Evaluating Environment in International Development


Book Description

This book provides novel and in-depth perspectives on evaluating environment and sustainability issues in developing countries. Evaluating Environment in International Development focuses on the approaches and experiences of leading international organizations, not-for-profits, and multilateral and bilateral aid agencies to illustrate how systematic evaluation is an essential tool for providing evidence for decision-makers. Moving beyond projects and programmes, it explores normative work on the environment as well as environmental consequences of economic and social development efforts. This new edition reflects on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals and considers how they have influenced efforts in a wide range of countries and what the implications are for evaluation. It also explores ways in which Big Data and geospatial approaches might be utilized. Significantly updated throughout to reflect recent developments in climate change research, and on the implications of the 2020 pandemic, this volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of environment studies, development studies, international relations, sustainable development and evaluation, as well as practitioners in international organizations and development and environmental NGOs. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003094821, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.







Lecture Notes in Real-Time Intelligent Systems


Book Description

Intelligent computing refers greatly to artificial intelligence with the aim at making computer to act as a human. This newly developed area of real-time intelligent computing integrates the aspect of dynamic environments with the human intelligence. This book presents a comprehensive practical and easy to read account which describes current state-of-the art in designing and implementing real-time intelligent computing to robotics, alert systems, IoT, remote access control, multi-agent systems, networking, mobile smart systems, crowd sourcing, broadband systems, cloud computing, streaming data and many other applications areas. The solutions discussed in this book will encourage the researchers and IT professional to put the methods into their practice.







Impact Evaluation of Small and Medium Enterprise Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean


Book Description

Small and medium enterprise (SME) support programs are a common feature of industrial policy in developing countries, but one whose effectiveness is not well known. Governments are motivated to support SMEs both because they make up the majority of industrial enterprises and contribute substantially to GDP, employment and earnings, and because SMEs are thought to be weaker than their larger counterparts. Few governments, however, have evaluated their SME programs rigorously so there is little empirical basis for rational allocation of resources to the well performing programs. The paucity of empirical evidence from rigorous impact evaluations also presents problems for multi-lateral and bilateral donors in deciding whether or not to provide lending or aid for such policy interventions to promote SME development. This study rigorously evaluate SME programs in four Latin American countries to gain insights into which programs perform better than others, and just as important, why. These countries Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru cover a wide range of enterprise support programs, including training, innovation and technology upgrading, quality control, market development, export promotion and network formation. Broadly comparable panel data on enterprises is used to investigate the net impacts of these SME interventions.




Policy, Program and Project Evaluation


Book Description

Evaluation in recent decades has evolved from a tool for project appraisals to a more widely used framework for public decision-making and operational management. Most evaluation books are focused on traditional tools of analysis such as cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis to the neglect of modern tools such as multi-criteria evaluation, social marginal cost of funds analysis, data envelopment analysis, results-oriented management and evaluation and theory based evaluations. This edited volume provides an easily accessible and comprehensive survey of both traditional and modern tools of analysis that are used in the evaluation literature to evaluate public projects, programs, policies and policy analysis and advice. The book will be of interest to students, scholars, researchers, practitioners and policy makers.




Educational Technology Program and Project Evaluation


Book Description

Educational Technology Program and Project Evaluation is a unique, comprehensive guide to the formative and summative evaluation of programs, projects, products, practices and policies involving educational technology. Written for both beginning and experienced evaluators, the book utilizes an integrative, systems-based approach; its practical emphasis on logic models and theories of change will help readers navigate their own evaluation processes to improve interventions and conduct meaningful educational research. Key features include: evidence-based guidelines for constructing and conducting evaluations practical exercises to support the development of knowledge, skills, and program evaluation portfolios a variety of interdisciplinary case studies references and links to pertinent research and resources Using the TELL, ASK, SHOW, DO model first introduced in this series, Educational Technology Program and Project Evaluation provides comprehensive coverage of the concepts, goals, design, implementation, and critical questions imperative to successful technology-enhanced evaluation.