Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Knowledge Commons Past, Present, And Future, Michael J. Madison

Articles

The project now known as Governing Knowledge Commons, or GKC, was launched more than 15 years ago on the intuition that skepticism of intellectual property law and information exclusivity was grounded in anecdote and ideology rather than in empiricism. Structured, systematic, empirical research on mechanisms of knowledge sharing was needed. GKC aimed to help scholars produce it. Over multiple books, case studies, and other work, the scope of GKC has expanded considerably, from innovation to governance; from invention and creativity to data, privacy, and markets; and from social dilemmas focused on things to governance strategies directed to communities and collectives. …

Negotiated Access: Haccessibility, Autonomy, And Infrastructure In The Age Of The Abstraction, Patrick Smyth

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Negotiated Access asks how we can exercise our values from within systems and structures over which we have little control. The project, fundamentally, is about autonomy, a specific form of resistance to control, or the ability to act on values or goals despite influence from outside or above. Negotiation, here, is the ongoing encounter with enclosing or encircling systems, entities, or spaces. It is the gap, the small room for maneuver, between ourselves and the physical or social environment.

The project begins with local and concrete challenges and radiates outward to analyze and critique broader structures, forces, and institutions that …

Smart City Investments: A Rapid Decison Framework For Public Private Partnerships, Paul Sujith Rayi, Murali Venkatesh, Stephen Wallace, Rishie Lavendra Bothra

School of Information Studies - Post-doc and Student Scholarship

The city of Syracuse in New York announced an ambitious smart city plan which, when fully implemented, promises to make it the most connected city in the northeastern US. Thanks to a strategic investment by the State of New York, the city is home to what is billed as the world’s first Drone Corridor for R&D. We outline a decision framework (The Syracuse Wheel) for public private partnership to help city leaders and private investors navigate the exciting implications stemming from these two strategic developments and the city’s environment to augment the priority areas of Autonomous Mobility and Connectivity. The …

Use Of Geogrids And Recycled Rubber In Railroad Infrastructure For Enhanced Performance, Buddhima Indraratna, Yujie Qi, Ngoc Trung Ngo, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn, Tim Neville, Fernanda Bessa Ferreira, Amir Shahkolahi

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Railway tracks are conventionally built on compacted ballast and structural fill layers placed above the natural (subgrade) foundation. However, during train operations, track deteriorations occur progressively due to ballast degradation. The associated track deformation is usually accompanied by a reduction in both load bearing capacity and drainage, apart from imposing frequent track maintenance. Suitable ground improvement techniques involving plastic inclusions (e.g., geogrids) and energy absorbing materials (e.g., rubber products) to enhance the stability and longevity of tracks have become increasingly popular. This paper presents the outcomes from innovative research and development measures into the use of plastic and rubber elements …

Data Privacy And System Security For Banking And Financial Services Industry Based On Cloud Computing Infrastructure, Abhishek Mahalle, Jianming Yong, Xiaohui Tao, Jun Shen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

No abstract provided.

Application Of Geoinclusions For Sustainable Rail Infrastructure Under Increased Axle Loads And Higher Speeds, Buddhima Indraratna, Fernanda Bessa Ferreira, Yujie Qi, Ngoc Trung Ngo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Given the ongoing demand for faster trains for carrying heavier loads, conventional ballasted railroads require considerable upgrading in order to cope with the increasing traffic-induced stresses. During train operations, ballast deteriorates due to progressive breakage and fouling caused by the infiltration of fine particles from the surface or mud-pumping from the underneath layers (e.g. sub-ballast, sub-grade), which decreases the load bearing capacity, impedes drainage and increases the deformation of ballasted tracks. Suitable ground improvement techniques involving geosynthetics and resilient rubber sheets are commonly employed to enhance the stability and longevity of rail tracks. This keynote paper focuses mainly on research …

Underground Infrastructure: Planning, Development And Revitalization, Guoliang Meng

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

The challenges facing Liuzhou’s underground infrastructure system today are unlike any it has ever faced before. Frequent underground gas pipeline leaks and explosions are impacting the safety and quality of citizens’ lives. To develop a safe, efficient and economical underground infrastructure system, Liuzhou City will have to do three things: (1) create a unified administrative department for underground pipeline administration, (2) conduct a citywide underground pipeline survey by stages and create an information platform to share the underground pipeline data, and (3) develop a public-private partnership to construct a utility tunnel. The poster outlines these critical steps in Liuzhou’s underground …

Revisiting An Information Infrastructure For Development: Exploring The Cost Of Information In Pacific Island Development, William J. Tibben

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been associated with development programmes for many decades. A theme of Lamberton's commentary on such initiatives focuses on the lack of attention given to information as a key factor in the development process. His writing reiterated a number of arguments that he saw as being fundamental to the application of an information perspective to development issues. With a focus on agricultural development policy in the Pacific region, the paper uses a number of propositions that are suggested by Lamberton to analyse contemporary development initiatives in Pacific Island agriculture. These propositions focus attention on information …

Impermeable Assemblages: Flooding, Urban Infrastructure, And Stormwater Politics In São Paulo, Brazil, Nate Millington

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This project analyzes efforts to remake the relationship between water and city in São Paulo, Brazil. Currently experiencing overlapping problems of flooding, scarcity, and pollution, São Paulo illustrates the challenges of managing water in a contemporary mega-city. This dissertation subsequently considers the city’s water management through an approach that borrows from urban political ecology, social studies of science, and post-colonial urban theory. With an epistemological grounding in these literatures, this project analyzes ongoing conversations about water management in São Paulo, and focuses on how water is encountered and engaged with in the landscape by engineers, artists, and activists. This project …

Vulnerability Analysis Of Hydrological Infrastructure To Flooding In Coastal Cities - A Graph Theory Approach, Robert Ighodaro Ogie, Tomas Holderness, Sarah Dunn, Etienne Turpin

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Hydrological infrastructure such as pumps and floodgates are invaluable assets for mitigating flooding in coastal cities. These infrastructure components are often vulnerable to damage or failure due to the impact of flood waters, thus exacerbating the flood hazards and causing significant loss of life and destruction to property worth billions of dollars. Hence, there is a growing need worldwide to enhance the understanding of flood vulnerability and to develop key metrics for assessing it. This study proposes an approach for measuring the vulnerability of hydrological infrastructure to flood damage in coastal cities. In this approach, a hydrological infrastructure flood vulnerability …

Disrupting Infrastructure: Social Media And Accessing Digital Publics, Carolyn K. Grant

Open Access Theses

This thesis investigates infrastructural barriers to effecting change through social media participation. Though social media is said to hold "democratic potential" by enabling open access to the digital public sphere, in reality it is often still the most privileged voices that get heard. Even in success cases of the power of social media like the Arab Spring, situational contexts lead to particular infrastructural access points that are not universally transferable, and still tend to favor mainstream perspectives. Barriers to amplifying marginalized voices include inadequate systems for digital memory and sharing algorithms that promote the visibility of the already visible. These …

Rail Track Infrastructure For Enhanced Speed - Analysis Design And Construction Challenges, Buddhima Indraratna, Sanjay Shrawan Nimbalkar, Jayan Sylaja J S Vinod

Buddhima Indraratna

Rail is one of the largest transportation modes offering freight and passenger traffic in rapidly developing nations, including India. Conscious efforts to improve productivity, modernization and technology upgrading have led to an impressive growth in railways. Large-scale physical modeling, sophisticated numerical modeling and full-scale field monitoring often provide significant knowledge to better understand track performance and to extend the current state-of-the-art in design. A series of large-scale laboratory tests were conducted to establish relationships between (i) ballast breakage and train speed, (ii) ballast fouling and strength and (iii) interface strength and geogrids. Comprehensive field trials were carried out on instrumented …

The Budget Will Be Big On Infrastructure But We Need More Than Just Roads, Garry Bowditch

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The Abbott government is preparing to give Sydney's WestConnex road project a A$2 billion boost in this week's federal budget, part of a broader $10 billion infrastructure package aimed at boosting productivity and private sector investment. Congestion in Sydney continues to escalate with gridlock on roads impacting passenger and freight logistics. The persistence of this situation reflects poorly on project selection and asset management processes, along with distortions that have arisen from poor interactions between the Commonwealth and the states. Reform is urgently needed where there is less focus on ribbon cutting and more use of well-targeted "pinch point" interventions. …

How To Attract Foreign Firms To Do Australian Infrastructure, Garry Bowditch

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Australia's two biggest construction companies, Leighton and Lend Lease, control a significant share of construction - up to 75% in cases such as major rail projects. The recent Productivity Commission draft report on public infrastructure found their combined "market shares would appear sufficient to allow them to exercise market power to inflate prices and/or profits". At the same time, the Commission noted that no evidence exists to support such a proposition. A more important unanswered question remains - what conditions are necessary to attract foreign firms to help Australia deliver cheaper, faster and better infrastructure? Looking abroad for solutions can …

Should Users Pay The Toll For Australia's Infrastructure Problem?, Garry Bowditch

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Australia spends more on infrastructure today than at any stage in its history. Yet governments are unable to meet demand and don't expect ever to do so. What can governments do to keep up with escalating demand and community expectations for infrastructure? Reserve Bank assistant governor Philip Lowe says tolls and levies could be the answer to more efficiently funding the transport infrastructure we need - infrastructure he says would boost productivity and improve living standards. Tolls are just one issue likely to be debated as part of the Productivity Commission's current inquiry into infrastructure costs, which is considering how …

Australia's Infrastructure Cost Conundrum, Garry Bowditch

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Infrastructure is about the long-term growth and prosperity of a nation, but Australia will get very little of this benefit if the cost of building it continues to rapidly escalate. Australia is becoming increasingly uncompetitive in design and delivery of major projects. This is an unacceptable situation, and a newly commissioned multi-state inquiry by the SMART Infrastructure Facility will identify the key causes and make recommendations to help secure better value for taxpayers' money. Australian jurisdictions have experienced sharp rises in the cost of delivering mega-projects. In the pre-GFC mining construction boom period of the mid-2000s construction costs were 20-30% …

Rail Track Infrastructure For Enhanced Speed - Analysis Design And Construction Challenges, Buddhima Indraratna, Sanjay Shrawan Nimbalkar, Jayan Sylaja J S Vinod

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Rail is one of the largest transportation modes offering freight and passenger traffic in rapidly developing nations, including India. Conscious efforts to improve productivity, modernization and technology upgrading have led to an impressive growth in railways. Large-scale physical modeling, sophisticated numerical modeling and full-scale field monitoring often provide significant knowledge to better understand track performance and to extend the current state-of-the-art in design. A series of large-scale laboratory tests were conducted to establish relationships between (i) ballast breakage and train speed, (ii) ballast fouling and strength and (iii) interface strength and geogrids. Comprehensive field trials were carried out on instrumented …

Converging And Coexisting Systems Towards Smart Surveillance, Katina Michael, Mg Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Tracking and monitoring people as they operate within their personal networks benefits service providers and their constituents but involves hidden risks and costs.

Automatic identification technologies, CCTV cameras, pervasive and mobile networks, wearable computing, location-based services and social networks have traditionally served distinct purposes. However, we have observed patterns of integration, convergence and coexistence among all these innovations within the information and communication technology industry.1For example, ‘location-based social networking’ can draw on a smart phone's capacity to identify a user uniquely, locate him within 1–2m and share this information across his social network in real time. The resulting ability to …

Emerging Law Addressing Climate Change And Water, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

The World Economic Forum recognizes that while restrictions on energy affect water systems and vice versa, energy and water policy are rarely coordinated. The International Panel on Climate Change predicts that wet places will become wetter and dry places will become dryer. Transboundary water, energy and climate coordination can occur through international consensus building.

A Bluetooth Wireless Network Infrastructure For Multimedia Guidebooks On Mobile Computing Devices, Matthew D'Souza, Montserrat Ros, Adam Postula, Neil Bergmann

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper describes the implementation of a Bluetooth Village Guide Book (VGB) scenario for use in the Kelvin Grove Urban Village located in Brisbane, Australia. An Information Point Station Network (IPSN) was developed, along with software for two types of mobile computing devices. The implementation consists of several Information Point Stations (IPSs) placed at locations of significance, with access to information items on a centralized server. Once registered, the user is given the opportunity to experience context-aware information on demand and in various multimedia formats. These information items are selected by the user, either by way of a menu system …