Barry Wellar’s presentation at the 2010 GIS-Pro Conference introduced the topic of governments using GIS to meet duty of care/standard of care obligations. During the 2011 GIS-Pro Conference, Sean McGrath reported on e-democracy activities designed to streamline the legislative process, reduce the paper burden, and significantly improve information exchanges between elected officials and citizens. This panel session builds on those foundations by discussing how information technology is modernizing the legislative process in different jurisdictions, how the availability of GIS is increasing the onus on governments to explicitly build GIS into their standard of care capabilities, and how e-democracy principles and practices are emerging as a core element of enterprise-wide computer-based communications systems in governments. This presentation summarizes the core arguments in the two standard of care papers given by Wellar (Wellar, 2010a, 2010b) at the 2010 URISA conference, and then discusses some of the policy and legislative impacts arising from and feeding into the fusion of GIS and e-democracy infrastructure and activities. The presentation should be of particular interest to: 1) elected and appointed members of the executive function responsible for incorporating standard of care obligations into the policies and legislative materials of local, provincial/state, and federal governments; and 2) managers and GISPs responsible for designing and implementing a GIS-based, e-democracy capability that achieves enterprise-wide inter-connectivity between duty of care and standard of care obligations and the modifications to policies or legislative documents and procedures that pertain to those care obligations.
An Assessment and Ranking of Barriers to Doing Environmental Business with Ch...Turlough Guerin GAICD FGIA
The transfer of environmental goods and services to China will increasingly be of importance to developed nations as the demand for the environmental management increases in China. A review of the literature on technology transfer to China revealed a range of well recognised and commonly known constraints to transferring technologies to China. There were gaps in the literature in relation to the concerns that environmental professionals have regarding technology transfer to China as limited information on the transfer in environmental goods and services to China. A survey of the non-trade barriers and their practical impact on the transfer of environmental technologies and goods and services to China, focusing on Australian suppliers was undertaken to address these gaps. The survey, which was developed from barriers to technology transfer already described in the extensive research addressing the wider issues of technology transfer to China, targeted environmental professionals but also included other professionals with interests in transferring environmental goods and services to China. From the survey, the highest priority barriers to transferring environmental goods and service to China were identified and those which are most likely to limit Australian vendors of environmental goods and services in their technology transfers to China, were protection of intellectual property (IP), limitations of the rule of law, fragmentation and bureaucracy of the Chinese government; and establishing appropriate level of ownership (of environmental goods and services providers in China). Examples of Australian experience were also examined, which confirmed these barriers to providing the needed technology and innovation to manage China’s increasing environmental impacts. The research also shows that the barriers identified do not appear to be unique to transfer of environmental goods and services but rather generic to the transfer and adoption of Australian technology into China.
An Assessment and Ranking of Barriers to Doing Environmental Business with Ch...Turlough Guerin GAICD FGIA
The transfer of environmental goods and services to China will increasingly be of importance to developed nations as the demand for the environmental management increases in China. A review of the literature on technology transfer to China revealed a range of well recognised and commonly known constraints to transferring technologies to China. There were gaps in the literature in relation to the concerns that environmental professionals have regarding technology transfer to China as limited information on the transfer in environmental goods and services to China. A survey of the non-trade barriers and their practical impact on the transfer of environmental technologies and goods and services to China, focusing on Australian suppliers was undertaken to address these gaps. The survey, which was developed from barriers to technology transfer already described in the extensive research addressing the wider issues of technology transfer to China, targeted environmental professionals but also included other professionals with interests in transferring environmental goods and services to China. From the survey, the highest priority barriers to transferring environmental goods and service to China were identified and those which are most likely to limit Australian vendors of environmental goods and services in their technology transfers to China, were protection of intellectual property (IP), limitations of the rule of law, fragmentation and bureaucracy of the Chinese government; and establishing appropriate level of ownership (of environmental goods and services providers in China). Examples of Australian experience were also examined, which confirmed these barriers to providing the needed technology and innovation to manage China’s increasing environmental impacts. The research also shows that the barriers identified do not appear to be unique to transfer of environmental goods and services but rather generic to the transfer and adoption of Australian technology into China.
GIS technology and applications are increasing the quality and quantity of spatial data available to governments, businesses, and institutions, and are also creating new opportunities and challenges to meet duty of care and standard of care obligations. This paper reports on the materials used in a special session designed for elected officials and managers who are responsible for: a) deciding the geographic information content of duty of care and standard of care documents (e.g., laws, by-laws, policies, plans, programs, budgets, manuals); b) directing professional and technical personnel who provide the information (e.g., data, studies, files, records, maps, surveys, and reports) needed to ensure that legal and other duty of care and standard of care obligations are achieved; and c) approving the budget and work program envelopes containing the GIS technology and applications capabilities. The presentation was given at the 2010 GIS-PRO Conference, Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (urisa.org).
EMAM 2Saud EmamKevin SchmaltzME176-001 10 February 20.docxjoyjonna282
EMAM 2
Saud Emam
Kevin Schmaltz
ME176-001
10 February 2015 2013
Restoring and Improving Urban Infrastructure
Engineers all over the globe are actively involved in the looking for solutions to grand problems that are facing the world today. One of the major problems that is affecting the energy use and sustainability of natural resources is how to restore and improve urban infrastructure. Infrastructure such as water and sewer systems, road and rail network, power transmission and natural gas grid systems are fundamental in supporting the daily activities of a society. However, a problem with this infrastructure system is that it is aging and endangering the life of the ever rising urban population. Furthermore, infrastructural problems have continued to hinder growth and to allow for expansion of productive areas in major cities due to their imminent danger if tampered with. Sewer and waste collection system have exposed the lives of the residents to poisonous gases and heavy metal contamination due to leakages that happen because of broken pipes and poor disposal. Moreover, urban infrastructure is under pressure for reforms due to the changing way of life. Roads, rail and air transport system have been overwhelmed by the increasing number of clients hence making the system to be slow. Mega cities with population exceeding 10 million people are the worst affected of all with engineers facing an uphill task to provide urgent solutions. The National Academy of Engineering believes that engineers should put their knowledge and skill together and come up with sustainable solutions to solve these challenges.
Engineers of all nature Mechanical, Structural, Electrical, Software and Atomic engineers are called upon to work together and come up with immediate solution to Restore and improve urban infrastructure. Structural and software engineers should embark on robust project to find out the problems that are facing the infrastructure in our urban areas. Furthermore, they should endeavor to draw a master plan of the future infrastructural development that will be flexible and safe for the urban population. The master plan should include a transport hub and efficient sewer and water system that are environmental friendly.
Among the disciplines, mechanical engineers will contribute heavily to the solution in tackling the infrastructural problem with an aim to restore and improve urban infrastructure. Mechanical engineers like me will be tasked with designing and manufacture of machines and devices that will be needed in renovating, changing and even demolishing old infrastructure system so that a new system can be laid without affecting the peace and stability of the people in the cities. Furthermore, mechanical engineers have the uphill task to create processes and transport systems that work efficiently and pose little or no dangers to the urban residents.
In conclusion, mechanical engineers like me will be actively involved in designing new en ...
IoT-based air quality monitoring systems for smart cities: A systematic mappi...IJECEIAES
The increased level of air pollution in big cities has become a major concern for several organizations and authorities because of the risk it represents to human health. In this context, the technology has become a very useful tool in the contamination monitoring and the possible mitigation of its impact. Particularly, there are different proposals using the internet of things (IoT) paradigm that use interconnected sensors in order to measure different pollutants. In this paper, we develop a systematic mapping study defined by a five-step methodology to identify and analyze the research status in terms of IoT-based air pollution monitoring systems for smart cities. The study includes 55 proposals, some of which have been implemented in a real environment. We analyze and compare these proposals in terms of different parameters defined in the mapping and highlight some challenges for air quality monitoring systems implementation into the smart city context.
My three-essay dissertation investigates recent practices of participatory infrastructure monitoring and their implications for the governance of urban infrastructure services. By introducing the concept of infrastructure legibility, the three essays of this dissertation explore ways to make waste systems and their governance more legible: its formal structure, its informal practices, interactions between the user and the provider, the individual and the system.
Part 1: Putting matter in place – monitoring waste transportation
Part 2: Tacit arrangements – data reporting challenges for recycling cooperatives in Brazil
Part 3: Infrastructure Legibility – a comparative analysis of open311-based citizen feedback systems
READING LIST: USING A RETROSPECTIVE APPROACH TO MINE THE LITERATURE FOR GIS A...Barry Wellar
Four bodies of pertinent readings are identified for the purposes of the Applied Research Seminar, Mining U.S. Federal Agency Materials for GIS Nuggets, 2016 Esri Federal User Conference, February 24-26, Washington, DC
First and foremost are the papers prepared for AutoCarto Six Retrospective (section A), which set out many of the concepts, ideas, needs, challenges and opportunities, as well as principles and practices that underlie the evolution of GIS technology and GIScience methodology.
The second body of publications is the papers and slide presentations prepared for the Colloquium on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets (section B1 and section B2, respectively), and the third body (section C) consists of the articles about GIS retrospective project activities published in the International Journal of Geospatial Research (IJAGR).
Finally, a preliminary list of publications (section D) from various academic, government, professional organization, and other sources has been compiled to supplement the AutoCarto Six Retrospective papers, and the colloquium productions. More references will be identified in the coming months, and the current reading list dated August 31, 2015 will be amended accordingly.
The intention is to suggest readings which could be instructive for a wide range of attendees. Our approach at this stage in view of resource constraints, as well as uncertainty about the backgrounds of seminar attendees, is to be indicative and illustrative rather than comprehensive and directive.
80+ HOCKEY HALL of FAME/TEMPLE de la RENOMMÉE du HOCKEY 80+ PRESENTED TO ROTA...Barry Wellar
80+ HOCKEY HALL of FAME/TEMPLE de la RENOMMÉE du HOCKEY 80+
PRESENTED TO ROTARY CLUB OF WEST OTTAWA, JUNE 16, 2015
BARRY WELLAR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
80+ HOCKEY HALL of FAME/TEMPLE de la RENOMMÉE du HOCKEY 80+
wellarb@uottawa.ca
More Related Content
Similar to STANDARD OF CARE AND E-DEMOCRACY INITIATIVES: LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY IMPACTS
GIS technology and applications are increasing the quality and quantity of spatial data available to governments, businesses, and institutions, and are also creating new opportunities and challenges to meet duty of care and standard of care obligations. This paper reports on the materials used in a special session designed for elected officials and managers who are responsible for: a) deciding the geographic information content of duty of care and standard of care documents (e.g., laws, by-laws, policies, plans, programs, budgets, manuals); b) directing professional and technical personnel who provide the information (e.g., data, studies, files, records, maps, surveys, and reports) needed to ensure that legal and other duty of care and standard of care obligations are achieved; and c) approving the budget and work program envelopes containing the GIS technology and applications capabilities. The presentation was given at the 2010 GIS-PRO Conference, Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (urisa.org).
EMAM 2Saud EmamKevin SchmaltzME176-001 10 February 20.docxjoyjonna282
EMAM 2
Saud Emam
Kevin Schmaltz
ME176-001
10 February 2015 2013
Restoring and Improving Urban Infrastructure
Engineers all over the globe are actively involved in the looking for solutions to grand problems that are facing the world today. One of the major problems that is affecting the energy use and sustainability of natural resources is how to restore and improve urban infrastructure. Infrastructure such as water and sewer systems, road and rail network, power transmission and natural gas grid systems are fundamental in supporting the daily activities of a society. However, a problem with this infrastructure system is that it is aging and endangering the life of the ever rising urban population. Furthermore, infrastructural problems have continued to hinder growth and to allow for expansion of productive areas in major cities due to their imminent danger if tampered with. Sewer and waste collection system have exposed the lives of the residents to poisonous gases and heavy metal contamination due to leakages that happen because of broken pipes and poor disposal. Moreover, urban infrastructure is under pressure for reforms due to the changing way of life. Roads, rail and air transport system have been overwhelmed by the increasing number of clients hence making the system to be slow. Mega cities with population exceeding 10 million people are the worst affected of all with engineers facing an uphill task to provide urgent solutions. The National Academy of Engineering believes that engineers should put their knowledge and skill together and come up with sustainable solutions to solve these challenges.
Engineers of all nature Mechanical, Structural, Electrical, Software and Atomic engineers are called upon to work together and come up with immediate solution to Restore and improve urban infrastructure. Structural and software engineers should embark on robust project to find out the problems that are facing the infrastructure in our urban areas. Furthermore, they should endeavor to draw a master plan of the future infrastructural development that will be flexible and safe for the urban population. The master plan should include a transport hub and efficient sewer and water system that are environmental friendly.
Among the disciplines, mechanical engineers will contribute heavily to the solution in tackling the infrastructural problem with an aim to restore and improve urban infrastructure. Mechanical engineers like me will be tasked with designing and manufacture of machines and devices that will be needed in renovating, changing and even demolishing old infrastructure system so that a new system can be laid without affecting the peace and stability of the people in the cities. Furthermore, mechanical engineers have the uphill task to create processes and transport systems that work efficiently and pose little or no dangers to the urban residents.
In conclusion, mechanical engineers like me will be actively involved in designing new en ...
IoT-based air quality monitoring systems for smart cities: A systematic mappi...IJECEIAES
The increased level of air pollution in big cities has become a major concern for several organizations and authorities because of the risk it represents to human health. In this context, the technology has become a very useful tool in the contamination monitoring and the possible mitigation of its impact. Particularly, there are different proposals using the internet of things (IoT) paradigm that use interconnected sensors in order to measure different pollutants. In this paper, we develop a systematic mapping study defined by a five-step methodology to identify and analyze the research status in terms of IoT-based air pollution monitoring systems for smart cities. The study includes 55 proposals, some of which have been implemented in a real environment. We analyze and compare these proposals in terms of different parameters defined in the mapping and highlight some challenges for air quality monitoring systems implementation into the smart city context.
My three-essay dissertation investigates recent practices of participatory infrastructure monitoring and their implications for the governance of urban infrastructure services. By introducing the concept of infrastructure legibility, the three essays of this dissertation explore ways to make waste systems and their governance more legible: its formal structure, its informal practices, interactions between the user and the provider, the individual and the system.
Part 1: Putting matter in place – monitoring waste transportation
Part 2: Tacit arrangements – data reporting challenges for recycling cooperatives in Brazil
Part 3: Infrastructure Legibility – a comparative analysis of open311-based citizen feedback systems
READING LIST: USING A RETROSPECTIVE APPROACH TO MINE THE LITERATURE FOR GIS A...Barry Wellar
Four bodies of pertinent readings are identified for the purposes of the Applied Research Seminar, Mining U.S. Federal Agency Materials for GIS Nuggets, 2016 Esri Federal User Conference, February 24-26, Washington, DC
First and foremost are the papers prepared for AutoCarto Six Retrospective (section A), which set out many of the concepts, ideas, needs, challenges and opportunities, as well as principles and practices that underlie the evolution of GIS technology and GIScience methodology.
The second body of publications is the papers and slide presentations prepared for the Colloquium on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets (section B1 and section B2, respectively), and the third body (section C) consists of the articles about GIS retrospective project activities published in the International Journal of Geospatial Research (IJAGR).
Finally, a preliminary list of publications (section D) from various academic, government, professional organization, and other sources has been compiled to supplement the AutoCarto Six Retrospective papers, and the colloquium productions. More references will be identified in the coming months, and the current reading list dated August 31, 2015 will be amended accordingly.
The intention is to suggest readings which could be instructive for a wide range of attendees. Our approach at this stage in view of resource constraints, as well as uncertainty about the backgrounds of seminar attendees, is to be indicative and illustrative rather than comprehensive and directive.
80+ HOCKEY HALL of FAME/TEMPLE de la RENOMMÉE du HOCKEY 80+ PRESENTED TO ROTA...Barry Wellar
80+ HOCKEY HALL of FAME/TEMPLE de la RENOMMÉE du HOCKEY 80+
PRESENTED TO ROTARY CLUB OF WEST OTTAWA, JUNE 16, 2015
BARRY WELLAR, BOARD OF DIRECTORS
80+ HOCKEY HALL of FAME/TEMPLE de la RENOMMÉE du HOCKEY 80+
wellarb@uottawa.ca
Speed Limits and Road Safety: Examples of Questions to Ask to Ensure the Safe...Barry Wellar
The topic of speed limits and road safety has been around since the advent of the automobile and the topic still brings heated debate, usually along the lines of increasing speed limits to accommodate private motor vehicle operators. In these remarks for a panel discussion at the Ottawa Centre Community Summit on Speed Limits and Road Safety, I present a total of 20 questions which I believe provide a considerable amount of thought for citizens, community associations, advocacy groups, public interest groups, elected and appointed government officials, lawyers, academics, and others who seek actionable suggestions on how to ensure that whatever decisions are made about speed limits and road safety, those decisions have all due regard for the safety of pedestrians, and especially children, persons with disabilities, and seniors, who are among the most vulnerable of road users.
The Walking Security Index (WSI) project was approved in 1994 as an element of the Transportation Environment Action Plan (TEAP) of the Region of Ottawa-Carleton (changed to City of Ottawa in 2000) and the Walking Security Index (Final Report) was published in 1998. The Walking Security Index Pilot Study project was launched in 2000 and completed in 2002 One of the goals of TEAP was to encourage more trips by walking, and the primary mission of the WSI project was to design indexes which measure the levels of safety, comfort and convenience expected and experienced by pedestrians at intersections. The thesis of the WSI research was that indexes could be designed that provide scores on the performance of intersections from the perspective of safety, comfort, and convenience of pedestrians, and the scores could be arranged in rank order. Then, for public safety, quality of life, engineering, traffic, enforcement, maintenance, modification, health, or other purposes, the scores could be used to identify needed corrective actions at intersections rated from best to worst, o
GIS: Bringing Geography to the World & the World to Geography; Slide Presenta...Barry Wellar
The slide presentation for GIS: Bringing Geography to the World & the World to Geography, demonstrates the theme that GIS Day is a special occasion, whereby we express what we are thinking and doing in our GIS research, education, training, and applications activities. And, it is also is a time to set forth what we wish others would think about and do, such as providing answers to the question: “What contribution is Geography making to support and encourage the development and use of GIS technology and GIScience methods, techniques, and operations by governments, NGOs, business, researchers, academe, the media, and interest groups?” The impending Research Colloquium on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets is one such contribution by Geography to GIS. This GIS Day 2014 presentation includes a selection of figures and tables from several Colloquium papers which illustrate how Geography can contribute to both parts of the title, that is, GIS: Bringing Geography to the World and, GIS: Bringing the World to Geography.
Searching for GIS Nuggets: Mining Annual Reports by Canada’s Commissioner of ...Barry Wellar
The 2015 Retrospective Research Colloquium is designed in conjunction with plans for the follow-on 2016 Conference on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets. The focus of the Research Colloquium is on presentations which discuss why and how different kinds of literature and other sources could be mined for GIS nuggets serving one or more of the following missions: M1. Designing and developing geographic information systems technology; M2. Defining and elaborating geographic information science; and, M3. Using geographic information systems technology and/or geographic information science The Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD) is a Government of Canada oversight agency. CESD reviews and evaluates federal department and agency progress in developing and implementing strategies to serve and promote sustainable development (which applies to both the built and the natural environments); and, CESD also oversees the environmental petitions process involving citizens. This paper discusses CESD’s mandate, its annual Reports to Parliament, and the focus of the Reports on the importance of information which is to be collected and processed by federal departments and agencies, and then used to monitor and analyze environmental and sustainable situations and processes, as well as to direct and support policy, program, and strategy decisions, and to communicate with citizens on environmental and sustainable development challenges, opportunities, issues, options, and initiatives. The paper concludes that CESD Reports to Parliament are an important body of literature to be mined for GIS nuggets.
Abuse v. Care of Land, Water, and Air, 1990-2015: The Doomsday Map Concept a...Barry Wellar
The 2015 Retrospective Research Colloquium is designed in conjunction with plans for the follow-on 2016 Conference on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets. The focus of the Research Colloquium is on presentations which discuss why and how different kinds of literature and other sources could be mined for GIS nuggets serving one or more of the following missions: M1. Designing and developing geographic information systems technology; M2. Defining and elaborating geographic information science; and, M3. Using geographic information systems technology and/or geographic information science. This paper encourages and supports mining the popular literature – newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and all other forms of media – for GIS nuggets, that is, GIS findings which serve three related functions: designing and developing geographic information systems technology; defining and elaborating geographic information science; and, using geographic information systems technology and geographic information science. Organized around the concepts of the Doomsday Map and the Stewardship Map, media articles on the abuse versus care of land, water, and air resources over the 25 years between 1990 and 2015 provide the basis for questions to guide retrospectively mining for GIS nuggets: Who caused the change from abuse to care to occur, or not? What caused the change from abuse to care to occur, or not? Why did the change from abuse to care occur, or not? When did the change from abuse to care occur, or not? Where did the change occur, or not? How did the change occur, or not? And, for each of those questions, Was GIS a factor? Media reports confirm that it is critically important to retrospectively mine this body of literature for GIS nuggets, and provide suggestions about how the mining process could be designed.
GIS: Bringing Geography to the World & the World to GeographyBarry Wellar
GIS Day is a special occasion, whereby we express what we are thinking and doing in our GIS research, education, training, and applications activities. And, it is also is a time to set forth what we wish others would think about and do, such as providing answers to the question: “What contribution is Geography making to support and encourage the development and use of GIS technology and GIScience methods, techniques, and operations by governments, NGOs, business, researchers, academe, the media, and interest groups?” The impending Research Colloquium on Using the Retrospective Approach to Mine for GIS Nuggets is one such contribution by Geography to GIS. This GIS Day 2014 presentation includes a selection of figures and tables from several Colloquium papers which illustrate how Geography can contribute to both parts of the title, that is, GIS: Bringing Geography to the World and, GIS: Bringing the World to Geography.
The focus of this report is on passenger rail safety and freight rail safety for two primary reasons. First, and as illustrated by numerous, recent media items – editorials, columns, interviews, articles, programs, news specials, letters to editors, etc., – there continues to be widespread concern about the need to correct weaknesses, shortcomings, defects, flaws, and so on that are negatively affecting the safe movement of rail passenger and rail freight traffic in Canada (as well as in the U.S. and in other countries). Moreover, the media items frequently raise questions about the causes of rail safety situations or incidents that are deemed to be in urgent need of answers from governments (elected and appointed officials) at all levels, as well as from private sector corporate entities. And the second reason it is the flip side of the first. That is, due to policies, motives, practices, procedures, etc., specific to government agencies and officials, or to private sector corporate entities and officers, it is often very difficult or impossible to obtain the data, information or other productions necessary and sufficient to derive evidence-based comments, directives, or opinions about rail safety matters for media or for advisory purposes. This paper addresses both sides of the rail safety situation by presenting five core questions which can be used by lawyers, earnest elected officials, earnest professional staff, rail safety advocates, opposition political parties, candidates for political office, rail incident victims, and the media to pursue legal, political, operational, and other remedies to resolve rail safety problems and challenges, to significantly improve public access to pertinent, timely, and comprehensive rail safety data, information, and other productions, and to ensure full access to the people and methods behind the decisions which affect passenger rail and freight rail safety. The five core questions are: How have the priorities that governments (including crown corporations) and private sector entities assigned to duty of care obligations, standard of care practices, and risk management targets affected passenger rail safety, and freight rail safety, respectively, in Canada? How has urban encroachment as a result of planning and/or development decisions by municipal and provincial governments, and property developers, compromised rail safety? How has physical conflict between trains and trains, and trains and other modes of ground-based transport, compromised rail safety? How have passenger rail safety and freight rail safety been factored into transportation funding decisions by federal, provincial, and municipal governments? How have geographic information systems (GIS) technology and science assisted rail carriers and government departments or agencies make better passenger rail safety and freight rail safety decisions?
AutoCarto Six Retrospective is a commemorative book that celebrates the Sixth International Symposium on Automated Cartography, which was held 30 years ago in Ottawa, Canada in 1983. The AC Six Symposium is considered one of the most influential conferences behind the origins, development, and growth of automated cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, geomatics, and related fields. The retrospective production was designed and edited by Barry Wellar, Professor Emeritus, University of Ottawa, and currently owner and principal of Wellar Consulting Inc. and President, Information Research Board Inc. He was the Director of the Technical Program for AutoCarto Six, and editor of the 1100-page symposium proceedings which is available online at various websites. AutoCarto Six Retrospective includes an Introduction by Jack Dangermond, President, Esri, a paper by Barry Wellar on the design of a retrospective project and book, and 29 papers in which authors look back at the papers they presented on the theme, “Automated Cartography: International Perspectives on Achievements and Challenges”. The terms of reference used to design the retrospective papers include: Reason for 1983 paper; Thoughts shaping the design of the 1983 paper; Derivative attributions; Original contributions; Impacts; What was new in the 1983 paper; and, What was different in the 1983 paper. AutoCarto Six Retrospective is published by Information Research Board Inc.
The Walking Security Index (WSI) project was approved in 1994 as an element of the Transportation Environment Action Plan (TEAP) of the Region of Ottawa-Carleton (now the City of Ottawa), and received funding in 1996. The Walking Security Index (Final Report) was published in 1998. One of the goals of TEAP was to encourage more trips by walking, and the primary mission of the WSI project was to design indexes which measure the levels of safety, comfort and convenience expected and experienced by pedestrians at intersections. The thesis of the WSI research was that indexes could be designed that provide numeric scores on the performance of intersections from the perspective of safety, comfort, and convenience of pedestrians, and the scores could be arranged in rank order. Then, for public safety, quality of life, engineering, traffic, enforcement, maintenance, infrastructure modification, health, or other purposes, the scores could be used to identify needed corrective actions at intersections rated from best to worst, or at problematic intersection quadrants, and the rankings would provide elected officials and Region/City management and staff with information for prioritizing remedial actions. More than 50 publications have been authored or co-authored by the principal investigator to describe the research design and findings of the WSI methodology, including the specification of 10 indexes grouped into three domains -- intersection volume and design, quality of intersection condition, and driver behaviour. The Walking Security Index project reports, findings, and expertise of the principal investigator have been accepted for expert witness opinions and testimony in more than a dozen legal actions involving pedestrians, motor vehicle operators, municipal governments, insurance companies, and school boards. The print run of more than 400 copies of Walking Security Index was exhausted some years ago, and I have been informed on a number of occasions by interested parties such as researchers, lawyers, public safety advocates, community groups, academics, and students that access to a digital production has not been provided or maintained by the City of Ottawa. That shortcoming is addressed by p0osting this digital production. A digital production will also be prepared for the final report of the follow-on project, Walking Security Index Pilot Study, and it too will be posted to ensure digital access.
What's behind the nonsense about traffic gridlockBarry Wellar
This article was prepared for news media, popular literature, list serve, social media, academic and association websites, and other means of communicating with the general public in Canada and abroad. As demonstrated in previous reports, and without exception to date, claims about traffic gridlock in sources such as news media stories, government documents, board of trade releases, vested interest productions, as well as announcements and pronouncements by politicians are unsupported by substantive, empirical evidence. This article is a commentary urging ordinary citizens to reject the gridlock nonsense and its agents or lobbyists, and to insist upon and participate in national, regional, and local education programs to better understand and appreciate both the positive and the negative aspects of traffic congestion. Previous reports on my recent gridlock-related research include Tracking the Motives behind the Phony War on “Traffic Gridlock; Traffic Gridlock: A Bad, Mis-Leading Metaphor that Makes for Bad, Mis-Directed Public Policy; Traffic Gridlock: The Real Deal or a Pile of Nonsense? ; and Inspiring a Sustainability Action Agenda . These and other, related productions can be viewed at various websites including, transport2000.ca/; wellar.ca/wellarconsulting/; slideshare.net/wellarb/documents; and urbanneighbourhoods.wordpress.com/.
Traffic Gridlock: A Bad, Mis-Leading Metaphor that Makes for Bad, Mis-Directe...Barry Wellar
In a previous publication, Traffic Gridlock: The Real Deal or a Pile of Nonsense?, I reported on a study which applied several research procedures to examine media stories and Google search items containing the terms “traffic gridlock” or “gridlock” implying traffic gridlock. The objective was to ascertain whether the media stories and Google items establish that traffic gridlock is a real deal matter, or whether the stories and items contribute to a pile of nonsense. The finding was that 99% of the stories and items belong in the nonsense pile.
And therein lies a puzzle: How is it that “traffic gridlock” enjoys considerable media and Google popularity, but little to no evidence demonstrating the occurrence of “traffic gridlock” accompanies the vast majority of stories and Google entries? In this report I explore one possible explanation, and the associated implication for public policy. That is, traffic gridlock” is a bad, mis-leading metaphor which has been accepted and promulgated by some parties as a truth for which no proof exists and none is needed. And, the associated cause-effect relationship that I comment on is that a bad, mis-leading metaphor is a bad, mis-directed basis for setting public policy.
To support this explanation I introduce the good metaphor “traffic blockage”, and use it as a means to discredit and dismiss the traffic gridlock metaphor which I believe erroneously distorts understanding the role of motor vehicle congestion in urban places, and obscures/confounds the appropriate ways and means of considering and addressing urban motor vehicle congestion. And, as per the initial paper, an invitation is extended to anyone who has traffic gridlock evidence: please call it to my attention at the earliest so that I can adjust my thinking and revise my papers.
Transportation: Inspiring a Sustainability Action AgendaBarry Wellar
The slides in this presentation are for of a keynote address at the 2011 Sustainable Community Summit, Ottawa, Canada. My assignment is “To promote and guide discussion into the barriers and solutions associated with achieving the transportation element of a sustainable community.” As context for the discussion of barriers and solutions to achieving sustainable transport, I begin by explaining why I use “Inspire” in the title. I then list a dozen of my reports in which I examined various issues associated with sustainable transport, and another set of reports in which I previously discussed barriers and solutions to achieving sustainable transport in the City of Ottawa. The final context remark is to remind/inform attendees, and viewers of this presentation, of the ten reports from the project, Methodologies for Identifying and Ranking Sustainable Transport Practices in Urban Regions, which was undertaken for Transport Canada in 2008-2009. Emphasis then turns to two conditions which must be met in order to achieve the transportation component of a sustainable community. First, simultaneously reduce the number of trips made by private motor vehicles, and increase the number of trips made by walking, cycling, and transit. And second, actions are explicitly designed and methodologically implemented to increase transportation system flexibility. The presentation is concluded by a number of slides illustrating how the sustainability of a transportation system is determined by the combinations of transportation system outputs that are demanded by citizens, businesses, and government agencies, and the modes of transportation used by citizens, businesses, and governments to achieve those outputs. In the open forum to follow the presentation, Summit attendees will be asked for words of wisdom, guidance, and motivation to INSPIRE a sustainable transportation transformation across Ottawa, Ontario, and beyond.
Through policies, promises, pronouncements, agreements, advertisements, endorsements, pledges, and related statements, municipal governments endorse, support, exhort, encourage, promote, call for, and otherwise demonstrate a municipal “interest” in the use by pedestrians of such public transportation facilities as sidewalks, paths, bridges, roads, streets, highways, intersections, and crosswalks. However, during the course of using these facilities, pedestrians may be injured or even killed. The questions arise, therefore, as to: A) Whether failures by municipal governments to meet duty of care or standard of care obligations affecting pedestrians contributed to events causing the injuries or deaths; and B) Whether it may be appropriate to initiate legal action to seek redress. This presentation includes the following materials which may be instructive for pedestrians, pedestrians’ advocacy groups, and persons acting on behalf of pedestrians, who are giving consideration to playing the legal card: 1) An illustrative list of municipal and provincial documents with a legal aspect pertaining to pedestrians;2) Parameters of burden of care that
have been and are matters of political, social, methodological, and legal contention; 3) Municipal duty of care and standard of care materials and functions that have, could have, or should have implications for pedestrians; 4) Deaths, injuries, and other costs of burden of care failures that affect pedestrians – Results from newspaper searches done more than TEN years ago; 5) Basics of a duty of care/standard of care action? Simple arithmetic test; 6) Burden of care questions that are central to examination for discovery, expert witness reports, and evidence-in-chief and cross-examination activities: 7) Dealing with municipal failure to meet duty of care and standard of care obligations affecting pedestrians – Still want to play the legal card? The presentation is concluded by a selection of online materials dealing with various aspects of the duty of care and standard of care parameters examined during the Walking Security Index project, 1995-2002, and subsequent projects.
Geography Awareness Week 2010 and GIS Day 2010 CompetitionsBarry Wellar
Prior to 2010, the Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, hosted a poster competition among undergraduate and graduate students for GIS Day. In 2010, maps and photographs are added to include additional ways of representing geographic phenomena, and the competition is expanded to combine GIS Day with Geography Awareness Week. To assist in judging the entries, guidelines for evaluating maps, photographs, and posters were prepared by Barry Wellar, Professor Emeritus, University of Ottawa, and Past Chair, Geography Awareness Week, Canadian Association of Geographers. Initial responses to the guidelines by judges, faculty, and students suggest that the guidelines are very effective as a means to efficiently and fairly evaluate large numbers of geography-related exhibits in a short span of time, and are also useful as design frameworks and checklists for course outlines, research projects, publications, and term assignments.
The slides in this presentation are from the closing plenary of the 2010 GIS-PRO conference sponsored by the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA). The assigned task for the closing plenary remarks is to challenge GIS professionals to excel. I do so by recalling a selection of challenges from a previous, invited address that have not yet been met, by raising the bar on some of the leading applied research initiatives at URISA 2009 and 2010 conferences, and by recalling several outstanding sources of documentation that are required reading for anyone who wants to or claims to excel in the application of geographic information systems (GIS). The slides are discussed in detail in the paper which is published in the conference proceedings (URISA.com).
STANDARD OF CARE AND E-DEMOCRACY INITIATIVES: LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY IMPACTS
1. STANDARD OF CARE AND
E-DEMOCRACY INITIATIVES:
POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE IMPACTS
Dr. Barry Wellar
Professor Emeritus, University of Ottawa
Principal, Wellar Consulting Inc.
President, Information Research Board Inc.
613-727-3483
wellarb@uottawa.ca
http://www.wellar.ca/wellarconsulting/
Text reprinted from
Proceedings, GIS-Pro 2012:
URISA’s 50th Annual Conference for
GIS Professionals
Pages 392-401
2. Dr. Barry Wellar
Professor Emeritus, University of Ottawa
Principal, Wellar Consulting Inc.
President, Information Research Board Inc.
613-727-3483
wellarb@uottawa.ca
http://www.wellar.ca/wellarconsulting/
STANDARD OF CARE AND E-DEMOCRACY INITIATIVES:
POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE IMPACTS
Abstract. This presentation summarizes the core arguments in the two
standard of care papers given by Wellar (Wellar, 2010a, 2010b) at the
2010 URISA conference, and then discusses some of the policy and
legislative impacts arising from and feeding into the fusion of GIS and e-
democracy infrastructure and activities. The presentation should be of
particular interest to: 1) elected and appointed members of the
executive function responsible for incorporating standard of care
obligations into the policies and legislative materials of local,
provincial/state, and federal governments; and 2) managers and GISPs
responsible for designing and implementing a GIS-based, e-democracy
capability that achieves enterprise-wide inter-connectivity between duty
of care and standard of care obligations and the modifications to
policies or legislative documents and procedures that pertain to those
care obligations.
INTRODUCTION
The background for this paper is provided by the Session Description which is posted
on the URISA website, and is published in the conference program.
Barry Wellar’s presentation at the 2010 GIS-Pro Conference introduced
the topic of governments using GIS to meet duty of care/standard of
care obligations. During the 2011 GIS-Pro Conference, Sean McGrath
reported on e-democracy activities designed to streamline the
legislative process, reduce the paper burden, and significantly improve
information exchanges between elected officials and citizens. This
panel session builds on those foundations by discussing how
information technology is modernizing the legislative process in different
jurisdictions, how the availability of GIS is increasing the onus on
governments to explicitly build GIS into their standard of care
3. capabilities, and how e-democracy principles and practices are
emerging as a core element of enterprise-wide computer-based
communications systems in governments.
The materials which follow are based on the slides used in my 2012 GIS-PRO
presentation. I begin by re-visiting several tables from the 2010 papers (Wellar 2010a,
2010b), which were initial contributions to the URISA dialogue on standard of care and
GIS. Then, I outline the responsibilities of the executive function (elected and appointed
officials) in building a GIS capability that meets tests for achieving standard of care and,
ultimately, duty of care obligations.
(NOTE: Readers wishing to know about the duty of care and standard of care
distinctions and relationships are referred to the earlier papers for details and additional
references. For the purposes of this paper it may suffice to state that duty of care refers
to the obligations of governments towards citizens and corporate entities, and standard
of care refers to the effort made to achieve those obligations and, in particular, whether
the effort made is reasonable under the circumstances. As indicated by the title,
emphasis in this paper is on standard of care (the means) rather than duty of care (the
ends). However, since there is an intimate relationship between duty of care and
standard of care, I frequently refer to both of the care aspects because changes in one
can lead to changes in the other.)
With the basic parameters in place, I present an illustrative selection of policy and
legislative impacts associated the policy and legislative impacts arising from and
feeding into the fusion of GIS and e-democracy infrastructure and activities.
While I acknowledge that there could be other catalysts behind such a fusion process, it
is my experience that standard of care is a domain which is equally important to
governments, citizens, and corporations. As a result, I suggest that governments,
citizens, and corporations are likely to be equally motivated to have the fusion process
proceed with standard of care serving as a pre-eminent fusion driver.
However, since a generic approach is being taken in suggesting policy and legislative
impacts, the domain of choice could be other than standard of care with little or no loss
of generality. As for the other domains that warrant consideration as fusion drivers,
dozens of them are suggested in this paper, and many more dozens are suggested in
Foundations of Urban and Regional Information Systems and Geographic Information
Systems and Science (Wellar, 2012).
And, as a final introductory remark, my session task in part is to set the table for
presentations which are discussing various e-democracy R&D initiatives that are in
process or under consideration. The emphasis on standard of care provides a
substantive rationale or “hook” for jurisdictions already in the e-democracy design
phase, as well as for those beginning to explore the operational aspects of e-democracy
and/or the fusion of GIS and e-democracy infrastructure and activities.
4. CONNECTING DUTY OF CARE AND STANDARD OF CARE ITEMS AND GIS
APPLICATIONS
In the first of two duty of care/standard of care presentations at the 2010 URISA GIS-
PRO conference, I suggested a number of duty of care and standard of care materials
and functions which are, could be, or should be the basis of GIS applications (Wellar,
2010a). The indicative list of materials and functions is presented in Table 1.
There are numerous other pertinent materials and functions to be added to Table 1, and
I welcome seeing the present list expanded by contributions from municipal, provincial,
state, and federal agencies, respectively. It is my expectation that the number of add-
ons from each level of government will be large and diverse, and I suggest that URISA
find a partnering association to take the lead in compiling the expanded lists of materials
and functions.
TABLE 1. PUBLIC AGENCY DUTY OF CARE/STANDARD OF
CARE MATERIALS AND FUNCTIONS THAT DO HAVE,
COULD HAVE, OR SHOULD HAVE GIS APPLICATIONS:
AN INDICATIVE LISTING
Address files Maps/mapping
Air pollution alerts Motor vehicle collision reports
Building demolitions Noise studies
Building permits Pandemic alerts
By-laws Pedestrian slip-and-fall events
Censuses Pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions
Crimes against people reports Performance measure reports
Crimes against property reports Plan amendments
Cyclist collision reports Plans – Comprehensive
Development approvals Plans – General
Emergency measures Plans – Official
Emergency vehicle reports Plans of subdivision
Engineering reports Property assessment files
Environmental assessments Public safety programs
Fire reports Public safety reports
Flood reports Restaurant inspection reports
Forest/tree inventories Rezoning applications
Green space inventories Risk analyses
Habitat inventories Road signage
Hazards reports Road widenings
Health alerts Seismic studies
Heritage property files Surveys/surveying
Impact assessments Toxic waste facility hearings
Infrastructure reviews Traffic counts
Intersection modifications Traffic police assignments
Inspection reports Transit routing
Maintenance of bike path reports Urban impact assessments
Maintenance of parks reports Utility corridors
Maintenance of public housing reports Water quality reporting
Maintenance of roadways reports Water supply analysis
Maintenance of sidewalks reports Zoning approvals
5. CONNECTING DUTY OF CARE AND STANDARD OF CARE FAILURES AND
EXECUTIVE IMPLICATIONS
Duty of care and standard of care failures come with consequences that affect the
individuals and entities experiencing the failures, as well as consequences that afflict
those responsible for the failures due to errors of omission or commission. Table 2 uses
a number of media headlines to illustrate a variety of duty of care and standard of care
failures, all of which have implications for the executives – elected and appointed – who
are ultimately accountable for the failures which are named in or can be adduced from
the headlines or the stories elaborating the headlines.
The headlines in Table 2 are illustrative of the 200-300 duty of care and standard of
care stories that I can assemble in 3-5 hours of electronically searching media outlets. It
is likely that people who are good at keyword searching, and have more tech savvy,
could likely get similar results in less than an hour. I strongly encourage such searches,
and look forward to being apprised of the results. Again, it is emphasized that the
current listing is illustrative, and that there are numerous other pertinent headlines to be
added to Table 2.
Further, and very importantly, it is timely at this point in the paper to explicitly recognize
the significance of the term “democracy”, which is at the heart of e-democracy
infrastructure and services. That is, and consistent with URISA’s “showing by example”
over the past 50 years, e-democracy is all about sharing data, information, and
knowledge, and towards that end a very instructive and perhaps invaluable service
could be provided by creating and maintaining a repository of fully-sourced media items
reporting on duty of care and standard of care failures and any associated actions.
TABLE 2. DEATHS, INJURIES AND OTHER COSTS OF STANDARD OF
CARE FAILURES? CHECK YOUR NEWS SOURCES!
“New cap for leaky well – Torrent of oil released as smaller cap is removed”
“Oil giant changes face – Next BP head says he’ll put safety first
“Heavy trucks need side mirrors to prevent more deaths”
“Chemical plant does not belong in residential area”
"Roads scholar takes stand for pedestrian safety"
“Board faces lawsuit over bullying”
“Mayor: Flood fix priority for city”
“Flood victims want solution”
“Taxpayers want answers for sewage spill”
“Death of elderly woman puts dangerous stretch of road in context”
‘District did not post contaminated water alert”
“Police action in Toronto worrisome”
“The road to anarchy”
“Top doc gives city a heads-up on helmet use”
“Bike lanes would boost tourism, increase safety”
“Collision – Stop sign obscured by tree”
6. TABLE 2. DEATHS, INJURIES AND OTHER COSTS OF STANDARD OF
CARE FAILURES? CHECK YOUR NEWS SOURCES! (CONTINUED)
“City health inspectors miss fast food strip”
“Drinking water safety push”
“Ice-covered road blamed for multi-vehicle crash”
“Smog warning not issued”
“Mudslide was predictable”
“Fatal crash stokes up cellphone debate”
“Wetland feud heats up at city hall”
“They tore down a heritage building – were all city staff asleep?”
“Notification missed 150 affected homes”
“Washed-out shoulder causes roll-over”
“Transport and highway designs need overhaul”
“Urban sprawl – Other cities show us the dangers of uncontrolled development”
“Gross misuse of scarce water”
“Totally wrong place for a playground”
“Protesters rip expanded landfill plan”
“Broken sidewalk causes broken leg, city sued”
“Bridge collapses, investigation begins”
“Development on flood plain big mistake”
“PG&E ignored gaps in data, engineer says”
“A life short changed: Dad of student killed in blast wants inquest,
not a financial slap on the wrist for board”
‘Riverside-Hunt Club No. 1 with a bang – Busy intersection remains
atop list of collision sites in 2011”
“Deadly level crossings”
CONNECTING DUTY OF CARE AND STANDARD OF CARE ITEMS IN TABLE 1
AND THE MEDIA HEADLINES IN TABLE 2
The connection between Table 1 and Table 2 is likely self-evident to many readers, so
brevity is in order here. Put simply, when duty of care and standard of care obligations
associated with the materials and functions such as those in Table 1 are not met to a
reasonable degree, then headlines such as those in Table 2 arise to afflict elected and
appointed officials legally, politically, financially, professionally, criminally, and so on.
EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR BUILDING A GIS CAPABILITY THAT MEETS
TESTS FOR ACHIEVING DUTY OF CARE AND STANDARD OF CARE
OBLIGATIONS
Numerous URISA publications over the past near-fifty years have discussed in detail
the roles and responsibilities of executives (elected and appointed) in the design,
development, implementation, and use of information systems in general, and a variety
of sub-systems or standalone systems in particular, including:
7. CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Systems)
EDIS (Economic Development Information Systems)
EIS (Environmental Information Systems)
FIS (Financial Information Systems)
HIN (Health information Network)
HIS (Housing Information Systems)
GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
LIS (Land Information Systems)
MIS (Management Information Systems)
PAIS (Property Assessment Information Systems)
PIS (Planning Information Systems)
PPIS (Public Participation Information Systems)
PSIS (Public Safety Information Systems)
TIS (Transportation Information Systems)
W/WIS (Water/Wastewater Information Systems)
As a result, therefore, and by way of a “heads up”, when it comes to what is known,
what could be known, and what should be known about a wide range of information
systems and their associated capabilities, it is the wise expert who knows what the
URISA literature has to say on using any of the various information systems in differing
duty of care and standard of care situations.
A key point to emphasize here is that while the focus of the presentation and this paper
is on GIS (geographic information systems), the fact remains that when it comes to
matters involving duty of care and standard of care failure, one of the other sub-systems
or standalone systems could be a minor or major, partial or total, etc., contributor to that
failure.
Therefore, while Table 3 is limited in scope to the GIS capability, what is said about GIS
in Table 3 is largely applicable to any of the sub-systems or standalone systems that
are part of e-democracy infrastructure and activities.
TABLE 3. A SHORT LIST OF EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR
ENSURING THAT A GIS CAPABILITY MEETS
DUTY OF CARE AND STANDARD OF CARE OBLIGATIONS
1. Prepare staff in all units for an increasingly GIS-oriented work environment.
2. Prepare themselves and staff for standard of care situations in which the design,
development, and application of geographic information systems (GIS) are issues
in whether duty of care and standard of care obligations are met to a reasonable
degree.
3. Instruct staff in terms of the geographic information and associated
information needed to satisfy duty of care and standard of care obligations.
4. Approve the information content of duty of care and standard of care
documents (e.g., laws, by-laws, policies, plans, programs, budgets,
regulations, and manuals).
8. TABLE 3. A SHORT LIST OF EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR
ENSURING THAT A GIS CAPABILITY MEETS DUTY OF CARE AND
STANDARD OF CARE OBLIGATIONS (CONTINUED)
5. Direct professional staff who provide the information (e.g., data, studies,
files, records, maps, surveys, and reports) needed to ensure that legal and
other duty of care and standard of care obligations can be achieved.
6. Adopt budget and work program envelopes containing the GIS technology
and applications capabilities.
7. Provide the resources which are appropriate under the circumstances to
enable professional staff and technical staff to specify, acquire, process,
disseminate, and apply the geographic information and associated
information needed to satisfy standard of care and duty of care obligations
as they apply to all pertinent documents (e.g., laws, statutes, acts, by-laws,
policies, plans, programs, budgets, regulations, and manuals).
DESIGNING A GIS CAPABILITY TO MEET DUTY OF CARE AND STANDARD OF
CARE OBLIGATIONS WITHIN AN E-DEMOCRACY FRAMEWORK
My assignment for the session includes suggesting a selection of policy and legislative
impacts involving duty of care and standard of care obligations that arise from the fusion
of GIS and e-democracy (infrastructure and activities).
Building on work published in URISA proceedings, and most notably papers with Britton
Harris (Wellar and Harris, 1992) and Ralph Smith (Smith and Wellar, 1992) in Volume 5
of the 1992 conference proceedings, I use generic language in Table 4 and Table 5 to
indicate how the fusion of GIS and e-democracy affects policy and legislative processes
in governments.
Policy Impact
Stages or phases in the policy formation process have similarities and differences
among municipal, provincial, state, central and federal governments.
It is my experience, however, that there are core stages or phases involving a common
language among many jurisdictions, and a selection of those terms is presented in
Table 4.
Perhaps future papers will add to the stages or phases in Table 4, leading to a more
comprehensive listing of policy impacts arising from the fusion of GIS and e-democracy.
9. TABLE 4. A SELECTION OF POLICY IMPACTS ARISING FROM THE FUSION OF
GIS AND E-DEMOCRACY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACTIVITIES
1. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public on
identifying policy options involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
2. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public on
prioritizing policy options involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
3. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public on
prioritizing policy choices involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
4. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public on
adopting policy choices involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
5. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public on
implementing policy choices involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
6. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public on
evaluating policy choices involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
7. Opportunity to electronically inform and listen to the public on evaluating
policy options involving duty of care and standard of care obligations
Legislative Impact
The term “legislation is used in this paper to represent all statements or documents that
are officially adopted by municipal, provincial, state, federal, and central governments,
as well as any other forms or levels of government known to viewers in general and
URISA members in particular. Among such documents which are covered by the term
legislation are laws, statutes, acts, by-laws, policies, plans, programs, budgets,
regulations, and manuals), any which could directly or indirectly entail duty of care and
standard of care obligations.
It is my expectation that there are significant differences between the body of legislative
materials with which I am familiar, and the larger body of legislative materials known to
the URISA membership and viewers of this paper. I look forward to learning about
additional statements and documents which are being incorporated in e-democracy
initiatives.
And, it is my further expectation that there are a number of phases or stages in the
legislative process which are not included in Table 5. I look forward to learning about
these additional phases or stages in the legislative process which are being
incorporated in e-democracy initiatives.
10. TABLE 5. A SELECTION OF LEGISLATIVE IMPACTS ARISING FROM THE FUSION
OF GIS AND E-DEMOCRACY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACTIVITIES
1. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public
on amending legislation duty of care and standard of care obligations
2. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public
on revising legislation involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
3. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public
on introducing legislation involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
4. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public
on debating legislation involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
5. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public
on disseminating legislation involving duty of care and standard of
care obligations
6. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public
on accessing legislation involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
7. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public
on creating legislation involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
8. Opportunity to use GIS to electronically inform and listen to the public
on evaluating legislation involving duty of care and standard of care
obligations
CONCLUSION
Duty of care, standard of care, GIS, and e-democracy infrastructure and activities are
topics that have been discussed at numerous URISA conferences and in numerous
URISA publications over the years, but the session on Standard of Care and E-
Democracy Initiatives at the 2012 URISA GIS-PRO conference is the first time that the
topics are combined in one discussion.
The task of the initial paper in the session, “Standard of Care and E-Democracy
Initiatives: Policy and Legislative Impacts”, therefore, is to first outline the basic
connections which are in play, that is, standard of care Items and GIS applications, and
standard of care failures and executive implications. With two building blocks in place,
the paper then adds a third building block by summarizing the responsibilities of public
sector executives (elected and appointed) for building a GIS capability that meets tests
for achieving standard of care obligations.
Then, after putting the primary building blocks in place, the paper uses duty of care and
standard of care concerns and obligations as the “talking points” around which to
11. illustrate the policy and legislative impacts arising from the fusion of GIS and e-
democracy infrastructure and activities.
In closing, it is my impression that by combining duty of care and standard of care
considerations with the fusion of GIS and e-democracy infrastructure and activities, this
session is launching a significant course of thinking and action. I therefore suggest that
preparations begin now to document a story that will warrant serious consideration for
URISA’s sequel to the 2012 anniversary production, Foundations of Urban and
Regional Information Systems and Geographic Information Systems and Science.
REFERENCES
Smith, Ralph and Barry Wellar, 1992. A progress report on public policy objectives
achieved through IS/GIS/LIS. In IS/GIS/LIS in Public Policies, Plans and Programs:
Thirty Years in Perspective. Barry Wellar and Dan Parr eds. Washington. D.C.: Urban
and Regional Information Systems Association. 117-144.
Wellar, Barry, 2010a. GIS as a factor in standard of care decisions. In URISA 2010
Proceedings.
Wellar, Barry, 2010b. GIS and standard of care issues: Executive aspect. In URISA
2010 Proceedings.
Wellar, Barry, 2012. Foundations of Urban and Regional Information Systems and
Geographic Information Systems and Science. http://www.urisa.org/foundations
Wellar, Barry and Britton Harris. 1992. Information and knowledge bases for decision-
making: A progress report. In IS/GIS/LIS in Public Policies, Plans and Programs: Thirty
Years in Perspective. Barry Wellar and Dan Parr eds. Washington, D.C.: Urban and
Regional Information Systems Association. 85-105.