A system dynamic model for assessing the level of BIM implementation in construction phase: a China case study

PurposeBuilding information modeling (BIM) is recognized as one of the technologies to upgrade the informatization level of the architecture engineering and construction (AEC) industry. However, the level of BIM implementation in the construction phase lags behind other phases of the project. Assessing the level of BIM implementation in the construction phase from a system dynamics (SD) perspective can comprehensively understand the interrelationship of factors in the BIM implementation system, thereby developing effective strategies to enhance BIM implementation during the construction phase. This study aims to develop a model to investigate the level of BIM implementation in the construction phase.Design/methodology/approachAn SD model which covered technical subsystem, organizational subsystem, economic subsystem and environmental subsystem was developed based on questionnaire survey data and literature review. Data from China were used for model validation and simulation.FindingsThe simulation results highlight that, in China, from 2021 to 2035, the ratio of BIM implementation in the construction phase will rise from 48.8% to 83.8%, BIM model quality will be improved from 27.6% to 77.2%. The values for variables “BIM platform”, “organizational structure of BIM” and “workflow of BIM” at 2035 will reach 65.6%, 72.9% and 72.8%, respectively. And the total benefits will reach 336.5 billion yuan in 2035. Furthermore, the findings reveal five factors to effectively promote the level of BIM implementation in the construction phase, including: policy support, number of BIM standards, owners demand for BIM, investment in BIM and strategic support for BIM.Originality/valueThis study provides beneficial insights to effectively enhance the implementation level of BIM in the construction phase. Meanwhile, the model developed in this study can be used to dynamically and quantitatively assess the changes in the level of BIM implementation caused by a measure.

Innovative Activity: State Regulatory Legal Acts and Possibilities of Their Application in Library Practice

Innovative ways of the development of libraries is a topic that has a sufficient degree of elaboration. However, the documents that provide regulatory and strategic support for the creation and implementation of innovations, as well as the boundaries of their applicability in the library sphere, are not sufficiently examined. The article presents the regulatory legal acts and documents of the strategic planning system that influence the development of libraries and can be used to create and implement sectoral library development programs. Most of these documents have status of regulatory legal acts. They can be used as a conceptual and methodological basis for creating programs and strategies for the development of libraries, given that the availability of such documents has already become mandatory for many branches and organizations, not only in the industrial or commercial spheres of the economy.

A Need for Context-Based Conservation: Incorporating Local Knowledge to Mitigate Livestock Predation by Large Carnivores

Mitigating livestock predation by carnivores is crucial to ensure carnivore conservation and facilitate human-carnivore coexistence. Mitigation measures proposed by conservation agencies, however, are often technocratic and perceived as being an external imposition on the local community. Herders affected by the depredation may have the knowledge to design locally relevant solutions, but they might lack financial and technical support to implement these effectively. Their inability to act can result in the communities being viewed as antagonistic rather than a part of the solution. We present a case study on co-development of a conservation intervention by a traditional pastoral community together with a conservation NGO, to mitigate livestock depredation inside night-time corrals in Ladakh, India. Between January and June 2020, livestock corrals in Sumdoo TR village were attacked 10 times by carnivores such as snow leopards and wolves, killing over 100 sheep, goat, yak, and horses and causing loses of over 10,400 USD. Local people were agitated, and there were strong demands for capture or removal of the carnivores from the area. We operationalized the PARTNERS (Presence, Aptness, Respect, Transparency, Negotiation, Empathy, Responsiveness, and Strategic Support) principles framework for community-based conservation to help the village effectively implement an intervention based on a novel predator-proof corral design conceptualized by the community. We demonstrate that empowering the community to design and implement a conservation intervention helped them take ownership of the effort, improve trust with conservation agencies, and hence likely to be a long-term solution to conservation conflicts in the region. Our approach of using the PARTNERS principles has relevance for conservation agencies who are trying to implement interventions, particularly those geared toward reducing livestock depredation by carnivores. Our approach further helps communities to view themselves as part of the solution and not the problem.

Socio-ecological determinants of under-five mortality in Nigeria: exploring the roles of neighbourhood poverty and use of solid cooking fuel

Globally, despite the decline in under-five mortality rate from 213 per 1000 live births in 1990 to 132 per 1000 live births in 2018, the pace of decline has been slow, and this can be attributed to poor progress in child survival interventions, including those aimed at reducing children’s exposure to household pollution. This study examined the influence of neighbourhood poverty and the use of solid cooking fuels on under-five mortality in Nigeria. Data for the study comprised a weighted sample of 124,442 birth histories of childbearing women who reported using cooking fuels in the kitchens located within their house drawn from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. Descriptive and analytical analyses were carried out, including frequency tables, Pearson’s chi-squared test and multivariate analysis using a Cox proportional regression model. The results showed that the risk of under-five mortality was significantly associated with mothers residing in areas of high neighbourhood poverty (HR: 1.44, CI: 1.34–1.54) and the use of solid cooking fuels within the house (HR: 2.26, CI: 2.06–2.49). Government and non-governmental organizations in Nigeria should initiate strategic support and campaigns aimed at empowering and enlightening mothers on the need to reduce their use of solid cooking fuels within the house to reduce harmful emissions and their child health consequences.

Evaluasi Kematangan Sistem Informasi Untuk Keselarasan Bisnis pada Perusahaan Manufaktur

This study aims to evaluate the alignment of the application of information technology (IT) with the company's business practices. This study uses COBIT 4.1. to assess the maturity of technology adoption and to explore factors that hinder the alignment of IT implementation with the business. The maturity level of technology application describes IT management in the company's overall business activities. The higher the maturity level, the clearer and more structured the role of IT and business will be. This research uses a case study method at PT. SAE (in Central Java Province). The result of this research is that PT. SAE has reached the defined process level. At this stage, the company already has standard IT management procedures, but not all business activities and not yet detailed. This problem is due to lack of strategic support from top management to achieve business goals with the help of IT. Therefore, the company needs to improve the function and role of the head of the IT department at PT. SAE.

Evaluation of tree shade effectiveness and its renewal strategy in typical historic districts: A case study in Harbin, China

China’s rapid and extraordinary urbanisation has resulted in a dichotomy between the urban form of historic districts and that of new urban areas. Unlike the new planning of new urban areas, the optimisation of the thermal environment in historic districts is achieved through an important means of regulating the shading effectiveness of trees in street canyons, without destruction of current buildings in existing districts. In this paper, the sky view factor, an index for evaluating the shading capacity of street canyons, is used to calculate the shading efficiency of trees and reveal their influence mechanism by using a convolutional neural network (SegNet) to segment the Baidu street view images. The results show that: (1) tree shading in Harbin’s historic districts has a significant impact on the thermal environment of street canyons, with an average shade effectiveness of 56.3%; (2) based on geospatial autocorrelation analysis and a typological reconstruction of street canyons, the study reveals that tree shading has significant spatial aggregation characteristics in historic districts and proposes guidelines for the planning and design of different types of street canyon trees. The study provides important data and strategic support for optimising the thermal environment of urban historic districts in Northeast China.

Community-Based Conservation for the Sustainable Management of Conservation Conflicts: Learning from Practitioners

We explore the role of community-based conservation (CBC) in the sustainable management of conservation conflicts by examining the experiences of conservation practitioners trying to address conflicts between snow leopard conservation and pastoralism in Asian mountains. Practitioner experiences are examined through the lens of the PARTNERS principles for CBC (Presence, Aptness, Respect, Transparency, Negotiation, Empathy, Responsiveness, and Strategic Support) that represent an inclusive conservation framework for effective and ethical engagement with local communities. Case studies from India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Pakistan show that resilient relationships arising from respectful engagement and negotiation with local communities can provide a strong platform for robust conflict management. We highlight the heuristic value of documenting practitioner experiences in on-the-ground conflict management and community-based conservation efforts.

China’s National Cybersecurity Center: A Base for Military-Civil Fusion in the Cyber Domain

China’s National Cybersecurity Center (NCC) resides on a 40 km2 plot in Wuhan. As one indication of its significance, the Chinese Communist Party’s highest-ranking members have an oversight committee for the facility. Over the next decade, the NCC will provide the talent, innovation, and indigenization of cyber capabilities that China’s Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Public Security, and People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force hacking teams lack. Though still under construction, the NCC’s first class of graduates will cross the stage in June 2022.

Role of DIBER DRDO Technologies in Improving Livelihood Opportunities and Curtailing Migration in Uttarakhand

Migration of local population of Uttarakhand (UK) border areas is presently serious issues for national security since; this State is sharing international border (~650 km) with China/Tibet and Nepal. Among the various factors reported for migration, few notables are search for better livelihood, unemployment, difficult remote terrain and poor land connectivity, less productivity from agriculture due to abiotic and biotic stresses etc. Hence, measures to increase the livelihood opportunities in these border areas to curb the problem of migration through intervention of modern agro-animal technologies are essentially required. In this attempt, Defence Institute of Bio Energy Research (DIBER) has already developed various agro-animal mature technologies, in terms of high yielding and genuine quality seed/seedlings, protected cultivation technology, soil-less cultivation technology, angora farming, mushroom cultivation, medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) cultivation technology, hydro-fodder, etc that shown great promise and impact in increasing the farm income and livelihood opportunities for civil inhabitants of these marginal regions. This article highlights the DIBER outreach extension efforts for ensuring better livelihood opportunities to farmers of border area and also to curtail migration that will in turn increase strategic support to Army and paramilitary defence forces deployed in three border Distts (Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh) of UK.