Probability Distributions.- Linear Models for Regression.- Linear Models for Classification.- Neural Networks.- Kernel Methods.- Sparse Kernel Machines.- Graphical Models.- Mixture Models and EM.- Approximate Inference.- Sampling Methods.- Continuous Latent Variables.- Sequential Data.- Combining Models.

Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning

2 1 The innovative transport systems and the CityMobil project 10 1.1 The research questions 10 2 The state of art in the field of automatic transport systems 12 2.1 Case studies and demand studies for innovative transport systems 12 3 The design and implementation of surveys 14 3.1 Definition of experimental design 14 3.2 Questionnaire design and delivery 16 3.3 First analyses on the collected sample 18 4 Calibration of Logit Multionomial demand models 21 4.1 Methodology 21 4.2 Calibration of the “full” model. 22 4.3 Calibration of the “final” model 24 4.4 The demand analysis through the final Multinomial Logit model 25 5 The analysis of interaction between the demand and socioeconomic attributes 31 5.1 Methodology 31 5.2 Application of Mixed Logit models to the demand 31 5.3 Analysis of the interactions between demand and socioeconomic attributes through Mixed Logit models 32 5.4 Mixed Logit model and interaction between age and the demand for the CTS 38 5.5 Demand analysis with Mixed Logit model 39 6 Final analyses and conclusions 45 6.1 Comparison between the results of the analyses 45 6.2 Conclusions 48 6.3 Answers to the research questions and future developments 52

The European commission

NUDGE: IMPROVING DECISIONS ABOUT HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Penguin Books, 2009, 312 pp, ISBN 978-0-14-311526-7This book is best described formally as a general explanation of and advocacy for libertarian paternalism, a term coined by the authors in earlier publications. Informally, it is about how leaders, systems, organizations, and governments can nudge people to do the things the nudgers want and need done for the betterment of the nudgees, or of society. It is paternalism in the sense that "it is legitimate for choice architects to try to influence people's behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better", (p. 5) It is libertarian in that "people should be free to do what they like - and to opt out of undesirable arrangements if they want to do so", (p. 5) The built-in possibility of opting out or making a different choice preserves freedom of choice even though people's behavior has been influenced by the nature of the presentation of the information or by the structure of the decisionmaking system. I had never heard of libertarian paternalism before reading this book, and I now find it fascinating.Written for a general audience, this book contains mostly social and behavioral science theory and models, but there is considerable discussion of structure and process that has roots in mathematical and quantitative modeling. One of the main applications of this social system is economic choice in investing, selecting and purchasing products and services, systems of taxes, banking (mortgages, borrowing, savings), and retirement systems. Other quantitative social choice systems discussed include environmental effects, health care plans, gambling, and organ donations. Softer issues that are also subject to a nudge-based approach are marriage, education, eating, drinking, smoking, influence, spread of information, and politics. There is something in this book for everyone.The basis for this libertarian paternalism concept is in the social theory called "science of choice", the study of the design and implementation of influence systems on various kinds of people. The terms Econs and Humans, are used to refer to people with either considerable or little rational decision-making talent, respectively. The various libertarian paternalism concepts and systems presented are tested and compared in light of these two types of people. Two foundational issues that this book has in common with another book, Network of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders, that was also reviewed for this issue of the Journal are that 1 ) there are two modes of thinking (or components of the brain) - an automatic (intuitive) process and a reflective (rational) process and 2) the need for conformity and the desire for imitation are powerful forces in human behavior. …

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

All these premises having, as I think, been clearly made out, it is impossible that the rulers now on earth should make any benefit, or derive any the least shadow of authority from that, which is held to be the fountain of all power, Adam's private dominion and paternal jurisdiction; so that he that will not give just occasion to think that all government in the world is the product only of force and violence, and that men live together by no other rules but that of beasts, where the strongest carries it, and so lay a foundation for perpetual disorder and mischief, tumult, sedition and rebellion, (things that the followers of that hypothesis so loudly cry out against) must of necessity find out another rise of government, another original of political power, and another way of designing and knowing the persons that have it, than what Sir Robert Filmer hath taught us.

Two Treatises of Government.

A detailed review of the education sector in Australia as in the data provided by the 2006 edition of the OECD's annual publication, 'Education at a Glance' is presented. While the data has shown that in almost all OECD countries educational attainment levels are on the rise, with countries showing impressive gains in university qualifications, it also reveals that a large of share of young people still do not complete secondary school, which remains a baseline for successful entry into the labour market.

/pdf/education-at-a-glance-m5vl7o68j5.pdf

Education at a Glance

Location-based advertising (LBA) allows the delivery of advertising messages to consumers in places that are known for their particular high and positive advertising effect. While LBA is recognized for static roadside billboards and the Web, LBA can now be found on mobile devices. This mobile advertising adds valuable opportunities for companies: it allows consumers to be addressed (i) individually, (ii) based on their current location, and (iii) dynamically in real-time; furthermore, (iv) content may be replaced quickly by remote access. Accordingly, within the mobile marketing domain, LBA on mobile devices turns over a new leaf. This young research field is interdisciplinary at its core and marketing and technical experts expect major impetus. To contribute to this growing field, we systematically analyze and evaluate existing literature in the field of LBA on mobile devices, and present the results of six analyses. By building bridges between the involved disciplines, we present existing research in a condensed, concise and evaluating form which will support researchers in orienting for future research in the field. Furthermore, we pinpoint selected “white spots” in research and draw attention to promising areas for future research and directions of future development trends.

Location-based advertising on mobile devices

Purpose




The paper aims to provide the necessary basis for a novel interdisciplinary research field. Various types and implementations of crowdsourcing have emerged in the market; many of them are related to logistics. While we can identify plenty of crowd logistics applications using information technology capabilities and information sharing in practice, theories behind this phenomenon have received only limited attention. This paper accounts for filling this research gap by analyzing the crowd’s contributions in logistics of goods and information.




Design/methodology/approach




This paper is part of an ongoing research endeavor in the field of location-based crowdsourcing. It represents conceptual work that builds on a literature review enriched with an in-depth analysis of real-world examples in the field of crowd logistics. Using a scoring method, we provide an example how a company may evaluate the alternatives of crowd logistics. The main approach is an analysis of variants of how the social crowd may be integrated in logistics processes. The work is conceptual in its core. Thereby, we use real-world examples of crowdsourcing applications to underpin the evaluated variants of crowd logistics.




Findings




The paper presents relevant theoretical background on crowd logistics. The authors differentiate between variants of crowd logistics with their flow of materials, goods and information. Thereby they zoom in the type, significance and process flow of the crowd’s contributions. They discuss potential advantages and challenges of logistics with the performing crowd and deeply discuss opportunities and challenges from a business and from an individual’s perspective. Finally, they highlight a route map for future research directions in this novel interdisciplinary research field.




Research limitations/implications




As this work is conceptual in its core, generalizations may be drawn only with great care. Still, we are in a position to propose a route map for further research in this area in this paper. Also the integration of an analysis of a scale of real-world applications allows us to highlight our research’s practical relevance and implications.




Originality/value




The main contribution of this paper is an in-depth analysis and consolidation of innovative crowd logistics applications to provide an overview on recent implementations. The authors propose a categorization scheme and contribute with a route map for further research in the field of crowd logistics.

“Crowd logistics”: the contribution of social crowds in logistics activities

Context: Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is the de facto standard for business process modeling. It was developed by the Object Management Group with support of the major organizations in the fields of software engineering and information systems. Despite its wide use, when it comes to representing ubiquitous business processes, this business process modeling language is lacking. Objective: To address BPMN’s deficiency in representing ubiquitous business processes, we extend it and present uBPMN (or ubiquitous BPMN). Method: First, we analyze the modeling requirements for representing ubiquitous business processes. Based on the requirements, we conservatively extend the Meta-Object Facility meta-model and the XML Schema Definition of BPMN as well as extend the notation. The extension, that we call uBPMN follows the same outline as set by the Object Management Group for BPMN. Results: The proposed uBPMN not only allows for modeling ubiquitous business processes but also lays the groundwork for potentially deploying a variety of ubiquitous computing technologies. We illustrate all of uBPMN’s capabilities and benefits with real-life examples. Conclusion: uBPMN extends BPMN v2.0 with new capabilities to deal with ubiquitous computing technologies.

uBPMN: A BPMN extension for modeling ubiquitous business processes

Sports tracking applications are increasingly available on the market, and research has recently picked up this topic. Tracking a user's running track and providing feedback on the performance are among the key features of such applications. However, little attention has been paid to the accuracy of the applications' localization measurements. In evaluating the nine currently most popular running applications, we found tremendous differences in the GPS measurements. Besides this finding, our study contributes to the scientific knowledge base by qualifying the findings of previous studies concerning accuracy with smartphones' GPS components.

On the (In-)Accuracy of GPS Measures of Smartphones: A Study of Running Tracking Applications

Digital signage is an economically promising field in advertising. Yet, it is a hardly researched field, first empirical attempts focused on consumer reactions. Digital signage, though, brings together various market players, all of which with different objectives and expected benefits. For this reason, we introduce a conceptual framework for interactive digital signage that allows developing various business strategies and associated business values integrating the entire set of possible players in their relevant roles and configuration requirements. A rule set represents one of the core modules of the framework, which allows for a sustainable integration of functionalities. Acknowledging that technological and non-technological advancements of digital signage need reconcilement, our proposed integrated approach to digital signage allows for interdisciplinary contributions.

Christine Bauer

Papers

Location-based advertising on mobile devices

“Crowd logistics”: the contribution of social crowds in logistics activities

uBPMN: A BPMN extension for modeling ubiquitous business processes

On the (In-)Accuracy of GPS Measures of Smartphones: A Study of Running Tracking Applications

Interactive Digital Signage - An Innovative Service and Its Future Strategies