Supercomputing Frontiers

This open access book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 6th Asian Supercomputing Conference, SCFA 2020, which was planned to be held in February 2020, but unfortunately, the physical conference was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 8 full papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 22 submissions. They cover a range of topics including file systems, memory hierarchy, HPC cloud platform, container image configuration workflow, large-scale applications, and scheduling

Exploring Blockchain Governance

Blockchain systems continue to attract significant interest from both practitioners and researchers. What is more, blockchain systems come in various types, such as cryptocurrencies or as inter-organizational systems in business networks. As an example of a cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, one of the most prominent blockchain systems to date and born at the time of a major financial crisis, spearheaded the promise of relying on code and computation instead of a central governing entity. Proponents would argue that Bitcoin stood the test of time, as Bitcoin continues to operate to date for over a decade. However, these proponents overlook the never-ending, heated debates “behind the scenes” caused by diverging goals of central actors, which led to numerous alternative systems (forks) of Bitcoin. To accommodate these actors’ interests in the pursuit of their common goal is a tightrope act, and this is where this dissertation commences: blockchain governance. Based on the empirical examples of various types and application domains of blockchain systems, it is the goal of this dissertation to 1) uncover governance patterns by showing, how blockchain systems are governed, 2) derive governance challenges faced or caused by blockchain systems, and, consequently, to 3) contribute to a better understanding to what blockchain governance is. This dissertation includes four parts, each of these covering different thematical areas: In the first part, this dissertation focuses on obtaining a better understanding of blockchain governance’s context of reference by studying blockchain systems from various application domains and system types, for example, led by inter-organizational networks, states, or an independent group of actors. The second part, then, focuses on a blockchain as an inter-organizational system called “cardossier”, a project I was involved in, and its governance as a frame of reference. Hereupon, for one, I report on learnings from my project involvement in the form of managerial guidelines, and, for two, I report on structural problems within cardossier, and problems caused by membership growth and how they can be resolved. The third part focuses on a wider study of blockchains as inter-organizational systems, where I summarize findings of an analysis of 19 blockchain consortia. The findings, for one, answer the question of why blockchain consortia adopt blockchain technology, and, for two, show internal and external challenges these systems faced to derive managerial recommendations. The fourth and last part studies blockchain governance’s evolution and contributes an analysis of blockchain’s governance features and its contrast to established modes of governance. These four parts, altogether, have scientific value as they increase our understanding on blockchain governance. Consequently, this dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge on modes of governance, distributed system governance, and blockchain governance in general. I do so, by grounding the concept of blockchain governance in empirical detail, showing how these systems are governed on various application domains and system types, and by studying empirical challenges faced or caused by these systems. This approach is relevant and necessary, as blockchain systems in general, but particularly outside of cryptocurrencies, mostly still are in pursuit of a sustainable blockchain governance. As blockchains can be expected to continue to mature, the upcoming years offer very fruitful ground for empirical research along the empirical insights and theoretical lines shown in this dissertation

Using Unified Personal Information in Workspaces

Knowledge workers (KWers) deal with personal information and use tools like, e.g., desktop workspaces to support their work. But KWer support is hindered by personal information fragmentation, i.e., applications keep a set of personal information while not interconnecting it. This thesis addresses this in the domains personal task management and meeting management by using a common unified personal information model as offered by the semantic desktop personal information management (PIM) system

The Rise of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations: Coordination and Growth within Cryptocurrencies

The rise of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is driving a paradigm shift in organization design. Their underlying blockchain technology enables a novel form of organizing, which I call the “decentralized autonomous organization” (DAO). This study explores how tasks are coordinated within DAOs that provide decentralized and open payment systems that do not rely on centralized intermediaries (e.g., banks). Guided by a Bitcoin pilot case study followed by a three-stage research design that uses both qualitative and quantitative data, this inductive study examines twenty DAOs in the cryptocurrency industry to address the following question: How are DAOs coordinated to enable growth? Results from the pilot study suggest that task coordination within DAOs is enabled by distributed consensus mechanisms at various levels. Further, findings from interview data reveal that DAOs coordinate tasks through “machine consensus” and “social consensus” mechanisms that operate at varying degrees of decentralization. Subsequent fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analyses (fsQCA), explaining when DAOs grow or decline, show that social consensus mechanisms can partially substitute machine consensus mechanisms in less decentralized DAOs. Taken together, the results unpack how DAO growth relies on the interplay between machine consensus, social consensus, and decentralization mechanisms. To conclude, I formulate three propositions to outline a theory of DAO coordination and discuss how this novel form of organizing calls for a revision of our conventional understanding of task coordination and organizational growth

Nagas in the museum: an anthropological study of the material culture of the hill peoples of the Assam-Burma border

In many ways this thesis is concerned with the meaning of the term 'Naga' especially when it is applied in the identification of historical material culture held in British museums. In the examination of the development and use of Naga collections in British museums, the connections with the ethnology and anthropology of the 19th century are explored. It is fitting, therefore, that we should begin with a reiteration of the early explanations of the word 'Naga', for whilst the theoretical basis and aims of this thesis are different, it could, ironically, be said to be following on from the work of early writersand their search for meaning.The many different early definitions of 'Naga' are of interest for two reasons. First, they give an impression of their writers' ideas, and secondly because they indicate the starting point for the collection of Naga material culture. The following examples are not given in any particular order: from nangta or nanga meaning 'naked' (Butler 1875, Dun 1886, Shakespear 1914); from the name Naga used in the Mahabharat meaning 'beautiful dragon', like the beings against whom the hero Arjuna fought (Dun 1886); from nok meaning 'folk' in some dialects (Chakravorty 1964 from Gait 1826); from the word naga meaning 'snake'; from the Kachari work Naga meaning a 'young man' or 'warrior' (Woodthorpe 1881-82, who also noted the 'naked' and 'snake' explanations); from Na-Ka meaning 'people or men or folk with pierced ears', a name given by the Burmese to Nagas and possibly passed on to the British (Hokishe Sema 1986). Essentially the word seems to have been a derogatory term applied by local outsiders, such as the people of the plains, to the people of the hills, and it was then taken up and used by the British. As early as 1841 Robinson recorded that 'whatever the origin of the word Naga, it appears that the appellation is entirely unknown to any of the hill tribes themselves'. The preoccupation with the derivation of the word continues, for in 1986 Hokishe Sema, as noted above, was suggesting that the name was known in Burma from Na-Ka, and the British got to know of Nagas from the Burmese wars 1795-1826.The practical looseness of definition was realised in the 19th century and comes across in the work of Butler (1875) where he stated that Naga is a 'comprehensive term ... including the whole group of cognate races ... hill and upland' and then gave limits around the compass by reference to geographical features and approximate lines of latitude and longitude; he also suggested that the Kachin and Chin were offshoots of the Nagas. In 1886 Dun firmly noted that: In cases where a large number of tribes have been classed together (Abors, Singphos, Nagas), the differences between tribes separated socially and geograpically from one another have, since the imposition of the name, been discovered to be so great as to suggest doubts as to the advisability of attempting any such widegeneric classification.The imposition of the name is the crux of the matter, with connotations for modern identity. Whatever its origin, the term Naga is now used with pride by some hill peoples on the periphery of mainland South-East Asia, predominantly those around what is now the international border of India and Myanmar. Hokishe Sena, a Naga, gives a contemporary view in noting that 'it is a name given by outsiders' and was long resented by the people 'till political expediency caused it to be accepted as describing the separate identity of these people as distinct from other ethnic tribal people and also from the people of the country at large'.Thus, the term Naga already can be seen to offer layers of complex meanings, from its application by outsiders including the British in the 19th century to the centrality of its political use today. It is against this background that this study discusses the ethnography and anthropology of the Naga peoples, particularly in relation to their historical material culture which was collected in the 19th and 20th centuries by the British and deposited in museums in Britain

Design and implementation of an e-commerce web application for a food store

[Abstract]: Over the last few years, technology has experienced an exponential growth, fuelled in part by the COVID-19 epidemiological situation. This circumstance has resulted in a remarkable change in society’s consumption habits, as more and more consumers are choosing to purchase goods over the Internet. Derived from this behavior, companies must adapt to the demands of the new reality, to gain a foothold in the market and maintain their competitiveness. Related to the previous case, in this final degree project, it has been designed and developed a web application for online seafood sales. The implemented software will allow users to sign up and login into the platform, in which they will have access to the different products from the catalogue, being able to make their purchases, pay them online and view a record ofthe orders placed. To achieve the previously stated objectives, the developed web application has been implemented based on a layered architecture, more in details, following the client-server modeland using Java, Spring Boot and Hibernate for the back-end and JavaScript, React and Reduxfor the front-end.[Resumo]: A continua evolución e expansión tecnolóxica ao longo dos últimos anos e a situación epidemiolóxica da COVID-19 propiciaron novos hábitos de consumo na sociedade actual. Cada vez son máis os consumidores que optan por comprar bens a través de Internet. Derivado deste comportamento, as empresas deben adaptarse ás esixencias da nova realidade, para lograr un oco no mercado e manter a súa competitividade. Vinculado a esta casuística, neste traballo de fin de grao deseñouse e desenvolveuse unha aplicación web para a venda en liña de produtos do mar. O software implementado permitirá o rexistro e acceso de usuarios á plataforma, na que terán acceso aos diferentes produtos do catálogo, podendo realizar pedidos, pagalos en liña e consultar un histórico dos mesmos. Para acadar os obxectivos anteriormente mencionados, implantouse unha aplicación web baseada nunha arquitectura en capas, seguindo concretamente o modelo cliente-servidor, destacando o uso de Java, Spring Boot e Hibernate para o lado do back-end e JavaScript, React eRedux para o front-end.Traballo fin de grao (UDC.FIC). Enxeñaría Informática. Curso 2021/202

Developing a Governance Framework for a Commercially Successful, Inclusive, and Safe Metaverse

This study aimed to fill a significant gap in the literature on empirical research on the governance structure of the Metaverse. The purpose of this study was to describe Metaverse strategy and innovation management experts’ views on how business leaders and policymakers may collaborate on shaping a governance structure for the Metaverse. This study used a multiple case study design to collect data from a purposeful sample of eight Metaverse experts using a semistructured interview format. This study was framed by three key concepts: Rogers’s concept of diffusion of innovations, Ball’s concept of the Metaverse, and Fernandez and Hiu’s concept of privacy, ethics, and governance in the Metaverse. Twelve themes emerged from the analysis of the data: (a) the Metaverse as disruptors across all industries, (b) human adoption and collaboration as drivers of future business innovation in the Metaverse, (c) the challenge of interoperability across public and private platforms, (d) global network of stakeholders that fosters a holistic and innovative approach to data governance, (e) governance framework that creates value for the consumer, (f) centralized and decentralized options for governance, (g), advantages and challenges of user control over personal data, (h) collaborative policies as regulators of human behavior in the Metaverse, (i) multi-stakeholder generated Metaverse security and privacy policy, (j) policies that regulate user-generated content, (k) incorporation of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles for organizations operating in the Metaverse, and (l) accessibility to all consumers. This study’s result may drive positive social change by presenting practical information on developing a governance framework to regulate the Metaverse

Exploring visions of inclusion: women’s disability activism in Georgia

This thesis aims to investigate the intersection of gender and disability rights activism in The Republic of Georgia by focusing on the narration and gendered experience of women disability activists. Since the ratification of the CRPD, disability in Georgia has been studied by looking at the discrepancy between disability policies and disabled people’s lives, pointing out the poor policy implementations, lack of human rights-based services and negative attitudes towards people with disabilities. These studies have not or only to a limited extent grasped grassroot activism around disability in Georgia. I used in-depth semi-structured interviews with 12 women disability rights activists, researchers, and professionals to investigate the gender implications of disability advocacy. Disability advocacy in Georgia is a feminized sphere, mainly due to mothers of children with disabilities being the strongest voice among disability NGOs. Gendered expectations of women as traditional “carers” of society have not only pushed women into civil society activism and disability service provision, but also made it difficult to disentangle disability rights struggles from the notion of care. Disabled women activists, however, have been marginalized within disability activism in Georgia, experiencing a dual discrimination as women and disabled. Nevertheless, disabled women activists have begun to form a social group consciousness, pointing out their own oppression form both paternalistic and patriarchal practices that prevail within disability rights activism and organisations

Governing the policy network on urban agriculture in Bangkok: The role of social capital in handling cooperation and conflicts

Since 2010 a policy network on urban agriculture (UA) has emerged in Bangkok, incorporating policy actors from both governmental and non-governmental bodies. This study argues that multiple forms of social capital – including shared rules, reputation, trust, reciprocity, moral obligation, shared norms and shared knowledge among various actors – have shaped the functioning of this policy network since its emergence. In addition, the study argues that these forms of social capital support the capacity of the policy network to enhance cooperation and handle conflicts. The role of social capital in governing the UA policy network is examined in relation to the floods experienced in Bangkok between late 2011 and early 2012. The analytical framework adopted is based on two contrasting theories: Ostrom’s institutional rational choice (IRC) and Habermas’ communicative action theory (CAT). Both are applied to link social capital and policy network studies. Following these two perspectives, this study conceptualises social capital by considering both rational and normative commitments. By focusing on IRC and CAT perspectives on power, this study analyses how instrumental, communicative and structural power relates to social capital. Findings reveal that the aforementioned forms of social capital influenced the emergence of the policy network by determining the status of the network’s constituent organisations and groups and their power relations. Members of organisations and groups that shared forms of knowledge agreed that the reason for cooperation was epistemic, while reciprocity and moral obligation supported their decision to cooperate. The study also found that the reputable and trusted organisational leader within the network, who shared rules, norms and knowledge with others, played a key role in facilitating a deliberative process while handling conflicts. The analysis aims to bridge social capital and policy network studies, and reveals the benefits of articulating IRC and CAT to understand policy network governance