Case Study: Human Rights Impact Assessment (http://hria.civiblog.org/
blog/AboutUs/_archives/2005/7/23/1069896.html) - Greg Walton (http://
gregwalton.civiblog.org/blog) - Independent consultant to Rights &
Democracy, Montreal, Canada
The idea of the Workshop is that of having a general discussion on
what kind of (conceptual, technical, etc.) infrastructures would be
needed to foster the adoption of simulation as a research method for
the social sciences. A slight risk, however, is that the discussion
might degenerate from being general to being simply generic. To avoid
this risk, the organisers felt that it would be useful to have a
'focal point', a concrete example of a complex model that someone
might be willing to build and to which we can go back during the
workshop to ask ourselves if and how the infrastructures we are
discussing would be useful in this case. I will present our problem,
with an emphasis on the methodology we are developing for civil
society organisations, and seek your ideas on how social simulation
might help (or hinder!) the research.
The methodology has been developed from the UN Norms for Business
(http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.Sub.
2.2003.12.Rev.2.En?Opendocument) that were adopted by the UN Sub
Commission on Human Rights in August 2003, which themselves draw on
the entire body of international and regional human rights law. This
methodology is to be tested on five different cases of international
investment. In its current form the methodology consists of a series
of open-ended questions. These questions should enable communities,
corporate and government actors to understand how the various factors
and different actors interact to result in a positive or negative
impact on human rights. The process of using the tool is intended to
increase awareness of human rights norms among all stakeholders, and
could lead to engaging duty bearers, challenging violators,
publicising violations, and improving policy.
So, our aim is to develop a consistent and comprehensive methodology
for the analysis of investment projects, that helps to design
strategies for sustainable, participatory, rights based development.
The model would try to integrate legal, socio-economic, environmental
and technological concepts including the development, integration,
and demonstration of tools and methodology to improve forecasting,
assessment and policy level decision support - at an early stage in
the project cycle -> permenant, real-time 'mirror
worlds' (installations processing ground based sensors and earth
observation data to support e-government). Combining an indicator
based approach with simulation models and scenario analysis, socio-
economic and environmental impact assessment, managing legal
documents, and collaborative writing, and a public information
component, the model would include awareness building and educational
initiatives for stake-holders participating in investment decision
making processes. The five case studies involved in HRIA differ
widely in terms of culture, environmental conditions, size, economic
structure, social composition and demography. However, they all face
common challenges in their projects such as those relating to health,
workers rights, etc., but also related issues such as reducing social
exclusion and promoting sustainable development.
http://www.ncess.ac.uk/support/wiki/index.php/
Agenda_Setting_Workshop_on_Social_Simulation#11:25-11:45_Focal_Point
On 8 Nov 2005, at 22:58, Anthony Townsend wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4394080.stm
Smart directions for green ideas
By Jonathan Amos
BBC News science reporter
Electro-car public transport and a scheme to track the proper
disposal of waste are two of smartest ideas for using satellite-
navigation technology.
The applications have just triumphed in an international
competition seeking novel ways to employ Galileo, Europe's soon-to-
launch sat-nav system.
The multi-billion-euro space venture will transform the quality of
location and timing data available on Earth.
And entrepreneurs are being urged to develop innovative ways to
exploit it.
The transport application devised by the Vu Log company in Sophia
Antipolis, France, envisages a fleet of "green" vehicles on city
roads.
Future skies
The electro-car concept was deemed to be the best in over 200
entries to this year's Galileo Masters competition.
The contest pushes small and medium-sized enterprises to start
thinking now about how they could get the best out of Europe's
satellite-navigation system, due to be operational by the decade's
end.
At the moment, Vu Log's car scheme would have difficulty working
because the American Global Positioning System (GPS) does not give
sufficiently accurate and reliable location data to precisely pin-
point a vehicle in a heavily built-up area.
THE GALILEO FUTURE
Expected to be more than 400 million sat-nav users by 2015
European aerospace and electronics firms say it will create more
than 100,000 jobs
Rescue services will be able to pinpoint the exact location of a
car driver's accident
System will allow someone to find their way in an unfamiliar city
using their mobile phone
But with Galileo operating alongside GPS to "beef-up" the sat-nav
signal, there would be less chance of community cars being lost in
the steel and glass "canyons" that characterise modern cities.
"This is definitely an application for the future," said Christian
Stammel, from the competition organisers.
"But when GPS is enhanced with Galileo, you can envisage all sorts
of 'navigation guardian' solutions, which would guide you through a
city using a mixture of buses, subway, electric cars and on foot."
Galileo Masters 2005 accepted entries from seven European business
regions, including from the UK which put forward the greatest
number of ideas.
Richard White, from Melbourn in Cambridgeshire, took the prize for
the best of these. He has devised a secure, web-based system he
calls "TrackerBack" for keeping tabs on large or valuable loads
from pick-up to delivery.
It issues secret numbers to sender, haulier and recipient which,
when brought together, confirm the chain has been completed.
"Only when the Pin codes are brought together are you able to track
duty of care; you can prove an audit that is legally watertight,"
explained Mr White.
Green solution
With tighter controls being introduced for the disposal of waste
and a growing problem of illegal dumping, the entrepreneur believes
his TrackerBack system could play a useful policing role when
combined with Galileo.
"With the sub-metre accuracy of Galileo, you'd even know how high
off the ground that consignment of tyres was," he said. "You'd know
instantly if it had been dumped over a hedge rather being taken to
the reprocessing plant."
Lyn Dutton, from the Thales Group, which produces sat-nav
receivers, was on the UK judging panel. "We liked the environmental
aspect to Richard's solution and it addresses a real problem that
exists at the moment," he said.
"If you've paid a contractor to properly dispose of waste, you want
to be sure they haven't just pocketed your money and dumped the
load in some quarry. This has a position record attached to it and
a log of what was done."
Richard White is now working to develop his ideas further with the
Hertfordshire Business Incubation Centre (HBic), which manages the
Galileo Masters competition in the UK.
HBic is also hoping to bring on many of the other British entrants,
too, helping them to work through issues such as intellectual
property rights.
The 25-nation EU bloc is funding the early development of Galileo
to the tune of 1.1 billion euros (£0.7bn).
The deployment of the system - the launch of the satellites and the
construction of ground stations - will cost a further 2.1 billion
euros (£1.4bn), with two-thirds of the investment borne by the
private sector. The latter is also expected to pick up all the
running costs in the long term.
The first demonstrator spacecraft are undergoing final testing and
one will be launched next month.
A full constellation of 30 spacecraft should be in orbit within the
next five years.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/4394080.stm
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