Empowering e-fleets for business and private purposes in cities

The overall objective of eBRIDGE is to demonstrate that fleet schemes can significantly facilitate the introduction of electric vehicles in urban areas and, as a result, improve market conditions of the electric mobility sector. This report is the first deliverable of Work Package 4—Evaluation and Scenarios—of the pilot schemes. As part of the process of evaluating the schemes involved in eBRIDGE, this deliverable, is tasked with describing the development process of a method of evaluation of the schemes, as well as presenting the main findings of the early stages of project assessment, and describing the next steps for this Work Package. Evaluation is an important part of every intervention, including trial schemes and policy and other measures: without evaluation it is not possible to judge the success and lessons learnt from the relevant intervention, and may therefore go on to continue with a scheme which is unsuccessful, or withdraw a measure which was actually effective, with any associated consequences

Effects of promotion and compunction interventions on real intergroup interactions: promotion helps but high compunction hurts

We show the promotion intervention has positive effects during intergroup contact, but that high levels of compunction can have negative effects. Intergroup contact is probably the longest standing and most comprehensively researched intervention to reduce discrimination. It is also part of ordinary social experience, and a key context in which discrimination is played out. In this paper, we explore two additional interventions which are also designed to reduce discrimination, but which have not yet been applied to real intergroup interactions. The promotion intervention encourages participants to relax and enjoy an interaction, while the compunction intervention motivates participants to avoid discrimination. Across two studies, we tested the separate effects of promotion (Study 1) and then compunction (Study 2) on participants' interactions with a confederate whom they believed to have a history of schizophrenia. In Study 1, participants received either a promotion intervention to “relax and have an enjoyable dialogue” or no intervention (control; n = 67). In Study 2, participants completed a Single-Category Implicit Attitude Test before being told that they were high in prejudice (high compunction condition) or low in prejudice (low compunction condition; n = 62). Results indicated that promotion was associated with broadly positive effects: participants reported more positive experience of the interaction (enjoyment and interest in a future interaction), and more positive evaluations of their contact partner (increased friendliness and reduced stereotyping). There were no effects on participants' reported intergroup anxiety. In contrast, high compunction had broadly negative effects: participants reported more negative experiences of the interaction and more negative evaluations of their contact partner (using the same dependent measures outlined above). In addition, participants in the high compunction condition reported increased intergroup anxiety and increased self-anxiety (anxiety around thinking or doing something that is prejudiced). Participants in the high compunction condition also reported reduced expectancies of self-efficacy (i.e., they were less confident that they would be able to make a good impression)

The Economic Impact of America\u27s Largest Service Export: Travel &Tourism

No longer a cottage industry, international travel and tourism is a significant contributor to economic growth and development, with worldwide growth in international tourist arrivals outpacing national income growth one out of every two over the past 30 years.2 For many developing countries, travel and tourism serves as the primary export industry. However, in terms of overall trade dollars, it is industrialized countries that are some of the largest beneficiaries of inbound international travel. Travel and tourism is America\u27s largest service export and a major jobs engine. As international travel and tourism is forecast to grow significantly over the next five years, the U.S. economy stands to benefit significantly. Below we present some key elements describing the importance of this sector to the national economy. International Travel & Tourism is when people travel globally outside of their region and home country. This means a temporary movement of people from the resident place to another place for different reasons such as leisure, recreational, health, business or some other reason. Dr. Anastasia Xenias is Global Travel & Tourism Team Leader and Senior International Trade Specialist at the US Commercial Service of the International Trade Administration, Mr. Ron Erdmann is Deputy Director for Research at the Office of Travel & Tourism Industries of the International Trade Administration. The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) manages the Travel and Tourism Statistical System for the United States. The System provides national and local level data that tracks past performance, provides insights into the future, and offers key traveler characteristics data to guide research-based marketing campaigns. The Global Travel & Tourism Team promotes exports of American travel and tourism services through foreign publicity facilitation and business to business matchmaking programs. The analysis presented here utilizes official US economic data from the US Department of Commerce, however, the views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent an official position of the International Trade Administration, or the US Department of Commerce

International Travel and Tourism Exports and the New York Economy

The United States is exceptionally positioned within the global tourism industry. The U.S. ranks first in international visitor spending and second in international traveler volume.2 Travel and tourism is America\u27s largest service export and a major jobs engine. Within the United States, New York holds a dominant position in terms of both international visitor arrivals and spending, placing New York at the top of the global tourism industry. In 2010, five states dominated the share of international visitation within the United States—New York (33 percent), Florida (22 percent), California (21 percent), Nevada (10 percent) and Hawaii (8 percent), in respectively. New York City accounts for nearly one third of all international arrivals to the United States, and ranks as either first or second among destinations of choice in international traveler surveys.3 In terms of national employment, New York City ranks fourth in travel and tourism related jobs.4 As international travel and tourism is forecast to grow considerably over the next five years, the New York economy stands to benefit extensively. Below we present some key elements describing the importance of this service export sector to the New York economy, both city and state. Dr. Anastasia Xenias is Global Travel and Tourism Team Leader and Senior International Trade Specialist at the U.S. Commercial Service of the International Trade Administration, Mr. Ron Erdmann is Deputy Director for Research at the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries of the International Trade Administration. The Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) manages the Travel and Tourism Statistical System for the United States. The system provides national and local level data that tracks past performance, provides insights into the future, and offers key traveler characteristics data to guide research-based marketing campaigns. The Global Travel and Tourism Team promotes exports of American travel and tourism services through foreign publicity facilitation and business to business matchmaking programs. The analysis presented here utilizes official U.S. economic data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. However, the views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent an official position of the International Trade Administration

Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: literature review

Smart grids are expected to play a central role in any transition to a low-carbon energy future, and much research is currently underway on practically every area of smart grids. However, it is evident that even basic aspects such as theoretical and operational definitions, are yet to be agreed upon and be clearly defined. Some aspects (efficient management of supply, including intermittent supply, two-way communication between the producer and user of electricity, use of IT technology to respond to and manage demand, and ensuring safe and secure electricity distribution) are more commonly accepted than others (such as smart meters) in defining what comprises a smart grid. It is clear that smart grid developments enjoy political and financial support both at UK and EU levels, and from the majority of related industries. The reasons for this vary and include the hope that smart grids will facilitate the achievement of carbon reduction targets, create new employment opportunities, and reduce costs relevant to energy generation (fewer power stations) and distribution (fewer losses and better stability). However, smart grid development depends on additional factors, beyond the energy industry. These relate to issues of public acceptability of relevant technologies and associated risks (e.g. data safety, privacy, cyber security), pricing, competition, and regulation; implying the involvement of a wide range of players such as the industry, regulators and consumers. The above constitute a complex set of variables and actors, and interactions between them. In order to best explore ways of possible deployment of smart grids, the use of scenarios is most adequate, as they can incorporate several parameters and variables into a coherent storyline. Scenarios have been previously used in the context of smart grids, but have traditionally focused on factors such as economic growth or policy evolution. Important additional socio-technical aspects of smart grids emerge from the literature review in this report and therefore need to be incorporated in our scenarios. These can be grouped into four (interlinked) main categories: supply side aspects, demand side aspects, policy and regulation, and technical aspects.