Code, space and everyday life

In this paper we examine the role of code (software) in the spatial formation of collective life. Taking the view that human life and coded technology are folded into one another, we theorise space as ontogenesis. Space, we posit, is constantly being bought into being through a process of transduction – the constant making anew of a domain in reiterative and transformative practices - as an incomplete solution to a relational problem. The relational problem we examine is the ongoing encounter between individuals and environment where the solution, to a greater or lesser extent, is code. Code, we posit, is diversely embedded in collectives as coded objects, coded infrastructure, coded processes and coded assemblages. These objects, infrastructure, processes and assemblages possess technicity, that is, unfolding or evolutive power to make things happen; the ability to mediate, supplement, augment, monitor, regulate, operate, facilitate, produce collective life. We contend that when the technicity of code is operationalised it transduces one of three forms of hybrid spatial formations: code/space, coded space and backgrounded coded space. These formations are contingent, relational, extensible and scaleless, often stretched out across networks of greater or shorter length. We demonstrate the coded transduction of space through three vignettes – each a day in the life of three people living in London, UK, tracing the technical mediation of their interactions, transactions and mobilities. We then discuss how code becomes the relational solution to five different classes of problems – domestic living, travelling, working, communicating, and consuming

ATM cash management using genetic algorithm

Automatic teller machine (ATM) is one of the most popular banking facilities to do daily financial transactions. People use ATM services to pay bills, transfer funds and withdraw cash. Therefore, we can treat ATM as a tradition inventory problem and use simulation technique to analysis the amount of cash required on different occasions such as regular days, holidays, etc. The proposed model of this paper uses genetic algorithm to determine the replenishment cash strategy for each ATM. The survey uses all transactions accomplished during the fiscal years of 2011-2012 on one of Iranian banks named Ayande. The study categorizes various ATM based on the average daily transactions into three groups of low, medium and high levels. The preliminary results of our survey indicate that it is possible to do setup different strategies to manage cash in various banks, optimally

Sustainable manufacturing:turning waste into profitable co-products

At 2009 rates of disposal, there are only 8 years of remaining landfill capacity at permitted sites in England and Wales. Industry – encouraged by financial penalties from the Government – faces the challenges of cleaner and more sustainable production whilst trying to remain competitive in the market place. This thesis presents development of several theoretical propositions: a ‘fit thinking’ design framework, the ‘All Seeing Eye of Business’ (All-SEB) and the ‘waste alchemist’ industrial role. The ALL-SEB is a model to understand the impact and potential uses of manufacturing waste. The insights provided by the All-SEB model, resulted in a general waste elimination framework developed to serve as a guiding strategy for waste elimination. The main objective of this study was to investigate a major hypothesis derived from the All-SEB: unavoidable waste could be transmuted into profitable co-products as a measure to divert waste from landfill. The ATM (analyse, transform and market) methodology was developed as a way to help companies transmute waste into ‘co-products’. A tool for idea generation (the wheel of waste) was developed to be used in the Analysis phase of the ATM methodology. Case study research was undertaken in order to test the ATM methodology and the way in which unavoidable waste could be transmuted into a profitable co-product in a real world manufacturing setting. The case study results revealed the generative mechanisms that enable waste transmutation into profitable co-products; based on these findings a refined ATM methodology for waste transmutation was proposed. The implementation of the theoretical propositions in industrial settings shed light into strategic aspects of resource efficiency: from waste prevention through ‘fit thinking’, to manufacturing process innovation all the way to a better company integration into the industrial ecosystem. Companies looking to achieve zero waste to landfill status would benefit from using the refined ATM methodology. It was found that the ATM methodology and the wheel of waste are useful to several other actors in the industrial ecosystem: waste management companies looking to transform themselves into ‘resource and energy providers’, to external consultants and to third party companies dubbed ‘waste alchemists’ that could offer waste transmutation services to manufacturers

A taxonomy of interactions in socio-technical systems: A functional perspective

Although the modelling of interactions has long been at the core of socio-technical systems theory, and is a key for understanding resilience, there is a lack of a holistic taxonomy of interactions. This study introduces a taxonomy of interactions to be used in association with the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM). The taxonomy has nine criteria: nature of agents, output nature, levelling, waiting time, distance, degree of coupling, visibility, safety and/or security hazards, and parallel replications. For each criterion, two descriptors are proposed: what the interaction looks like; and - when applicable - the variability level of the interaction. The use of the taxonomy is presented for three systems with clearly distinct complexity characteristics: cash withdrawal from an ATM, teaching a university course, and manufacturing operations. These case studies indicate the usefulness of the taxonomy for the identification of leverage points in work system design. They also show the value of modelling the variability of the interactions in FRAM models, in addition to the traditional modelling of the variability of the outputs of functions. Implications of the taxonomy for resilience engineering are discussed

Neural network pricing of american put options

In this paper we use neural networks (NN), a machine learning method, to price American put options. We propose two distinct NN models – a simple one and a more complex one. The performance of two NN models is compared to the popular Least-Square Monte Carlo Method (LSM). This study relies on market American put option prices, with four large US companies as underlying – Bank of America Corp (BAC), General Motors (GM), Coca-Cola Company (KO) and Procter and Gamble Company (PG). Our dataset includes all options traded from December 2018 to March 2019. All methods show a good accuracy, however, once calibrated, NNs do better in terms of execution time and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). Although on average both NN models perform better than LSM, the simpler model (NN model 1) performs quite close to LSM. On the other hand our NN model 2 substantially outperforms the other models, having a RMSE ca. 40% lower than that of the LSM. The lower RMSE is consistent across all companies, strike levels and maturities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

ANALYSING THE IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC BANKING ON THE PAYMENT SYSTEMS AND THE INTERMEDIATION FUNCTION IN NIGERIAN BANKS

Electronic Banking has made tremendous improvement on the payment function of the Nigerian Financial system on the one hand and on the intermediation function on the other. While the two functions are complementary in delivering efficient banking services, electronic banking has also aided a great departure from the traditional manual methods of service delivery methods over the last five decades. Apart from the efficiency recorded through the impact of electronic banking, other electronic features of service improvement through new products development that have been dependent on electronic banking, have facilitated a great value added banking service delivery and the level of efficiency within the industry. This additional product delivery includes internet banking, telephone banking, mobile banking, point of sale, ATM sharing through the interswitch company, accelerated local interbank settlement systems, accelerated clearing system (cheque truncation) and accelerated international settlement that hastens payments in international trade. All the above amongst others have been made possible through the impact of electronic banking on the payment systems and intermediation functions of the Nigerian banks. This is the main focus of this study. The study discovered that the Nigerian financial regulators have not done enough in sensitizing the Nigerian populace about the relevance of the impact of electronic banking functionalities and it is evident from the result of the study that the level of illiteracy and ignorance of information technology constitute a great set back to the adoption and usage of electronic banking by over 60% of the Nigerian populace. The study thereby recommend amongst other things that financial regulators should stem up sensitization activities on installation, adoption and usage of electronic banking which can only be possible through improved awareness creation among the public on information technology. Moreover, the study also recommended an increase level of technical education and improved training on information and communication technology amongst banking operators to enhance the application of the usage of electronic banking