Incomplete Information based Collaborative Computing in Emergency Communication Networks

© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. Due to the urgent and unpredictable nature of disaster relief, emergency management systems (EMS) faces an enormous challenge of real-time data analysis without the complete information from emergency communication networks (ECNs). In this letter, we propose an incomplete information based twotier game model (IITG) to realize collaborative computing at the edge of ECNs, which incentivizes idle computing devices (ICDs) to share computation resources through maximizing utilities of EMS and ICDs. Furthermore, we develop a near-optimal IITG algorithm (N-IITG) to seek the unique Bayesian Nash equilibrium. Simulation results reveal that N-IITG outperforms the existing incomplete information based methods in terms of computation latency and participants utilities

The emergence of the mobile internet in Japan and the UK: platforms, exchange models, and innovation 1999‐2011

In 1999 Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo launched arguably the world’s first successful mobile Internet services portal called “i‐mode”. In Europe at the same time a series of failures diminished the opportunities to attract customers to the mobile Internet. Even though similar Internet technologies were available in Japan and the UK, very different markets for services developed during the initial years 1999‐2003. When the West expected Japanese firms to become dominant players in the mobile digitalisation of services during the introduction of 3G networks, it remained instead a national affair. The dominant views of how markets for mobile services operated seemed flawed.   So‐called delivery platforms were used to connect mobile phones with service contents that were often adapted from the PC world. Designing and operating service delivery platforms became a new niche market. It held a pivotal role for the output of services and competition among providers.   This thesis sets out to answer a set of inter‐related questions: How and where did firms innovate in this new and growing part of the service economy and how are new business models mediated by service delivery platforms? It argues that innovation in the digitalised economy is largely influenced by firms achieving platform leadership through coordination of both technological systems and the creation of multi‐sided exchanges. This thesis demonstrates from cases of multi‐sided markets in operator‐controlled portals, of mobile video and TV and of event ticketing in Japan and the UK that defining the scope of the firm on the network level forms the basis for incremental innovation, the dominant form of service innovation. A parallel focus on coordinating platform technology choices forms the basis for firms to trade fees, advertisements, and user data, enabling control over profitable parts of multi‐sided value networks

Strategic Resource Pricing and Allocation in a 5G Network Slicing Stackelberg Game

We consider a marketplace in the context of 5G network slicing, where service providers (SP), i.e., slice tenants, are in competition for the access to the network resource owned by an infrastructure provider who relies on network slicing. We model the interactions between the end-users (followers) and the SPs (leaders) as a Stackelberg game. We prove that the competition between the SPs results in a multi-resource Tullock rent-seeking game. To determine resource pricing and allocation, we devise two innovative market mechanisms. First, we assume that the SPs are pre-assigned with fixed shares (budgets) of infrastructure, and rely on a trading post mechanism to allocate the resource. Under this mechanism, the SPs can redistribute their budgets in bids and customise their allocations to maximise their profits. We prove that their decision problems give rise to a noncooperative game, which admits a unique Nash equilibrium when dealing with a single resource. Second, when SPs have no bound on their budget, we formulate the problem as a pricing game with coupling constraints and derive the market prices as the duals of the coupling constraints. In addition, we prove that the pricing game admits a unique variational equilibrium. We propose two online learning algorithms to compute solutions to the market mechanisms. A third fully distributed algorithm based on a proximal method is proposed to compute the variational equilibrium solution to the pricing game. Finally, we run numerical simulations to analyse the economic properties of the market mechanisms and the convergence rates of the algorithms

Strategic Resource Pricing and Allocation in a 5G Network Slicing Stackelberg Game

International audienceWe consider a marketplace in the context of 5G network slicing, where Application Service Providers (ASP), i.e., slice tenants, providing heterogeneous services, are in competition for the access to the virtualized network resource owned by a Network Slice Provider (NSP), who relies on network slicing. We model the interactions between the end users (followers) and the ASPs (leaders) as a Stackelberg game. We prove that the competition between the ASPs results in a multi-resource Tullock rent-seeking game. To determine resource pricing and allocation, we devise two innovative market mechanisms. First, we assume that the ASPs are pre-assigned with fixed shares (budgets) of infrastructure, and rely on a trading post mechanism to allocate the resource. Under this mechanism, the ASPs can redistribute their budgets in bids and customise their allocations to maximize their profits. In case a single resource is considered, we prove that the ASPs' coupled decision problems give rise to a unique Nash equilibrium. Second, when ASPs have no bound on their budget, we formulate the problem as a pricing game with coupling constraints capturing the shared resource finite capacities, and derive the market prices as the duals of the coupling constraints. In addition, we prove that the pricing game admits a unique variational equilibrium. We implement two online learning algorithms to compute solutions of the market mechanisms. A third fully distributed algorithm based on a proximal method is proposed to compute the Variational equilibrium solution of the pricing game. Finally, we run numerical simulations to analyse the market mechanism's economic properties and the convergence rates of the algorithms

Global water: issues and insights

This book brings together some of the world’s leading water researchers with an especially written collection of chapters on: water economics; transboundary water; water and development; water and energy; and water concepts. Introduction Freshwater governance holds a prominent position in the global policy agenda. Burgeoning water demand due to population growth and rising incomes is combining with supply-side pressures, such as environmental pollution and climate change, to create acute conditions of global water scarcity. This is a major concern because water is a primary input for agriculture, manufacturing, environmental health, human health, energy production and just about every economic sector and ecosystem. In addition to its importance, the management of freshwater resources is a complex, multidisciplinary topic. Encompassing a range of fields in the physical and social sciences, the task of sustainably meeting human and environmental water needs requires a depth and breadth of understanding unparalleled by most other policy problems. Our objective in this volume is to provide knowledge and insights into major issues and concepts related to freshwater governance. The book is divided into five themed parts: Economics, Transboundary governance, Development, Energy and Water Concepts. A part addresses each theme and opens with an introduction that provides an overview of key topics. For example, the introduction to the economics section presents two main foci: measuring the value of water and managing trade-offs between different water uses. The thematic case studies discuss issues such as water pricing in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, finance of water supply and irrigation infrastructure and improving agricultural production with enhanced water management. The aim of the volume is to accessibly communicate academic research from the many fields of freshwater governance. Too often, academic research is paywalled and/or written in a style that caters to colleagues in the same field, rather than a broader audience from other disciplines, the policy-making community and the general public. This open-access book presents the research of a range of global experts on freshwater governance in brief, insightful chapters that do not presume a high level of pre-existing knowledge of their respective subjects. This format is intended to present knowledge on the key problems of and solutions to global freshwater challenges. The final part presents research from several United Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) supported water research Chairs and Centres. Support and coordination of the insititutions highlighted in this part of the book is provided by UNESCO. One water research Chair is The Australian National University – UNESCO Chair in Water Economics and Transboundary Governance, which was established in April 2010 and works with partners in southern Africa, UNESCO, the Global Water Partnership and other organisations to: (1) increase the skills, capacity, networks and potential of leaders and prospective water managers and policy-makers; (2) sustain and strengthen institutional capacity (especially in southern Africa) by providing a platform for collaboration and institutional development; and, (3) develop innovative research, tools, case-studies, and insights on water economics, water governance and equity. Established by the ANU–UNESCO Chair, the Global Water Forum (GWF) seeks to disseminate knowledge regarding freshwater governance and build the capacity of students, policy-makers and the general public to respond to local and global water issues. The GWF publishes accessible, subscription-free articles highlighing the latest research and practice concerning freshwater governance. A broad range of water-related topics are discussed in a non-technical manner, including water security, development, agriculture, energy and environment. In addition to publishing articles, reports and books, the GWF is engaged in a range of activities, such as the annual Emerging Scholars Award and hosting a portal to educational resources on freshwater. We hope that you enjoy reading this book and, more importantly, gain an improved understanding of the complex freshwater-governance challenges facing us all on a global scale and at a local level

The Future Evolution of the Creative Content Industries - Three Discussion Papers

This report is one of the outcomes of the EPIS06 Project ¿ European Perspectives on the Information Society ¿ carried out by the ETEPS (European Techno-Economic Policy Support) network in cooperation with the Joint Research Centre¿s Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC IPTS) with the aim of providing strategic intelligence to policy makers by taking a prospective view on the evolution of ICT. The report forms one of the main building blocks of the EPIS06 project, the analysis of the potential evolution of the creative content sector. It combines three discussion papers with a view to gaining an in-depth understanding of the creative content sector, the ultimate goal being to provide strategic intelligence and recommendations in support of policy making. Discussion Paper 1 describes the state of the art of the creative content sector in Europe and establishes a present scenario, in market, industrial, technology and business terms, for a set of sub-sectors (books, music, audiovisual production, video games and cultural spaces) engaged in the mass production of creative goods. Discussion Paper 2 analyses the impact of ICT innovations on the industrial structure and dominant business models of these sub-sectors, while Discussion Paper 3 focuses on factors related to consumer demand, and social and institutional issues that might drive or hinder the adoption of these innovations. The three discussion papers were presented at a workshop (May 2007) and validated by stakeholders from different parts of the creative content sector. The papers were also used as a basis to define theses for a Delphi survey that was carried out in June-July 2007. Finally, the discussion paper findings helped define scenarios for the future of the creative content. These scenarios may be the subject of a separate publication.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research

Market-Based Models for Digital Signage Network Promotion Management

Digital signage network (DSN) is capable of delivering customized content to designated screens in a real-time or near real-time manner, which provides tremendous potential for building dynamic demand stimulation tools. However current DSN media buying process is mainly carried out through manually conducted negotiation between the DSN operator and the advertisers. This practice does not capitalize the unique technology advantage offered by the newly emerged advertising medium. We propose automated DSN media buying models which allow advertisers to customize their promotion schedules in a highly responsive manner. Specifically, we design a direct revelation mechanism and an iterative bidding model for DSN promotion scheduling. We show that the direct revelation mechanism computes optimal solutions. We evaluate the revenue performance of the iterative bidding model through a computational study. The implementation of the iterative bidding mechanism is also described

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse