The authors describe why and how different types of simulations can be used to understand and support the challenges of utility deregulation. They present an overview of liberalization and deregulation efforts in three utility markets - electricity, natural gas, and drinking water - and describe the main challenges and opportunities for regulators and business managers. A general classification of seven different types of simulation is presented, including market simulations, policy simulations, dynamic business simulations, capability simulations, day-in-a-life simulations, performance simulations, and gaming simulations. The authors reflect on the role of these simulations for utility deregulation and give examples.
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Don’t mind me while I drive through your neighborhood taking photo’s of your house, gathering your emails, passwords and other private information from your wifi network. It’s nothing personal, I’m doing it to everyone, in every street, in over 30 countries. Perhaps you can also excuse me while I give access to data you and your friends shared with me and each other, to individuals and companies I have no relation to or control over at all, and while leaking your data, again it’s nothing personal, I’m doing it to 87 million others, you probably won’t mind me showing you and 126 million others some political disinformation, there’s an election coming and I could really use the money. It’s not as if we don’t know each other, I’ve been following your every move online for years now, and it’s no secret that I’m worth hundreds of billions because I sell access to you, promising my customers influence over your voting and purchasing behavior. I’ve got power. Monopolies are rare lol. If all this makes you uncomfortable, you can always cut ties with me and everyone you work and communicate online with, but what would that solve? Your friends are totally oversharing…
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Full text via link One of the most important drivers of change in the health care sector is the desire of elderly people to age in place. The growing use of internet applications and communication technology together with innovations in buildings have created new commercial opportunities to cater the demands of elderly to grow old in their home environment. Many of these opportunities are facilitated by institutional changes like deregulation and privatization, and benefit from globalization, for example trough stronger incentives for innovation and domestic implementation of ideas that arise in foreign markets
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Certificering in het Hoger Onderwijs: De medewerking van professionals aan kwaliteitscontrole Dit artikel presenteert de resultaten van een onderzoek naar de bereidheid van professionals in Hogescholen in Nederland en Vlaanderen om mee te werken aan het accreditatieproces. Betoogd wordt dat accreditatie eigenlijk een vorm van certificering is. Conclusies zijn dat professionals loyaal zijn naar hun organisatie en bereid zijn verantwoording af te leggen. De nadruk in de certificering zou dan echter moeten liggen op de inhoud van het werk en de beoordeling zou moeten worden gedaan door vakgenoten (peer review). Er treden meer problemen op bij het certificeringproces, als het management de certificering onvoldoende ondersteunt of als de interne kwaliteitszorg onvoldoende op orde is. Er is een risico dat er window dressing optreedt. Uiteindelijk leidt dat tot de conclusie dat controle (door middel van bijvoorbeeld ISO of HKZcertificering) gescheiden zou moeten worden van verbetering. Er zijn voldoende overeenkomsten tussen hoger onderwijs en maatschappelijk werk om te bezien of de resultaten ook gelden voor maatschappelijk werk.
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When the Netherlands developed a national system of vocational education at the end of the 19th century, it was a direct answer to obvious shortcomings in the technical and trade professions (De Jonge, 1968). It concentrated on training craftsmen for the traditional, mainly agrarian economy, and technicians for the new, industrial economy. The training being offered was closely related to actual professional practices. In the first place, there was a very stable occupational structure, in which professional knowledge and skills did not become obsolete quickly. This, in turn, made it possible that education was -and remained - up-to-date. Secondly, almost all teachers were also experienced craftsmen, who only started teaching after a long career. The teachers learned actual professional practices through direct experience. In addition, students were also frequently familiar with actual practice, because the occupational structure was so stable: they knew exactly for which profession they were being trained. A stable occupational structure, a clear occupational orientation by the students, and teachers with extensive firsthand work experience ensured that vocational education was a powerful learning environment. For this reason, a dual system had hardly any added value. A consequence is that the apprenticeship system in the Netherlands - as opposed to almost all surrounding countries - had a lower status and fewer students than full-time education (Teerling & Bijveld, 1982).
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This paper addresses the extraterritorial dimension of transnational corporations, focusing on the corporate accountability-deficit that characterizes the current International legal framework. The analysis looks at parent companies’ civil liability for environmental harm caused abroad. By introducing a selected number of foreign direct liability cases brought before European national courts, the paper investigates whether the binding environmental and human rights reporting obligations contained in Directive 2014/95/EU contribute to the determination of a parent company’s duty of care towards its overseas subsidiaries, and consequently establish their potential liability.
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The shift towards a more sustainable circular economy will require innovations. While SMEs can contribute to this development, financing innovations within SMEs is difficult. Various authors have not ed moreover that the concept of the circular economy has further increased the complexity of investment decisions concerning sustainable innovations, due to the multiple value creation and new business models involved . On the other hand
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De versnippering van de internationale samenleving vermindert de kans op een overkoepelend model van global governance. Meer waarschijnlijk is het ontstaan van bepaalde processen van bestuur die zich ontwikkelen als reactie op specifieke mondiale vraagstukken. Dit artikel beschrijft het proces van implementatie van de US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) als een voorbeeld van een dergelijk bijzonder proces. Het FCPA 'model' wordt gekenmerkt door samenwerking en onderhandeling tussen de publieke en private sector. In dit model is het samenwerken voor het bieden van maatschappelijke veiligheid gebaseerd op wederzijds belang. De mogelijkheid van onderhandelde regelingen heeft een positief effect op het management van corruptie door bedrijven, dat zich verspreidt over de hele invloedsfeer van de onderneming. Tegelijkertijd biedt het de overheid toegang tot de informatie die nodig is om corruptie op te sporen, te onderzoeken en te vervolgen. Het in kaart brengen van dergelijke processen biedt nuttige inzichten over nieuwe benaderingen die nodig kunnen zijn om goed bestuur voor een veilige wereld te bereiken. ABSTRACT The fragmentation of international society reduces the likelihood of a single overarching model of global governance. More likely, is the emergence of particular processes of governance that develop in response to specific global issues. The paper describes the process of implementing the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) as an example of one such particular process. The FCPA 'model' is characterized by co-operation and negotiation between the public and private sector. In this model, partnering for the provision of security is based on mutual self- interest. The possibility of negotiated settlements has a positive effect on the management of corruption by corporations with a ripple effect throughout the corporations' sphere of influence. At the same time, it provides governments with access to the information necessary to detect, investigate and prosecute corruption. Mapping such processes provides useful insights about new approaches that may be needed to attain good governance for a safe world.
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