Policy Making Shall Be Inclusive and Fair

Global trade has been growing by 2-3% in the past 7 years,compared with the 7%of previous years.This makes it vital to study what has happened.In fact,many short-term measures failed to solve long-term issues.

Flood Vulnerability Assessment Using Satellite Imagery Data

As flood extreme occurrences are projected to increase in intense and frequency due to climate change, the assessment of vulnerability and the identification of the most vulnerable areas, populations, assets and systems are an urgent need. Vulnerability has been widely discussed and several flood projection tools have been developed using complex hydrological models. However, despite the significant contribution of flood projection maps to predicting the impact of potential floods, they are difficult and impractical to use by stakeholders and policy makers, while they have proven to be inefficient and out of date in several cases. This research aims to cover the gaps in coastal and riverine flood management, developing a method that models flood patterns, using geospatial data of past large flood disasters. The outcomes of this research produce a five scale vulnerability assessment method, which could be widely implemented in all sectors, including transport, critical infrastructure, public health, tourism, constructions etc. Moreover, they could facilitate decision making and provide a wide range of implementation by all stakeholders, insurance agents, land-use planners, risk experts and of course individual. According to this research, the majority of the elements exposed to flood hazards, lay at specific combinations between 1) elevation (Ei) and 2) distance from water-masses (Di), expressed as (Ei, Di), including: 1) in general landscapes: ([0 m, 1 m), [0 km, 6 km), [0 m - 3 m), [0 km, 3 km)) and ([0 m - 6 m), [0 km, 1 km)), 2) in low laying regions: ([0 m, 1 m), [0 km, 40 km), [0 m - 3 m), [0 km, 30 km)) and ([0 m - 6 m), [0 km, 15 km)) and 2) in riverine regions: ([0 m, 4 m), [0 km, 3 km)). All elements laying on these elevations and distances from water masses are considered extremely and highly vulnerable to flood extremes.

Smartphones,tele-ophthalmology,and VISION 2020

Telemedicine is an emerging field in recent medical achievements with rapid development. The ＂smartphone＂ availability has increased in both developed and developing counffies even among people in rural and remotes areas. Telebased services can be used for screening ophthalmic diseases and also monitoring patients with known diseases. Electronic ophthalmologic records of the patients including captured images by smartphones from anterior and posterior segments of the eye will be evaluated by ophthalmologists, and if patients require further evaluations, they will be referred to experts in the relevant field. Eye diseases such as cataract, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinopathy of prematurity are the most common causes of blindness in many countries and beneficial use of teleophthalmology with smartphones will be a good way to achieve the aim of VISION 2020 all over the world. Numerous studies have shown that teleophthalmology is similar to the conventional eye care system in clinical outcomes and even provides more patient satisfaction as it saves time and cost, This review explains how teleophthalmology helps to improve patient outcomes through smartphones.

Tourism Entropy as a Critical Factor for Destination Sustainability:Assessment of Carrying Capacity Through IoTs and Determination of Tourism Satisfaction

This paper introduces a novel methodology to address the issue of destination carrying capacity assessment and monitoring,while,to develop a new tool to enable effective and optimized policy making in tourism sector.Tourism fits together a chain value,where stakeholders are working as cogwheels targeting the sustainability.An inherent requirement towards the objectives of sustainability is the capacity of policy makers to sustain the available social,economic,and environmental resources.Given the facts that(i)carrying capacity is a complex,dynamic,multidimensional concept,apparently vague,as such it is quite difficult to assess and monitor and(ii)each destination has unique characteristics,varying the extent and intensity of tourism development,the research proposal refines and implements measures and establishes a state-of-the-art data collection network in order to monitor tourism development in terms of sustainability and to establish an integrated carrying capacity estimation framework.Since validity and reliability of input data is a critical issue,different kind of sensors for environmental data(IoTs)are used,as well as web mining methods and field surveys,statistical information and secondary research results.Also,specialized analysis methods are applied and integration of all sources is achieved,defining the characteristics of the tourism destination ecosystem from the perspective of entropy change,in order to provide planning,policy making,and decision support,as well as a set of intelligent tools.

Commercialization Management of National Commodities for Oil and Gas Industry in Iran

This article shows a side segment of efforts toward finding ways to successfully commercialize a high tech product in Iran. During last decades, sanctions against importing petrochemical most used and needed utilities caused difficulties for Iranian petrochemical production chain. Inconveniences provoked Iranian specialists to achieve technical knowledge toward finding new ways of local producing. Attempting（s） had been encompassed to complete the whole chain of production and consumption inside of the country. Concepts implicate that during recent years, Iranian specialists have taken special steps toward localizing needed catalysts as an example of important commodities. Considerable amount of analyses have been made by Iranian petrochemical community probing the problems and obstacles associated with successful producing and what it really takes for a successful commercialization. Thematic analysis has been implicated as the research method to evaluate concepts represented as interviewees＇ analyzed declarations. Themes are analyzed toward mapping a successful merging with parties involved along with focusing on national commercializing streamline. Findings show that the idea of executing venture capital agencies as a new sector in the sequence of Iranian governmental and private petrochemical network has been appraised. Also, evaluating network management between parties involved and ways of policy making by the expert individuals are considered as the foremost factors to converse. Benchmarking feels as a necessary aspect as well to consider in the merging process. It has been concluded vital for Iranian companies to assess their own efficiency with accepted international standards, while on the other hand, they can take benchmark as a coming out opportunity when they commercialize in new intact market cooperating with renowned foreign companies.

Think Tanks in the United States： The Evolution and Evolving Roles

Think tanks as an important force in the policy making field in the United States have strengthened their visibility and expanded their influence in recent decades. This paper contends that the historical and political climate of the United States has fostered the development of think tanks and they will continue to exert their influence in the policy making field of the United States. It mainly examines the history of American think tanks and the roles they have been performing during more than one hundred years＇ evolution. In the twenty-first century, in a more and more flattering world, policy issues become increasingly complicated, therefore think tanks are indeed fixtures of American policy making scene. They play six major roles （1） source for policy idea; （2） venue for communicating and initiating new policy ideas; （3） source for personnel; （4） educating and informing the public; （5） evaluator of government policies; and （6） Track lI diplomacy.

Review of science and technology innovation policies in major innovative-oriented countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Since the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic,major innovative-oriented countries have adopted various science and technology innovation(STI)policies to address global public health challenges.Using data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development STI Database,this study analyzed international STI policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.The findings revealed that the pandemic has dramatically stimulated the application of STI policies,and there are commonalities and differences in the STI policies of different countries.Meanwhile,COVID-19 has disrupted planning for allocating resources for STIs,leading to duplication and inefficiency.Based on the findings,this study recommends increasing research investment to address the long-term challenges of major infectious diseases,strengthening support for enterprises,promoting data sharing and openness,enhancing the internationalization of scientific research,strengthening scientific consultation and communication,and devoting more policy attention to vulnerable groups.

Trajectory of COVID-19 response and management strategy in China:scientific rationale driven strategy adjustments

The pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection in early December 2019,which was later named coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)by the World Health Organization(WHO),rapidly spread across the world.China has made extraordinary efforts to this unprecedented pandemic,put its response and control at a very high level of infectious disease management(Category B but with measures for Category A),given top priority to the people and their lives,and balanced the pandemic control and socio-economic development.After more than three years’fighting against this disease,China downgraded the management of COVID-19 to Category B infectious disease on January 8,2023 and the WHO declared the end of public health emergency on May 5,2023.However,the ending of pandemic does not mean that the disease is no longer a health threat.Experiences against COVID-19 from China and the whole world should be learned to prepare well for the future public health emergencies.This article gives a systematic review of the trajectory of COVID-19 development in China,summarizes the critical policy arrangements and provides evidence for the adjustment during policy making process,so as to share experiences with international community and contribute to the global health for all humanity.

Development and case study of a science-based software platform to support policy making on air quality

This article describes the development and implementations of a novel software platform that supports real-time, science-based policy making on air quality through a user-friendly interface. The software, RSM-VAT, uses a response surface modeling（RSM） methodology and serves as a visualization and analysis tool（VAT） for three-dimensional air quality data obtained by atmospheric models. The software features a number of powerful and intuitive data visualization functions for illustrating the complex nonlinear relationship between emission reductions and air quality benefits. The case study of contiguous U.S.demonstrates that the enhanced RSM-VAT is capable of reproducing the air quality model results with Normalized Mean Bias 〈 2% and assisting in air quality policy making in near real time.

A Securitization Approach to Qatar’s Foreign Policy Making

The securitisation of military and political sectors has been underway for decades in the context of Qatari politics.Conceptualising the role of security in Qatar’s foreign policymaking is the primary purpose of this study.Qatar’s security tools and strategies in the initial era of the Gulf Crisis 2017 are central elements of this research using the Copenhagen school’s securitisation framework.The Gulf Crisis started in June 2017 and took more than 3 years for the parties to warm the relations again.This research depicts the early process of the Gulf Crisis 2017 through categorising threats and vulnerabilities posed to Qatar’s military and political security.

Perspectives of Science and Technology in Disaster Risk Reduction of Asia

Science and technology innovation has always been present in Asia,but its application in disaster risk reduction(DRR) has been differential.In Asia,globally significant hotspots of disasters and economic development have emerged in which the application of science and technology in DRR has become an essential requirement for informed decision making.Science has supported establishment and implementation of major international initiatives in DRR,including the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015.The more recent Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 recognizes the importance of science and technology in all of its priority action areas,and subsequent global and regional forums and conferences have reconfirmed science and technology's importance.To perceive and monitor the progress of science and technology in DRR,a qualitative assessment of different countries is made using three major attributes:(1) science-based decision making;(2) investment in science and technology;and(3) the intensity of science's link to the public.This assessment exercise points out several strengths and weaknesses in science and technology application;the method can be employed to develop future multistakeholder and multidisciplinary science and technology plans at the country level.To implement regional and national activities,a set of 15 recommendations is put forward,which will strengthen the collective regional "science voice" in DRR.

A goal-based approach to the identification of essential transformation variables in support of the implementation of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development

The United Nations’2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets seventeen Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)to be achieved by 2030.Earth observation are needed that can support the development and validation of transformation policies to make progress towards the SDGs.A participatory and inclusive goal-based approach(GBA)is introduced that links societal goals,targets and indicators to Essential Transformation Variables(ETVs)of the human and non-human environment.The GBA is complementary to the widely used expertbased approach.The GBA is applied to the SDGs at the goal,target and indicator levels.The high-level conceptual model used for the SDGs is humanity embedded in the Earth’s life-support system(ELSS).At the goal level,very few of the SDGs are directly focusing on the ELSS and its physiology.Most of the SDG Targets focus on transformations in society and the built environment.Having targets that explicitly focus on the physiology of the ELSS would be important for sustainability.Most of the current indicator measure the built environment and the embedded social fabric.Sustainable development requires a functioning ELSS,and to ensure this,complementary indicators that bring environmental aspects to the monitoring of SDG targets are needed.

Public perception of environmental issues across socioeconomic characteristics:A survey study in Wujin,China

In developing countries,there is controversy over the correct perception regarding environmental and developmental issues.Few studies have examined the perception of low-income nationals in regards to social and environmental issues.This paper looks at the relationship between socio-demographic factors and the groups’perceived priority regarding environmental and social issues in Wujin County.The results indicated that most residents,specifically the young,government employed and the urban community consider environmental issues to be serious,especially in relation to air pollution and water pollution.Furthermore,many residents feel it is important to rank environmental problems that are related to other social and economic issues,and that environmental protection must be set as a priority in Wujin County.Compared to social issues,environmental concern was greater among the young,government employed,and the urban community,because of their higher education and affluence.In addition,66.2%of residents consider environmental protection to be more important than economic development.Thus,environmental protection must be set as a high priority in Wujin County,in order to face the many social and environmental challenges inherent in development.

Multi-Sectoral Reflections and Efforts in Strengthening Partnerships to Reduce Disaster Risk in Mexico:The First MuSe-IDRiM Conference

Notwithstanding the high societal impact of disasters in Mexico,there is a lack of integrated efforts to establish a sound policy for reducing disaster risk to counterbalance the existing concentrated endeavors in disaster management.In the face of such segmentation,the science and technology community has advocated for a change of perspective,from civil protection to integrated disaster risk managemcnt.The first Multi-Sectoral Conference towards Integrated Disaster Risk Management in Mexico:Building a National Public Policy(MuSe-IDRiM Conference)was held in Mexico City at National Autonomous University of Mexico,21-24 October 2019.In support of the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030,the conference aimed at enhancing the dialogue between the scienee and technology community,citizens,civil society organizations,private and public sectors,and the federtil,state,and municipal governments to foster the process of transforming the current National Civil Protection System into a national public policy oriented towards integrated disaster risk management(DRM).Barriers and challenges to the implementation of integrated DRM were identified.Implementation of integrated DRM challenges current socioeconomic structures and encourages all releva nt stakeholders to think,decide,and act from a different perspective and within and across spatial,temporal,jurisdictional,and institutional scales.Understanding disaster risk from an integrated approach,learning skills that authorities have not learned or used,and hence,strengthening disaster risk governance are prerequisites to effectively manage disaster risk.

BILATERAL RELATIONS BETWEEN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES:POLICY PRIORITIZATION WITH THE ANP

Improving relations between the People＇s Republic of China （PRC） and the United States of America （US） and ensuring that they work together as allies rather than as competitors can serve as a stabilizing force against armed conflict, particularly with surrounding nations. The economic, social, and political relationships between the PRC and US have progressed along a hilly journey. As the second largest economy in the world, the PRC has continued to develop its military and is determined to climb the technological ladder. This growth has led the US and the PRC to be referred to as a G-2 of superpowers. As the US hegemony continues to weaken this G-2 relationship is becoming more important. With significant economic, political, and security issues at stake it is crucial that efforts to strengthen these relations are prioritized and implemented. A rigorous prioritization process, the Analytic Network Process （ANP） is used herein to prioritize the efforts and initiatives in the G-2 relationship. The model is presented with results and the extensive sensitivity analysis present additional insight into the suggested solutions.

Politics and Open Science:How the European Open Science Cloud Became Reality (the Untold Story)

This article will document how the European Open Science Cloud(EOSC)emerged as one of the key policy intentions to foster Open Science(OS)in Europe.It will describe some of the typical,non-rational roadblocks on the way to implement EOSC.The article will also argue that the only way Europe can take care of its research data in a way that fits the European specificities fully,is by supporting EOSC.

Looking for and Aiming for an Asian OR Applicable to the Public Sector

Operations research(OR)is a scientific approach for solving various types of societal problems and making decisions to deal with these problems appropriately.First,we briefly describe the history of OR,focusing on applying OR to public sectors,and then provide its characterization as a scientific method for decision making.Then,OR activities in Japan are introduced,emphasizing three major roles:(i)quantitative data analysis,(ii)mathematical modeling analysis,and(iii)theory building analysis.We provide an example for each of these three types of major roles.Based upon the analyses,we seek an Asian OR applicable to policy making in the public sector.Finally,we provide a summary and discuss future perspectives for OR.

The Enabling and Constraining Nationalist Discourse and Effects of Strategic Narratives： China＇s Foreign Relations

This paper examines the projection and reception of strategic narratives in the realm of Chinese nationalism and the impact of contemporary official nationalist discourse on Beijing＇s foreign policy making. Within the analytic framework of political symbolism, the paper dissects the divergent national identities reflective in different semantic and syntactic relationships inherent in the state-crafted historical narratives in contemporary China. In the post-Tiananmen era, the signification of the traumatic symbol of national humiliation in modem Chinese history, projected in the form of strategic narratives by the Party-state in patriotic education, has given rise to a societal force that threatens to internalize the historical conflicts on the foreign relations fi：ont. The counter-effect of strategic narratives, which has constrained the rationality of the state＇s foreign policy making, implies that collective memory is not an on^ztemand resource for the authoritarian regime to exploit to enhance its legitimacy. The relationship between the Chinese state and society as the constructor and consumer of communicative nationalism cannot be simplistically dichotomized.

Broadband usage for rural communities in the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand

New Zealand government’s Rural Broadband Initiative(RBI)aims to invest 400 million New Zealand dollar to provide 99%of New Zealanders with access to 50 Mbps peak broadband speed,with the remaining 1%at 10 Mbps by 2025.By 2017,stage 1 of the RBI has been completed,and research is needed to find out the level of usage,proficiency,and productivity achieved by then.Therefore,a survey was carried out to learn whether the rural residents and their communities are making good use of the new fast broadband connection.The survey collected data from 217 rural residents from North Island,and the results indicate that about half of the interview respondents are satisfied with the new broadband speed and the reliability which is offered by RBI stage 1.However,there is about 28%of the respondents disagreed with them.The majority of the Internet uses for rural residents are information searching,reading news,online entertainment,and online banking.Besides that,only a small proportion of respondents know how to utilize the Internet in their work/business and benefit/profit from it,e.g.,using cloud technology capabilities and online marketing campaigns,etc.by then.Therefore,we argue that information and communications technologies(ICT)adoption is not only the availability of the infrastructure but also the beneficial outcomes of Internet availability.In other words,Internet skills in-depth training and education need to catch up with the infrastructure deployment,which is useful to fuel the digital productivity and inclusion for booming rural economies.The survey data-driven findings presented in this paper could serve as a reference to inform government policymakers and those who wish to create,invest,and take actions to speed up the economic and social growth of rural communities in Aotearoa New Zealand through the Internet while shifting from the Internet speed and traffic volume-driven to a more effective Internet connectivity and value-added driven rural economy.