Threatened Plant Translocation for Mitigation: Improving Data Accessibility Using Existing Legislative Frameworks. An Australian Case Study

Translocation of plants is used globally as a conservation action to bolster existing or establish new populations of threatened species and is usually communicated in academic publications or case studies. Translocation is also used to mitigate or offset impacts of urbanization and development but is less often publicly published. Irrespective of the motivation, conservation or mitigation, on ground actions are driven by overriding global conservation goals, applied in local or national legislation. This paper deconstructs the legislative framework which guides the translocation process in Australia and provides a case study which may translate to other countries, grappling with similar complexities of how existing legislation can be used to improve accessibility of translocation records. Each year, across Australia, threatened plants are being translocated to mitigate development impacts, however, limited publicly accessible records of their performance are available. To improve transparency and opportunities to learn from the outcomes of previous mitigation translocations, we propose mandatory recording of threatened plant translocations in publicly accessible databases, implemented as part of development approval conditions of consent. The contribution to these need not be onerous, at a minimum including basic translocation information (who, what, when) at project commencement and providing monitoring data (outcome) at project completion. These records are currently already collected and prepared for translocation proposals and development compliance reporting. Possible repositories for this information include the existing national Australian Network for Plant Conservation translocation database and existing State and Territory databases (which already require contributions as a condition of licensing requirements) with new provisions to identify and search for translocation records. These databases could then be linked to the Atlas of Living Australia and the Australian Threatened Plant Index. Once established, proposals for mitigation translocation could be evaluated using these databases to determine the viability of mitigation translocation as an offset measure and to build on the work of others to ensure better outcomes for plant conservation, where translocations occur.

Analysis of Security Based Accessibility Control Models for Cloud Computing

Access control has become the most necessary requirement to limit unauthorized and privileged access to information systems in cloud computing. Access control models counter the additional security challenges like rules, domain names, job allocation, multi hosting and separation of tasks. This paper classifies the conventional and modern access control models which has been utilized to restrain these access flaws by employing a variety of practices and methodologies. It examine the frequent security threats to information confidentiality, integrity, data accessibility and their approach used for cloud solutions. This paper proposed a priority based task scheduling access control (PbTAC) model to secure and scheduled access of resources & services rendered to cloud user. PbTAC model will ensure the job allocation, tasks scheduling and security of information through its rule policies during transmission between parties. It also help in reducing system overhead by minimize the computation and less storage cost.

File Distributed for Improving Data Accessibility in Adhoc Networks

File searching turns out to be difficult since nodes in MANETs move around freely and can exchange information only when they are within the communication range. Broadcasting can quickly discover files, but it leads to the broadcast storm problem with high energy consumption. File sharing applications in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) have attracted more and more attention in recent years. The efficiency of file querying suffers from the distinctive properties of such networks including node mobility and limited communication range and resource. An intuitive method to alleviate this problem is to create file replicas in the network. However, despite the efforts on file replication, no research has focused on the global optimal replica creation with minimum average querying delay. Specifically, current file replication protocols in mobile ad hoc networks have two shortcomings.

Coopetition among competitors in global industries: drivers that lead to coopetitive agreements

Purpose The purpose of this study is to focus on a growing strategic approach in global industries: the coopetition. Cooperation among competitors, namely, coopetition, is a strategic guideline in many global industries affected by technological innovation. This study discussed the effect of firm-, inter-firm- and industry-level drivers leading to coopetitive agreements in global industries affected by technological innovation. Design/methodology/approach By using an event history analysis, the authors develop a framework on firm-, inter-firm- and industry-level drivers on the likelihood of each competitor in the industry entering into coopetitive agreements in global competitive contexts. Empirical data are analyzed in five global industries: car industry, telecommunication industry, air transportation industry, bank industry and computer programming services industry. Findings The results of this study suggest that firms’ experience in cooperation (H1) predicts whether a firm will enter a coopetitive agreement. Moreover, the cultural similarity among competitors (H2) predicts whether a firm will enter a coopetitive agreement with a culturally similar competitor, while the total number of competitors already involved in coopetitive agreements (H3) has a low positive effect on the likelihood of a firm to coopete. Finally, the speed of agreements among competitors (H4) and the total number of coopetitive agreements in the industry (H5) (only in the car industry and software industry) are positively related to the chance of a firm entering into a coopetitive agreement. Research limitations/implications First, the authors identified and tested specific drivers of coopetition as a result of the literature review and data accessibility. The results may have omitted some variables able to further explain the event of coopetition. Second, the results of cultural distance versus cultural similarity revealed differences on firms’ behavior according to their different nationality. Chinese firms were the most oriented to deal coopetitive agreements with other Chinese firms, while firms from other countries were progressively less oriented by cultural similarity. These results may lead to studies of the “country of origin effect” on which partners to include in coopeititve agreements or which network of partners to join. Finally, the findings of this study are based on five industries over a specific ten years period of time. Consequently, the results certainly reflect the evolution of these industries over the time period considered. Practical implications The empirical investigation clarifies the relationship between decisions on strategy and competitive dynamics with the decision-making option to coopete. While managers take into account strategic moves against competitors, according to the authors’ investigation, it is valuable to consider coopetitive actions, especially when other competitors are involved in coopetitive agreements and the industry is affected by technological innovation. Moreover, the knowledge of drivers at the firm, inter-firm and industry level affecting coopetition is helpful to identify the weak or strong signals that show the rise and proliferation of coopetition in an industry. Social implications This study highlights the relevance of coopetition as an emerging approach in the competition among firms for developing or exploiting technological innovations. This approach can improve results in technological innovations that can have an impact in sustainability as well as new innovative solutions for social progress. Originality/value In literature, attention has been focused on drivers explaining the growing number of coopetitive agreements in several industries. Some contributions already discussed this topic from the perspective of costs and benefits for players. This study tries to continue to fill this research gap by studying, at firm, inter-firm and industry level, drivers of the likelihood of each competitor in the industry entering into coopetitive agreements in global competitive contexts.

Could Government Data Openness Enhance Urban Innovation Capability? An Evaluation Based on Multistage DID Method

The wave of government data opening has gradually swept the world since it rose from the United States in 2009. The purpose is not to open government data, but to release data value and drive economic and social development through data accessibility. At present, the impact of academic circles on government open data mostly stays in theoretical discussion, especially due to the lack of empirical tests. Using the multistage difference-in-difference (DID) model, this paper analyzes the panel data from 2009 to 2016 by taking two batches of Chinese cities with open data released in 2014 and 2105 as samples to test the impact of government data opening on urban innovation ability. The results show that the opening of government data significantly improves urban innovation abilities. After considering the heterogeneity and fixed effects of urban characteristics, the opening of government data still significantly improves urban innovation ability and shows a greater innovation driving role in cities with high levels of economic development, human capital, and infrastructure. Based on this, this paper believes that we should continue to promote the opening of government data, release the value of data, and pay attention to the Matthew effect between cities that may appear in the era of big data.

O-P08 Optimising design of national collaborative studies in surgery: national availability of electronic data in the NHS

Background Clinical trials are constrained in part by cost and limited funding opportunities. Trainee-led collaborative, multi-centre research models have become increasingly popular, enabling clinicians to undertake impactful national and international practice-changing studies with limited funding. However, ensuring equitable and efficient data collection from participating centres requires understanding data accessibility. Here, we reflect upon our strategies in designing and delivering collaborative research (The RICOCHET Study). Specifically, we consider the availability of data sources for UK hospitals, to enable effective design of study case report forms to ensure study success. Methods RICOCHET was a National trainee-led audit of UK hospitals treating patients with pancreatic cancer. All registered hospitals were asked to complete a site-survey at point of registration. The site survey was completed by the lead consultant (surgeon or gastroenterologist) or the lead trainee at each site. The site-survey detailed hospital demographics, including size, availability of services and availability of patient data electronically. The survey was completed online via REDCap. Sites lacking full reporting were excluded from the analyses. Results 98 UK sites registered for RICOCHET, and 94 completed the site-survey (26 specialist pancreatic sites; 68 non-specialist sites). 100% sites had electronic radiology reports. However, electronic ward-round notes were available at only 19% (5/26, 19.2% specialist vs. 13/68, 19.1% non-specialist; p = 0.99). Furthermore, sources such as external letters were low (29%; 11/26 42.3% specialist vs. 16/68, 23.5% non-specialist; p = 0.072). Although electronic interventional radiology reports were broadly available at 79% sites, this was significantly lower at non-specialist sites (49/68 72.1% vs. 25/26 96.2%; p = 0.011). Conclusions Availability of electronic data is not consistent across sites managing pancreatic cancer patients. Significant disparity exists between specialist and non-specialist centres, highlighted by lack of availability of interventional radiology reports. To ensure success in trainee-led cohort studies we recommend designing concise case report forms that can be easily completed from electronic data sources. Until this report, there was no data available for the availability of electronic data across the NHS. This represents the most comprehensive report of such data sources, and will guide future study design of national studies at both specialist and non-specialist pancreatic centres in the UK.

CoDEC: Connected Data For Road Infrastructure Asset Management

Road infrastructure asset management is rapidly transforming into a digital environment where data accessibility, effective integration and collaboration and accessibility from different sources and assets are key. However, current asset management processes are not yet fully integrated or linked, and there are incompatibilities between various systems and platforms that limit the ability to integrate asset management with BIM. The CoDEC project has sought to understand the current status of information management for assets, including inventory, condition and new data sources such as sensors and scanning systems, to identify the challenges and needs for linking and integrating different data sets to support effective asset management. As a result, CoDEC has developed a data dictionary framework to help link/integrate static and dynamic data for the “key” infrastructure assets (road pavements, bridges, tunnels). This will enable BIM and Asset Management Systems (AMS) to exchange data and help optimise and integrate data management across systems and throughout the different asset lifecycle phases, from build to operation. This work will be followed up with three pilot projects to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating asset data from various sources through linked data/semantic web technology to build the connection between AMS and BIM platforms.

Data mining in the context of urban metabolism: A case study of Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland

The highest share of the global population lives in cities. The current configuration of the latter requires considerable amounts of resource flows causing the degradation of local and global ecosystems. To face the complexity of these challenges, scientists use the concept of urban metabolism (UM), i.e. measuring urban input and output flows from a systemic perspective. This accounting method results in a large data collection from multiple sources that are often not harmonised. Metabolism of Cities Data Hub is an online platform which facilitates data collection, processing and visualisation in order to extract urban metabolism insights. This work highlights the challenges faced when mining urban metabolism data in the case of Lausanne and Geneva, as well as provides insights on how data could be best used from users and providers. Slight differences between the two case studies, in terms of data accessibility and availability where experienced but the main challenges revolved around data copyright, format and availability. As a conclusion, the used tool can enable harmonisation and standardisation of UM data. As such it could contribute to the use of data mining to streamline the environmental monitoring of cities as well as facilitate the creation of mitigation strategies.

Database Security in a Dynamic IT world

Databases are vulnerable. Public statements by Target, Home Depot, and Anthem following their extremely advertised data breaches are each uniform and succinct on how their breaches unfolded: unauthorized access to those systems that ultimately led to the extraction of sensitive information. A comprehensive strategy to secure a database is over data security. Usually, security events will be related to the later action: illegitimate access to data confidentiality damage, injury to the integrity of knowledge, loss of data accessibility (Discover). Loss of privacy of data, creating them accessible to others without a right of access is not visible within the database and does not need changes deductible database. This paper addresses these events to confirm database security.