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Publications

2022

Smart Systems for Monitoring Buildings - An IoT Application

Authors
Kalbermatter, RB; Brito, T; Braun, J; Pereira, AI; Ferreira, AP; Valente, A; Lima, J;

Publication
OPTIMIZATION, LEARNING ALGORITHMS AND APPLICATIONS, OL2A 2022

Abstract
Life in society has initiated a search for comfort and security in social centers. This search generated revolutions within the knowledge about the technologies involved, making the environments automated and integrated. Along with this increase, ecological concerns have also arisen, which have been involved since the design of intelligent buildings, remaining through the years of their use. Based on these two pillars, the present study aims to monitor three central systems inside the apartments of the Apolo Building (Braganca city, Portugal). The electrical energy consumption, water flow, and waste disposal systems are integrated through a single database. The data is sent remotely via WiFi through the microcontroller. For better visualization and analytics of the data, a web application is also developed, which allows for real-time monitoring. The obtained results demonstrate to the consumer his behavior regarding household expenses. The idea of showing the consumer their expenditure is to create an ecological awareness. Through the data collected and the environmental alternatives found, it is possible to observe whether there was a behavior change when receiving this data, either in the short or long term.

2022

Proposal of a Digital Mobile Platform for the Urban Farming Revolution

Authors
Almeida, F; Miranda, N; Vieira, B;

Publication
Research Anthology on Strategies for Achieving Agricultural Sustainability

Abstract
Information and communication technologies have contributed decisively to the evolution of the agriculture field, allowing the exchange of information between various platforms, the automation of processes, and the storage and processing of large volumes of data. This study proposes the development of an application for mobile devices that facilitates the process of managing and monitoring the production of an urban farming. The application can also be used by less experienced farmers by providing relevant information on the best products per season according to soil characteristics and climate. The results of the developed application demonstrated the application’s potential to increase crops visibility, increase efficiency throughout the value chain, access to real-time business and financial data, turns possible to customize the application according to the users’ profile, increase the efficiency of marketing processes, and contribute to reducing transport costs. © 2022 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.

2022

Designing an effective risk communication plan as a tool to reduce the risk associated with traditional burning practices in Portugal

Authors
Souza, MEB; Pacheco, AP; Teixeira, JG; Pereira, JMC;

Publication
Advances in Forest Fire Research 2022

Abstract
Climate change increases the average temperature and reduces precipitation, leading to an increased risk of rural fires around the world, but mainly in regions with a Mediterranean climate, such as Portugal. Despite the high risk of rural fires, fire is still a traditional land management practice. Beyond fire misused risk, the accumulation of fuel loads, due to the high population dispersion and lower interaction of communities with the land, also drives rural fires risks. Thus, researchers have sought to understand the key features of communication practices to achieve the most desired natural risk management results in relation to rural fires. According to the Committee on Risk Perception and Communication, in 1989, risk communication is defined as “an interactive process of exchanging information and opinions between individuals, groups, and institutions�. However, there is a need for dialogue between the responsible for communication and relevant stakeholders. The Carnegie Mellon mental-models approach encompasses participatory processes to translate the nature and magnitude of the risk, allowing for a deeper understanding of what can be done to mitigate social and environmental impacts in the future. Considering rural fires risks and risk communication challenges, this study aims to design an effective risk communication plan oriented to the rural population, in the context of rural fires. For this objective to be achieved, the mental models approach was developed, exploring the underlying reasons for resistance to behavioral change and defining guidelines to support the design of new risk communication strategies, including the dissemination of new behaviors and practices that mitigate the ignition of rural fires. This systemic approach has been applied and tested in the rePLANT project, whose purpose is the development of research activities, innovation and transfer of knowledge and technology, to increase sustainable forest management, the competitiveness of the Portuguese forestry sector and reduce the impact of rural fires. Preliminary findings show what must be communicated about rural fires risk, how must be communicated, target audiences' profiles, the role of actors for effective risk communication on rural fires, attributes of good risk communication on rural fires, evaluation of the risk communication results. Finally, it is expected that this research provides guidelines to help decision-makers and stakeholders to design an effective risk communication plan oriented to prevent traditional burning practices, as well as to mitigate socioeconomic and environmental impacts in the future. This approach also highlights the importance of exploring the underlying reasons for resistance to behavioral change and defining guidelines to support the design of new risk communication strategies.

2022

Tourist Social Media Engagement

Authors
Ruas, R; Barbosa, B;

Publication
ICT as Innovator Between Tourism and Culture - Advances in Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage

Abstract
Social media are transforming relationships with customers for all sectors, including tourism. Since the search for information is a critical aspect of tourist purchase decision process, the importance of social media for tourism is evident. However, the presence of tourism brands in social media is not enough to have an impact on tourist purchase decisions: it is necessary to generate engagement. This chapter aims to conceptualize tourist engagement on social media and identify tourist engagement indicators. Tourist engagement was conceptualized through a literature review that identified four dimensions of engagement: popularity, commitment, virality, and post engagement. A set of indicators is proposed to measure tourist engagement in each of these dimensions. The proposed TSM engagement framework was validated through a mixed-method approach, using secondary data and interviews carried out with Brazilian tourist destinations.

2022

An Ontology for Fire Building Evacuation

Authors
Neto, J; Morais, AJ; Gonçalves, R; Coelho, AL;

Publication
ICICT (3)

Abstract
Guiding the building occupants under fire emergency to a safe place is an open research problem. Finding solutions to address the problem requires a perfect knowledge of the fire building evacuation domain. The use of ontologies to model knowledge of a domain allows a common and shared understanding of that domain, between people and heterogeneous systems. This paper presents an ontology that aims to build a knowledge model to better understand the referred domain and to help develop more capable building evacuation solutions and systems. The herein proposed ontology considers the different variables and actors involved in the fire building evacuation process. We followed the Methontology methodology for its developing, and we present all the development steps, from the specification to its implementation with the Protégé tool.

2022

Technical and Scale Efficiency of the Brazilian Municipalities' Water and Sanitation Services: A Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis

Authors
Pereira, MA; Marques, RC;

Publication
SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract
Seeking to "ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all" is an admirable Sustainable Development Goal and an honourable commitment of the United Nations and its Member States regarding the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation services (WSSs). However, the majority of countries are not on target to achieve this by 2030, with several of them moving away from the best practices. Brazil is one of these cases, given, for example, the existing asymmetries in the access to water supply and sanitation service networks. For this reason, we propose a benchmarking exercise using a two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis to measure the technical and scale efficiency of the Brazilian municipalities' WSSs, noting their contextual environment. Our results point towards low mean efficiency scores, motivated by the existence of significant scale inefficiencies (the vast majority of municipalities are operating at a larger than optimal scale). Furthermore, the Water source was found to be a statistically significant efficiency predictor, with statistically significant differences found in terms of Ownership and Geography. Ultimately, we suggest policy-making and regulatory possibilities based on debureaucratization, the implementation of stricter expenditure control policies, and investment in the expansion of WSSs.

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