Miroslav Kubásek

Mapping of Illegal Dumps in the Czech Republic – Using a Crowd-Sourcing Approach

The paper describes an environmental project ZmapujTo (www.ZmapujTo.cz) which is intended to fight against illegal waste dumps in the Czech Republic using a modern, effective and widespread platform. As a supporting tool a smartphone/tablet reporting application ZmapujTo has been developed. This freely available mobile application enables users to report illegal dumps and also overloaded of municipal waste containers. The project ZmapujTo is intended for all people who want to live in a clean environment in their cities, villages or countryside and additionally want to raise awareness of unacceptable environmental behaviour of people.

Environmental Software Systems: Fostering Information Sharing

Different initiatives focused on spatial data in Europe should not be isolated but closely connected. The portfolio of such initiatives is very extensive. On the one hand, it covers all European activities such as INSPIRE or GMES, on the other hand, there are products of modern approaches based on neogeography and Volunteered Geographic Information (e.g. OpenStreetMap). Data are published by various regional or local authorities, non-governmental organisations, public bodies, research projects as well as by different commercial subjects. The focus of the HABITATS project was to build an environment that enables to share and combine data in order to reach new data, information and knowledge. On the basis of different pilots, HABITATS defined and tested harmonisation rules for spatial environmental data and designed the concept of Reference Laboratory as a tool for testing the interoperability and supporting unification of outputs cross different pilots.

GENASIS Information System: A Global Environmental Assessment of Persistent Organic Pollutants

Global ENvironmental ASsessment and Information System (GENASIS) is a tool developed by expert teams of the Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX) and the Institute for Biostatistics and Analyses (IBA) of the Masaryk University in Brno. The aim of GENASIS is to compile validated data on persistent organic pollutants, including their properties, sources, long-term levels, life times, transport mechanisms, effects and risks, scattered throughout various institutions and ministries, and to provide tools for their visualization, analyses, interpretation, assessment of environmental and human risks or modelling of fate. Such a tool should significantly enhance comprehensive understanding of the fate of POPs in the environment, their impacts on ecosystem and the human population.

Internet-based system for anti-tumor chemotherapy evaluation

The Internet-based system DIOS addresses the issues of anti-tumor chemotherapy and its evaluation. The repository of chemotherapeutic regimens (CHRs) stored in XML structured format constitutes the core of the system. Several applications have been created based on this repository, in order to allow users to browse current CHRs and procedures of planning and evaluation of chemotherapy based on the dose intensity concept. This freely available system uses technology based on the XML standard and XSLT transformations.

EnviWeb and Environmental Web Services: Case Study of an Environmental Web Portal

The EnviWeb Environmental Web Portal on the Czech Internet was launched in October 2001 and has become the most visited portal in this sector (http://www.enviweb.cz). The portal is divided into the following sections: Water, Air, Waste, Chemicals, Noise, Nature, Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Management Systems, and Miscellaneous. EnviWeb provides information for experts, professionals, companies, governments, and citizens. It contains a directory of companies in the Czech Republic, directories of inspections, ministries, regional offices, department offices, branch associations, health departments, business support organizations, and so forth. This chapter presents the current status and planned development of EnviWeb based on Web Services technology.

Conceptual Model Enhancing Accessibility of Data from Cancer–Related Environmental Risk Assessment Studies

This paper proposes conceptual model which can be used to facilitate the discovery, integration and analysis of environmental data in cancer-related risk studies. Persistent organic pollutants were chosen as a model because of their persistence, bioaccumulation potential and genotoxicity. Part dealing with cancer risk is primarily focused on population-based observations encompassing a wide range of epidemiologic studies, from local investigations to national cancer registries. The proposed model adopted multilayer hierarchy working with characteristics of given entities (POPs, cancer diseases as nomenclature classes) and couples “observation – measurement” as content defining classes. The proposal extends formally used taxonomy applying multidimensional set of descriptors including scores of measurement validity and precision. This solution has the potential to aid multidisciplinary data discovery and knowledge mining. The same structure of descriptors used for environmental and cancer part enables the users to integrate different data sources recognizing their methodical origin, time & space coordinates and validity.

Semantics Annotations of Ontology for Scenario: Anthropogenic Impact and Climate Change Issues

The synthesis of existing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) pollution monitoring databases with epidemiological data is considered for identifying some impacts of POPs on human health. This task requires new, rich, data, services and models discovery capabilities from a multitude of monitoring networks and web resources. The FP7 project TaToo (Tagging Tool based on a Semantic Discovery Framework) is setting up a semantic web solution to close the discovery gap that prevents a full and easy access to web resources. The use of TaToo tools together with software GENASIS and SVOD is discussed as TaToo validation scenario for anthropogenic impact and global climate change influence on POPs trajectory. This paper contains the first propose of POPs and cancer domain ontology intended for TaToo framework.

Global Environmental Assessment Requires Global Functional Searching Engines: Robust Application of TaToo Tools

The synthesis of existing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) pollution monitoring databases with epidemiological data is considered for identifying some impacts of POPs on human health. This task requires new, rich, data, services and models discovery capabilities from a multitude of monitoring networks and web resources. The FP7 project TaToo (Tagging Tool based on a Semantic Discovery Framework) is setting up a semantic web solution to close the discovery gap that prevents a full and easy access to web resources. The use of TaToo tools together with software GENASIS and SVOD is discussed as TaToo validation scenario for anthropogenic impact and global climate change influence on POPs trajectory.

GENASIS System Architecture

GENASIS (Global ENvironmental ASsessment and Information System) is the web environmental information system which is an environmental data repository that provides comprehensive information on chemical contamination of the environment by Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). GENASIS combines data from long-term environmental monitoring programmes operated by RECETOX with validated data from partner institutions, and provides data archives, data management services and analytical processing of data. In the past few years the GENASIS system has undergone rapid development and grew up from the data repository into a scientific data infrastructure.

Civic Issues Reporting and Involvement of Volunteers as a Phenomenon in the Czech Republic

Today’s smartphones can unlock the full potential of crowdsourcing and take eParticipation to a new level. Users are allowed to transparently contribute to complex and novel problem solving. Engagement of citizens is still challenging but the proliferation of smartphones with geolocation have made it easier than before. In this paper we will introduce the ZmapujTo project - a reporting platform in the form of a mobile application and responsive web page intended for citizens to report civic issues. We will also describe used technology stack and system architecture. In addition, we will introduce “Ukliďme Cesko” (Clean up the Czech Republic) which is a maiden event taking place in the Czech Republic. We explain how ZmapujTo is applied in this event and the ICT tools that are offered to volunteers and organizers for communication and management of the event.