Supporting Citizens’ Political Decision-Making Using Information Visualisation

in Proceedings of the 28th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) (2020, June 17)

Individual decision-making is a complex process. If carried out by individual citizens in the context of politically relevant decisions, serious consequences at all levels of a society might occur. That ... [more ▼]

Individual decision-making is a complex process. If carried out by individual citizens in the context of politically relevant decisions, serious consequences at all levels of a society might occur. That is why these decisions need to be made with care and preferably on a broad set of information to reflect citizens’ true preferences. However, due to limited attention, citizens often consider only salient aspects in their decision-making. To mitigate unwanted consequences following therefrom, citizens are in dire need of decision-support. We address this need by developing an Information Systems (IS) tool. Being based on information visualisation, our tool supports citizens by providing instant feedback. To ensure a meaningful engagement, the IS tool is designed according to gamification principles. A first instantiation in the context of renewable energy acceptance in Germany yields three key findings: First, we find indications that young, urban, and environmentally aware citizens are willing to accept a high percentage of renewable wind energy. Second, we find that the tool influences citizens’ decision-making. Third, we find citizens to update, however not completely turn over their preferred level of renewable wind energy after interaction with the tool. This holds true across different cross-sections of the population. [less ▲]

The token’s secret: the two-faced financial incentive of the token economy

in Electronic Markets (2020)

Multi-sided platforms are omnipresent in today’s digital world. However, establishing a platform includes challenges: The platform utility usually increases with the number of participants. At an early ... [more ▼]

Multi-sided platforms are omnipresent in today’s digital world. However, establishing a platform includes challenges: The platform utility usually increases with the number of participants. At an early stage, potential participants expect the platform utility to be low and lack an incentive to join (i.e., “chicken and egg” problem). Blockchain-enabled utility tokens hold the promise to overcome this problem. They supposedly provide a suitable financial incentive for their owners to join the platform as soon as possible. In the first half of 2018, investors seemed to believe in the presumption and spent more than US$ 17.6 billion in token sales. To date, we know little about this financial incentive in the context of the token economy. For this purpose, we model the token value development and the associated incentives in a multi-sided blockchain-enabled platform. The resulting findings suggest that blockchain-enabled utility tokens can help to overcome the “chicken and egg” problem. However, these tokens lead to contradictory incentives for platform participants, and can even inhibit platform usage. The contribution of our work is twofold: First, we develop one of the first models for token value development. Second, our research contributes to a deeper understanding of the utility token’s financial incentive. [less ▲]

Scheduling Flexible Demand in Cloud Computing Spot Markets

in Business and Information Systems Engineering (2020), 62(1), 25--39

The rapid standardization and specialization of cloud computing services have led to the development of cloud spot markets on which cloud service providers and customers can trade in near real-time ... [more ▼]

The rapid standardization and specialization of cloud computing services have led to the development of cloud spot markets on which cloud service providers and customers can trade in near real-time. Frequent changes in demand and supply give rise to spot prices that vary throughout the day. Cloud customers often have temporal flexibility to execute their jobs before a specific deadline. In this paper, the authors apply real options analysis (ROA), which is an established valuation method designed to capture the flexibility of action under uncertainty. They adapt and compare multiple discrete-time approaches that enable cloud customers to quantify and exploit the monetary value of their short-term temporal flexibility. The paper contributes to the field by guaranteeing cloud job execution of variable-time requests in a single cloud spot market, whereas existing multi-market strategies may not fulfill requests when outbid. In a broad simulation of scenarios for the use of Amazon EC2 spot instances, the developed approaches exploit the existing savings potential up to 40 percent – a considerable extent. Moreover, the results demonstrate that ROA, which explicitly considers time-of-day-specific spot price patterns, outperforms traditional option pricing models and expectation optimization. [less ▲]

A holistic view on sector coupling

in Energy Policy (2020), 147

Sector coupling (SC) describes the concept of a purposeful connection and interaction of energy sectors to increase the flexibility of supply, demand, and storing. While SC is linked to research on smart ... [more ▼]

Sector coupling (SC) describes the concept of a purposeful connection and interaction of energy sectors to increase the flexibility of supply, demand, and storing. While SC is linked to research on smart energy system and locates itself in the research stream of 100% renewable energy systems, it currently focusses on counteracting challenges of temporal energy balancing induced by the intermittent feed-in of renewable energy sources. As regarding the coupling of grids, SC currently remains within classical energy grids. It does not exploit the coupled sectors’ potential to its full extent and, hence, lacks a holistic view. To include this view, we call on the use of all grids from coupled sectors for spatial energy transportation, resulting in an infrastructural system. By using the different loss structures of coupled grids, we illustrate how a holistic view on SC minimizes transportation losses. We argue that SC should include all grids that transport whichever type of energy (e.g., even transportation or communication grids). Ultimately, we derive and discuss implications relevant for policy makers and research: We illustrate why regulation and market design should be aligned in a way that the resulting incentives within and across the different sectors support climate change goals. [less ▲]

Strukturierte Analyse von Nachfrageflexibilität im Stromsystem und Ableitung eines generischen Geschäftsmodells für (stromintensive) Unternehmen

in Zeitschrift für Energiewirtschaft (2020)

The expansion of renewable energy requires appropriate flexibility in the electricity system in order to maintain the balance between electricity generation and consumption at all times. The industrial ... [more ▼]

The expansion of renewable energy requires appropriate flexibility in the electricity system in order to maintain the balance between electricity generation and consumption at all times. The industrial sector plays a central role for a successful energy transition due to the power-intensive processes and the resulting high electricity demand. Industrial demand response may be a cost-effective alternative to other flexibility options. At the same time, companies can reduce electricity procurement costs by providing demand response. Nevertheless, due to a complex decision-making environment and a lack of planning security, only a few companies are currently exploiting the existing potential. To reach the goals of the energy transition, the potential used must still be raised significantly, i.e., companies must align their demand for electricity more closely to the existing supply of electricity. This article supports companies in this transformation process by illustrating dimensions and characteristics of a business model for demand response. Through a literature study and subsequent expert workshops, a generic business model for companies is derived that provides transparency regarding the necessary activities and resources for enabling and implementing demand response. The results were developed using the established Business Model Canvas. This supports companies that have not yet started to use demand response in their business model development and thus reduces barriers to entry. The results presented contribute to an increase in the demand response potential of the industry. [less ▲]

Blockchain in der öffentlichen Verwaltung - Unterstützung der Zusammenarbeit im Asylprozess

in Informatik-Spektrum (2019)

Due to Germany's federal structures, IT architects in German authorities are often faced with major challenges. A large number of regionally different process variants must be mapped on heterogeneous IT ... [more ▼]

Due to Germany's federal structures, IT architects in German authorities are often faced with major challenges. A large number of regionally different process variants must be mapped on heterogeneous IT infrastructures. In addition, the exchange of information between authorities is not fully digitized and only partially standardized. One of the technologies that could create added value in this area of ​​conflict is blockchain. Together with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, the applicability of the technology in the asylum area was examined in a proof-of-concept project. The central finding from the proof-of-concept is that a cross-agency blockchain solution in the asylum process is superior to central solutions in terms of integrity, performance, security and transparency. [less ▲]

Extending the Automation Pyramid for Industrial Demand Response

in Procedia CIRP (2019), 81

Industrial demand response uses a multitude of energy flexibility measures. Their planning and control requires various production IT systems. A widely accepted approach to classify these inhouse IT ... [more ▼]

Industrial demand response uses a multitude of energy flexibility measures. Their planning and control requires various production IT systems. A widely accepted approach to classify these inhouse IT systems are the levels of the automation pyramid in companies. This paper broadens the scope of this concept to overcome the limitation to companies’ (virtual) borders by including required IT systems that refine and monetarize a company’s energy flexibility, e.g. energy markets, aggregators, etc. Therefore, a holistic approach for the classification of functionalities for industrial demand response across companies and energy markets is developed and applied exemplarily. [less ▲]

Industrielle Energieflexibilität im Energiesystem

in Energieflexibilität in der deutschen Industrie : Ergebnisse aus dem Kopernikus-Projekt - Synchronisierte und energieadaptive Produktionstechnik zur flexiblen Ausrichtung von Industrieprozessen auf eine fluktuierende Energieversorgung (SynErgie) (2019)

Energy from renewable resources is not always readily available. Depending on the season and the weather, the power made available by solar parks or wind turbines varies, for example. Due to the ... [more ▼]

Energy from renewable resources is not always readily available. Depending on the season and the weather, the power made available by solar parks or wind turbines varies, for example. Due to the continuous expansion of renewable energies, the volatility in the energy system will become more and more pronounced in the future. Preparing and adapting the industry to the changing supply structures is a major challenge for the next few decades. In the future, companies must be able to design their processes and operational organization in such a way that energy consumption can at least partially adapt flexibly to the volatile energy supply. In addition to developing technologies, Concepts and measures to make industrial processes more energetic, a second focus of future work is the development of a consistent IT infrastructure with which companies and energy providers can provide and exchange information from the production machine to the energy markets in the future. This leads to a paradigm shift in the operation of industrial processes - away from continuous and purely demand-driven energy consumption towards the adaptable, energy-flexible operation of industrial plants. This reference work presents the most important results of the research in the context of the Kopernikus project Synergy and clarifies trend-setting findings for further developments in the still young field of industrial energy flexibility. [less ▲]

Überprüfung der Machbarkeit eines offenen und dezentralen Mobilitätssystems (OMOS)

Report (2019)

The customer requirements for mobility systems are changing. Travelers increasingly expect a carefree travel experience with any starting or destination point ("Seamless Mobility as a Service") - and that ... [more ▼]

The customer requirements for mobility systems are changing. Travelers increasingly expect a carefree travel experience with any starting or destination point ("Seamless Mobility as a Service") - and that with a single booking and billing for all means of transport used. In order to meet this need, the idea of ​​an open and decentralized mobility system is increasingly being discussed, which can integrate the offers of various mobility providers through a common, neutral system. Before such a system can take a concrete form, however, a clear understanding of the opportunities and risks as well as the specific requirements of end customers and mobility providers on such a system is required. The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the general opportunities and risks of a corresponding system, as well as the general feasibility of the requirements placed on such a system. A multi-method approach was chosen for this purpose. This makes it possible to examine a holistic picture of the requirements of end customers as well as mobility providers and other stakeholders (e.g. technology providers). Records from a workshop with the (associated) partners in the OMOS project and the results of a literature analysis were used as the basis for data collection. To examine the end customer needs, two surveys were carried out with a total of 352 participants, whose questions were derived from practical workshops (survey I) and theoretical models (survey II). In addition, an interview study was carried out with 15 experts to discuss the requirements of various stakeholders, on the basis of which general topics in the field of seamless mobility were also asked. [less ▲]

Harnessing the Full Potential of Industrial Demand-Side Flexibility : an End-to-End Approach Connecting Machines with Markets through Service-Oriented IT Platforms

in Applied Sciences (2019), 9(18),

The growing share of renewable energy generation based on fluctuatingwind and solar energy sources is increasingly challenging in terms of power grid stability. Industrial demand-side response presents a ... [more ▼]

The growing share of renewable energy generation based on fluctuatingwind and solar energy sources is increasingly challenging in terms of power grid stability. Industrial demand-side response presents a promising way to balance energy supply and consumption. For this, energy demand is flexibly adapted based on external incentives. Thus, companies can economically benefit and at the same time contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are currently some major obstacles that impede industrial companies fromtaking part in the energymarkets. A broad specification analysis systematically dismantles the existing barriers. On this foundation, a new end-to-end ecosystem of an energy synchronization platform is introduced. It consists of a business-individual company-side platform, where suitable services for energy-oriented manufacturing are offered. In addition, one market-side platform is established as a mediating service broker, which connects the companies to, e.g., third party service providers, energy suppliers, aggregators, and energy markets. The ecosystems aim at preventing vendor lock-in and providing a flexible solution, relying on open standards and offering an integrated solution through an end-to-end energy flexibility data model. In this article, the resulting functionalities are discussed and the remaining deficits outlined. [less ▲]