An Adaptive Trust Model Based on Fuzzy Logic

In cooperative environments is common that agents delegate tasks to each other to achieve their goals since an agent may not have the capabilities or resources to achieve its objectives alone. However, to select good partners, the agent needs to deal with information about the abilities, experience, and goals of their partners. In this situation, the lack or inaccuracy of information may affect the agent's judgment about a given partner; and hence, increases the risk to rely on an untrustworthy agent. Therefore, in this work, we present a trust model that combines different pieces of information, such as social image, reputation, and references to produce more precise information about the characteristics and abilities of agents. An important aspect of our trust model is that it can be easily configured to deal with different evaluation criteria. For instance, as presented in our experiments, the agents are able to select their partners by availability instead of the expertise level. Besides, the model allows the agents to decide when their own opinions about a partner are more relevant than the opinions received from third parties, and vice-versa. Such flexibility can be explored in dynamic scenarios, where the environment and the behavior of the agents might change constantly

School's Over: Learning Spaces in Europe in 2020: An Imagining Exercise on the Future of Learning

This report uses a rigorous imagining approach to develop an alternative way of organizing learning in Europe whereby the traditional school system no longer plays a significant role. This study shows that on the basis of phenomena already present in Europe today it is possible to invent a discontinuous model of how people learn and how what they learn is used in everyday life. At the core of this model is a carefully elaborated idea of learning spaces that encompass new ways of ensuring that people have the capacity to control, direct, share and deepen their knowledge throughout their lives. These multi-dimensional learning spaces are imagined as operating in a systemically different economic and social context. One where non-technocratic, non-hierarchical learning is central to the production of local well-being and community based identity. ¿School¿s Over¿ is meant to challenge both the functional and organizational assumptions that currently dominate, often implicitly, the choices being made today.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

Envisioning Digital Europe 2030: Scenarios for ICT in Future Governance and Policy Modelling

The report Envisioning Digital Europe 2030 is the result of research conducted by the Information Society Unit of IPTS as part of the CROSSROAD Project - A Participative Roadmap on ICT research on Electronic Governance and Policy Modelling (www.crossroad-eu.net ). After outlining the purpose and scope of the report and the methodological approach followed, the report presents the results of a systematic analysis of societal, policy and research trends in the governance and policy modelling domain in Europe. These analyses are considered central for understanding and roadmapping future research on ICT for governance and policy modelling. The study further illustrates the scenario design framework, analysing current and future challenges in ICT for governance and policy modelling, and identifying the key impact dimensions to be considered. It then presents the scenarios developed at the horizon 2030, including the illustrative storyboards representative of each scenario and the prospective opportunities and risks identified for each of them. The scenarios developed are internally consistent views of what the European governance and policy making system could have become by 2030 and of what the resulting implications for citizens, business and public services would be. Finally, the report draws conclusions and presents the proposed shared vision for Digital Europe 2030, offering also a summary of the main elements to be considered as an input for the future development of the research roadmap on ICT for governance and policy modelling.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ

From Social Data Mining to Forecasting Socio-Economic Crisis

Socio-economic data mining has a great potential in terms of gaining a better understanding of problems that our economy and society are facing, such as financial instability, shortages of resources, or conflicts. Without large-scale data mining, progress in these areas seems hard or impossible. Therefore, a suitable, distributed data mining infrastructure and research centers should be built in Europe. It also appears appropriate to build a network of Crisis Observatories. They can be imagined as laboratories devoted to the gathering and processing of enormous volumes of data on both natural systems such as the Earth and its ecosystem, as well as on human techno-socio-economic systems, so as to gain early warnings of impending events. Reality mining provides the chance to adapt more quickly and more accurately to changing situations. Further opportunities arise by individually customized services, which however should be provided in a privacy-respecting way. This requires the development of novel ICT (such as a self- organizing Web), but most likely new legal regulations and suitable institutions as well. As long as such regulations are lacking on a world-wide scale, it is in the public interest that scientists explore what can be done with the huge data available. Big data do have the potential to change or even threaten democratic societies. The same applies to sudden and large-scale failures of ICT systems. Therefore, dealing with data must be done with a large degree of responsibility and care. Self-interests of individuals, companies or institutions have limits, where the public interest is affected, and public interest is not a sufficient justification to violate human rights of individuals. Privacy is a high good, as confidentiality is, and damaging it would have serious side effects for society.Comment: 65 pages, 1 figure, Visioneer White Paper, see http://www.visioneer.ethz.c

Proceedings of RSEEM 2006 : 13th Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets

Electronic markets have been a prominent topic of research for the past decade. Moreover, we have seen the rise but also the disappearance of many electronic marketplaces in practice. Today, electronic markets are a firm component of inter-organisational exchanges and can be observed in many branches. The Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets is an annual conference bringing together researchers working on various topics concerning electronic markets in research and practice. The focus theme of the13th Research Symposium on Emerging Electronic Markets (RSEEM 2006) was ?Evolution in Electronic Markets?. Looking back at more than 10 years of research activities in electronic markets, the evolution can be well observed. While electronic commerce activities were based largely on catalogue-based shopping, there are now many examples that go beyond pure catalogues. For example, dynamic and flexible electronic transactions such as electronic negotiations and electronic auctions are enabled. Negotiations and auctions are the basis for inter-organisational trade exchanges about services as well as products. Mass customisation opens up new opportunities for electronic markets. Multichannel electronic commerce represents today?s various requirements posed on information and communication technology as well as on organisational structures. In recent years, service-oriented architectures of electronic markets have enabled ICT infrastructures for supporting flexible e-commerce and e-market solutions. RSEEM 2006 was held at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany in September 2006. The proceedings show a variety of approaches and include the selected 8 research papers. The contributions cover the focus theme through conceptual models and systems design, application scenarios as well as evaluation research approaches

Blockchain applications for a sustainable future

openLa tecnologia Blockchain promette di rivoluzionare il controllo e la gestione della catena produttiva, riducendo gli sprechi e l'impronta ecologica dei processi su cui viene applicata. Nonostante ciò, i principali sistemi che attualmente si basano su di essa - come ad esempio Ethereum per gli NFT - richiedono un consumo energetico talmente ampio da non risultare sostenibile nel futuro prossimo. L'obiettivo dell'elaborato è quindi quello di cercare un punto di convergenza tra le due facce della medaglia, fornendo una visione responsabile riguardo applicazioni future, che permetta di conciliare progresso tecnologico e sostenibilità economica e ambientale.The Blockchain technology promises to revolutionize the administration and control of the productive chain, reducing waste and carbon footprint of the processes on which it is applied. Nevertheless, the most relevant systems that are currently based on it - such as Ethereum for the NFT - require a huge energetic consumption, so that is does not seem to be sustainable in the future. The aim of this work is to find a point of contact between the two sides of the coin, presenting a responsible sight on possible future applications, that allows to conciliate technological progress with environmental and economic sustainability

Opportunities for technological innovations in current construction practices

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (p. 43-44).by Mauricio J. Ortiz.M.Eng

The Pervasive Impact of Information Technology on Internal Auditing

The impetus for this supplemental chapter titled The Pervasive Impact of Information Technology on Internal Auditing comes from The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation (IIARF) monograph, Research Opportunities in Internal Auditing (2003), hereafter ROIA. ROIA combines theory and practice in conceptual frameworks to promote an understanding of the contemporary internal auditing environment. The goals of ROIA include stimulating academic research on significant internal auditing topics and serving as a “communication bridge” between academics and practicing professionals. ROIA provided us with internal auditing related subject matter content, including the most promising areas of information technology (IT) application in internal auditing. One significant topic that is only briefly mentioned in ROIA is the impact of IT on the internal audit function.3 IT is revolutionizing the nature and scope of worldwide communications, changing business processes, and erasing the traditional boundaries of the organization — internally between departments and externally with suppliers and customers. The resulting intra-enterprise coordination as well as inter-enterprise integration with external business partners through supply chain management and customer relationship management systems demonstrates the power of IT as both a driver and enabler of management processes and strategies. Indeed, internal auditors must recognize and leverage the powerful capabilities of computers and technology in collecting, generating, and evaluating information for managerial decision making related to strategy, risk management and controls, and, more broadly, for effective organizational governance. At the same time, internal auditors must recognize that IT, in itself, will not increase the function’s effectiveness. Rather internal auditors must first understand the audit objectives and select appropriate IT to achieve those objectives (i.e., the task-technology fit is essential). It is also imperative that internal auditors understand their organization’s appropriate leveraging of IT, and learn to harness additional IT to optimize internal audit performance.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/books/1037/thumbnail.jp