The Global Employer: 2015 Review and 2016 Preview

2015 was another busy year in terms of legal changes and developments around the world. In this 2015 Review and 2016 Preview edition of the Global Employer Magazine we summarize some of these important changes. In the 2015 Review of developments and trends tables below we have set out some of the main developments that took place in 2015 and provided recommended actions or tips on how employers should operate in light of these developments in 2016. For some countries, instead of covering developments, we have referred to trends that we saw in 2015 and again, set out some actions to help employers deal with these trends in the relevant country in 2016. In the 2016 Preview of important forthcoming changes tables, we preview pending legislation and case developments for which employers should stay tuned . Please note that, as there were so many developments, we haven\u27t been able to cover them all. Instead, we have chosen some of the most important or interesting developments. Where possible, we have also added a general impact rating to help show the significance of some of the developments, with 5 being a very significant or important development. Of course, the significance and importance of the development is subject to each employer\u27s circumstances. In addition, some of the entries don\u27t have a rating due to the fact that they include only general commentary on developments, trends or potential political changes. The information below is provided by region in the following order: Asia Pacific, Europe Middle East & Africa, Latin America and North America

A transition to knowledge-intensive service activities in power industry: A theoretical framework

The current smart energy transition is accompanied by major transformations in the aspects of technology, market, and organization. The intensive adoption of digital technology in energy production, the rapid spread of distributed generation, micro-grids and energy storage and accumulation solutions, and an ever-increasing integration between the energy sector and other critical infrastructure sectors have brought about fundament changes in the relationships between energy companies and the market. This creates a strong demand for versatile support services for these processes. The article makes an attempt to construct a conceptual framework for and to outline the tasks and goals of knowledge-intensive services in the new energy industry. The author provides justification for the key properties of knowledge-intensive services that include adaptability, the capability of self-tuning, a wide use of information and telecommunication technologies, a tendency to use a pro-active approach to systems and process management, and the availability of staff with outstanding qualifications. The author has developed a conceptual model of knowledge-intensive services in the energy sector that makes it possible to group the service segments by the dimensions of “energy market optimization and customer relations”, “asset lifecycle management”, “organizational flexibility of energy market agents”. Recommendations are given as to how to develop knowledge-intensive service activities in energy companies, including through the creation of corporate platforms and smart partnerships with universities and science. © 2019 WIT PressACKNOWLEDGEMENT The work was supported by Act 211 of the Government of the Russian Federation, contract № 02.A03.21.0006

Service-oriented models for audiovisual content storage

What are the important topics to understand if involved with storage services to hold digital audiovisual content? This report takes a look at how content is created and moves into and out of storage; the storage service value networks and architectures found now and expected in the future; what sort of data transfer is expected to and from an audiovisual archive; what transfer protocols to use; and a summary of security and interface issues