A quality assessment instrument for multi‐criteria decision support software

Zapatero, Enrique G.

doi:10.1108/14635779610153336

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Despite the many DSSs developed in the wastewater management, the chance of Decision Support Systems failing to meet the challenge of real-world problems is reported to be high and even the criteria for judging whether a DSS has been successful or not are often a matter of discussion (e.g. Zapatero, 1996;Newman et al, 1999;Giupponi, 2007). There is therefore a widely-recognised need to develop new decision support tools in this field, with greater attention to the context specific needs of the users and which can be tangibly applied to solve practical situations.…”

Section: Decision Support Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision Making Support in Wastewater Management: Comparative analysis of techniques and tools used in centralized and decentralized system layouts UDK 628.2

Musiyarira

Reynders

Marjanovic

2012

JEDEP

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Wastewater management has been seen primarily as a technical and economic issue but it is now recognised that these are some of the elements in an array of other factors that affect sustainability of wastewater systems. Literature studies point out that municipal authorities have a general and long-standing tradition of using indicators in monitoring performance, reviewing progress and reporting the state of the environment as part of the regulatory enacted compliance. However, they have neglected other critical aspects of use of these indicators such as their input into the planning and decision making process. This research advocates for the use of sustainable indicators in a context based planning approach and the utilisation of Multi Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) in a two step approach for comparative analysis and assessment of the sustainability of wastewater systems. The overall objective was to develop a methodology for wastewater systems selection and to produce a practical planning tool to aid in decision making for municipalities. Another objective was to provide recommendations for wastewater and sanitation management improvement in the case study area. The methodology consisted of comprehensive literature review, case study analysis, a review of the Decision Support Systems (DSS) in use and the development of the DSS for Gauteng Province. The full spectrum of viable wastewater or sanitation options was incorporated into the DSS. From the sustainability assessments carried out using Multi criteria decision analysis, one result showed that varying degrees of sustainability are obtainable with each treatment technology involved and decentralised technologies appear more sustainable. Based on the local context and indicators used in this research, the DSS results suggest that land treatment systems, stabilisation ponds and ecological treatment methods are more sustainable. One major finding from literature is that no technology is inherently sustainable on its own but is a function of the local context specifics. Since there is so much variation in social and economic needs within the areas; the overall results imply that a differential wastewater management approach should be employed with tailor made solutions resulting for each municipality or certain areas within a municipality.

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Section: Decision Support Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision Making Support in Wastewater Management: Comparative analysis of techniques and tools used in centralized and decentralized system layouts UDK 628.2

Musiyarira

Reynders

Marjanovic

2012

JEDEP

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“…Giupponi [16] states that despite the many DSS developed in the field of environmental management, the risk of such systems failing to meet the challenge of real-world problems is reported to be high, as greater attention should be given to the needs of potential users and to the identification of the concrete application contexts. Even the criteria for judging whether a DSS has been successful or not, are often a matter for discussion [17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Concept for Testing Decision Support Tools in Participatory Processes Applied to the ToSIA Tool

2013

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ToSIA (Tool for Sustainability Impact Assessment) offers a transparent and consistent methodological framework to assess impacts of changes (technological, policy, management, etc.) in the forest-based sector. This tool is able to facilitate the decision making process within and between diverse groups of stakeholders (e.g., forest managers and policymakers) as it provides a neutral, transparent and data-driven platform for stakeholder interaction and communication. To test these capabilities of ToSIA, a practical approach to test if a decision support system is suitable for participatory processes was developed based on a set of evaluation criteria for participatory processes. ToSIA’s performance was assessed and discussed in different categories against a selection of criteria for successful participatory processes: six criteria were fulfilled by ToSIA, in nine, ToSIA is potentially helpful, in two, criteria ToSIA has no influence, and for three criteria, no experiences exist until now. As a result, ToSIA’s conceptual suitability as a participatory decision support system was confirmed for two interlinked roles: as a decision support system to assess alternative scenarios, and as a communication platform for stakeholder interaction

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“…Giupponi (2007) states that despite the many DSSs developed in the field of environmental management, the risk of such systems failing to meet the challenge of real-world problems is reported to be high, and even the criteria for judging whether a DSS has been successful or not are often a matter for discussion (e.g. Newman and others 1999;Zapatero 1996;Uran and Janssen 2003). Giupponi (2007) emphasized that there is a widely recognized need to develop new support tools for decision-making in this field, with greater attention to the needs of potential users and to identification of the application context.…”

Section: Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Squaring the Circle? Combining Models, Indicators, Experts and End-Users in Integrated Land-Use Management Support Tools

Fürst

Völk

Makeschin

2010

Environmental Management

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The most important challenges faced in the field of integrated land-use management are (i) harmonizing and integrating different datasets, (ii) selecting appropriate indicators, (iii) fitting suitable models to adequate scales, and finally (iv) integrating data, indicators and models into systems that allow both a high level of participation and flexibility with the adaptation to a variety of questions and applications. The articles of this special issue ''Squaring the Circle? Combining Models, Indicators, Experts and End-Users in Integrated Land-Use Management Support Tools'' demonstrate the challenges that are related to this topic. The case studies present examples of such integrated systems in order to recommend best practices to support land-use management and to reveal existing shortcomings. As a conclusion, seven features of a successful applicable integrated land-use management support system are derived: (1) ability to deal with discontinuity in information and datasets, (2) contribution to solve the problem of indicator diversity, (3) structuring the decision-making process, (4) support of participation processes in generating decisions, (5) development, comparison and evaluation of land-use alternatives, (6) assessment of the efficiency and trade-offs of management options, and (7) assistance of stakeholders in group communication processes.

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A quality assessment instrument for multi‐criteria decision support software

Cited by 9 publications

References 12 publications

Decision Making Support in Wastewater Management: Comparative analysis of techniques and tools used in centralized and decentralized system layouts UDK 628.2

Decision Making Support in Wastewater Management: Comparative analysis of techniques and tools used in centralized and decentralized system layouts UDK 628.2

A Concept for Testing Decision Support Tools in Participatory Processes Applied to the ToSIA Tool

Squaring the Circle? Combining Models, Indicators, Experts and End-Users in Integrated Land-Use Management Support Tools

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