scholarly journals Earth Observation for Citizen Science Validation, or, Citizen Science for Earth Observation Validation? The Role of Quality Assurance of Volunteered Observations

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier Leibovici ◽  
Jamie Williams ◽  
Julian Rosser ◽  
Crona Hodges ◽  
Colin Chapman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Earth Observation ◽  
Japanese Knotweed ◽  
Fallopia Japonica ◽  
Quality Controls ◽  
Assurance Process

Environmental policy involving citizen science (CS) is of growing interest. In support of this open data stream, validation or quality assessment of the CS data and their appropriate usage for evidence-based policy making, needs a flexible and easily adaptable data curation process ensuring transparency. Addressing these needs, this paper describes an approach for automatic quality assurance as proposed by the Citizen OBservatory WEB (COBWEB) FP7 project. This approach is based upon a workflow composition that combines different quality controls, each belonging to seven categories or ‘pillars’. Each pillar focuses on a specific dimension in the types of reasoning algorithms for CS data qualification. These pillars attribute values to a range of quality elements belonging to three complementary quality models. Additional data from various sources, such as Earth Observation (EO) data, are often included as part of the inputs of quality controls within the pillars. However, qualified CS data can also contribute to the validation of EO data. Therefore, the question of validation can be considered as ‘two sides of the same coin’. Based on an invasive species CS study, concerning Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed), the paper discusses the flexibility and usefulness of qualifying CS data, either when using an EO data for the validation within the quality assurance process, or validating an EO data product that describes the risk of occurrence of the plant. Both validation paths are found to be improved by quality assurance of the CS data. Addressing the reliability of CS open data, issues and limitations of the role of quality assurance for validation, due to the quality of secondary data used within the automatic workflow, are described, e.g. error propagation, paving the route to improvements in the approach.

scholarly journals Earth Observation for Citizen Science Validation, or Citizen Science for Earth Observation Validation? The Role of Quality Assurance of Volunteered Observations

Data ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier Leibovici ◽  
Jamie Williams ◽  
Julian Rosser ◽  
Crona Hodges ◽  
Colin Chapman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Earth Observation

scholarly journals Linkage of Census and Administrative Data to Quality Assure the 2011 Census for England and Wales

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louisa Blackwell ◽  
Andrew Charlesworth ◽  
Nicola Jane Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Administrative Data ◽  
Record Linkage ◽  
Population Register ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Quality Assurance Process ◽  
Assurance Process

Abstract The 2011 Census for England and Wales made extensive use of administrative data to quality assure the estimates. This included record linkage between census and administrative data. This article describes the role of record linkage in the quality-assurance process. It outlines the operational challenges that we faced and how we resolved them. Record linkage was confined to a sample within 58 carefully selected local authorities. We found characteristic patterns of under- and overcoverage in the National Health Service Patient Register, which we illustrate here with examples. Our findings may be useful in countries that, like England and Wales, do not have a comprehensive population register to draw on and that need to understand issues of coverage in their routinely collected administrative data and the use of these data to estimate populations.

scholarly journals Crowdsourcing Without Data Bias: Building a Quality Assurance System for Air Pollution Symptom Mapping Toward an SDG Indicator

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Samulowska ◽  
Szymon Chmielewski ◽  
Edwin Raczko ◽  
Michał Lupa ◽  
Dorota Myszkowska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Quality Assurance System ◽  
Assurance System ◽  
Crowdsourced Data

Abstract The United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs), a strategy to guide the world’s social and economic transformation, highlight the issue of urban air pollution in SDG 11. Open data, as an output of citizen science (CS), are needed to supply and improve the SDG indicator system. Therefore, we propose a CS framework to extend the paradigm of urban air pollution monitoring from particulate matter concentration levels to air quality-related health symptom load, and foster the development of a tier-3 SDG indicator (which we call indicator 11.6.3). Building this new perspective for CS contributions to the achievement of SDGs, we address the problem of crowdsourced data bias as a prerequisite for better quality open data output. The aim of this study is to propose an air pollution symptom mapping framework for citizen-driven research and to find the most robust data quality assurance system (QAs) in this field. The method includes a GeoWeb application as well as data quality assurance mechanisms based on conditional statements, in order to reduce crowdsourced data bias. A four-month crowdsourcing campaign, released in Lubelskie voivodship (Poland), resulted in 1823 outdoor reports with a rejection rate of up to 28%, depending on the applied QA system (QAs). Testing the QAs variants, we find the most robust data bias solving method in survey-based symptom mapping. The framework output is shared via GeoWeb dashboards, including the 11.6.3 indicator evaluation. By familiarizing the public with citizen science, a city can track the progress of its SDG achievements and increase the transparency of the process through the use of GeoWeb.

scholarly journals The Role of Citizen Science in Earth Observation

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Fritz ◽  
Cidália Fonte ◽  
Linda See
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Earth Observation

scholarly journals Sustaining citizen science beyond an emergency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cobi Calyx
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
Emergency Responders ◽  
Open Datasets ◽  
Citizen Science Project ◽  
Funding Cycle ◽  
Digital Volunteers

Digital volunteers can act as emergency responders through participating in citizen science. In these contexts, what happens when a project or emergency ends? This article explores aspects of citizen science sustainability, such as what happens when a platform is retired and after the urgency of an emergency. It argues for the importance of open data in citizen science, both in platform design and in citizen science outputs, to support active citizenship and sustainability beyond a funding cycle. This article discusses open datasets developed during the Ebola outbreak response in 2014 and the role of collaborative repositories such as GitHub in enabling uses beyond any particular citizen science project. How citizen scientists can creatively contribute in ways aligned with humanitarian aims is explored, emphasising benefits of open licensing for promoting active citizenship and humanitarian disaster responses.

The Use of Port Performance Indexes in the Transport Economy and the Strengthening of Port Competitiveness

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 387-394
Author(s):  
Astrida Rijkure ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
International Competitiveness ◽  
International Experience ◽  
Multimodal Integration ◽  
Pricing Policies ◽  
Performance Indexes ◽  
Quality Assurance Process ◽  
Assurance Process

Ports in the transport economy have an important role to play in the competitiveness of ports. There is an increasing climate of competition, which causes ports to invest in development and to improve their transport corridors, governance principles and pricing policies in order to strengthen international competitiveness of ports and to ensure that their management practices are in line with the positive international experience. In order to increase the efficiency of transport, to promote the use of environmentally friendly technologies and to improve the international competitiveness of port transport corridors, it is important for ports to determine their own KPI indicators that would be used to assess port performance indicators. As ports are responsible for the quality assurance of port services, even if they do not provide such services, monitoring and assessing of the KPI must be part of the quality assurance process. The objective of this study is to define the port performance-enhancing KPI indexes and to make suggestions for how KPI application in the transport economy can strengthen the international competitiveness of ports and ensure that their management practises international experience. The study’s tasks are to define the appropriate KPI indexes, group them according to interlinked principles, and provide proposals on how to use them to improve the international competitiveness of ports and the main transport system multimodal integration.

Quality assurance and quality improvement in medical practice – Part 1. Definition and importance of quality in medical practice

2012 ◽  
Vol 153 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-92
Author(s):  
Sándor Gődény
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Medical Practice ◽  
Quality Measurement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Management Quality ◽  
Hungarian Population ◽  
Healthcare Finance

In Hungary healthcare finance has decreased in proportion with the GDP, while the health status of the population is still ranks among the worst in the European Union. Since healthcare finance is not expected to increase, the number of practicing doctors per capita is continuously decreasing. In the coming years it is an important question that in this situation what methods can be used to prevent further deterioration of the health status of the Hungarian population, and within this is the role of the quality approach, and different methods of quality management. In the present and the forthcoming two articles those standpoints will be summarized which support the need for the integration of quality assurance in the everyday medical practice. In the first part the importance of quality thinking, quality management, quality assurance, necessity of quality measurement and improvement, furthermore, advantages of the quality systems will be discussed. Orv. Hetil., 2012, 153, 83–92.

CONCEPTUAL BASES OF ADAPTATION OF UKRAINE’S HIGHER EDUCATION TO THE STANDARDS OF EDUCATION QUALITY OF THE EUROPEAN AREA

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Batechko
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
European Higher Education Area ◽  
Quality Of Higher Education ◽  
European Area ◽  
European Higher Education ◽  
European Standards ◽  
Conceptual Foundations

The article outlines the conceptual framework for adapting Ukrainian higher education to the Standards and Recommendations for Quality Assurance in the European higher education area. The role of the Bologna Declaration in ensuring the quality of higher education in Europe has been explained. The conceptual foundations and the essence of standards and recommendations on quality assurance in the European higher education area have been defined. The Ukrainian realities of the adaptation of higher education of Ukraine to the educational European standards of quality have been characterized.

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