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Reference Architectures for Critical Domains: Industrial Uses and Impacts
by Elisa Yumi Nakagawa Pablo Oliveira AntoninoThis book presents reference architecture as a key blueprint to develop and evolve critical software-intensive systems, emphasizing both the state of the art in research and successful industrial cases. After outlining the theoretical foundations of reference architecture and presenting an overview of a number of reference architectures proposed over the recent years, this book dives into a set of critical application domains, including defense, health, automotive, avionics, and Industry 4.0, highlighting the respective most relevant reference architectures that have impacted these domains, the experience and lessons learned, insights gained, benefits and drawbacks, and factors that make these architectures sustainable. The book finishes with the most relevant directions for future advances in reference architectures.The content of this book is useful for researchers and advanced professionals in industry in the areas of computing and engineering, as well as in critical application domains that increasingly require interconnected, large, and complex software-intensive systems.
Referenzmodell zur Digitalisierung des strategischen Einkaufs: Handlungsrahmen und Kernanforderungen zur Implementierung in Informationssystemen
by Boris David IdlerDieses Buch beschreibt einen anforderungsorientierten Handlungsrahmen zur Gestaltung digitaler Einkaufsprozesse. Das dafür entworfene Referenzmodell dient dabei als Ausgangspunkt mehrerer Ableitungen und ermöglicht ein grundlegendes Verständnis über die prozessualen Aufgaben im strategischen Einkauf, um die Ziele der Einkaufsorganisation zu unterstützen. Neben Lieferantenqualifikation oder Kostenmanagement werden auch Prozesse beschrieben, die erst durch eine Digitalisierung möglich sind. Damit kann die Überführung der Prozesse in Anforderungen an IT-Systeme vollzogen und auch der Frage nachgegangen werden, inwiefern die einzelnen Kernprozesse zu integrierten Prozessnetzwerken verbunden werden sollten.
Referenzterminologie SNOMED CT: Interlingua zur Gewährleistung semantischer Interoperabilität in der Medizin
by Josef Ingenerf Cora DrenkhahnSNOMED CT wird zunehmend auch in Deutschland als wesentlicher Baustein innovativer digitaler Gesundheitsanwendungen verwendet. Sie gilt mit über 350.000 formal definierten Konzepten sowie mehrsprachigen Bezeichnungen als ausdrucksmächtigste internationale Referenzterminologie. Gleichwohl stellt die Einführung von SNOMED CT mit dem Potenzial zur Postkoordination „neuer Konzepte“ einen Paradigmenwechsel dar. Dieser geht einher mit vielfältigsten methodischen Grundlagen, die interessierten Anwendern und Software-Entwicklern vermittelt werden müssen, um den erwarteten Nutzen realisieren zu können. Dieses Buch soll hierzu einen Beitrag leisten.
Refinement in Z and Object-Z: Foundations and Advanced Applications
by Eerke A. Boiten John DerrickRefinement is one of the cornerstones of the formal approach to software engineering, and its use in various domains has led to research on new applications and generalisation. This book brings together this important research in one volume, with the addition of examples drawn from different application areas. It covers four main themes: Data refinement and its application to ZGeneralisations of refinement that change the interface and atomicity of operationsRefinement in Object-ZModelling state and behaviour by combining Object-Z with CSPRefinement in Z and Object-Z: Foundations and Advanced Applications provides an invaluable overview of recent research for academic and industrial researchers, lecturers teaching formal specification and development, industrial practitioners using formal methods in their work, and postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students. This second edition is a comprehensive update to the first and includes the following new material: Early chapters have been extended to also include trace refinement, based directly on partial relations rather than through totalisationProvides an updated discussion on divergence, non-atomic refinements and approximate refinementIncludes a discussion of the differing semantics of operations and outputs and how they affect the abstraction of models written using Object-Z and CSPPresents a fuller account of the relationship between relational refinement and various models of refinement in CSPBibliographic notes at the end of each chapter have been extended with the most up to date citations and research
Refinement: Foundations And Advanced Applications (Formal Approaches To Computing And Information Technology (facit) Ser.)
by John Derrick Eerke BoitenRefinement is one of the cornerstones of a formal approach to software engineering. Refinement is all about turning an abstract description (of a soft or hardware system) into something closer to implementation. It provides that essential bridge between higher level requirements and an implementation of those requirements. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to refinement for the researcher or graduate student. It introduces refinement in different semantic models, and shows how refinement is defined and used within some of the major formal methods and languages in use today. It (1) introduces the reader to different ways of looking at refinement, relating refinement to observations(2) shows how these are realised in different semantic models (3) shows how different formal methods use different models of refinement, and (4) how these models of refinement are related.
Reflections on Artificial Intelligence for Humanity (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #12600)
by Malik Ghallab Bertrand BraunschweigWe already observe the positive effects of AI in almost every field, and foresee its potential to help address our sustainable development goals and the urgent challenges for the preservation of the environment. We also perceive that the risks related to the safety, security, confidentiality, and fairness of AI systems, the threats to free will of possibly manipulative systems, as well as the impact of AI on the economy, employment, human rights, equality, diversity, inclusion, and social cohesion need to be better assessed. The development and use of AI must be guided by principles of social cohesion, environmental sustainability, resource sharing, and inclusion. It has to integrate human rights, and social, cultural, and ethical values of democracy. It requires continued education and training as well as continual assessment of its effects through social deliberation. The “Reflections on AI for Humanity” proposed in this book develop the following issues and sketch approaches for addressing them:How can we ensure the security requirements of critical applications and the safety and confidentiality of data communication and processing? What techniques and regulations for the validation, certification, and audit of AI tools are needed to develop confidence in AI? How can we identify and overcome biases in algorithms? How do we design systems that respect essential human values, ensuring moral equality and inclusion?What kinds of governance mechanisms are needed for personal data, metadata, and aggregated data at various levels? What are the effects of AI and automation on the transformation and social division of labor? What are the impacts on economic structures? What proactive and accommodation measures will be required?How will people benefit from decision support systems and personal digital assistants without the risk of manipulation? How do we design transparent and intelligible procedures and ensure that their functions reflect our values and criteria? How can we anticipate failure and restore human control over an AI system when it operates outside its intended scope?How can we devote a substantial part of our research and development resources to the major challenges of our time such as climate, environment, health, and education?
Reflections on Programming Systems: Historical And Philosophical Aspects (Philosophical Studies Series #133)
by Giuseppe Primiero Liesbeth De MolThis book presents a historical and philosophical analysis of programming systems, intended as large computational systems like, for instance, operating systems, programmed to control processes. The introduction to the volume emphasizes the contemporary need of providing a foundational analysis of such systems, rooted in a broader historical and philosophical discussion. <P><P> The different chapters are grouped around three major themes. The first concerns the early history of large systems developed against the background of issues related to the growing semantic gap between hardware and code. The second revisits the fundamental issue of complexity of large systems, dealt with by the use of formal methods and the development of `grand designs’ like Unix. Finally, a third part considers several issues related to programming systems in the real world, including chapters on aesthetical, ethical and political issues. <P><P> This book will interest researchers from a diversity of backgrounds. It will appeal to historians, philosophers, as well as logicians and computer scientists who want to engage with topics relevant to the history and philosophy of programming and more specifically the role of programming systems in the foundations of computing.
Reflections on the Foundations of Mathematics: Univalent Foundations, Set Theory and General Thoughts (Synthese Library #407)
by Stefania Centrone Deborah Kant Deniz SarikayaThis edited work presents contemporary mathematical practice in the foundational mathematical theories, in particular set theory and the univalent foundations. It shares the work of significant scholars across the disciplines of mathematics, philosophy and computer science. Readers will discover systematic thought on criteria for a suitable foundation in mathematics and philosophical reflections around the mathematical perspectives.The volume is divided into three sections, the first two of which focus on the two most prominent candidate theories for a foundation of mathematics. Readers may trace current research in set theory, which has widely been assumed to serve as a framework for foundational issues, as well as new material elaborating on the univalent foundations, considering an approach based on homotopy type theory (HoTT). The third section then builds on this and is centred on philosophical questions connected to the foundations of mathematics. Here, the authors contribute to discussions on foundational criteria with more general thoughts on the foundations of mathematics which are not connected to particular theories.This book shares the work of some of the most important scholars in the fields of set theory (S. Friedman), non-classical logic (G. Priest) and the philosophy of mathematics (P. Maddy). The reader will become aware of the advantages of each theory and objections to it as a foundation, following the latest and best work across the disciplines and it is therefore a valuable read for anyone working on the foundations of mathematics or in the philosophy of mathematics.
Reflections on the Work of C.A.R. Hoare
by A. W. Roscoe Kenneth R. Wood Cliff B. JonesThousands of different programming languages exist, and many more are being created each year, yet all those involved in such work must acknowledge that it is "the highest goal of programming language design to enable good ideas to be elegantly expressed". These are the words of Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare, or Tony Hoare to his colleagues and friends, a man who has inspired generations of researchers in computer science. His work, grounded in practical programming, has had a profound impact on the evolution of the field. This includes the development of Hoare logic and Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP). Reflections on the Work of C.A.R. Hoare presents a comprehensive edited survey of all aspects of these subjects, with original contributions by more than 30 international leaders in the field. The book, while honoring Hoare's important contributions, assembles a collection of chapters showing the state of the art in programming languages, sequential programs, concurrency, and unified theories of programming. Topics and features: demonstrates a principled combination of CSP and functional programming, and the expression of CSP semantics to π-calculus; reviews methods for proving Hoare formulae based on the computation of postconditions and preconditions; investigates developments in game semantics and semantics based on the state monad; examines the satisfiability problem, void safety, and issues of auxiliary variables; introduces type families in Haskell and a description of Quicksort in Orc; describes an experiment using the Tokeneer archive, and a correctness proof of cryptographic protocols based on the Shadow Security model; presents a representation of CSP as a bigraphical reactive system, and shows how simple entities can be related to CSP processes; discusses the problem frames approach, and explores algebraic properties of the new programming combinators. This accessible monograph is an ideal overview of theoretical and empirical evolution in programming logic and semantics of programming languages. It will serve as an invaluable resource for professionals, researchers, libraries, and students who are interested in broadening their knowledge in all of the areas covered.
Reflective Assessment for Deep Learning and Knowledge Building: An Empirical Case in China
by Chunlin LeiKnowledge building aims to transform schools into learning communities and bring knowledge creation into schools. The book therefore elaborates on how learning, technology, and assessment can be aligned both online and offline to facilitate such a process.Adopting a quasi-experimental design and drawing on rich data from forum discussions, questionnaires, interviews, learning outcomes, and classroom presentations, this book shows that the knowledge building environment, augmented by reflective assessment and principles, helped Chinese students to develop a deeper approach to learning, improved academic performance, and promoted collective knowledge advances. The book also discusses the potentials and challenges of designing technology-supported, assessment- and principle-based learning environments in tertiary contexts, especially when deep learning and knowledge building capacity are greatly emphasised in the knowledge era.The book will be of interest to scholars and educators working in learning sciences and computer-supported collaborative learning.
Reflective Boundary Conditions in SPH Fluid Dynamics Simulation: Two and Three-dimensional Validation and Applications (Synthesis Lectures on Mechanical Engineering)
by Carlos Alberto Fraga FilhoThis book presents results from applying Reflective Boundary Conditions (RBC) in particle simulations coupled with the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) Method in two- and three-dimensional domains. The contribution of this work lies in the presentation of the state of the art regarding the application of physical and realistic boundary conditions in the continuum domain, which is an advance in the artificial computational boundary treatment carried out in most SPH simulations. By reading this work, researchers from different fields dealing with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) will be aware of the most recent results of applying the SPH method coupled with RBC, confirming its scientific validity and encouraging its implementation in other problems. This multidisciplinary work is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, software developers, and other engineering, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and related sciences professionals.
Reflexion und Subversion: Selbstbeobachtung der Gesellschaft in Twitter und den Massenmedien (ars digitalis)
by Samuel BreidenbachDie ehemals den Massenmedien vorbehaltene Funktion, die Gesellschaft zu reflektieren und diese gesellschaftlichen Selbstbeschreibungen auch gesellschaftsweit bekannt zu machen, kann heute auch von Social-Media-Plattformen erfüllt werden, wenn die Nutzer*innen dort die Gesellschaft beschreiben und diese Beiträge massenhaft verbreitet werden. Gleichzeitig unterscheiden sich die in den Social Media verbreiteten Gesellschaftsbeschreibungen enorm von jenen herkömmlicher Massenmedien – nicht zuletzt aufgrund der technischen Infrastrukturen der Plattformen. Aus Perspektive der sozialen Systemtheorie werden am Beispiel von Twitter Gemeinsamkeiten und Differenzen zwischen diesen beiden Formen gesellschaftlicher Selbstreflexion herausgearbeitet. Vor allem aber soll die Analyse die grundsätzlich divergenten Wirkungen aufzeigen, welche die (Selbst-)Reflexion der Gesellschaft nach sich ziehen kann, wenn diese einerseits gesellschaftliche Komplexität als einheitliche Realität greifbar macht und damit der Selbstvergewisserung dient, andererseits genauso die Kritik und das Hinterfragen des Bestehenden erlaubt.
Reforming European Data Protection Law
by Paul De Hert Serge Gutwirth Ronald LeenesThis book on privacy and data protection offers readers conceptual analysis as well as thoughtful discussion of issues, practices, and solutions. It features results of the seventh annual International Conference on Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection, CPDP 2014, held in Brussels January 2014. The book first examines profiling, a persistent core issue of data protection and privacy. It covers the emergence of profiling technologies, on-line behavioral tracking, and the impact of profiling on fundamental rights and values. Next, the book looks at preventing privacy risks and harms through impact assessments. It contains discussions on the tools and methodologies for impact assessments as well as case studies. The book then goes on to cover the purported trade-off between privacy and security, ways to support privacy and data protection, and the controversial right to be forgotten, which offers individuals a means to oppose the often persistent digital memory of the web. Written during the process of the fundamental revision of the current EU data protection law by the Data Protection Package proposed by the European Commission, this interdisciplinary book presents both daring and prospective approaches. It will serve as an insightful resource for readers with an interest in privacy and data protection.
Reforming Open and Distance Education: Critical Reflections from Practice (Open and Flexible Learning Series)
by Terry Evans Daryl NationThis volume contains a collection of critical reflections by teachers and administrators in open and distance education. They highlight educational problems and issues of a more general nature caused by the increased use of distance education within conventional higher education institutions.
Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry
by Hallie Preskill Anastasia Tessie Tzavaras CatsambasReframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry is the first book to introduce the application of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), an approach for organizational development and change, to the practice of evaluation. Authors Hallie Preskill and Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas lay out the theoretical foundation of AI and build a bridge between the theory and practice of applying AI to evaluation.
Reframing Humans in Information Systems Development
by Hannakaisa Isomäki Samuli PekkolaModern society has been transformed by the digital convergence towards a future where technologies embed themselves into the fabric of everyday life. This ongoing merging of social and technological infrastructures provides and necessitates new possibilities to renovate past notions, models and methods of information systems development that accommodates humans as actors within the infrastructure. This shift introduces new possibilities for information systems designers to fulfil more and more everyday functions, and to enhance their value and worth to the user. Reframing Humans in Information Systems Development aims to reframe the phenomenon of human-centered development of information systems by connecting scientific constructs produced within the field of information systems which has recently provided a plethora of multidisciplinary user views, without explicitly defining clear constructs that serve the IS field in particular. IS researchers, practitioners and students would benefit from Reframing Humans in Information Systems Development as the book provides a comprehensive view to various human-centered development methods and approaches. The representatives of the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Supported Collaborative Work will also find this book an excellent resource. A theoretical handbook and collection of practical experiences, are included along with critical discussions of the utilization methods in ISD and their implications with some interconnecting commentary viewpoints.
Reframing Information Architecture
by Andrea ResminiInformation architecture has changed dramatically since the mid-1990s and earlier conceptions of the world and the internet being different and separate have given way to a much more complex scenario in the present day. In the post-digital world that we now inhabit the digital and the physical blend easily and our activities and usage of information takes place through multiple contexts and via multiple devices and unstable, emergent choreographies. Information architecture now is steadily growing into a channel- or medium-specific multi-disciplinary framework, with contributions coming from architecture, urban planning, design and systems thinking, cognitive science, new media, anthropology. All these have been heavily reshaping the practice: conversations about labelling, websites, and hierarchies are replaced by conversations about sense-making, place-making, design, architecture, cross media, complexity, embodied cognition and their application to the architecture of information spaces as places we live in in an increasingly large part of our lives. Via narratives, frameworks, references, approaches and case-studies this book explores these changes and offers a way to reconceptualize the shifting role and nature of information architecture where information permeates digital and physical space, users are producers and products are increasingly becoming complex cross-channel or multi-channel services.
Refugee News, Refugee Politics: Journalism, Public Opinion and Policymaking in Europe
by Irmgard Wetzstein Giovanna Dell’OrtoThe unprecedented arrival of more than a million refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants – plus the political, public, and policy reactions to it – is redefining Europe. The repercussions will last for generations on such central issues as security, national identity, human rights, and the very structure of liberal democracies. What is the role of the news media in telling the story of the 2010s refugee crisis at a time of deepening crisis for journalism, as “fake news” ran rampant amid an increasingly distrustful public? This volume offers students, scholars, and the general reader original research and candid frontline insights to understand the intersecting influences of journalistic practices, news discourses, public opinion, and policymaking on one of the most polarizing issues of our time. Focusing on current events in Greece, Austria, and Germany – critical entry and destination countries – it introduces a groundbreaking dialogue between elite national and international media, academic institutions, and civil society organizations, revealing the complex impacts of the news media on the thorny sociopolitical dilemmas raised by the integration of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers in EU countries.
Regardless of Frontiers: Global Freedom of Expression in a Troubled World
by Lee C. Bollinger and Agnès CallamardThe United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 proclaimed a vision of freedom of expression exercised regardless of frontiers. Nonetheless, laws and norms regarding the freedom or limits of expression are typically established and understood at the national level. In today’s interconnected world, newfound threats to free expression have suddenly arisen. How can this fundamental right be secured at a global level?This volume brings together leading experts from a variety of fields to critically evaluate the extent to which global norms on freedom of expression and information have been established and which actors and institutions have contributed to their diffusion. The authors also consider ongoing and new challenges to these norms, from conflicts over hate speech and the rise of populism to authoritarian governments, as well as the profound disruption introduced by the internet. Together, the essays lay the groundwork for an international legal doctrine on global freedom of expression that considers issues such as access to government-held information, media diversity, and political speech. As the world risks renouncing previous commitments to the freedom of expression, Regardless of Frontiers serves as a timely reminder of just how much is at stake and what needs protecting.
Regenerating Learning: Transforming How You Learn with Generative AI (Design Thinking)
by Patrick Parra PennefatherThe perfect storm of learning provoked by generative AI is not just about learning how to use the technology to change human patterns of work and life. The technologies are re-orienting how we think we learn, what we learn, what we need to learn, when and where we learn about knowledge production, how humans communicate with each other, the economic, social, political, creative, ethical and technological factors that inform how we navigate human influenced existence on this planet. The technology empowers you to reimagine and reinvent how you learn while doing your work. Just like you can regenerate content persistently using generative AI systems, so too can you regenerate what and how you learn. Regenerating Learning will help guide the small team you are a part of, or influence leadership to leverage generative AI systems responsibly. Besides pointing to all the more obvious benefits of learning how to use generative AI systems more effectively, this book provides use cases, research and educational theory to propose that interacting with the technology leads to a number of unanticipated learning outcomes. These outcomes challenge the very way in which we have come to learn, what we have learned, and what we may need to unlearn. As generative AI becomes increasingly integrated within workplace environments at some point or other we will each need to decide if we are going to use the technology and how. What You will Learn • Methods and techniques to re-learn how you learn through your interactions with different generative AI. • Strategic approaches to integrate generative AI within your workflows. • How to iterate, adapt, prototype and learn continuously with generative AI. • A variety of tools and approaches to reconcile your organization’s use of generative AI. • How to develop a road map towards the integration of AI systems within your organization. Who this Book Is For Creatives, team leaders, managers and leadership in different organizations; teams in collaborative and creative industries; managers and employees in organizational learning
Regenerative Zukünfte und künstliche Intelligenz: Band 1: PLANET (SDG - Forschung, Konzepte, Lösungsansätze zur Nachhaltigkeit)
by Kai Gondlach Birgit Brinkmann Mark Brinkmann Julia PlathDieses Buchprojekt erscheint in drei Teilen mit jeweils einem inhaltlichen Schwerpunkt – PLANET, PEOPLE, PROFIT – und beschäftigt sich übergreifend mit den Nachhaltigkeitszielen der Vereinten Nationen (Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs). Dieser erste Band behandelt die ökologische Dimension der Nachhaltigkeit und umfasst Beiträge, die explizit oder implizit SDGs mit Umweltbezug thematisieren. Die Beiträge und Grußworte international renommierter Expert:innen aus Wissenschaft und Praxis werden durch Begleittexte der Herausgebenden ergänzt. „Wir wissen genug, wir können genug. Wir müssen uns jetzt trauen, den richtigen Weg einzuschlagen“, aus dem Grußwort von Prof. Dr. Johan Rockström, Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung.
Regenerative Zukünfte und künstliche Intelligenz: Band 2: PEOPLE (SDG - Forschung, Konzepte, Lösungsansätze zur Nachhaltigkeit)
by Kai Gondlach Birgit Brinkmann Mark Brinkmann Julia PlathDer Band basiert auf den 17 Entwicklungszielen (SDGs) der UNO und entwickelt für die Wirtschaft Zukunftsperspektiven zum Zusammenhang von KI und Nachhaltigkeit.
Regex Quick Syntax Reference: Understanding and Using Regular Expressions
by Zsolt NagyThis quick guide to regular expressions is a condensed code and syntax reference for an important programming technique. It demonstrates regex syntax in a well-organized format that can be used as a handy reference, showing you how to execute regexes in many languages, including JavaScript, Python, Java, and C#.The Regex Quick Syntax Reference features short, focused code examples that show you how to use regular expressions to validate user input, split strings, parse input, and match patterns. Utilizing regular expressions to deal with search/replace and filtering data for backend coding is also covered. You won’t find any bloated samples, drawn out history lessons, or witty stories in this book. What you will find is a language reference that is concise and highly accessible. The book is packed with useful information and is a must-have for any programmer.What You Will LearnFormulate an expressionWork with arbitrary char classes, disjunctions, and operator precedenceExecute regular expressions and visualize using finite state machinesDeal with modifiers, including greedy and lazy loops Handle substring extraction from regex using Perl 6 capture groups, capture substrings, and reuse substrings Who This Book Is ForIf you have dealt with at least one programming language, chances are you know enough to understand regular expressions, and the examples in this book will help you develop proficiency.
Regional Development and Public Policy Challenges in India
by Rakhee BhattacharyaThis book emphasizes the need for experimenting with more deliberate and rigorous policy processes to attain balanced regional development, which can promote both equity and efficiency in India's development discourse. The institutional mechanisms for dealing with regional imbalance in India have not been very successful so far. With rising discrepancies in development, demand for autonomy continues along with a new dimension of regionalism arising from submerged identity along with political and economic aspirations, which demanded new channels for solution. So far, attempts to create space for autonomy have possibly not optimally accommodated the conceptual mechanisms like equity and democratic process. Thus democratizing policy process using six pillars of voice: knowledge, objective, fundamental values, implementation framework and public awareness can ensure a better policy outcome for dealing with the persistent challenges of regional disparity in India. This book further focuses on the need for democratizing the policy process for regional development through discussion and inclusion. Such a transition needs innovation in policy regime, which can be attained through following six pillars (i) Democratic voice of stakeholders in policy development and implementation; (ii) Clear policy objectives that advance the common good, based on voice; (iii) Unbiased, sound and comprehensive knowledge and data bases. (iv) Consistency with constitutional values; (v) A sound implementation framework ensuring user-friendliness, transparency and rationality of decision-making processes, effective grievance redress, clear accountability and independent evaluation; (vi) Public awareness and support of policies with relevant and public participation in implementation.
Regional Performance Measurement and Improvement
by Peter Nijkamp Soushi SuzukiThis is the first book to fully introduce a newly developed distance friction minimization (DFM) model, which is one of the new efficiency improvement projection approaches in data envelopment analysis (DEA). The DFM model can produce a most effective solution in efficiency improvement projections for inefficient spatial entities (decision-making units). The book provides a set of fresh contributions to a quantitative assessment of the performance of such policy entities. First it offers a state-of-the art overview of current DEA models and approaches, followed by the operational design of various new types of DEA models, each of them addressing weaknesses in traditional DEA approaches. Then it illustrates the assessment potential of DEA -- and its new variants, in particular, the DFM model and subsequent extensions -- on the basis of a broadly composed collection of empirical case studies, centering mainly but not exclusively on Japan and other Asian nations. gement, and related fields. New model applications offer a meaningful contribution to decision making and planning for operational efficiency improvement in these fields.