the flows and develop the functionality that will allow the planner access to the system through secure web pages. Underpinning the system is an environmental Geographical Information System (GIS) that contains the most up-to-date data, information and models relevant to each of the environmental themes listed. The planning regulations are subject to change and so the system has been designed in a modular way so that new legislation can be accommodated without the need for a complete system rewrite. This modular approach also means that the system can be readily adapted to reflect local priorities and to draw on local datasets. The EISP was successfully tested and the thesis concludes with a costed business case study for commercial implementation and rollout of a production EISP system populated with appropriate environmental data within UK local authorities.
15
Гуменний, Микола Вікторович, Николай Викторович Гуменный, Mykola Viktorovych Humennyi, and M. Novikov. "Problems of environmental organizations information support." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2012. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/26582.
Full text
16
Li, Tao. "Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) in China : Some potentials and shortcomings." Thesis, Gävle : University of Gävle. Department of Business Administration and Economics, 2008. http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:139475/FULLTEXT01.
Full text
17
Beasley, Claire. "Environmental information : issues of access, policy and information resources management." Thesis, City University London, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.268953.
Full text
18
Hendry, David G. "Extensible information-seeking environments." Thesis, Robert Gordon University, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.337903.
Full text
19
Bergentz, Cornelia. "Gamification och miljö : vägen till miljövänligare transportval via motiverande spelmekanismer." Thesis, Högskolan Kristianstad, Sektionen för hälsa och samhälle, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-16457.
Full textAbstract:
Tidigare mänskliga aktiviteter påverkar de klimatförändringarna som vi ser idag. Ett miljövänligare val i en stadsmiljö är att använda kollektivtrafiken, men både bilar och bussar släpper ut mängder av koldioxid och farliga partiklar. Det optimala hade varit att få fler människor att välja cykeln istället för bilen eller kollektivtrafiken eftersom användningen av cyklar inte påverkar miljön eller människors hälsa negativt. För att ändra människors beteende genomfördes en studie om vilka gamification-mekanismer som skulle kunna fungera inom detta område. Målgruppen tillhörde till största del spelarkategorin fria själar men blev motiverade av mekanismer från alla olika kategorier. Man kan utifrån resultatet dra slutsatsen att ifall man ska använda sig av gamification inom detta område behöver man jobba på olika sätt mot olika målgrupper och framför allt hitta vilka olika grupper som finns och vilka mekanismer som motiverar de olika gupperna för att ta fram de mest optimala mekanismerna.<br>Former human activities that happened in the past affect the climate change that we see today. An environmentally friendly choice in an urban environment is to use public transport, but cars and buses emit amounts of carbon dioxide and hazardous particles. The ideal would have been to get more people to choose a bike instead of a car or public transport because the use of bicycles does not affect the environment or human health negative. A study was conducted on the gamification mechanics in order to change people’s behavior. The target group belonged mostly to the user category “free spirits” but they were also motivated by game mechanics from every user category. The results from the study conclude that if one should make use of gamification in this area then they need to work in different ways to approach different audiences and to find different groups of gamers. One should also find various game mechanics that motivate the users to be able to develop the most optimal platform for motivation.
20
U, Wa Tang. "Development of environmental information system for Macau." Thesis, University of Macau, 2001. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1445037.
Full text
21
Stefani, Gianluca. "Economic aspects of information in environmental economics." Thesis, University of York, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.489205.
Full textAbstract:
Information may resolve uncertainty and uncertainty is pervasive. Thus, seeking, producing and trading of information are common economic activities. This is also true in the economics of the environment and for the different stakeholders therein involved. The central aim of this research is to investigate some theoretical aspects of the value and effects of information in environmental economics. Information is valuable either as a decision aid in contexts where either health and environmental characteristics of goods are uncertain or as the object of direct valuation under different provision rules. In a choice context three questions arise providing grounds for empirical investigations.
22
Haklay, Mordechai Elazar. "Public environmental information systems : challenges and perspectives." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2002. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/16360/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis investigates public access to environmental information, starting with the examination of environmental information and environmental information systems (EIS). This examination demonstrates that term “environmental information” holds a wide range of meaning, and while it is possible to describe “core environmental information”, the full range of environmental information is open for wide interpretation. In regard to environmental information systems, the thesis demonstrates the importance of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a major component of most EIS, and the influence of the institutional settings within which they operate on these systems. To better understand the requirements and needs of likely users of environmental information (those with interest in environmental issues and with access to the technology), the thesis contains two empirical studies – a web-based survey of requirements and needs from a public environmental information system for London, and a public participation workshop in which representatives of local interest groups explored the use of GIS for local planning purposes. The analysis of these studies (using the framework of Soft Systems Methodology) leads to the development of conceptual models and criteria set for public access to environmental information. These models and criteria are then compared to existing web-based information systems, a comparison that reveals gaps between the desired system and the current state of the art. The thesis ends with some suggestions about how to improve information systems to improve public access. The thesis is based upon a wide array of topics, including aspects of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in the context of Geographical and Environmental Information Systems (GIS/EIS). Information Systems Design methodologies, Public Participation GIS (PPFIS), Public Understanding of Science (PUS), social aspects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Philosophy of Technology.
23
Alzuhairi, Fatin, and abdulfata Fatah. "Environmentally improved concrete is compared with ordinary concrete with respect to estimated environmental impact." Thesis, KTH, Byggteknik och design, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-296542.
Full textAbstract:
Swedish buildings account for a large part of Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions, which is why the construction industry within the framework of the concrete initiative has produced a Roadmap for Climate Neutral Concrete. The climate neutral targets meant that Sweden will have net carbon emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2045. In order to achieve the national environmental goals, it is important to reduce the climate impact from concrete construction. Today, the concrete industry is facing a major challenge in minimizing the consumption of concrete, while at the same time the need for new buildings is increasing as a result of the increase in land populations.Concrete lifecycle analysis shows that 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from the manufacturing process of cement clinker that is included in the cement binder. For this reason, the concrete industry has researched and developed various alternatives that contribute to reducing the environmental impact caused by concrete by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the environmental impact of different types of concrete and to investigate two factors that contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. The factors being investigated are choice of optimized concrete recipe by reducing proportion of cement and choice of concrete composition by replacing cement with alternative binders.A survey study was conducted to analyze the environmental impact of different types of concrete with different amounts of cement, water percentage and exposure class. In addition, a comparison study between ordinary concrete and climate-enhanced concrete was performed to analyze the climate impact of climate-enhanced concrete with different improvement steps compared to ordinary concrete. To carry out this study, a study of ordinary concrete has been carried out with documents (concrete quantity, strength class and water cement figures) from a reference project obtained by Specialfastigheter, and then replaced with climate-enhanced concrete in various improvement steps.The results show that concrete with lower cement volume and higher water cement numbers give a marked reduction in the building's climate impact. By reducing the amount of cement in the concrete, the proportion of cement clinkers included in the cement binder is lowered, which in turn reduces the climate impact. In addition, a comparison study also shows that the building's climate impact can be reduced between 10, 25 and 52 percent through the use of climate-enhanced charm. This is because climate-enhanced concrete is being replaced by some cement with alternative binders.The conclusion is that this study provides greater opportunity for the construction industry to gain additional knowledge and a better understanding of how environmental impact can be reduced by choosing the right type of concrete. Choosing concrete with lower strength, higher water cement ratio and higher proportion of alternative binders contributes to lower climate impact from concrete.<br>Svenska byggnader står till svars för en stor del av Sveriges utsläpp av växthusgaser, därför har byggbranschen inom ramen för betonginitiativet tagit fram Färdplan för Klimatneutral betong. Klimatneutralmålen innebär att Sverige ska uppnå nettonollutsläpp av koldioxid i atmosfär år 2045. För att kunna nå de nationella miljömålen är det viktigt att sänka klimatpåverkan från betongkonstruktion. Idag befinner sig betongbranschen inför stor utmaning att minimera konsumtion av betong, samtidigt som behovet av nybebyggelse ökar till följd av att jordbefolkningen ökar.Betonglivscykelanalys visar att 90 procent av koldioxidutsläpp kommer från tillverkningsprocess av cementklinker som ingår i bindemedlet cement. Av denna anledning har betongbranschen undersökt och utvecklat olika alternativ som bidrar till minskning av miljöpåverkan orsakad av betong genom att reducera koldioxidutsläpp.Syftet med detta examensarbete är att utvärdera miljöpåverkan från olika betongssorter samt att undersöka två faktorer som bidrar till minskning av koldioxidutsläpp i atmosfären. De faktorer som ska undersökas är val av optimerat betongsrecept och alternativa bindemedel. Det optimerade betongrecept sker genom minskning av andel av cement och val av betongsammansättning där cement ersätts med alternativa bindemedel.En undersökningsstudie utfördes för att analysera miljöpåverkan av olika betongssorter med olika cementsmängd, vattencementtal och exponeringsklass. Dessutom utfördes en jämförelsestudie mellan vanlig betong och klimatförbättrad betong för att analysera klimatpåverkan av klimatförbättrad betong med olika förbättringssteg jämfört med vanlig betong. För att genomföra denna studie har olika betongsmängder, hållfasthetsklass och vattencementtal undersökas. Betonginformation hämtas från ett referensprojekt erhållna av Specialfastigheter för att sedan ersättas med klimatförbättrad betong i olika förbättringssteg.Resultaten visar att betong med lägre cementmängd och högre vattencementtal ger uppmärksammade minskning av byggnadens klimatpåverkan. Genom att minska cementmängden i betongen sänks andelen av cementklinker som ingår i bindemedlet cement, vilket i sin minskar klimatpåverkan. Dessutom visar även jämförelsestudien att byggnadens klimatpåverkan kan minskas mellan 10, 25 och 52 procent genom användning av klimatförbättrad betog. Detta beror på att klimatförbättrad betong ersätter en del av cement med alternativa bindemedel.Slutsatsen är att denna studie ger större möjlighet för byggbranschen att få ytterligare kunskap samt bättre förståelse om hur miljöpåverkning kan minskas genom att välja rätt betongtyp. Att välja betong med lägre hållfasthet, högre vattencementtal och högre andel av alternativa bindemedel bidrar till lägre klimatpåverkan från betong.
24
Chen, Tsung-Teng. "Information management in integrated information system development environments." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/184352.
Full textAbstract:
Information System development involves various activities; the process of developing information systems is considered to be the production of a series of documents. The information derived from the activities of the life cycle needs to be stored in a way that will facilitate the carrying out of subsequent activities. That is, information must be stored with a consistent, semantically rich, flexible, and efficient structure that will make it accessible for use by various tools employed in carrying out the development process. In this research, knowledge base management system (KBMS) to manage the information created by the information system development process was designed and implemented. Several contemporary popular knowledge representation schemes can be managed conveniently by this KBMS, which utilized efficient database techniques to facilitate fast retrieval and traversal of the underlying semantic inheritance net and frame knowledge structure. Inference and logic deduction capability was made a part of the static knowledge structure to further extend the functionality of the KBMS. Furthermore, a specially designed relational database management system was implemented and interfaced with the KBMS to alleviate the possibility of a storage saturation problem and to facilitate the storage of detailed exclusive information of terms defined in the knowledge base. Models that are applicable to various information system development activities were identified and stored in the knowledge base. The aggregation of those models is, in fact, a conceptual non-procedural language that provides a concise descriptive framework to help the user gather and manage information derived from various activities during the information system development process. The knowledge base, the language, and several knowledge-base related tools were used by more than seventy graduate students in a case study for a system analysis and design course. An information system methodology specifically tailored for this knowledge base supported environment was proposed and applied in a simplified case to illustrate the process of how a database-centered information system can be derived from the initial strategic planning phase. The methodology explored and made use of the storage structure of the closely coupled knowledge base and database. Finally, future research direction was identified.
25
YU, HONGMING. "A PERSONALIZED INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT SYSTEM FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1060875911.
Full text
26
Rohlf, Alexander [Verfasser], and Ulrich [Akademischer Betreuer] Wagner. "Exploring transition processes in Germany with environmental data : Empirical essays on international trade and the environment, regulation by information and spatial environmental data / Alexander Rohlf ; Betreuer: Ulrich Wagner." Mannheim : Universitätsbibliothek Mannheim, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1212796160/34.
Full text
27
Brown, Ruben E. (Ruben Edward) 1977. "Information management in intelligent environments." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8933.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2001.<br>Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-86).<br>In this thesis, I designed and implemented a system for handling information in complex computational environments. The system addresses the needs for context dependent information handling and display in an intelligent environment. The system is used as part of the Metaglue development environment to drive the information display in the Intelligent Room.<br>by Rubin E. Brown.<br>M.Eng.
28
Elsakit, Omer M. "The Disclosure and Use of Social and Environmental Information by Libyan Banks." Thesis, Griffith University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366430.
Full textAbstract:
There is increasing interest in social and environmental issues throughout the world, especially in developed countries, where governments, organizations, and society well recognise the impact of business activities on the environment and society. Consequently, companies have potentially no alternative but to behave in a responsible manner, socially and environmentally, and to prove this by disclosing information about their related conduct. In this regard, banks play two important roles: first, as providers of social and environmental information in much the same manner as nonfinancial companies; and second, as providers of finance, by encouraging—if not obliging—bank customers to consider society and the environment in their bank-financed projects. Banks fulfil the latter role by requiring social and environmental information from companies when making lending decisions. Only a few Libyan studies have examined social and environmental issues in relation to economic activity, and these have generally revealed low levels of disclosure practice by organisations, including banks, in these areas. In addition, many changes have taken place in the Libyan economy and banking sector in recent years, including the establishment of a market exchange; decreased government participation in economic activities; and increased growth of the private sector that results, especially in the banking sector, with the entrance of foreign investors. These changes have placed a new emphasis on bank operations and the participation of banks in the Libyan economy. Thus, studying Libyan banks, in terms of their role in the environment and society, has attracted growing interest. As such, the core objective of this thesis has been to investigate the position of Libyan banks in relation to social and environmental issues and disclosure by considering their dual role as both providers and users of such information.<br>Thesis (PhD Doctorate)<br>Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)<br>Griffith Business School<br>Griffith Business School<br>Full Text
29
Richter, Viktor [Verfasser]. "Addressing in Smart Environments. An Investigation of Human Conversational Behaviours Towards Devices and Autonomous Agents in a Smart Environment / Viktor Richter." Bielefeld : Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld, 2020. http://d-nb.info/1211474860/34.
Full text
30
Mustafa, Alrasheed. "Information practices in midwifery: a case study of an antenatal and intrapartum care environment in the Western Cape, South Africa." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/1394.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology in Information Technology in the Faculty of Informatics & Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology<br>Research on health informatics has seen a steady increase during this decade as the role of information technology in the health sector becomes pertinent. Findings of previous research in this domain have uncovered vast information needs of health workers, particularly in developing countries. However, there is a need to continue with multidisciplinary research in priority areas such as midwifery practice and in the environment of marginalised settings. This study explores the significance of the information needs and information-seeking behaviour or practice of midwives during the antenatal and intrapartum care within the environment of a midwifery unit. Additionally, the researcher obtained permission from Faculty of Informatics and Design – CPUT and Health department authority – Western Cape Government in South Africa, to conduct research in the Elsies River Midwifery Obstetric Unit (ERMOU). The research was carried out as case study in a Midwifery Obstetric Unit in the Western Cape, South Africa. The investigator conducted semi-structured interviews and observations to collect qualitative data of the antenatal and intrapartum care environment. The data was transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis and essomenic modelling.
The findings comprehensively point to the importance of this research context. The study found that midwives acquired patients’ information from a handwritten Maternity Case Record (MCR) book and midwives’ colleagues, and often during handovers. In addition, midwives also communicate with each other during care activities in the ERMOU. It was apparent that the use of such communication practices is inadequate, and midwives did not always have sufficient information to make appropriate decisions in the ERMOU. All patient information, referral notes, and reporting is paper-based.
In addition, essomenic models were used to depict the midwives’ work activities in the antenatal and intrapartum care environment in the Unit. Furthermore, essomenic models defined all the systematic processes that occur in the ERMOU which is described by midwives’ activities and work environment. To improve communication, future research is recommended to consider the importance of the continuity of the education of midwives. Further research will be on the implementation of nursing informatics and the electronic health record system in the Elsies River Midwifery Obstetric Unit.
31
Yang, Hui. "Methodologies for information source selection under distributed information environments." Access electronically, 2005. http://www.library.uow.edu.au/adt-NWU/public/adt-NWU20060511.123303/index.html.
Full text
32
Harris, Colin Malcolm. "Environmental management in Antarctica using Geographical Information Systems." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1993. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/268041.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation examines terrestrial and near-shore marine environmental management problems in Antarctica, emphasising the potential application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Rules for environmental management in Antarctica have been agreed within the Antarctic Treaty system (ATS) and in the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. However, barriers exist to the implementation of environmental policies: King George Island, South Shetland Islands, where currently 8 countries operate permanent scientific stations, exhibits practical examples of the resulting problems. Designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) and Antarctic Specially Managed Areas (ASMAs) under the Protocol would improve management in this complex multinational context, but it is concluded these currently lack a standardised set of zones that can be applied to meet management needs. Five types of management zone are therefore proposed to define those areas with special qualities or management needs: Sensitive Areas, Scientific Areas, Tourist Areas, Facilities Areas and Historic Areas. Applying these zones within ASPAs and ASMAs could provide a local and regional planning framework to manage human activities, thus minimising potential environmental impacts and conflicts of interest. Geographical information is vital to ensuring measures are effective. Information required for management of ASP As and ASMAs could be collected, stored and coordinated at national and regional data centres, using GIS where appropriate to handle the spatial data. At an international level, an Antarctic Treaty Data Centre (ATDC) is proposed to receive and coordinate data and directories from participating national and regional centres, to establish a scientific and environmental data system, and to manage the information needed for the operation of the Treaty and its Protocol. This approach would allow environmental information to be held at the local, regional or international level at which it is most needed, and also assist the flow of information among programmes, nations and disciplines. GIS could be employed to assist development of common spatial frameworks, which facilitate the organisation and integration of spatial databases. The GIS-based Antarctic Digital Database appears to provide the coordinated framework needed at scales of 1:250,000 and smaller, but is of insufficient resolution, and does not contain the data required, to meet environmental management (and science) needs at local- regional levels - especially for -environmental assessments and monitoring. More detailed databases need to be constructed, but geographical data needs must be prioritised. The organisational aspects of GIS need to be addressed, such as international standards for spatial data quality and exchange. The ATDC, National and Regional Data Centres proposed could help meet these needs. Conflicting goals and uses in Antarctica need to be managed more deliberately than in the past, and in spite of the improvements in the Protocol, tools for practical implementation of policies at the local and regional levels, and in relation to environmental information management, are still lacking. The model reforms suggested - using GIS to handle environmental information - are designed to address these weaknesses and closely link environmental management and environmental information management and place them at the core of the ATS.
33
Lorgen, Snorre. "On the relationship between information and environmental regulation." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.390357.
Full text
34
Zeng, Limin. "Acquisition of Spatial Environmental Information from Tactile Displays." Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2014. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-144595.
Full textAbstract:
It is still recognized as a challenge task while blind and visually impaired people travel outdoor independently, even if there are a number of assistive mobility aids available. In addition to building universal facilities in urban and rural environments for them, it is essential to develop novel mobility assistive technologies and systems to satisfy their increasing demands for mobility. To investigate those demands, an international survey with 106 blind and visually impaired people from 13 countries is undertaken within this work, with regarding to outdoor mobility experiences, usages of mobile devices and collaborative approaches.
From the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Accessibility, the dissertation focuses on enhancing blind people’s capabilities of acquisition of spatial environmental information from tactile displays. The spatial environmental information, in this study, is in terms of clusters of surrounding obstacles, geographic information on city maps, and information on environmental accessibility.
In order to non-visual representation of the clusters of surroundings obstacles detected by a 3D Time-of-Flight (ToF) infrared camera, a portable pin-matrix display with a matrix of 30 x 32 pins is employed and a pre-designed set of tactile obstacle symbols is used to render the properties of obstacles (e.g., type, size).
Additionally, aiming at helping blind people access geographic information, a desktop based pin-matrix display (an array of 60 x 120 pins) and a mobile pin-matrix display (an array of 30 x 32 pins) are used to represent a large-scale city map and a location-aware city map, respectively. A set of tactile map symbols rendered with the raised and lowered pins, has been designed for rendering various map features.
To allow blind and visually impaired people to acquire information on environmental accessibility, besides a traditional web browser client and a popular smart phone client, an audio-haptic client on a tactile display with 7200 pins is developed. Users are able to create and share collaborative annotations on environmental accessibility across the 3 clients.
The proposed approaches about non-visual representation of obstacles and map features by tactile symbols on pin-matrix displays, will contribute to the fields of accessible tactile graphic well, especially in the coming era of affordable pin-matrix displays. Meanwhile, the collaborative approach for improving environmental accessibility will encourage the society to raise the floor of accessibility for all. A number of further studies can be continued based on the current findings within this work, aiming at enhancing mobility aids for blind and visually impaired people gradually.
35
Evans, John D. "Infrastructures for sharing geographic information among environmental agencies." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/65984.
Full text
36
Higgs, Gary. "Social and Environmental Applications of Geographical Information Science." Thesis, University of South Wales, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.680113.
Full text
37
Almeida, Manuel Diogo Cândido Pinto de. "Ubiquitous computing and natural interfaces for environmental information." Master's thesis, FCT - UNL, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/2016.
Full textAbstract:
Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em
Engenharia do Ambiente, perfil Gestão e Sistemas Ambientais<br>The next computing revolution‘s objective is to embed every street, building, room and object with computational power. Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) will allow every object to receive and transmit information, sense its surroundings and act accordingly, be located from anywhere in the world, connect every person. Everyone will have the possibility to access information, despite their age, computer knowledge, literacy or physical impairment. It will impact the world in a profound way, empowering mankind, improving the environment, but will also create new challenges that our society, economy, health and global environment will have to overcome. Negative impacts have to be identified and dealt with in advance. Despite these concerns, environmental studies have been mostly absent from discussions on the new paradigm.
This thesis seeks to examine ubiquitous computing, its technological emergence, raise awareness towards future impacts and explore the design of new interfaces and rich interaction modes. Environmental information is approached as an area which may greatly benefit from ubicomp as a way to gather, treat and disseminate it, simultaneously complying with the Aarhus convention. In an educational context, new media are poised to revolutionize the way we perceive, learn and interact with environmental information. cUbiq is presented as a natural interface to access that information.
38
Konovalova, V. "The problems of the environmental information in Ukraine." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2004. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/22822.
Full text
39
Horsburgh, Jeffery S. "Hydrologic Information Systems: Advancing Cyberinfrastructure for Environmental Observatories." DigitalCommons@USU, 2009. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/219.
Full textAbstract:
Recently, community initiatives have emerged for the establishment of large-scale environmental observatories. Cyberinfrastructure is the backbone upon which these observatories will be built, and scientists' ability to access and use the data collected within observatories to address research questions will depend on the successful implementation of cyberinfrastructure. The research described in this dissertation advances the cyberinfrastructure available for supporting environmental observatories. This has been accomplished through both development of new cyberinfrastructure components as well as through the demonstration and application of existing tools, with a specific focus on point observations data. The cyberinfrastructure that was developed and deployed to support collection, management, analysis, and publication of data generated by an environmental sensor network in the Little Bear River environmental observatory test bed is described, as is the sensor network design and deployment. Results of several analyses that demonstrate how high-frequency data enable identification of trends and analysis of physical, chemical, and biological behavior that would be impossible using traditional, low-frequency monitoring data are presented. This dissertation also illustrates how the cyberinfrastructure components demonstrated in the Little Bear River test bed have been integrated into a data publication system that is now supporting a nationwide network of 11 environmental observatory test bed sites, as well as other research sites within and outside of the United States. Enhancements to the infrastructure for research and education that are enabled by this research are impacting a diverse community, including the national community of researchers involved with prospective Water and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) Network environmental observatories as well as other observatory efforts, research watersheds, and test beds. The results of this research provide insight into and potential solutions for some of the bottlenecks associated with design and implementation of cyberinfrastructure for observatory support.
40
CRISTALLI, STEFANO. "STATIC AND DYNAMIC ANALYSES FOR PROTECTING THE JAVA SOFTWARE EXECUTION ENVIRONMENT." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2434/707489.
Full textAbstract:
In my thesis, I present three projects on which I have worked during my Ph.D. studies. All of them focus on software protection in the Java environment with static and dynamic techniques for control-flow and data-dependency analysis. More specifically, the first two works are dedicated to the problem of deserialization of untrusted data in Java. In the first, I present a defense system that was designed for protecting the Java Virtual Machine, along with the results that were obtained. In the second, I present a recent research project that aims at automatic generation of deserialization attacks, to help identifying them and increasing protection. The last discussed work concerns another branch of software protection: the authentication on short-distance channels (or the lack thereof) in Android APKs. In said work, I present a tool that was built for automatically identifying the presence of high-level authentication in Android apps. I thoroughly discuss experiments, limitations and future work for all three projects, concluding with general principles that bring these works together, and can be applied when facing related security issues in high-level software protection.
41
Boström, Daniel. "Environmental information : A study of environmental disclosure in financial analyst reports, annual reports, CSR reports and environmental risk profiles." Thesis, Umeå University, Umeå School of Business, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-24589.
Full textAbstract:
<p>The awareness of environmental issues has increased among the public the last decades. An environmental movement is occurring and companies are beginning to adapt themselves and their business activities to the changing view of environmental issues. Greater attention are turning to companies around the world due to the view that they have a responsibility concerning environmental and sustainability matters in their business operations. The development of environmental guidelines such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the presenting of separate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports illustrate the emerged demand of an environmental awareness from various stakeholders. Government regulations and inter-continental agreements of carbon taxes, emission trade rights and various environmental targets are influencing the operations and the environmental approach for the companies.</p><p>An important link in the information chain is the financial analysts and their role as information intermediaries. The characteristics of their profession combined with their expertise knowledge of evaluating companies are reasons behind their function in the investment value chain. Traditionally, the valuation of companies has been based on financial figures and the models derive from typical tangible assets such growth numbers, estimated future earnings and cash flow. Environmental issues have throughout the years been considered of secondary importance due to the specific kind of information it represents.</p><p>This study examines factors influencing the amount of environmental information presented in financial analyst reports. The amount of environmental information presented in annual reports, CSR reports and an environmental risk profile developed by GES Investment Services have been selected as predictor variables to determine the amount of environmental information in the financial analysts’ reports.</p><p>40 companies from the industrial sector have been included in the study and the results reveal that no or very little environmental information can be found in the financial analyst reports. The financial analysts’ seem to prioritize other kinds of information when evaluating companies and creating analyst reports. The study also reveals that companies with separate CSR reports seem to have a higher amount of environmental information presented in annual reports as well as a better environmental risk profile.</p>
42
Paradzavi, Charles. "Environmental information systems : the development and implementation of the Lake Rukwa Basin integrated project environmental information system (LRBIP-EIS) database, Tanzania." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13961.
Full textAbstract:
Bibliography: leaves 91-97.<br>The quest for sustenance inevitably forces mankind to exploit natural resources found within their environs. In many cases, the exploitation results in massive environmental degradation that disrupts the ecosystem and causes loss of bio-diversity. There is generally a lack of information systems to monitor and provide quantitative information on the state of the affected environment. Decision-makers usually fail to make informed decisions with regard to conservation strategies. The need to provide decision-makers with quantitative environmental information formed the basis of this thesis. An integrated environmental information system (EIS) database was developed according to the Software Development Methodology for three of the identified environmental sectors. This involved detailed user needs assessment to identify the information requirements (both spatial and textual) for each sector. The results were used to design separate data models that were later merged to create an integrated data model for the database application. A fisheries application prototype was developed to implement the proposed database design. The prototype has three major components. The Geographic Information System (GIS) handles the spatial data such as rivers, settlements, roads, and lakes. A relational database management system (RDBMS) was used to store and maintain the non-spatial data such as fisherman ' s personal details and fish catch data. Customized graphical user interfaces were designed to handle the data visualization and restricted access to the GIS and RDBMS environments.
43
Emenike, Stanley Ugochukwu. "Data loss prevention in a remote work environment." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för informationsteknologi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-20203.
Full textAbstract:
Data is one of the most valuable organizational assets that are susceptible to compromise when appropriate security measures are not in place. Preventing data loss is a dynamic and ongoing process that requires frequent effort and investment from organizations. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the risk to organizational data (i.e., data loss) due to the increase in remote work taking over the business landscape. In seeking answers to the research question, the study applies thematic analysis in analyzing qualitative data from the interview of 6 respondents with over 5 years of information security experience. The analysis identified four themes (threats, risk, security incident and security posture) that are relevant in answering the research questions. The findings show that there was an increase in phishing, malware and DOS attack against the organisation information assets since the inception of the global pandemic which has led to data loss and affected the organization’s competitive advantage and reputation. Also, the security posture before the pandemic was not effective in dealing with the increase in cyber attacks during the pandemic. The pandemic has led organizations to reassess their security posture to identify areas that need to be strengthened. The challenge in achieving an effective security posture is the attack surface is expanding and changing rapidly as well as the insufficient resources available (both human and financial). The organisation reassessed their security posture to identify gaps that need to be addressed. Employee training and awareness need to be done more frequently as well as implementing different technical security measures. Also, policies and procedures are implemented that outlines the acceptable use and management of the organization information assets.
44
Agakov, Felix. "Variational information maximization in stochastic environments." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/28343.
Full textAbstract:
Information maximization is a common framework of unsupervised learning, which may be used for extracting informative representations of the observed patterns. The key idea there is to maximize mutual information (MI), which is a formal measure of coding efficiency. Unfortunately, exact maximization of MI is computationally tractable only in a few special cases; more generally, approximations need to be considered. We describe a family of variational lower bounds on mutual information which gives rise to a formal and theoretically rigorous approach to information maximization in large-scale stochastic channels. We hope that the results presented in this work are potentially interesting for maximizing mutual information from several perspectives. First of all, our method optimizes a proper lower bound, rather than a surrogate objective criterion or an approximation of MI (which may only be accurate under specific asymptotic assumptions and weak or even undefined when the assumptions are violated). Secondly, the flexibility of the choice of the variational distribution makes it possible to generalise and improve simple bounds on MI. For example, we may introduce tractable <i>auxiliary variational </i>bounds on MI, which may be used to improve on any simple generic approach without altering properties of the original channel. Thirdly, the suggested variational framework is typically simpler than standard variational approaches to maximizing the conditional likelihood in stochastic autoencoder models, while it leads to the same fixed points in its simplest formulation; this gives rise to more efficient optimization procedures. Finally, in some cases the variational framework results in optimization procedures which only require local computations, which may be particularly attractive from the neuro-biological perspective. Possibly the most important contribution of this work is a rigorous and general framework for maximizing the mutual information in intrinsically intractable channels. We show that it gives rise to simple, stable, and easily generalizable optimization procedures, which outperform and supersede many of the common approximate information-maximizing techniques. We demonstrate our results by considering clustering dimensionality reduction, and binary stochastic coding problems, and discuss a link to approximate statistical inference.
45
Khakhar, Jignesh. "Data graphics and interactive information environments." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2008. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/55749/.
Full textAbstract:
I he flow and exchange of information is characteristic of the digital age. Information is increasingly consumed and produced. It has to be stored, channelled and processed. It also has to be reproduced in new forms again and again. The exponential growth in the volume of digital data has led to new challenges to visualize this data, such that it makes a significant difference to ones understanding of this data. This gain is known as information, which ultimately transforms into knowledge. Information Visualization attempts to create tools and processes that are an aid to cognition. Although this is a relatively new but established discipline, its roots can be traced to developments in the early 17th century, to what are now termed as Data Graphics. As a precursor to modern, dynamic, computer-based visualizations, Data Graphics underpin the science of visualization. This thesis looks at the design principles that govern the construction of historic and contemporary data displays. Although the medium on which Data Graphics have historically been constructed and presented has changed from paper to the computer, design principles have remained the same regardless of the medium or the source of content. The thesis then applies these principles to construct two applications based on large, complex and multivariate data-sets. The first is a proposal for a three-dimensional radar display to visualize Air Traffic Control data. The second application is a visual navigation tool to search within a hypertext document. Both case studies apply design principles inherent in data graphics and utilise human perceptual and cognitive abilities to extract information inherent in data. Finally, both applications are tested by conducting user studies. The contributions of the thesis lie in the construction of the two novel information visualization applications stated above, and by demonstrating that data graphic design principles transcend the medium in which they are produced and presented and can greatly enhance the beauty, efficacy and effectiveness of data displays.
46
Kirneva, Margarita. "Strategic information provision in multidimensional environments." Electronic Thesis or Diss., Institut polytechnique de Paris, 2024. http://www.theses.fr/2024IPPAX024.
Full textAbstract:
La qualité des décisions individuelles et collectives dépend de la quantité d’informations disponibles, de la capacité à les acquérir et de la connaissance des incitations et des préférences des autres agents. Cette thèse vise à étudier comment l'information est communiquée et apprise dans des environnements stratégiques multidimensionnels, et ce qui peut être fait pour réduire les motivations stratégiques et promouvoir la fourniture d'informations véridiques.La thèse peut être divisée en 2 parties. La première partie traite de l'agrégation d'informations sur les préférences dans des comités. Il suggère différents mécanismes de vote en comité qui possèdent des propriétés désirables et sont significativement plus simples pour les membres du comité que certains mécanismes classiques de la littérature. La deuxième partie de la thèse étudie les effets de la multidimensionnalité de l’environnement et de l’accès imparfait à l'information sur la communication stratégique et sur la formation et la polarisation des croyances.Le chapitre 1 examine le problème de l'agrégation des préférences dans un comité qui doit choisir une alternative parmi plusieurs alternatives, comme un comité de recrutement. Nous proposons une nouvelle classe de mécanismes de vote simultané dans lesquels chaque équilibre de Nash est coalition-proof . L'article étudie ensuite les conditions nécessaires pour qu’un mécanisme mettent en œuvre une règle Pareto efficace garantissant que chaque équilibre est coalition-proof et montre que la présence de droits de veto dans le mécanisme est inévitable pour réaliser cette notion de double mise en œuvre.Le chapitre 2 examine les situations dans lesquelles un comité doit choisir entre deux alternatives. Cette situation presente un intérêt particulier pour diverses institutions politiques telles que le Parlement européen ou le Congrès américain. Nous concevons deux mécanismes, un simultané et un séquentiel, qui garantissent que l'option majoritaire l'emporte dans tous les équilibres. L’existence du mécanisme simultané surmonte les récents résultats d’impossibilité concernant la mise en œuvre de la règle majoritaire. La version séquentielle du mécanisme permet d’atteindre le résultat (correct) en beaucoup moins d’étapes que le vote par appel nominal.Le chapitre 3 se concentre sur la communication stratégique dans des environnements multidimensionnels. Il considère un jeu multidimensionnel émetteur-récepteur dans lequel le récepteur peut acquérir des informations limitées après avoir observé le signal de l’émetteur. En fonction des paramètres décrivant le conflit d'intérêts entre l'émetteur et le récepteur, il caractérise la strategie optimale de divulgation des informations et les informations acquises par le récepteur. Le chapitre montre que dans le cas de conflits d’intérêts partiels (alignés sur certaines dimensions et mal alignés sur d’autres), l’émetteur utilise la multidimensionnalité de l’environnement pour détourner l’attention du récepteur des dimensions de désalignement des intérêts. L’article présente des applications au choix des consommateurs et au lobbying informationnel.Le chapitre 4 démontre l’existence d’un nouveau mécanisme de polarisation des croyances des agents bayésiens dans le cas où ces derniers observent la même information. Le mécanisme est basé sur la réduction de dimension présente dans l'information: l'état de nature est d'une dimension supérieure à l'espace du signal et chaque signal est une projection de l'état réel sur l'espace du signal. Les agents interprètent différemment ces informations en fonction de leurs convictions antérieures ou de leur niveau d'expertise. Le chapitre caractérise les conditions dans lesquelles cette divergence de croyances se produit et propose des interprétations du point de vue des médias et de leurs effets sur la polarisation de l'opinion<br>The quality of individual and collective decisions depends significantly on the amount of information available, on the ability to acquire it and on the knowledge of the incentives and preferences of other agents. This thesis aims to study how information is communicated and learned in strategic multidimensional environments, and what can be done to reduce the strategic motives and to promote truthful information provision.The thesis can be divided in 2 parts. The first part, consisting of 2 chapters, both joint with Matias Nunez, deals with the aggregation of information regarding preference in committees in varied settings. It suggests different mechanisms for committee voting which have some desirable properties which most of the currently used mechanisms lack, and are significantly easier for the committee members than some classic mechanisms in the literature. The second part of the thesis studies the effects of the multidimensionality of the environments and of an imperfect access to information on strategic communication (Chapter 3) and on beliefs formation and polarization (Chapter 4).Chapter 1 considers the problem of preference aggregation in a small committee which needs to choose one alternative from the set of many such as a hiring committees. We propose the first class of simultaneous voting mechanisms in which each Nash equilibrium is coalition-proof thus preventing coordination failures. The paper then studies necessary conditions for arbitrary mechanisms to implement a Pareto efficient rule ensuring that each equilibrium is coalition-proof and shows that the presence of veto rights in the mechanism is unavoidable to achieve this double implementation notion.Chapter 2 considers the settings in which a committee needs to choose one alternative from the set of two which is of a particular relevance for the variety of political institutions such as the European Parliament or the US Congress. We design two mechanisms, one simultaneous and one sequential, that ensure that the majority preferred option wins in all equilibria. The existence of the simultaneous mechanism overcomes recent impossibility results concerning the implementation of majority rule. The sequential version of the mechanism allows to reach the (correct) outcome in significantly fewer steps than the widely used roll call voting. The results extend to the settings in which voter can abstain or have incomplete information about the preferences of others.Chapter 3 focuses on strategic communication in multidimensional environments. It considers a multidimensional Sender-Receiver game in which Receiver can acquire limited information after observing the Sender’s signal. Depending on the parameters describing the conflict of interest between Sender and Receiver, it characterises optimal information disclosure and the information acquired by Receiver as a response. The chapter shows that in the case of partial conflict of interests (aligned on some dimensions and misaligned on others) Sender uses the multidimensionality of the environment to divert Receiver’s attention away from the dimensions of misalignment of interests. The paper present applications to consumer’s choice and informational lobbying.Chapter 4 uses some techniques developed in Chapter 3 and demonstrates a novel channel for polarization of beliefs of Bayesian agents as a reaction to the same information. The mechanism is based on the dimension reduction present in information: the state of nature is of a higher dimension than the signal space and each signal is a projection of the true state on the signal space. Agents interpret differently such information depending on their prior beliefs or level of expertise. The chapter characterizes conditions under which this divergence of beliefs occurs, and provides interpretations from the perspective of media and its effect on opinion polarization
47
Mohd, Sharif Nur Syafrina. "Public access to environmental information and participation in environmental decision-making : a Malaysian case study." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/43759.
Full textAbstract:
Access to information, access to public participation and access to justice are recognised as the pillars of sound environmental governance, and are at the heart of environmental democracy. Collectively referred to as “environmental access rights”, they are promoted under Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and form the core pillars of a legally binding international instrument known as the Aarhus Convention. Malaysia, a developing country that has undergone rapid change, is striving to achieve its development goals through “Vision 2020”, but still struggles to balance between the economic, social, and environmental aspects of its development. By implementing transformation programmes, the Malaysian Government is displaying efforts to transition its “government-knows-best” approach into one that is more transparent, accountable, inclusive and citizen-centric. However, the findings of this empirical, exploratory research indicate that public access to environmental information and participation in environmental decision-making remain limited in Malaysia. Furthermore, the author’s investigation into two scenarios that took place in the country: 1) The Rare Earth Controversy in Kuantan, and 2) The Major Floods of 2014/2015, identified examples of how deficits in access to environmental information and public participation in Malaysia’s current system of environmental governance could arguably exacerbate such situations, and may contribute to social unrest as well as lack of confidence in the Government. Drawing from evidence of the research findings, the author suggests that Malaysia could benefit from enhanced access to environmental information as well as public participation in environmental decision-making, and thus proposes a framework to help the country progress towards achieving this objective. This research breaks new ground as it reports on recent events and developments (or lack thereof) in an area of study that has been sparsely explored in Malaysia. It is also timely as the country still faces environmental deterioration and increasing public demands for improved Government transparency, accountability, and citizen engagement. It is hoped that the research work contained in this thesis will enrich the existing knowledge on the subject area of environmental governance, specifically environmental access rights, and contribute towards promoting good environmental governance and democracy in Malaysia, the ASEAN region, and across the world.
48
Van, der Hoogen Anthea. "An enterprise architecture for environmental information management and reporting." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021040.
Full textAbstract:
Organisations globally are communicating their environmental sustainability impact to stakeholders by means of the widely used sustainability report. A key benefit of environmental sustainability reporting is that organisations can gain a positive reputation when these reports are presented to stakeholders. Organisations in South Africa are faced with many challenges regarding managing sustainability information and producing an environmental sustainability report. Two of the primary challenges are the many diverse standards for sustainability reporting and data quality issues. Information Technology (IT) can be used to support and improve the process of sustainability reporting but it is important to align the environmental sustainability strategies with the strategies of business and also with the IT strategy to avoid silos of information and reporting. Enterprise Architecture (EA) can be used to solve alignment problems since it supports business-IT alignment. EA is defined by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) as “The fundamental concepts or properties of a system in its environment embodied in its elements, relationships, and in the principles of its design and evolution”. It can be argued, therefore, that EA can be used to support environmental sustainability information management and the reporting process by means of its support of improved business-IT alignment and ultimately integrated systems. The main objective of this study is to investigate how EA can be used to support environmental information management (EIM) and reporting. A survey study of thirty one prominent South African organisations was undertaken in order to investigate the status of their EA adoption and environmental reporting and EIM processes. An EA for EIM Toolkit and a set of guidelines are proposed which can provide support for EIM through the use of EA. These guidelines were proposed based on best-practice for each of the three process levels of an organisation, namely, the strategic level, the operational level and the technological level. The toolkit and guidelines were derived from theory and the results of the industry survey were then validated by an in-depth analysis of a case study consisting of multiple cases with key employees of seven South African organisations which have proved to be successful at EA and EIM and reporting. The results of the case study show that the EA for EIM Toolkit and related guidelines can assist organisations to align their environmental sustainability strategies with their organisational and IT strategies.
49
King, Blair A. "A new approach to the management of environmental information." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape8/PQDD_0020/NQ44795.pdf.
Full text
50
García, Jorge. "Essays on asymmetric information and environmental regulation through disclosure /." Göteborg : Dept. of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2077/4382.
Full text