bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The vital importance of a successful threat intelligence programme
Authors: Corem Yochai
Published: July 2024

Many organisations are currently wide open to cyber attacks. Effective intelligence is the only direct tool organisations have to significantly reduce cyber risk, as it involves taking the fight direct to the cybercriminals. This paper first describes the three layers of threat intelligence: data collection, analysis of collected intelligence, and, most crucially negating the impact of incoming threats. The paper describes how any threat intelligence that does not result in immediate remedial action is irrelevant to an organisation’s needs. The paper describes how a combination of human and machine forms effective intelligence gathering. Few organisations have the resources needed to build a truly successful threat intelligence platform. The paper outlines a few basic criteria that organisations must look for a cyber security provider. The paper concludes that taking the fight directly to the cybercriminals, and being able to predict incoming attacks with maximum accuracy, is a crucial first line of defence against cyber attacks, and that it is vital that the new threat intelligence platform enables truly impactful intelligence in order to control and reduce the organisation’s overall business risk — the aim of any cyber security strategy. The paper concludes it is essential that new threat intelligence platforms are designed to deliver accurate and actionable information that is relevant to the organisation concerned.
Balancing AI innovation with data protection: A closer look at the EU AI Act
Authors: Musch Sean , Borrelli Michael Charles , Kerrigan Charles
Published: July 2024

In this paper the authors explore the intricate relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and data protection within the framework of the EU AI Act.1 This groundbreaking legislation addresses the challenges posed by the rapid advancement of AI to safeguarding individual privacy rights. The paper analyses the EU AI Act's provisions, including in-scope entities, extraterritorial applicability, AI system classification, permitted usage and breach notification. It delves into the protection of individuals' fundamental rights, transparency and consent mechanisms. Ultimately, the study underscores the EU AI Act's significance in shaping responsible AI development amid evolving data protection concerns.
Airport privatisation across the Atlantic: Contrasting examples of success and failure, aspiration and reticence in the USA and UK
Authors: Bentley David
Published: July 2024

For many reasons, partly financial, partly political and partly historic, the privatisation of airports in the USA (and Canada) has never really ‘taken off’. Even taking into account the recently concluded transaction to lease the major airport in Puerto Rico, the track record of deals since the Airport Privatisation Pilot Program was instigated in 1996 is abysmal. In contrast, the UK embraced airport privatisation to such a degree since the mid 1980s that it is now one of the most privatised countries in the world in terms of airport infrastructure. In the UK, political factors were very much at the forefront of this tendency. Only one airport group held out against the movement, but it too has now succumbed to the tide and, belatedly, has both peculiarly and innovatively concocted a scheme by which at one and the same time it will sell part of its own equity to a strategic partner in order to invest in another airport on a ‘no win-no fee’ basis to the partner. This paper seeks to examine the underlying reasons behind this dichotomy while posing the question, ‘has airport privatisation to date really been of benefit to the consumer?’
A case for public support for vulnerability disclosure policies
Authors: Bordone Francesco
Published: July 2024

This paper makes a case for public administrations to give fiscal incentives to companies that have internal processes in place to manage vulnerabilities in their digital environments. It presents an exploration of the importance of implementing a vulnerability disclosure policy (VDP) and the potential benefits of government fiscal contributions to companies adopting such policies. It emphasises the significance of fostering a culture of transparency, collaboration and enhanced cyber security through responsible vulnerability disclosure practices. By incentivising organisations to adopt a VDP, governments will strengthen threat detection and response capabilities, foster public-private partnerships, promote national and international cyber resilience and ultimately achieve economic and societal benefits. By providing financial support, governments could transform cyber security departments from cost centres to profit centres that would attract the interest of the management and turn in more resource allocation. In some cases, governments use legislation to push top-down the adoption of VDPs. This approach is normally adopted for sectors that are considered critical for the society, but it seems impractical to replicate for all business and organisations that are not critical simply because the government would not have the resources to enforce such a measure. Thousands of companies and organisations that are not critical could still benefit from adopting a VDP, making society as a whole more resilient. This paper argues that the right approach towards VDP consists in combining the ‘stick’ of legislative obligations with the ‘carrot’ of fiscal and financial support to companies and organisations to generate a large-scale bottom-up support for VDP adoption. Fiscal or financial support from public institutions to private organisations that have procedures in place to manage vulnerabilities could be a game changer and transform cyber security departments into profit centres able to attract more private resources internal to the company. Another element that could help wider adoption of VDP would be a legal shield for both companies that adopt a VDP and cyber security researchers that report vulnerabilities through this system. To strengthen the resilience of a digital society, it is important that laws on computer crime distinguish between someone that hacks into a computer system with malicious intent and someone that does it to identify weaknesses and report them to the owner of the system. Cyber security researchers that act in good faith provide an invaluable positive contribution to cyber security and must not feel discouraged or intimidated by legislations or prosecutors.
Overcoming logistics network challenges through advanced transportation visibility
Authors: De Muynck Bart
Published: July 2024

The supply chain is often discussed as one cohesive and linear entity. In reality, it is an extended and complex ecosystem. Each player in the ecosystem has a different relationship with the goods it is moving to multiple types of recipients and adds a distinct type of value to the network. In addition, there are numerous supply chain disruptions that can happen along the way. These influences and the scale and complexity of the transportation ecosystem make advance transportation visibility key to any company’s success. This paper explains what real-time visibility platforms are, the capabilities they provide and describes the value they bring to their users. It also provides insights and trends around these platforms as they grow and mature. Readers will get an understanding how to transform their supply chain through visibility while facilitating seamless execution that creates real supply chain value.
A modest proposal: Right-sizing exchange immunity
Authors: Flati Zachary J.
Published: July 2024

The US securities industry is governed by three regimes: federal disclosure rules, state laws and self-regulatory organisations. The self-regulatory scheme is the result of an 80-year-old compromise conceived during the height of the Great Depression. While today’s industry is unrecognisable from that time, the self-regulatory rules remain nearly unchanged. Specifically, the US exchanges — sanctioned as self-regulatory organisations with immunity from private damages suits — evolved from mutually-owned utilities to for-profit enterprises. At the same time, alternative trading systems now execute significant trading volumes outside the traditional exchange venues. Despite these and other developments, the self-regulatory regime remains almost entirely unchanged from its inception. This paper discusses important facets of the US self-regulation debate.
Welcome to the purge: Digital records in an era of new limits
Authors: Cline Tyler G. , Howell Katie Causier
Published: July 2024

Following Google’s announcement that it would be introducing storage limits for Google Apps for Education institutional clients, archivists from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Special Collections and University Archives worked with campus IT partners to plan for the upcoming changes to how Google storage limits are managed on campus, and how to handle dormant accounts and their associated files. This paper describes how archivists worked to manage records in Google Team Drive accounts, apply a capstone-like review to accounts pending deletion, and planned to guide a campus-wide shift in record-keeping behaviour.
De-identification as public policy
Authors: Rosner Gilad L.
Published: July 2024

Canada’s data privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), does not require or incentivise de-identification of personal data for purposes of sharing or research. This regulatory lacuna puts Canadian national law at a disadvantage in contrast with the privacy regimes of other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, all of whom have regulatory language requiring or incentivising de-identification by custodians of personal data. This paper is based on a report commissioned by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada in service of eventual reform of PIPEDA to include de-identification. The paper addresses terminology, definitions, key debates and policy in other jurisdictions. It recommends legal reform, specific regulatory actions, and investigation of emerging policy strategies and lists remaining open questions for the development of a national Canadian de-identification policy. Chief among these recommendations is a reorientation from a regulatory focus on ‘outputs’ (‘Is the dataset rendered anonymous?’) to a focus on ‘process’ (‘Has the data custodian taken proper steps to reduce identification and privacy risks?’). In part, this is based on a rejection of the possibility of ‘irreversible anonymisation’. Relatedly, the paper argues for requiring a risk management approach to de-identification and for the discouragement of the ‘release-andforget’ model of data disclosure, which relies only on data transformations while ignoring technical, physical, administrative and contractual controls.
Making the case for the ‘super nucleus’: The next generation of corporate real estate, HR and IT enterprise integration
Authors: Robinson Craig , Cotman Cathrine
Published: July 2024

In 2012, 70 corporate real estate (CRE) leaders representing a broad range of industries, geographies and functions made a number of startling predictions that were documented in CoreNet Global's Corporate Real Estate 2020 research initiative. One of those predictions, affectionately known as the ‘super nucleus’, stirred a healthy debate among CRE, human resources (HR) and information technology (IT) professionals about one central question: What will high-performance organisations expect of enterprise support functions, and what are the implications for CRE? The term ‘super nucleus’ was coined to describe full integration and unified leadership at the most strategic levels of support function activity. The CoreNet Global study predicted that, by 2020, this strategic integration would be likely in addition to greater consolidation and more consistent sourcing of service delivery resources and expertise. Since the results of the study were published, CRE and other support function leaders have continued to explore the feasibility and justification for greater support function integration. Advocates of the super nucleus suggest that high-performance organisations will be (or are already) early adopters and explore new talent sources to fulfil the leadership void for the next generation of shared services organisations. Opponents of the super nucleus concept maintain that such an undertaking will be met with deeply entrenched organisational resistance or be too cumbersome to even attempt. The authors believe that high-performance organisations will overcome these challenges and adopt support services strategies that will improve overall corporate performance and productivity within the next decade and beyond. The competitive pressures and dynamic nature of many industries will lead C-suite executives to demand more strategic alignment of corporate infrastructure resources with business units and the super nucleus very well could be the answer.
Predicting sovereign credit ratings for portfolio stress testing
Authors: De Oliveira Campino Jonas , Galizia Federico , Serrano Daniela , Sperling Frank
Published: July 2024

This paper analyses the relationship between macroeconomic and credit cycles. It is not a straightforward relationship, particularly in sovereign credit assessment. Modelling such a relationship requires blending scenario analysis and stress testing, together with dynamic modelling of macroeconomic and credit variables. The novelty of the presented approach is its ability to cross-pollinate machine learning and Monte Carlo (MC) simulation as part of a process that overcomes the challenges faced by risk managers. The result is a probabilistic forward-looking view of credit risk scenarios that can guide action. Sovereign credit ratings are expert opinions based on relevant macroeconomic, financial and policy information. We introduce a predictive machine learning model of sovereign credit ratings that lends itself naturally to MC simulations and stress testing. The Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) allows considering many variables simultaneously in a nonlinear fashion as candidates for predicting sovereign ratings. The portfolio stress testing capability comes in by augmenting the set of variables used in the MC simulations to include external shock variables common to the sovereigns in the portfolio, for example, relevant global commodity prices. The resulting rating distribution can be used to calculate different relevant risk metrics, including credit-sensitive measures of risk-weighted assets.
The definitive guide to local search ranking factors
Authors: Leibson Dan , Shotland Andrew
Published: July 2024

Google’s local search product is always changing. Since its launch in March 2004, it has undergone dozens and dozens of changes. These changes are in addition to the myriad changes to Google’s search algorithms. Against this background of two constantly changing environments, it is virtually impossible to ascertain the facts on the ground, as everyone is looking at only a tiny slice of what is happening. This paper describes the largest statistical and academically rigorous analysis of Google’s local search to date. Through a statistical analysis of hundreds of ‘ranking factors’ for tens of thousands of search results, the paper aims to identify exactly how Google’s local search function is currently working.
Panama papers highlight the urgency: From FATCA to the OECD CRS
Authors: Moss Meredith
Published: July 2024

Global tax reporting and filing regulation has now expanded to the OECD CRS.
The CRS covers 90 jurisdictions (with implementation nuances specific to
each). The resources required to comply — in knowledge, labour, and time —
place additional burdens on already stretched operations groups in fund firms
and for their administrators. Appropriate analysis of new operational
requirements may lead firms to consider the appropriate use of technology
platforms, solely focused on meeting mandates through logic that incorporates
rule complexity and these rapidly changing regulatory reporting requirements.
Such an approach eases the regulatory burdens while simultaneously
transforming investor services for multiple purposes — in capital processing,
auditing, and data normalization. The result is cost and risk reduction.
Capturing aircraft noise complaints: A survey of current practices at UK airports
Authors: Budd Lucy , Ison Stephen
Published: July 2024

Despite continued improvements in aircraft technology, aircraft noise remains one of the most socially contentious aspects of airport operations and the externality effect that is most likely to provoke a negative response from local airport residents and neighbouring communities. Aircraft noise is both a quality of life and a sustainability issue and planning permission for airport development, modification to existing operating hours and/or changes to flightpaths in the UK requires the provision of strict noise management and mitigation strategies. Collecting and monitoring complaints about aircraft noise is one mechanism through which airports, local authorities and national regulators can review levels of community annoyance and analyse reactions to changes in noise exposure. Nevertheless, airports are under no obligation to collect noise complaints and the absence of a standard UK-wide approach means that individual airports adopt different practices. This paper reports on a desk-top survey of the variety of mechanisms used by the UK’s 25 busiest passenger airports to capture noise complaints. The findings have important implications for airports, in terms of cost and transparency, and for local authorities and regulators who may need to compare the frequency or occurrence of noise complaint data between sites to determine their relative impact or the likely implications of planning applications. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy and practice.
An empirical study of social network effects on customer relationship management
Authors: Corvello Vincenzo , Di Pietro Loredana , Pantano Eleonora
Published: July 2024

Recent advances in information technology and web-based services have enhanced the tools available for business. In particular, social networks, which are widely used by individuals, are expected to have an effect on customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Consequently, a novel approach to CRM is emerging, integrating social networking into more traditional CRM systems. In fact, social networks might be fully exploited as a value-adding tool for improving customer relationship management. The aim of this paper is therefore to advance knowledge of the effects of social networks and social network-mediated communication on CRM. The discussion is supported with anecdotal data from qualitative interviews with 26 experienced managers from different organisations who expressed their opinion on the introduction of this new tool. The results have been investigated through a content analysis in order to make the managers’ point of view emerge.
Building an effective tagging interface
Authors: Sowerbutts Peter
Published: July 2024

The Press Association is an integral part of the UK News Industry. Semantically tagging their content, that is, marking which people, places and organisations are involved, has the potential to vastly improve their output and product suite. To effectively manage this workflow, a Tagging Interface is required that will allow the internal users to curate the tags. This paper presents one such system for processing tagged news stories. It will also give a brief overview about what exactly makes an effective Tagging Interface.
Beyond interchange: From plastic to payment platforms?
Authors: Milkau Udo
Published: July 2024

The emergence of mobile payments has delivered unprecedented levels of convenience for consumers. In parallel, digital platforms have begun to launch dedicated payment platforms and payment apps. These new platforms share two characteristics: (1) ‘reverse value creation’ and (2) services that are ‘free’ for consumers, but which cost merchants to accept. This development has changed the business paradigm for payment models: as payment has become commoditised, merchants must offer the full spectrum of payment options demanded by consumers. In the light of this new economic reality, the interchange fee model is increasingly looking like a hangover from the last century. New business models are needed for the payment industry to stay competitive, but also to leverage Europe’s advanced payment infrastructure in the digital age. This comment piece provides a personal opinion about the future of payment business models informed by two developments: the shift from plastic (ie cards) to mobile devices as the dominant mode of payment, and the shift from schemes with interoperable participants to centralised platforms based on new digital models of value creation.
How organisations can establish marketing analytics as the common business language to drive continuous improvement
Authors: Grubb Tom
Published: July 2024

Marketing analytics can move mountains when everyone in the organisation understands what the analytics mean, how to use them, and trusts in their veracity. The ideal end-state for organisations is for marketing analytics to form the basis of a language that enables people to communicate with one another to accomplish a common goal. To reach this level of organisational marketing analytics maturity requires a plan backed by a strategy. This paper describes the characteristics of a high-performing marketing analytics culture, with practical examples and experiential insights to help marketers establish a common language for marketing analytics in their organisation from top to bottom.
Healthcare system resiliency: The case for taking disaster plans further — Part 1
Authors: Timmins Michael L. , Bone Eric A. , Hiller Michael
Published: July 2024

To establish true healthcare resiliency, and to better position
healthcare organisations to provide effective response, continuity,
resumption and recovery of fundamental services and operations
during serious incidents and disasters, the disaster planning
process must evolve into an integrated approach of four contingency
planning disciplines that holistically examine the end-to-end,
all-hazard response continuum. This process also needs to
incorporate and scale multifarious organisational levels and, when
required, the health sector. This paper is the first component of
two independent, but related, pieces. It will examine the typical
state of disaster preparedness and plans in healthcare, examine the
worth and value of honing disaster plans, and will introduce two
recommended contingency planning disciplines: enterprise risk
management and emergency response planning. For each discipline, a
case will be made for its inclusion into the overall disaster
planning process, including examination of background information,
benefits, how it improves disaster planning, and other resources
helpful to the reader. The second paper, in a future issue of the
Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, will introduce
business continuity management — including IT disaster recovery —
and crisis communications as the third and fourth contingency
planning disciplines needed for a fully integrated approach.
The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the
authors and may not be entirely those of the organisation.
Educating customers on back office conversion of cheques
Authors: Kirby Dawn Stroup
Published: July 2024

Back office conversion (BOC) of cheques is a new, highly streamlined method that merchants can use to convert consumer cheques into automated clearing house (ACH) debits. Merchants simply need to post a notice that customer cheques will be converted and provide a copy of that notice on the receipt or a customer takeaway. The customer authorises conversion by writing the cheque. At end of day, the merchant processes the cheques in batch mode in a back office location, creating an image cash letter that is transmitted to its depository bank. The bank uses the captured cheque information to create ACH transactions directly debiting the customers’ cheque accounts. Because of the clear benefits of BOC to merchants, the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) anticipates wide-scale adoption, with annual transaction volume projected to reach three billion payments within five years. Less clear is what the impact on consumers will be. Analysis of bank customer service call statistics indicates that many consumers do not understand cheque conversion. Calls about cheques converted to ACH debits are the fastest growing segment of all payment-related calls. Because BOC promises to accelerate this trend, educating consumers about cheque conversion will become an increasingly critical requirement for merchants and banks.
Remaking the corporate bond market: The state and evolution of the European investment grade corporate bond secondary market
Authors: Hill Andy
Published: July 2024

Two years on from the first International Capital Market Association (ICMA) study into the state and evolution of the European investment grade corporate bond secondary market, this new study seeks to assess how the market has evolved in that time and, in doing so, to address three fundamental questions: (1) What do we mean by market liquidity and how is this changing, if at all? (2) How are market participants adapting and evolving their business models in response to any changes in market conditions? (3) What is the future of the market and what factors are most likely to affect liquidity? In attempting to answer these three questions, the study utilises a triangular approach of quantitative and qualitative data collation and analysis. The study concludes that, for the most part, the ability either to source or provide secondary market liquidity continues to be challenged. Yet, despite a more challenged environment, the general mood of most stakeholders remains relatively upbeat as market participants adapt. Furthermore, the study notes that corporate issuers themselves are becoming increasingly concerned by secondary market liquidity conditions. Finally, the study suggests that from the perspective of many participants, the current market model is not sustainable, at least not in the long-term, and certainly not post-central bank intervention.
Bridging the gap between standards and practice in global lease data abstraction
Authors: Somani Abhinav
Published: July 2024

Lease abstraction and extraction are becoming increasingly complex, while demands are rising for better data quality for portfolios of leases in multiple countries or asset types. Several organisations, including OSCRE, have been building data standards for lease abstraction over the past years in a bid to address the emerging needs of the industry. These organisations have been at the forefront of development and implementation of real estate information exchange standards, including those for commercial real estate. This paper looks at the future of data standards for lease abstraction and trends driving the industry towards a standard data model, its advantages and the challenges that hinder lease abstraction standardisation, and how standard data models can support new and emerging use cases.
The digital transformation of logistics
Authors: Healy Lance
Published: July 2024

Digital transformation of logistics has emerged into the lexicon of the industry but lacks definition and actionable tactics. This paper offers a definition of the term and creates a context for how investments in software and hardware solutions can be applied as a strategy toward a more interoperable logistics community. Tactics and implementation strategies are described along with examples of past, current and future digital transformation initiatives from different facets of logistics. Tactics and strategies are shared with the intent to better prepare organisations to take advantage of the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) that are evolving rapidly.
Supply chain resilience must endure as a business imperative
Authors: Demartino Bill , York Matthew
Published: July 2024

The concept of supply chain resilience has become widely accepted as an imperative for the enterprise, with the COVID-19 pandemic helping to crystallise it as an objective in itself. Business leaders are now pondering what this means for their organisations and in particular their bottom lines. It is within this context that the role of the enterprise must evolve to make risk awareness an essential element of supply management processes and decisions. This paper explores some of the initiatives that are driving the demand for supply chain resilience and demonstrates a coalescing need for broader risk awareness. It discusses the fundamental changes to the circumstances of supply management in the wake of the deadliest global pandemic in more than a century. It goes on to look at the journey of becoming more risk-aware — including taking the mantle of leadership within a network that outlines tactical approaches and the necessary building blocks for creating a supply chain-resilient enterprise.
The increasing importance of workflow automation for over-the-top publishing
Authors: Kisslinger Andreas
Published: July 2024

The rapid growth of the over-the-top (OTT) space, combined with the birth of new players, platforms and devices, has increased the need to simplify workflows for media publishers and their teams. This paper addresses five specific workflows for the upload/ingestion, transcoding and publishing of live streams, on-demand video and audio content, based on consultations with customers of online video platforms (OVPs). While these workflows can be accomplished manually, they can mostly be automated by using an OVP.
Robotic process automation and its implications for programme management office
Authors: Shah Manan , Samra Rajbir
Published: July 2024

Robotic process automation (RPA) is being adopted across various industries to ease employee workloads while cutting costs. It automates a host of tasks such as monotonous data entry, answering simple customer service requests and developing management reports, to name a few. Financial services are no exception, and RPA has made its way into this industry as well. Using this technology, financial workers can avoid having to spend time on repetitive, labour-intensive tasks and focus on value-added tasks. Programme management office (PMO) has historically been a critical area within the financial services domain where resources have invested a lot of effort to ensure timely project delivery in order to deliver value to stakeholders. As the RPA programme scales beyond Proof of Concept, it promises to significantly improve the PMO function by accelerating time to market on project execution and migrating from manual operations to a technology-driven capability.
The imperative of enterprise-grade security for 5G
Authors: Burakovsky Leonid , Kriz Danielle
Published: July 2024

5G is a major transformational technology, the impact of which will largely be on enterprises and government users. This is a radical change from previous generations of mobile technology, including 3G and 4G, which were arguably largely used by consumers. In contrast, 5G will enable digital transformation of entire industry sectors and government activities and will come to underpin entire economies. Security technologies used in the past (and in many current networks) are incapable of securing the 5G opportunity of the future. Security for 3G and 4G was not focused on detecting and preventing attacks on all layers, all locations/interfaces, all attack vectors and all software life cycle stages. For example, there are no security mechanisms in 3G and 4G networks that can detect and prevent attacks from infected devices/botnets. This paper explains why, given the mission criticality of 5G, its security must be enterprise-grade. The paper further explains what ‘enterprise-grade’ security means.
Physician compensation in a confusing and disordered reimbursement environment (volume to value)
Authors: Chamblee Justin
Published: July 2024

The healthcare industry is changing from a reimbursement perspective, in that reimbursement is still predominantly fee-for-service but includes value-based elements. This dual system is widely affecting providers by pushing more of the payment and cost risk onto them (versus insurers). In short, the current reimbursement environment is confusing and disordered. This evolving paradigm calls for a new approach to how physicians’ compensation is pursued, ensuring that a model structure is in place that aligns incentives and/or risk with the respective physicians relative to the reimbursement environment. Furthermore, it must be sufficiently flexible to adapt to the current frenzied nature that precedes this unfamiliar approach. This paper examines current and pending changes and their effect on the healthcare market. It discusses the various risks associated with different payment arrangements and reviews how the passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 affects reimbursement. It then drills down into the corresponding compensation considerations that should be evaluated in light of the value-based reimbursement structures and strategies. The final focus is on navigating these changes to the healthcare environment.
Why students don’t read your e-mails: A critical look at how university email communications guide or confuse students through the student experience and the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Mcmahon Jenny
Published: July 2024

This paper examines the perception that ‘students don’t read e-mail’ through the execution and analysis of a comprehensive e-mail audit conducted by New York University’s Enrollment Management Marketing division from May 2019 through May 2020. By looking at the volume, content and quality of e-mail received from the university, we see how institutional messaging can either support or complicate the student experience. This research includes a human-processed dataset of all incoming e-mail communications received during the audit period, quantitative and qualitative analyses of the communications and focus group testimony from undergraduate students. We examine e-mail communications through both the everyday business of being a student and through high-stakes events like the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper illustrates that while volume should not be dismissed as an area of concern among university communicators, the underlying practices that cause e-mail to be ignored are more complex and demand a more strategic approach to studentfacing communications.
FinTech and financial inclusion: Opportunities and challenges
Authors: Hollanders Marc
Published: July 2024

Financial inclusion, in essence, is about promoting broader access to and usage of financial services, in particular payment services. At the heart of payment services are transaction accounts. This paper will describe the crucial role played by transaction accounts and how stakeholders can promote access and use of these accounts. It will also look at recent FinTech developments and highlight the role innovations can play in broadening access to financial services while addressing the related risks. The discussion will be based on two reports on payment aspects of financial inclusion released by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures and the World Bank. The framework developed to promote access and use of transaction accounts in the first report underpins the second report, which assesses the potential of FinTech developments for financial inclusion.
The AI handbook for financial services leaders : Tips and tactics for mastering AI in banking and finance
Authors: Mettrick Guy
Published: July 2024

This paper explores the multifaceted realm of artificial intelligence (AI) implementation in financial services, providing insights into its potential, challenges and best practices. Highlighting the emergence of generative AI (GenAI) as a transformative tool, the paper underscores its significant impact on productivity and revenue generation within investment banks and capital markets. Addressing inherent risks of AI adoption, the paper stresses the importance of robust governance frameworks to mitigate operational, reputational and compliance risks. Specific attention is given to the phenomenon of GenAI hallucinations and the imperative for deterministic AI models to ensure data integrity and regulatory compliance. The paper outlines four key pillars of AI’s applications in financial services: predictive AI, anomaly detection AI, classification AI and GenAI. Examples highlight AI’s role in risk management, fraud prevention, customer experience enhancement and internal process optimisation, underscoring its transformative potential across the industry. The paper also covers the distinction between public and private AI models, emphasising the advantages of proprietary data-driven insights in ensuring competitive advantage and regulatory compliance. Concluding with actionable insights for AI implementation, the paper advocates for a strategic approach encompassing clear vision setting, risk oversight, data privacy management, centralised data architecture and comprehensive process automation.
Solid wall insulation in traditional buildings
Authors: Heath Nicholas
Published: July 2024

Addressing energy efficiency is fast becoming one of the most pressing issues in older, traditionally constructed buildings, particularly with finance schemes promoting mass-scale insulation programmes. Retaining character and significance is often perceived to be at odds with achieving improved thermal efficiency, and there is much controversy around the risks and benefits of different technical solutions. Upgrading traditional building fabric is notoriously complex and often costly, particularly where conservation restrictions apply, and a holistic understanding is required before modern materials are applied to old structures to minimise unintended and negative consequences. Solid wall insulation is one of the most complex retrofit measures, and inappropriate installations can damage buildings, streetscapes and health. However, with a sound understanding and a meticulously detailed ‘whole-house’ approach, successful retrofit is possible, and examples of good practice and research can be found across the UK. Research, case studies and best-practice guidance and tools are presented in this paper, together with wider work to provide a full context of responsible retrofit, unintended consequences and best practice.
Market BuVaR: A countercyclical risk metric
Authors: Wong Max
Published: July 2024

The malfunction of the value-at-risk (VaR) model during the 2008 credit crisis was a key risk management failure. This metric is now criticised for being too little, too late. An improvement is proposed — making VaR countercyclical and more robust to fat tails. The new metric is called bubble-VaR (BuVaR), the expected shortfall of a trading book portfolio with the effects of procyclicality removed. It involves inflating one side of the return distribution of an asset by a scaling factor called bubble that depends on the location of the present state in the boom-bust cycle. In a boom cycle, the negative side of the distribution is inflated, in a bust cycle, the positive side is inflated. Compared to VaR, BuVaR is countercyclical (it leads crashes), distinguishes between long and short positions (is asymmetrical) and provides an additional buffer for fat tails by recognising that crashes can happen only in the counter-trend direction. Thus, this method is useful for the purpose of a countercyclical capital buffer for market risk. The approach relaxes the VaR assumptions of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.), and stationarity of variables. It postulates that the empirical phenomena of fat tails, skewness, volatility clustering and the leverage effect can be better understood by modelling the noise and cycle components together, instead of just the noise of the time series as modelled in VaR.
Applying the repairing covenant : The what, the why and the how
Authors: Craig Gillian
Published: July 2024

This paper concentrates on the duties incumbent upon surveyors when preparing a dilapidations survey. It focuses on the differences in approach depending on the purpose of the survey, the duty of care incumbent, and to whom such duties are owed, and provides an update of legal developments in the area.
Rescue and firefighting services: How can you plan for a better service and run an emergency exercise that really tests contingencies?
Authors: Adu Charles Hanson , Ahlijah Benjamin Kofi , Otoo Samuel , Gakpey Victor Sosu , Mensah Omane Michael , Otu Isaac
Published: July 2024

Safety and security is a primary focus of regulatory bodies in the air transport industry. One of the ways of providing safety and security at airports is the presence of an efficient and reliable rescue and firefighting service (RFFS). This can be achieved by investing in human resources, equipment and infrastructure, as well as regular testing and evaluation of airport contingencies. Having a plan is not sufficient preparedness. Even the best-written procedures must be tested to identify bottlenecks in the contingencies before an accident occurs. It is worth appreciating the fact that determining and setting up the right team responsible for testing the contingencies has a critical impact on the success of the exercise. This paper aims at exposing protocols implemented by the Ghana Airports Company Limited to enable the RFFS personnel to attain the necessary competency levels to make them efficient for all types of emergencies. These protocols include but are not limited to educational requirements, medical and physical fitness. The paper further exposes the reader to the various steps in organising realistic emergency simulation exercises and the levels of emergency exercises; namely, table top, partial and full-scale exercises. The responsibility of assisting agencies, role players and the availability of resources commensurate with the simulation exercise is also reviewed. The reader will appreciate the fact that simulation exercises are primarily focused on evaluating the procedures and not people. The paper also highlights strengths and weaknesses drawn from other large-scale emergency exercises for the benefit of the reader.
I smell a rat!
Authors: Carroll Spencer
Published: July 2024

As rat numbers increase alongside a decrease in local authority pest control budgets, it is essential that surveyors and property managers alike can identify and prevent rat infestation. If left unchecked, rats can cause significant damage to a property and in some instances be the cause of serious fires, as well as being a serious risk to health and safety. This paper will explain how to spot the tell-tale signs of a rat problem within the broader context of a rat's habitat and behaviour, and go on to give recommendations regarding deterrent and prevention measures from good housekeeping and building management through to trapping and poison options.
The four big forces conspiring to ruin one’s analytics
Authors: Greenhouse Jeff
Published: July 2024

Despite major advances in tracking, attribution and data augmentation over the past decade, or perhaps because of them, several forces now threaten to degrade the ability of marketers to measure their campaigns and understand their audience. A growing privacy movement is resulting in government regulation and technical restrictions from ‘big tech’. Walled gardens are growing larger and more numerous, forcing marketers to rely on limited data without third-party verification. Consumers are becoming increasingly fragmented across a sea of connected devices, and the minimum viable product development philosophy is creating a legacy of ‘data debt’ for many companies. This paper explores these four threats and discusses strategies that marketing and analytics teams can use to attempt to counter them.
The development of digital identity in the Financial Service Industry: From an element that enables digital transactions to a new strategic asset for business
Authors: Mario Lavizzari Michele Guido , Luzio Marco Di , Tommasino Claudio
Published: July 2024

This paper aims to illustrate how digital identity has become an important element of business transformation in the financial sector and how digital identity is evolving from an asset to support business in a new revenue stream. In an increasingly digitised world, the trusted digital identity assumes the important role of enabling the legal validity of any type of digital transaction. This centrality has attracted huge investments by companies to make the onboarding of online customers and the release of digital credentials to their customer base increasingly effective and frictionless, while preserving compliance and user experience. We illustrate the main models adopted in the current context in which a progressive transfer is taking place from identification processes helped by specialised staff to completely unattended processes. Finally, we show how the digital identity evolution is moving to a new paradigm that will revolutionise the approach to digital identity management. Thanks to the development of Blockchain technologies, digital identity is evolving even further. In the self-sovereign identity (SSI) vision, digital identities will no longer be merely an element to support commercial transactions but a new strategic asset to leverage in order to generate new business. This new paradigm will offer a new business opportunity to banks that will allow them to capitalise their information assets securely in full compliance with the privacy protection regulations, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the new SSI paradigm, digital identity management of the customer base represents the asset around which financial institutions must leverage to create new value, develop new business models and generate new revenue streams.
Technology in education : An analysis of preservice teachers’ experiences, perceived confidence and perspectives on technology use
Authors: Deaton Sheri , Orr Betsy , Lawler Emily , Reagan Rachael
Published: July 2024

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, preservice teachers were forced to shift to remote teaching and learning. During this time, new technologies were utilised to facilitate instruction and support student engagement. This paper explores the level of experience, perceived confidence and perspectives of technology in education among preservice teachers across all subject and grade levels enrolled in a Technology in Education course as part of a preservice teaching programme. The findings of this study reflect participant experiences and confidence linked with using technology to research and present conclusions rather than student-centred engagement. Further analysis revealed trends regarding participants’ values on technology usage in the classroom, highlighting opportunities for growth for teacher preparation programmes.
Evaluating distance education for students with special needs in Greece and Cyprus : Insights from an online learning survey
Authors: Giokaris Ioannis
Published: July 2024

This study investigates the experiences and perceptions of teachers and students with special needs in the context of online education, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on the distinctive landscapes of Greece and Cyprus. The research reveals valuable insights into the challenges and advantages of remote learning for these two distinct groups, highlighting a complex tapestry of opportunities and constraints.