Assessing the Returns on Investment in Data Openness and Transparency

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megumi Kubota ◽  
Albert Zeufack
Keyword(s):  
Returns On Investment

Grand Strategy and Technological Futures

2021 ◽  
pp. 705-720
Author(s):  
Robert G. Cantelmo ◽  
Sarah E. Kreps
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Change ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Grand Strategy ◽  
Technical Innovation ◽  
The Status ◽  
Technical Innovations ◽  
Returns On Investment ◽  
Benefit And Risk

How do we understand the consequences of technical innovation for grand strategy? We argue that technology has an indirect, but significant impact on how states formulate and implement strategic priorities. This process of updating is dynamic and iterative as grand-strategic change is incremental rather than a wholesale abandonment of the status quo. New capabilities may produce shifts to state cost, benefit, and risk considerations and produce a corresponding adjustment to grand strategy. Technological innovation may also serve as an intermediate end unto itself. State confidence in positive returns on investment in research and development will produce a corresponding emphasis on innovation as a matter of national policy. We evaluate these claims by applying them to three new and emerging technical innovations: precision-guided munitions, robotic autonomy, and computing.

scholarly journals 3-D Printable Polymer Pelletizer Chopper for Fused Granular Fabrication-Based Additive Manufacturing

Inventions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aubrey Woern ◽  
Joshua Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
High Tolerance ◽  
Entire Process ◽  
Composite Fabrication ◽  
The Us ◽  
Color Mixing ◽  
Returns On Investment

Although distributed additive manufacturing can provide high returns on investment, the current markup on commercial filament over base polymers limits deployment. These cost barriers can be surmounted by eliminating the entire process of fusing filament by three-dimensional (3-D) printing products directly from polymer granules. Fused granular fabrication (FGF) (or fused particle fabrication (FPF)) is being held back in part by the accessibility of low-cost pelletizers and choppers. An open-source 3-D printable invention disclosed here allows for precisely controlled pelletizing of both single thermopolymers as well as composites for 3-D printing. The system is designed, built, and tested for its ability to provide high-tolerance thermopolymer pellets with a number of sizes capable of being used in an FGF printer. In addition, the chopping pelletizer is tested for its ability to chop multi-materials simultaneously for color mixing and composite fabrication as well as precise fractional measuring back to filament. The US$185 open-source 3-D printable pelletizer chopper system was successfully fabricated and has a 0.5 kg/h throughput with one motor, and 1.0 kg/h throughput with two motors using only 0.24 kWh/kg during the chopping process. Pellets were successfully printed directly via FGF as well as indirectly after being converted into high-tolerance filament in a recyclebot.

scholarly journals Accounting for institutional variation in expected returns to higher education

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn Dorius ◽  
David Tandberg ◽  
Bridgette Cram
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public University ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Expected Returns ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Institutional Variation ◽  
Returns On Investment

This study leverages human capital theory to identify the correlates of expected returns on investment in higher education at the level of institutions. We leverage estimates of average ROI in post-secondary education among more than 400 baccalaureate degree conferring colleges and universities to understand the correlates of a relatively new metric of institutional ROI. Results indicate that a diverse undergraduate student body, high graduation rate, and public university status are strong, positive, and robustly associated with institutional ROI. The model accounts for more than 70% of inter-university variation in ROI, suggesting that the factors we have identified are among the most important correlates of institutional ROI. We discuss the policy implications of these findings for institutions of higher education in the context of institutional rankings and a rapidly evolving education landscape, giving special attention to student body characteristics colleges and universities.

scholarly journals Achieving the 4IR University Library in Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends, Opportunities and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
Christopher Nkiko ◽  
Omorodion Okuonghae
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Library Management ◽  
University Library ◽  
Comprehensive Collection ◽  
Social Mediation ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Returns On Investment

Aim: The paper examined the university library in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the preconditions for achieving and sustaining the same in Nigeria. 4IR is characterized by a level of automation, deployment of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, internet connectivity and accessibility to the global information network, subscription to reputable online databases, quality and comprehensive collection in diverse formats, preponderance of digital natives among patrons, increased demand for seamless access to online resources and virtual operations, new library spaces (learning commons, research commons and makerspace), open scholarly communication, research data management, social mediation applications, digital curation and preservation. The challenges militating against effective crystallization of 4IR university libraries include: financial constraints, inadequate infrastructure, resistance to change, inadequate skills and competencies, security and intrusion issues, lack of exposure to international standards. Conclusions: The paper recommended the following as requisite panacea: leadership, demonstrating and justifying returns on investment, benchmarking practices, anti-intrusion and back-up systems, adequate power supply and bandwidth, endowment and corporate social responsibility, indigenous library management software, and capacity building initiatives.

scholarly journals Return on investment (ROI) in subscription databases by Nigerian academic libraries: a survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 63-85
Author(s):  
Adekunle Emmanuel Oyadeyi ◽  
Taofeek Abiodun Oladokun ◽  
Oludare Adebanji Shorunke ◽  
Omobolanle Seri Fasola
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Electronic Database ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Online Databases ◽  
The Social ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Nigerian University ◽  
Returns On Investment

Aim: There seems to be a dearth of literature on how much Nigerian university libraries are spending on the acquisition of Online Electronic Database (OED). This study sets out to investigate the annual cost of acquiring this important and evolving aspect of library collection with the view of determining whether the returns in terms of utilization is commensurate with the invested fund. Methodology: The study adopts a quantitative research method. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect data from 55 librarians in 41 academic libraries across Nigeria. The data collected were processed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Findings: Academic libraries in Nigeria spend an average of ₦12,500,000 or $32,637 on OED subscriptions annually. The study has shown that Nigerian academic libraries usually subscribe to the EBSCOhost and Research4Life databases with few adding specialized databases such as Law Pavilion, HeinOnline, Legalpedia, and ScienceDirect. To ensure adequate returns on investment, the libraries are massively providing support infrastructures, user education, and other information services. However, challenges limiting the widespread use of online databases include irregular power supply and slow internet connectivity among others.  Conclusions: The study, therefore, concludes that there is a middling to low return on subscribed OED in Nigerian academic libraries. However, there are still various huddles that must be scaled for Nigerian academic libraries to reap adequate returns on their investments in online electronic databases.

scholarly journals Stochastic Optimization for Long Term Capital Structures, Systems, and Components Refurbishment and Replacement

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Congjian Wang ◽  
Diego Mandelli ◽  
Shawn St Germain ◽  
Curtis Smith ◽  
David Morton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stochastic Optimization ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Capital Investments ◽  
Priority List ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Plant Operations ◽  
Economic Constraints ◽  
Returns On Investment

Abstract As commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs) pursue extended plant operations in the form of Second License Renewals (SLRs), opportunities exist for these plants to provide capital investments to ensure long-term, safe, and economic performance. Several utilities have already announced their intention to pursue extended operations for one or more of their NPPs via SLR2. The goal of this research is to develop a risk-informed approach to evaluate and prioritize plant capital investments made in preparation for, and during the period of, extended plant operations to support decisions in NPP operations. In order to prioritize project selection via a risk-informed approach we developed a single decision-making tool that integrates safety/reliability, cost, and stochastic optimization models to provide users with data analysis capabilities to more cost effectively manage plant assets. Both stochastic analysis methods — such as Monte Carlo-based sampling strategies — and multi-stage stochastic optimization strategies are employed to provide priority lists to decision-makers in support of risk-informed decisions. We applied the proposed method to a trial application of projected replacement/refurbishment expenditures for plant capital assets (i.e., structures, systems, and components [SSCs]). The objective is to optimize the SSC replacement/refurbishment schedule in terms of economic constraints, data uncertainties, and SSC reliability data, as well to generate a priority list for maximizing returns on investment.

scholarly journals An analysis of the risks and benefits of beef intensification

2000 ◽  
pp. 25-29
Author(s):  
Graeme Ogle ◽  
Philip Tither
Keyword(s):  
Financial Analysis ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Net Worth ◽  
Traditional System ◽  
Total Capital ◽  
Farm Business ◽  
Returns On Investment ◽  
Stocking Rates

Dairy beef enterprises are an intensification option for traditional sheep and beef businesses. Intensification largely refers to lifting soil fertility, the establishment of internal fencing and associated water supply, so that forage can be allocated with increasing precision. This precision enables higher stocking rates as a result of increasing pasture production, pasture quality, and intake leading to greater production of beef. Two beef finishing systems were compared; one a traditional system and the other a Technosystem. Using average parameter analyses, intensification was shown to pay at market returns of $2.50/kg of carcass weight under the production assumptions we used. The Technosystem showed significant returns on investment lifting the return on total capital invested in the farm business from 4.9% in a traditional system to 8%. We used two software programs; RANGEPACK HerdEcon and Stockpol™ to assess the risks a farmer would face when converting to a Technosystem. The two risks assessed were the variable climate of the East Coast and market prices. While these parameters vary considerably, the probability of doing better than the traditional system is high (84.7%). This declined rapidly if final stocking rates were less than 4 bulls per hectare with the probability of doing better reducing to 58% at 3.5 bulls per hectare. We also showed that the variability in cash surpluses is reduced by development with the coeffiecient of variation for the traditional system at 126% compared with the Technosystem of 95%. Variability does have a moderate effect on reducing overall profitability (13.4%), most of which (9.3%) is caused by markets rather than climate. Our conclusion is that beef intensification provides a reliable means of increasing net worth and cash surpluses. Keywords: beef intensification, bull finishing, climatic variability, financial analysis, price variability, risk, Technosystems

scholarly journals The impact of state guarantees on banks’ ratings and risk behaviour.

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Kleinow ◽  
Andreas Horsch
Keyword(s):  
Risk Behaviour ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Market Prices ◽  
Risk Appetite ◽  
Governmental Support ◽  
Returns On Investment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Bail Out ◽  
Additional Safety

State guarantees are supposed to have positive influence on banks’ ratings as they provide an additional safety net to depositors while lending the guarantor’s creditworthiness to the bank. Based hereupon, we research if and to what extent guarantees perceptibly affect market prices of securities issued by banks. Our results indicate that banks receive governmental rating subsidies of up to 7 notches depending on the region. Furthermore, literature suggests that guarantees and subsequent bailout expectations increase the risk appetite of banks enjoying this governmental support, as protected actors feel less incentivized to apply market discipline. Based hereupon, we consider the possibility of reversed causality: Is the probability of bailouts correlated to a bank’s risk taking? Analysing the drivers of governmental support for different types of banks, we find that governments are particularly willing to bail out (traditional commercial) banks with low returns on investment, or weak share performance, and a higher exposure to risk.

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