Academic literature on the topic 'Contributor Management'

The thesis is called environmental management accounting as a contributor to sustainable development. The first chapter is introduction, the second business and the environment, the third environmental management accounting, the fourth techniques and the fifth conclusions. The thesis examines existing literature concerning sustainable development and its relationship with accounting, environmental management accounting theory and practice, environmental costs and full-cost accounting techniques. The thesis also introduces such concepts as sustainable development, triple bottom line and the potential financial and non-financial benefits a company may harvest from implementing environmental management accounting theory and practice.

In today’s ever-changing and chaotic world corporations are forced to develop themselves continuously to be able to survive (Kessler et al. 2007). Companies have had a need to develop new services and products to follow the evolution for a long time (Tushman & Nadler 1986), but especially during the past decades the need to innovate has become a necessary and innovating has increased its role as a critical driver of corporations’ survival and nations’ long-term economic growth (Chemmanur et al. 2014). Large companies are paying more and more attention to changing industries and it is becoming clear that the most successful corporations are those who are able to innovate most efficiently (Stringer 2000). Especially corporations in high- tech industries face problems with decreasing life cycles of products and continuous technological breakthroughs followed by a need to innovate new products all the time (Kessler et al.). The main problem in corporations’ development is that they do not have an idea about how to advance their innovative activities and as a result they tend to become stuck with existing products and technologies (Stringer 2000). Urbancová (2013) states that 21st century is based on knowledge, information and innovative economy. Since there are new business models and technologies arising all the time, companies’ own research and development (R&D) activities are not sufficient anymore (Stringer). Consequently, corporations have to move from internal R&D activities to external R&D projects (Brockhoff 1998, Ernst et al. 2005, Fulghieri & Sevilir 2009, Lantz & Sahut 2010). An external R&D project refers to the process in which a corporation acquires knowledge resources outside the company (Ito & Tanaka 2016). External R&D activity is essential especially for international corporations since there exists higher competitive pressure there compared to domestic markets (Ito & Tanaka). Popular ways of conducting external R&D have been for example joint ventures and acquisitions, but during the last decades corporate venture capital (CVC) investment has increased its reputation increasingly as an innovation enhancer, especially among big companies such as Intel and Microsoft (Chesbrough 2002, Fulghieri & Sevilir 2009). In practice things acquired from external R&D projects mean expertise, intellectual property and know-how (Ito & Tanaka). Generally CVC is defined as a process of established firms making investments in entrepreneurial firms (Chesbrough 2002, MacMillan et al. 2008). Chemmanur and Loutskina (2009) describe corporate venture capital units as subsidiaries of non- financial corporations investing their parent corporations’ funds in recent ventures. According to Hill & Birkinshaw (2014) CVC units build new skills for the corporation, simultaneously leveraging its already existing capabilities. Generally CVC investors invest in early-stage, entrepreneurial companies and obtain a minority equity stake in it (MacMillan et al.). By doing this, the parent corporation is able to monitor new emerging technologies and complementary companies that can in future become their partners (MacMillan et al.). CVC investors can also combine their capital with that of other venture capitalists to invest in firms with a lot of uncertainty (Lerner 2013). CVC investments are originally based on the venture capital (VC) investments. Venture capital firms are established to finance high-risk high-reward projects and their goal is to gain as high financial returns as possible (Gompers & Lerner 1998). According to Rind (1981), the modern venture capital era can be considered to have started after the Second World War. Gompers and Lerner and Rind state that another important act for the development of venture capital industry was the formation of the first venture capital firm (American Research and Development) in 1946. During the following decades venture capital companies achieved large gains, which led to the establishment of many new VC companies in the 1960s and 1970s (Rind 1981). The first CVC funds were established about two decades after the traditional venture capital funds in the mid-1960s (Gompers & Lerner 2000). Since 1960s the development of corporate venturing has followed that of venture capital. The development of these two can be divided into three cycles. The first wave occurred when CVC investments started to arise in 1960s. The second wave began in 1970–1980s mainly because of the fall in capital gain taxes. In 1987 as the stock market crashed, the venture capital lost its grace for a while also. The third wave of venture capital can be considered to have started in 1990s because of the boom of telecommunications and Internet-related companies. Nowadays venture capital forms a significant part of corporations’ investment portfolios and its popularity keeps increasing all the time. (Gompers & Lerner 2000, Gompers 2002, Singhal 2015.) This thesis examines the key success factors of the CVC investments as a source of parent corporation’s innovation growth. It is stated in almost all literature according to innovation that companies are forced to look for external sources of innovation to be able to keep growing and stay competitive. Especially in technology-intensive industries, firms need to innovate to retain their competitiveness (Wadhwa et al. 2016). This need can also be found in news almost daily and there is a lot of discussion about large firms’ lack of creativeness and entrepreneurial culture leading to their failure (for example Nokia’s case). The topic of this thesis is chosen because existing literature lacks an integrative study about the factors affecting the CVC investment’s ability to foster the innovativeness of the parent corporation. CVC investment’s role as a source of new innovation growth has increased during the past decades and in 2013 CVCs portion of all venture capital investments was over 10% (Weiblen & Chesbrough 2015). This may be a result of nowadays’ situation, in which large and established companies face numerous obstacles lacking the innovativeness typical to entrepreneurs and are forced to start looking for new ways to keep growing. Since there is a clear lack of research concerning the topic, this thesis will help companies to get familiar with the concept and the benefits of it as a source of innovativeness. The study focuses on an international context, not aiming to highlight any specific country or continent. Since venture capitalists tend to invest mostly in high-technology companies (Fenn & Liang 1998), the focus will be mainly on that industry. This study has examined the key factors affecting the success of CVC investments as a source of innovation growth for their parent companies. The objective of the study was to gather the main factors in the structure and goal setting of the investment affecting the success of CVC in the innovation growth in corporations by analyzing existing literature related to the topic. This study shed also light to the parent corporation’s qualities that support CVC unit’s activities. The key factors found in this thesis can be categorized to four sections: the qualities of the parent corporation, the goal setting of the unit, the compensation system of the unit and the relationship between the unit and the parent company. The key qualities in the parent corporations seem to be the ambidexterity of the corporation, a well- developed internal R&D-activities and the ability to give up the excess control. Three key factors in the goal setting of the investment were found: the clearness, the diversification and the good amount of goals. The main finding in the compensation system of the unit was that it should be performance-based to motivate the personnel to stay in the company and to work efficiently and also the long-term success should be highlighted in the system. The key factors in the relationship between the unit and the parent were the sufficient autonomy of the unit and the support of the parent in its operations. The concept of innovation was discussed in the context of organizational ambidexterity, which refers to corporation’s ability at the same time to exploit existing business and explore new territories. In this theory, innovation is divided into incremental and radical innovations. This study has examined how CVC investments are able to foster both types of innovation by either introducing new technologies and markets to the corporation, or strengthening the existing capabilities. One of the key ideas behind the innovation growth in large companies is their ability to be ambidextrous. Without this, corporations are not able to succeed over a long-time period. One of the key factors in the internal R&D activity is parent corporation’s ability to let go of the old habits to be able to create new and more innovative solutions. A well- developed and multidimensional internal R&D is essential for the parent corporation to be able to adopt the innovations and the knowledge coming from the external sources. This statement relates the findings of this study strongly to the Chesbrough’s open innovation theory presented in chapter two, since the importance of good internal R&D in the adaption of new knowledge was one of the key factors in the theory also. The most important factors in the goal setting of the unit seem to be the right amount of objectives, clearness of these objectives and suitable diversification of objectives to different kind of industries and technologies. When corporations keep the amount of their goals quite small, it is also easier for them to control them and they can be sure that the CVC units are performing effectively and appropriately. By setting clear goals corporations can ensure that units do not try to achieve wrong things but instead they will fully focus on their main goal. The importance of diversification between different industries is justified because corporation’s internal R&D units can not be able to keep an eye on all new novelties (Ernst et al. 2005), and without external sources they can miss some important and relevant new technological innovations. The importance of compensation system and the long-term time-horizon can be discussed together since there are few factors bringing them together. Since CVC units’ goals are generally set for a long-time horizon, early financial or other failures should not be seen as a failure of its activity and the managers should not be punished financially for these. If the managers of the corporation keep in mind that though CVC investments have shorter life-times than that of IVCs, the goals will be achieved later, they tend to be successful more likely than the ones worrying about the short-time performance. CVC unit’s managers’ salaries are generally based on fixed payment, sometimes with annual bonuses (Dushnitsky 2006). This kind of compensation system seems not be working good for them and the better option would be to adapt a system more related to that of IVCs (Lerner 2013). The essential thing is to find a system that really motivates the personnel to be innovative and most importantly to support their entrepreneurial activities because if the workers feel like they are not supported in their current workplace, they tend to move to places where their work is appreciated more. The relationship between the parent corporation and the CVC unit have significant influence on the successful strategic performance of them. In the best situation, parent corporation gives the CVC unit a freedom to operate, just providing support and advices when needed. An autonomous activity of the unit enables it to work flexibly in an entrepreneurial atmosphere and results in better innovative performance of parent corporation also. The CVC unit should be constructed to be multidimensional meaning that there should be few seniors who have clearly in mind the vision the parent corporation, mixed with persons with entrepreneurial experience and attitudes to enable the creative process of the unit. Though the importance of external sources of innovation is highlighted in this study, one of the findings is also that corporations should build an innovation strategy that includes both external and internal sources of innovation. When the corporation has a well adjusted combination of these two, the company is able to successfully adopt the new knowledge acquired from outside to the existing capabilities. The amount of both of these sources in the innovation strategy of the corporation remains unknown.

The general problem addressed in this study was Arab League nations' over-reliance on fossil fuels as a gross domestic product (GDP) growth driver. Arab League nations that depend primarily on fossil fuel production lack alternative resources for growth in times of fossil fuel usage or price decline. Overdependence on fossil fuels has led to minimal development in other economic sectors, primarily in skilled domestic labor, and to a high dependency on foreign skilled labor for skilled domestic jobs. The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent information communication technology (ICT) management can be a viable GDP growth contributor in Arab League nations. The main theoretical foundations consisted of diffusion of innovation theory, rate of adoption theory, and the innovation-decision process. The focus of research questions was on how ICT management and fossil fuel production affect the GDP growth rate of Arab League nations. A cross-sectional design was used. Archival secondary data from unesco.org and data.worldbank.org for the 22 countries that comprise the Arab League nations were analyzed. Results of a Pearson's product-moment correlation analysis indicated that there is a significant relationship between real GDP and ICT management growth rates in Arab League nations. Based on study findings, it was recommended that both oil- and non-oil-producing governments within the Arab League give more attention to the implementation of ICT management policies. The study contributes to positive social change by providing Arab League governments and stakeholders with a comparative assessment of alternative GDP revenue drivers and potential areas to invest capital to increase skilled domestic labor and maximize human resource capital.

Since the late twentieth century, open source software projects (e.g., the GNU/Linux operating system, the Apache web server, Perl and many others) have achieved phenomenal success. This success can be attributed to a new paradigm of productivity in which individuals voluntarily collaborate to produce knowledge, goods and services. Benkler claims this productivity paradigm is a “new, third mode of production” particularly suited for “the digitally networked environment” (2002). In addition to its application to open source software projects, the peer production model, in different forms, has been used in areas such as science/citizen science (Silvertown, 2009), library science (Weinberger, 2007), politics (Castells, 2007; Jenkins, 2006), education (Daniel, 2012), journalism (Gillmor, 2004), and culture (Jenkins, 2006; Lessig, 2004). As peer production has flourished, merely describing successful cases has become less useful. Instead, scholars must identify the dynamics, structures, and conditions that contribute to or impede that success. In this dissertation, I focus on three management challenges at three distinct levels that impede the success of peer production. At the individual level, one significant question is how to best organize individual contributors with differing goals, experience, and commitment to achieve a collective outcome. At the practice level, peer production communities, like corporations, must often transfer best practices from one unit to another to improve performance. This transfer process poses the challenge of how to adapt and modify an original practice to make it effective in the new context. At the community level, peer production communities must learn to survive and succeed in a large ecosystem of related communities. This dissertation combines theoretical approaches in organization science with in-depth empirical analysis on a range of peer production communities to examine the mechanisms that help the communities overcome these three management challenges and succeed in peer production. The contributions of my dissertation are twofold. For scholars and researchers, my dissertation advances the theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanisms of successful peer production systems. For practitioners, my dissertation offers practical advice to build more effective peer production projects and platforms.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2007.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When considering the expected returns from an investment, investors often focus on the appreciation of the share price (capital appreciation) and ignore the contribution of dividends paid, thus overlooking a potentially significant contributor to returns. The objectives of this study are to determine the respective contributions of dividends and capital appreciation to the total returns of South African equities over a 10-year period, beginning 31 July 1996 and ending 31 July 2006, by using the Top 40 index of shares listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange over that period. The study also aims to determine whether dividend policy should be considered as carefully as the share's potential capital appreciation by investors when constructing portfolios. The study determined that dividends paid contributed more than 50% of the total return for 10% of the shares in the sample tested. In total, dividends contributed more than 25% of the total return for 33% of the shares. The study also concludes that a share's dividend policy should be considered carefully, as dividends paid may be a significant contributor to a share's expected return.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Wanneer die verwagte opbrengste van 'n belegging in ag geneem word, Ie beleggers dikwels klem op die waardestyging van die aandeleprys (kapitaalappresiasie) en ignoreer die bydrae van dividende wat betaal word. Hulle sien nie dividende as 'n potensieel belangrike bydraer tot opbrengste raak nie. Die doelwitte van hierdie studie is om die onderskeie bydraes van dividende en kapitaalappresiasie tot die totale opbrengs van Suid-Afrikaase aandele oor 'n tydperk van 10 jaar - vanaf 31 Julie 1996 tot 31 Julie 2006 - te bepaal deur die Top 40 indeks van aandele te gebruik wat in daardie tydperk op die Johannesburgse Aandelebeurs genoteer was. Die ondersoek wil ook bepaal of beleggers net so versigting na dividendbeleid as na aandele se potensiele kapitaalappresiasie behoort te kyk wanneer portefeuljes saamgestel word. Die studie het bepaal dat dividende wat betaal is, meer as 50% van die totale opbrengste vir 10% van die aandele in die toetsvoorbeeld uitgemaak het. Dividende het altesaam meer as 25% van die totale opbrengs vir 33% van die aandele uitgemaak. Die studie het ook tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat 'n aandeel se dividendbeleid baie versigtig oorweeg moet word omdat dividende wat betaal word 'n belangrike bydraer tot 'n aandeel se verwagte opbrengs kan wees.

Thesis: S.M. in Engineering and Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2015.<br>Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Page 66 blank.<br>Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-66).<br>There is a common misconception that equates management to leadership. There is also a common school of thought that believes in order to lead one has to traverse the corporate ladder from individual contributor to the people manager side. There is also the common thought that an exceptional individual contributor will always make a good leader and/or manager. Misunderstandings along these schools of thought tend to lead to traversal of the corporate ladder either too soon, or incorrectly selecting a path which ultimately can lead to failure in the role. We will expand on these schools of thought and provide a better understanding to inform these decisions moving forward.<br>by Jaime Santiago V. Louis.<br>S.M. in Engineering and Management

This thesis examines behavioural risks in corporate governance, and seeks to ascertain what constitutes behaviour. It finds upon an examination and analysis of literature that “personality” and “situations” are elements which contribute to behaviour. Consideration of risk management mechanisms in corporate governance indicates that the personality aspect of behavioural risks has remained largely unidentified. The thesis then focuses on the personality of company directors as a significant contributory factor to their behaviour, and therefore also constituting potential behavioural risks in relation to corporate governance. A question then arises as to how behavioural risks and personality risks in particular have been managed in corporate governance. Taking cognisance of the processes involved in risk management, it is found that personality risks have not been identified by any corporate governance mechanisms, and which means, therefore, that these risks have not been managed effectively under any of the existing corporate governance mechanisms, such as the Turnbull Guidance, UK Corporate Governance Code, UK Companies Act, and EU Company Law Directives.Considering the negative economic and social impact of corporate failures in relation to public listed companies, and the justification for the State to intervene in order to safeguard society from the occurrence and consequences of these failures, this thesis suggests a hybrid regulatory model as an approach to managing personality risks in corporate governance. Building upon relevant corporate and regulatory theories; and incorporating current realities as they relate to the regulation of companies, the thesis proposes a model with suggested provisions which are aimed at contributing to an effective outcome as regards personality risk management. The fundamental requirements of an effective risk management process are discussed and engaged with in the process of developing a conceptual framework for personality risk management from which the approach and provisions in the suggested model are drawn.

Contemporarily, one of the major business demands is to extensively understand the impact of technology on the major business strategies and practices. Technologicalship marketing, a concept investigated in this study, emanates from a symbiosis of technology and relationship marketing. Per se, a prevalent area of debate pertains to whether technology promotes or constrains relationships. Outstandingly, this study pursued the technologicalship marketing concept, a new and vital 21st century suggestion in literature (Zineldin, 2000:16). Secondly, against the scarcity of empirical studies in mass marketing environments, the study at hand focused on retail banking client relationships. Lastly, the proposed meta-construct hypothetical model is an essential relationship marketing instrument. The proposed model consists of four major relationship marketing construct categories, namely, personal contact, customer retention, customer switching and relational exchange. At the hand of these constructs, the research primarily aimed to determine the impact of technology on client relationships in e-banking with the focus of closing the gap prevalent in literature on whether technology constraints or supports relationship marketing. The study focused on retail banking client relationships of the four major commercial banks in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. A survey was conducted of a sample of 200 clients selected using the convenience sampling method. The study hypothesised that technology is resulting in more transactional than relationship marketing in retail banking by constraining social constructions, customer retention and relational exchange, whilst, promoting customer switching mobility. Through the GLM regression analysis method, findings of the study established that technology was to a larger extent supporting relationship marketing. However, it is envisaged that technology is resulting in the disappearance of human contact which is a critical aspect of relationships. Conclusively, the researcher recommended that the only plausible strategy is to endeavour to integrate the human aspect at self-service podiums e.g. mounting of staff at ATM points, which most banks have been doing.

Dans ces dernières années nous assistons à l’émergence de nouvelles licences, les Creative Commons (CC), qui dérivent du monde du logiciel libre et qui ont pour but de partager les œuvres artistiques (vidéos, musique, etc.) entre les utilisateurs. Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude des vidéos qu'utilisent ces licences. En particulier cette thèse se concentre sur trois aspects de la production de vidéos sous licences CC : les choix judicieux du degré d'ouverture de la licence, la stratégie de financer et de mener l’innovation et le chemin qui détermine le succès des projets. Tout d’abord, pour enquêter sur ce qui est le choix judicieux entre les différents degrés d'ouverture dans les licences CC, nous avons conduit une analyse économétrique (approche quantitative) sur des vidéos sous licences CC stockées sur l'Internet Archive. Les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que, dans le but d'attirer les contributions des utilisateurs, les producteurs utilisent différents degrés d'ouverture de licences en fonction de leur statut organisationnel. Ensuite, pour étudier la stratégie de financer et de diriger l’innovation générée par les utilisateurs, nous avons conduit une étude de cas (approche qualitative) concernant un vidéo produite sous licence CC, Big Buck Bunny. Les résultats suggèrent que les utilisateurs peuvent être utilisés en tant que source de financement de la production et comme partenaires pour innover. Enfin, pour étudier le chemin et les caractéristiques des projets qui arrivent à être produit, nous avons crée un modèle multi-agent, capable de reproduire les faits stylisés de la production de vidéos sous CC stockées sur une plate-forme en ligne<br>Recently Creative Commons (CC ) licenses emerged. CC are a set of licenses which derive from the free/open source software world. The aim of CC licenses is to share the artistic works (videos , music, etc.) among users . This thesis is devoted to the study of videos under these licenses. In particular, the thesis focuses on three aspects of video production under CC licenses: the successful choice of the degree of openness of the license , the strategy to fund and conduct innovation and the way that determine the success of the projects. First, to investigate the appropriate choice among different degrees of openness in the CC licenses, we conducted an econometric analysis (quantitative approach) on video under CC licenses stored on the Internet Archive . The results suggest that in order to attract contributions of users, producers use different opening licenses based on their organizational status degrees. Then, to study the strategy to fund and manage the innovation generated by users, we conducted a case study (qualitative approach ) of a video under CC license, Big Buck Bunny. The results suggest that users can be used as a source of funding for the production and as partners to innovate. Finally, to study the path and the characteristics of projects that succeed, we created an agent-based model that is able to reproduce the stylized facts of the production of videos under CC license stored on an on-line platform

To overcome the current under-utilization of spectrum resources, the CR (Cognitive Radio) paradigm has gained an increasing interest to perform the so-called Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA). In this respect, Cognitive Radio networks (CRNs) have been strengthened with cognitive management support to push forward their deployment and commercialization. This dissertation has assessed the relevance of exploiting several cognitive management functionalities in various scenarios and case studies. Specifically, this dissertation has constructed a generic cognitive management framework, based on the fittingness factor concept, to support spectrum management in CRNs. Under this framework, the dissertation has addressed two of the most promising CR applications, namely an Opportunistic Spectrum Access (OSA) to licensed bands and open sharing of license-exempt bands. In the former application, several strategies that exploit temporal statistical dependence between primary activity/inactivity durations to perform a proactive spectrum selection have been discussed. A set of guidelines to select the most relevant strategy for a given environment have been provided. In the latter application, a fittingness factor-based spectrum selection strategy has been proposed to efficiency exploit the different bands. Several formulations of the fittingness factor have been compared, and their relevance have been assessed under different settings. Drawing inspiration from these applications, a more general proactive strategy exploiting a characterization of spectrum resources at both the time and frequency domains has been developed to jointly assist spectrum selection (SS) and spectrum mobility (SM) functionalities. Several variants of the proposed strategy, each combining different choices and options of implementation, have been compared to identify which of its components have the most significant impact on performance depending on the working conditions of the CRN. To assess rationality of the proposed strategy with respect to other strategies, a cost-benefit analysis has been conducted to confront the introduced gain in terms of user satisfaction level to the incurred cost in terms of signaling amount. Finally, the dissertation has conducted an analysis of practicality aspects in terms of robustness to environment uncertainty and applicability to realistic environments. With respect to the former aspect, robustness has been assessed in front of two sources of uncertainty, namely imperfection of the acquisition process and non-stationarity of the environment, and additional functionalities have been developed, when needed, to improve robustness. With respect to the latter, the proposed framework has been applied to a Digital Home (DH) environment to validate the obtained key findings under realistic conditions.

Embedded within modern technological systems, human error is the largest, and indeed dominant contributor to accident cause. The consequences dominate the risk profiles for nuclear power and for many other technologies. We need to quantify the probability of human error for the system as an integral contribution within the overall system failure, as it is generally not separable or predictable for actual events. We also need to provide a means to manage and effectively reduce the failure (error) rate. The fact that humans learn from their mistakes allows a new determination of the dynamic probability and human failure (error) rate in technological systems. The result is consistent with and derived from the available world data for modern technological systems. Comparisons are made to actual data from large technological systems and recent catastrophes. Best estimate values and relationships can be derived for both the human error rate, and for the probability. We describe the potential for new approaches to the management of human error and safety indicators, based on the principles of error state exclusion and of the systematic effect of learning.

Abstract Smart4Health project is a European project aiming to empower citizens with electronic health(care) record exchange, personal connected health services, and the ability of data donorship to the scientific community. The Smart4Health platform will enable citizens to manage, collect, store, access and share own health and healthcare data, at international level, through an easy-to-use, secure, constantly accessible and portable health data and services prototype within the EU and beyond. This shall also comprise self-quantified and citizen-generated data through IoT and wearables (e.g. smart watches, smart devices/textiles/shoes). Therefore, the citizen will not only be able to access data produced in the context of health systems, but become important contributor of health data more generally speaking. The information to be collected will feed the Smart4Health platform (4HealthPlatform – 4HP), enabling the Smart4Health user portal (4HealthNavigator – 4HN) services and applications to provide advanced personalised health services accessible whenever and wherever. In this paper we explore the work being developed for data integration coming from different smart devices aiming at enriching the citizen health and personal data as well as providing insight about citizen behaviour and support on how to modify/adapt postures and habits that may contribute for better health and wellbeing.

The management of contaminated ground and groundwater is a notable contributor to dealing with the challenge we face in cleaning up the legacy of the UK’s civil nuclear industry in a safe, cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner. To facilitate this mission, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Environmental Regulators and Safety Regulators are working together to develop common expectations for the management of contaminated ground and groundwater arising on and extending off nuclear licensed sites in the UK. The aims of this work are to: • set out shared expectations for land quality management, explaining any differing expectations where consensus is difficult; • interpret expectations to ensure they are clear and implementable, facilitating planning of programmes and deliverables; • provide a framework for dialogue against which progress in land quality management can be mapped; • promote positive action to manage land quality in a proportionate and sustainable manner to achieve consistent standards; and • identify whether areas of the regulatory framework or NDA contractual requirements warrant review and propose improvements for consideration, as appropriate. This paper outlines the process currently ongoing to identify the best way of achieving these aims in a manner that avoids compromising the respective statutory obligations, duties and functions of each party.

The maritime and offshore industries are increasingly reliant on integrated computer-based control systems and the associated software that actually ‘runs’ the systems. Industrial computers and the software they run are controlling exponentially more rig functions than ever before with increasingly more complex coding for expanded functionality. Ultimately, introduction of these complex systems into safety, environmental and operational functions have a significant impact on rig performance—software quality management is becoming a primary contributor to the overall performance of a rig.

Engine operating cost is a major contributor to the direct operating cost of aircraft. Therefore, the minimization of engine operating cost per flight-hour is a key aspect for airlines to operate successfully under challenging market conditions. The interaction between maintenance cost, operating cost, asset value, lease and replacement cost describes the area of conflict in which engine fleets can be optimized. State-of-the-art fleet management is based on advanced diagnostic and prognostic methods on engine and component level to provide optimized long-term removal and work-scoping forecasts on fleet level based on the individual operation. The key element of these methods is a digital twin of the active engines consisting of multilevel models of the engine and its components. This digital twin can be used to support deterioration and failure analysis, predict life consumption of critical parts and relate the specific operation of a customer to the real and expected condition of the engines on-wing and at induction to the shop. The fleet management data is constantly updated based on operational data sent from the engines as well as line maintenance and shop data. The approach is illustrated along the real application on the CFM56-5C, a mature commercial two-spool high bypass engine installed on the Airbus A340-300. It can be shown, that the new methodology results in major improvements on the considered fleets.

Plutonium is a significant proliferation concern as well as a major contributor to the long-term toxicity of nuclear waste. Partial incineration in PWRs with uranium-MOX fuel is often considered to mitigate these concerns. Thorium-MOX is an alternative fuel with superior material properties and higher plutonium destruction rates, as shown in multiple feasibility studies. However, the core performance and operational characteristics (e.g. discharge burn-up, feasibility of controlling the core) are ultimately dependent on the core loading pattern (LP) and burnable poison (BP) design. In this paper, the LP for Th-Pu fuel of various compositions is optimized for (1) discharge burn-up, (2) radial form factor (RFF), (3) cycle length, (4) moderator temperature coefficient (MTC), and (5) reactivity swing over cycle. Maximizing the cycle length makes the discharge burn-up and reactivity swing worse due to placement of once- and twice-burnt fuel near the core periphery. It also makes the MTC less negative. The harder neutron spectrum of Th-Pu fuel compared to conventional U fuel favours the use of distributed integral burnable poisons to control the reactivity swing over the cycle. This leads to a significant amount of dissimilarity between LPs with relatively similar performance measures, and between optimal LPs for different Pu loadings in the fuel. The RFF can vary throughout the cycle but a careful placement of the assemblies can mitigate this. The cycle reactivity swing is controlled using enriched soluble boron, which makes the MTC worse, and this constrains feasibility for high Pu loading in the fuel.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) operates, maintains, and manages more than $232 billion worth of the Nation’s water resource infrastructure. Using the Operational Condition Assessment (OCA) system, the USACE allocates limited resources to assess conditions and maintain assets in efforts to minimize risks associated with asset performance degradation. Currently, OCAs are conducted on each component within a facility every 5 years, regardless of the component’s risk contribution. The analysis of risks associated with Flood Risk Management (FRM) facilities, such as dams, includes considering how the facility contributes to its associated FRM watershed system, understanding the consequences of degradation in the facility’s performance, and calculating the likelihood that the facility will perform as expected given the current OCA condition ratings of critical components. This research will develop a scalable methodology to model the probability of failure of components and systems that contribute to the performance of facilities in their respective FRM systems combined with consequences derived from hydrological models of the watershed to develop facility risk scores. This interim report documents the results of the first phase of this effort, stakeholder analysis and literature review, to identify candidate approaches to determine the probability of failure of a facility.

Information epidemiology or infodemiology is the study of infodemics - defined by the World Health Organization as an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not, that occurs during a pandemic or other significant event that may impact public health. Infodemic management is the practice of infodemiology and may sit within the risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) pillar of a public health response. However, it is relevant to all aspects of preparedness and response, including the development and evaluation of interventions. Social scientists have much to contribute to infodemic management as, while it must be data and evidence driven, it must also be built on a thorough understanding of affected communities in order to develop participatory approaches, reinforce local capacity and support local solutions.

Information epidemiology or infodemiology is the study of infodemics - defined by the World Health Organization as an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not, that occurs during a pandemic or other significant event that may impact public health. Infodemic management is the practice of infodemiology and may sit within the risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) pillar of a public health response. However, it is relevant to all aspects of preparedness and response, including the development and evaluation of interventions. Social scientists have much to contribute to infodemic management as, while it must be data and evidence driven, it must also be built on a thorough understanding of affected communities in order to develop participatory approaches, reinforce local capacity and support local solutions.

Information epidemiology or infodemiology is the study of infodemics - defined by the World Health Organization as an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not, that occurs during a pandemic or other significant event that may impact public health. Infodemic management is the practice of infodemiology and may sit within the risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) pillar of a public health response. However, it is relevant to all aspects of preparedness and response, including the development and evaluation of interventions. Social scientists have much to contribute to infodemic management as, while it must be data and evidence driven, it must also be built on a thorough understanding of affected communities in order to develop participatory approaches, reinforce local capacity and support local solutions.

To deliver infrastructure that sustain our communities, economy, and environment, we must innovate, modernize, and even revolutionize our approach to infrastructure development. Change takes courage, but as one starts down the path of innovation, what was once novel becomes more familiar, more established. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is walking this path with our partners through the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Initiative, integrating human engineering with natural systems. The International Guidelines on Natural and Nature-Based Features for Flood Risk Management are the next step toward revolutionary infrastructure development—a set of real-world guidelines to help familiarize us with what was once novel. USACE and collaborators around the world have been building, learning, and documenting the best practices for constructing Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF) for decades. The consolidation of these lessons into a single guidance document gives decision-makers and practitioners a much-needed resource to pursue, consider, and apply NNBF for flood risk management while expanding value through infrastructure. Relationships and partnerships are vital ingredients for innovation and progress. The NNBF Guidelines was achieved because of the strong relationships in the nature-based engineering community. The magnitude and diversity of contributors to the NNBF Guidelines have resulted in a robust resource that provides value beyond a single agency, sector, or nation. Similarly, the work of incorporating NNBF into projects will require us to strengthen our relationships across organizations, mandates, and missions to achieve resilient communities. I hope you are inspired by the collaborative achievement of the NNBF Guidelines and will draw from this resource to develop innovative solutions to current and future flood risk management challenges. There is a lot we can achieve together along the path of revolutionary infrastructure development.