Search

Optimizing Resource Allocation in Fire Departments (RAFD) is crucial for enhancing Fire Protection Services (FPS) and ultimately saving lives. Efficient RAFD ensures that fire departments have the necessary resources to respond effectively to emergencies. This paper presents a method for optimizing RAFD based on performance assessment results, examining its impact on Fire Department (FD) efficiency in Portugal. Evaluating data from 353 FDs, two RAFD optimization methods were assessed: one adhering to Portuguese regulations and constraints, such as budget allocation limitations, and another without such constraints. Integrating a slack-based data envelopment analysis model and mixed-integer linear programming, the study found that incorporating FD efficiency scores in RAFD improved overall efficiency at national, district, and FD levels. While adherence to Portuguese regulations led to balanced resource allocation and a 4% performance improvement at the national level, relaxing constraints yielded an 8% improvement, albeit with potential performance deterioration in some FDs. The detailed budget and efficiency metric analysis provided in this paper offers actionable insights for fire protection services enhancement. This underscores the importance of diverse optimization strategies to enhance FD efficiency, with implications for decision-makers at the Portuguese National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection and similar organizations globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance assessment is recognized as an important management tool for urban water systems. This article describes the application of a performance assessment framework for storm water systems, in collaboration with two Portuguese urban water utilities. A performance assessment system was built for each water utility, including objectives, assessment criteria and performance metrics. The results showed the existence of areas vulnerable to flooding occurrences and the need for investment in rehabilitation. The application of the performance assessment framework supports the identification of systems' vulnerabilities and priorities for intervention. Opportunities and suggestions for improving data collection procedures are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire departments' performance assessment (FDPA) is an important task for fire protection service (FPS) authorities to evaluate fire departments' (FDs) efficiencies, identify the efficient FDs, and identify areas for improvement of the inefficient units. Therefore, many countries all around the world conducted FDPA research and published its results. Although Portugal is a country with many old cities and buildings, to the best of our knowledge, no FDPA study has been conducted. Hence, the objective of this paper is to conduct a FDPA on Portuguese (PT) FDs using the general FDPA framework and slack-based data envelopment analysis. The results of analyzing the 376 PT-FDs' data in 2020 showed that only 22 out of 376 FDs were efficient; in addition, in most districts in Portugal, less than 10% of FDs were efficient, and a high percentage of FDs had less than 50% efficiency. Further details and findings are discussed, and some recommendations are provided throughout the paper. The paper's findings could help the FPS decision maker have a better view of the FDs' performances and take corrective actions to improve efficiencies. It can also help the FDPA evaluator to have a better understanding of how a FDPA can be conducted and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban water sector significantly contributes to energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Detailed assessment of the wastewater system input provides opportunities for improving the water, energy, and emissions nexus. The inflow of water not requiring treatment into wastewater systems is acknowledged worldwide. These undue inflows can increase the footprint of these systems. Together with flooding and discharges, monitoring of undue inflows is not a common practice in water utilities. Three levels of analysis are proposed to assess the magnitude of the impact of undue inflows in the water–energy–greenhouse gas (W-E-G) emissions nexus: at a national level, calculation of performance indicators using yearly data; at the utility level, performance indicators calculations using yearly, monthly, and sub-daily data; at the subsystem level, calculations using mathematical modeling. Results show the implications of undue inflows on energy and GHG emissions, including the effect of flooding and discharges. The importance of undue inflows in the W-E-G nexus is sustained by the results of three case studies in Portugal. Each level of analysis is tailored to the information available, allowing a step-by-step understanding of the relationship between water, energy consumption, and emissions of the urban drainage inflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the link between accountability and internal auditing, particularly analyzing the extent to which the latter contributes to improve the former, in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This study applied a questionnaire to the management boards of a sample of HEIs, to empirical analyze the relationship between internal auditing and accountability. Th e main focus was on internal auditing carried out by the offices or departments in those institutions. The paper contributes to understand how management boards perceive internal auditing to foster transparency and accountability in HEIs, allowing to corroborate that auditing, and particularly internal auditing, favors the institutions' accountability. In effect, it promotes the principles underlying accountability practices. The information provided in the scope of internal audits is acknowledged as contributing to improve management eff ectiveness and helping in decision-making. HEIs wanting to create an internal auditing office or to enhance the role of an existing one, should develop this office's activities so that it becomes an instrument to support accountability and good governance of the organization. The sample consisted of Portuguese public HEIs, universities and polytechnics. Despite a certain international convergence regarding this type of public sector organizations, and regarding their purposes and governance, certain contextual specificities might limit the generalization of the findings for other jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficiency assessment and benchmarking are crucial for managing any organization. However, especially from a regulatory perspective, such efficiency assessment and benchmarking must be unbiased from context-specific issues and should provide an absolute rating, rather than a relative one. The current work reviews the approaches used for performance assessment and benchmarking waste collection services, revealing that the majority are biased and are not absolute, and proposes two alternative context-unbiased and absolute performance indicators, the collection capacity use (CCU) and the segregated waste collection efficiency (SWE). The proposed indicators were calculated for 246 utilities operating in Portugal. The utilities were then ranked accordingly, and their position was compared with the position attained using the equivalent performance indicators in the system currently in use by the Portuguese service regulator. The results reveal ranking differences of over 50 positions and illustrate how misleading the results from context-biased and relative metrics can be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The masonry infill walls are often used in the envelopes of reinforced concrete buildings for different purposes, but a large part of them was built before the enforcement of modern seismic and/or energy codes. Due to that, the envelope of the reinforced concrete buildings is responsible for the energy consumption needed for indoor heating and cooling. At the same time, recent earthquakes proved that the infill walls located at the envelope are quite vulnerable under OOP seismic loadings resulting in extensive damage or collapse. The existing standards only provide slight provisions for designing new infill walls and do not combine their energy and seismic performance. Based on that, this research work aims to present a novel holistic performance assessment approach for masonry infill walls. This novel approach aims to classify each wall according to its seismic plus energy performance, allowing to identify which type of retrofitting is needed. A global overview of the international standards concerning the seismic design and assessment of masonry infill walls is performed. Also, the maximum and recommended U-values for external walls indicated by the national code of each European Union country are compared. After that, the new performance assessment methodology is presented and discussed. Finally, a pilot application is performed by carrying out the performance assessment of the infill walls of three buildings (with different numbers of storeys) located in different seismic-climate zones in Portugal. Several types of walls are studied according to their retrofitting type, i.e. non-retrofitted or with independent energy or seismic retrofitting or with combined seismic plus energy retrofitting. It was found that this performance assessment methodology provides important information to support future wall retrofitting. Combined seismic plus energy retrofitting is often needed in the different seismic-climate zones of the Portuguese territory. • Existing standards do not combine their energy and seismic performance of infill walls. • This research work aims to present a novel seismic-energy performance assessment approach for masonry infill walls. • The performance assessment methodology provides important information to support future wall retrofitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substantial European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) monies have been directed at regional economic and social development in Portugal in which Portuguese local government plays a vital role. Given the magnitude of funding, an important question turns on the effect of the ESIF on overall local authority performance. This paper focuses on the impact of the ESIF on Portuguese municipality performance and development. In particular, it investigates whether the ESIF improved the performance of Portuguese local government and which factors best explain its effect on municipality development. The analysis considers all 308 Portuguese local authorities for the period 2000-2014. Various policy implications flowing from the empirical results of this analysis are explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to evaluate the main determinants of real water loss per unit length of the network in the Portuguese water sector, using data covering a 10-year period. The governance model, typology of the area, type of service, management model, total water conveyed, and total network length were found to be statistically significant determinants. The methodology employed Generalized Linear Models and Artificial Neural Networks, confirming the existence of interactions and non-linearity. From a public policy perspective, setting water loss targets based only on two variables - area typology and type of service – is not a robust approach. • Real water losses determinants in Portugal are assessed using a 10-year dataset. • Service, management and system characteristics are significant predictors. • The relation is non-linear and with interaction between the predictors. • Artificial Neural Networks are found to provide the best fit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has three main objectives: i) to describe the use patterns of electronic and traditional resources in Portuguese academic libraries; ii) to estimate the value of the Portuguese electronic scientific information consortium b-on by using two alternative valuation methodologies; iii) to relate the use patterns with the valuation of b-on. We estimate the value of the Portuguese electronic scientific information consortium b-on by using two alternative evaluation methodologies: a) the value of the time saved by using this electronic resource; and b) the contingent valuation method to estimate how much the user is willing to pay for the service. Our results show wide differences in use patterns, with professors, researchers and PhD students having a more intense use of digital library services than undergraduate and masters students. Moreover, the benefit-cost ratios computed using the two valuation techniques indicate that the value of the electronic scientific information consortium b-on is well above its costs. Finally, the study shows that the valuation of b-on is higher for the user groups with higher percentage use of digital services. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The increase of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated over the last years forces waste managers pursuing more effective collection schemes, technically viable, environmentally effective and economically sustainable. The assessment of MSW services using performance indicators plays a crucial role for improving service quality. In this work, we focus on the relevance of regular system monitoring as a service assessment tool. In particular, we select and test a core-set of MSW collection performance indicators (effective collection distance, effective collection time and effective fuel consumption) that highlights collection system strengths and weaknesses and supports pro-active management decision-making and strategic planning. A statistical analysis was conducted with data collected in mixed collection system of Oporto Municipality, Portugal, during one year, a week per month. This analysis provides collection circuits' operational assessment and supports effective short-term municipality collection strategies at the level of, e.g., collection frequency and timetables, and type of containers., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)