Data Ingredients: smart disclosure and open government data as complementary tools to meet policy objectives. The case of energy efficiency.

Open government data are considered a key asset for eGovernment. One could argue that governments can influence other types of data disclosure, as potential ingredients of innovative services. To discuss this assumption, we took the example of the U.S. 'Green Button' initiative – based on the disclosure of energy consumption data to each user – and analysed 36 energy-oriented digital services reusing these and other data, in order to highlight their set of inputs. We find that apps suggesting to a user a more efficient consumption behaviour also benefit from average retail electricity cost/price information; that energy efficiency 'scoring' apps also need, at least, structured and updated information on buildings performance; and that value-added services that derive insights from consumption data frequently rely on average energy consumption information. More in general, most of the surveyed services combine consumption data, open government data, and corporate data. When setting sector-specific agendas grounded on data disclosure, public agencies should therefore consider (contributing) to make available all three layers of information. No widely acknowledged initiatives of energy consumption data disclosure to users are being implemented in the EU. Moreover, browsing EU data portals and websites of public agencies, we find that other key data ingredients are not supplied (or, at least, not as open data), leaving room for possible improvements in this arena

Guidelines for Reprocessing Non-Lumened, Heat-Sensitive ENT Endoscopes

Endoscopes have become an indispensable instrument in the ENT department, but their use has introduced potential health risks such as the infection transmission

Approach to the Weight Estimation in the Conceptual Design of Hybrid-Electric-Powered Unconventional Regional Aircraft

The present work deals with the development of an innovative approach to the weight estimation in the conceptual design of a Hybrid-Electric-Powered (HEP) Blended Wing Body (BWB) commercial aircraft. In the last few decades, the improvement of the environmental impact of civil aviation has been the major concern of the aeronautical engineering community, in order to guarantee the sustainable development of the system in presence of a constantly growing market demand. The sustained effort in the improvement of the overall efficiency of conventional aircraft has produced a new generation of vehicles with an extremely low level of emissions and noise, capable of covering the community requirements in the short term. Unfortunately, the remarkable improvements achieved represent the asymptotic limit reachable through the incremental enhancement of existing concepts. Any further improvement to conform to the strict future environmental target will be possible only through the introduction of breakthrough concepts. The aeronautical engineering community is thus concentrating the research on unconventional airframes, innovative low-noise technologies, and alternative propulsion systems. The BWB is one of the most promising layouts in terms of noise emissions and chemical pollution. The further reduction of fuel consumption that can be achieved with gas/electric hybridisation of the power-plant is herein addressed in the context of multidisciplinary analyses. In particular, the payload and range limits are assessed in relation to the technological development of the electric components of the propulsion system. The present work explores the potentialities of an energy-based approach for the initial sizing of a HEP unconventional aircraft in the early conceptual phase of the design. A detailed parametric analysis has been carried out to emphasise how payload, range, and degree of hybridisation are strictly connected in terms of feasible mission requirements and related to the reasonable expectations of development of electric components suitable for aeronautical applications

Is there such a thing as free government data?

The recently-amended European Public Sector Information (PSI) Directive rests on the assumption that government data is a valuable input for the knowledge economy. As a default principle, the directive sets marginal costs as an upper bound for charging PSI. This article discusses the terms under which the 2013 consultation on the implementation of the PSI Directive addresses the calculation criteria for marginal costs, which are complex to define, especially for internet-based services. What is found is that the allowed answers of the consultation indirectly lead the responder to reason in terms of the average incremental cost of allowing reuse, instead of the marginal cost of reproduction, provision and dissemination. Moreover, marginal-cost pricing (or zero pricing) is expected to lead to economically efficient results, while aiming at recouping the average incremental cost of allowing re-use may lead to excessive fees