ADD40 and Collaborative Research

I’m looking forward to reconnecting with members and friends of the Sustainable Transportation Committee (ADD40) at the TRB 93rd Annual Meeting in January. During the conference we will hold the inaugural Sustainability Research Subcommittee, ADD40(2), meeting on Tuesday, 14 January, 1:30pm – 3:15pm (Hilton, Kalorama).

As you may know, in ADD40’s Triennial Strategic Plan we made the decision to promote and support research that integrates the three dimensions of sustainability. One important step in achieving this goal will be the extent to which we can develop collaborative research relationships with other TRB standing committees that have an interest in sustainability. Our objective is to try and broaden the scope of TRB research to ensure a more balanced treatment of environmental, social, and economic concerns.

The TRB Annual Meeting presents a unique opportunity for members and friends of ADD40 to reach out to other relevant standing committees and begin the process of reviewing sustainability-related research needs statements and/or developing new statements. To assist with this task, we have developed the adjacent flyer that can be used to inform other committees about our mission and interest in developing collaborative research projects.

During the main ADD40 committee meeting from 8am-12pm on Monday, 13 January (Hilton, Monroe), everyone in attendance will have the opportunity to brief the committee on which TRB standing committees they plan to reach out to during the annual meeting. This will enable the committee to identify the coverage we have at the annual meeting and will provide those in attendance with an opportunity to identify others who may have a shared interest in working with a specific committee.

During the research subcommittee meeting ADD40(2), I look forward to learning about the collaborations that are already underway or are planned and beginning the process of developing several new research thrusts that ADD40 will lead. If you have any ideas for transportation research projects that integrate all three dimensions of sustainability, please either send me an email (rphall@vt.edu) prior to the annual meeting or join us on Tuesday, 14 January.

New Paper on The Human Right to Water

The Human Right to Water: The Importance of Domestic and Productive Water Rights

Ralph P. Hall, Barbara Van Koppen, Emily Van Houweling

Science and Engineering Ethics

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights engenders important state commitments to respect, fulfill, and protect a broad range of socio-economic rights. In 2010, a milestone was reached when the UN General Assembly recognized the human right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation. However, water plays an important role in realizing other human rights such as the right to food and livelihoods, and in realizing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. These broader water-related rights have been recognized but have not yet been operationalized. This paper unravels these broader water-related rights in a more holistic interpretation of existing international human rights law. By focusing on an emerging approach to water services provision—known as ‘domestic-plus’ services—the paper argues how this approach operationalizes a comprehensive range of socio-economic rights in rural and peri-urban areas. Domestic-plus services provide water for domestic and productive uses around homesteads, which challenges the widespread practice in the public sector of planning and designing water infrastructure for a single-use. Evidence is presented to show that people in rural communities are already using their water supplies planned for domestic uses to support a wide range of productive activities. Domestic-plus services recognize and plan for these multiple-uses, while respecting the priority for clean and safe drinking water. The paper concludes that domestic-plus services operationalize the obligation to progressively fulfill a comprehensive range of indivisible socio-economic rights in rural and peri-urban areas.

Download or Read Paper On-line

Moss Arts Center – Open House

This afternoon, I wore my Google Glass device to the open house for VT’s new, and I must say rather amazing, Moss Arts Center. The 150,000-square-foot facility is designed to bring creativity, art, and technology together under one roof. The facility has a 1,260-seat performance hall, visual arts galleries, amphitheater, four-story experimental Cube, and multiple studios. The potential of this facility is immense and I’m already thinking about one or two new collaborations in the area of policy informatics that such a facility will enable.

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While walking around the open house, I had the opportunity to speak with Ben Knapp, the Director of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT). Ben was one of three colleagues who I recently invited to join the VT Google Glass team. The team now consists of Peter Sforza, Brian Mathews, Tom Sanchez, Troy Abel, Ico Bukvic, Ben Knapp, and myself. [If the Glass XE team is reading this post, I have another three colleagues waiting in the wings to join our growing team of explorers 😉 One of these individuals is shown in the second video below.] While talking with Ben, we discussed how his research into the study of human emotion could be linked to my use of Glass in the classroom. There is a ‘hint’ of this new Glass application in the video below. With the addition of an Android/Glass programmer to our team in the near future, I’m keen to see how we can turn this idea/concept into a testable platform.

I first came across Google Glass while undertaking a New Media seminar at Virginia Tech. One of the great things about the seminar was getting to know faculty from across the university. One of my fellow seminarians was Joycelyn Wilson, who I also met during the open house. I asked Joycelyn to say a few words about her digital archiving project in which she is working to document over 4,000 vinyl records among other music-related items. During the video below, I asked Joycelyn how she would use Glass if I were given an additional three Glass invitations.

Opening for a Google Glass / Android Developer

Virginia Tech’s Center for Geospatial Information Technology is looking for a Google Glass / Android Developer to support the development of programs for the new platform. This is a great opportunity for someone to join the Google Glass Team at VT and help us develop some exciting new applications for the platform. Additional information about the position is provided below.

Who we are?

A group of four Virginia Tech faculty building teaching and research applications for Google Glass. We’re looking for a couple of rockstar developers.

What’s the position like?

A full stack Android developer to work on two applications: a teaching platform and a mapping research project on Google Glass. Responsible for building applications for Google Glass. You’ll work with the Android SDK until the Glass Development Kit (GDK) is available.

What are the minimum requirements:

Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with a smart and diverse team
1+ year(s) of development experience with Android SDK
3+ years of software development experience
Experience working with RESTful APIs
Experience with live streaming data in an application
Experience with Google services
Ability to work part time on the Virginia Tech campus
Strong understanding of object oriented software principles, design patterns, and agile methodologies
Familiarity with automated test frameworks and test-driven development
Interested to explore new approaches to mirror world applications using Google Glass.

What would give you bonus points?

Experience with video/audio capture and streaming
Prior work that involved augmented reality, GIS, or interactive web maps
Experience working with 3D in a web browser (html5, x3dom, openGL, three.js, etc.)
An ability to analyze UX/UI workflows for quality/efficiency

To apply or learn more, please contact Peter Sforza at the Virginia Tech Center for Geospatial Information Technology — sforza@vt.edu or (54 0) 231-8935.

Robert Ashford to Visit VT

I’m pleased to announce that Prof. Robert Ashford will be visiting Virginia Tech in November, during which he will take part in a series of events related to the concept of Binary Economics. The first of these events will be a SPIA seminar on November 6, during which Robert will make the case for “democratizing capital acquisition” by broadening competitive market opportunities to acquire capital with the earnings of capital – see the flyer below for more information about this talk.

Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to work with Robert, leading to the two papers below published in the European Financial Review.

Ashford, N. A., Hall, R. P., and Ashford, R. (2012) Addressing the Crisis in Employment and Consumer Demand: Reconciliation with Environmental and Financial Sustainability. The European Financial Review, October-November, 2012, pp. 63-68.
Ashford, R., Hall, R. P., and Ashford, N. A. (2012) Broadening Capital Acquisition with the Earnings of Capital as a Means of Sustainable Growth and Environmental Sustainability. The European Financial Review, October-November, 2012, pp. 70-74.

I first became aware of binary economics when searching for alternative, transformational models of development. The importance of identifying new development pathways has only intensified following the recent global financial crisis that has deepened economic inequality both within and between nations. Robert’s ideas relating to binary economic growth hold great potential to transform and reignite the economy. My interest in this subject, and reason for bringing Robert to VT with the assistance of an AdvanceVT grant, stems from the need to ensure that any surge in economic growth does not also create a surge in negative environmental and social externalities. My hope is that we can find ways to stimulate binary growth while transforming industrial systems towards inherently sustainable practices.