This book constitutes the jointly proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Intelligent Edge Processing in the IoT Era, Edge-IoT 2022, and the 4th International Conference on Smart Governance for Sustainable Smart Cities, SmartGov 2022. Both conferences were held online due to COVID-19 pandemic in November 2022, held as virtual events, in November 16-18, 2022. The 12 full papers were selected from 31 submissions. SmartGov 2022 was to promote the development of secure and sustainable smart cities with smart governance, while the theme of Edge-IoT 2022 was to address the decentralization of contemporary processing paradigms, notably Edge processing, focusing on the increasing demand for intelligent processing at the edge of the network, which is paving the way to the Intelligent IoT Era”. Both the EAI SmartGov 2022 and EAI Edge-IoT 2022 conferences were co-located with EAI SmartCity360 international convention. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: Edge-IoT Applications; IoT Architectures, Forecasting and Adversarial Training; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for smart governance; and Smart Transportation.
Over the past few decades, the frequency and severity of natural and human-induced disasters have increased across Asia. These disasters lead to substantial loss of life, livelihoods and community assets, which not only threatens the pace of socio-economic development, but also undo hard-earned gains. Extreme events and disasters such as floods, droughts, heat, fire, cyclones and tidal surges are known to be exacerbated by environmental changes including climate change, land-use changes and natural resource degradation. Increasing climate variability and multi-dimensional vulnerabilities have severely affected the social, ecological and economic capacities of the people in the region who are, economically speaking, those with the least capacity to adapt. Climatic and other environmental hazards and anthropogenic risks, coupled with weak and wavering capacities, severely impact the ecosystems and Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) and, thereby, to human well-being. Long-term resilience building through disaster risk reduction and integrated adaptive climate planning, therefore, has become a key priority for scientists and policymakers alike. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is a cost-effective approach that utilizes ecosystem and biodiversity services for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, while also providing a range of co-benefits like sustainable livelihoods and food, water and energy security. This book discusses the concept of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) – both as a science and as art – and elaborates on how it can be applied to develop healthy and resilient ecosystems locally, nationally, regionally and globally. The book covers illustrative methods and tools adopted for applying NbS in different countries. The authors discuss NbS applications and challenges, research trends and future insights that have wider regional and global relevance. The aspects covered include: landscape restoration, ecosystem-based adaptation, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, ecological restoration, ecosystem-based protected areas management, green infrastructure development, nature-friendly infrastructure development in various ecosystem types, agro-climatic zones and watersheds. The book offers insights into understanding the sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the grass roots level and can help indigenous and local communities harness ecosystem services to help achieve them. It offers a unique, essential resource for researchers, students, corporations, administrators and policymakers working in the fields of the environment, geography, development, policy planning, the natural sciences, life sciences, agriculture, health, climate change and disaster studies.
Our Earth is considered as a natural system which organizes and controls itself. However, the present scale of anthropogenic activity is unprecedented in the history of mankind compelling the intelligentia to ponder over the scientific causes of the problems, processes and sustainable and pragmatic solutions. The current rate of resource use and consumption pattern are depleting the planet’s finite resources and damaging life-supporting ecosystems. A large number of toxic substances are increasingly found in air, water, soil, and flora and fauna. We are in the midst of a period of increasing interconnected and complex global challenges that seek action across temporal and spatial scales, diverse sectors, and concerted efforts from global citizens. The environment on account of human’s action has been experiencing imbalances and ecological catastrophe. Environmental issues like global climate change, biodiversity loss, the rapid depletion of natural resources, degradation of global commons, stratospheric ozone depletion have been restricting the safe operating space and transgressing the planetary boundaries endangering the existence of human societies. The global environmental problems if not scientifically managed may end up in the civilizational collapse. Nevertheless, the underlying commonality among these environmental issues is interrelatedness, complexity, and difficulty in identifying and implementing solutions. The global environmental challenges can be managed by adopting sustainable green technologies which dovetails the principles of environmental sustainability with social and ecological sustainability. Green growth is construed as a new development paradigm that sustains economic growth while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability.
This book is intended to help explore the field of smart sustainable cities in its complexity, heterogeneity, and breadth, the many faces of a topical subject of major importance for the future that encompasses so much of modern urban life in an increasingly computerized and urbanized world. Indeed, sustainable urban development is currently at the center of debate in light of several ICT visions becoming achievable and deployable computing paradigms, and shaping the way cities will evolve in the future and thus tackle complex challenges. This book integrates computer science, data science, complexity science, sustainability science, system thinking, and urban planning and design. As such, it contains innovative computer–based and data–analytic research on smart sustainable cities as complex and dynamic systems. It provides applied theoretical contributions fostering a better understanding of such systems and the synergistic relationships between the underlying physical and informational landscapes. It offers contributions pertaining to the ongoing development of computer–based and data science technologies for the processing, analysis, management, modeling, and simulation of big and context data and the associated applicability to urban systems that will advance different aspects of sustainability. This book seeks to explicitly bring together the smart city and sustainable city endeavors, and to focus on big data analytics and context-aware computing specifically. In doing so, it amalgamates the design concepts and planning principles of sustainable urban forms with the novel applications of ICT of ubiquitous computing to primarily advance sustainability. Its strength lies in combining big data and context–aware technologies and their novel applications for the sheer purpose of harnessing and leveraging the disruptive and synergetic effects of ICT on forms of city planning that are required for future forms of sustainable development. This is because the effects of such technologies reinforce one another as to their efforts for transforming urban life in a sustainable way by integrating data–centric and context–aware solutions for enhancing urban systems and facilitating coordination among urban domains. This timely and comprehensive book is aimed at a wide audience across science, academia industry, and policymaking. It provides the necessary material to inform relevant research communities of the state–of–the–art research and the latest development in the area of smart sustainable urban development, as well as a valuable reference for planners, designers, strategists, and ICT experts who are working towards the development and implementation of smart sustainable cities based on big data analytics and context–aware computing.
Ecological and technological (eco-tech) planning provides a possible response to the essential issues of sustainability and rehabilitation in rapidly growing urban spaces. Green and Ecological Technologies for Urban Planning: Creating Smart Cities addresses the ecological, technological, and social challenges faced in the smart urban planning and design of settlements when using eco-technologies – from sustainable land use to transportation, and from green areas to municipal applications – with a focus on resilience. Containing research from leading international experts, this book provides comprehensive coverage and definitions of the most important issues, concepts, trends, and technologies within the planning field.
Smart home technologies promise to transform domestic comfort, convenience, security and leisure while also reducing energy use. But delivering on these potentially conflicting promises depends on how they are adopted and used in homes. This book starts by developing a new analytical framework for understanding smart homes and their users. Drawing on a range of new empirical research combining both qualitative and quantitative data, the book then explores how smart home technologies are perceived by potential users, how they can be used to link domestic energy use to common daily activities, how they may (or may not) be integrated into everyday life by actual users, and how they serve to change the nature of control within households and the home. The book concludes by synthesising a range of evidence-based insights, and posing a series of challenges for industry, policy, and research that need addressing if a smart home future is to be realised. Researchers will find this book provides useful insights into this fast-growing field
This volume provides the most current research on smart cities. Specifically, it focuses on the economic development and sustainability of smart cities and examines how to transform older industrial cities into sustainable smart cities. It aims to identify the role of the following elements in the creation and management of smart cities:• Citizen participation and empowerment • Value creation mechanisms • Public administration• Quality of life and sustainability• Democracy• ICT• Private initiatives and entrepreneurship Regardless of their size, all cities are ultimately agglomerations of people and institutions. Agglomeration economies make it possible to attain minimum efficiencies of scale in the organization and delivery of services. However, the economic benefits do not constitute the main advantage of a city. A city’s status rests on three dimensions: (1) political impetus, which is the result of citizens’ participation and the public administration’s agenda; (2) applications derived from technological advances (especially in ICT); and (3) cooperation between public and private initiatives in business development and entrepreneurship. These three dimensions determine which resources are necessary to create smart cities. But a smart city, ideal in the way it channels and resolves technological, social and economic-growth issues, requires many additional elements to function at a high-performance level, such as culture (an environment that empowers and engages citizens) and physical infrastructure designed to foster competition and collaboration, encourage new ideas and actions, and set the stage for new business creation. Featuring contributions with models, tools and cases from around the world, this book will be a valuable resource for researchers, students, academics, professionals and policymakers interested in smart cities.
In the face of rapid digitalization and environmental challenges, the world stands at a critical juncture. The relentless pace of technological advancement has brought unparalleled convenience and efficiency but has also contributed to unsustainable consumption patterns, resource depletion, and environmental degradation. Despite growing awareness, many industries need help integrating sustainable practices into their operations, hindered by a lack of understanding, resources, and clear guidelines. Moreover, the complexity of the circular economy and the ethical dimensions of digitalization pose significant challenges, requiring innovative solutions and comprehensive guidance. Navigating the Circular Age of a Sustainable Digital Revolution offers a timely and comprehensive solution to these pressing challenges. By exploring the intricate relationship between technology and sustainability, this book provides a roadmap for businesses, policymakers, and individuals to embrace sustainable practices in the digital era. Researchers and scholars gain profound insights from this book into the dynamics between digitalization and sustainable practices while policymakers find nuanced analyses to shape regulatory frameworks. Business leaders and professionals discover practical guidance for sustainable business models and digital transformation, and technology practitioners align their fields with sustainable advancements. Ultimately, the book empowers individuals and organizations to shape a future where technology and sustainability coexist, fostering a more sustainable and prosperous world.
Being a Sustainable Firm: Takeaways for a Sustainability-oriented Management addresses strategies and management issues related to the latest innovations in the field of sustainability. It jointly provides theoretical and empirical contributions to give an overall view of the main issues and methods in sustainability management. It highlights opportunities, limits and challenges related to a management of sustainability innovation. It analyzes how firms become sustainable by applying the circular economy framework and accountability tools. It also presents a series of case studies in sectors particularly interested in sustainable development, including fashion, hospitality, and private-public partnerships for local sustainable communities. The book discusses the 2030 Agenda key goals, paying attention to SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities, and SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns for their interrelations and their managerial implications at organizational and industry level. The volume also deals with the EU SDG indicators set and interconnections in order to have a deeper understanding of the social and environmental reporting systems for specific sectors. Based on this approach, the book examines critical issues in sustainability assessment, corporate challenges and sustainability models. The book provides useful support for scholars in managerial disciplines, such as strategy, operations and digitalization, international business, as well as in areas that involve social and environmental reporting systems and performance evaluation. It will be a valuable guide for researchers wishing to enhance their knowledge in this area of research and gives takeaways for managers and practitioners for implementing sustainable practices and actions. - Uses case studies, guidelines and sustainability reporting tools to compare different sustainability areas and understand critical issues, approaches and performance evaluation systems within the circular economy framework - Devotes specific chapters to SDG goals 9, 11 and 12 and the related sets of indicators to outline the coordinates within which firms manage sustainability in specific business areas. - Provides useful insights on ESG parameters and corporate sustainability to entrepreneurs, managers, practitioners, and stakeholders in the cutting-edge sectors of sustainability management
