Evaluating Investments in IT

1992 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Farbey ◽  
Frank Land ◽  
David Targett
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Matching Problem ◽  
It Investments ◽  
General Managers ◽  
Wide Range

Evaluating the costs and benefits of IT projects is currently a major issue for senior general managers. This paper focuses on a particular aspect of the problem: how organizations appraise IT investments in taking the decision whether to go ahead with them or not. The paper looks first at the different roles of evaluation; second at what is done in practice and third at what might be done given the wide range of techniques that are available and the widely different circumstances in which appraisal is undertaken. A speculative heuristic is proposed for matching an evaluation method with a particular situation. The method is presented in the hope of stimulating further research into the matching problem.

scholarly journals Evaluating process-based integrated assessment models of climate change mitigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 166 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlie Wilson ◽  
Céline Guivarch ◽  
Elmar Kriegler ◽  
Bas van Ruijven ◽  
Detlef P. van Vuuren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Integrated Assessment ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Evaluation Research ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Integrated Assessment Models ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Change Mitigation

AbstractProcess-based integrated assessment models (IAMs) project long-term transformation pathways in energy and land-use systems under what-if assumptions. IAM evaluation is necessary to improve the models’ usefulness as scientific tools applicable in the complex and contested domain of climate change mitigation. We contribute the first comprehensive synthesis of process-based IAM evaluation research, drawing on a wide range of examples across six different evaluation methods including historical simulations, stylised facts, and model diagnostics. For each evaluation method, we identify progress and milestones to date, and draw out lessons learnt as well as challenges remaining. We find that each evaluation method has distinctive strengths, as well as constraints on its application. We use these insights to propose a systematic evaluation framework combining multiple methods to establish the appropriateness, interpretability, credibility, and relevance of process-based IAMs as useful scientific tools for informing climate policy. We also set out a programme of evaluation research to be mainstreamed both within and outside the IAM community.

scholarly journals A Nested Land Uses–Landscapes–Livelihoods Approach to Assess the Real Costs of Land-Use Transitions: Insights from Southeast Asia

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Lestrelin ◽  
Jean-Christophe Castella ◽  
Qiaohong Li ◽  
Thoumthone Vongvisouk ◽  
Nguyen Dinh Tien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Opportunity Costs ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Forested Areas ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
The Cost

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is viewed as an effective way to mitigate climate change by compensating stewards of forested areas for minimizing forestland conversion and protecting forest services. Opportunity costs assess the cost of foregone opportunity when preserving the forest instead of investing in an alternative activity or resource use. This paper questions the calculation method of opportunity costs using averaged economic benefits and co-benefits of different land-use transitions. We propose a nested approach to land-use transitions at the interface between landscapes and livelihoods and assessing a wide range of potential socio-ecological costs and benefits. Combining household surveys and focus groups with participatory mapping, we applied the approach in villages of Laos, Vietnam and China positioned along a broad transition trajectory from subsistence shifting cultivation to intensive commercial agriculture. By looking beyond the economics of land use, we highlight important linkages between land-use changes and livelihood differentiation, vulnerability and inequalities. Our results show the importance of addressing the impacts of land-use transitions on a wide range of potential ecological and socioeconomic costs and benefits at multiple levels.

Research on Behavior Trust Evaluation Method of Cloud Services Based on Membership Theory

2013 ◽  
Vol 427-429 ◽  
pp. 2377-2382
Author(s):  
Ying Liu ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Xian You Sun
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation System ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Degree Theory ◽  
Cloud Service ◽  
Cloud Services ◽  
Trust Evaluation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Cloud Users

Among the wide range of cloud service providers with different performance characteristics, in order to let the cloud users find cloud services which satisfy its performance preferences and specific trust levels,it needs to establish a reasonable and scientific cloud service trust evaluation system. This paper introduces a membership degree theory into trust evaluation model. First, it designs the trust evaluation system framework of cloud services, and establishes a trust evaluation model of cloud services. Next, it calculates the trust level of cloud services with the comprehensive trust cloud center of gravity evaluation method (CCGE). Finally, the experiment results show that this model can build precise trust relationship between cloud users and cloud services based on users performance demands.

Biomechanical costs and benefits of sit-and-wait foraging traps

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean J. Blamires
Keyword(s):  
Flowing Water ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Hard Data ◽  
Invertebrate Predators ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Plausible Hypothesis ◽  
Dry Adhesives ◽  
Prey Escape

Abstract Traps are rarely used by animals, despite the plausible benefits of broadening the number and diversity of prey that sit-and-wait foragers might be able to capture. The most well-known trap building sit-and-wait foragers are among the invertebrates, i.e. antlions, wormlions, glow worms, caddisflies, and spiders. A plausible hypothesis for the paucity of trap building by other animals is that biomechanical limitations render them inefficient or ineffective at catching sufficient prey. Here I examined the literature to make a valued judgement about the validity of this hypothesis. It appears that antlion and wormlion pit traps cannot catch and retain the largest prey they might expect to encounter. Arachnacampa glowworm traps are functionally efficient, facilitated by the animal’s bioluminescence. Nevertheless they only function in very moist or humid conditions. Caddisfly traps rely on flowing water to be able to capture their prey. Spiders are exceptional in developing a wide range of prey trapping strategies, from webs with dry adhesives, to sticky orb webs, to modified orb webs, e.g. elongated “ladder” webs, to webs with additional structures, and web aggregations. Some spiders have even redesigned their webs to minimize the high prey escape rates associated with web two dimensionality. These webs nevertheless are constructed and used at specific costs. While hard data across all of the invertebrate predators is lacking, there seems to be credence in the hypothesis that the biomechanical limitations placed on trap functionality can explain their limited use among animals.

A general evaluation method for the diabatic journal bearing

1974 ◽  
Vol 336 (1606) ◽  
pp. 307-325 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Journal Bearing ◽  
Design Method ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Algebraic Equations ◽  
Mixing Conditions ◽  
General Evaluation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Energy Equations ◽  
Independent Parameters

A design method is described for the steadily loaded, full journal bearing. This is presented as a non-iterative set of algebraic equations, where a dependent bearing parameter, e. g. eccentricity or power-loss, is predicted in terms of known independent parameters which include bearing geometry, running conditions and oil characteristics. The method is developed from a regression analysis of accurately computed, fully thermohydrodynamic, solutions for the bearing. These solutions are generated by simultaneously solving the Reynolds and energy equations in the oil film, the Laplace equation in the bearing material and the oil-mixing conditions at inlet. A quasi three-dimensional finite-difference technique is used. Both the particular solutions and the predictions of the design method compare favourably with a wide range of experimental data, the latter showing an improvement in accuracy and economy on existing design methods.

Approximate weighted matching on emerging manycore and multithreaded architectures

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahantesh Halappanavar ◽  
John Feo ◽  
Oreste Villa ◽  
Antonino Tumeo ◽  
Alex Pothen
Keyword(s):  
Approximation Algorithms ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Scientific Computing ◽  
Graph Matching ◽  
Combinatorial Problem ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Matching Problem ◽  
Weighted Matching ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

Graph matching is a prototypical combinatorial problem with many applications in high-performance scientific computing. Optimal algorithms for computing matchings are challenging to parallelize. Approximation algorithms are amenable to parallelization and are therefore important to compute matchings for large-scale problems. Approximation algorithms also generate nearly optimal solutions that are sufficient for many applications. In this paper we present multithreaded algorithms for computing half-approximate weighted matching on state-of-the-art multicore (Intel Nehalem and AMD Magny-Cours), manycore (Nvidia Tesla and Nvidia Fermi), and massively multithreaded (Cray XMT) platforms. We provide two implementations: the first uses shared work queues and is suited for all platforms; and the second implementation, based on dataflow principles, exploits special features available on the Cray XMT. Using a carefully chosen dataset that exhibits characteristics from a wide range of applications, we show scalable performance across different platforms. In particular, for one instance of the input, an R-MAT graph (RMAT-G), we show speedups of about [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] cores of an AMD Magny-Cours, [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] cores of Intel Nehalem, [Formula: see text] on Nvidia Tesla and [Formula: see text] on Nvidia Fermi relative to one core of Intel Nehalem, and [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text] processors of Cray XMT. We demonstrate strong as well as weak scaling for graphs with up to a billion edges using up to 12,800 threads. We avoid excessive fine-tuning for each platform and retain the basic structure of the algorithm uniformly across platforms. An exception is the dataflow algorithm designed specifically for the Cray XMT. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first such large-scale study of the half-approximate weighted matching problem on multithreaded platforms. Driven by the critical enabling role of combinatorial algorithms such as matching in scientific computing and the emergence of informatics applications, there is a growing demand to support irregular computations on current and future computing platforms. In this context, we evaluate the capability of emerging multithreaded platforms to tolerate latency induced by irregular memory access patterns, and to support fine-grained parallelism via light-weight synchronization mechanisms. By contrasting the architectural features of these platforms against the Cray XMT, which is specifically designed to support irregular memory-intensive applications, we delineate the impact of these choices on performance.

Analysis and Application of New-Type High Performance Cold-Patch Mixture for Pavement

2017 ◽  
Vol 909 ◽  
pp. 263-268
Author(s):  
Xin Guo ◽  
Wen Li ◽  
Xiong Li Huang ◽  
Dian Gang Zhai
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Test Field ◽  
Asphalt Emulsion ◽  
Repair Materials ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Type ◽  
Bad Weather ◽  
Adhesive Effect

A new-type high performance cold-patch mixture was made from new-type cold-patch asphalt emulsion, which is able to promote the adhesive effect of asphalt and aggregate. This new mixture boasts advantages such as good workability and being free from bad weather like rain and low temperature. During the production, the evaluation method of cold-patch asphalt material was improved by the adoption of rotary viscosity test and paper trail test. Field tests were carried out on some sections of Linchang Expressway. When compared to existing repair materials, the new-type cold-patch mixture showed better repair effect as well as the potential for a wide range of promotion.

Application of the Ultrasound-Infrared Thermography Technique for Non-Destructive Evaluation of Defects in Shoe Bonding Parts

2010 ◽  
Vol 123-125 ◽  
pp. 823-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung Hyun Choi ◽  
Lee Ku Kwac ◽  
Jae Yeol Kim
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Thermography ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Local Heat ◽  
Inspection System ◽  
System Configuration ◽  
Thermal Camera ◽  
Ultrasound Waves ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Defective Surface ◽  
Non Destructive

The infrared thermography technique is being applied in many areas. Particularly these days, non-destructive inspection and evaluation using the ultrasound-infrared thermography technique are hogging the spotlight in a wide range of study areas. The ultrasound-infrared thermography technique uses the principle that ultrasound waves projected to objects with cracks or defects at connections generate local heat from the defective surface. In this research, introduce nondestructive evaluation method for total inspection of special shoes applying Ultrasound Infrared thermography Technique. Performance of the proposed method are shown by through thermo-Image. The total inspection system using infrared thermal camera for special shoes, its applicability, and system configuration are introduced.

ASSIGNMENT QUERY AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN MOVING OBJECT DATABASES

2010 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. 349-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALİ R. KONAN ◽  
TAFLAN İ. GÜNDEM ◽  
MURAT E. KAYA
Keyword(s):  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Perfect Match ◽  
Moving Object ◽  
Location Based Services ◽  
Matching Problem ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Weighted Bipartite Graph ◽  
Object Databases ◽  
Moving Object Databases

Moving object databases (MOD) are being used in a wide range of location-based services that are of growing interest in many application areas. In the literature, several query types such as nearest neighbor, reverse nearest neighbor, k-nearest neighbor, and proximity queries have been considered in MOD. In this paper, we propose a novel operator called the assignment operator as a query type for MOD. The assignment operator is an operator used in a query to solve the assignment problem (also known as the weighted bipartite graph-matching problem). Assignment operator finds a perfect match between two sets of objects in a manner that minimizes a total cost. For instance, a set of moving objects such as taxi cabs are assigned to a set of customers in a manner that minimizes the total cost of traveling for the taxis. A possible implementation of the assignment operator in MOD and its performance evaluation are given.

ProSight: New Millennium Financial Technology Portfolio Management

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Mark Jeffery ◽  
Chuck Olson ◽  
Robin Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Portfolio Management ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
It Projects ◽  
Web Based ◽  
It Investments ◽  
Business Objectives ◽  
Risk Return ◽  
Strategic Context ◽  
Financial Technology ◽  
New Millennium

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are often very complex management endeavors. Analyzes the IT component of M&A for two financial institutions. Students are tasked with assisting Mike Farrell, the CIO of New Millennium Financial (NMF), a new company created through the merger of FinStar Financial and D&L Bank, in determining the optimal combined IT portfolio. To accomplish this task the strategic business objectives of the firm must be clearly understood and the IT projects in the pipelines of both institutions analyzed. Students must make an IT portfolio management decision and answer the question: What is the optimal IT strategy and project portfolio for NMF?To apply a framework to manage a company's IT portfolio, i.e., understand the company's strategic context, develop business objectives that align with its strategy, assess IT investments, and develop a portfolio of IT projects that support the objectives. The framework is iterative, i.e., IT investments are assessed on a regular basis based on their performance and risk/return tradeoffs. Also to introduce a leading Web-based tool, ProSight, that helps managers organize IT portfolios.

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