The papers in this volume integrate results from current research efforts in earthquake engineering with research from the larger risk assessment community. The authors include risk and hazard researchers from the major U.S. hazard and earthquake centers. The volume lays out a road map for future developments in risk modeling and decision support, and positions earthquake engineering research within the family of risk analysis tools and techniques.

This handbook describes the broad aspects of risk management involving scientific policy judgment, uncertainty analysis, perception considerations, statistical insights, and strategic thinking. This book presents all the important concepts to enable the reader to "see the big picture." This ability is extremely important - it allows the decision maker or strategic environmental planner to understand and cope with a wide variety of complex and interlinked pieces of information and data. The text presents environmental problems and, whenever applicable, the methodology required to reach a successful solution. Decisions and policies are examined. The book covers numerous objective and subjective components of environmental risk decision making. It details quantitative and comparative risk, and investigates the cost and feasibility of different decisions. Social pressures, safety, and political, religious, ethical, and psychological issues are addressed. How to evaluate the potential impact on the quality of life also is discussed. Any company doing risk assessment, risk management, or risk communication, as well as those doing environmental decision making will find this reference to be invaluable. It is also suitable as a text for courses in environmental management, environmental science, and risk assessment in the areas of risk management and strategic environmental planning.

Decision Support Systems for Risk-Based Management of Contaminated Sites addresses decision making in environmental risk management for contaminated sites, focusing on the potential role of decision support systems in informing the management of chemical pollutants and their effects. Considering the environmental relevance and the financial impacts of contaminated sites all over the post-industrialized countries and the complexity of decision making in environmental risk management, decision support systems can be used by decision makers in order to have a more structured analysis of a problem at hand and define possible options of intervention to solve the problem. Accordingly, the book provides an analysis of the main steps and tools for the development of decision support systems, namely: environmental risk assessment, decision analysis, spatial analysis and geographic information system, indicators and endpoints. Sections are dedicated to the review of decision support systems for contaminated land management and for inland and coastal waters management. Both include discussions of management problem formulation and of the application of specific decision support systems. This book is a valuable support for environmental risk managers and for decision makers involved in a sustainable management of contaminated sites, including contaminated lands, river basins and coastal lagoons. Furthermore, it is a basic tool for the environmental scientists who gather data and perform assessments to support decisions, developers of decision support systems, students of environmental science and members of the public who wish to understand the assessment science that supports remedial decisions.

Decision making in environmental projects is typically a complex and confusing process characterized by trade-offs between socio-political, environmental, and economic impacts. Comparative Risk Assessment (CRA) is a methodology applied to facilitate decision making when various activities compete for limited resources. CRA has become an increasingly accepted research tool and has helped to characterize environmental profiles and priorities on the regional and national level. CRA may be considered as part of the more general but as yet quite academic field of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). Considerable research in the area of MCDA has made available methods for applying scientific decision theoretical approaches to multi-criteria problems, but its applications, especially in environmental areas, are still limited. The papers show that the use of comparative risk assessment can provide the scientific basis for environmentally sound and cost-efficient policies, strategies, and solutions to our environmental challenges.

This book offers a state-of-the-science approach to current environmental security threats and infrastructure vulnerabilities. It emphasizes beliefs that the convergence of seemingly disparate viewpoints and often uncertain and limited information is possible only by using one or more available risk assessment methodologies and decision-making tools such as risk assessment and multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA).

The 4th International Conference on Economic Management and Big Data Applications was successfully held in Tianjin, China from October 27th to 29th, 2023. This conference served as a platform for researchers, scholars, and industry professionals to exchange knowledge and insights in the field of economic management and the application of big data. The conference held great significance in advancing the understanding and application of economic management and big data. By bringing together experts from around the globe, the conference facilitated the exchange of innovative ideas and research findings, contributing to the development of these fields. The topics covered during the conference showcased the latest advancements and trends in enterprise economic statistics, information evaluation, blockchain technology, industrial structure optimization, information retrieval, data regression analysis, intelligent Internet of Things platforms, and data encryption. The discussions and presentations during the conference allowed participants to explore new methodologies, strategies, and technologies that can enhance economic management practices and leverage the potential of big data. The conference provided a platform for scholars and practitioners to share their experiences, insights, and best practices, fostering collaboration and networking opportunities. Furthermore, the proceedings were published, ensuring the dissemination of valuable research findings to a wider audience. The collective knowledge and research presented at the conference will contribute to the academic community, industry professionals, and policymakers, enabling them to make informed decisions and develop effective strategies in the fields of economic management and big data applications. Overall, the 4th International Conference on Economic Management and Big Data Applications played a pivotal role in promoting knowledge exchange, fostering innovation, and shaping the future of economic management by harnessing the power of big data.

Decision making tools are essential for the successful outcome of any organization. Recent advances in predictive analytics have aided in identifying particular points of leverage where critical decisions can be made. Emerging Methods in Predictive Analytics: Risk Management and Decision Making provides an interdisciplinary approach to predictive analytics; bringing together the fields of business, statistics, and information technology for effective decision making. Managers, business professionals, and decision makers in diverse fields will find the applications and cases presented in this text essential in providing new avenues for risk assessment, management, and predicting the future outcomes of their decisions.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First International Conference on Decision Support Systems Technology, ICDSST 2015, held in Belgrade, Serbia, in May 2015. The theme of the event was “Big Data Analytics for Decision-Making” and it was organized by the EURO (Association of European Operational Research Societies) working group of Decision Support Systems (EWG-DSS). The eight papers presented in this book were selected out of 26 submissions after being carefully reviewed by at least three internationally known experts from the ICDSST 2015 Program Committee and external invited reviewers. The selected papers are representative of current and relevant research activities in the area of decision support systems, such as decision analysis for enterprise systems and non-hierarchical networks, integrated solutions for decision support and knowledge management in distributed environments, decision support system evaluations and analysis through social networks, and decision support system applications in real-world environments. The volume is completed by an additional invited paper on big data decision-making use cases.

This book presents innovative theories, methodologies, and techniques in the field of risk management and decision making. It introduces new research developments and provides a comprehensive image of their potential applications to readers interested in the area. The collection includes: computational intelligence applications in decision making, multi-criteria decision making under risk, risk modelling,forecasting and evaluation, public security and community safety, risk management in supply chain and other business decision making, political risk management and disaster response systems. The book is directed to academic and applied researchers working on risk management, decision making, and management information systems.