Digital Modeling, Integrated Project Delivery and Industry Transformation: An Australian Case Study

This research is focused on realizing productivity benefits for the delivery of transport infrastructure in the Australian construction industry through the use of building information modeling (BIM), virtual design and construction (VDC) and integrated project delivery (IPD). Specific objectives include: (I) building an understanding of the institutional environment, business systems and support mechanisms (e.g., training and skilling) which impact on the uptake of BIM/VDC; (II) gathering data to undertake a cross-country analysis of these environments; and (III) providing strategic and practical outcomes to guide the uptake of such processes in Australia. Activities which will inform this research include a review of academic literature and industry documentation, semi-formal interviews in Australia and Sweden, and a cross-country comparative analysis to determine factors affecting uptake and associated productivity improvements. These activities will seek to highlight the gaps between current-practice and best-practice which are impacting on widespread adoption of BIM/VDC and IPD. Early findings will be discussed with intended outcomes of this research being used to: inform a national public procurement strategy; provide guidelines for new contractual frameworks; and contribute to closing skill gaps. Keywords: building information modeling (BIM); virtual design and construction (VDC); integrated project delivery (IPD); transport infrastructure; Australia; procurement

Australian consumer attitudes and decision making on renewable energy technology and its impact on the transformation of the energy sector

This paper critically examines research on consumer attitudes and behavior towards solar photovoltaic (PV) and renewable energy technology in Australia. The uptake of renewable energy technology by residential consumers in Australia in the past decade has transformed the electricity supply and demand paradigm. Thus, this paper reviews Australian research on consumer behavior, understanding and choices in order to identify gaps in knowledge. As the role of the consumer transforms there is a critical need to understand the ways consumers may respond to future energy policies to mitigate unforeseen negative social and economic consequence of programs designed to achieve positive environmental outcomes.

Urban growth in the Kathmandu Valley: The transformation of public space

Traditional towns of the Kathmandu Valley boast a fine provision of public spaces in their neighbourhoods. Historically, a hierarchy of public space has been distributed over the entire town with each neighbourhood centered around more or less spacious public squares. However, rapid growth of these towns over the past decades has resulted in haphazard development of new urban areas with little provision of public space. Recent studies indicate that the loss of public space is a major consequence of the uncontrolled urban growth of the Kathmandu Valley and its new neighbourhoods. This paper reviews the current urban growth of the Kathmandu Valley and its impact on the development of public space in new neighbourhoods. The preliminary analysis of the case study of three new neighbourhoods shows that the formation and utilization of neighbourhood public space exhibit fundamental differences from those found in the traditional city cores. The following key issues are identified in this paper: a) Governance and regulations have been a challenge to regulate rapid urban growth; b) The current pattern of neighbourhood formation is found to be different from that of traditional neighbourhoods due to the changes with rapid urban development; c) Public spaces have been compromised in both planned and unplanned new neighbourhoods in terms of their quantity and quality; d) The changing provision of public space has contributed to its changing use and meaning; and e) The changing demographic composition, changing society and life style have had direct impact on the declining use of public space. Moreover, the management of public spaces remains a big challenge due to their changing nature and the changing governance. The current transformation public space does not appear to be conducive, and has led to adversely changing social environment of the new neighbourhoods.

Approximate Bayesian Computation for astronomical model analysis : a case study in galaxy demographics and morphological transformation at high redshift

Approximate Bayesian Computation’ (ABC) represents a powerful methodology for the analysis of complex stochastic systems for which the likelihood of the observed data under an arbitrary set of input parameters may be entirely intractable – the latter condition rendering useless the standard machinery of tractable likelihood-based, Bayesian statistical inference [e.g. conventional Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation]. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential of ABC for astronomical model analysis by application to a case study in the morphological transformation of high-redshift galaxies. To this end, we develop, first, a stochastic model for the competing processes of merging and secular evolution in the early Universe, and secondly, through an ABC-based comparison against the observed demographics of massive (Mgal > 1011 M⊙) galaxies (at 1.5 < z < 3) in the Cosmic Assembly Near-IR Deep Extragalatic Legacy Survey (CANDELS)/Extended Groth Strip (EGS) data set we derive posterior probability densities for the key parameters of this model. The ‘Sequential Monte Carlo’ implementation of ABC exhibited herein, featuring both a self-generating target sequence and self-refining MCMC kernel, is amongst the most efficient of contemporary approaches to this important statistical algorithm. We highlight as well through our chosen case study the value of careful summary statistic selection, and demonstrate two modern strategies for assessment and optimization in this regard. Ultimately, our ABC analysis of the high-redshift morphological mix returns tight constraints on the evolving merger rate in the early Universe and favours major merging (with disc survival or rapid reformation) over secular evolution as the mechanism most responsible for building up the first generation of bulges in early-type discs.

The waves in business transformation management: a conceptualization of how IT-enabled Business Transformations Unfold

We examine IT-enabled Business Transformations (ITBT) based on three case studies of successful, multi-year ERP implementation programs. Given the inconsistencies in segmenting the different key periods in ITBTs in both literature and our cases, we sought to consolidate the common events or critical incidents in such initiatives. We label those key periods as waves, and the emergence of triggers and reactions thereunto in the management of business transformations. We show that business transformations unfold in four distinct waves: Wave 1 Concept Development, Wave 2 Blueprint Design, Wave 3 Solution Delivery and Wave 4 Post-Transformation. These waves are characterized by the occurrence of strategic- and program-level triggers to which organizations respond by invoking different management services. Our interpretive research provides a new conceptualization of ITBTs based on a service-oriented view of such initiatives. This view draws attention to managerial capabilities as a service to transformations, and how and when these capabilities are required to respond to triggering incidents. We outline propositions and recommendations for business transformation management.

Processes of transformation : art into pop and back again

This research project was a case study for managing and innovating an interdisciplinary practice: specifically across music, performance and contemporary art. Key works included painting/sound/video installation, experimental performance, electronic pop music, music video and electronic pop music performance. An idiosyncratic and transformative use of colour emerged as an underlying theme and strategy for cohesion. The project offers strategies for the challenges of interdisciplinary practice specifically addressing the limitations related to institutionalised value systems, aesthetic traditions and disciplinary languages.

Business transformation management : composition and orchestration of management services

This research develops a better understanding on how large-scale and complex IT-enabled business transformations are managed. Evidence from three global case studies suggest that business transformations can be composed and orchestrated like a jazz band, where improvisation plays a fundamental role to maintain the melody, harmony and rhythm of such initiatives. The thesis details how the jazz metaphor can assist senior management on how to reuse and reconfigure capabilities as services for transforming organizations. To the academic body of knowledge, the thesis provides a study on the use of management services as a theoretical lens to examine Business Transformation Management.

The use of a Riesz fractional differential-based approach for texture enhancement in image processing

Texture enhancement is an important component of image processing that finds extensive application in science and engineering. The quality of medical images, quantified using the imaging texture, plays a significant role in the routine diagnosis performed by medical practitioners. Most image texture enhancement is performed using classical integral order differential mask operators. Recently, first order fractional differential operators were used to enhance images. Experimentation with these methods led to the conclusion that fractional differential operators not only maintain the low frequency contour features in the smooth areas of the image, but they also nonlinearly enhance edges and textures corresponding to high frequency image components. However, whilst these methods perform well in particular cases, they are not routinely useful across all applications. To this end, we apply the second order Riesz fractional differential operator to improve upon existing approaches of texture enhancement. Compared with the classical integral order differential mask operators and other first order fractional differential operators, we find that our new algorithms provide higher signal to noise values and superior image quality.

Nanoscale texture on glass and titanium substrates by physical vapor deposition process

The aim of the paper is to give a feasibility study on the material deposition of Nanoscale textured morphology of titanium and titanium oxide layers on titanium and glass substrates. As a recent development in nanoscale deposition, Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) based DC magnetron sputtering has been the choice for the deposition process. The nanoscale morphology and surface roughness of the samples have been characterized using Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The surface roughnesses obtained from AFM have been compared using surface profiler. From the results we can say that the roughness values are dependent on the surface roughness of the substrate. The glass substrate was relatively smoother than the titanium plate and hence lower layer roughness was obtained. From AFM a unique nano-pattern of a boomerang shaped titanium oxide layer on glass substrate have been obtained. The boomerang shaped nano-scale pattern was found to be smaller when the layer was deposited at higher sputtering power. This indicated that the morphology of the deposited titanium oxide layer has been influenced by the sputtering power.

Sport and the transformation of Australian television

This article uses sports coverage as a lens to analyse changes in broadcast television (free-to-air [FTA] and subscription) in Australia from the 1950s to the present. Sport has always been a vital genre for broadcast television. It is now, arguably, more important than ever. It is indisputable – though rarely comprehensively documented – that sport and sports coverage have shaped and transformed Australian television over many years. The significance of sports has incrementally increased with successive technological and industrial developments – such as the introduction of colour in 1975, electronic news gathering from 1976, subscription television in 1995, digital terrestrial broadcasting in 2001 and digital subscription broadcasting in 2004 – to the point where broadcast television’s continuing popularity and ongoing cultural significance relies to a great extent on sports coverage and related programming. In 2015, the launch of a bevy of new subscription video on demand (SVOD) services in Australia might appear to have reinforced drama as the key genre in the battle for attention and engagement, but for both historical and contemporary reasons sport remains the crucial form of audiovisual content.

Fast unscented transformation-based transient stability margin estimation incorporating uncertainty of wind generation

Intermittent generation from wind farms leads to fluctuating power system operating conditions pushing the stability margin to its limits. The traditional way of determining the worst case generation dispatch for a system with several semi-scheduled wind generators yields a conservative solution. This paper proposes a fast estimation of the transient stability margin (TSM) incorporating the uncertainty of wind generation. First, the Kalman filter (KF) is used to provide linear estimation of system angle and then unscented transformation (UT) is used to estimate the distribution of the TSM. The proposed method is compared with the traditional Monte Carlo (MC) method and the effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified using Single Machine Infinite Bus (SMIB) and IEEE 14 generator Australian dynamic system. This method will aid grid operators to perform fast online calculations to estimate TSM distribution of a power system with high levels of intermittent wind generation.

Parent-child communication: The impact of globalisation and rapid social transformation in Khulais – Saudi Arabia

This qualitative study of parent-child communication examined the views of parents and children in a province of Saudi Arabia concerning how family interactions, parental authority and children’s behaviours are affected by the globalising influences of media and technology. Impacts reported include how tension in family communication arises as children develop a hybrid culture through accessing Western ideas and ideologies that are profoundly challenging to traditional Islamic culture.

Corporate Governance in the 21st Century: Japan's Gradual Transformation

The 'lost' decade of economic stagnation in Japan during the 1990s has become a 'found decade' for regulatory and institutional reform. With nearly all areas of the 'law in the books' reviewed, revised and rewritten, the Japanese legal system is no longer the system that foreign commentators felt they were finally starting to understand by the 1980s. Nowhere is this more evident than in corporate governance. Corporate and securities legislation has been comprehensively revamped over 1993-2007, creating a more flexible and transparent regime for shareholders and managers. Financial markets law and regulatory institutions have changed, too, creating a new context for Japan's 'main banks' as alternative or additional outside monitors of managerial performance in borrowing firms. Even the legislation surrounding labour regulations has been amended, reinforcing the lifelong security privileges for elite employee-stakeholders, yet also hastening the growth of other atypical employment relationships. But how do such legislative reforms affecting key players in Japanese firms, covering areas central to the design of Japanese capitlaism, play out in the 'law in action'? Overall, this book argues that a significant gradual transformation has occurred. Although this is evident also in other advanced industrialised democracies, such as Germany, Japan reveals especially complex interactions in the various fields that sometimes emphasise different ways of achieving such transformation.