Multi-objective model for optimizing railway infrastructure asset renewal

Trabalho inspirado num problema real da empresa Infraestruturas de Portugal, EP.A multi-objective model for managing railway infrastructure asset renewal is presented. The model aims to optimize three objectives, while respecting operational constraints: levelling investment throughout multiple years, minimizing total cost and minimizing work start postponements. Its output is an optimized intervention schedule. The model is based on a case study from a Portuguese infrastructure management company, which specified the objectives and constraints, and reflects management practice on railway infrastructure. The results show that investment levelling greatly influences the other objectives and that total cost fluctuations may range from insignificant to important, depending on the condition of the infrastructure. The results structure is argued to be general and suggests a practical methodology for analysing trade-offs and selecting a solution for implementation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Costs, Benefits and Value Distribution – Ingredients for Successful Cross-Organizational ES Business Cases

This paper introduces my PhD research project on developing guidelines for creating successful business cases for Enterprise System implementations in network settings. Three important aspects that were found to be important in such business cases are: the costs, benefits and the value distribution within a network. Each of the three aspects is addressed in this paper and the relationships between them are pointed out. A research model is presented showing how all three aspects contribute to the main goal of defining successful business case guidelines

SOAR (Support Office for Aerogeophysical Research) Annual Report 1994/1995

The Support Office for Aerogeophysical Research (SOAR) was a facility of the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs whose mission is to make airborne geophysical observations available to the broad research community of geology, glaciology and other sciences. The central office of the SOAR facility is located in Austin, Texas within the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. Other institutions with significant responsibilities are the Lamont­ Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and the Geophysics Branch of the U.S . Geological Survey. This report summarizes the goals and accomplishments of the SOAR facility during 1994/1995 and plans for the next year.National Science Foundation's Office of Polar ProgramsInstitute for Geophysic

Development and implementation of preventive-maintenance practices in Nigerian industries.

A methodology for the development of PM using the modern approaches of FMEA, root-cause analysis, and fault-tree analysis is presented. Applying PM leads to a cost reduction in maintenance and less overall energy expenditure. Implementation of PM is preferable to the present reactive maintenance procedures (still prevalent in Nigeria

TOWARDS AN OPTIMAL INVESTMENT BUDGET FOR GREEN DATA CENTERS

The growing demand for data storage and computational power has increased the global deployment of data centers. Today, data centers are the backbone of modern companies, but also main consumers of energy and among the major producers of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the development and implementation of sustainable and energy efficient Green Data Centers (GDC) has gained relevance from a scientific and practical point of view. Even though technological progress has revealed opportunities for improvements in energy efficiency, little effort has been made regarding the business case of GDC. In this paper, we analyze the coherence of economic and environmental objectives of GDC investments by conceptualizing a decision model using traditional financial metrics and by applying the model on exemplary data. We analyze both costs and realized energy savings associated with the GDC investment. Besides, we examine the influnce of volatile energy prices on the investment decision. By integrating risk and return into one decision calculus, we determine the optimal GDC investment budget which reconciles long-term economic and environmental objectives. Our theoretical findings are supported by an application example of a GDC investment project. We hereby demonstrate the structural under-investment when disregarding volatile energy prices in decision-making

Correlating Architecture Maturity and Enterprise Systems Usage Maturity to Improve Business/IT Alignment

This paper compares concepts of maturity models in the areas of Enterprise Architecture and Enterprise Systems Usage. We investigate whether these concepts correlate, overlap and explain each other. The two maturity models are applied in a case study. We conclude that although it is possible to fully relate constructs from both kinds of models, having a mature architecture function in a company does not imply a high Enterprise Systems Usage maturity

BANKING INNOVATIONS RISK – PROFITABILITY RELATIONSHIP IN THE BANKING SYSTEM OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

The level of information technologies development in modern banks represents an essential factor in maintenance and consolidation of the position on the market. In this respect all Moldovan banks develop risk management policies with regard to banking IT’s and e-products and services, which they consider as the main part of banking innovations at the moment. The purpose of this article is to analyze each innovation (Information Security Services, Business Systems Controls, Business Continuity Management, IT Outsourcing, Information Systems Governance, IT Performance, Project Risk Management, IT Internal Audit) in terms of risks and benefits when these risks are managed properly.banking system, risk, information technologies

PROJECT MANAGEMENT MATURITY IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (THE CASE OF ETHIOPIAN CONTRACTORS)

This research has studied the maturity of PM in the construction industry of developing countries; in the course, the research has also identified two major gaps in the existing maturity models and, proposed a PM maturity model to address the gaps and adapt it to the developing countries context. Using the model, maturity assessment of contractors in Ethiopia is undertaken and, low level of PM maturity (Informal practice of the basic processes) is found. Further, the research found ISO certified contractors‟ PM maturity to be higher than those which are not. Similarly, the PM maturity of contractors which took part in Capacity Building Program is found to be higher than those which did not take part .Likewise, Road contractors PM maturity is found to be higher than Building contractors. Moreover, the research found higher maturity level for material, procurement, cost, financial, time, and human resource management. Risk and safety management are found to be the least matured PM areas