An ontology for the conceptualization of an intelligent environment and its operation

International audienceNowadays sensors and actuators are increasingly used in different spaces, creating an intelligent environment. This article aims to describe a conceptualization of an intelligent environment and its operation, in order to check its consistency and its conformity. This conceptualization is done through an ontology representing the domain knowledge, whose elements will be instantiated from natural language texts describing the physical configuration of an intelligent environment and a scenario describing the operation desired by the user of the environment. We chose OWL to represent formally our environment augmented with SWRL rules to represent the dynamic aspect of the operation system and SQWRL to query our conceptual model. We show how consistency and conformity are checked thanks to this formalism

Long Operations’ Risk Assessment of an Airline Company

Since the beginning of aviation industry, commercial aviation is being facing an exponential growth due to the huge demand in passenger and cargo transport. This overdevelopment was only possible thanks to the continuous improvements of safety levels all over the decades. In this context, considering all advantages of an integrated Safety Management System along with the irregularity, in operational terms, of the airline operator euroAtlantic Airways (EAA) in this work is developed a study of feasibility of the current model for assessing operational risks of this company for its long-term operations. This dissertation consists in an implementation study of a long-term operations’ safety risk assessment matrix. With this purpose, all operational areas of this airline company are essential in the first phase of this project for identification of each sector’s hazards and respective mitigation measures. All listed hazards and consequent risks are then classified into likelihood and severity and encompassed in a risk assessment matrix. In a final stage, the matrix is uploaded in company’s integrated Safety Management System in order to guarantee its feasibility. Three of the most demanding long-term operations of the last two years were then used as examples to analyse matrix’s viability for future operations’ assessment. Finally, improvements for the company current risk assessment system are proposed in order to guarantee a better comprehension and analysis of future long-term operations risks and associated mitigations.Desde o nascimento da indústria aeronáutica, a aviação comercial tem sofrido um crescimento exponencial devido à elevada procura no transporte de passageiros e carga. Este desenvolvimento só se tornou possível devido a todas as melhorias nos níveis de segurança operacional praticados ao longo das décadas. Neste contexto, considerando todas as vantagens que advém de um Sistema de Gestão de Segurança Operacional integrado e a irregularidade em termos operacionais do operador de linha aérea euroAtlantic Airways (EAA) desenvolve-se neste trabalho um estudo de viabilidade do atual modelo de análise de risco operacional da companhia para as suas operações prolongadas. Esta dissertação consiste num estudo de implementação de uma matriz de análise de risco de segurança operacional de operações continuadas. Com este intuito todas as áreas operacionais desta companhia aérea são, numa fase inicial deste projeto, essenciais na identificação dos perigos e medidas de mitigação inerentes a cada um dos setores. Todos os perigos elencados, e seus consequentes riscos são posteriormente classificados quanto à probabilidade e severidade e agregados numa matriz de análise de risco. Num estágio final, de forma a garantir a viabilidade da matriz, a mesma foi introduzida e avaliada através do sistema integrado de gestão do risco operacional da companhia. Três das maiores operações prolongadas da companhia nos últimos dois anos foram utilizadas como exemplos para analise da viabilidade quer da matriz, quer de futuras operações da companhia. Por fim, são propostas melhorias ao sistema que se encontra atualmente implementado na companhia de forma a garantir uma melhor compreensão e analise do risco e mitigações associadas de futuras operações prolongadas da companhia

Supply chain security certification and operational performance:The role of upstream complexity

Supply chain security (SCS) incidents increasingly cause financial losses to manufacturing facilities and logistics service providers. Thus, supply chain security certification can have implications for production economics, particularly for importing firms who rely on a smooth logistics flow across country borders. However, it largely remains unknown regarding how such certification could influence a firm's operational performance. To this end, we empirically examine whether and how the adoption of Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) certification, initiated by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), could improve operational performance in adopter firms. This study draws upon signaling theory to empirically investigate the value of C-TPAT certification on U.S. publicly-traded importer firms' operational performance by analyzing the longitudinal data of properly-matched sample-control groups. The data come from multiple sources: public announcements of C-TPAT certification from the News Retrieval Service database, import data from lading records, and financial data from Standard & Poor's COMPUSTAT database. Employing a coarsened exact matching (CEM) method and a difference-in-difference (DID) analysis, we find that C-TPAT certified importers have better operational performance than that of non-certified importers. We also find that the level of upstream supply chain complexity (detail, dynamic, and spatial complexity) enhances the operational performance derived from C-TPAT certification. This study sheds light on the performance value of a management standard that is attributed to the non-process mechanism (not due to process improvements) enabled by the signaling effectiveness incorporating the upstream supply chain complexities. Our findings have important theoretical and practical implications for production economics and supply chain management studies

An Evaluation of the Need and Cost of Selected Trade Facilitation Measures in India: Implications for the WTO Negotiations

The study finds that in case of Article X, which basically deals with the publication and administration of trade regulations, India has already implemented most of the requirements. However comprehensive efforts are required to implement, the provision related to single inquiry point which may require software compatibility among various agencies involved apart from addressing the infrastructural constraints. In case of GATT Article VIII which deals with issues related to fees and charges and import and export formalities and documentation requirements most of the provisions are in place but efforts are required to improve the border agency coordination. In case of Articles X and VIII, the minimum cost is estimated at around Re. 2,016 million. This includes a major expenditure on equipments and infrastructure (82 per cent). The installation of electronic cargo clearance units is a major requirement at most of the leading ports in India. In Article V there is lot to be expected from India, the infrastructure requirements, especially for the physical infrastructure, deserve huge and urgent funding. This includes additional efforts required to support and strengthen the level of communication at the border points. Most of the Land Customs Stations (LCSs) require better infrastructure. There is need to attach greater priority to include various provisions of GATT Article V in the bilateral trade and transit treaties especially with land locked countries for greater facilitation of transit trade.GATT, WTO, Trade Facilitation, India

Key Aspects of Occupational Health and Safety towards Efficiency and Performance in Air Traffic Management

This paper/chapter deals with the key drivers for adopting and developing an Occupational Health and Safety System (OHS) with a special focus on air traffic management and traffic controller’s workplace. A such system includes regulation and legal compliance procedures, actions and monitoring for ensuring workplace safety, incentives and motivation for the air traffic controller and associate personnel health and wellbeing. By a systemic approach, the key characteristics of OHS towards air traffic management are presented, highlighting the key aspects for implementing a quality management system in air traffic control, which is the cornerstone of airport operation efficiency and productivity on one hand; and the nature of job and the intensive working environment is well recognised. Based on air traffic providers functional analysis the key occupational aspects for air traffic control are taken into consideration, providing the benefits for implementing quality management systems (QMS) and OHS is real business. Conventional wisdom is to highlight the importance for establishing and incorporating a modern custom-made OHS system in accordance with the requirements addressed by OHSAS 18001 to develop and implement a QMS for air traffic services. Contribution of this paper is to highlight the key priorities for managers and decision makers in field of air traffic services providers, depicting ways and recommendation for adopting an efficient path for implementing OHS in a QMS environment

Federal Dollars for All Humankind: Using Procurement Law to Increase Diversity in the Space Industry

This Article explores how to employ federal government contracting programs to increase gender and racial diversity within the space industry. Part II of the Article touches briefly on the importance of diversity generally and examines the underrepresentation of women and minorities within the $325 billion industry surrounding outer space activities. Part III provides a high-level overview of federal government contracting, in particular focusing on Small Business Administration programs intended to benefit small businesses, minority-owned businesses, and women-owned businesses. Part IV concentrates on contracting within the space industry. Part V offers three suggestions to increase contract awards to women and minority business owners, thereby advancing toward the ultimate goals of encouraging women and minorities to start small businesses, directing capital toward disadvantaged groups, and increasing mission success through diverse perspectives and involvement

Standards and agro-food exports from developing countries: rebalancing the debate

The proliferation and increased stringency of food safety and agricultural health standards is a source of concern among many developing countries. These standards are perceived as a barrier to the continued success of their exports of high-value agro-food products (including fish, horticultural, and other products), either because these countries lack the technical and administrative capacities needed for compliance or because these standards can be applied in a discriminatory or protectionist manner. The authors draw on available literature and work in progress to examine the underlying evidence related to the changing standards environment and its impact on existing and potential developing country exporters of high-value agricultural and food products. The evidence the authors present, while only partial, suggests that the picture for developing countries as a whole is not necessarily problematic and certainly less pessimistic than the mainstream"standards-as-barriers"perspective. Indeed, rising standards serve to accentuate underlying supply chain strengths and weaknesses and thus impact differently on the competitive position of individual countries and distinct market participants. Some countries and industries are even using high quality and safety standards to successfully (re-)position themselves in competitive global markets. This emphasizes the importance of considering the effects of food safety and agricultural health measures within the context of wider capacity constraints and underlying supply chain trends and drivers. The key question for developing countries is how to exploit their strengths and overcome their weaknesses such that they are gainers rather than losers in the emerging commercial and regulatory context.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Public Health Promotion,Environmental Economics&Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Labor Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Livestock&Animal Husbandry,Food&Beverage Industry

Journal of Air Transportation, Volume 10, No. 2

Topics discussed include: Mitigation Alternatives for Carbon Dioxide Emissions by the Air Transport Industry in Brazil; Air Transport Regulation Under Transformation: The Case of Switzerland; An Estimation of Aircraft Emissions at Turkish Airports; Guide to the Implementation of Iso 14401 at Airports; The Impact of Constrained Future Scenarios on Aviation and Emissions; The Immediate Financial Impact of Transportation Deregulation on the Stockholders of the Airline Industry; Aviation Related Airport Marketing in an Overlapping Metropolitan Catchment Area: The Case of Milan's Three Airports; and Airport Pricing Systems and Airport Deregulation Effects on Welfare