A Case Study in Matching Service Descriptions to Implementations in an Existing System

A number of companies are trying to migrate large monolithic software systems to Service Oriented Architectures. A common approach to do this is to first identify and describe desired services (i.e., create a model), and then to locate portions of code within the existing system that implement the described services. In this paper we describe a detailed case study we undertook to match a model to an open-source business application. We describe the systematic methodology we used, the results of the exercise, as well as several observations that throw light on the nature of this problem. We also suggest and validate heuristics that are likely to be useful in partially automating the process of matching service descriptions to implementations.Comment: 20 pages, 19 pdf figure

Pace Energy and Climate Center 2015 Annual Report

In 2015, Pace Energy and Climate Center continued a 27-year tradition of successfully advancing clean energy policies and solutions in communities across the State of New York and the Northeast region, across the United States, and around the world. As a unique organization that operates at the boundaries between law, policy, business, and regulation, we continue to bring innovative thinking, strong analysis, technological understanding, and stakeholder engagement to the vital climate and energy challenges facing us today. We have been pleased to become a key player in the New York Public Service Commission’s Reforming the Energy Vision (“REV”) initiative. REV seeks to devolve the electric utility of the future to accommodate new renewable and distributed energy resources, improve resiliency, and avoid significant increases in customer bills. We operate with a small staff of highly capable experts, multiplied by the commitment and energy of student interns, and leveraged through a community of clean energy stakeholders. Pace identifies and understands the issues, crafts the solutions and improvements needed, and uses the tools of law and policy advocacy to change the way things are done—for the better. In 2015, we continued and strengthened program efforts in many areas, expanded our reach an influence into new areas, and scored important victories in ensuring that clean, efficient, and renewable energy would be an increasing part of our lives, today and tomorrow. Facing the challenges of climate change up close, we design and implement solutions at the same scale—at the level of state and local policy and action—that will empower and support community initiatives wherever Pace works. All our work is made possible by the generous support of our funders and the continued commitment of Dean David Yassky, the staff and faculty of the Pace Law School, and the entire Pace University team. Standing behind them is a strong network of Pace alumni and donors who help keep us all going. We couldn’t do it without each of them

A New View of Scale and Scope in the Telecommunications Industry: Implications for Competition and Innovation

Telecommunication economic analysis has largely relied upon a conventional economic framework that has its roots in neoclassical analysis that emerged almost a hundred years ago, and has contributed to reshaping the direction of economic policies by attacking the premises of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, and providing far greater leeway to incumbents, as well as challenging the economic efficiency of new entrants. Common approaches based upon a large number of simplifying assumptions that include,for instance, the idea that the technology is exogenous. Such hypotheses make little sense at a conceptual level. In addition, this idea is largely contradicted by the short period during which the sector achieved some level of competition around the 1900's and 2000. Not only have economists not thought about any number of such hypotheses, but they have also failed to consider how they might have an impact on their analysis. Evaluating a number of such issues in this paper, we are able to show how conventional economic analysis, uncritically applied to the sector, contributed to the undoing of the 1996 Telecommunications Act and of much of the competition it helped facilitate.scale and scope; competition; telecommunications industry structure

Why Initiative 1098 is right for Washington

Initiative 1098 will reduce taxes for most Washington households by cutting property taxes and exempting small businesses from the business and occupation tax. I-1098 will also raise new revenue dedicated to education, health and long-term care by adding a modest tax on the wealthiest 1.2% -- the group that is now paying the lowest proportion of income in state and local taxes.Washington has fallen behind in providing the education system and public services our people and businesses need to thrive in the global economy. The state struggled to fund upgrades to education and health care even before the recession. Budget cuts of the last two years have pushed us further behind. I-1098's reforms lay the foundations for stronger economic growth and greater opportunity for all people in Washington

Closer Australia-Canada defence cooperation?

This is the third and final paper in a series commissioned for a project that ASPI has been jointly running with Canada’s Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). The project explores the rationale for and possible mechanisms of closer Australia–Canada defence and security cooperation in the Asia–Pacific. The paper is authored by John Blaxland. This paper examines the prospect and utility of closer defence cooperation for both Canada and Australia. It reflects on commonalities and like-mindedness, particularly as they concern regional security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Forward-looking measures are presented for Canadian and Australian defence policymakers to capitalise on each other’s strengthsand similarities. A visionary understanding of the two countries’ shared heritage and common interests is called for, but Canada has to demonstrate how serious it is about engagement in the region. Closer bilateral engagement should be considered in three areas: bolstering regional engagement, cost-saving measures and enhancing engagement with great powers

Optimizing the Structure and Scale of Urban Water Infrastructure: Integrating Distributed Systems

Large-scale, centralized water infrastructure has provided clean drinking water, wastewater treatment, stormwater management and flood protection for U.S. cities and towns for many decades, protecting public health, safety and environmental quality. To accommodate increasing demands driven by population growth and industrial needs, municipalities and utilities have typically expanded centralized water systems with longer distribution and collection networks. This approach achieves financial and institutional economies of scale and allows for centralized management. It comes with tradeoffs, however, including higher energy demands for longdistance transport; extensive maintenance needs; and disruption of the hydrologic cycle, including the large-scale transfer of freshwater resources to estuarine and saline environments.While smaller-scale distributed water infrastructure has been available for quite some time, it has yet to be widely adopted in urban areas of the United States. However, interest in rethinking how to best meet our water and sanitation needs has been building. Recent technological developments and concerns about sustainability and community resilience have prompted experts to view distributed systems as complementary to centralized infrastructure, and in some situations the preferred alternative.In March 2014, the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread partnered with the Water Environment Federation and the Patel College of Global Sustainability at the University of South Florida to convene a diverse group of experts to examine the potential for distributed water infrastructure systems to be integrated with or substituted for more traditional water infrastructure, with a focus on right-sizing the structure and scale of systems and services to optimize water, energy and sanitation management while achieving long-term sustainability and resilience