Alex Bradley, Haijiang Li, Honglei Qin, Wen Xi, Daniel Peel and Nicholas Nisbet
Defining building information modelling (BIM) standards for the infrastructure domain is a central issue to the successful implementation of BIM in civil engineering domains. To…
Abstract
Purpose
Defining building information modelling (BIM) standards for the infrastructure domain is a central issue to the successful implementation of BIM in civil engineering domains. To this end, this paper aims to present a requirements and process analysis for the ports and waterways domain to address the lack of BIM standards development, using the information delivery manual (IDM) approach and the ethos of openBIM standards.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses the IDM approach. This involves the definition of use cases, process maps, exchange scenarios and subsequent exchange requirements. All these developments were sourced and validated by a series of international industry consultations.
Findings
The paper identifies 30 domain relevant use cases collated from existing sources and new cases. An overview and detailed ports and waterways process map (defining actors, activities and data exchanges). The process maps highlighted 38 exchange scenarios between various activities. Various exchange requirements were defined and are discussed in the context of the required information exchange model and the extensions required to fulfil the needs of the domain. The analysis provides the core information for the next steps of development for a substantial extension to the Industry Foundation Classes and the supporting data dictionary standards.
Research limitations/implications
Because of the international scope of the research, the outcomes can be applied by any stakeholders in the domain of ports and waterways. Therefore, some variation is expected at a national and organizational level. This research has the potential to accelerate the adoption of openBIM standards within the ports and waterways domain leading to increases in efficiency, collaborative working.
Originality/value
This paper reviews the requirements of an identified gap in the provision of openBIM standards relevant and applicable to the domain of ports and waterways.
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Purpose
Although the handover stage is the key transition stage between the construction and operation, there is no critical overview of issues and research at the handover stage, hindering the achievement of sustainable development of buildings. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review the building handover-related issues and research in construction and facility management (FM) journals. The specific objectives of this study include: analyze the research trends and overview the handover-related publications; identify the major research topics on the handover of buildings; identify research gaps and propose future research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study opted for a four-step systematic review of papers from the well-known academic journals in the construction and FM respects.
Findings
The results first revealed the increasing research interest in the handover of buildings from the researchers. Moreover, the post-construction defects, poor information fidelity, poor interoperability between building information modeling (BIM) and FM technologies, and insufficient consideration of end users were identified as the most concerned challenges for a building handover. Furthermore, identifying and formalizing information requirements for handover, improving the handover process, and improving the interoperability between BIM and FM were solutions mostly emphasized by researchers.
Research limitations/implications
As the first systematic review of building handover-related issues and research, this study is the building block for future research on this topic. The findings provide guidance for researchers in the construction and FM research community, and help them form useful collaboration for future research opportunities and find future research directions.
Practical implications
The identified significant challenges and potential solutions for a building handover could assist practitioners in making rational decisions on developing or adopting relevant technologies, and reshaping their management patterns and working processes. Moreover, the findings could be severed as evidence for policymakers to initiate policies, such as documents e-submission and timely updating BIMs, to achieve the vision of model-based project delivery.
Originality/value
This study contributed to the body of knowledge of sustainable development by providing a new insight to tackle the hindrance to the smooth transition from the construction to the operation.
Details
Keywords
Peter Williams, Hamid R. Jamali and David Nicholas
To provide a review of the past studies on use of information and communications technology (ICT) for people with special education needs (SEN) to inform a major research project…
Abstract
Purpose
To provide a review of the past studies on use of information and communications technology (ICT) for people with special education needs (SEN) to inform a major research project on using ICT to facilitate self‐advocacy and learning for SEN learners.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review, encompassing academic journals indexed in education, information science and social sciences databases, books, grey literature (including much internet‐based material), and government reports. Information was gathered on the perceived benefits of ICT in SEN, and the use of some specific applications with people having various conditions. A number of usability studies, mainly Internet and web technologies, are also outlined.
Findings
Although the literature shows a great number of ICT initiatives for people with all kinds of disabilities, there has been a surprising lack of research into the usability of the various applications developed, and even less concerning those with learning difficulties. The review of existing literature indicates a lack of attention to the application of ICT for people with SEN, compared to the other groups of disabled people such as visually impaired.
Originality/value
Findings highlight the need for more research on usability aspects of current and potential applications of ICT for people with SEN.
Details
Keywords
This study analyzed the effects of the visibility and evaluation of universities in news media coverage on the development of their private and public third-party funds.
Abstract
Purpose
This study analyzed the effects of the visibility and evaluation of universities in news media coverage on the development of their private and public third-party funds.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses the concept of media reputation to investigate the effects of news media coverage on the outcome of funding decisions by firm managers and scientific experts. Extensive news media data from 2011 to 2017, collected with manual content analysis, were combined with economic data on Swiss universities.
Findings
The results show that a more positive evaluation in the news media leads to the positive development of private, but not public, third-party funding. Surprisingly, visibility in the news media has a negative effect on private third-party funding.
Research limitations/implications
The effects of media reputation are dependent on the stakeholders under review. However, this study's design does not yield evidence on direct causal effects. Further studies could, therefore, use surveys to analyze the decision-making processes of individuals regarding their relative dependency on news media consumption.
Practical implications
This study demonstrates that positive evaluation in the news media represents an asset for universities when striving for more private third-party funding. Public relations (PR) activities aimed at the news media, therefore, can help universities attract additional funding.
Social implications
The paper shows that in a digitized media environment, the news media still represent an important source for information about scientific organizations.
Originality/value
The study was the first to analyze the effects of media reputation on the third-party funding of universities.
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Details
Keywords
In The Great Derangement, the Indian writer Amitav Ghosh examines the present inability to understand and represent the scale and violence of the environmental crisis. The book is…
Abstract
In The Great Derangement, the Indian writer Amitav Ghosh examines the present inability to understand and represent the scale and violence of the environmental crisis. The book is a passionate awakening call for collective action to drive change, with Ghosh clearly identifying the limits of the present framework of values, which inhibits politicians, industrialists and economists from moving towards a truly sustainable civilization. In the Anthropocene, non-human and post-human factors are raising questions about the concept of a silent Nature that can be domesticated for human advantage and the perspective of continuous progress – both of which have dominated the modern age. Nevertheless, the detailed scientific analysis of the violation of the planet’s limited capacities continues to be refuted, triggering irrational, short-term utilitarian behaviours which are preventing the fundamental changes required for the transition to sustainable development. Artists, philosophers and writers can play an invaluable role in reframing our ways of thinking, filling the gap between scientific knowledge and emotional perception. Pioneering artistic experiments are appearing all over the world, from both well-established and emerging artists, and through collective processes, and this cultural movement is setting the scene for a new wave of eco-entrepreneurs driven by the altruistic mission of saving the planet. As has happened in many previous crises, it is again in the hands of artists to redefine how we perceive ourselves and so to support the emergence of new ideas, new learning, and finally to shape society and the economy around a renewed sense of the future for humankind on Earth.
Details
Keywords
Most people would agree that smoking, especially of cigarettes, is a closely ingrained habit in great masses of the British people, as indeed it is in most other parts of the…
Abstract
Most people would agree that smoking, especially of cigarettes, is a closely ingrained habit in great masses of the British people, as indeed it is in most other parts of the world, but there can be few countries where so many people smoke at their work. The large number of prosecutions of food workers for smoking while handling open food and the presence of tobacco, cigarette ends, spent matches, etc., in foods; these are an index of how widespread is the habit of smoking at work.
Atsuko Kawakami, Subi Gandhi, Derek Lehman and Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld
The disparities of COVID-19 vaccination rates between the rural and urban areas have become apparent during this pandemic. There is a need to understand the root causes of vaccine…
Abstract
Purpose
The disparities of COVID-19 vaccination rates between the rural and urban areas have become apparent during this pandemic. There is a need to understand the root causes of vaccine hesitancy demonstrated by the rural population to increase coverage and to contain the disease spread throughout the United States. This study aimed to explore other factors influencing vaccine hesitancy among rural dwellers besides the geography-related barriers such as poor health care access and individuals having no or suboptimal insurance coverage.
Methodology/Approach
By reviewing existing data and literature about vaccination, health literacy, and behaviors, and prevailing ideologies, we discuss the potential causes of vaccine hesitancy in rural areas that could create barriers for successful public health efforts related to vaccine coverage and provide suggestions to ameliorate the situation.
Findings
Geography-related barriers, health literacy, and preconceived notions are key determinants of adopting healthy behaviors and complying with public health authorities' recommendations among rural individuals during a public-health crisis. We argue that ideology, which is much deeper than preconception or misconception on vaccination, should be incorporated as a key factor to redefine the term “vulnerable populations” in public health research.
Research Limitations/Implications
The limitation of our study is that we have not found an effective way to encourage the populations who hold conservative religious and political ideologies to join the efforts for public health. Even though geography-related barriers may strongly impact the rural dwellers in achieving optimal health, the various forms of ideologies they have toward certain health behaviors cannot be discounted to understand and address vaccine-related disparities in rural areas. There is a need to redefine the term “vulnerable population” particularly as it relates to rural areas in the United States. During large-scale public health disasters, scholars and public health authorities should consider the ideologies of individuals, in addition to other factors such as race/ethnicity, area of residence (rural vs. urban), and socioeconomic factors influencing the existing vulnerabilities and health disparities.
Details
Keywords
Ever since its introduction into the vernacular of imperial historiography over a half century ago, the concept of “informal empire” has had a profound influence on how historians…
Abstract
Ever since its introduction into the vernacular of imperial historiography over a half century ago, the concept of “informal empire” has had a profound influence on how historians have understood the size and nature of British expansion in the modern world. While offering a crucial corrective to definitions of empire that had focused exclusively on “formal” colonial holdings, such a division has also obscured other frameworks through which we might understand the contours of imperial power, while also underscoring traditional bifurcations between early modern and modern forms of empire. This paper suggests instead an approach that privileges schema that take into account the different institutional and constitutional forms that shaped imperial expansion, and specifically argues that the corporation was one such form, in competition with others including the monarchical and national state. Looking specifically at the early modern East India Company and its modern legacies, particularly George Goldie’s Royal Niger Company, it also suggests that institutional approaches that de-emphasize distinctions between behavioral categories, such as commerce and politics, allow the possibility of excavating deep ideological connections across the history of empire, from its seventeenth-century origins through the era of decolonization.
Details
Keywords
Catriona Paisey and Nicholas J. Paisey
The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which pension accounting represents an enabling or emancipatory accounting.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent to which pension accounting represents an enabling or emancipatory accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
Many countries are facing a so‐called “pensions crisis” which is reflected in and arguably, to some extent at least, is precipitated by accounting. Occupational pensions in the UK are focused upon and their role in the pension crisis discussed. The enabling or emancipatory potential of the internet for accounting for occupational pension schemes is explored. The contents of the web sites of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (FTSE 100) are examined in terms of the elements of an enabling accounting, as set out by Gallhofer and Haslam in 1997. Alternative forms of accounting for pensions, including accounts by trade unions and others, are also examined.
Findings
The full possibilities of the internet have not yet been mobilised in respect of accounting for occupational pension schemes and companies' actions appear to be driven by the hegemony of the market rather than a concern for the social wellbeing of pensioners. A number of inequalities are evident.
Research limitations/implications
The majority of UK employees have no occupational pension. The paper therefore only addresses one aspect of the pension crisis.
Practical implications
Suggests how corporate web sites could be improved through the provision of dedicated pensions sections and increased pensions' disclosures. Argues that alternative accounts provided by trade unions, organisations associated with the elderly and others are required to provide counter accounts. Calls for more education about the importance of saving from an early age.
Originality/value
Applies elements of an enabling accounting to a specific accounting problem, accounting for pensions.