Public participation is an essential part of integrated water management. In a recent study, researchers following the development of a UK catchment management plan found greater cooperation between land managers and environmental regulatory bodies as a result of a participatory process.

Human activities are threatening river ecosystems in the Mediterranean. Recent research in south-east Spain has highlighted the need to assess biodiversity and the ecological condition of river ecosystems at both basin-wide and local scales. The researchers say this will provide a better assessment of river ecosystems, aiding management decisions.

Microbes found in groundwater may be resilient to periods of drought. A new study measured the enzyme activity of microbes, which shows whether they are alive and active, in a groundwater well. No significant difference in enzyme activity was found between those microbes that had experienced drought for four months and those that had not.

The EU Water Framework Directive1 requires policymakers to consider the management of water e.g. in rivers, lakes and streams, at the scale of the river basin, but can wastewater treatment systems be managed at the same scale? To help policymakers answer this question, a team of Spanish researchers have created a method for assessing the integrated operation of wastewater treatment plants in a river basin. Uniquely, the method considers both local and global environmental factors and an economic assessment.

Reliable data regarding marine debris pollution in the Black Sea are lacking. This study provides the first account of the abundance and types of litter floating in the north-western part of the Sea. This information will help to develop effective solutions for marine litter in the region and therefore to achieve the EU objective of ‘Good Environmental Status’ by 2020.

Marine diesel contains sulphur compounds, which generate sulphur oxide (SOx) pollution and acid rain. Ships can use mitigating technologies to reduce their SOx emissions, but these can also have a negative environmental impact. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced stringent legislation to control these, aspects of which are incorporated into EU policy. This study examined the implications of the IMO’s policy and recommends a number of design solutions to help ships comply.

Worsening soil erosion in north-western Europe may be the result of a switch from traditional dairy farming to cash crops. However, even if all dairy farming ceased, reductions in runoff of up to 76% could be achieved if best agricultural practices are employed, at a cost of approximately €45 per hectare for the first three years, new research from the Austreberthe watershed in France suggests.

Comprehensive data analysed in a new study show how extensive rainfall can erode soils across the EU and Switzerland, revealing that Mediterranean regions have the highest risk for erosive events and floods. The resulting dataset can also be used for disaster planning and relief.

Dense urban environments have significant resource-saving potential and serve as good platforms for climate change mitigation. This study reviewed an initiative to improve use of energy and water in Rotterdam, highlighting factors important for success including exchanges in close geographic proximity and private-sector participation.

Soil erosion in Italy could be reduced by 43% if Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC) were fully adopted, a recent study has found. Reducing soil erosion would also increase soil organic carbon stocks, particularly on cultivated sloping land.

Human activities have caused phosphorus to accumulate in soils and water bodies, creating a legacy that could last for decades, new research shows. A study of three major river basins highlights better sewage treatment facilities and reduced fertiliser use as key reasons for an overall decline in phosphorus levels in the Thames River basin, UK, since the late 1990s.

A method for assessing urban neighbourhoods’ resilience to flooding has been presented in a recent study. The method identifies features of urban landscapes that contribute to three elements of flood resilience: resistance, absorption and recovery. In a German case study, the tool shows that the features which make a waterfront neighbourhood of Hamburg more flood resilient include high bridges, open public spaces and flood-protected basements.

The world could experience the highest ever global sea-level rise in the history of human civilisation if global temperature rises exceed 2 °C, predicts a new study. Under current carbon-emission rates, this temperature rise will occur around the middle of this century, with damaging effects on coastal businesses and ecosystems, while also triggering major human migration from low-lying areas. Global sea-level rise will not be uniform, and will differ for different points of the globe.

Reusing waste water for non-drinking uses in decentralised plumbing networks may improve the efficiency of water supply in urban areas, a new study has found. Modelling this approach in San Francisco, researchers found that, depending on the local geography, a decentralised water supply could lead to energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from water treatment of around 30%. Improvements in emerging water-treatment technologies are likely to lead to further savings, which could help increase the efficiency of urban water supply.

Areas of mariculture — where marine organisms are cultivated for food — have been identified as important source areas for the dispersal of invasive alien species (IAS) via artificial floating litter. In order to identify IAS at high risk of dispersal via this method, researchers have analysed fouled anthropogenic litter sampled on beaches in two important European mariculture areas. Overall, the team detected eight aquaculture-related IAS attached to anthropogenic litter. All of these species are well adapted to rafting on artificial surfaces and have high potential to disperse in this way, suggesting that they are suitable candidates for closer monitoring and policy action in the future.

Considering the sustainability of the services provided by an ecosystem could help to overcome management challenges and hit water quality targets defined by the EU, says a new study. By exploring 13 of the ecosystem services (ES) provided by the Venice Lagoon, Italy, the researchers identify factors affecting sustainable and unsustainable patterns of ES provision, and suggest that confined and more open water bodies could benefit from different management strategies.

River flooding costs billions of euros annually in the EU. When one river floods, others nearby often do so at the same time — extending the overall impact beyond the border of an individual drainage basin. With this in mind, this study analysed the spatial extent of flood events across Europe from 1960 to 2010, using data from the European Flood Database (EFD). The research presents key findings for flood forecasting, risk financing and flood-mitigation policy.

One of Athena’s larger goals is to end what it describes as a system in which Amazon competes with other companies to make and sell goods and then dictates the terms by which those competitors find their customers on Amazon’s platform and controls how they ship their wares to market.

Hari Menon pointed out that deliveries were largely constrained due to lack of on-ground staff that had left cities in large numbers prior to the lockdown

Over the next few years business continuity solutions will continue to power the new redefined future of work itself.

There has been a significant increase in cybercrime against women, especially sextortion, during the COVID-19-induced lockdown with "caged criminals" targeting them online, say experts.

The group has been very active during the last five years, especially in 2019-20.

Facebook said advertising revenue was roughly flat in the first three weeks of April compared with the same period last year

The company has gained significant traction as enterprises face massive skills shortages in big data, cloud and associated development operations, or ‘DevOps’.

Reliance Retail has deployed a technology team to develop applications in order to create seamless online and offline experience in the coming financial year.

Machines can protect systems in a way humans just can’t and, for that reason, advanced automation is going to be the way forward as companies look to protect their estates in a battle-ridden landscape.

A Nasscom study said the central government, as well as several state governments and public sector undertakings, owed close to Rs 5,000 crore for just technology projects to the IT industry.

The US government’s massive $2-trillion stimulus is expected to provide liquidity to companies, including banking and financial services that are the biggest outsourcers of IT. Infosys gets 31% of its revenue from banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI).

Brokers need to submit a quarterly report on incidence of cyber-attacks and threats.

Sharing more details of the same, an official Spokesman said that as per the latest MHA Guidelines, activities in a region shall be allowed based on the risk profiling of the region/districts into Red (Hotspots), Orange, and Green zones. ​​In the Orange zone IT/ITES would be allowed to carry out their activities with staff strength of 50 percent.

Companies like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Haier and Godrej Appliance are leveraging Livechat, WhatsApp, DIY video as well as on-call assistance, and helping remotely on real time basis as their service centres are closed in compliance with the government directives.

Organic growth will be difficult and consumers will only buy a phone out of necessity or maybe settle for a refurbished one depending on their spending ability

Changing user consumption patterns and rapid adoption of omni-channel models drive demand.

The company is planning to develop tools that will give more controls to meeting hosts and allow users to securely join a meeting.

Bharti Airtel is doubling down on growing its Internet of Things (IoT) business in India and is now specifically targeting the country’s auto the sector to drive growth and partnerships.

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo expects the Covid-19 supply chain disruption to end in a week or two. It is also planning to open a 5G lab in Hyderabad.

The company said it will utilise the capital to work with manufacturers to build IoT products for the consumer segment that can be plugged into its platform.

AI-based recognition systems, and smart security video networks have led to a paradigm shift in the architecture of security video systems.

In conversation with ETCIO, Biswabrata Chakravorty, CIO, IndusInd bank shares how innovative and cutting-edge modes of banking such as video, gesture, and Whatsapp are all adding to customer experience.

The company on Wednesday announced systems integration (SI) capabilities including consulting, agile devOps, cloud migration, cloud capacity optimization and the Future Mode of Operation aimed at taking the communications industry to the cloud at an accelerated pace.

Google has announced machine images, a new type of Compute Engine resource that contains all the information people need to create, backup or restore a virtual machine, reducing the amount of time people spend managing their Cloud environment.

Microsoft has seen a huge 775 per cent increase in its Cloud services in regions that have enforced social distancing or 'shelter-in-place orders.

Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it would create its first datacentre region in Italy under a $1.5 billion investment plan as the U.S. company expands its cloud computing services to more locations across the world.

The company is planning to develop tools that will give more controls to meeting hosts and allow users to securely join a meeting.

The group has been very active during the last five years, especially in 2019-20.

Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it would create its first datacentre region in Italy under a $1.5 billion investment plan as the U.S. company expands its cloud computing services to more locations across the world.

NITES, said that this went against the government guidelines of not firing people or cutting salaries during the pandemic.

Amazon is beefing up its data centre infrastructure and cloud services business in India as the clamour around data localisation grows louder everyday.

Digital marketing is a particularly strong capability for Indian companies, according to the new global study by Infosys Knowledge Institute.

To help IT leaders find the right balance between IT infrastructure and right workload, ETCIO.com, in association with Dell Technologies and AMD, organised two-city panel discussions for top CIOs.