text:
TimeTec Smart Parking 3/12: Parking - Past, Present & Future
Published: Jul 21, 2021 6:59 AM
Updated: 6:59 AM
Parking history started not when the car was invented in 1866 by Karl Benz, but when cars became widely available in the early 20th century. The history forked in two ways, on-street and off-street parking. For on-street parking, it started in the early 1930s in Oklahoma City, United States. For on-street parking, the parking meter was invented and introduced by Carl Magee to solve the haphazard parking of cars everywhere, causing traffic congestion problems. The installation of the parking meters didn't only solve the traffic problems but also created a new business revenue and a new cost for vehicle owners who wanted to park their cars downtown.
Magee started the Magee-Hale Park-O-Meter Company to manufacture the parking meters. The company later changed its name to POM (the initials of Park-O-Meter), and it is still active in manufacturing parking meters today.
For public off-street parking, the history traced back much earlier than on-street parking. As more people owned cars, parking became a problem, and cities were looking for a solution to park as many cars as possible on as little space as possible, especially for off-street parking when cars at that time weren't weather-resistant as today's, which preference would be indoor garage-based parking. In 1905: Garage Rue de Ponthieu built the very first automated parking garage in Paris, France. It was a multi-story car park site with an internal lift, which moved the cars from one level to another, with the help of some car park attendants to drive and park the cars in available spaces; or today we called it valet parking. Garage Rue de Ponthieu wasn't a fully automated parking garage, but many consider this garage to be the first with the automated elements and, therefore, the forerunner of the Automated Parking System. Technically, it was a semi-automated parking garage.
1905: Garage Rue de Ponthieu, Paris
Nowadays, all building developments have to allocate specific parking spaces that adhered to cities and municipalities' ratios to ensure adequate parking spaces. For example, a retail mall will generally have a higher parking ratio than an office tower. All kinds of parking systems and technologies evolved to fulfil the different requirements over the past decades.
Teh Hon Seng, CEO of TimeTec Group, commented, "For a long period, parking access and fees collection system has been transformed from a manual system to unmanned ticketing and cash collecting machine. Now TimeTec Parking came in the digitalization era to give the parking system another boost, transforming it into a ticketless, cashless and touchless system, which we will discuss in the next few articles in this parking series."
After cashless and touchless, what would be the next wave of parking systems in the next twenty to thirty years?
"I'm afraid there would be no parking system by then. We can predict that autonomous or driverless cars would flood the roads in the next two to three decades, and fewer people need to own cars. Carmakers and e-hailing service companies would jointly operate autonomous cars. These cars no longer need parking spaces; they will pick you and drop you off at the right place and at the right time. The arrival of autonomous cars marked the end of the parking system."
"But since TimeTec Parking emphasizes something beyond parking and the connectivity of continuous activities in the entire digital ecosystem, the omission of parking activity does not break the chain of data flow to achieve better automation for urban living."
Please contact Kelvin Lim, Sales Manager, at [email protected] or 012-6891180 for product presentation and demonstration appointments. You may also call 03-80709933 general line or write to [email protected] for more information.
Stay tuned for the 4/12 series next Wednesday on Malaysiakini for TimeTec Smart Parking. For the previous article,
click this link: TimeTec Smart Parking (2/12): A Whole New Parking Experience
Malay version: Parkir Pintar TimeTec (2/12): Pengalaman Parkir Serba Baharu
Chinese version: TimeTec智慧停车系统(2/12):全新的停车体验
About TimeTec
TimeTec Group was established in 2000. Over 20 years, the Group had developed three homegrown globally recognized IT brands, FingerTec, TimeTec and iNeighbour, for workforce management, security, smart office, smart residential and smart township solutions unleashing the power of biometrics, cloud & edge computing, IoT and AI technologies. All these solutions connect and change the landscape of work life and home life in a larger ecosystem. Through a vast network, TimeTec Group distributes its biometric hardware products and 16 cloud applications, including IoT devices, to more than 150 countries worldwide. Visit our company websites: TimeTec Cloud, TimeTec Building, TimeTec Parking.
Various renowned clients have subscribed to TimeTec various solutions, including IOI Properties, Putrajaya Holdings, Ibraco, Binastra, Thriven, Hock Seng Lee, QSR Brands, Central Sugars Refinery CSR, Sunway Constructions, Mamee, Yakult, Nano Malaysia Berhad, and many more. The versatility and feasibility of TimeTec products also attract various international customers from all over the world, including Hong Kong, Dubai, Australia, Qatar, South Africa etc.
This content is provided by TimeTec Cloud Sdn Bhd.
Interested in having your announcements on Malaysiakini? Contact the announcements team at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +60 17-323 0707 for urgent matters.


Small Woodland Owners' Group » Blog Archive » Are Small Woodland Owners missing a trick?
You are here: Home > > Are Small Woodland Owners missing a trick?
The RFS estimates that if 75% of this woodland was managed, the economy would benefit by an incredible £20m and up to 240 jobs would be created across the rural economy.
This report is not about new planting – although this is also critically important. It is about managing our woodlands now. Significantly, most unmanaged woodland is in private ownership and more than 40% of woodland is owned in parcels of less than 20ha.
The official definition of managed woodland is one for which there is a management plan approved by the Forestry Commission, but as the report admits, this is an inexact guide. Many small woodland owners carry out their own management, thinning and replanting without a plan and many plans remain unimplemented. Better assessment and tracking is required to produce more accurate statistics.
Small woodland owners can make a significant contribution to improving the overall situation, but much of their work may occur under DEFRA's radar. CONFOR reports that 32,000 tonnes of firewood were imported in the first nine months of 2017. At the very least, small woodland owners can help reduce this statistic by using windfalls and thinnings for firewood.
Managed woodlands benefit the economy, ecology and provide myriad health and amenity benefits. Beautiful woodlands do not occur by accident but are the product of careful management over generations. This is probably not news to SWOG members, and our research indicates that the majority of our members carry out some sort of positive management in their woods. But profit is probably not the driving motivation behind most work by owners of small woods. Small woodland owners often regard themselves as temporary custodians of their woods and are driven by the desire to pass them on in a better state in which they found them. Let's hope more of the larger woodlands follow this example.


Progressive web app (PWA) uses modern web application capabilities to deliver an app-like user experience. These kind of apps don't require any complex installation to setup and they work like a charm in offline and relatively lesser connection speed. But PWA is still just a website. It will be an app based on the user choice. So if a user goes to the website, he will be prompted to add the website to the home screen. If he wants to click on ok then it will create a shortcut on the home page which can be used later on as an app, if not, the website is still reachable through the browser.
How Google Defines PWA, why we need it?
Reliable – The app load instantly and never show the down sour, even in uncertain network conditions. Aka: work offline. Even Google found, most of the users leave websites if the page takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Fast – This app responds quickly to user interactions with silky smooth animations, jank-free scrolling and seamless navigation.
Highly engageable – Feel like a natural app on the device, with an immersive user experience.
Multiple third-party plugins are available in the market which made easy to convert Magento commerce platform as a PWA. Apart from this, Magento has been partnering and making sure that it is moving closer to the PWA. Magento by own has launched a PWA studio allowing the website owners to build a PWA application.
Configure the PWA plugin by adding application name, icon, theme color, splash screen color etc.
App Like Experience Unlike Responsive Web – PWA caches static content allowing the user to access the website offline and provide an App like experience which will enhance the customer experience when the website is offline or user is on slow connectivity.
Cost Effective: Since the development of App involves a lot of capital set up, most of the small and medium scale stores still don't have an exclusive app for those the PWA will be a great alternative as this is cost effective and requires almost negligible as most of the Magento customers are small and medium scale enterprises.
Quick Setup and Load: The PWA's are really quick to set up and requires only a decent amount of the development and since the PWA caches the content it is really quick to load in slow connectivity as well.
Increase in Conversion: Since the PWA refresh the static content in the background whenever the network is available it will serve the content mostly updated and also the user can add the products to cart easily and has an ease of checking out at his wish when the network is available and this unique offline experience has seen a notable jump in the conversion rate across the websites.
OLX a global online marketplace, operating in 45 countries and is the largest online classified ads company in Brazil, India, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Portugal and Ukraine boosted re-engagement on the mobile web by 250% with a Progressive Web App.
MakeMyTrip is India's leading travel company, Mobile has emerged as the preferred booking medium for MakeMyTrip customers, accounting for over two-thirds of the site's traffic. After launching a Progressive Web App (PWA), their conversion rate on the mobile web tripled, while their page-load speed improved by 38%.
Voot.com an entertainment streaming app launched their media Progressive Web App in India. Within days of implementation, session time per user increased by 39% and daily views per user by 15%.
Reduction in Bounce Rate: PWA works like charm even in slow connectivity this is the reason there was also a reduction in the Bounce rate for the sites which have implemented PWA.
Housing.com another popular Indian app catering to real estate industry claims that their bounce rate reduced as much as near to 40% after the PWA has been implemented.
Exponential Growth in Sales: With this unique experience provided by PWA's the sites have also seen an exponential growth in their sales. The percentage of the repeat customers have also seen a drastic increase by the companies using PWA.
In this world of E-commerce, the sustainability of the sites have largely dependent on how soon they can capitalize and accustom to the future of the e-commerce trends and technologies and among this, the PWA has become a key weapon for the websites to increase their sales numbers. If you haven't converted your site to PWA it is high time to implement it to sustain in the race of the e-commerce.
Here at Sigma, we have a dedicated Magento team who has comprehensive experience & knowledge on working of PWA's and implementation of the PWA's for your Magento Webstore. Please don't hesitate in letting us know any queries you may have in the comment's section below. Also, we would love to know your experience working on or implementing a PWA.
This is a very useful and informative blog. Explaining the Progressive Magento Application and its advantages. Thanks for sharing this.


text:
N.W. Philly's sylvan Main St.
Fairmount Park's Forbidden Drive is a community meeting grounds for walkers, runners, bikers, horseback riders, dogs of all breeds, and some locals who swim at their own risk in the Wissahickon Creek.
Listen as Friends of the Wissahickon Executive Director Maura McCarthy takes you on an audio tour of the gravel path known to many as Northwest Philadelphia's other Main Street.
Philadelphia's Streets Department has closed a portion of the trail underneath the Walnut Lane Bridge until further notice as a result of crumbling concrete falling from the bridge.
For many young people at the march, it was about showing the lawmakers and other people in power that they're galvanized and ready for change.
Philly public defenders move for union vote after management skips voluntary recognition
The union, which would represent about 200 lawyers, said it's holding out hope for a new proposal from management — but it's still filing for an NLRB election.
The Philadelphia Tribune
Julie Coker to leave Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau
Julie Coker is moving on after four years of leading the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Alberto Osvaldo Boggio (Bahía Blanca, 14 de agosto de 1969) es un exfutbolista argentino. Jugaba como defensor y su primer club fue Rosario Central. También vistió la casaca de la Selección Argentina en Juegos Olímpicos (Preolímpico) no clasificado a dicho evento disputado en la ciudad de Barcelona (España) año 1992 y Mundial Sub-20 año 1989.

Carrera

El Pelado debutó en Central el 23 de agosto de 1989, ante Argentinos Juniors con empate en cero tantos. Esa temporada, el canalla presentó un equipo plagado de juveniles que tuvieron un gran rendimiento, como Juan Antonio Pizzi, José Chamot, entre otros. Boggio se desempeñaba preferentemente como marcador de punta izquierda. Hasta 1993 jugó 131 encuentros y marcó 4 goles. Pasó entonces a Estudiantes de La Plata, donde jugó durante una temporada. Continuó su carrera por equipos de ascenso, tales como Los Andes, Villa Mitre de Bahía Blanca, Juventud Antoniana de Salta, Tiro Federal de Rosario y San Martín de Tucumán. Con el cuadro salteño disputó la final por el segundo asceso a Primera División en el Campeonato de Primera B Nacional 1998-99, con triunfo de su rival, Chacarita Juniors.

Como entrenador
Ejerció el cargo en Villa Mitre durante el Torneo Argentino A 2004-05, mientras que condujo a Sarmiento de Leones en el Torneo Federal B 2014;  En la temporada 2021 / 2022 fue director técnico de juventud Antoniana de Salta.

Clubes como futbolista

Selección nacional
Fue integrante del seleccionado juvenil de Argentina, disputando los Juegos Olímpicos de Seúl 1988 y el Mundial Sub 20 de 1989.

Participaciones por torneo

Partidos jugados en el Mundial Sub 20 1989

Enlaces externos

Referencias

Futbolistas de Bahía Blanca
Futbolistas de Argentina en los Juegos Olímpicos de Seúl 1988
Futbolistas del Club Atlético Rosario Central en los años 1980
Futbolistas del Club Atlético Rosario Central en los años 1990
Futbolistas del Club Estudiantes de La Plata
Futbolistas del Club Atlético Los Andes
Futbolistas del Club Villa Mitre
Futbolistas del Centro Juventud Antoniana
Futbolistas del Club Atlético San Martín (Tucumán)
Futbolistas del Club Atlético Tiro Federal Argentino
Entrenadores de fútbol de Argentina
Entrenadores del Club Villa Mitre
Entrenadores del Club Atlético Aeronáutico Biblioteca y Mutual Sarmiento
Entrenadores del Centro Juventud Antoniana

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Here's the comparison between Huawei Mate 9 Pro vs LG X Power 3. The Mobile Phone comparison is based on phone specs, features, complete technical specifications. Also see the price comparison of Huawei Mate 9 Pro vs LG X Power 3. In case you are looking to buy Huawei Mate 9 Pro vs LG X Power 3 click on links given below.
100.0% more RAM than LG X Power 3. Higher the RAM higher will be the multitasking ability, better the performance.
Approx 13.0% bigger Battery Capacity than Huawei Mate 9 Pro. More the mAh battery size ensures the device.s battery can generally last more time, although it depends on several other factors too.
Approx 1.0% lower in weight than LG X Power 3. Lightweight devices are easy to carry in hands for the longest time.


We are REALLY excited to share this news. Remember hearing about that 2,000 foot water slide? Well, Pantherfest and Slide the City will be releasing the FINAL wave of tickets tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. If you want to join in the fun - and help set a new Guinness World Record - we recommend getting to their website as early as possible Friday morning - previous rounds of tickets have sold out in just hours.
The Trinity River Vision Authority (along with some very generous sponsors - check out this link for details) are throwing Fort Worth a birthday party! Panther City will be 166 years young this summer and, to celebrate, she's throwing herself a birthday bash down by the North Main Street bridge. Admission is free to all, and the party will feature local musicians like Chris Watson, Ryan Tharp, Charla Corn, Shotgun Friday and more! Rahr, Martin House and Panther Island Brewing will be out there with ice-cold beer and Fred's Texas Cafe and Reata (among others) have signed on to dish up food.
Tickets for the water slide are $40 but, like we said, the festival is free and open to all. Want to know more? Check out Pantherfest's website.


text:
Not having Jonathan Toews in training camp is a difficult change for the Blackhawks
by: Larry Hawley
The Blackhawks started training camp at Fifth Third Arena in Chicago on January 4th.
CHICAGO – When Stan Bowman sent a letter to fans on the team's social media channels talking about the franchise's desire to field a younger team, changes were inevitable, with a number of new players making their way into the organization.
That figured to produce a training camp where some familiar names wouldn't be there, like goaltender Corey Crawford. Yet the core players from the start of the dynasty era in the late 2000s figured to remain as the core of a new era of Blackhawks' hockey.
Yet there's one player who is not on the ice at the moment for the team that is literally at the center of the organization: Captain Jonathan Toews. An undisclosed illness has kept him out for the start of training camp and the foreseeable future, since there is not a timetable for a return.
That's something that's rarely happened for the franchise since Toews made his debut with the team in the 2007-2008 season. He's been incredibly consistent, appearing in at least 70 games in ten of his 12 full regular seasons (Toews played in 47 in the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season), and was the foundation for three Stanley Cup titles.
Patrick Kane has been with the Blackhawks with Toews every step of the way since 2007, making this training camp as unusual as any. So not having the captain there is especially difficult for the forward as he starts his 14th season with the team.
"He's obviously in the back of our minds and we're thinking about him," said Kane of Toews. "It doesn't really feel like a team without Johnny as a captain. We definitely miss him, but he has to take care of his first."
As he does, head coach Jeremy Colliton said that he along with general manager/president of hockey operations Stan Bowman remain in contact with Toews as he deals with the illness. He's still the captain of the team in his absence and the team isn't thinking about a date for his return.
For Colliton, health is a priority.
"We're supporting him however we can. That's the No. 1 priority," said Colliton. "As far as when he's coming back and all those things, it doesn't really matter. We're gonna be of assistance as much as we can. He knows that we're supporting him.
"When he comes back is not the top priority."
More Blackhawks Stories
While a bit closer, the Lightning have too much for the Blackhawks again on Friday
by Larry Hawley / Jan 16, 2021
TAMPA - At least this time, they were able to make it a game heading into the third period.
That wasn't the case on Wednesday where the Lightning took a 4-0 lead after 40 minutes and didn't look back in a 5-1 victory. It appeared that was going to be the case Friday, but there was a little fight in the Blackhawks to make it a game at Amalie Arena.
Blackhawks place Toews & Dach on long-term IR
by Rick Tarsitano, Associated Press / Jan 14, 2021
CHICAGO - The Blackhawks are going to be without their captain for at least ten games.
Jonathan Toews was placed on long-term injured reserve Thursday along with Hawks up-and-coming star forward Kirby Dach. The designation means Toews will miss at least 24 days.
Blackhawks drop Season Opener to Defending Cup Champs
by Joel Liberatore / Jan 13, 2021
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists in his return to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup, and the defending Stanley Cup champions opened the season with 5-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.
The Lightning captain, who played just one game in the playoffs, has points in 17 consecutive games — including 14 goals.
Woman in critical condition after being shot during carjacking in Aurora
WGN reporter Mike Lowe challenged to do news report in 6 different languages — and he delivers
News / 6 mins ago


The evil king Nebuchadnezzar prompted people with music to worship a lifeless image of himself. Today the world uses catchy beats or melodies to encourage people to bow down to the lifeless ideals promoted by worthless lyrics. Ironically true believers who voluntarily decide to worship the Lord Jesus will be set ablaze by the fire of God's Holy Spirit as on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4) but eventually all those not willing to worship the Lord will be involuntarily set ablaze in the fires of hell. (Matthew 25:41) There is only One whom we worship and His name is King Jesus. Surrender completely and get set ablaze with His glory!


text:
2018 College Guide and Rankings
Republic 3.0
Successes of Philanthropy
When Ted Cruz Cries 'Wolf' on Shutdown
by Jonathan Bernstein
| 4:01 PM
I largely agree with T. Becket Adams, who argues today that if Republicans were planning to shut down the government, we would know about it.
As I've said, government shutdowns that last longer than a day or two don't happen by accident. In 1995-1996, Newt Gingrich deliberately engineered a train wreck, as they called it back then, because he believed that President Bill Clinton was a wimp and would rapidly lose any game of chicken that Republicans devised. The result? Two lengthy shutdowns, and a much-chastened (for a few weeks, anyway) Newt.
Then, last year, Senator Ted Cruz and his fellow Republican radicals deliberately chose to shut down the government because he believed … well, it isn't clear what the endgame was supposed to be. Perhaps Tailgunner Ted believed Republicans could get their way by holding their breath until they turned blue. Perhaps he didn't game it out. Perhaps he cared more about differentiating himself from other conservative presidential contenders than about anything else. I don't know.
What I do know is that several impasses since 1980, other than those in 1995-1996 and 2013, resulted in at most a very short government shutdown (the government didn't bother to stop functioning during several 1970s funding gaps).
So why do I only largely agree with Adams that there's no real shutdown threat?
For the same reason that in Hays Code movies no couple could innocently sit beside a fireplace or embrace chastely during a storm. Use enough coded language and it becomes impossible to say something uncoded (as Garry Wills explained brilliantly in his chapter on "Chastity Symbols" in "Reagan's America"). As Brian Beutler points out, the problem here is that after publicly threatening a full government shutdown in fall 2013 (and Adams is correct about that), Republicans responded to the actual shutdown by claiming that (1) the government wasn't really shut down and that (2) it was all President Barack Obama's shutdown anyway.1
So when Cruz, as quoted by Adams, now says, "There is one person, and one person only, talking about a government shutdown, and that is the White House," that's pretty much what I expect Cruz to say whether or not he intends to instigate a shutdown (just as I know what must be happening every time a 1940s movie cuts from a kiss to a sunset).
On the other hand, when House Republican leaders say they intend to pass a clean continuing resolution to keep the government operating beyond the election, that means something. Except that's pretty much what they intended to happen last October, and they were outmaneuvered by the radicals.
Of course, if Obama postpones executive action on immigration until after the election, then the chances of a radical spasm in reaction will be reduced. And even if it does happen, the last debacle probably diminished the chances of House mainstream conservatives going along. And for purely electoral calculations, there's a huge difference between October 2013 (just before primary season for the House ) and October 2014, when members are about to face general election voters.
As for Cruz and every other Republican who suddenly decided a few hours into the shutdown that they had nothing to do with it? Well, maybe we should take their words at face value this time. And maybe Grace Kelly and Cary Grant were just having a drink and one kiss during those fireworks.
1 I'm pretty sure Beutler is wrong that no one has explicitly threatened a shutdown, and I've argued that we need to be careful about interpreting that every long-term plan to use leverage amounts to a shutdown threat. But he's correct about what Cruz and the other radicals have been up to in the last few weeks.
[Cross-posted at Bloomberg View]
If you enjoyed this article, consider making a donation to help us produce more like it. The Washington Monthly was founded in 1969 to tell the stories of how government really works—and how to make it work better. Fifty years later, the need for incisive analysis and new, progressive policy ideas is clearer than ever. As a nonprofit, we rely on support from readers like you.
Yes, I'll make a donation
Jonathan Bernstein is a political scientist who writes about American politics, especially the presidency, Congress, parties, and elections.
The White House/Flickr
One Man Didn't Break America and One Person Can't Fix It
by Nancy LeTourneau
To put our faith in democracy and self-government is to believe in the collective 'we.'
Daniel X. O'Neil/Flickr
Rahm Emanuel is Wrong About Everything
by Martin Longman
| 11:30 AM
He attacks progressives for all the wrong reasons and yet underestimates their power and influence.
Kevin McCarthy Flickr
House GOP Strategy for 2020: Emulate Trump's Ruthless Attacks
| 6:30 AM
They're going all-in with the taunts and name-calling.
Get a weekly dose of our best stories in your inbox.
Sign Up-register for our free Weekly Wrap-Up newsletter.
The Most Vicious Trump Campaign Rally Yet
by Joshua Alvarez
Sunday's immigration raids are more for the president to pose as a strongman than to enforce the law.
The Strange Political Silence On Elder Care
by Grace Gedye
Millions of middle-aged women struggle to care for ailing older relatives, and the crisis is only getting worse. So why is no one talking about it?
Ecuador Concluded That Assange Has Ties to Russian Intelligence
Julian Assange has many supporters around the world who value...
Trump Intentionally Inflicts Harm on Refugees as a Show of Force
The roundup is about to begin. On Sunday, Immigration and...
The Radicalizations of the American Mind
by J.J. Gould
Why liberals need to grapple with the complexity of the new left.
© 2019 Washington Monthly.
Subscribe & Save 33% Off the cover price


text:
Your Weekend in Experimental Music: Tanya Tagaq, Bored of Trade 5
by Brandon Wu March 11th, 2010 October 13th, 2020
Just the idea of an Inuit throat singer performing at National Geographic should be enough to pique the interest of many adventurous music listeners. But if that weren't enough, a mere list of Tanya Tagaq's musical associations should lead to outright fascination. To wit: Tagaq's latest record, Auk/Blood, was released on Mike Patton's Ipecac label, also the home of groups like Isis and Hella. And while Tagaq won't be performing with any metal or math-rock musicians at her National Geographic show tomorrow, she will be taking the stage with drummer Scott Amendola and guitarist G.E. Stinson, who have been active in recent years in the West Coast avant-jazz scene. (Amendola has played in the D.C. area a few times in recent years, supporting the likes of Nels Cline and Madeleine Peyroux.) The next day, Tagaq will be up in New York collaborating with the Kronos Quartet.
What will the Tagaq-Amendola-Stinson trio actually sound like? This isn't a working ensemble, and in fact, tomorrow's show is only the second time the three have played together as a trio—-the first is a show tonight in Cleveland. So the only way to find out is to show up.
The other event of interest this weekend is the fifth iteration of the Bored of Trade art and music showcase. The musical headliners this time around are Brooklyn's noisy post-punk duo Talk Normal, most recently seen in D.C. opening for Marnie Stern. Dissonant and unforgiving, Talk Normal's music seems difficult to like at first, but that's before their insistent rhythms start worming their way into the brain. Local representation in the lineup comes courtesy of the intriguing ambient/electronic duo Moon Pie, who for this show will be collaborating—-as the band often seems to do—-with local cellist Doug Stailey.
Tanya Tagaq performs at National Geographic, 1600 M St. NW, on Friday at 7:30 .p.m; $25. Bored of Trade 5 takes place at Paper Sun, Saturday 5:30 to 10 p.m.; $3 suggested donation.
Photo of Tanya Tagaq courtesy Press Junkie PR.


text:
Love rattan and bamboo furniture? TN startup connects you with artisans who make them
Minimal looking rattan (cane) chairs, aesthetic bamboo furniture, chic and retro-looking wired furniture with wood and steel frames are being increasingly preferred by interior designers and home decorators. While many of us may own a couple of pieces of cane furniture and maybe even an old wired chair, the resurgence is a good sign for artisans who depend on it. That the furniture makes your space look minimal yet fashionable is an added advantage. Irukkai, a Nagercoil-based startup run by 29-year-old Santhosh Kumar, specialises in rewiring your chairs, steel cots and other furniture, and in custom-made furniture. Santhosh, who learnt the art of weaving with wires from his father who does it as a business, says Irukkai is only a platform that links customers with artisans. "Often people find it difficult to find artisans who work with cane or bamboo. Sometimes they find them but the artisans don't turn up. Through Irukkai, we make sure there's a successful partnership," Santhosh shares. He continues, "Workers too get exploited and don't get the income they deserve, therefore they don't show interest even when work comes their way. At Irukkai, we don't bargain with them. We take about 5-10% for our running expenses." The startup was formally launched only last year and has about 15 artisans spread across Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Nagercoil, Tirunelveli and Salem. Santhosh also has a few teams in Trivandrum in Kerala and Bengaluru in Karnataka. The idea itself came to Santhosh quite accidentally. He recalls wiring an entire cot when he was about 17, on a whim to earn some pocket money, and this gave him confidence to tell people about his skill. "I posted on a blogging group that I knew weaving and that anyone who wanted work done can contact me on my number. I still get calls from that post and, in a way, it was a start to what I'm doing today with Irukkai," Santhosh shares. After working with an IT firm in Chennai for some time, he moved back to Nagercoil to begin his own startup. He also runs a boutique with a few friends. "At first I introduced customers to a few established furniture makers because I simply could not handle all that traffic by myself. Only later did I come to know that the customers were not satisfied with the service. I then took it up myself," Santhosh says. View this post on Instagram A post shared by irukkai (@iruk_kai) The BE graduate travelled to a few places across the state and put together a contact list of all the artisans he could manage to meet. "I also had some help from customers who shared contacts of the artisans they had engaged in the past. This helped build my directory." With this crowd-sourced team of artisans, Santhosh's Irukkai helps customers find people who can assist with their furniture needs. He explains that in addition to being used in furniture, bamboo/ wire-woven sheets are also used in cupboards, cabinets and as space separators these days. With patterns like bird's eye, tic-tac-toe, four-way, six-way, diamond, cross, Star of David, double-daisy, honeycomb, lace, etc available, there's artistic beauty in owning such furniture. Santhosh adds that such furniture is also preferred over rexine and plastic that tend to get uncomfortably hot when used over long periods. "Drivers especially get a wired frame made for their seats to avoid health issues," Santhosh adds. The furniture is made using plastic wires or natural fibres such as bamboo, rattan and even palm fibre. The skill needed to work with each type and the cost of the final product varies. "We source the bamboo fibre from Assam, which is readily available and costs about 10 times more than plastic fibres/wires. There's also palm fibre, which is sourced from southern districts but is very seasonal," Santhosh explains. Nagercoil all-women team, Santhosh's mother on third from left As a next step, Santhosh hopes to reach out to different communities of people and train them in weaving. "In Nagercoil, we have an all-women team which my mother is also a part of. In Chennai, we have a couple of teams made up of persons with visual disabilities. In future I'd also like to reach out to the trans persons community, the elderly, and persons with any kind of disability. This skill may help them earn a livelihood. We're ready to train anyone who is interested," he says. You can get in touch with Irukkai here.
Chennai journo recounts 'unhygienic' stay in COVID centre, Corporation intervenes
Mixing COVID-19 vaccine doses leads to more reactions, study finds


Performance-driven leader with 10+ years of progressive success delivering operational excellence for logistics, air/ground transportation operations by setting priorities for teams in military and corporate environments to reach high-performance levels. Committed to achieving applying best practices that drive efficiency by identifying logistics requirements to provide strategic direction while using sound judgement to overcome challenges of various complexities. Impactful communicator capable of interacting with professionals at all levels to initiate continuous improvements that enhance delivery performance and direct staff in executing deadline-driven objectives in supply chain operations. Possess exceptional time management and organizational skills to manage flow of goods and inventory control for optimal results.
Instrumental in facilitating movement of personnel/material by managing movement control team to enforce accountability in performing key transportation and logistics functions; direct the flow of material to meet constantly changing demands with safety as the top priority.
Set operational parameters based on risk assessment and intricate evaluations that measure threat levels to prevent delays, interruptions or shutdowns by making modifications as needed to enhance overall effectiveness.
Perform inspections on equipment/tools to minimize downtime by administering pre-arranged preventative maintenance and tactically investigate losses due to theft/damage with clear interpretation of policies.
oGained recognition as the primary liaison to maintain consistent flow of communication throughout movement operations to senior management; entrusted to provide guidance that was imperative to training 15+ contractors and internal business partners on inventory management practices.
oStrategically delegated day-to-day assignments for 150 personnel team to foster cross-functional collaborations and informative meetings to track/control movement of assets worth over $3.3M.
Primary driving force in planning/executing logistical policies that ensure transportation and maintenance services are fulfilled for battalion; directly supervise unit by coordinating operational/tactical logistics to support mode operations and analyze submission of requests to direct supply activities.
Serve as primary point of contact to administer contracting requirements pertaining to transporting hazardous materials/supplies while putting systematic procedures in place to maintain precision of subordinate units and control receipt/exchange of repair parts and accessories.
Demonstrate essential leadership skills to oversee warehouse/customer service staff members by arranging work schedules to meet business demands, delegating daily assignments to keep team on track with meeting deadlines and hiring/training new recruits to ensure full understanding in policies and procedures.
Effectively initiate promotional campaigns that align with sales goals to stimulate revenue growth while setting up product displays/price signage to attract customers and monitor sales floor stock levels to rotate/restock merchandise and properly dispose damaged goods.
Set the standard in completing shipping/receiving procedures to ensure on-time delivery of merchandise by generating sales order documentation for scheduled deliveries, staging products on pallets in assigned areas and coordinating shipments to maintain operational efficiency.
Engage in positive customer interactions to pinpoint needs and guide purchasing decisions; act as a mediator to deescalate conflicts between staff/customers by presenting ideal resolutions and leading by example to motivate sales floor team to deliver outstanding customer service.
Accountable in analyzing P&L statement and sales report to help management determine store's financial performance and provide insight to increase profitability.


Journal Article 2012; 33(4): 462-468 PubMed PMID: 22936254 Citation Keywords: Adaptation, Physiological, Automobile Driving, Biomechanical Phenomena, Case-Control Studies, Female, Humans, Pregnancy:physiology, Reference Values, Spine:physiology, Stress, Physiological:physiology, Vibration, Weight-Bearing:physiology,.
OBJECTIVES: During a longer car drive there are changes in rheological properties of driver's or passenger's connective tissues taking place as a consequence of monotonous and vibration load. These changes show more among the pregnant drivers, whose motion system is under heavier demands due to pregnancy. To asses these changes we have used the TVS (transfer vibration through the spine) method.
METHODS: The TVS is based on application of γ excitation pulses with half-length 5 ms and then harmonic excitation continuously periodically changing from 5 Hz to 160 Hz on C7 and L5 vertebrae. This wave is transferred along the axial system and the acceleration of all the spinous tips of the vertebrae, along which the waves spread between C7 and S1, is detected by accelerometric sensors. The measurement was carried out on three drivers before and after a 4-hours driving. The same measurements of wave transfer along the spine with just one pregnant woman were carried out in th 16th, 26th and 32nd week of pregnancy. Consequently we constructed a simplified model of the spine in order to analyze gathered data by discovering elementary properties of the measured system.
RESULTS: After both vibration and physical load there is a more significant dampening of the spinal tissues apparent, i.e. lower acceleration amplitude and the tissues resonance frequency also shifts towards the lower frequencies. On the other hand after long lasting relaxation on a bed an opposite tendency showed, the acceleration amplitude was higher, tissues were relaxed and dampening was lower. The same tendency manifested among the pregnant women. The influence of progressing pregnancy on the spinal segment transfer function showed through a shifting of peaks above 20Hz. Their size also changes monotonously. An absorption area moves towards higher frequencies, rigidity of axial system connections grows.
Comparative Study 2011; 32(5): 691-696 PubMed PMID: 22167130 Citation Keywords: Adaptation, Physiological:physiology, Adolescent, Anorexia Nervosa:metabolism, Body Mass Index, Child, Female, Humans, Obesity:metabolism, ROC Curve, Resistin:blood, Young Adult,.
OBJECTIVES: There are only few studies available on blood resistin (RES) levels in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), which revealed scarce results, however it has been demonstrated that RES mRNA expression in adipose tissue of these patients is increased. The aim of this study is: 1) the evaluation of serum resistin levels in girls with AN and determination a threshold value differentiating these patients from healthy subjects; 2) analysis of the relationship between serum resistin levels and BMI in examined subjects.
DESIGN AND SETTING: Serum RES concentration has been assayed using ELISA kit in 195 adolescent girls: 87 with restrictive AN (mean BMI-SDS: -2.65 ± 0.2), 17 with not otherwise specified eating disorders (NOS) (mean BMI-SDS: -1.4 ± 0.68), 30 with simple obesity (OB) (mean BMI-SDS: 6.91 ± 1.23) and 61 healthy (mean BMI-SDS: -0.18 ± 0.54).
RESULTS: Mean serum RES concentration in AN (2.8 ± 0.6 ng/ml) and NOS (3.1 ± 0.9 ng/ml) were significantly lower (p<0.0001) than in OB and H groups (4.8 ± 0.5 and 4.1 ± 0.4 ng/ml respectively). After corrected for BMI, RES values in AN were similar as in H subjects, but significantly higher (p<0.005) in comparison to OB group. ROC curve analysis revealed that 3.87 ng/ml is the threshold value of RES serum concentration differentiating AN from H girls (specificity 100%, sensitivity 80%). No significant correlations between BMI and serum resistin concentration are found in AN group, although a significant positive correlation has been established for all examined subjects.
Clinical Trial 2004; 25(4): 292-296 PubMed PMID: 15361820 Citation Keywords: Adult, Feedback, Physiological:physiology, Female, Humans, Hyperthyroidism:physiopathology, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System:physiology, Hypothyroidism:physiopathology, Male, Middle Aged, Reference Values, Regression Analysis, Severity of Illness Index, Thy.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis in patients with subclinical thyroid dysfunction recently reported to have either symptoms or organ involvements with potential morbidity, in order to better differentiate these patients with respect to controls.
PATIENTS: Sixtythree patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism (HyperT), 178 normal subjects (EuT) and 106 patients with subclinical hypothyroidism (HypoT) were enrolled; the groups presented normal thyroid hormone (FT4, FT3) levels and, respectively, reduced (HyperT), normal (EuT) and increased (HypoT) TSH levels. The negative feedback was simultaneously evaluated by multiple linear regression.
RESULTS: The mean TSH, FT4 and FT3 levels were significantly different in the three groups. The negative correlation between thyroid hormones (FT4 and FT3) and TSH secretion was significant (p<0.001 in HyperT; p<0.01 in EuT; p<0.000001 in HypoT group). FT4 mostly contributed to the negative correlation with TSH. The normal ranges of TSH values was accurately defined on the basis of the regression equation in the EuT group, due to the combining influence of both thyroid hormones (FT3 and FT4). No patient of the HyperT or HypoT group fell inside the range of estimated values of the normal group.
Journal Article 2002; 23(5-6): 452-454 PubMed PMID: 12500171 Citation Keywords: Administration, Intranasal, Animals, Capillaries:drug effects, Food Deprivation, Male, Oligopeptides:administration & dosage, Photoperiod, Pineal Gland:blood supply, Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos:biosynthesis, Rats, Rats, Wistar, Stress, Physiological:phy.
The blueprint for stress can be found in invertebrates.
Stefano G, Cadet P, Zhu W, Rialas C, Mantione K, Benz D, Fuentes R, Casares F, Fricchione G, Fulop Z, Slingsby B.
Journal Article 2002; 23(2): 85-93 PubMed PMID: 12011791 Citation Keywords: Adrenocorticotropic Hormone:physiology, Animals, Biological Evolution, Invertebrates:physiology, Opioid Peptides:physiology, Stress, Physiological:physiopathology,.


"The Affair" explores the emotional/psychological effects of two affairs. Young diner waitress Alison and her husband, rancher Cole, are struggling — personally and financially — in the wake of tragedy. Noah, a settled teacher and would-be novelist, is summering at his in-laws' Hamptons estate with his wife, Helen, and four kids. When Noah meets Alison, they begin an affair. For her, he's a welcome escape; for him, she's a pretty distraction. But, the tryst eventually ends two marriages — one that was already a bit shaky, the other that was on solid ground.


text:
Skip Navigation Skip Navigation
EDUCAUSE Home
Information Security: Risky Business
Joanna Grama and Valerie Vogel
EDUCAUSE members identify the top higher education information security risks that are a priority for IT leaders today.
For the second year in a row, Information Security is the #1 issue in the EDUCAUSE annual Top 10 IT Issues list. Since 2000, this is the 15th appearance of Information Security, either on its own or layered in with another issue, and the third time it has landed in the top spot (#1 in 2008 as well). While some may debate whether this designation is beneficial or whether it simply brings more scrutiny to campus information security departments,1 there is no doubt about the ongoing risks facing our higher education institutions and the need for strong leadership to help mitigate those risks.2
Starting in 2015, two Higher Education Information Security Council (HEISC)3 working groups began to conduct informal polls during their monthly calls to identify the top information security risks on campus. The polls provided HEISC members with the opportunity for more in-depth discussions that often led to the creation of new resources for the broader higher education community. This summer we consolidated the polls and expanded the survey to all six HEISC working groups. Since August 2016, four issues rose to the top of our community's risk poll: (1) phishing and social engineering; (2) end-user awareness, training, and education; (3) limited resources for the information security program (i.e., too much work and not enough time or people); and (4) addressing regulatory requirements.
#1: Phishing and Social Engineering
Phishing—a form of social engineering—is a relentless challenge for institutions. Presidents and board members are just as vulnerable to social engineering attempts as are students, faculty, and staff. Over the past two decades, phishing scams have become more sophisticated and harder to detect. Traditional phishing messages sought access to an end user's institutional access credentials (e.g., username and password). Now ransomware and threats of extortion are common in phishing messages, leaving end users to wonder if they have to actually pay the ransom. Campuses have upped their game by providing online training (e.g., Harvard's IT Academy for IT staff, Texas A&M's Aggie Life and Football Fever games for students), by collecting examples in "phish bowls" to help raise awareness (e.g., Cornell and Brown), and by launching phishing simulation programs to educate end users. This type of self-defense training—teaching end users how to spot and handled phishing messages—is critical to protecting institutional resources.
"We've blanketed our institution with the message to contact our security team with any concerns in an effort to address potential and actual threats from social engineering," said Sharon Pitt, CIO at Binghamton University and HEISC co-chair. "Our security communications team and security leadership have developed targeted communications for specific audiences (e.g., staff with financial authority, faculty, and leadership) regarding our awareness of specific threats and reminders of security practices. We have also developed phishing campaigns to help with student awareness, including giveaways of Goldfish crackers and candy Swedish Fish."
#2: End-User Awareness, Training, and Education
Directly related to the first issue, end-user awareness, training, and education is critical as campuses combat persistent threats and try to make faculty, students, and staff more aware of the current risks. Although the majority of U.S. institutions (74%) require information security training for faculty and staff,4 those programs tend to be leanly staffed with small budgets (see figure 1).
Figure 1. Estimated 2016 Security Awareness Program Budget
Source: Joanna L. Grama and Eden Dahlstrom, Higher Education Information Security Awareness Programs, research bulletin (Louisville, CO: ECAR, August 8, 2016)
"We've established information security awareness and training as a priority, and are aligning resources to address it," said Melissa Woo, vice president for information technology and CIO at Stony Brook University and HEISC co-chair. "It helps that we don't have to reinvent the wheel because both the community and vendors already offer usable solutions."
With limited resources, higher education institutions must be creative and collaborative in addressing information security awareness needs. To help institutions continue to improve end-user security awareness in 2017, the HEISC Awareness and Training Working Group has prepared the Campus Security Awareness Campaign, a framework that includes ready-made content that security professionals and IT communicators can customize and integrate into their information security education communications.
#3: Limited Resources for the Information Security Program
Resource constraints are nothing new to those in higher education, but for an information security department, limited resources can pose an even greater challenge. The 2015 EDUCAUSE Core Data Service survey showed that across all U.S. institutions, about 2 percent of total central IT spending is on information security and that there are 0.1 central IT information security FTEs per 1,000 institutional FTEs.5 Put another way, there is only 1 central IT information security staffer per 10,000 student, faculty, and staff FTEs (see figure 2). Adding to the staffing challenge, security skill sets continue to be among those in short supply in higher education.6
Figure 2. Information Security Spending and Staffing, 2015
Source: Joanna L. Grama and Leah Lang, CDS Spotlight: Information Security, research bulletin (Louisville, CO: ECAR, August 15, 2016)
"Our information security team is a sought-after resource on campus with an ever-growing portfolio of security toolsets to deploy, regulatory compliance assistance, and security awareness engagements," said Cathy Bates, CIO at Appalachian State University. "We have a small team with no immediate ability to add staffing to this area, so we are working to extend our capabilities with graduate assistants and with an information security liaison program across campus. The liaison program supports a two-way working relationship between campus departments and this small team, fostering campus ownership of security responsibilities."
#4: Addressing Regulatory Requirements
The regulatory environment impacting higher education IT systems is complex. Since the United States tends to adopt data-protection laws based on underlying industry (as opposed to one national data-protection law), data elements in higher education IT systems may be protected by a patchwork of different federal and/or state laws. For instance, student data is traditionally protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), although some types of student data, when it is held in healthcare IT systems, may be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). In addition, some types of student and institutional employee financial data may be protected by the Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA). State laws may have data-breach notification requirements, and contractual agreements may have their own list of security technological controls that must be implemented and validated in IT systems.
At the center of this pastiche is the information security professional, who must ensure that the institution's IT systems are operated in a way that meets these varied regulatory requirements.7 At many institutions, reviewing and addressing these compliance requirements is a service delivered (for the most part) by central IT units. However, other institutions take a shared approach to meeting information security compliance requirements (see figure 3).
Figure 3. Responsibility for Information Security Practices
Source: Grama and Lang, CDS Spotlight: Information Security
As Information Security lands in the #1 spot on the Top 10 IT Issues list for the second year in a row, it is clear that higher education institutions must continue to improve the maturity of their information security programs to protect their IT systems and data. The EDUCAUSE Cybersecurity Initiative offers the following advice to help institutions and IT leaders improve their information security programs:
Assess the current status of your program using the HEISC Information Security Program Assessment tool. This 101-question assessment tool helps leaders quickly understand the institution's operational information security activities.
Access the institution's EDUCAUSE Core Data Service results in order to review core metrics on IT services (e.g., information security services) and to benchmark against peer institutions.
Measure progress on campus-wide information security initiatives by reviewing your EDUCAUSE Benchmarking Service information security capability report.
Review strategic IT risks with the IT Risk Register, and understand where information security is a risk that could impact institutional business operations.
Educate those using the ready-made information security awareness content in the 2017 Campus Security Awareness Campaign framework.
Collaborate and share tips with other information security professionals by participating in the EDUCAUSE security and privacy discussion groups, joining a HEISC working group or committee, or writing a blog post on current security topics.
Information Security is a favorite on the EDUCAUSE Top 10 IT Issues lists, and it is likely that this topic will remain top-of-mind for institutions and IT leaders in the future. As institutional programs respond to and reduce information security risk, IT organizations will be better poised to meet and accomplish their institutional missions.
In 2016, four information security leaders debated this very topic. See Joanna Grama, Michael Corn, Sharon Pitt, Neal Fisch, and David Escalante, "Video: 4 IT Leaders Debate Security, Part I," EDUCAUSE Review, October 17, 2016.
See Cathy Bates et al., Technology in Higher Education: Information Security Leadership (Louisville, CO: ECAR, March 2016).
HEISC (http://www.educause.edu/security) supports higher education institutions as they improve information security governance, compliance, data protection, and privacy programs. HEISC publishes the Information Security Guide, which features toolkits, case studies, and best practices to help jump-start campus information security initiatives.
EDUCAUSE 2015 Core Data Service (CDS) survey, CDS Almanac, February 2016.
Jeffrey Pomerantz and D. Christopher Brooks, The Higher Education IT Workforce Landscape, 2016, research report (Louisville, CO: ECAR, April 2016). The security management skill set was also listed among the top 10 positions in short supply in Jacqueline Bichsel, Today's Higher Education IT Workforce, research report (Louisville, CO: ECAR, January 2014).
Bates et al., Technology in Higher Education: Information Security Leadership.
Joanna Lyn Grama is Director of the Cybersecurity Initiative and the IT GRC Program for EDUCAUSE.
Valerie M. Vogel is senior manager of the cybersecurity program for EDUCAUSE.
© 2017 Joanna Lyn Grama and Valerie M. Vogel. The text of this article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 52, no. 1 (January/February 2017)
ParentTopics:
Data Security Information Security Governance Intrusion Detection and Prevention Security Awareness Security Management Security Risk Management
Keep up with higher education IT trends
Sign up for free EDUCAUSE Review weekly emails to hear about new content. Log in or create an EDUCAUSE profile to manage your subscriptions.


text:
USS Donald Cook to enter Black Sea
Written by The Sofia Globe staff on December 26, 2014 in Europe - Comments Off on USS Donald Cook to enter Black Sea
Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook was to enter the Black Sea on December 26 2014 "to promote peace and stability in the region," the US Sixth Fleet said in a statement.
"Donald Cook's presence in the Black Sea will serve to reaffirm the US dedication to commitment towards strengthening the partnerships and joint operational capabilities among US, Nato and regional Black Sea partners," according to the statement.
This is the second time this year that USS Donald Cook has entered the Black Sea. The ship operated in the region from April 10 to 24 2014, conducted a port visit in Romania and an underway engagement with USS Taylor and Romanian navy ships, ROS Regina Maria and ROS Marasesti.
USS Donald Cook entered Black Sea in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
"The United States continues to demonstrate its commitment to the collective security of our Nato allies and support for our partners in Europe, in light of the on-going Russian intervention in Ukraine. All DoD efforts in support of our Nato allies in Eastern Europe fall under the umbrella of Atlantic Resolve," the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa/US Sixth Fleet statement said.
"The US remains committed to maintaining a persistent presence in Eastern Europe. We look forward to further commitments by our allies to ensure a coordinated and continuous land, air and sea presence in the region as part of the commitments made at the Nato Summit."
(Photo: USS Donald Cook transits through the Aegean Sea on December 25 2014: US Navy)
Democratic Bulgaria wants Defence Minister summoned over stance on Nato troop deployment
PM Petkov: Bulgaria's position on Ukraine and Russia 'in full sync' with that of Nato, EU
Covid-19: Greece, Romania change entry rules
US deeply concerned by Bulgarian President calling Crimea 'Russian'


text:
Environmental Sustainability of Latin American and the Caribbean Agrifood Systems
Pablo Elverdin, Nelson Illescas, and Valeria Piñeiro
Maria Fleischmann / World Bank
Americas : Latin America and the Caribbean
Agricultural Transformation
Hunger Levels Continue on the Rise: 2022 Global Hunger Index Released
How sanctions on Russia and Belarus are impacting exports of agricultural products and fertilizer
How can we address recurring global food and fuel crises? The role of solar powered irrigation
This blog post is based on the T20 Policy Brief, "Environmental Sustainability of Food Systems, Global Food Security and Trade."
Mitigating climate change and the degradation of natural resources while increasing the production of safe and nutritious food to eradicate hunger and ensure food security for a rapidly growing population is the most important and urgent challenge facing humanity today.
Regional imbalances between food demand and supply persist, as do global disparities in the endowment of natural resources and the agroecological conditions needed for sustainable food production. These trends are also intimately linked across borders and require a globally coordinated response in order to end hunger and ensure greater environmental efficiency in food production.
It is in this linkage where some regions—including Latin America—show significant advantages over others. Thus, the most efficient response to these global challenges would be to promote a sustainable increase in food production and export from these regions.
Latin America and the Caribbean's Agrifood System Advantages
Latin America and the Caribbean totals 36 percent of the world's net food exports and covers more than one-third of the global food deficit. Projections indicate that this share will only grow in the future.
Graph 1: Net food trade by region, in constant value
Note: Net trade (exports minus imports) of commodities covered in the Agricultural Outlook, measured in constant 2014-16 USD. Net trade figures include intraregional trade but exclude intra-EU trade.
Source: OECD/FAO (2022).
In terms of resources, Latin America and the Caribbean contains 36 percent of the world's renewable water supply but uses less than 2 percent of those resources for agriculture—well below the average global water withdrawal (greater than 7 percent) (FAO, 2021). Thus, the region experiences very low levels of water stress.
Map 1: Level of water stress of all sectors by major basin, 2018
Source: FAO, 2021.
Latin America and the Caribbean contain 28 percent of world's land surface suitable for sustainable crop production globally (FAO, 2012).[1] In addition, a large proportion of the area suitable for multi-cropping under rain-fed production systems, both current and future, is located in this region (FAO, 2021).[2]
Map 2: Multiple cropping zone classes for rainfed agriculture for the year 2080
Along with these differentials in the endowment and use of natural resources for sustainable food production, advantages can also be found in the region's application of sustainable agricultural practices produce that low emission rates per unit of product. While the use of conservation technologies can do a lot to improve the environmental sustainability of food systems, only some regions in the world have managed to increase productivity through the use of sustainable production systems.[3] Latin America and the Caribbean is projected as one of the most sustainable regions for food production. OECD-FAO (2022) estimates that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from food production will grow by an accumulated annual 0.09 percent in the region, well below the expected 0.41 percent growth of global emissions. Only Europe and Central Asia project a better performance (both with a projected decline in agricultural emissions).
In terms of efficiency, emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to grow by 0.08 percent per year for each percentage point increase in agricultural production to 2030, while Europe and Central Asia are forecast to see a reduction in emissions of 0.14 percent per year. The world's other regions are forecast to see more than triple these emissions for each percentage point of growth in production. In Africa south of the Sahara (SSA), GHG emissions will grow by 0.7 percent for each point of increase in agricultural production.
Graph 2: Annual change in agricultural production and direct GHG emissions, 2022 to 2031
Note: This figure shows projected annual growth in direct GHG emissions from agriculture together with annual growth in the estimated net value of production of crop and livestock commodities covered in the Outlook (measured in constant USD 2014-16 prices).
Source: OECD-FAO (2022).
Undoubtedly, LAC must continue its efforts to improve the productive and environmental performance of its food systems. However, its starting point is auspicious. The region is the largest contributor, current and future, to the global food deficit, and this contribution is made with less environmental impact and resource use than in other regions of the world.
International trade: the instrument to achieve greater efficiency
Today, more than 20 percent of the calories consumed globally come from trade, it is foreseeable that the relevance trade for food security will continue to increase. Many countries are seeing their food demand balloon not only to ensure adequate calories but also to achieve more diversified diets (FAO, 2018).
Map 3: Number of food groups with insufficient local production adjusted by food loss and waste
Source: Laborde et al. (2022).
At the same time, given the growing regional imbalances in natural resource endowments for sustainable food production, trade can also improve global environmental indicators. Trade is particularly important for resource-constrained countries, which are highly dependent on food imports. Such imports are not only critical to address food security issues but also help reduce overexploitation and degradation of resources, particularly soil and water.
However, food trade has faced restrictions in recent years. These restrictions, often not evidence-based, have come in response to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the situation in Ukraine has also generated greater pressure on global food markets, and some exporting countries have begun to apply export restrictions as a result.[4]
New border barriers are also being increasingly instituted, also without solid scientific foundation, in an attempt to address environmental issues. The imposition of unilateral environmental standards at the border, with limited visions of sustainability, has put pressure on national agri-food systems and jeopardized global food security.
The role of international governance
As discussed previously, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as other regions of the world, have the capacity to increase food production with fewer emissions per unit of a product. Therefore, restricting trade from these regions poses a major threat to both global food security and climate change mitigation.
While some countries and blocs are advancing rapidly with their own laudable initiatives to increase sustainable food production and strengthen trade, these initiatives often contain only partial visions and respond only to national interests, undermining global needs. It is therefore the responsibility of policymakers to design these initiatives carefully, ensure they are based on science, and attempt to balance the objectives of GHG mitigation, global food security, and farmers' livelihoods (OECD, 2021).
Such initiatives should also be designed from the global lens. There currently exists no global forum with the express purpose of discussing agricultural and food production sustainability with a holistic view of its impact on the environment, ecosystems, and natural resource use (Lamy et al, 2022). Environmental issues, the promotion of sustainable food systems, and global food security have not been considered seriously enough in international trade negotiations within WTO. Some effort in this regard was made during the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, but it was insufficient and not sufficiently inclusive of all participants in the global food systems value chain. Thus, the need for a collaborative and balanced response to the joint challenges of global food security and climate change is increasingly urgent.
[1]Understood as land with high agro-ecological potential that is not forested or protected and has a population density of less than 25 per hectare.
[2]In areas where the growing periods are sufficiently long to allow more than one crop to grow during the same year or season, single crop yields do not reflect the full potential of total time and space available per unit area of land for rain-fed production.
[3]For example, less than 10 percent of total world crop production is under the "no-till management strategy," and only five countries (United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and Australia) account for 92 percent of the total (FAO, 2011).
[4]See Laborde and Mamun, 2022 and IFPRI's live tracker. https://www.ifpri.org/project/covid-19-food-trade-policy-tracker
Anh Hoang, T., Nachtergaele, F., Chiozza, F. and Ziadat, F. 2022. Land suitability for crop production in the future: SOLAW21 Technical background report. Rome, FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc0878en
Elverdin, P.; Glauber, J.; Laborde, D. and Piñeiro, V. 2022. Can trade contribute to a global environmental sustainability? IFPRI Project Note March 2022. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.135830
Elverdin, P.; Maranatha, B.; Glauber, J.; Illescas, N.; Sumardjo, G.; Laborde, D.; Piñeiro, V.; Piñeiro, M.; Setia, M.; Rosdaniah, S. y Tejeda Rodriguez, A. 2022. Environmental sustainability of food systems, global food security and trade. Policy brief, Task Force 4, T20 Indonesia 2022.
FAO. 2011. The state of the world's land and water resources for food and agriculture [SOLAW]. Rome.
FAO. 2018. Trade and Nutrition Technical Note.https://www.fao.org/3/i4922e/i4922e.pdf
FAO. 2021.The State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture – Systems at breaking point. Synthesis report 2021. Rome.
Laborde, D.; Piñeiro, V. and Swinnen, J. 2022. Tomorrow's agri-food system: The connections between trade, food security, and nutrition for a sustainable diet. In Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Diets, Kevany, K. and Properi, P., eds. ISBN 9781032004860
Lamy, P.; Geneviève, P.; Garzon, I. and Hub, S. 2022. GRAPE 2: A narrow path for EU agri-food mirror measures?. Europe JaquesDelors, April 2022.
OECD-FAO. 2022. OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2022-2031, OECD Publishing, Paris.