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A parameter has been identified that can be used to calculate a joint's bond‐line thicknesses. This was successfully represented by a fourth order polynomial expression and has been used to predict the volume of adhesive required to precisely fill structural joints of unknown bond‐line thickness. This technology was further used to automatically control adhesive injection into pre‐assembled vehicle structural joints for use in an automated production environment. This has great advantage over adhesive application prior to joint assembly as the adhesive remains in the joint rather than contaminating the adherend surface and the bond‐line remains filled. This will be of benefit to the automotive industry. The method is adaptable and can be re‐programmed to cope with a number of applications.

Describes, in case study form, how a UK‐based building society installed and operated a new system for financial planning and forecasting. Looks at the objectives, the way in which these were satisfied and how its financial planning and strategic requirements have been changed and enhanced.

Power structures today are manifold and complex. Tomorrow’s world will be more complex still. This paper aims to explore just a few of the many future issues surrounding changes in power, the organizations and people that hold it and the ways in which it could be gained and manipulated. It identifies two parallel trends. One is that instantaneous communication, the growth of large network‐based communities, virtual companies and the attendant problem of taxation collection will strengthen globalization. The other, almost contradictory, trend is that advances in information technology and automation will allow for more emphasis on human issues and local community activities. The only guaranteed outcome in the new power structure is increased complexity.

Discusses some of the changes that are affecting us today and in the future, and some of the ways in which people try to cope with them, hopefully putting us in a better position to work out the consequent changes resulting from the human stimulus/response cycle. Concludes that the telecommunications industry is both a cause and a solution to the problem of change.

Building automobile bodies from lightweight materials using space‐frame construction techniques is increasingly popular because of exhaust emission legislation. One proposed method of achieving this is by using plug and socket joints, which are injected with adhesive after assembly. A method for controlling this process, irrespective of component tolerances, is proposed here. A test rig representing a plug and socket joint was injected with the adhesive and a method for successfully filling the butt‐jointed end of the joint found. The addition of a restriction to the joint's open end gave a method of filling the cavity without creating any air gaps. The use of neoprene O‐ring seals for creating the restriction was investigated. The pressure of the adhesive at the joint inlet (gate) was recorded (data logger), and an analysis of this has been used to determine the point when adhesive injection can be arrested and the joint correctly filled.

The purpose of this article is to explore the role of information and communications technologies (ICT) in creating cities that are attractive, healthy and prosperous places to live, work and visit.

Considers technological developments in information and communications technologies in the short‐ and medium‐term and their application in the urban environment.

IT is developing faster than ever and will be a useful tool in the redevelopment of cities. Short‐term developments such as wireless LANs may be unglamorous but have large potential for opening up new areas of opportunities, both in social and business uses. In the mid‐term, these networks will combine with ambient intelligence to make a smart digital air overlay, making every part of a city electronically enabled. The result will be big improvement in public transport and city architecture. Other IT developments will improve health, governance and security. If managed well, future urban society will be happier, less lonely, more prosperous, healthier and more involved in decision making.

Offers a personal view of the ways in which advances in information technologies can make a positive contribution to urban environments over the next ten to 15 years.