UK Research Information Shared Service (UKRISS) Final Report, July 2014

The reporting of research information is a complex and expensive activity for research organisations (ROs). There is little alignment between funders of the reporting requests made to institutions and requests made to individual researchers about their research outputs and outcomes. This inevitably results in duplication and increased costs across the sector, whilst limiting the potential sharing and reuse of the information. The UK Research Information Shared Service (UKRISS) project conducted a feasibility and scoping study for the reporting of research information at a national level based on CERIF (Common European Research Information Format), with the objective of increasing efficiency, productivity and quality across the sector. The aim was to define and prototype solutions which are compelling, easy to use, have a low entry barrier, and support innovative information sharing and benchmarking. CERIF has emerged as the preferred format for expressing research information across Europe. To date, CERIF has been piloted for specific applications, but not as a format for reporting requirements across all UK ROs. The final report presents the work carried out by the UKRISS project, including requirements gathering, modelling and prototyping, as well as recommendation for sustainability. UKRISS was divided into two phases. Phase 1, mapping the reporting landscape, ran from March 2012 to December 2012. Phase 2, exploring delivery of potential solutions, began in February 2013 and ended in December 2013

Quantification Model of Smart City Development Dynamics Using Structural Equation Modeling

학위논문(석사)--서울대학교 대학원 :공과대학 건설환경공학부,2019. 8. 지석호.In recent years, smart city projects have drawn significant attention as initiatives for enhancing urban development and regeneration. Many studies have incorporated technical and non-technical enablers to better control the design, planning, and progress management of smart cities. However, despite considerable efforts and achievements, the direct and indirect effects of smart city enablers on urban performances have not been quantified comprehensively. Thus, due to this lack of in-depth quantification and understanding, urban leaders encounter difficulties in establishing proper strategies and policies for the successful development of smart cities. To address this issue, the present study has used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to identify the critical enablers of smart cities and to quantify their dynamic effects (i.e., direct and indirect effects) on the performances of such cities. More specifically, the authors applied SEM to test and estimate the relationships between four enabler clusters (i.e., technological infrastructure, open governance, intelligent community, and innovative economy) and four performance objectives (i.e., efficiency, sustainability, livability, and competitiveness) using the actual data of 50 smart cities. The statistical results demonstrated that non-technical enabler clusters (i.e., open governance, intelligent community, and innovative economy), as well as the technical drivers (i.e., technological infrastructure), have significant impacts on the performances of smart cities with their highly interrelated, synergetic dynamics. The high percentage of variance explained for performance objectives, which varied from about 71% to 91%, was indicative of good explanatory power. Based on those mathematical findings, urban leaders can enhance strategic planning for smart city transitions through proper policy management.Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Research Background 1 1.2 Problem Statement 4 1.3 Research Objective 6 1.4 Research Scope 7 1.5 Research Process 8 Chapter 2 Literature Review 9 2.1 Identification of Smart City Enablers 9 2.2 Quantification of Enablers Direct Effects 11 2.3 Limitations of Quantification Strategies 13 Chapter 3 Quantification Model Development 15 3.1 Research Overview 15 3.2 Latent Variables Specification 17 3.3 Hypothetical Model Establishment 22 3.4 Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) 25 Chapter 4 Model Testing and Results 31 4.1 Data Collection and Preparation 31 4.2 SEM Analysis 36 4.3 Results and Discussions 43 Chapter 5 Model Applications 52 5.1 Smart City Maturity Assessment 52 5.2 Smart City Macro Trends Analysis 55 Chapter 6 Conclusion 58 6.1 Summary and Contributions 58 6.2 Limitations and Future Study 60 Bibliography 62 Appendix A 69 Appendix B 70 Abstract (Korean) 71Maste

A Systemic Approach to Next Generation Infrastructure Data Elicitation and Planning Using Serious Gaming Methods

Infrastructure systems are vital to the functioning of our society and economy. However, these systems are increasingly complex and are more interdependent than ever, making them difficult to manage. In order to respond to increasing demand, environmental concerns, and natural and man-made threats, infrastructure systems have to adapt and transform. Traditional engineering design approaches and planning tools have proven to be inadequate when planning and managing these complex socio-technical system transitions. The design and implementation of next generation infrastructure systems require holistic methodologies, encompassing organizational and societal aspects in addition to technical factors. In order to do so, a serious gaming based risk assessment methodology is developed to assist infrastructure data elicitation and planning. The methodology combines the use of various models, commercial-off-the-shelf solutions and a gaming approach to aggregate the inputs of various subject matter experts (SMEs) to predict future system characteristics. The serious gaming based approach enables experts to obtain a thorough understanding of the complexity and interdependency of the system while offering a platform to experiment with various strategies and scenarios. In order to demonstrate its abilities, the methodology was applied to National Airspace System (NAS) overhaul and its transformation to Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The implemented methodology yielded a comprehensive safety assessment and data generation mechanism, embracing the social and technical aspects of the NAS transformation for the next 15 years

Supply chain management in a public hospital in Gauteng

A Thesis submitted to the faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand, School of Governance in 50% fulfilment for the Master of Management in the field of Monitoring and Evaluation 9 May 2016The purpose of the study was to analyse the Supply Chain Management (SCM) approaches used in the Public Hospital Outpatients Pharmacy and compare the findings with successful supply chain practices from other industry sectors. The study of academic literature locates the unavailability of drugs in the public hospital pharmacies to the domino effect of the lack of governance and accountability in the public hospital. The data for the study was gathered from public and private hospitals in Gauteng, and large FMCG manufacturers and retailers. The study finds that the public sector adoption of SCM in the absence of a coherent technology and human resource support environment results in a lack of accountability and coherence across systems. The research study corroborated the view of academics and the interviewees that the unavailability of drugs in the public hospital is a multidimensional problem that has its roots in the lack of governance throughout the drug supply chain. It is a complex manifestation of policy, processes, practices, structure, people, communication and donor funding that contribute to the problem. Resolving the drug availability issues will require the ‘whole supply chain re-engineering’ with the added focus on developing the operational capability and capacity of the actors within the supply chain continuum.MT201

Knowledge transfer processes in PFI: identification of barriers and enablers

Increasingly, the UK’s Private Finance Initiative has created a demand for construction companies to transfer knowledge from one organization or project to another. Knowledge transfer processes in such contexts face many challenges, due to the many resulting discontinuities in the involvement of organisations, personnel and information flow. This paper empirically identifies the barriers and enablers that hinder or enhance the transfer of knowledge in PFI contexts, drawing upon a questionnaire survey of construction firms. The main findings show that knowledge transfer processes in PFIs are hindered by time constraints, lack of trust, and policies, procedures, rules and regulations attached to the projects. Nevertheless, the processes of knowledge transfer are enhanced by emphasising the value and importance of a supportive leadership, participation/commitment from the relevant parties, and good communication between the relevant parties. The findings have considerable relevance to understanding the mechanism of knowledge transfer between organizations, projects and individuals within the PFI contexts in overcoming the barriers and enhancing the enablers. Furthermore, practitioners and managers can use the findings to efficiently design knowledge transfer frameworks that can be used to overcome the barriers encountered while enhancing the enablers to improve knowledge transfer processes

IT Revolutionizing the Supply chain Transformation: A Case Study of Unilever Pakistan Ltd.

Supply chain Management is a combination of three words supply, chain and management. Supply is all about meeting the needs, wants and demands of customers where as the chain actually represents connectivity. Further management is all about planning the supplies transit to meet demand , organizing the processes sequence for it , controlling and ensuring the process quality through check points and gate control systems, leading by defining process ownership and staffing by right sizing at each and every step. Thus aforementioned three words combined together to form supply chain management. Supply chain management is also to provide the best possible services to the customer with maximum cost effectiveness. Another recent development in the field of supply chain management is the evolution of supply chain operation reference model also known as SCOR model. This model was first introduced by the supply chain council (SCC), a globally known corporation due to excellence in supply chain practices and systems formulation. This SCOR model is actually a reference model standardized terminology and processes [42] which actually emphasizes on benchmarking. This benchmarking is actually related to an operational measurement in order to craft a portfolio for improvement which is directly linked and tied with balance sheet of the company for improved performance along with bottom line increment. Information technology (IT) applications in the field of supply chain management (SCM) has achieved a significance by virtue of its capability and ability to lessen the costs and enhanced responsiveness in the supply chain functions [41], [15] , [19], [36], [45], [43]

Toward a unified PNT, Part 1: Complexity and context: Key challenges of multisensor positioning

The next generation of navigation and positioning systems must provide greater accuracy and reliability in a range of challenging environments to meet the needs of a variety of mission-critical applications. No single navigation technology is robust enough to meet these requirements on its own, so a multisensor solution is required. Known environmental features, such as signs, buildings, terrain height variation, and magnetic anomalies, may or may not be available for positioning. The system could be stationary, carried by a pedestrian, or on any type of land, sea, or air vehicle. Furthermore, for many applications, the environment and host behavior are subject to change. A multi-sensor solution is thus required. The expert knowledge problem is compounded by the fact that different modules in an integrated navigation system are often supplied by different organizations, who may be reluctant to share necessary design information if this is considered to be intellectual property that must be protected