Construction IT in 2030: a scenario planning approach

Summary: This paper presents a scenario planning effort carried out in order to identify the possible futures that construction industry and construction IT might face. The paper provides a review of previous research in the area and introduces the scenario planning approach. It then describes the adopted research methodology. The driving forces of change and main trends, issues and factors determined by focusing on factors related to society, technology, environment, economy and politics are discussed. Four future scenarios developed for the year 2030 are described. These scenarios start from the global view and present the images of the future world. They then focus on the construction industry and the ICT implications. Finally, the preferred scenario determined by the participants of a prospective workshop is presented

A planning language for activity scheduling

Mission planning and scheduling of spacecraft operations are becoming more complex at NASA. Described here are a mission planning process; a robust, flexible planning language for spacecraft and payload operations; and a software scheduling system that generates schedules based on planning language inputs. The mission planning process often involves many people and organizations. Consequently, a planning language is needed to facilitate communication, to provide a standard interface, and to represent flexible requirements. The software scheduling system interprets the planning language and uses the resource, time duration, constraint, and alternative plan flexibilities to resolve scheduling conflicts

Cooperative Purchasing Micro-Evolutions: A Longitudinal International Study

This paper deals with the evolution of relatively young purchasing groups. Although previous research focussed on macro-evolutionary phases of purchasing groups, no attention has yet been paid to the intra-phase developments, the so-called ‘micro-evolutions’. Insight into micro-evolutions is crucial to better understand how purchasing groups (can) develop over time. We conducted three in-depth case studies in different countries and identified five dimensions of micro-evolutions: member relationships, objectives, activities, organisation, and resources. For each dimension, we provide an overview of micro-evolutions to guide purchasing groups in developing the dimension. We conclude that the dimension ‘activities’ is very important and that purchasing groups do not have to develop the dimensions simultaneously

Reconciling Ripley and Joye: A Fact-Sensitive Analysis of Petition-Year and Pre-Petition-Year Income Tax Claims in Chapter 13 Bankruptcies

Parties to a chapter 13 bankruptcy often contest the status and dischargeability of income tax claims, especially when proofs of claim for these taxes are filed late. Prepetition claims that are filed late may be discharged once the debtor successfully completes a chapter 13 repayment plan. Taxing authorities, however, often allege that these liabilities represent nondischargeable postpetition claims that have become payable after the bankruptcy petition was filed. Courts have resolved this issue in conflicting ways: while some have found that taxes become payable at the end of the taxable year, most have ruled that the tax return\u27s due date was decisive. This Note observes, however, that this conflict appears rooted in a difference of fact. Courts favoring a tax-return rule have been addressing tax claims in the year the bankruptcy was filed. By contrast, courts that apply a taxable-yea r rule have been discussing tax claims for the year immediately preceding the bankruptcy filing. Finding this distinction significant, this Note presents an outline for analyzing income tax liability in chapter 13 cases and concludes that both the type of tax claim faced by each court and the petition-filing timeline are as significant to the courts\u27 analyses as their respective interpretations of the phrase become payable. Applying this framework, this Note illustrates that the taxable- year rule better establishes the critical date upon which taxes should become payable to a taxing authority

Toward a Grand Vision: Early Implementation of California's Local Control Funding Formula

California has taken the first steps down an historic path that fundamentally alters how its public schools are financed, education decisions are made, and traditionally underserved students' needs are met. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), passed with bipartisan legislative support and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on July 1, 2013, represents the most comprehensive transformation of California's school funding system in 40 years. The LCFF significantly loosens the reins of state control over education. It all but eliminates categorical funding streams, subsituting a base of funding for all distraicts and adding dollars for low-income students, English language learners, and foster youth. The new system empowers school districts to determine how to allocate their dollars to best meet the needs of their students. Finally, by requiring all districts to engage parents and other education stakeholders in decisions about how to spend newly flexible funds, the LCFF represents a remarkable experiment in local democracy

An Overview of Health Reform

This policy brief takes a look at the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Health Reform) in the United States and specifically looks at a comparison for the state of Georgia. The first in a series, the policy brief package will also include the following communications: State Implications, Community Implications, and the Provider Impact. Other topic-specific information may be provided to further educate and prepare for the transition