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Paradise Island's New Atlantis Resort
At the newly expanded Bahamas resort Atlantis, Karrie Jacobs dives in to explore the latest in a long line of water-themed landscape entertainments
Video: See the Audio Slideshow of Atlantis
When I arrive at Atlantis, the epic 2,900-room resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, I barely glance at the imposing fountain full of life-size winged horses. I zip through the tall porte cochère entryway that looks as if it's been lifted from an M. C. Escher drawing and check in as quickly as possible. I have no time to soak up the opulent Greco-Mezzo-American-Egyptoid décor of the Royal Towers lobby—a.k.a. the Great Hall of Waters—or to admire the tall columns, smothered in peaks and volutes, that seem to have been borrowed not from the Parthenon but from a buttercream-frosted cake. No, no, no. I've just flown in from New York, daylight is fading, and I want to get to the beach.
I quickly learn my first lesson about the peculiar geography of Atlantis, as my beachward scramble takes on the illogic of a trip from point A to point B in a dream: I find my way down a long, dimly lit, medieval-looking covered walkway, and around one blind corner after another. Eventually I cross a bridge that deposits me at the top of a formal garden. I follow a classical-style cascade to a fountain—this one features oversize flying fish—and then a large round swimming pool, and then a long wooden bridge over a lagoon, and then, finally, beyond a cluster of hair-braiding and fake-tattoo huts, the real beach. Until almost the very end, it isn't clear that I am actually going to reach the ocean.
Of course, the beach, lovely as it is, is not the main reason people vacation at Atlantis. Not that Sol Kerzner, 71, developer of Atlantis, is indifferent to the beauty of his property's extensive waterfront. He tells me that when he first saw Paradise Island in the 1990's, when he was considering the purchase of a hotel group that was then in a steep decline, he gazed on the pellucid waters and the long expanses of white sand and thought, "I'll bring the ocean into the resort." In other words, he wasn't simply going to build a beach resort, he was going to build a resort that was about the beach.
Atlantis Video
I've come to Atlantis specifically to experience a newly unveiled section of the resort, a complex of rides and attractions called Aquaventure. As described in a breathless press release, this "unprecedented 63-acre waterscape" sounds spectacular: waterslides; a river ride with rapids and "wave surges"; and special effects. Guests will ride inner tubes "propelled along by water escalators, waves, and Master Blaster technology…guests never have to leave the water as they are propelled back up the slide tower via water conveyors." I picture Fritz Lang's Metropolis, except with swimsuits.
On the way to Aquaventure, I stumble on the Predator Tunnel, a sealed acrylic walkway right through a lagoon stocked with large, fierce-looking fish: sharks, barracudas, and enormous manta rays. As I watch their white bellies slide smoothly over the top of the tunnel, I begin to ponder Kerzner's approach to canned nature. What exactly is the appeal of all this artificial landscape? Why do people flock to it? Before long I arrive at a tall boxy building—the Power Tower—tricked out to look like a Gothic cathedral, or rather, the way a Gothic cathedral might look in a Nintendo game.
I notice people floating in tubes in a man-made river beside the building, so I wade in, grab a tube, and go. I bob along, looking up at the smooth, dirt-colored concrete banks of the faux river, past ersatz coves and beaches. Background music wafts from hidden speakers. As I float along, I decide that what artificial nature offers that the real thing can't is instant grat-ification. The Current, as this "river" is called, is as easy to use as a TV or a Game Boy. I can just jump into an alternate reality and stay as long as I find it amusing. When I get bored, I can hop out and find some other form of entertainment.
My best guess is that Atlantis is a direct result of Sol Kerzner's own complex relationship with nature. When he built Sun City, an apartheid-era complex in Bophuthat-swana, one of South Africa's puppet states, where casinos and adult entertainment—illegal in South Africa—were permitted, he threw in a 62-acre fake jungle. "Yes, but that was real," Kerzner insists. "It was the reality of a rain forest. You'd feel the climatic change." At Mohegan Sun, the casino he developed in Connecticut, the dazzling décor by the Rockwell Group is supposed to "evoke traditional tribal life." What this means is that traditional timber construction, flowers, animal skins, and feathers are all used in ways that are much, much larger than life.
Similarly, Atlantis isn't natural; it's the antithesis of an eco-resort. It's all about surrogates: Godzilla-size sea horses appear to hold up portions of the Royal Towers, metallic snakes form the railways of the Lagoon Bar, and everywhere there are huge aquariums and waterways stocked with the most astonishing sea life. One afternoon, I am idly strolling a path that traces the edge of a lagoon and look over and notice a hammerhead shark swimming furiously in tight circles.
Those sharks, no doubt, are real. The tourists, I'm pretty sure, are real. But if the fish swimming through the submerged lost-city streetscape of the Royal Towers' giant tanks are in an artificial environment on that side of the glass, so are the human beings on this side. Our experiences in this resort are as controlled as the fishes'.
The appetite for contrived environments and their easy pleasures is surely on the rise in the early 21st century, but the fashion for phony terrain is nothing new. It goes way back. King Charles VII, for instance, the Spanish ruler of Naples, built an estate called Caserta in the 1750's that featured a series of elaborate fountains of gods and sea creatures arranged along a flamboyant cascade, the Baroque equivalent of the Current. And Versailles, with its carefully manipulated sight lines, its painstakingly landscaped greenery, its immense canal system, and sculpted figures everywhere, could be read as the template for Atlantis. Certainly it's still the gold standard for those who want to improve on nature. As architectural historian Siegfried Giedion writes of Louis XIV, the builder of Versailles, "The notion of mastering nature, forcer la nature, fascinated the King." Likewise, forcer la nature fascinates Kerzner.
What you'll notice at Atlantis if you pay attention is a tableau representing the past half-century or so of resort-hotel architecture. The older buildings, the Coral and Beach Towers that Kerzner reopened under the Atlantis name in 1994, are boxy, plain-as-dough hotels built by Resorts International in the 1960's. They date from a period when the Hilton chain's enthusiasm for clean corporate Modernism dominated the industry. Kerzner razed an equally unadorned 1970's Holiday Inn to make way for the Royal Towers, which opened for business in 1998 and perfectly reflects its decade's mania for "entertainment architecture" as exemplified by Steve Wynn's reinvention of Las Vegas. It's all overstatement and spectacle.
This spring, however, Atlantis entered the New Age when it premiered the Cove. From the outside, the hotel resembles the Royal Towers, all coral pink with oddball turrets. But inside it's modern chic à la South Beach and cutting-edge Las Vegas. The porte cochère here is designed not as a gateway to a fish tank–filled fantasy world but as a framing device for a view of the actual ocean. "The money shot is right through here," the Cove's general manager, John M. Conway, says, gesturing to a perfect rectangle of blue.
The Cove's palette is restrained: lots of teak, lots of iridescent mother-of-pearl, and quiet decorative touches, like the perforated copper siding edging the open kitchen at the Mesa Grill. In the guest rooms, even the bathtubs have spectacular water views. The Cove is designed to attract exactly the sort of sophisticates who would snub Atlantis proper. Reality, of a sort, is back in fashion.
It's still artifice, of course. But imitation rivers and wave-generators seem more exotic than the cheerful sophistication manufactured by interior designers Jeffrey Beers and David Rockwell for the Cove. I mean, who do you call when you need a fake river? Where does artificial nature come from? The ancients—the real ancients, that is—had river gods, such as Tiber and Arno. And if this were, say, the 16th century, there would be in-house fontanieri—"fountaineers." In the Baroque era, when there were no electric motors to run pumps, making the myriad fountains at an estate like Villa d'Este work required incredible strategic skills. According to Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, author of Landscape Design, the fontanieri were "virtuosic hydraulic engineers with an understanding of metaphysics as well as physics, and a reputation akin to that of magicians because of the ingenuity of their creations." Who, then, are the fontanieri of Atlantis?
One morning I go for a walk with Mark R. Gsellman, whose business card says he's senior vice president and general manager of marine and water-park operations. He tells me he's been in the theme-park business since he was 17 and reels off a string of names: Discovery Cove, Seaworld, Boardwalk & Baseball.… It could be the résumé of a 21st-century fontaniere, although Gsellman doesn't come across as metaphysical. At Atlantis, he's in charge of making sure that Aquaventure's three-million-gallon system is up and running every day. "This rapid is sixty thousand gallons a minute at the top," Gsellman says as we walk past a bucket-brigade line of employees tossing freshly inflated inner tubes into the water. "It's eighty thousand at the rapids. How you start that up takes a little sophistication." He takes me inside the Power Tower and shows me a room full of plumbing where all the water that runs through the Current is chlorinated, ozonated, warmed, and filtered. Four waterslides also emerge from this building, and so many huge green pipes—each big enough to hold a large adult with inner tube—emerge from it that it could be an oil refinery.
After my behind-the-scenes tour, I jump on a tube and float to the Power Tower along a slow, narrow tributary that leads to a long, steep, rubberized conveyer belt carrying a line of tubes and riders, like products on an assembly line, up to the top of the tower. The experience is more Rube Goldberg than Fritz Lang. The conveyer belt stops a lot on the way up—traffic—and as our queue of people in bathing suits sit in the temporarily beached tubes, we can hear screams emanating from the big green pipes next to us. Once at the summit, we pop off the conveyer belt one by one and float into a holding area designed a bit like a highway interchange. You can take the first left and go down the gentlest slide, the Falls, or go around a long curve to the Drop (or you can pluck your tube out of the water and dash upstairs to the truly scary slide, the Surge). Taking Gsellman's advice, I start with the Falls. And I discover that the disturbing part isn't so much the steepness or the speed, but the fact that a large portion of the swift ride takes place in the dark. I find myself inside one of those green pipes spinning round and round in blackness.
It could be argued that the whole of water-ride history, more than 100 years' worth, leads to this state-of-the-art moment. Louis XIV's guests at Versailles placidly floated along his Grand Canal in gondolas. The first real waterslide was probably the Shoot-the-Chutes, introduced in the 1890's at Coney Island, in which thrill seekers would ride down a steep watercourse in a simple wooden boat and end up in a lagoon. Amusement parks' long flume rides came later, and since Orlando's Wet 'n' Wild opened in 1977, water parks have become increasingly popular. According to John Schooley, who has been in the business since 1980, and whose company designed the new Atlantis water features, "transportain-ment," as he calls it, means that "pretty much the entire park is designed as one giant ride."
Schooley informs me that I've got it backward. The true meaning of transportainment is that water parks have evolved beyond that isolated moment of raw fear. Now the thrill junkies can divert their tubes into the Power Tower, while those of us who think too much can just float along.
Actually, thinking too much might get in your way of fully enjoying Atlantis. For instance, how you feel about the word "transportainment" may be an indicator of how you'll respond to the theme-park ambience. Similarly, your philosophical position on artifice versus authenticity will determine how you regard the resort's finest dining experience, Café Martinique.
In 1962, A&P heir Huntington Hartford turned the boathouse on his extensive Paradise Island property (where he recreated some of Versailles's gardens) into a restaurant called Café Martinique and it became a local society hot spot. It was the setting for James Bond and Bond-girl Domino's romantic dinner and dance in the 1965 movie Thunderball. Over the years, the café changed hands with the rest of the property, from Hartford to Resorts International to Donald Trump to Merv Griffin and finally, in the early 1990's, to Kerzner.
"Café Martinique was the one place on the island where the standards were good," Kerzner recalls. He adds, "I guess the place was pretty famous." Unfortunately, Kerzner's master plan called for a marina and there was no room for a ramshackle waterfront restaurant, even one with the imprimatur of James Bond, in his conceptual universe. The forcer la nature impulse, in Kerzner's case, also plays out as forcer la man-made. "When we decided to build the marina, I talked to the prime minister and I told him that Café Martinique would come down," Kerzner continues. "He was horrified. I promised to rebuild it."
Indeed, he did. The new Café Martinique opened in early 2006 in Marina Village, an open-air shopping mall. The formally dressed doorman escorts diners into an antique birdcage elevator to a bar decorated in restrained French-colonial style. There's no trace of the festive outdoor dining area depicted in Thunderball, but while waiting for your table you can sit on the balcony and check out the yachts moored in the marina. The big surprise is the genuine beauty of the dining room, designed by Adam Tihany. The lamplit space features exposed, whitewashed beams, holding up a steeply pitched roof. I have excellent peppered-crab dumplings, fresh local snapper, and crème brûlée. Somehow this reinvention of Paradise Island history is so compelling that I actually forget about the shopping mall downstairs. The restaurant—like the resort that surrounds it—is an enormously effective piece of art direction, a demonstration of the seductive power of artifice.
Karrie Jacobs is a T+L contributing editor.
Getting There
Most major airlines fly directly to Nassau. Paradise Island is a 35-minute taxi ride away.
Where to Stay
Atlantis 1 Casino Dr., Paradise Island, the Bahamas; 888/528-7155 or 954/809-2100; www.atlantis.com; doubles from $329.
The Cove 1 Casino Dr., Paradise Island, the Bahamas; 877/268-3847; doubles from $575.
1550 Villa d'Este
Mythology-themed park near Rome with spectacular fountains, including this one by Bernini.
1665 Versailles
Designed by André Le Nôtre, the gardens are fed by a 120-mile-long network of canals.
1904 Coney Island
Before it was destroyed by a fire in 1911, Brooklyn's Dreamland featured an indoor re-creation of Venice.
1977 Wet 'n' Wild, Orlando
One of the first modern waterslide theme parks.
The hulking, coral-pink fantasy castle of the Bahamas' only megaresort is visible from miles away (by land or sea); the towers don't just dominate the Bahamian skyline, they are the skyline. In terms of size, glitz, and hype, billionaire developer Sol Kerzner's property dwarfs every other in the commonwealth: the main resort has some 2,300 guest rooms, a massive casino, a 63-slip marina filled with luxury yachts, 40-odd restaurants and bars, and too many activities and entertainment options to count (did we mention the 63-acre waterpark?). It's Disney on the Caribbean, and there are plenty of folks—especially families with kids, and even visiting high rollers like Michael Jordan and Britney Spears—who are just fine with that. Those wanting access to the snazziness without being in the middle of it will prefer The Cove Atlantis, a separate resort within the resort that opened in March 2007. The glamour here is lower-key, with 600 elegant, clean-lined suites (as opposed to the tropical whimsy that prevails at the main resort). The cavernous Mandara Spa, and the fact that no kids under 12 are permitted in certain areas, make this the one part of Atlantis where you'll feel relaxed rather than dazzled.


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Five lessons learned in my first 60 years (Column)
One of the perks of working from home is that I don't get fired as often. Another is that I can drive my 11-year-old granddaughter to school in the morning.
Hallie and I talk on the way. She tells me what she's learning at school. I tell her what things were like when it was legal for mental asylum inmates to teach school.
Mostly we talk about life: what she wants to accomplish with hers and how I've wasted most of mine. It's a stark contrast between young hope and aging cynicism.
Sometimes Hallie asks my advice. Last month she wanted to know what to do about a boy she liked who was mean to her at school.
I suggested she point him out to me. I'd wait for him after school and punch him so hard he'd be able to see out of his ears. Hallie always runs my advice past her grandmother, so I still don't know who the kid is.
When I turned 60 last week Hallie was impressed. She won't be 60 until the year 2061. That is a long time to learn stuff. What were the most important lessons I had learned during my six decades in the school of life?
Hallie: "And don't say, 'Never go water skiing with Jesus.' Grammy says that one is a lie."
We agreed that in exchange for homemade cookies, I would tell her the five most important things I had learned in life, one every morning for an entire week. Then I told her one for free.
Me: "Your grandmother is easier to live with when she doesn't know everything."
Hallie: "Be serious."
I promised to try. During the weekend I thought about all the things 60 years had taught me. I worried that none of them would apply to her. Our worlds are so different.
At age 11 her goal is to become a world-class pastry chef with her own bakery and signature line of goods. When I was that age my life goal was to live in a tree.
I finally narrowed it down. These are the five most valuable life lessons I wish I hadn't been forced to learn the hard way.
Be yourself: Eventually people are going to find out who you really are anyway. If you had to pretend in order to keep them happy or get them to like you, they should have been avoided in the first place.
Remember to have fun: Hard work is important, but people who say it never killed anyone are idiots. It's killed lots of people. So has fun, but it's at least a lot more ... well, fun. The trick is in not letting one prevent you from having the other.
Don't be afraid to love: Sometimes love hurts, but the right kind of love is always worth it anyway. If you have to ask what kind that is, you haven't found it yet. Keep looking.
Know when to shut up: Rarely is the person in charge also the smartest person in the room. But they're still in charge, so keep your own council whenever being right might not be as satisfying as being able to eat.
Square your tab: No one alive is ever completely debt free. Whether financial or emotional, always stay current on what and who you owe.
I don't know if any of these will be the most important life lessons Hallie needs to know, but they can't hurt. I've learned them well enough to keep from having to live in a tree.

subset: commoncrawl


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| 6°C Belfast
Manchester United manager David Moyes has revealed he has not fielded any requests to take Wilfried Zaha on loan - but admits the winger could be allowed to leave on a temporary basis if the circumstances are right.
Zaha was Sir Alex Ferguson's final signing as Manchester United manager but has been chronically under-used since his £15million move from Crystal Palace.
Zaha's six-minute substitute outing at Aston Villa on Sunday was only his fourth United appearance and the 21-year-old has made just two starts.
It is no surprise that a loan move has been mooted, with Newcastle said to be among the clubs interested in attaining the services of a player good enough to win two full England caps.
And Moyes concedes he is not against the idea.
"I did say to Wilf if I didn't feel he was getting enough games, I would consider it," Moyes said in quotes reported by MUTV.
"Obviously if we've got injuries or other reasons, I wouldn't take it on board.
"But the truth is we haven't had anybody phoning up and wanting to do that at the moment.
"While it's like that, I am fine."


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Incumbent in front before Armenian election
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The campaign for Armenia's presidential election lasted only a month, but packed drama into the short time that included the shooting of one candidate and another contender going on a hunger strike.
For all that, incumbent Serge Sarkisian is widely expected to cruise through Monday's voting easily, likely getting the 50 percent plus one vote tally necessary to avoid a second round. Six other candidates are on the ballot.
Sarkisian's first term in 2008 started traumatically. Within weeks of his election, clashes between police and supporters of Sarkisian's vanquished challenger Lev Ter-Petrosian left 10 people dead and more than 250 injured.
But Sarkisian adroitly reduced tensions by talking with critics and allowing opposition protests. The next year, the parliament granted a sweeping amnesty to hundreds of people who had been arrested in the post-election violence.
He also has overseen a return to economic growth after years of stagnation, although the former Soviet republic still suffers from widespread poverty. World Bank figures for 2010, the most recent year tallied, show nearly 36 percent of the country living below the national poverty line. Average wages are about $300 a month.
The landlocked country's economy is hobbled by the longstanding closure of its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey, both connected with the occupation by Armenian troops and ethnic Armenian local forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. That frozen conflict shows no signs of imminent resolution despite years of international mediation attempts.
Since fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh ended in 1994, Azerbaijan has used its burgeoning oil wealth to restore its military. Sarkisian's main opponent, Raffi Hovanessian, has made accusations that Sarkisian is losing the arms race with Azerbaijan a main plank of his campaign.
The American-born Hovanessian, who was post-Soviet Armenia's first foreign minister, also contends that billions of dollars have disappeared from the state budget because of corruption under Sarkisian, and emphasizes the large number or Armenians leaving the country of 3 million to pursue better opportunities; the outward flow is estimated last year to have been about 3.3 people per 1,000 of the population.
But the criticisms appear to have gained little traction. Polling in early February by Gallup International foresaw Sarkisian getting 68 percent of the vote, with Hovanessian tallying 24 percent.
At the time of the poll, released Feb. 7, Paruir Airikian was running a distant third. But that was a week after he was shot in the shoulder in a mysterious attack and it is unclear how much sympathy for the shooting may have affected his total.
Airikian vowed repeatedly to ask the Constitutional Court to delay the balloting by two weeks — which is allowed if a candidate cannot campaign due to extraordinary events — but eventually backed off.
A fringe candidate, political analyst Andrias Gukasian, has been on a hunger strike outside the national academy of sciences building in central Yerevan since the campaign opened Jan. 21, protesting alleged widespread vote-buying by Sarkisian's party.
An interim report on the campaign by the elections-monitoring arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe noted that some of Sarkisian's campaign offices are located in government buildings and that "the distinction between campaign activities and state functions appears to be blurred."
Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.


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10 metros with biggest unemployment drops
- One year change in unemployment rate ranges from 2.1 to 2.5 percentage points in these metros
- Labor force is growing in all 10 areas listed%2C up to 3.4%25
- Palm Coast%2C Fla. ranks number one
The U.S. unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points between February 2012 and February 2013, from 8.3% to 7.7% — the lowest it had been since 2008 based on seasonally adjusted figures. It since dropped to 7.6% in March.
Meanwhile, in some metropolitan statistical areas, unemployment rates proportionately fell much more than the rate nationwide. In Palm Coast, Fla., the unemployment rate fell by 2.5 percentage points from a year ago to 10.3% in February. The metro areas with the biggest declines still generally have high unemployment, and it remains to be seen whether this short-term improvement will translate into long-term recovery.
These metro areas were among the hardest-hit economies in the country, with unemployment in places like Merced, Modesto, and Palm Coast, rising well above 15%. Several of these cities, despite the improvement, still have among the highest unemployment rates in the U.S.
The exceptions are cities like Boise, Idaho, which had an unemployment rate of 9.6% in February 2010, just below the national rate of 9.8%. The area's unemployment rate as of February 2013 was 6.5%. — well below the U.S. figure.
Martin Kohli, chief regional economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics explained that one clue to the stability of long-term job growth in these cities is the type of jobs added — whether they are payroll jobs rather than agricultural or self-employed ones. In some of these places, like Merced, Calif., he explained, there was a healthy increase in payroll jobs, while in cities like Madera, Calif., this wasn't the case. "If you're really recovering, you want to see positive changes in a lot of different areas, and you're seeing that for Merced, but you're not seeing it for Madera," Kohli said.
In our analysis, we only reviewed the cities where the labor force was growing. Cities like Coeur D'alene, Idaho and Yuba City, Calif.. have also had substantial declines in unemployment, but also had labor force declines of more than 2%. The cities on our list have had the number of people looking for jobs increase and the number of people without jobs decrease — a sign that jobs are being added at a faster rate than people are joining the labor force.
Based on change in the unemployment rates between February 2012 and 2013, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the eight Metropolitan Statistical Areas with the biggest percentage point decline in non seasonally adjusted unemployment. From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics we also reviewed unemployment rate changes from previous years, as well as the change in unemployment from October 2009 — U.S. peak unemployment — to the current rate. The BLS also provided nonfarm payroll growth over that time. All metropolitan employment numbers are not seasonally adjusted. The national unemployment rate change we mention is seasonally adjusted.
These are the 10 metro areas with the biggest declines in unemployment:
8. Merced, Calif.
> 1 yr. change in unemployment rate: -2.1 percentage points
> Current unemployment: 17.8% (4th highest)
> Unemployment October 2009: 15.4%
> Labor force: 113,114
> 1 yr. change in payroll jobs: 3.2%
Although the unemployment rate of 17.8% as of February is the fourth highest of all metropolitan areas in the U.S., it has fallen from 19.9% the year before. The trade, transportation and utilities industry employed approximately 11,900 people as of February, a 6.3% jump compared to the same month in 2012. The Merced metro area is very reliant on farm labor. Of the approximately 92,900 people employed as of February, just 57,600 were employed in nonfarm jobs.
7. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.
> 1 yr. change in unemployment rate: -2.1 percentage points
> Current unemployment: 7.1% (129th lowest)
> Unemployment October 2009: 11.1%
> Labor force: 1,142,625
> 1 yr. change in payroll jobs: 2.0%
Between February 2012 and February 2013, employment in Orlando rose 5.1%, one of the largest increases metro areas nationwide. Much of this has been due to a recovering leisure and hospitality industry, the area's largest job sector. Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and several of the area's other major employers have added hundreds of jobs in recent months. However, according to the Orlando Sentinel, it remains to be seen if these employment gains are permanent, or simply the product of temporary hiring.
6. Modesto, Calif.
> 1 yr. change in unemployment rate: -2.1 percentage points
> Current unemployment: 14.9% (9th highest)
> Unemployment October 2009: 16.9%
> Labor force: 237,899
> 1 yr. change in payroll jobs: 1.2%
The unemployment rate of 14.9% in February, while still among the highest of all metro areas, is down considerably from 17% in the same month last year and down from a high of 18.9% back in February 2010. Despite the decline in the unemployment rate, the total number of people employed grew by just 3.3%. Headcount in trade, transportation and utilities — the largest industry in the area with 33,500 people as of February 2013 — grew 4% year-over-year.
5. Boise City-Nampa, Idaho
> 1 yr. change in unemployment rate: -2.2 percentage points
> Current unemployment: 6.5% (93rd lowest)
> Unemployment October 2009: 8.5%
> Labor force: 308,324
> 1 yr. change in payroll jobs: 2.9%
At 6.5%, the Boise metro area's unemployment rate is lower than roughly three-quarters of all other metropolitan areas. Also, the job market of few metro areas has improved as much as Boise's. As of February, total employment was up 4.3% from the year before, among the largest increases in the nation. The professional and business services sector has been among the major industries contributing to job growth. The sector increased employment by 6.3% over the 12 months ending in February.
4. Madera-Chowchilla, Calif.
> 1 yr. change in unemployment rate: -2.2 percentage points
> Current unemployment: 13.2% (18th highest)
> Unemployment October 2009: 13.9%
> Labor force: 69,615
> 1 yr. change in payroll jobs: 0.3%
Although the Madera area continued to have an extremely high unemployment rate in February of 13.2%, the situation there has improved dramatically from the year before, when 15.4% of all workers were without a job. Over the course of those 12 months, the number of jobs in the area rose by 5.8%, one of the largest increases in the nation. Many of Madera's jobs are tied to agriculture. As of February, there were over 60,000 workers in the area, but only roughly 33,000 workers were listed on nonfarm payrolls, virtually unchanged from the year before.
3. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.
> 1 yr. change in unemployment rate: -2.4 percentage points
> Current unemployment: 9.8% (65th highest)
> Unemployment October 2009: 13.1%
> Labor force: 994,940
> 1 yr. change in payroll jobs: 2.0%
The number of unemployed job seekers in Las Vegas dropped by 19% between February 2012 and February 2013. The two largest industries in the area — trade, transportation and utilities and professional and business services — grew a modest 2.6% and 1.3%, respectively. Yet the construction industry, which employed approximately 37,400 people as of February 2013, had employment rolls grow by more than 7.5%. This may indicates a recovery in the Las Vegas housing market, which took a significant beating several years ago. Builders have reported dwindling vacant lots in the Southern Nevada area, and home prices in January rose by more than 8% compared to a year earlier.
2. Ocala, Fla.
> 1 yr. change in unemployment rate: -2.4 percentage points
> Current unemployment: 8.4% (134th highest)
> Unemployment October 2009 : 13.4%
> Labor force: 132,964
> 1 yr. change in payroll jobs: 3.4%
The number of people unemployed dropped from about 14,300 in February 2012 to about 11,200 February 2013. The nearly 22% drop was the fourth-largest of all metropolitan areas in country. Job growth grew across the board. In education and health services, one of the largest industries in the area, employment grew by 5.6% between February 2012 and February 2013. Employment headcount grew by 6.5% in business and professional services. Back in February, city and county officials approved a multi-million dollar incentive package to entice FedEx to build a nearly 400,000 square foot distribution center, which, if completed, would provide 165 jobs at an average annual salary of $31,536.
1. Palm Coast, Fla.
> 1 yr. change in unemployment rate: -2.5 percentage points
> Current unemployment: 10.3% (47th highest)
> Unemployment October 2009 rate: 15.0%
> Labor force: 34,865
> 1 yr. change in payroll jobs: 1.0%
The number of people employed in the Palm Coast area grew by 7.2% between February 2012 and February 2013, more than all but three other metropolitan areas across the country. The labor force also grew more than 4%, indicating that previously discouraged job hunters may either be back to work or back to job hunting. In business and professional services, headcount grew by 15% to 2,300 employees as of February 2013, compared to the same month in 2012. Leisure and hospitality grew 6.7% year-over-year.
24/7 Wall St. is a USA TODAY content partner providing financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.


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Vermont Agency of Commerce Names Office of Creative Economy Director
WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 19, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — The Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development announced today that Lars Hasselblad Torres has been hired as Director of the Agency's Office of the Creative Economy (OCE).
The OCE was created in 2011 by the Vermont Legislature in recognition of the growing role of the creative sector in Vermont's economy. The office works with independent creatives, businesses and other partners to identify specific needs and prioritize initiatives for economic growth in areas of film, new media, marketing, graphic design, advertising, software and game development.
"Lars brings focus, energy and innovation and we are pleased he has agreed to be part of our team," Commissioner Noelle MacKay said. "His relentless appetite for – and insight into – creativity and innovation will be an asset to all involved in the creative economy in Vermont."
Torres has 15 years of experience across multiple disciplines including the arts, public policy, education and community development. Most recently, he opened Local 64, a co-working space and creativity incubator that serves as a shared work environment for independent creatives in Montpelier.
"I'm very excited to bring my experience to the work initiated at the department to expand and advance Vermont's creative economy," Torres said. "We're at a time of incredible opportunity as a state; it is my expectation that the OCE will help to articulate and solidify the possibilities, develop strategies to leverage the opportunities – and ultimately help Vermont's independent creatives and businesses thrive. I'd like to see the OCE emerge as a platform for momentum and synergy across the state. It's an honor to be asked to join the team here."
Torres also worked as the Innovation Prize Advisor to the Office of Science and Technology at United States Agency for International Development (USAID). From 2008 to 2011, he worked at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) leading the development of the MIT Global Challenge, an innovation competition that engages alumni, students, and community organizations in tackling barriers to well-being in communities world-wide. From 2002 to 2007, he served as founding researcher of the Democracy Lab for Innovation and Research, the in-house public policy and technology research unit for AmericaSpeaks, a national non-profit that works to engage citizens in governance.
ABOUT: The Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development (DEHCD) works to grow Vermont's economy, help businesses create jobs, and support vibrant and resilient communities. DEHCD provides training, technical and financial assistance designed to enhance local community and economic development programs and practices. Visit: accd.vermont.gov/strong_communities.
The Office of Creative Economy provides support to remove barriers to economic growth, fosters networking opportunities and provides guidance on funding and permitting for creative enterprises in Vermont. Learn more at: accd.vermont.gov/business/innovation/creative_economy.
Source: Agency of Commerce and Community Development


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Java Threads Interview Questions – 1
1)What is threaded programming and when is it used?
Threaded programming is normally used when a program is required to do more than one task at the same time. Threading is often used in applications with graphical user interfaces; a new thread may be created to do some processor-intensive work while the main thread keeps the interface responsive to human interaction.
The Java programming language has threaded programming facilities built in, so it is relatively easy to create threaded programs. However, multi-threaded programs introduce a degree of complexity that is not justified for most simple command line applications.
2)Why are
notify() and
notifyall() methods defined in the
Object class?
A: These methods are detailed on the Java Software Development Kit JavaDoc page for the
Object class, they are to implement threaded programming for all subclasses of
3)Why are there separate
wait and
sleep methods?
A: The static
Thread.sleep(long) method maintains control of thread execution but delays the next action until the sleep time expires. The
wait method gives up control over thread execution indefinitely so that other threads can run.
4) What's the difference between
Thread and
Runnable types?
A: A Java
Thread controls the main path of execution in an application. When you invoke the Java Virtual Machine with the
java command, it creates an implicit thread in which to execute the
main method. The
Thread class provides a mechanism for the first thread to start-up other threads to run in parallel with it.
Runnable interface defines a type of class that can be run by a thread. The only method it requires is
run, which makes the interface very easy to to fulfil by extending existing classes. A runnable class may have custom constructors and any number of other methods for configuration and manipulation.
5)How does the
run() method in
Runnable work?
A: It may help to think of the
run method like the
main method in standard single threaded applications. The
run method is a standard entry point to run or execute a class. The
run method is normally only executed in the context of an independent
Thread, but is a normal method in all other respects.
Thread is runnable, how does that work?
A: The
Thread class'
run method normally invokes the
run method of the
Runnable type it is passed in its constructor. However, it is possible to override the thread's
run method with your own.
7)Why not override
Thread to make a
A: There is little difference in the work required to override the
Thread class compared with implementing the
Runnable interface, both require the body of the
run() method. However, it is much simpler to make an existing class hierarchy runnable because any class can be adapted to implement the
run() method. A subclass of
Thread cannot extend any other type, so application-specific code would have to be added to it rather than inherited.
Separating the
Thread class from the
Runnable implementation also avoids potential synchronization problems between the thread and the
run() method. A separate
Runnable generally gives greater flexibility in the way that runnable code is referenced and executed.
8)What's the difference between a thread's
start() and
run() methods?
A: The separate
start() and
run() methods in the
Thread class provide two ways to create threaded programs. The
start() method starts the execution of the new thread and calls the
run() method. The
start() method returns immediately and the new thread normally continues until the
run() method returns.
Thread class'
run() method does nothing, so sub-classes should override the method with code to execute in the second thread. If a
Thread is instantiated with a
Runnable argument, the thread's
run() method executes the
run() method of the
Runnable object in the new thread instead.
Depending on the nature of your threaded program, calling the
run() method directly can give the same output as calling via the
start() method, but in the latter case the code is actually executed in a new thread.
9)Can I implement my own
start() method?
A: The
start() method is not marked
final, but should not be overridden. This method contains the code that creates a new executable thread and is very specialised. Your threaded application should either pass a
Runnable type to a new
Thread, or extend
Thread and override the
run() method.
10)Do I need to use
synchronized on
A: It depends whether the method affects method local variables, class static or instance variables. If only method local variables are changed, the value is said to be confined by the method and is not prone to threading issues.
11)How do I create a
Runnable with inheritance?
A: To introduce a
Runnable type to an existing class hierarchy, you need to create a sub-class that declares that it implements the
Runnable interface, and provide a
run method to fullfil the interface. This combination of interface and inheritance means that runnable implementations can be very minor extensions of existing classes, as in the example below…
12)What is the
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(Runnable) method for?
A: The static utility method
invokeLater(Runnable) is intended to execute a new runnable thread from a Swing application without disturbing the normal sequence of event dispatching from the Graphical User Interface (GUI). The method places the runnable object in the queue of Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) events that are due to be processed and returns immediately. The runnable object's
run() method is only called when it reaches the front of the queue.
The deferred effect of the
invokeLater(Runnable) method ensures that any necessary updates to the user interface can occur immediately, and the runnable work will begin as soon as those high priority events are dealt with. The invoke later method might be used to start work in response to a button click that also requires a significant change to the user interface, perhaps to restrict other activities, while the runnable thread executes.
13)What is the
volatile modifier for?
A: The
volatile modifier is used to identify variables whose values should not be optimized by the Java Virtual Machine, by caching the value for example. The
volatile modifier is typically used for variables that may be accessed or modified by numerous independent threads and signifies that the value may change without synchronization.
14)Which class is the
wait() method defined in?
A: The
wait() method is defined in the
Object class, which is the ultimate superclass of all others. So the
Thread class and any
Runnable implementation inherit this method from
Object. The
wait() method is normally called on an object in a multi-threaded program to allow other threads to run. The method should should only be called by a thread that has ownership of the object's monitor, which usually means it is in a
synchronized method or statement block.
15)What is a green thread?
A: A green thread refers to a mode of operation for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) in which all code is executed in a single operating system thread. If the Java program has any concurrent threads, the JVM manages multi-threading internally rather than using other operating system threads.
There is a significant processing overhead for the JVM to keep track of thread states and swap between them, so green thread mode has been deprecated and removed from more recent Java implementations. Current JVM implementations make more efficient use of native operating system threads.
16)What is a working thread?
A: A working thread, more commonly known as a worker thread is the key part of a design pattern that allocates one thread to execute one task. When the task is complete, the thread may return to a thread pool for later use. In this scheme a thread may execute arbitrary tasks, which are passed in the form of a
Runnable method argument, typically
execute(Runnable). The runnable tasks are usually stored in a queue until a thread host is available to run them.
The worker thread design pattern is usually used to handle many concurrent tasks where it is not important which finishes first and no single task needs to be coordinated with another. The task queue controls how many threads run concurrently to improve the overall performance of the system. However, a worker thread framework requires relatively complex programming to set up, so should not be used where simpler threading techniques can achieve similar results.


text:
Executive Summary
Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2010
World Meteorological Organization Global Ozone Research and Monitoring Project - Report No. 52
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
United Nations Environment Programme
World Meteorological Organization
European Commission
It has been recognized since the 1970s that a number of compounds emitted by human activities deplete stratospheric ozone. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was adopted in 1987 to protect global ozone and, consequently, protect life from increased ultraviolet (UV) radiation at Earth's surface. Chlorine- and bromine-containing substances that are controlled by the Montreal Protocol are known as ozone-depleting substances (ODSs). ODSs are responsible for the depletion of stratospheric ozone observed in polar regions (for example, the "ozone hole" above Antarctica) and in middle latitudes. The severe depletion of stratospheric ozone observed in the Antarctic has increased UV at the surface and affected climate at southern high latitudes.
The Montreal Protocol and its Amendments and Adjustments have successfully controlled the global production and consumption of ODSs over the last two decades, and the atmospheric abundances of nearly all major ODSs that were initially controlled are declining. Nevertheless, ozone depletion will continue for many more decades because several key ODSs last a long time in the atmosphere after emissions end.
In contrast to the diminishing role of ODSs, changes in climate are expected to have an increasing influence on stratospheric ozone abundances in the coming decades. These changes derive principally from the emissions of long-lived greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide (CO2), associated with human activities. An important remaining scientific challenge is to project future ozone abundances based on an understanding of the complex linkages between ozone and climate change.
Most ODSs are potent greenhouse gases. The buildup of ODS abundances over the last decades contributes to global warming. The actions taken under the Montreal Protocol have reduced the substantial contributions these gases would have made to global warming.
There is now new and stronger evidence of the effect of stratospheric ozone changes on Earth's surface climate, and of the effects of climate change on stratospheric ozone. These results are an important part of the new assessment of the depletion of the ozone layer presented here.
Changes in Gases that Affect Stratospheric Ozone and climate
Changes in the global atmospheric abundance of a substance are determined by the balance between its emissions and removals from the atmosphere. Declines observed for ozone-depleting substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol are due to global emission reductions that have made emissions smaller than removals. Most ODSs are potent greenhouse gases. As the majority of ODSs have been phased out, demand for hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) substitutes for the substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol has increased; these are also greenhouse gases. HCFCs deplete much less ozone per kilogram emitted than chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), while HFCs are essentially non-ozone depleting gases.
Ozone-Depleting Substances and Substitutes: Tropospheric Abundances and Emissions
- The amended and adjusted Montreal Protocol continues to be successful at reducing emissions (Figure ES-1) and thereby abundances of most controlled ozone-depleting substances in the lower atmosphere (troposphere), as well as abundances of total chlorine and total bromine from these ozone-depleting substances. By 2008, the total tropospheric abundance of chlorine from ODSs and methyl chloride had declined to 3.4 parts per billion (ppb) from its peak of 3.7 ppb. However, the rate of decline in total tropospheric chlorine by 2008 was only two-thirds as fast as was expected. This is because HCFC abundances increased more rapidly than expected, while CFCs decreased more slowly than expected. The discrepancy in CFC decreases is most likely because of emissions from "banks" in existing applications such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and foams. The rapid HCFC increases are coincident with increased production in developing countries, particularly in East Asia. The rate of decline of total tropospheric bromine from controlled ODSs was close to that expected and was driven by changes in methyl bromide.
- Declines in CFCs made the largest contribution to the observed decrease in total tropospheric chlorine during the past few years and are expected to continue to do so through the rest of this century. Observations show that CFC-12 tropospheric abundances have decreased for the first time. The decline of methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3) abundances made a smaller contribution to the decrease in total chlorine than described in past Assessments, because this short-lived substance has already been largely removed from the atmosphere.
- Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) tropospheric abundances have declined less rapidly than expected. Emissions derived from data reported to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are highly variable and on average appear smaller than those inferred from observed abundance trends. Although the size of this discrepancy is sensitive to uncertainties in our knowledge of how long CCl4 persists in the atmosphere (its "lifetime"), the variability cannot be explained by lifetime uncertainties. Errors in reporting, errors in the analysis of reported data, and/or unknown sources are likely responsible for the year-to-year discrepancies.
- Observations near the tropical tropopause suggest that several very short-lived industrial chlorinated chemicals, not presently controlled under the Montreal Protocol (e.g., methylene chloride, CH2Cl2; chloroform, CHCl3; 1,2 dichloroethane, CH2ClCH2Cl; perchloroethylene, CCl2CCl22), reach the stratosphere. However, their contribution to stratospheric chlorine loading is not well quantified.
- Bromine from halons stopped increasing in the troposphere during 2005-2008. As expected, abundances of halon-1211 decreased for the first time during 2005-2008, while halon-1301 continued to increase but at a slower rate than in the previous Assessment.
- Tropospheric methyl bromide abundances continued to decline during 2005-2008, as expected due to reductions in industrial production, consumption, and emission. About half of the remaining methyl bromide consumption was for uses not controlled by the Montreal Protocol (quarantine and pre-shipment applications).
- Tropospheric abundances and emissions of some HCFCs are increasing faster now than four years ago. Abundances of HCFC-22, the most abundant HCFC, increased more than 50% faster in 2007-2008 than in 2003-2004, while HCFC-142b abundances increased about twice as fast as in 2003-2004. HCFC-141b abundances increased at a similar rate to that observed in 2003-2004. Total emissions of HCFCs are projected to begin to decline during the coming decade due to measures already agreed to under the Montreal Protocol (Figure ES-1).
- Tropospheric abundances and emissions of HFCs, used mainly as substitutes for CFCs and HCFCs, continue to increase. For example, abundances of HFC-134a, the most abundant HFC, have been increasing by about 10% per year in recent years. Abundances of other HFCs, including HFC-125, -143a, -32, and -152a, have also been increasing. Regional studies suggest significant HFC emissions from Europe, Asia, and North America.
Figure ES-1. Emissions of ODSs and their substitutes.
Global emissions of ODSs (CFCs, halons, HCFCs, and others) and their non-ozone depleting substitutes (HFCs) from 1950 to 2050. Emissions are the total from developing and developed countries. The legends identify the specific groups of substances included in each panel. The high and low HFC labels identify the upper and lower limits, respectively, in global baseline scenarios. The blue hatched regions indicate the emissions that would have occurred, in the absence of the Montreal Protocol, with 2-3% annual production increases in all ODSs.
Top panel: Global mass-weighted emissions expressed as megatonnes per year. The yellow dashed line shows HCFC emissions calculated without the provisions of the 2007 accelerated HCFC phase-out under the Montreal Protocol.
Middle panel: Global Ozone Depletion Potential-weighted emissions expressed as megatonnes of CFC-11-equivalent per year. The emissions of individual gases are multiplied by their respective ODPs (CFC-11 = 1) to obtain aggregate, equivalent CFC-11 emissions. The dashed line marks 1987, the year of the Montreal Protocol signing.
Bottom panel: Global GWP-weighted emissions expressed as gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent per year. The emissions of individual gases are multiplied by their respective GWPs (direct, 100-year time horizon; CO2 = 1) to obtain aggregate, equivalent CO2 emissions. Shown for reference are emissions for the range of CO2 scenarios from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES). The CO2 emissions for 1950-2007 are from global fossil fuel use and cement production. Beyond 2007, the shaded region for CO2 reflects the maximum (A1B) and minimum (B2) SRES scenarios. The dashed line marks 2010, the middle year of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Also shown is the magnitude of the reduction target of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which is based on a 1990-2010 projection of global greenhouse gas emission increases and the reduction target for participating countries.
CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, and Climate Change
- The Montreal Protocol and its Amendments and Adjustments have made large contributions toward reducing global greenhouse gas emissions (Figure ES-1). In 2010, the decrease of annual ODS emissions under the Montreal Protocol is estimated to be about 10 gigatonnes of avoided CO2-equivalent[1] emissions per year, which is about five times larger than the annual emissions reduction target for the first commitment period (2008-2012) of the Kyoto Protocol.
- The sum of the HFCs currently used as ODS replacements contributes about 0.4 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent per year to total global CO2-equivalent emissions, while the HCFCs contribute about 0.7 gigatonnes. CO2-equivalent emissions of HFCs are increasing by about 8% per year and this rate is expected to continue to grow, while the contribution from HCFCs is expected to start decreasing in the next decade.
- Emissions of HFC-23, a by-product of HCFC-22 production, contributed about 0.2 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent per year in 2006-2008. HFC-23 is a particularly potent greenhouse gas with a lifetime of about 220 years. Its emissions have increased in the past decade despite global emissions reduction measures, including those covered by the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism projects.
Total Chlorine and Bromine and Implications for Ozone Depletion
- Total chlorine has continued to decline from its 1990s peak values in both the troposphere and the stratosphere. Total tropospheric bromine is decreasing from its peak values, which occurred comparatively recently, while stratospheric bromine is no longer increasing.
- Relative declines in the sum of stratospheric chlorine and bromine from peak values are largest in midlatitudes and smallest in Antarctica (refer to Figure S1-1 in the Scientific Summary of Chapter 1 of this Assessment). These declines are not as pronounced as observed in their tropospheric abundances. Differences between declines in the troposphere and different regions of the stratosphere are primarily associated with the time required for air to move from the troposphere to those regions. The relative declines are smallest in Antarctica primarily because the transport times to polar regions are the largest.
Ozone and Climate: Antarctic
The Antarctic ozone hole is the clearest manifestation of the effect of ODSs on the ozone layer. The depletion far exceeds natural variability and has occurred without exception since 1980. The ozone hole also provides the most visible example of how ozone depletion affects surface climate.
- Springtime Antarctic total column ozone losses (the ozone hole), first recognizable around 1980, continue to occur every year (Figure ES-2c). Although the ozone losses exhibit year-to-year variations that are primarily driven by year-to-year changes in meteorology, October mean column ozone within the vortex has been about 40% below 1980 values for the past fifteen years. The average erythemal ("sunburning") UV measured at the South Pole between 1991 and 2006 was 55-85% larger than the estimated values for the years 1963-1980.
- Doubts raised since the previous Assessment regarding our understanding of the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole have been dispelled. New laboratory measurements on the key chemistry involved in polar ozone depletion have reaffirmed that past changes in ODSs are indeed the cause of the ozone hole. This is also supported by quantification of the chemicals responsible for the ozone hole via field observations.
- There is increased evidence that the Antarctic ozone hole has affected the surface climate in the Southern Hemisphere. Climate models demonstrate that the ozone hole is the dominant driver of the observed changes in surface winds over the Southern Hemisphere mid and high latitudes during austral summer. These changes have contributed to the observed warming over the Antarctic Peninsula and cooling over the high plateau. The changes in the winds have also been linked to regional changes in precipitation, increases in sea ice around Antarctica, warming of the Southern Ocean, and a local decrease in the ocean sink of CO2.
- The trends in the summertime winds in the Southern Hemisphere are not expected to persist over the next few decades. This is because of the expected offsetting influences on the surface winds of increasing greenhouse gases and the recovering ozone hole.
- Observed Antarctic springtime column ozone does not yet show a statistically significant increasing trend (Figure ES-2c). Year-to-year variability, due to meteorology, is much larger than the expected response to the small ODS decreases in the Antarctic vortex to date. This is consistent with simulations using chemistry-climate models (CCMs).
- The evolution of Antarctic springtime column ozone over the rest of the century is expected to be dominated by the decline in ODS abundance (Figure ES-2c). CCM simulations show that greenhouse gas changes have had, and will continue to have, a small impact on the ozone hole compared to the effects of the ODS changes. There are some indications that small episodic Antarctic ozone holes may occur even through the end of the century. In spring and early summer, Antarctica will continue to experience excess surface UV.
Figure ES-2. Schematic of the influence of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) and climate change on the stratospheric ozone layer, and the influence of ozone changes on surface ultraviolet radiation.
The red lines are based on observations to date. The blue dashed lines represent one commonly accepted scenario for the future. Shaded areas represent year-to-year variability and uncertainties in simulations of the past and future. The dashed vertical line at 1980, a year used as a benchmark for ozone and UV recovery, demarcates the situation before and after significant changes to the ozone layer. The curve for carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas important to Earth's climate, is shown because its changes can affect stratospheric temperatures as well as wind patterns, both of which affect stratospheric ozone.
(a) Combined effective abundance of ozone-depleting chlorine and bromine in the lower atmosphere (troposphere). The red line is a representation of the measured atmospheric abundances. The blue dashed line is the expected combined effective abundance of chlorine and bromine based on the most likely ODS scenario used in this report and current understanding of the workings of the atmosphere. Because of the Montreal Protocol, a continued decline is expected through the end of this century, with a return to the 1980 benchmark value occurring around the middle of this century. A similar curve for the stratosphere would be shifted to the right (later dates) by a few years because of the time lag in the transport of substances from the surface to the stratosphere.
(b) The atmospheric abundance of carbon dioxide, the major anthropogenic greenhouse gas that changes Earth's climate, including in the stratosphere; CO2 abundance is a proxy for climate change. The gray dotted/shaded area represents expectations of increasing future CO2 abundance based on different scenarios used in this Assessment.
(c) The extent of the Antarctic ozone hole, as measured by the amount of ozone in the total overhead column averaged for the month of October. The ozone hole is the clearest indicator of ozone layer depletion by ODSs, and the ODSs in the atmosphere have been and are expected to continue to be the primary control on the extent and duration of the ozone hole. Antarctic ozone is expected to return to pre-1980 benchmark values in the late 21st century. The blue shaded area shows the estimated year-to-year variability of ozone for one scenario that includes changes in ODSs (panel a), CO2 (panel b, blue dashed line), and changes in nitrous oxide and methane (not shown), but does not capture all uncertainties. The gray dotted/shaded area shows the uncertainty due to different climate scenarios, but again does not capture all uncertainties.
(d) The extent of northern midlatitude ozone depletion, as measured by the amount of ozone in the total overhead column between 30°N and 60°N averaged over each year; blue and gray shaded areas as in panel c. Panels c and d show the approximate relative magnitudes of the northern midlatitude ozone depletion and the Antarctic ozone hole. Influences of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), volcanoes, and solar cycle have been removed from the observational data. The future projections do not include the influence of any volcanic eruptions or solar cycle variations. Natural variability makes it difficult to identify the projected return of northern midlatitude ozone levels to pre-1980 levels, but the expectation is that climate change will hasten this return by several decades, such that it will occur before the middle of the 21st century (before the return of stratospheric chlorine and bromine to the 1980 benchmark value, and before the return of Antarctic ozone, panel c).
(e) Changes in clear-sky surface UV radiation at northern midlatitudes that accompany the ozone changes of the ODS scenario above. Because the ozone depletion in the northern midlatitudes has been small, the UV changes also have been small. The blue shaded area shows the year-to-year variability of surface UV for the ozone changes of panel d. Clouds, aerosols, and air pollution significantly affect surface UV, but it is difficult to project their future changes. The uncertainties in these changes, which are larger than the uncertainties due to ozone changes, are not represented in the figure. The expectation is that climate change will result in northern midlatitude clear-sky surface UV radiation levels well below 1980 values by the second half of this century.
Ozone and Climate: Global and Arctic
As a result of the controls introduced by the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments and Adjustments, it is expected that the decline in ODSs will lead to an increase in stratospheric ozone abundances. However, it will be challenging to attribute ozone increases to the decreases in ODSs during the next few years because of natural variability, observational uncertainty, and confounding factors, such as changes in stratospheric temperature or water vapor. A feature of this Assessment is the coordinated use by the community of chemistry-climate models (CCMs) with integrations covering the period from 1960-2100, which has allowed more detailed study of the long-term changes in the stratosphere and of the relative contributions of ODSs and greenhouse gases (GHGs).
- Average total ozone values in 2006-2009 remain at the same level as the previous Assessment, at roughly 3.5% and 2.5% below the 1964-1980 averages respectively for 90°S-90°N and 60°S-60°N. Midlatitude (35°-60°) annual mean total column ozone amounts in the Southern Hemisphere [Northern Hemisphere] over the period 2006-2009 have remained at the same level as observed during 1996-2005, at ~6% [~3.5%] below the 1964-1980 average.
- The ozone loss in Arctic winter and spring between 2007 and 2010 has been variable, but has remained in a range comparable to the values prevailing since the early 1990s. Substantial chemical loss continues to occur during cold Arctic winters.
- Robust linkages between Arctic stratospheric ozone depletion and tropospheric and surface climate trends have not been established, as expected from the smaller ozone depletion compared with the Antarctic.
- Chemistry-climate models reproduce both the latitudinal and vertical structure of the observed ozone trends in both northern and southern midlatitudes during the past periods of increase of the ODSs, confirming our basic understanding of ozone change. Simulations agree with observations that the last decade has shown flattening of the time series of global total ozone.
- Analyses based on surface and satellite measurements show that erythemal UV irradiance over midlatitudes has increased since the late 1970s (Figure ES-2e). This is in qualitative agreement with the observed decrease in column ozone, although other factors (mainly clouds and aerosols) have influenced long-term changes in erythemal irradiance. Clear-sky UV observations from unpolluted sites in midlatitudes show that since the late 1990s, UV irradiance levels have been approximately constant, consistent with ozone column observations over this period.
- New analyses of both satellite and radiosonde data give increased confidence in changes in stratospheric temperatures between 1980 and 2009. The global-mean lower stratosphere cooled by 1-2 K and the upper stratosphere cooled by 4-6 K between 1980 and 1995. There have been no significant long-term trends in global-mean lower stratospheric temperatures since about 1995. The global-mean lower-stratospheric cooling did not occur linearly but was manifested as downward steps in temperature in the early 1980s and the early 1990s. The cooling of the lower stratosphere includes the tropics and is not limited to extratropical regions as previously thought.
- The evolution of lower stratospheric temperature is influenced by a combination of natural and human factors that has varied over time. Ozone decreases dominate the lower stratospheric cooling since 1980. Major volcanic eruptions and solar activity have clear shorter-term effects. Models that consider all of these factors are able to reproduce this temperature time history.
- Changes in stratospheric ozone, water vapor, and aerosols all radiatively affect surface temperature. The radiative forcing[2] of climate in 2008 due to stratospheric ozone depletion (-0.05 ± 0.1 Watts per square meter, W/m2) is much smaller than the positive radiative forcing due to the CFCs and HCFCs largely responsible for that depletion (about +0.3 W/m2). For context, the current forcing by CO2 is approximately +1.7 W/m2. Radiative calculations and climate modeling studies suggest that the radiative effects of variability in stratospheric water vapor (± ~0.1 W/m2 per decade) can contribute to decadal variability in globally averaged surface temperature. Climate models and observations show that major volcanic eruptions (e.g., Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, roughly -3 W/m2) can cool the surface for several years.
- The global middle and upper stratosphere are expected to cool in the coming century, mainly due to CO2 increases. Stratospheric ozone recovery will slightly offset the cooling. HFCs could warm the tropical lower stratosphere and tropopause region by about 0.3°C if stratospheric abundances reach the 1 ppb level.
- Emerging evidence from model simulations suggests that increasing greenhouse gases lead to an acceleration of the stratospheric circulation usually referred to as the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Such an acceleration could have important consequences, particularly decreases in column ozone in the tropics and increases in column ozone elsewhere. However, responsible mechanisms remain unclear and observational evidence for the circulation increase is lacking.
- Global ozone is projected to increase approximately in line with the ODS decline, and the increase is accelerated by cooling of the upper stratosphere. Global ozone is not very sensitive to circulation changes, so high confidence can be placed in this projection.
- The evolution of ozone in the Arctic is projected to be more sensitive to climate change than in the Antarctic. The projected strengthening of the stratospheric Brewer-Dobson circulation is expected to significantly increase lower stratospheric ozone in the Arctic, augmenting the GHG-induced ozone increase from upper stratospheric cooling and hastening the return to 1980 levels.
- GHG-induced temperature and circulation changes are projected to hasten the return of midlatitude total column ozone to 1980 levels by several decades, rising well above 1980 levels by the end of the century. The effect is most pronounced in northern midlatitudes (Figure ES-2d), where it would result in clear-sky surface UV radiation levels well below 1980 values by the second half of the century (Figure ES-2e). In southern midlatitudes, the effect of circulation changes is projected to be weaker and ozone is also influenced by depletion in the Antarctic, where the return to 1980 levels occurs much later.
Information for Policymakers and Options for Policy Formulation
Cases related to the elimination of future emissions, production, and banks for various ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) can be formulated starting from a baseline future emission scenario. The baseline scenario here has been developed to account for past and present levels of ODSs along with emission projections. This scenario projects that stratospheric chlorine and bromine levels are likely to return to 1980 levels in midcentury for the midlatitudes and about 25 years later in the Antarctic vortex. These additional cases are used to evaluate the impact of various hypothetical policy options.
Information for Policymakers
- The Montreal Protocol has both protected the ozone layer and provided substantial co-benefits by reducing climate change (see Figure ES-1, bottom two panels). It has protected the stratospheric ozone layer by phasing out production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances. Simulations show that unchecked growth in the emissions of ODSs would have led to global ozone depletion in the coming decades very much larger than current levels. Solar UV radiation at the surface would also have increased substantially.
- Projections of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) growth in scenarios that assume no controls suggest that by 2050, Global Warming Potential-weighted emissions from these substances could be comparable to the GWP-weighted emissions of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) at their peak in 1988 (see Figure ES-1, bottom panel). The highest projection assumes that developing countries use HFCs with GWPs comparable to those currently in use.
- The accelerated hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) phase-out agreed to by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in 2007 is projected to reduce ozone depletion and to help reduce climate forcing (see Figure ES-1). This acceleration is expected to reduce cumulative HCFC emissions by about 0.7 million Ozone Depletion Potential-tonnes between 2011 and 2050 and would bring forward the year equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC) returns to 1980 levels by 4-5 years. The accelerated HCFC phasedown is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 0.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2)-equivalent per year averaged over 2011 through 2050. The projected benefit would be determined by the climate impact of the replacements. In comparison, global anthropogenic emissions of CO2 were greater than 30 gigatonnes per year in 2008.
- Since the previous Assessment, new fluorocarbons have been suggested as possible replacements for potent HCFC and HFC greenhouse gases. For example, HFC-1234yf (Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) = 0; 100-year GWP = 4) is proposed to replace HFC-134a (ODP = 0; 100-year GWP = 1370) in mobile air conditioning. To fully assess the environmental impacts, each proposed substance would need to be evaluated for its ODP, GWP, atmospheric fate, safety, and toxicity. Preliminary analyses indicate that global replacement of HFC-134a with HFC-1234yf at today's level of use is not expected to contribute significantly to tropospheric ozone formation or produce harmful levels of the degradation product TFA (trifluoroacetic acid). It is well established that TFA is a ubiquitous component of the environment, but uncertainties remain regarding its natural and anthropogenic sources, long-term fate, and abundances.
Due to the success of the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments and Adjustments in reducing the production, emissions, and abundances of controlled ODSs, emissions from other compounds and activities not controlled by the Montreal Protocol have become relatively more important to stratospheric ozone.
- Increasing abundances of radiatively important gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), are expected to significantly affect future stratospheric ozone through effects on temperature, winds, and chemistry. CO2 increased in the atmosphere at 2.1 parts per million per year from 2005-2008, while CH4 increased by about 6.7 parts per billion per year from 2006-2008.
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) is known to both deplete global ozone and warm the climate. The current ODP-weighted anthropogenic emission is larger than that of any ODS.
- Deliberate large injections of sulfur-containing compounds into the stratosphere, which have been suggested as a climate intervention approach (geoengineering), would alter the radiative, dynamical, and chemical state of the stratosphere and could be expected to have substantial unintended effects on stratospheric ozone levels.
Options for Policy Formulation
Additional cases have been developed to show the impact of further control measures on various substances. Table ES-1 shows the percentage reductions in integrated chlorine and bromine levels and integrated GWP-weighted emissions, relative to the baseline scenario, that can be achieved in these hypothetical cases.
- Halons and CFCs: Leakage from banks is the largest source of current ODP-weighted emissions of ODSs. A delay in the capture and destruction of estimated CFC banks from 2011 to 2015 is currently thought to reduce the possible ozone and climate benefits that could be achieved by about 30%.
- Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4): Elimination of future CCl4 emissions after 2010 would have an EESC impact comparable to the capture and destruction of CFC and halon banks. This is a much larger effect than was estimated in the previous Assessment because of a revision in the estimated emissions.
- HCFCs: The recent growth in reported HCFC production in developing countries was larger than projected in the previous Assessment. This alone would have resulted in a larger projected HCFC production in the new baseline scenario compared to the previous Assessment, but is expected to be more than compensated for by the accelerated HCFC phasedown agreed to by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in 2007.
- Elimination of all emissions of chlorine- and bromine-containing ODSs after 2010: This would bring forward the return of EESC to 1980 levels by about 13 years. The elimination of these ODS emissions would have a climate impact equivalent to about a 0.7 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent per year reduction from 2011 through 2050, on average. The sum of current banks of CFCs plus HCFCs contributes about the same amount to these CO2-equivalent emissions as future HCFC production.
- Methyl bromide: Two methyl bromide cases were examined. Case 1: A phase-out of quarantine and pre-shipment emissions beginning in 2011 would accelerate the return of EESC to 1980 levels by 1.5 years, relative to a case of maintaining emissions at 2004-2008 average levels. Case 2: Continuing critical-use exemptions at the approved 2011 level indefinitely would delay the return of EESC to 1980 levels by 0.2 year.
Table ES-1. Hypothetical cases.
Reductions in integrated chlorine and bromine levels (as measured by equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine, EESC) and integrated GWP-weighted emissions, relative to the baseline scenario, that can be achieved in hypothetical cases developed to show the impact of further control measures on various substances.
|Substance or Group of Substances
|Reductions (%) in Integrated EESC (equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine)
|Reduction in Cumulative GWP-Weighted Emissions from 2011 to 2050 (gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent)
|Bank capture and destruction in 2011 and 2015:
5.3 1
5.5 1
|Production elimination after 2010:
CH3Br for quarantine and pre-shipment
|Total emissions elimination after 2010:
CCl4 2
Up to 170 3
1 The impact of a 2015 HCFC bank recovery is larger than a 2011 bank recovery because this calculation assumes destruction of the bank in only a single year, and because the bank in 2015 is larger than the bank in 2011 owing to continued annual production that is larger than the annual bank release.
2 Banks are assumed to be zero. Emissions include uncertain sources such as possible fugitive emissions and unintended by-product emissions.
3 Strongly dependent on future projections and does not consider HFC-23 emissions. Currently HFCs are not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, but are included in the basket of gases of the Kyoto Protocol.
[1] GWP-weighted emissions, also known as CO2-equivalent emissions, are defined as the amount of gas emitted multiplied by its 100-year Global Warming Potential (GWP).
[2] Positive radiative forcings generally warm the surface; negative radiative forcings generally cool the surface.


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Happy Puppy Day! Top 10 Dogs to Follow on Social Media
Top 10 Dogs of Social Media
Three barks for your favorite dogs. March 23 is National Puppy Day, a day to celebrate man's best tail-wagging, four-legged friend.
National Puppy Day was started in 2006 "to help save orphaned puppies across the globe and educate the public about the horrors of puppy mills, as well as further our mission for a nation of puppy-free pet stores."
Here at Mashable, we really love our dogs. Not only do they run around our office all day, we also follow them on social media. With that in mind, we rounded up the dogs with the most followers to celebrate the holiday.
Topping our list is the unmistakable Boo, the five-year-old pomeranian who rules Facebook with more than 3.7 million followers. All of the other dogs on our list combined don't have Boo's clout. It may be because he looks so cute in sunglasses and hats.
Boo isn't the only pomeranian on the list. Tommy, the littlest Tumblr HQ intern, has his own Tumblr, which has earned almost 5,000 followers in two months.
Many of the dogs on our list are owned by celebrities, like 50 Cent's dog Oprah Winfree and Bethanny Frankel's dog Cookie. You'll also find dogs with political pull: California's first dog Sutter Brown, an adorable corgi, has his own Facebook, where he conducts official state business.
Tell us what you think of our social media pooches, and let us know if we missed any pup that should be on the list.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, ButlerBlue2


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I'm working on a simple grails project and I was wondering if there is a way I can make changes to table and the changes are reflected in another table. I have several tables two of which are Inventory table and Movement table.
Inventory table stores information about assets such as User who owns the asset, while Movement table houses information about the movement of assets between users (e.g. when one user leaves the organization, the asset he owns is transferred to a new user). What I want to do is that if I enter a new record in the Movement table such as old_user and new_user, the change should be reflected in Inventory table as new_user.
How can I achieve that.??
Code:package com.inventory class Inventory { String inventoryID String code String description String serial_num Date purchase_date byte[] image Date record_date String remarks Type type Brand brand User user static hasMany = [movements: Movement] //static mappedBy = [movementsByOldUser: 'oldUser', movementsByNewUser: 'newUser'] String toString(){ "$inventoryID, $type" } static constraints = { inventoryID blank: false, unique: true code blank: false description nullable: true, maxSize: 1000 serial_num blank: false purchase_date() image nullable: true, maxSize: 1000000 record_date() remarks nullable: true, maxSize: 1000 type() brand() user() } //def beforeUpdate(){ // this.user = movementsByNewUser //} }Code:package com.inventory class Movement { User oldUser User newUser Inventory inventoryID Date movementDate User userResponsible String reason //static belongsTo = User static constraints = { inventoryID blank: false oldUser blank: false newUser blank: false movementDate() userResponsible blank: false reason maxSize: 1000 } }Code:package com.inventory class User { String userID String fullName String position Department department String toString(){ fullName } static hasMany = [inventories: Inventory, movementsByOldUser: Movement, movementsByNewUser: Movement] static mappedBy = [movementsByOldUser: 'oldUser', movementsByNewUser: 'newUser'] //def beforeInsert(){ // this.fullName = movementsByOldUser //} //def beforeUpdate(){ // this.fullName = movementsByNewUser //} static constraints = { userID blank: false, unique: true fullName blank: false position() department() } }


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Home > ITU-D > Conferences > World Telecommunication Development Conferences > WTDC 2014 > World Telecommunication Development Conference 2014
In conjunction with the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14), the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau organized a series of BDT side events for Member States and Sector Members to address various ICT development themes.
Reliable telecommunication and information and communication technologies (ICTs) are indispensable for promoting the sustainable socio-economic development of countries, in particular of Small Island Developing States that have suffered and being vulnerable to natural disasters. Under the present conditions and in the foreseeable future, these countries will not be able to ensure effective operation of their telecommunication sector and ICT development without help from the international community, provided bilaterally or through international organizations.
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This strategic dialogue provided a platform for an interactive debate on the trends, challenges and opportunities of the telecom/ICT sector. In particular, it focused on strategies and policies directed towards broadband development worldwide, while discussing the challenges and opportunities offered via high speed networks and e-services provided over the modern infrastructure, including e-learning, e-government, e-health, etc.
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The Information Session on strategic planning and results-based management (RBM) provided a comprehensive introduction to the ITU-D strategic planning process, present how WTDC will shape the strategy of the Union and highlight the key components of the ITU results-based management framework. As the 'best practice' methodology within the UN system, RBM aims to improve the organization's effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and accountability. By focusing on 'results' rather than 'activities', RBM helps ITU to better articulate strategic goals, objectives, outcomes and outputs, and to better evaluate their achievement using proper indicators and targets.
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The winners of the Arabic Digital Content Competition were announced at the award ceremony.
The Competition was launched in October 2013 to foster innovative ideas amongst the next generation of social entrepreneurs working to promote Arabic Digital Content. Participants - young people between the ages of 18 and 30 - were asked to present an original idea relevant to Arabic Digital Content in one of the following areas:
The Competition was organized by ITU, with the sponsorship of the Bahrain Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), and in partnership with the UN-ESCWA, the Information Technology Institute in Egypt and Arabnet.
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The information session " ITU turns 150 in 2015" provided participants at WTDC-14 with an overview of past ITU anniversaries, and presented the different modalities for ITU Membership to contribute to commemorate 150 years of global collaboration to connect the world.
More information : http://www.itu.int/go/D7VR
The event aimed of sharing with Member States the concept, status of future developments of the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), a joint initiative launched by ITU and ABI Research to measure and assess cybersecurity posture and readiness in Member States.
The event was organized by ITU with the participation of ITU-D sector member ABI Research as well as the World Economic Forum (WEF), who expressed strong interest in supporting the GCI effort.
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During this event, ITU presented the main features of the web-based ITU Interactive Terrestrial Transmission Maps (Optical Fibres and Microwaves). The ITU Interactive Terrestrial Transmission Maps are an authoritative ICT data mapping platform to take stock of national backbone connectivity as well as of other key metrics of the ICT sector. They are displayed in a web map based on United Nations cartography standards, visually locating the optical fibres and microwaves nodes and links on the maps.
The Maps are a great source of data for network planners, policy makers and regulators to assess the status of national connectivity and to identify gaps. They will enable the Industry to assess market opportunities, thus serving as a management tool, and will act for all interested stakeholders as a source of abundant and current data on global ICT connectivity.
These Maps have been created by ITU in collaboration with Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) for Asia-Pacific maps, and with The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) for Africa maps. Data concerning submarine cables have been provided by TeleGeography. Further partnerships will be established with other national and regional stakeholders for improving the amount and quality of collected data.
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ICT policy makers and regulators need to be well informed about the ICT uptake in their countries, and compared to other countries. This event presented the ongoing work in ITU in the area of ICT statistics, including the ITU statistical Expert Groups (EGTI and EGH), and brief participants on the upcoming World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) 2014, the preparation of the Measuring the Information Society (MIS) 2014 report and the final quantitative assessment report of the WSIS targets. The session provided participants with an opportunity to learn more about ITU's work on ICT measurement and engage actively in a debate concerning data collection, dissemination and analysis.
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The main features of version 4.1 of Spectrum Management System for Developing Countries (SMS4DC) and an overview of the Digital Broadcasting Transition Guidelines were presented at this event.
SMS4DC is sold as an integrated software package on CD-ROM containing the software, a user manual and a 1 km resolution digital terrain map of the world. The transition from analogue to digital broadcasting requires decisions to be made on a large number of political, social, economic and technological issues. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a well-defined roadmap covering national strategies and key decisions.
The current edition of the Guidelines is a complete review of the previous editions and is applicable to all regions. This edition has been updated with the latest ITU-R Recommendations and Reports, the decisions taken at WRC-12 and the experience gained in the applications of the Guidelines in the ITU/BDT Roadmap projects. Furthermore Annexes have been added with information on satellite TV, cable TV & IPTV.
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During this session, we shared lessons learnt and best practices from leading technology partners who have a long standing experience in developing and deploying scalable, open, secured and integrated eHealth platforms.
There is strong evidence that smart, innovative solutions, such as mobile technologies can facilitate healthcare, save lives and cut healthcare costs on an unprecedented scale and can make a real difference to people around the world. But while there are many who have already engaged the power of technology to healthcare, current efforts are duplicative and fragmented. This adds both cost and complexity to those buying health services, and limits the market to those selling innovation and the ability of systems to reach scale; the net result is confusion. There is a pressing need to embrace an integrated and holistic approach to deploy scalable eHealth solutions by avoiding a piece-meal approach to systems development and adopting a "Platform" approach that would learn from other sectors to create the "right type" of integration, respecting regulatory boundaries and applying relevant open and shared standards.
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This side event provided an exhaustive briefing on the status of preparations towards the World Summit on the Information Society +10 (WSIS+10) High-Level Event (Geneva, Switzerland, 10-13 June 2014). WSIS+10 engages high-level representatives of Member States and other stakeholders that have been implementing the WSIS Outcomes.
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