FinBook: literary content as digital commodity

This short essay explains the significance of the FinBook intervention, and invites the reader to participate. We have associated each chapter within this book with a financial robot (FinBot), and created a market whereby book content will be traded with financial securities. As human labour increasingly consists of unstable and uncertain work practices and as algorithms replace people on the virtual trading floors of the worlds markets, we see members of society taking advantage of FinBots to invest and make extra funds. Bots of all kinds are making financial decisions for us, searching online on our behalf to help us invest, to consume products and services. Our contribution to this compilation is to turn the collection of chapters in this book into a dynamic investment portfolio, and thereby play out what might happen to the process of buying and consuming literature in the not-so-distant future. By attaching identities (through QR codes) to each chapter, we create a market in which the chapter can ‘perform’. Our FinBots will trade based on features extracted from the authors’ words in this book: the political, ethical and cultural values embedded in the work, and the extent to which the FinBots share authors’ concerns; and the performance of chapters amongst those human and non-human actors that make up the market, and readership. In short, the FinBook model turns our work and the work of our co-authors into an investment portfolio, mediated by the market and the attention of readers. By creating a digital economy specifically around the content of online texts, our chapter and the FinBook platform aims to challenge the reader to consider how their personal values align them with individual articles, and how these become contested as they perform different value judgements about the financial performance of each chapter and the book as a whole. At the same time, by introducing ‘autonomous’ trading bots, we also explore the different ‘network’ affordances that differ between paper based books that’s scarcity is developed through analogue form, and digital forms of books whose uniqueness is reached through encryption. We thereby speak to wider questions about the conditions of an aggressive market in which algorithms subject cultural and intellectual items – books – to economic parameters, and the increasing ubiquity of data bots as actors in our social, political, economic and cultural lives. We understand that our marketization of literature may be an uncomfortable juxtaposition against the conventionally-imagined way a book is created, enjoyed and shared: it is intended to be

Essays on remote monitoring as an emerging tool for centralized management of decentralized wastewater systems

According to the United States Environmental Protections Agency (USEPA), nearly one in four households in the United States depends on an individual septic system (commonly referred as an onsite system or a decentralized wastewater system) to treat and disperse wastewater. More than half of these systems are over 30 years old, and surveys indicate at least 10 to 20% might not be functioning properly. The USEPA concluded in its 1997 report to Congress that adequately managed decentralized wastewater systems (DWS) are a cost-effective and long-term option for meeting public health and water quality goals, particularly in less densely populated areas.;The major challenge however is the absence of a guiding national regulatory framework based on consistent performance-based standards and lack of proper management of DWS. These inconsistencies pose a significant threat to our water resources, local economies, and public health. This dissertation addresses key policy and regulatory strategies needed in response to the new realities confronting decentralized wastewater management. The two core objectives of this research are to demonstrate the centralized management of DWS paradigm and to present a scientific methodology to develop performance-based standards (a regulatory shift from prescriptive methods) using remote monitoring.;The underlying remote monitoring architecture for centralized DWS management and the value of science-based policy making are presented. Traditionally, prescriptive standards using conventional grab sampling data are the norm by which most standards are set. Three case studies that support the potential of remote monitoring as a tool for standards development and system management are presented. The results revealed a vital role for remote monitoring in the development of standardized protocols, policies and procedures that are greatly lacking in this field.;This centralized management and remote monitoring paradigm fits well and complements current USEPA policy (13 elements of management); meets the growing need for qualitative data (objective and numerical); has better time efficiencies as real-time events are sampled and translated into machine-readable signals in a short period of time; allows cost saving rapid response to system recovery and operation; produces labor and economic efficiencies through targeted responses; and, improves the quality and operational costs of any management program.;This project was funded by the USEPA grant # C-82878001 as part of the National Onsite Demonstration Project (NODP), West Virginia University

Designing and implementing a distributed earthquake early warning system for resilient communities: a PhD thesis

The present work aims to comprehensively contribute to the process, design, and technologies of Earthquake Early Warning (EEW). EEW systems aim to detect the earthquake immediately at the epicenter and relay the information in real-time to nearby areas, anticipating the arrival of the shake. These systems exploit the difference between the earthquake wave speed and the time needed to detect and send alerts. This Ph.D. thesis aims to improve the adoption, robustness, security, and scalability of Earthquake Early Warning systems using a decentralized approach to data processing and information exchange. The proposed architecture aims to have a more resilient detection, remove Single point of failure, higher efficiency, mitigate security vulnerabilities, and improve privacy regarding centralized EEW architectures. A prototype of the proposed architecture has been implemented using low-cost sensors and processing devices to quickly assess the ability to provide the expected information and guarantees. The capabilities of the proposed architecture are evaluated not only on the main EEW problem but also on the quick estimation of the epicentral area of an earthquake, and the results demonstrated that our proposal is capable of matching the performance of current centralized counterparts

2nd Symposium on Management of Future motorway and urban Traffic Systems (MFTS 2018): Booklet of abstracts: Ispra, 11-12 June 2018

The Symposium focuses on future traffic management systems, covering the subjects of traffic control, estimation, and modelling of motorway and urban networks, with particular emphasis on the presence of advanced vehicle communication and automation technologies. As connectivity and automation are being progressively introduced in our transport and mobility systems, there is indeed a growing need to understand the implications and opportunities for an enhanced traffic management as well as to identify innovative ways and tools to optimise traffic efficiency. In particular the debate on centralised versus decentralised traffic management in the presence of connected and automated vehicles has started attracting the attention of the research community. In this context, the Symposium provides a remarkable opportunity to share novel ideas and discuss future research directions.JRC.C.4-Sustainable Transpor

Software knowledge management using wikis : a needs and features analysis

Estágio realizado na StrongstepDocumento confidencial. Não pode ser disponibilizado para consultaTese de mestrado integrado. Engenharia Informática e Computação. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

Blockchain-Based Digitalization of Logistics Processes—Innovation, Applications, Best Practices

Blockchain technology is becoming one of the most powerful future technologies in supporting logistics processes and applications. It has the potential to destroy and reorganize traditional logistics structures. Both researchers and practitioners all over the world continuously report on novel blockchain-based projects, possibilities, and innovative solutions with better logistic service levels and lower costs. The idea of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of the status quo in research and possibilities to effectively implement blockchain-based solutions in business practice. This Special Issue reprint contained well-prepared research reports regarding recent advances in blockchain technology around logistics processes to provide insights into realized maturity

Energy management system benchmarking for a remote microgrid

El presente trabajo analiza el efecto que tiene la estrategia de control adoptada en el sistema de gestión de energía de una microrred en el rendimiento económico y el impacto medioambiental asociado a su operación. Las microrredes aisladas son una solución para la electrificación de áreas remotas que debido a su localización geográfica no pueden ser conectadas a la red eléctrica. La estructura de estos sistemas permite la integración de energía proveniente de generación distribuida, principalmente renovable. El abaratamiento de los colectores fotovoltaicos, el autoconsumo y los incentivos medioambientales ofrecidos a este tipo de generación son algunos de los factores que impulsan la adopción de este tipo de redes. Sin embargo, los retos técnicos asociados a las microrredes con un alto índice de penetración renovable hacen necesario un sistema de gestión de la energía que se adapte a las necesidades del sistema. Asimismo, para garantizar un suministro eléctrico de calidad e ininterrumpido, es necesario el uso de sistemas de almacenamiento eléctrico, que el sistema de control debería gestionar adecuadamente tomando en consideración las previsiones de la demanda y solares. Como caso de estudio se ha tomado la isla Isabela, situada en el archipiélago de Galápagos al oeste de Ecuador. A partir de octubre de 2017 esta isla contará con un sistema eléctrico conformado por 922 kW de generación solar, 1625 kW de generación térmica y un sistema de almacenamiento de baterías Ion-Litio de 258kWh de capacidad. A través de la simulación de tres estrategias de control se pretende analizar qué controlador se adapta mejor a las necesidades del sistema.This documents analyses the effect the control strategy followed by the energy management system of a microgrid has on is economic performance and the environmental impact associated to its operation. Isolated microgrids appear as a solution to the electrification of remote communities that due to their geographical location cannot be connected to the main grid. The architecture of this systems enables the integration of electricity generated from distributed energy resources, in particular renewable generation. The decrease in prices of solar PV collectors, self consumption and the economic incentives given to clean energy generation in many countries are pushing forward the adoption of this kind of electrical grids. However, the challenges associated to the operation of microgrids with a high index of renewable penetration require an energy management system that is designed around the specific needs of the system. Moreover, in order to guarantee the quality and continuity of the supply, the use os energy storage systems is necessary, which will need to be managed appropriately by the energy management system, taking into account the demand predictions and the solar forecast. The island Isabela, which belongs to the Galapagos archipelago located west from Ecuador, has been taken as a case study. From October 2017 the islands electrical system will from an energy mix of 922 kW solar PV,1625 kW diesel generators and a 258 kWh Lithium-Ion batteries storage system. Through the simulation of three control strategies the aim is to determine which controller is most suitable for the control operation of the island.Ingeniería de la Energí

Shadow Systems, Risk, and Shifting Power Relations in Organizations

Drawing on notions of power and the social construction of risk, we build new theory to understand the persistence of shadow systems in organizations. From a single case study in a mid-sized savings bank, we derive two feedback cycles that concern shifting power relations between business units and central IT associated with shadow systems. A distant business-IT relationship and changing business needs can create repeated cost and time pressures that make business units draw on shadow systems. The perception of risk can trigger an opposing power shift back through the decommissioning and recentralization of shadow systems. However, empirical findings suggest that the weakening tendency of formal risk-management programs may not be sufficient to stop the shadow systems cycle spinning if they fail to address the underlying causes for the emergence of shadow systems. These findings highlight long-term dynamics associated with shadow systems and pose “risk” as a power-shifting construct