Traffic flow and virtual ecosystem entries win “Grid computing for a greener planet” competition

Was in the Jury for this competition and it is good that people start thinking about low carbon IT solutions. Not sure about the traffic flow system as a winner though. I have not seen the winning concept, but from what I can see it looks like a solutions that could result in long-term increased traffic and therefore not really qualify as a solutions that contribute to a greener planet...

Below is the press release.

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Traffic flow and virtual ecosystem entries win “Grid computing for a greener planet” competition

• Grid Computing Now! names Nick Pringle and Christos Melissidis winners of the “Grid computing for a Greener Planet” competition
• Winnings entries detailed how to use grid computing to improve traffic flow and produce a simulation of our ecosystem
• The competition was supported by Microsoft, Intellect, The British Computer Society (BCS), The 451 Group, Memset, the National e-Science Centre (NeSC), Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC), WWF, and The Technology Strategy Board
• Prizes included a Sony Vaio laptop, the appointment of a mentor from industry to enable the winner to take their idea forward, an XBox360 and subscription to the British Computer Society (BCS) and The 451 Group
• Second prizes were awarded for a solution that would locate carbon hot spots, and one that would monitor methane levels

London December 3rd Grid Computing Now!, a government funded knowledge transfer network, today announced the winners of the “Grid computing for a greener planet” competition.

The first prize for the Non-Professional Track was awarded to Christos Melissidis, an MSc student from Cranfield University. His concept is a simulation of our ecosystem. Melissidis wants to create a virtual ecosystem in order to solve environmental problems. The idea is to feed real time data derived from various data sources, such as the weather channel, into the virtual ecosystem while measuring its response.

The first prize for the Professional Track was awarded to Nick Pringle, an IT consultant and part-time PhD student, for his predictive traffic flow model. His solution would involve enhancing existing GPS information by submitting individual route information to a grid computing system, which would calculate a journey time based on how many other people would be choosing to take the same route at the same time. This has the potential to reduce, and potentially avoid, time spent in traffic jams and carbon emissions.

Entrants were judged primarily on their solution’s feasibility, scope and creativity. Grid computing, a service for sharing computer power and data storage capacity over the Internet*, can be applied to any environmental issue that stands to benefit from a huge amount of raw processing power to calculate massive data sets.

Both entrants have been appointed an industry mentor, Dr David Wallom, Technical Manager University of Oxford, to help them progress their ideas.

Ian Osborne, Grid Computing Now! Director said, “Over the past year we have seen tremendous growth in the number and scope of grid computing solutions available. The winners of this competition have demonstrated the immense potential for grid computing to help solve, or monitor environmental issues.”

Bob Harvey, Chair of the BCS Carbon Footprint Working Group, says “I am delighted to see students and professionals involved in this competition and producing solutions that offer real benefits, especially in terms of reducing carbon emissions.”

Dennis Pamlin, Global Policy Advisor, WWF says “We’re pleased to have supported this competition, and hope it inspires further technological initiatives that help monitor, or even solve, environmental problems.”

Judges included: Anne Trefethen, Oxford e-Research Centre (OERC); Kate Craig Wood, Memset; Jerry Fishenden, National Technology Officer Microsoft; John Barr, Research Director The 451 Group; Liam Newcombe BCS Datacentre Specialist Group; Dennis Pamlin, Global Policy Advisor, WWF Sweden; John Whittall, Lead Technologist for Environmental Sustainability, Technology Strategy Board.

The first grid computing competition, launched in 2006, invited participants to solve any type of problem. Entries ranged from using grid computing for asteroid tracking intelligence to exploiting the Internet to help combat terrorism. The previous winner, Gopok Goteng, proposed the use of grid’s processing power to crunch real time CCTV footage and biometric data to identify potential high-risk incidents. After winning the competition he went on to present his solution at Microsoft's Annual European Research and Innovation Day in Brussels.

Traffic flow and virtual ecosystem entries win “Grid computing for a greener planet” competition

Was in the Jury for this competition and it is good that people start thinking about low carbon IT solutions. Not sure about the traffic flow system as a winner though. I have not seen the winning concept, but from what I can see it looks like a solutions that could result in long-term increased traffic and therefore not really qualify as a solutions that contribute to a greener planet...

Below is the press release.

+++++++++++++

Traffic flow and virtual ecosystem entries win “Grid computing for a greener planet” competition

• Grid Computing Now! names Nick Pringle and Christos Melissidis winners of the “Grid computing for a Greener Planet” competition
• Winnings entries detailed how to use grid computing to improve traffic flow and produce a simulation of our ecosystem
• The competition was supported by Microsoft, Intellect, The British Computer Society (BCS), The 451 Group, Memset, the National e-Science Centre (NeSC), Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC), WWF, and The Technology Strategy Board
• Prizes included a Sony Vaio laptop, the appointment of a mentor from industry to enable the winner to take their idea forward, an XBox360 and subscription to the British Computer Society (BCS) and The 451 Group
• Second prizes were awarded for a solution that would locate carbon hot spots, and one that would monitor methane levels

London December 3rd Grid Computing Now!, a government funded knowledge transfer network, today announced the winners of the “Grid computing for a greener planet” competition.

The first prize for the Non-Professional Track was awarded to Christos Melissidis, an MSc student from Cranfield University. His concept is a simulation of our ecosystem. Melissidis wants to create a virtual ecosystem in order to solve environmental problems. The idea is to feed real time data derived from various data sources, such as the weather channel, into the virtual ecosystem while measuring its response.

The first prize for the Professional Track was awarded to Nick Pringle, an IT consultant and part-time PhD student, for his predictive traffic flow model. His solution would involve enhancing existing GPS information by submitting individual route information to a grid computing system, which would calculate a journey time based on how many other people would be choosing to take the same route at the same time. This has the potential to reduce, and potentially avoid, time spent in traffic jams and carbon emissions.

Entrants were judged primarily on their solution’s feasibility, scope and creativity. Grid computing, a service for sharing computer power and data storage capacity over the Internet*, can be applied to any environmental issue that stands to benefit from a huge amount of raw processing power to calculate massive data sets.

Both entrants have been appointed an industry mentor, Dr David Wallom, Technical Manager University of Oxford, to help them progress their ideas.

Ian Osborne, Grid Computing Now! Director said, “Over the past year we have seen tremendous growth in the number and scope of grid computing solutions available. The winners of this competition have demonstrated the immense potential for grid computing to help solve, or monitor environmental issues.”

Bob Harvey, Chair of the BCS Carbon Footprint Working Group, says “I am delighted to see students and professionals involved in this competition and producing solutions that offer real benefits, especially in terms of reducing carbon emissions.”

Dennis Pamlin, Global Policy Advisor, WWF says “We’re pleased to have supported this competition, and hope it inspires further technological initiatives that help monitor, or even solve, environmental problems.”

Judges included: Anne Trefethen, Oxford e-Research Centre (OERC); Kate Craig Wood, Memset; Jerry Fishenden, National Technology Officer Microsoft; John Barr, Research Director The 451 Group; Liam Newcombe BCS Datacentre Specialist Group; Dennis Pamlin, Global Policy Advisor, WWF Sweden; John Whittall, Lead Technologist for Environmental Sustainability, Technology Strategy Board.

The first grid computing competition, launched in 2006, invited participants to solve any type of problem. Entries ranged from using grid computing for asteroid tracking intelligence to exploiting the Internet to help combat terrorism. The previous winner, Gopok Goteng, proposed the use of grid’s processing power to crunch real time CCTV footage and biometric data to identify potential high-risk incidents. After winning the competition he went on to present his solution at Microsoft's Annual European Research and Innovation Day in Brussels.

Can homeworking save the planet?: Edited by Tim Dwelly and Andy Lake

A book with an article I wrote a while ago is published: “can homeworking
save the planet?”

Thanks to Tim Dwelly and Andy Lake for great work. It is an important contribution to an issue that is strangely overlooked in times where we need new thinking that deliver real CO2 reductions.

Two small things:
- The title is a little misleading as I think that most authors talk about “flexible work” rather than homework, but that is a minor thing.
- I think I wrote “From workplace to anyplace: a key to saving the planet” not “From workplace to anyplace: the key to saving the planet” as a title. Even if a shift from workplace to anyplace would be a significant shit away from our industrialized society I would not call it “the key”… Again a minor thing and please have a look if you are interested in an issue that could play an important role in the climate battle.

The thoughts are to a large extent inspired by the work with HP and also a study that we have developed with Microsoft and that soon will be public.

The report can be downloaded here

Or here:
Smith-Institute
Or here
Flexibility

Can homeworking save the planet?: Edited by Tim Dwelly and Andy Lake

A book with an article I wrote a while ago is published: “can homeworking
save the planet?”

Thanks to Tim Dwelly and Andy Lake for great work. It is an important contribution to an issue that is strangely overlooked in times where we need new thinking that deliver real CO2 reductions.

Two small things:
- The title is a little misleading as I think that most authors talk about “flexible work” rather than homework, but that is a minor thing.
- I think I wrote “From workplace to anyplace: a key to saving the planet” not “From workplace to anyplace: the key to saving the planet” as a title. Even if a shift from workplace to anyplace would be a significant shit away from our industrialized society I would not call it “the key”… Again a minor thing and please have a look if you are interested in an issue that could play an important role in the climate battle.

The thoughts are to a large extent inspired by the work with HP and also a study that we have developed with Microsoft and that soon will be public.

The report can be downloaded here

Or here:
Smith-Institute
Or here
Flexibility

Predictably irrational – The hidden forces that shape our decisions: Dan Ariely

I’m happy to find another book that brings back the knowledge from before the neoliberal hegemony - that people are not calculating machines, that things are more difficult to measure than the market will ever show, that ethics play an important role in our lives, etc. The book is an easy read and don’t require a lot of concentration. Most of the examples are from everyday situations and are entertaining (although the background research sometime seem anecdotal rather than scientific, as sources are missing and references are not always correct).

The facts around different kind of “crimes” were very interesting and I would like to see a cross cultural study in this field. It is common to talk about “corruption” in countries outside the western hemisphere, but beside the fact that the power often in concentrated in a few families hands also in “advanced democracies”, (the Wallenberg family is a good example as their control over the Swedish industry is well in line with any chosen “banana republic”), I wonder how many that knows the relation between the crimes that media focus on and the crime that is hurting the economy. In the US 2004 the total cost for all robberies was $525 million at the same time employees’ theft and fraud at the workplace is estimated at about $600 billion (the cost of the extreme salaries among CEO’s are also discussed briefly).

He also used one of my favorite quotes: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon him not understanding it”… Upton Sinclair

Beside a number of interesting numbers (that I think would be good to double check) I found two major themes that was inspiring:

The first one is the need for a context and peoples’ unwillingness to think beyond incremental changes. It is easy to see how simple tools like the abatement curve that McKinsey developed or CCS as a solution appeal to people that have little time to think and are not used to innovation. They present people with a world they recognize and then change things on the margin. I wonder what it would take to create a “context” that allow more people to see sustainable options that are beyond the incremental. This is especially important as most of the current “solutions” are not really solutions only slightly less bad versions of the current situation. Shifting from energy to quality of life might be one option that will allow new stakeholders to enter into the debate and reframe the discussion from a supply side energy discussion to a “service” discussion. It is obvious that net producing houses and new resource efficient lifestyles that help push innovations that alleviate poverty at the same time is too much for most people engaged in the current debate about climate change, poverty, equity, resource consumption. One part of me, suspects that it also is due to the fact that the consultants that are engaged in the debate together with journalists and others have been living so close to the problem (sometime even being paid by them) that they are both unable and unwilling to think outside that box.

The second is greed as a driver towards instability. It is interesting that the book is written before the financial crisis but still it highlights the overconsumption in the US as a major driver for instability. A situation where a culture of overspending meets a financial and political system with a focus on ever increased consumption lacks any mechanism to say enough. Many of Ariely’s suggestion to introduce ethics and reflection into a secular society (or a society that forgets that it is supposed to follow certain ethics, such as the Christian ethic in the US) are simple and not always possible to implement on a large scale they are a most welcome contribution to a discussion that is sadly lacking in today’s society.