The monitoring and control of a system whose behaviour is highly uncertain is an important and challenging practical problem. Methods of solution based on fuzzy techniques have generated considerable interest, but very little of the existing literature considers explicit ways of taking uncertainties into account. This book describes an approach to the monitoring and control of information-poor systems that is based on fuzzy relational models which generate fuzzy outputs. The first part of Monitoring and Control of Information-Poor Systems aims to clarify why design decisions must take account of the uncertainty associated with optimal choices, and to explain how a fuzzy relational model can be used to generate a fuzzy output, which reflects the uncertainties associated with its predictions. Part two gives a brief introduction to fuzzy decision-making and shows how it can be used to design a predictive control scheme that is suitable for controlling information-poor systems using inaccurate measurements. Part three describes different ways in which fuzzy relational models can be generated online and explains the practical issues associated with their identification and application. The final part of the book provides examples of the use of the previously described techniques in real applications. Key features: Describes techniques applicable to a wide range of engineering, environmental, medical, financial and economic applications Uses simple examples to help explain the basic techniques for dealing with uncertainty Describes a novel design approach based on the use of fuzzy relational models Considers practical issues associated with applying the techniques to real systems Monitoring and Control of Information-Poor Systems forms an invaluable resource for a wide range of graduate students, and is also a comprehensive reference for researchers and practitioners working on problems involving mathematical modelling and control.

Fighting Poverty with Facts: Community-based monitoring systems

An effective state is essential to achieving socio-economic and sustainable development. With the advent of globalization, there are growing pressures on governments and organizations around the world to be more responsive to the demands of internal and external stakeholders for good governance, accountability and transparency, greater development effectiveness, and delivery of tangible results. Governments, parliaments, citizens, the private sector, NGOs, civil society, international organizations and donors are among the stakeholders interested in better performance. As demands for greater accountability and real results have increased, there is an attendant need for enhanced results-based monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs, and projects. This Handbook provides a comprehensive ten-step model that will help guide development practitioners through the process of designing and building a results-based monitoring and evaluation system. These steps begin with a OC Readiness AssessmentOCO and take the practitioner through the design, management, and importantly, the sustainability of such systems. The Handbook describes each step in detail, the tasks needed to complete each one, and the tools available to help along the way."

An integrated approach to environmental data management is necessitated by the complexity of the environmental problems that need to be addresses, coupled with the interdisciplinary approach that needs to be adopted to solve them. Agenda 21 of the Rio Environmental Conference mandated international programmes and organizations to take steps to develop common data and information management plans, and steps have been taken in this direction. The key word that defines the framework of the present book is `integration'. The book establishes the basics of integrated approaches and covers environmental data management systems within that framework, covering all aspects of data management, from objectives and constraints, design of data collection networks, statistical and physical sampling, remote sensing and GIS, databases, reliability of data, data analysis, and the transformation of data into information.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 23rd IFIP WG 6.1 International Conference on Distributed Applications and Interoperable Systems, DAIS 2023, held in Lisbon, Portugal, during June 19-23, 2023, as part of the 18th International Federated Conference on Distributed Computing Techniques, DisCoTec 2023. The 7 full papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 13 submissions. The papers cover the following topics: distributed algorithms and systems; data management; and distributed architectures.

This proceedings set contains selected Computer, Information and Education Technology related papers from the 2015 International Conference on Computer, Intelligent Computing and Education Technology (CICET 2015), to be held April 11-12, 2015 in Guilin, P.R. China. The proceedings aims to provide a platform for researchers, engineers and academics