Software Measurement Activities in Small and Medium Enterprises: an Empirical Assessment

An empirical study for evaluating the proper implementation of measurement/metric programs in software companies in one area of Turkey is presented. The research questions are discussed and validated with the help of senior software managers (more than 15 years’ experience) and then used for interviewing a variety of medium and small scale software companies in Ankara. Observations show that there is a common reluctance/lack of interest in utilizing measurements/metrics despite the fact that they are well known in the industry. A side product of this research is that internationally recognized standards such as ISO and CMMI are pursued if they are a part of project/job requirements; without these requirements, introducing those standards to the companies remains as a long-term target to increase quality

Europe’s Electricity Supply Security: Strengthening the Chain. CEPS Policy Brief No. 224/November 2010

Acknowledging that efficient development of electricity transmission infrastructure is crucial to achieving EU targets for a secure, competitive and sustainable electricity supply, this paper explores ways of strengthening the supply chain. Research for the paper was carried out in the context of the SECURE project (Security of Energy Considering its Uncertainties, Risks and Economic Implications), funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme. The project develops appropriate tools for evaluating the vulnerability of the EU to the different energy supply risks, and for promoting the optimisation of EU energy insecurity mitigation strategies, including investment, demand side management and dialogue with producing countries

A flexible architecture for privacy-aware trust management

In service-oriented systems a constellation of services cooperate, sharing potentially sensitive information and responsibilities. Cooperation is only possible if the different participants trust each other. As trust may depend on many different factors, in a flexible framework for Trust Management (TM) trust must be computed by combining different types of information. In this paper we describe the TAS3 TM framework which integrates independent TM systems into a single trust decision point. The TM framework supports intricate combinations whilst still remaining easily extensible. It also provides a unified trust evaluation interface to the (authorization framework of the) services. We demonstrate the flexibility of the approach by integrating three distinct TM paradigms: reputation-based TM, credential-based TM, and Key Performance Indicator TM. Finally, we discuss privacy concerns in TM systems and the directions to be taken for the definition of a privacy-friendly TM architecture.\u

Market and Economic Modelling of the Intelligent Grid: End of Year Report 2009

The overall goal of Project 2 has been to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of distributed energy (DG) on the Australian Electricity System. The research team at the UQ Energy Economics and Management Group (EEMG) has constructed a variety of sophisticated models to analyse the various impacts of significant increases in DG. These models stress that the spatial configuration of the grid really matters - this has tended to be neglected in economic discussions of the costs of DG relative to conventional, centralized power generation. The modelling also makes it clear that efficient storage systems will often be critical in solving transient stability problems on the grid as we move to the greater provision of renewable DG. We show that DG can help to defer of transmission investments in certain conditions. The existing grid structure was constructed with different priorities in mind and we show that its replacement can come at a prohibitive cost unless the capability of the local grid to accommodate DG is assessed very carefully.Distributed Generation. Energy Economics, Electricity Markets, Renewable Energy

Methodologies for Assessment of Building's Energy Efficiency and Conservation: A Policy-Maker View

Recent global peer-review reports have concluded on importance of buildings in tacking the energy security and climate change challenges. To integrate the buildings energy efficiency into the policy agenda, significant research efforts have been recently done. More specifically, the public domain provides a bulk of literature on the application of buildings-related efficiency technologies and behavioural patterns, barriers to penetration of these practices, policies to overcome these barriers. From the policy-making perspective it is useful to understand how far our understanding of building energy efficiency goes and the approaches and methodologies are behind such assessment.Buildings, energy efficiency potential, greenhouse gas mitigation, policy assessment, energy policy impact evaluation, sectoral efficiency targets

Creating domestic building thermal performance ratings using smart meter data

Energy performance certificates (EPCs) are ratings of domestic building energy performance mandated across the European Union. Their aim is to provide a reliable assessment of a building’s energy performance whilst accounting for non-building effects such as weather and occupancy. Current rating methods, based on theoretical calculations, can introduce significant error from an inability to estimate real building performance. Other methods using real energy data cannot isolate building performance from other effects due to low data resolution. The installation of smart meters in large proportions of the housing stock in European Union member states presents an opportunity. Harnessing high-resolution energy data can create or inform building energy performance ratings with reduced error and at scale. This critical review explores the challenges and opportunities of using smart meter data in building energy ratings, focusing primarily on quantifying the thermal performance of the building and heating system. The research gaps in this emerging field are identified, including: demonstrating that the rating is truly independent of the behaviour of specific occupants; the additional data inputs that add most value in combination with smart meter data; and reducing uncertainty whilst limiting the complexity of the measurement and calculatio

Grid Cryptographic Simulation: A Simulator to Evaluate the Scalability of the X.509 Standard in the Smart Grid

PKI may be pushed beyond known limits when scaled to some visions of the smart grid; our research developed a simulation, Grid Cryptographic Simulation (GCS), to evaluate these potential issues, identify cryptographic bottlenecks, and evaluate tradeoffs between performance and security. Ultimately, GCS can be used to identify scalability challenges and suggest improvements to make PKI more efficient, effective, and scalable before it is deployed in the envisioned smart grid