Using Event Calculus to Formalise Policy Specification and Analysis

As the interest in using policy-based approaches for systems management grows, it is becoming increasingly important to develop methods for performing analysis and refinement of policy specifications. Although this is an area that researchers have devoted some attention to, none of the proposed solutions address the issues of analysing specifications that combine authorisation and management policies; analysing policy specifications that contain constraints on the applicability of the policies; and performing a priori analysis of the specification that will both detect the presence of inconsistencies and explain the situations in which the conflict will occur. We present a method for transforming both policy and system behaviour specifications into a formal notation that is based on event calculus. Additionally it describes how this formalism can be used in conjunction with abductive reasoning techniques to perform a priori analysis of policy specifications for the various conflict types identified in the literature. Finally, it presents some initial thoughts on how this notation and analysis technique could be used to perform policy refinement

The International Monetary Fund and Regulatory Challenges

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) plays a substantial regulatory role in the international monetary and financial system. The IMF has been assigned a formal regulatory role in a limited number of areas such as obligations covering exchange rate policies. The Fund has a broader informal regulatory role derived from the voluntary consent of its members such as in surveillance over members’ financial sector policies and international payments imbalances. The IMF’s regulatory role is unlike that of its member governments within their own jurisdictions. The Fund’s formal and informal regulation must be constantly nurtured and renewed via peer-review processes.IMF, Articles of Agreement, regulation, Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS), General Data Dissemination System (GDDS), Bretton Woods, WTO, special drawing rights (SDR)

Privacy in an Ambient World

Privacy is a prime concern in today's information society. To protect\ud the privacy of individuals, enterprises must follow certain privacy practices, while\ud collecting or processing personal data. In this chapter we look at the setting where an\ud enterprise collects private data on its website, processes it inside the enterprise and\ud shares it with partner enterprises. In particular, we analyse three different privacy\ud systems that can be used in the different stages of this lifecycle. One of them is the\ud Audit Logic, recently introduced, which can be used to keep data private when it\ud travels across enterprise boundaries. We conclude with an analysis of the features\ud and shortcomings of these systems

Secure data sharing and processing in heterogeneous clouds

The extensive cloud adoption among the European Public Sector Players empowered them to own and operate a range of cloud infrastructures. These deployments vary both in the size and capabilities, as well as in the range of employed technologies and processes. The public sector, however, lacks the necessary technology to enable effective, interoperable and secure integration of a multitude of its computing clouds and services. In this work we focus on the federation of private clouds and the approaches that enable secure data sharing and processing among the collaborating infrastructures and services of public entities. We investigate the aspects of access control, data and security policy languages, as well as cryptographic approaches that enable fine-grained security and data processing in semi-trusted environments. We identify the main challenges and frame the future work that serve as an enabler of interoperability among heterogeneous infrastructures and services. Our goal is to enable both security and legal conformance as well as to facilitate transparency, privacy and effectivity of private cloud federations for the public sector needs. © 2015 The Authors

The Doctrine of Consideration: Dead or Alive in English Employment Contracts?

The doctrine of consideration, with its emphasis upon exchange, and its general rejection of 'more for the same', seems inadequate for the modern environment in which flexible rewards may reflect the employer's concern that the importance of individual staff to an enterprise may not remain constant and may alter as the commercial context in which their work is performed fluctuates. Although versions of the classical doctrine have exercised an important influence in English employment law, there now appears to be a noticeable disinclination to use the doctrine as a problem-solving technique. This is especially so in relation to the variation vases as well as those concerned with the enforcement of apparently gratuitous benefits in formal policies, such as equal opportunities policies. It will be argued that the classical doctrine is either falling into desuetude or that it has been substantially revised

CRFM Consultancy Report on Review of Existing Policy, Legal and Institutional Arrangements for Governance and Management of Flyingfish Fisheries in the Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem

Many of the marine resources in the Caribbean are considered to be fully or overexploited. A Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis identified three priority transboundary problems that affect the CLME: unsustainable exploitation of fish and other living resources, the degradation and modification of natural habitats, pollution and contamination. The fourwing flyingfish fishery is the single most important small pelagic fishery in the southern Lesser Antilles. It is a shared resource, which has been traditionally exploited by seven different States, i.e. Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. With expanding fleet capacity and limited cooperation among the States exploiting the flyingfish, there is concern that the resource may become overfished. While the flyingfish fishery is a directed fishery, it is at the same time part of a multi-species, multi-gear fishery, which also targets regional large pelagic species.This case study identifies and analyses the priority transboundary problems and issues. The policy, legal and institutional reforms needed to address such transboundary issues and achieve long-term conservation and sustainable use of the resources are also identified. A major and necessary component of the case study is an evaluation of the existing policy cycles and linkages among the countries and institutions involved with the flyingfish fishery