Imaging and assessing mobile technology for development (M4D) means understanding the use of appropriate technologies and services, and how they directly or indirectly address socio-economic challenges. This book adopts various perspectives to identify the obstacles to affordable digital technologies in order to enable, enhance, and effect development. The book plays on the tension between success reports and optimistic projections, on one hand, and empirical evidence of technological belly splash, on the other hand. The areas covered include infusion of service education in computing education, the Rwandan establishment of African Centres of Excellence to promote the development of appropriate technology, the metaverse’s realisation in a mobile network-enabled “metaversity”, and difficulties detected when evaluating digitisation of distance learning, students’ security awareness, dissemination of agricultural information, and mobile payment. The decolonisation of community-based media and attempts to step outside the mobile network and Internet are also covered.
Emerging and currently available technologies offer great promise for helping older adults, even those without serious disabilities, to live healthy, comfortable, and productive lives. What technologies offer the most potential benefit? What challenges must be overcome, what problems must be solved, for this promise to be fulfilled? How can federal agencies like the National Institute on Aging best use their resources to support the translation from laboratory findings to useful, marketable products and services? Technology for Adaptive Aging is the product of a workshop that brought together distinguished experts in aging research and in technology to discuss applications of technology to communication, education and learning, employment, health, living environments, and transportation for older adults. It includes all of the workshop papers and the report of the committee that organized the workshop. The committee report synthesizes and evaluates the points made in the workshop papers and recommends priorities for federal support of translational research in technology for older adults.
To explore how mobile technology can be employed to enhance the lives of older adults, the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine commissioned 6 papers, which were presented at a workshop held on December 11 and 12, 2019. These papers review research on mobile technologies and aging, and highlight promising avenues for further research.
FAO provides countries with technical support to conduct nutrition assessments, in particular to build the evidence base required for countries to achieve commitments made at the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) and under the 2016-2025 UN Decade of Action on Nutrition. Such concrete evidence can only derive from precise and valid measures of what people eat and drink. There is a wide range of dietary assessment methods available to measure food and nutrient intakes (expressed as energy insufficiency, diet quality and food patterns etc.) in diet and nutrition surveys, in impact surveys, and in monitoring and evaluation. Differenct indicators can be selected according to a study's objectives, sample population, costs and required precision. In low capacity settings, a number of other issues should be considered (e.g. availability of food composition tables, cultural and community specific issues, such as intra-household distribution of foods and eating from shared plates, etc.). This manual aims to signpost for the users the best way to measure food and nutrient intakes and to enhance their understanding of the key features, strengths and limitations of various methods. It also highlights a number of common methodological considerations involved in the selection process. Target audience comprises of individuals (policy-makers, programme managers, educators, health professionals including dietitians and nutritionists, field workers and researchers) involved in national surveys, programme planning and monitoring and evaluation in low capacity settings, as well as those in charge of knowledge brokering for policy-making.
Tunnels and Underground Cities: Engineering and Innovation meet Archaeology, Architecture and Art contains the contributions presented at the World Tunnel Congress 2019 (Naples, Italy, 3-9 May 2019). The use of underground space is continuing to grow, due to global urbanization, public demand for efficient transportation, and energy saving, production and distribution. The growing need for space at ground level, along with its continuous value increase and the challenges of energy saving and achieving sustainable development objectives, demand greater and better use of the underground space to ensure that it supports sustainable, resilient and more liveable cities. This vision was the source of inspiration for the design of the logos of both the International (ITA) and Italian (SIG) Tunnelling Association. By placing key infrastructures underground – the black circle in the logos – it will be possible to preserve and enhance the quality of the space at ground level – the green line. In order to consider and value underground space usage together with human and social needs, engineers, architects, and artists will have to learn to collaborate and develop an interdisciplinary design approach that addresses functionality, safety, aesthetics and quality of life, and adaptability to future and varied functions. The 700 contributions cover a wide range of topics, from more traditional subjects connected to technical challenges of design and construction of underground works, with emphasis on innovation in tunneling engineering, to less conventional and archetypically Italian themes such as archaeology, architecture, and art. The book has the following main themes: Archaeology, Architecture and Art in underground construction; Environment sustainability in underground construction; Geological and geotechnical knowledge and requirements for project implementation; Ground improvement in underground constructions; Innovation in underground engineering, materials and equipment; Long and deep tunnels; Public communication and awareness; Risk management, contracts and financial aspects; Safety in underground construction; Strategic use of underground space for resilient cities; Urban tunnels. Tunnels and Underground Cities: Engineering and Innovation meet Archaeology, Architecture and Art is a valuable reference text for tunneling specialists, owners, engineers, architects and others involved in underground planning, design and building around the world, and for academics who are interested in underground constructions and geotechnics.
Mobile devices are rapidly developing into the primary technology for users to work, socialize, and play in a variety of settings and contexts. Their pervasiveness has provided researchers with the means to investigate innovative solutions to ever more complex user demands. Tools for Mobile Multimedia Programming and Development investigates the use of mobile platforms for research projects, focusing on the development, testing, and evaluation of prototypes rather than final products, which enables researchers to better understand the needs of users through image processing, object recognition, sensor integration, and user interactions. This book benefits researchers and professionals in multiple disciplines who utilize such techniques in the creation of prototypes for mobile devices and applications. This book is part of the Advances in Wireless Technologies and Telecommunication series collection.
This book constitutes the revised selected papers of the First International Conference, ICSD 2023, virtually held in Delhi, India, during July 15–16, 2023. The book comprises 31 full papers that were selected from a total of 129 submissions. It provides insights into the latest research and advancements in sustainable development through the integration of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and IoT technologies. It serves as a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working in the field of sustainable development.
This open access textbook introduces the emerging field of Development Engineering and its constituent theories, methods, and applications. It is both a teaching text for students and a resource for researchers and practitioners engaged in the design and scaling of technologies for low-resource communities. The scope is broad, ranging from the development of mobile applications for low-literacy users to hardware and software solutions for providing electricity and water in remote settings. It is also highly interdisciplinary, drawing on methods and theory from the social sciences as well as engineering and the natural sciences. The opening section reviews the history of “technology-for-development” research, and presents a framework that formalizes this body of work and begins its transformation into an academic discipline. It identifies common challenges in development and explains the book’s iterative approach of “innovation, implementation, evaluation, adaptation.” Each of the next six thematic sections focuses on a different sector: energy and environment; market performance; education and labor; water, sanitation and health; digital governance; and connectivity. These thematic sections contain case studies from landmark research that directly integrates engineering innovation with technically rigorous methods from the social sciences. Each case study describes the design, evaluation, and/or scaling of a technology in the field and follows a single form, with common elements and discussion questions, to create continuity and pedagogical consistency. Together, they highlight successful solutions to development challenges, while also analyzing the rarely discussed failures. The book concludes by reiterating the core principles of development engineering illustrated in the case studies, highlighting common challenges that engineers and scientists will face in designing technology interventions that sustainably accelerate economic development. Development Engineering provides, for the first time, a coherent intellectual framework for attacking the challenges of poverty and global climate change through the design of better technologies. It offers the rigorous discipline needed to channel the energy of a new generation of scientists and engineers toward advancing social justice and improved living conditions in low-resource communities around the world.
Development Challenges, South-South Solutions is the monthly e-newsletter of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation in UNDP (www.southerninnovator.org). It has been published every month since 2006. Its sister publication, Southern Innovator magazine, has been published since 2011. ISSN 2227-3905 Stories by David South UN Office for South-South Cooperation Contact the Office to receive a copy of the new global magazine Southern Innovator. Issues 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are out now and are about innovators in mobile phones and information technology, youth and entrepreneurship, agribusiness and food security, cities and urbanization and waste and recycling. Why not consider sponsoring or advertising in an issue of Southern Innovator? Or work with us on an insert or supplement of interest to our readers? Follow @SouthSouth1.
