Preliminary Interdependency Analysis: An Approach to Support Critical Infrastructure Risk Assessment

We present a methodology, Preliminary Interdependency Analysis (PIA), for analysing interdependencies between critical infrastructure (CI). Consisting of two phases – qualitative analysis followed by quantitative analysis – an application of PIA progresses from a relatively quick elicitation of CI-interdependencies to the building of representative CI models, and the subsequent estimation of any resilience, risk or criticality measures an assessor might be interested in. By design, stages in the methodology are both flexible and iterative, resulting in interacting CI models that are scalable and may vary significantly in complexity and fidelity, depending on the needs and requirements of an assessor. For model parameterisation, one relies on a combination of field data, sensitivity analysis and expert judgement. Facilitated by dedicated software tool support, we illustrate PIA by applying it to a complex case-study of interacting Power (distribution and transmission) and Telecommunications networks in the Rome area. A number of studies are carried out, including: 1) an investigation of how “strength of dependence” between the CIs’ components affects various measures of risk and uncertainty, 2) for resource allocation, an exploration of different, but related, notions of CI component importance, and 3) highlighting the impact of model fidelity on the estimated risk of cascades

Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación de los hogares e individuos, proximidad geográfica y competitividad regional: distribución, clústeres y patrones espaciales de la capacidad tecnológica en Europa

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been consolidated as a fundamental pillar of the new model of competitiveness and sustainable development of territories. However, there has still not been sufficient in-depth study of the role that geographical proximity plays in the digital inequalities that affect regional competitiveness. In this context, this paper aims to identify and characterise the clusters and patterns that define the spatial behaviour of ICT access and usage variables at household and individual level in the Technology Readiness (TR) pillar of the Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI). A database of 280 NUTS2 has been created in order to perform: i) an exploratory statistical analysis to show the regional behaviour of the ICT variables; and ii) a spatial autocorrelation analysis to detect the presence of spatial dependence. The results at regional level in Europe demonstrate that: i) the greatest inequalities occur in the ICT usage variables and not in those of access; ii) the indicators of TR create a spatial pattern with a gradient from the regions of the extreme north-west to south-western and eastern Europe; and iii) there is evidently an opportunity to incorporate other regional variables of ICT usage for future editions of the RCI.Las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TIC) se han consolidado como pilar fundamental para el nuevo modelo de competitividad y desarrollo sostenible del territorio. Sin embargo, aún no se ha profundizado suficientemente sobre el papel que la proximidad geográfica ejerce sobre las desigualdades digitales que inciden en la competitividad regional. En este contexto, el objetivo de este trabajo es identificar y caracterizar los clústeres y patrones que definen el comportamiento espacial de las variables de acceso y uso de las TIC de los hogares-individuos en la dimensión Technological Readiness (TR) del Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI) europeo. Se ha creado una base de datos de 280 NUTS2 para realizar: i) un análisis estadístico exploratorio para mostrar el comportamiento regional de las variables TIC; y ii) un análisis de autocorrelación espacial para detectar la presencia de dependencia espacial. Los resultados a nivel regional en Europa muestran que: i) las mayores desigualdades se dan en las variables de usos de TIC y no en las de acceso; ii) los indicadores del TR dibujan un patrón espacial con un gradiente desde las regiones del extremo noroccidental hacia el suroccidental y oriental; y iii) se evidencia la oportunidad de incorporar otras variables regionales sobre usos de TIC para futuras ediciones del RCI

Scalability Benchmarking of Cloud-Native Applications Applied to Event-Driven Microservices

Cloud-native applications constitute a recent trend for designing large-scale software systems. This thesis introduces the Theodolite benchmarking method, allowing researchers and practitioners to conduct empirical scalability evaluations of cloud-native applications, their frameworks, configurations, and deployments. The benchmarking method is applied to event-driven microservices, a specific type of cloud-native applications that employ distributed stream processing frameworks to scale with massive data volumes. Extensive experimental evaluations benchmark and compare the scalability of various stream processing frameworks under different configurations and deployments, including different public and private cloud environments. These experiments show that the presented benchmarking method provides statistically sound results in an adequate amount of time. In addition, three case studies demonstrate that the Theodolite benchmarking method can be applied to a wide range of applications beyond stream processing

Cross Connections: Online Activism, Real World Outcomes

This research paper examines the role of the Internet as it relates to the development of social movements and political protest in the ‘physical’ world. It also analyses the role of independent media and reporting methodologies used by activists and net-artists. The emergence of online activism and an emphasis on collaboration, information sharing and open source tools also had a significant impact on new media arts discussions and aesthetics. The refugee activist movement in Australia is a key case study in this thesis, as it is an excellent example of how activists have used the Internet and WWW to garner support within the community and to engage people to come to protests. In addition, activists at the protests have reported these events on the WWW and this subject has also had a resounding impact within the context of contemporary and media arts. The implications of identity online is a major factor in constructing the arguments in this thesis, as the relationship between ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ space is explored in detail as it relates to personal identity and online community

Information and Communication Technologies of households and individuals, geographical proximity and regional competitiveness: distribution, clusters and spatial patterns of technological capacity in Europe

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been consolidated as a fundamental pillar of the new model of competitiveness and sustainable development of territories. However, there has still not been sufficient in-depth study of the role that geographical proximity plays in the digital inequalities that affect regional competitiveness. In this context, this paper aims to identify and characterise the clusters and patterns that define the spatial behaviour of ICT access and usage variables at household and individual level in the Technology Readiness (TR) pillar of the Regional Competitiveness Index (RCI). A database of 280 NUTS2 has been created in order to perform: i) an exploratory statistical analysis to show the regional behaviour of the ICT variables; and ii) a spatial autocorrelation analysis to detect the presence of spatial dependence. The results at regional level in Europe demonstrate that: i) the greatest inequalities occur in the ICT usage variables and not in those of access; ii) the indicators of TR create a spatial pattern with a gradient from the regions of the extreme north-west to south-western and eastern Europe; and iii) there is evidently an opportunity to incorporate other regional variables of ICT usage for future editions of the RCI