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This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative information technology open architecture design and integrating Radio Frequency Identification Device data technologies and real-time optimization and control mechanisms as the critical technology components of the solution. The innovative information technology, which pursues the focused logistics, will be deployed in 36 months at the estimated cost of $568 million in constant dollars. We estimate that the Systems, Applications, Products (SAP)-based enterprise integration solution that the Army currently pursues will cost another $1.5 billion through the year 2014; however, it is unlikely to deliver the intended technical capabilities.

The consideration of alternative sources of material for construction is imperative to reduce the environmental impacts as two-fifths of the carbon footprint of materials is attributed to the construction industry. One alternative material with improved biodegradable attributes which can contribute to carbon offset is bamboo. The commercialisation of bamboo in modern infrastructures has significant potential to address few of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) itemised by the United Nations, namely SDG 9 about industry, innovation and infrastructure. Other SDGs covering sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production and climate action are also indirectly addressed when utilising sustainable construction materials. Being a natural material however, the full commercialisation of materials such as bamboo is constrained by a lack of durability. Besides fracture mechanisms arising from load-induced cracks and thermal modification, the durability of bamboo material is greatly impaired by biotic and abiotic factors, which equally affect its natural rate of degradation, hence fracture behaviour. In first instance, this chapter outlines the various factors leading to the durability limitations in bamboo material due to load-induced cracks and natural degradation based on recent findings in this field from the author's own work and from past literature. Secondly, part of this chapter is devoted to a new approach of processing the surge of information about the varied aspects of bamboo durability by considering the powerful technique of artificial intelligence (AI), specifically the artificial neural network (ANN) for prediction modelling. Further use of AI-enabled technologies could have an impactful outcome on the life cycle assessment of bamboo-based structures to address the growing challenges outlined by the United Nations.

The circular economy (CE) requires that ‘used’ materials continue to be in circulation after their initial use has finished. Materials are typically sourced in the building industry as new materials in bulk that carry guarantees of safety, quality and delivery. The distributed and diverse origins of used materials mean that they do not normally carry these guarantees. Furthermore, existing potential procurement systems for reused materials such as eBay allow users to present their auctions in a loosely structured form that can make it difficult to manage and procure multiple items to satisfy the quantities, condition and type required by the contractor. Therefore, this chapter proposes an information system to support the agile procurement of used materials at a scale that is appropriate for construction projects to support the CE. It describes the development of a tool called ‘JunkUp’ that would allow multiple auctions of similar items from diverse sellers to be managed as a single item. Based on this system, in future work, it should be possible to use this tool to test strategies to address the risk to safety, quality and delivery of reused materials in construction. This should ultimately lead to the opportunity to increase material reuse (and reduce waste) in the building and construction sector and support an agile CE for the building industry.

Digital technologies provide an opportunity for the rail sector to achieve social, economic and environmental sustainability, if implemented correctly. Unlocking the full potential of technology, however, will require significant changes beyond the technological. Physical assets will need to link with digital assets, making best use of data, simulation and modelling. Transformational leadership informed by systems engineering will be necessary to deliver the change process required to innovate across the whole railway life cycle. Each of these digital railway elements – technology, data, simulation, transformational leadership and systems engineering – presents challenges to be overcome. The authors believe that by instilling core values alongside technical expertise, by being open, resilient, responsive, customer-centric and valuing people, the digital railway has the power to transform the sector. It will enable improved railway processes; safer, faster and more reliable trains; better customer experience; cost-effectiveness; and reduced carbon emissions and more. The digital railway will not just realise the current vision but form the foundation for a sustainable railway to meet changing mobility needs well beyond 2050.

Data fusion and the combination of multiple data sources have been part of travel survey processes for some time. In the current context, where technologies and information systems spread and become more and more diverse, the transportation community is getting more and more interested in the potential of data fusion processes to help gather more complete datasets and help give additional utility to available data sources. Research is looking for ways to enhance the available information by using both various data collection methods and data from various sources, surveys or observation systems. Survey response rates are decreasing over the world, and combining survey modes appears to be an interesting way to address this problem. Letting interviewees choose their survey mode allows increasing response rates, but survey mode could impact the data collected. This paper first discusses issues rising when combining survey modes within the same survey and presents a method to merge the data coming from different survey modes, in order to consolidate the database. Then, it defines and describes the data fusion process and discusses how it can be relevant for transportation analysis and modelling purposes. Benefiting from the availability of various datasets from the Greater Montréal Area and the Greater Lyon Area, some applications of data fusion are constructed and/or reproduced to illustrate and test some of the methods described in the literature.

Many modern beliefs about entrepreneurship have their roots in Joseph Schumpeter's challenge to the traditional view that growth results from the accumulation of capital. According to the received wisdom of the time, thrifty ants prospered. Spendthrift grasshoppers starved.

The correlations between mechanical behaviour, tensile strength, and rock parameters of metasedimentary rock samples in Karak, Pahang’s New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) were statistically evaluated from the rock mechanic laboratory works at the selected sections around 2,000 m of the tunnel (named as NATM-1). According to a statistical analysis, lithotypes, geological structures, and region geology have a significant impact on the mechanical behaviour of the metasedimentary rock. In the Brazilian test, the fracture behaviour of the disc specimens was highly related to the reliability and precision of the experimental data by validations of methods. In this work, the impact of different loading methods and rock lithotypes on the failure mechanism of Brazilian discs was examined utilising five different metasedimentary rock types and three different loading methods. During the loading operation, the strain and displacement fields of the specimens were recorded and evaluated using a computerised strain gauge system. The rock types, according to experimental data, have a significant impact on the peak load and deformation properties of Brazilian discs. With the method below, tensile strength point of a disc specimen is clearly regulated by the material stiffness and tensile–compression ratio. Seismic occurrences have had a substantial impact on changing the rock and exerting forces that may affect its mechanical characteristics as well as its vulnerability to weathering effects or discontinuities. As a result, the goal of this study is to look into the connection between rock mechanics and metasedimentary rock stress analysis in NATM-1, Karak, Pahang.

Disassembly takes place in remanufacturing, recycling, and disposal, with a line being the best choice for automation. The disassembly line balancing problem seeks a sequence that is feasible, minimizes the number of workstations, and ensures similar idle times, as well as other end-of-life specific concerns. Finding the optimal balance is computationally intensive due to exponential growth. Combinatorial optimization methods hold promise for providing solutions to the problem, which is proven here to be NP-hard. Stochastic (genetic algorithm) and deterministic (greedy/hill-climbing hybrid heuristic) methods are presented and compared. Numerical results are obtained using a recent electronic product case study.

International scientific associations and their surrounding transnational epistemic communities provide a major avenue for intercultural dialogue. International scientific associations belong to the larger family of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). The number of INGOs has increased much more than that of IGOs, passing from less than 300 at the beginning of the 20th century to several thousand a century later. Some of these organizations, like Amnesty International or the World Wildlife Fund, represent effective pressure groups vis-à-vis global decision makers who are not accountable to larger constituencies challenging governments on specific policy issues. Others, like several international scientific associations, are less visible but play key roles in international cooperation and in the formation of a global civil society and public space. Many INGOs have soft power, given that for many domestic policy issues, from human rights to environmental protection, INGOs are in fact the driving force of the decision-making process and attract citizens into coalitions that bypass national boundaries.