Semantic-based policy engineering for autonomic systems

This paper presents some important directions in the use of ontology-based semantics in achieving the vision of Autonomic Communications. We examine the requirements of Autonomic Communication with a focus on the demanding needs of ubiquitous computing environments, with an emphasis on the requirements shared with Autonomic Computing. We observe that ontologies provide a strong mechanism for addressing the heterogeneity in user task requirements, managed resources, services and context. We then present two complimentary approaches that exploit ontology-based knowledge in support of autonomic communications: service-oriented models for policy engineering and dynamic semantic queries using content-based networks. The paper concludes with a discussion of the major research challenges such approaches raise

Blockchain Technology - China\u27s Bid to High Long-Run Growth

Despite having the second largest economy at $13 trillion, China has only recently surpassed the World Bank’s definition of the ‘middle-income range’ which is a gross national income per capita between$1,000 to $12,000 (constant 2011 international$). This is a noteworthy accomplishment since many other developing nations have fallen victim to economic stagnation within this range leading to the term “middle-income trap”. This paper will argue that one of the ways in which China escaped the middle-income trap and will continue to grow its economic influence is through the support of blockchain technology. Research and development, early technological adoption and business climate all play a role in explaining how the Chinese public and private sector have used blockchain technology to encourage economic growth. While there are many questions and misconceptions about blockchain technology and its place in China, this paper seeks only to answer a select few

Argentina : trade patterns and challenges ahead

Argentinean export growth was impressive during the recent economic boom (2003-2007). However, decomposing export growth reveals that the extensive margin (increases in exports of existing products to existing markets) dominates, while the intensive margin (increases in exports of new products or new markets) contributes little to export growth. Argentina's trade product concentration has increased in the past 10 years, and the main export products remain overwhelmingly natural-resource intensive. The little diversification of non-primary exports limits the country’s ability to weather a decline in export commodity prices. The country has had some success finding new export markets, especially in Latin America, but should seek to develop deeper trade relationships with high GDP export destinations such as the European Union and the United States. Another challenge going forward is the relatively low sophistication of exports and limited integration into the global production chains, falling behind regional competitors such as Brazil. This calls for policy measures to improve the ability of existing firms to innovate and compete successfully in global markets.Economic Theory&Research,Trade Policy,Free Trade,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Emerging Markets

Urban environmental benefits of green energy : a review of landfill gas to electricity technologies in eThekwini, South Africa

Abstract: In the quest to ameliorate the negative developments emanating from a heavy reliance on fossil fuels, there has been a surge in the development, adoption and utilisation of renewable energy technologies all over the world. Adopting a case study and phenomenological research design and applying qualitative approaches, this study focuses on the environmental benefits directly emanating from the development, adoption and application of innovative technologies in renewable energy generation and supply. In particular it assesses the experiences of municipal solid waste-to-energy technologies in the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. The results reveal that the innovative projects have resulted not only in improved municipal solid waste management, but more importantly improved urban environmental conservation. The paper concludes by recommending the scaling up of such innovative projects within South Africa and the adoption and application of these best practices to other African countries

Database Learning: Toward a Database that Becomes Smarter Every Time

In today's databases, previous query answers rarely benefit answering future queries. For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, we change this paradigm in an approximate query processing (AQP) context. We make the following observation: the answer to each query reveals some degree of knowledge about the answer to another query because their answers stem from the same underlying distribution that has produced the entire dataset. Exploiting and refining this knowledge should allow us to answer queries more analytically, rather than by reading enormous amounts of raw data. Also, processing more queries should continuously enhance our knowledge of the underlying distribution, and hence lead to increasingly faster response times for future queries. We call this novel idea---learning from past query answers---Database Learning. We exploit the principle of maximum entropy to produce answers, which are in expectation guaranteed to be more accurate than existing sample-based approximations. Empowered by this idea, we build a query engine on top of Spark SQL, called Verdict. We conduct extensive experiments on real-world query traces from a large customer of a major database vendor. Our results demonstrate that Verdict supports 73.7% of these queries, speeding them up by up to 23.0x for the same accuracy level compared to existing AQP systems.Comment: This manuscript is an extended report of the work published in ACM SIGMOD conference 201

Supporting public decision making in policy deliberations: An ontological approach

This is the post-print version of the Paper. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 SpringerSupporting public decision making in policy deliberations has been a key objective of eParticipation which is an emerging area of eGovernment. EParticipation aims to enhance citizen involvement in public governance activities through the use of information and communication technologies. An innovative approach towards this objective is exploiting the potentials of semantic web technologies centred on conceptual knowledge models in the form of ontologies. Ontologies are generally defined as explicit human and computer shared views on the world of particular domains. In this paper, the potentials and benefits of using ontologies for policy deliberation processes are discussed. Previous work is then extended and synthesised to develop a deliberation ontology. The ontology aims to define the necessary semantics in order to structure and interrelate the stages and various activities of deliberation processes with legal information, participant stakeholders and their associated arguments. The practical implications of the proposed framework are illustrated.This work is funded by the European Commission under the 2006/1 eParticipation call

Problem-Solving Behaviours, Organisational Forms and the Complexity of Tasks

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Decomposing generalized transport costs using index numbers: A geographical analysis of economic and infrastructure fundamentals

We use the economic theory approach to index numbers in order to improve the existing definitions and decompositions of generalized transport costs (GTCs), and thus to obtain a better understanding of their economic and infrastructure determinants. Using this approach we accurately measure the contribution made to reducing GTCs by the variation in operating costs and accessibility variables, and discuss to what extent transportation policy has been successful in reducing GTCs in terms of market competition and infrastructure investments. To implement the optimizing behaviour of transportation firms when choosing minimum cost itineraries, we compile a new economic database on road freight transportation at a highly detailed provincial level, which is then embedded into a GIS to show the digitalized road networks corresponding to five-year intervals between 1980 and 2007. Average GTCs weighted by trade flows have decreased by -16.3% in Spain, with infrastructure policy leading the way in providing notable accessibility improvements in terms of lower times and distances. The contribution of infrastructure is double that of economic cost, whose trends are mainly driven by technological and market determinants rather than by specific competition and regulatory policies promoted by the administrations. We find large territorial disparities in GTC levels and variations, but also significant clusters where the market and network effects on GTC reduction show relevant and diverse degrees of spatial association. We finally conclude that after three decades of active transportation policy aimed mainly at intensifying investment in road infrastructure, there has been a significant increase in territorial cohesion in terms of GTCs and their components.Generalized transport costs; Index number theory; Infrastructure; GIS; Territorial cohesion.

A survey on European integration, offshoring and trade

This note describes Central and Eastern European countries’ (CEECs) involvement in production and trade in Europe. After having liberalised their economies in the 1990s, CEECs have become a part of international production networks in Europe. International production/distribution networks in East Asia have been developing simultaneously. The paper compares production and trade patterns in Europe and East Asia.