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The Decentralized and Networked Future of Value Creation
by Jan-Peter Ferdinand Ulrich Petschow Sascha DickelThis book identifies, analyzes and discusses the current trends of digitalized, decentralized, and networked physical value creation by focusing on the particular example of 3D printing. In addition to evaluating 3D printing's disruptive potentials against a broader economic background, it also addresses the technology's potential impacts on sustainability and emerging modes of bottom-up and community-based innovation. Emphasizing these topics from economic, technical, social and environmental perspectives, the book offers a multifaceted overview that scrutinizes the scenario of a fundamental transition: from a centralized to a far more decentralized system of value creation.
Decentralized Applications: Harnessing Bitcoin's Blockchain Technology
by Siraj Raval<p>Take advantage of Bitcoin’s underlying technology, the blockchain, to build massively scalable, decentralized applications known as dapps. In this practical guide, author Siraj Raval explains why dapps will become more widely used—and profitable—than today’s most popular web apps. You’ll learn how the blockchain’s cryptographically stored ledger, scarce-asset model, and peer-to-peer (P2P) technology provide a more flexible, better-incentivized structure than current software models. <p>Once you understand the theory behind dapps and what a thriving dapp ecosystem looks like, Raval shows you how to use existing tools to create a working dapp. You’ll then take a deep dive into the OpenBazaar decentralized market, and examine two case studies of successful dapps currently in use. <p> <li>Learn advances in distributed-system technology that make distributed data, wealth, identity, computing, and bandwidth possible <li>Build a Twitter clone with the Go language, distributed architecture, decentralized messaging app, and peer-to-peer data store <li>Learn about OpenBazaar’s decentralized market and its structure for supporting transactions <li>Explore Lighthouse, a decentralized crowdfunding project that rivals sites such as Kickstarter and IndieGogo <li>Take an in-depth look at La’Zooz, a P2P ridesharing app that transmits data directly between riders and drivers</li> </p>
Decentralized Control of Complex Systems (Dover Books on Electrical Engineering #Volume 184)
by Dragoslav D. SiljakStarting with a graph-theoretic framework for structural modeling of complex systems, this text presents results related to robust stabilization via decentralized state feedback. Subsequent chapters explore optimization, output feedback, the manipulative power of graphs, overlapping decompositions and the underlying inclusion principle, and reliability design. An appendix provides efficient graph algorithms. 1991 edition.
Decentralized Control of Large-Scale Systems
by Edward J. Davison Amir G. Aghdam Daniel E. MillerA large-scale system is composed of several interconnected subsystems. For such a system it is often desired to have some form of decentralization in the control structure, since it is typically not realistic to assume that all output measurements can be transmitted to every local control station. Problems of this kind can appear in electric power systems, communication networks, large space structures, robotic systems, economic systems, and traffic networks, to name only a few. Typical large-scale control systems have several local control stations which observe only local outputs and control only local inputs. All controllers are involved, however, in the control operation of the overall system. The focus of this book is on the efficient control of interconnected systems, and it presents systems analysis and controller synthesis techniques using a variety of methods. A systematic study of multi-input, multi-output systems is carried out and illustrative examples are given to clarify the ideas.
Decentralized Coverage Control Problems For Mobile Robotic Sensor and Actuator Networks
by Teddy M. Cheng Zhiyu Xi Alexey S. Matveev Faizan Javed Hung Nguyen Andrey V. SavkinThis book introduces various coverage control problems for mobile sensor networks including barrier, sweep and blanket. Unlike many existing algorithms, all of the robotic sensor and actuator motion algorithms developed in the book are fully decentralized or distributed, computationally efficient, easily implementable in engineering practice and based only on information on the closest neighbours of each mobile sensor and actuator and local information about the environment. Moreover, the mobile robotic sensors have no prior information about the environment in which they operation. These various types of coverage problems have never been covered before by a single book in a systematic way.Another topic of this book is the study of mobile robotic sensor and actuator networks. Many modern engineering applications include the use of sensor and actuator networks to provide efficient and effective monitoring and control of industrial and environmental processes. Such mobile sensor and actuator networks are able to achieve improved performance and efficient monitoring together with reduction in power consumption and production cost.
The Decentralized Energy Revolution
by Christoph Burger Jens WeinmannThe global energy system stands at the verge of a far-reaching paradigm shift. The established model of centralized supply services will be challenged by new, decentralized technologies, with Germany being an international role model for energy efficiency and renewable energy generation.
Decentralized Estimation and Control for Multisensor Systems
by Arthur G.O. MutambaraDecentralized Estimation and Control for Multisensor Systems explores the problem of developing scalable, decentralized estimation and control algorithms for linear and nonlinear multisensor systems. Such algorithms have extensive applications in modular robotics and complex or large scale systems, including the Mars Rover, the Mir station, and Space Shuttle Columbia.Most existing algorithms use some form of hierarchical or centralized structure for data gathering and processing. In contrast, in a fully decentralized system, all information is processed locally. A decentralized data fusion system includes a network of sensor nodes - each with its own processing facility, which together do not require any central processing or central communication facility. Only node-to-node communication and local system knowledge are permitted.Algorithms for decentralized data fusion systems based on the linear information filter have been developed, obtaining decentrally the same results as those in a conventional centralized data fusion system. However, these algorithms are limited, indicating that existing decentralized data fusion algorithms have limited scalability and are wasteful of communications and computation resources.Decentralized Estimation and Control forMultisensor Systems aims to remove current limitations in decentralized data fusion algorithms and to extend the decentralized principle to problems involving local control and actuation.The text discusses: Generalizing the linear Information filter to the problem of estimation for nonlinear systems Developing a decentralized form of the algorithm Solving the problem of fully connected topologies by using generalized model distribution where the nodal system involves only locally relevant states Reducing computational requirements by using smaller local model sizes Defining internodal communication Developing estima
Decentralized Privacy Preservation in Smart Cities (Wireless Networks)
by Cheng Huang Xuemin (Sherman) ShenThis book investigates decentralized trust-based privacy-preserving solutions in smart cities. The authors first present an overview of smart cities and privacy challenges and discuss the benefits of adopting decentralized trust models in achieving privacy preservation. The authors then give a comprehensive review of fundamental decentralized techniques and privacy-preserving cryptographic techniques. The next four chapters each detail a decentralized trust-based scheme, focusing respectively on privacy-preserving identity management, cross-domain authentication, data analytics, and data search, in specific use cases. Finally, the book explores open issues and outlines future research directions in the field of decentralized privacy preservation.
Decentralized Sanitation and Water Treatment: Treatment in Cold Environments and Techno-Economic Aspects (Sustainable Industrial and Environmental Bioprocesses)
by Rajeshwar D Tyagi Ashok Pandey Patrick Drogui Bhoomika Yadav Sridhar Pilli Wong, Jonathan W.C.This book discusses decentralized sanitation for wastewater treatment and management in cold environments. It addresses the knowledge gap that exists between the understanding of centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment approaches. Decentralized Sanitation and Water Treatment: Treatment in Cold Environments and Techno-Economic Aspects covers the sustainability principles, various technologies involved, decentralized treatment in cold countries, and the economic and social feasibility of decentralized sanitation. It provides solutions for the conservation of water sources and target-oriented sanitation approaches for wastewater treatment and recycling.Key Features Reviews the current status, challenges, and future perspectives of decentralized water treatments Discusses decentralized sanitation, water, and wastewater treatment in cold environments and Northern countries Focuses on interdisciplinary approaches of sustainability and circular economy Covers life cycle and environment assessment of decentralized sanitation systems Reviews the environmental, techno-economic, and social aspects of decentralized sanitation systems The book is meant for professionals and researchers working on wastewater treatment, environmental engineering, and ecology.
Decentralized Systems with Design Constraints
by Magdi S. MahmoudDecentralized Control and Filtering provides a rigorous framework for examining the analysis, stability and control of large-scale systems, addressing the difficulties that arise because dimensionality, information structure constraints, parametric uncertainty and time-delays. This monograph serves three purposes: it reviews past methods and results from a contemporary perspective; it examines presents trends and approaches and to provide future possibilities; and it investigates robust, reliable and/or resilient decentralized design methods based on a framework of linear matrix inequalities. As well as providing an overview of large-scale systems theories from the past several decades, the author presents key modern concepts and efficient computational methods. Representative numerical examples, end-of-chapter problems, and typical system applications are included, and theoretical developments and practical applications of large-scale dynamical systems are discussed in depth.
Decentralized Water Reclamation Engineering
by Robert L. SiegristThis book presents technical information and materials concerning the engineering of decentralized infrastructure to achieve effective wastewater treatment while also minimizing resource consumption and providing a source of reclaimed water, nutrients and organic matter. The approaches, technologies and systems described are targeted for green building and sustainable infrastructure across the United States and similar industrialized nations, but they are also applicable to water and sanitation projects in developing regions around the world. Today, decentralized infrastructure can be used to sustainably serve houses, buildings and developments with water use and wastewater flows of 100 to 100,000 gal/d or more. The book provides in-depth engineering coverage of the subject in a narrative and slide format specifically designed for classroom lectures or facilitated self-study. Key topics are covered including: engineering to satisfy project goals and requirements including sustainability, contemporary water use and wastewater generation and methods to achieve water use efficiency and source separation, alternative methods of wastewater collection and conveyance, and treatment and reuse operations including tank-based (e. g. , septic tanks, aerobic treatment units, porous media biofilters, membrane bioreactors), wetland-based (e. g. , free water surface and vegetated subsurface bed wetlands), and land-based unit operations (e. g. , subsurface soil infiltration, shallow drip dispersal). Approaches and technologies are also presented that can achieve nutrient reduction and resource recovery in some cases or pathogen destruction to enable a particular discharge or reuse plan. The book also describes requirements and methods for effective management of the process solids, sludges and residuals that can be generated by various approaches, technologies, and systems. The book contains over 300 figures and illustrations of technologies and systems and over 150 tables of design and performance data. There are also more than 200 questions and problems relevant to the topics covered including example problems that have solutions presented to illustrate engineering concepts and calculations.
The Decentring of the Traditional University: The Future of (Self) Education in Virtually Figured Worlds
by Russell FrancisThe Decentring of the Traditional University provides a unique perspective on the implications of media change for learning and literacy that allows us to peer into the future of (self) education. Each chapter draws on socio-cultural and activity theory to investigate how resourceful students are breaking away from traditional modes of instruction and educating themselves through engagement with a globally interconnected web-based participatory culture. The argument is developed with reference to the findings of an ethnographic study that focused on university students’ informal uses of social and participatory media. Each chapter draws attention to the shifting locus of agency for regulating and managing learning and describes an emergent genre of learning activity. For example, Francis explores how students are cultivating and nurturing globally distributed funds of living knowledge that transcend institutional boundaries and describes students learning through serious play in virtually figured worlds that support radically personalised lifelong learning agendas. These stories also highlight the challenges and choices learners confront as they struggle to negotiate the faultlines of media convergence and master the new media literacies required to exploit the full potential of Web 2.0 as a learning resource. Overall, this compelling argument proposes that we are witnessing a period of historic systemic change in the culture of university learning as an emergent web-based participatory culture starts to disrupt and displace a top-down culture industry model of education that has evolved around the medium of the book. As a result, Francis argues that we need to re-conceive higher education as an identity-project in which students work on their projective identities (or imagined future selves) through engagement with both formal and informal learning activities.
Deception and Delay in Organized Conflict: Essays on the Mathematical Theory of Maskirovka (SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology)
by Rodrick WallaceThis book explores the role of deception, delay, and self-deception in the dynamics of organized conflict, taking a formal approach that hews closely to the asymptotic limit theorems of information and control theories. The resulting probability models can, with some effort—and some confidence—be converted to statistical tools for the analysis of real-time observational and ‘experimental’ data on institutionalized confrontation across both traditional and emerging ‘Clausewitz Landscapes’.
Deception in Autonomous Transport Systems: Threats, Impacts and Mitigation Policies (Wireless Networks)
by Simon Parkinson Mauro Vallati Alexandros NikitasThis book provides a comprehensive overview of deception in autonomous transport systems. This involves investigating the threats facing autonomous transport systems and how they can contribute towards a deceptive attack, followed by their potential impact if successful, and finally, how they can be mitigated. The work in this book is grouped into three parts. This first part focuses on the area of smart cities, policies, and ethics. This includes critically appraising the trade-off between functionality and security with connected and autonomous vehicles. The second discusses a range of AI applications in the wider field of smart transport and mobility, such as detecting anomalies in vehicle behaviour to investigating detecting disobedient vehicles. Finally, the third part presents and discusses cybersecurity-related aspects to consider when dealing with Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) and smart urban infrastructure. This includes analysing different attacks to investigating secure communication technologies. CAVs are a game-changing technology with the potential to transform the way transport is perceived, mobility is serviced, travel ecosystems ‘behave’, and cities and societies as a whole function. There are many foreseen safety, accessibility and sustainability benefits resulting from the adoption of CAVs because of their ability, in theory, to operate error-free and collaboratively, ranging from accident prevention, congestion reduction and decreased carbon emissions to time savings, increased social inclusion, optimised routing, and better traffic control. However, no matter what the expected benefits are, CAVs are at the same time susceptible to an unprecedented number of new digital and physical threats. The severity of these threats has resulted in an increased effort to deepen our understanding of CAVs when it comes to their safety and resilience. In this complex and multi-faceted scenario, this book aims to provide an extensive overview of the risks related to the malicious exploitation of CAVs and beyond, the potential ways in which vulnerabilities can be exploited, prevention and mitigation policies and techniques, and the impact that the non-acceptance of Connected and Autonomous Mobility can have on the Smart City agenda. This book targets researchers, practitioners, and advanced-level students in computer science and transport engineering.
Decision Analysis Applied to the Field of Environmental Health (Professional Practice in Earth Sciences)
by Dilber Uzun Ozsahin Berna Uzun Tamer Sanlidag James LaMoreauxThis book provides students and researchers with a resource that includes the current application of the multi-criteria decision theory in a variety of fields, including the environment, health care, engineering, and architecture. There are many critical parameters (criteria) that can directly or indirectly affect the consequences of various decisions. The application of the multi-criteria decision theory focusses mainly on the use of computational methods which include multiple criteria and orders of preference for the evaluation and the selection of the best option among many alternatives based on the desired outcome. The theory of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) is an approach that can be extremely useful for students, managers, engineers of manufacturing companies, etc.
Decision and Control in Hybrid Wind Farms (Studies in Systems, Decision and Control #253)
by Harsh S. Dhiman Dipankar DebThis book focuses on two of the most important aspects of wind farm operation: decisions and control. The first part of the book deals with decision-making processes, and explains that hybrid wind farm operation is governed by a set of alternatives that the wind farm operator must choose from in order to achieve optimal delivery of wind power to the utility grid. This decision-making is accompanied by accurate forecasts of wind speed, which must be known beforehand. Errors in wind forecasting can be compensated for by pumping power from a reserve capacity to the grid using a battery energy storage system (BESS). Alternatives based on penalty cost are assessed using certain criteria, and MCDM methods are used to evaluate the best choice. Further, considering the randomness in the dynamic phenomenon in wind farms, a fuzzy MCDM approach is applied during the decision-making process to evaluate the best alternative for hybrid wind farm operation. Case studies from wind farms in the USA are presented, together with numerical solutions to the problem. In turn, the second part deals with the control aspect, and especially with yaw angle control, which facilitates power maximization at wind farms. A novel transfer function-based methodology is presented that controls the wake center of the upstream turbine(s); lidar-based numerical simulation is carried out for wind farm layouts; and an adaptive control strategy is implemented to achieve the desired yaw angle for upstream turbines. The proposed methodology is tested for two wind farm layouts. Wake management is also implemented for hybrid wind farms where BESS life enhancement is studied. The effect of yaw angle on the operational cost of BESS is assessed, and case studies for wind farm datasets from the USA and Denmark are discussed. Overall, the book provides a comprehensive guide to decision and control aspects for hybrid wind farms, which are particularly important from an industrial standpoint.
Decision and Decision-maker in an Industrial Environment
by Lamia Berrah Vincent ClivilléDecision and Decision-maker in an Industrial Environment developed around the observation that two different decision-makers, faced with the same problem, may not make the same decision. The book proposes explanations for this, ranging from the wholly rational to the irrational, and analyzes different factors in decision-making, such as the intention of the decision-maker, the environment in which their decision is made or the process leading to decision-making. While the common belief is that everything in an industrial environment stems from reasoned decisions, analysis of common practice shows that this is not always the case. This book offers an original perspective by presenting the decision making mechanism from the point of view of the decision maker and their handling of a specific decision-making problem. To learn more about the decision-maker’s motivations when faced with these situations, the authors provide a review of the history of decisionmaking and the major trends in decision-making theory. The concepts and methods are presented with illustrations based on the use of an MES, an industrial management software package.
Decision and Game Theory for Security: 10th International Conference, GameSec 2019, Stockholm, Sweden, October 30 – November 1, 2019, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #11836)
by Tansu Alpcan Yevgeniy Vorobeychik John S. Baras György DánThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Decision and Game Theory for Security, GameSec 2019,held in Stockholm, Sweden, in October 2019.The 21 full papers presented together with 11 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 47 submissions.The papers focus on protection of heterogeneous, large-scale and dynamic cyber-physical systems as well as managing security risks faced by critical infrastructures through rigorous and practically-relevant analytical methods.
Decision-Based Design
by Christopher Hoyle Henk Jan Wassenaar Wei ChenBuilding upon the fundamental principles of decision theory, Decision-Based Design: Integrating Consumer Preferences into Engineering Design presents an analytical approach to enterprise-driven Decision-Based Design (DBD) as a rigorous framework for decision making in engineering design. Once the related fundamentals of decision theory, economic analysis, and econometrics modelling are established, the remaining chapters describe the entire process, the associated analytical techniques, and the design case studies for integrating consumer preference modeling into the enterprise-driven DBD framework. Methods for identifying key attributes, optimal design of human appraisal experiments, data collection, data analysis, and demand model estimation are presented and illustrated using engineering design case studies. The scope of the chapters also provides: A rigorous framework of integrating the interests from both producer and consumers in engineering design, Analytical techniques of consumer choice modelling to forecast the impact of engineering decisions, Methods for synthesizing business and engineering models in multidisciplinary design environments, and Examples of effective application of Decision-Based Design supported by case studies. No matter whether you are an engineer facing decisions in consumer related product design, an instructor or student of engineering design, or a researcher exploring the role of decision making and consumer choice modelling in design, Decision-Based Design: Integrating Consumer Preferences into Engineering Design provides a reliable reference over a range of key topics.
Decision Diagram Techniques for Micro- and Nanoelectronic Design Handbook
by Svetlana N. Yanushkevich D. Michael Miller Vlad P. Shmerko Radomir S. StankovicDecision diagram (DD) techniques are very popular in the electronic design automation (EDA) of integrated circuits, and for good reason. They can accurately simulate logic design, can show where to make reductions in complexity, and can be easily modified to model different scenarios.Presenting DD techniques from an applied perspective, Decision Diagram Techniques for Micro- and Nanoelectronic Design Handbook provides a comprehensive, up-to-date collection of DD techniques. Experts with more than forty years of combined experience in both industrial and academic settings demonstrate how to apply the techniques to full advantage with more than 400 examples and illustrations. Beginning with the fundamental theory, data structures, and logic underlying DD techniques, they explore a breadth of topics from arithmetic and word-level representations to spectral techniques and event-driven analysis. The book also includes abundant references to more detailed information and additional applications.Decision Diagram Techniques for Micro- and Nanoelectronic Design Handbook collects the theory, methods, and practical knowledge necessary to design more advanced circuits and places it at your fingertips in a single, concise reference.
Decision Economics: Complexity of Decisions and Decisions for Complexity (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing #1009)
by Shu-Heng Chen Juan Manuel Corchado Edgardo BucciarelliThis book is based on the International Conference on Decision Economics (DECON 2019). Highlighting the fact that important decision-making takes place in a range of critical subject areas and research fields, including economics, finance, information systems, psychology, small and international business, management, operations, and production, the book focuses on analytics as an emerging synthesis of sophisticated methodology and large data systems used to guide economic decision-making in an increasingly complex business environment.DECON 2019 was organised by the University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy), the National Chengchi University of Taipei (Taiwan), and the University of Salamanca (Spain), and was held at the Escuela politécnica Superior de Ávila, Spain, from 26th to 28th June, 2019. Sponsored by IEEE Systems Man and Cybernetics Society, Spain Section Chapter, and IEEE Spain Section (Technical Co-Sponsor), IBM, Indra, Viewnext, Global Exchange, AEPIA-and-APPIA, with the funding supporting of the Junta de Castilla y León, Spain (ID: SA267P18-Project co-financed with FEDER funds)
Decision Economics: Minds, Machines, and their Society (Studies in Computational Intelligence #990)
by Edgardo Bucciarelli Shu-Heng Chen Juan M. Corchado Javier Parra D.This book is the result of a multi-year research project led and sponsored by the University of Chieti-Pescara, National Chengchi University, University of Salamanca, and Osaka University. It is the fifth volume to emerge from that international project, held under the aegis of the United Nations Academic Impact in 2020. All the essays in this volume were (virtually) discussed at the University of L’Aquila―as the venue of the 2nd International Conference on Decision Economics, a three-day global gathering of approximately one hundred scholars and practitioners—and were subjected to thorough peer review by leading experts in the field. The essays reflect the extent, diversity, and richness of several research areas, both normative and descriptive, and are an invaluable resource for graduate-level and PhD students, academics, researchers, policymakers and other professionals, especially in the social and cognitive sciences. Given its interdisciplinary scope, the book subsequently delivers new approaches on how to contribute to the future of economics, providing alternative explanations for various socio-economic issues such as computable humanities; cognitive, behavioural, and experimental perspectives in economics; data analysis and machine learning as well as research areas at the intersection of computer science, artificial intelligence, mathematics, and statistics; agent-based modelling and the related. The editors are grateful to the scientific committee for its continuous support throughout the research project as well as to the many participants for their insightful comments and always probing questions. In any case, the collaboration involved in the project extends far beyond the group of authors published in this volume and is reflected in the quality of the essays published over the years.
Decision Intelligence: Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Technology, InCITe 2023, Volume 1 (Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering #1079)
by B. K. Murthy B. V. R. Reddy Nitasha Hasteer Jean-Paul Van BelleThis book comprises the select peer-reviewed proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Information Technology (InCITe-2023). It aims to provide a comprehensive and broad-spectrum picture of state-of-the-art research and development in decision intelligence, deep learning, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science, and enabling technologies for IoT, blockchain, and other futuristic computational technologies. It covers various topics that span cutting-edge, collaborative technologies and areas of computation. The content would serve as a rich knowledge repository on information & communication technologies, neural networks, fuzzy systems, natural language processing, data mining & warehousing, big data analytics, cloud computing, security, social networks, and intelligence, decision-making, and modeling, information systems, and IT architectures. This book provides a valuable resource for those in academia and industry.
Decision Intelligence Analytics and the Implementation of Strategic Business Management (EAI/Springer Innovations in Communication and Computing)
by Dieu Hack-Polay Tanupriya Choudhury P. Mary Jeyanthi T P Singh Sheikh AbujarThis book presents a framework for developing an analytics strategy that includes a range of activities, from problem definition and data collection to data warehousing, analysis, and decision making. The authors examine best practices in team analytics strategies such as player evaluation, game strategy, and training and performance. They also explore the way in which organizations can use analytics to drive additional revenue and operate more efficiently. The authors provide keys to building and organizing a decision intelligence analytics that delivers insights into all parts of an organization. The book examines the criteria and tools for evaluating and selecting decision intelligence analytics technologies and the applicability of strategies for fostering a culture that prioritizes data-driven decision making. Each chapter is carefully segmented to enable the reader to gain knowledge in business intelligence, decision making and artificial intelligence in a strategic management context.
Decision Intelligence Solutions: Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Technology, InCITe 2023, Volume 2 (Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering #1080)
by Nitasha Hasteer Seán McLoone Manju Khari Purushottam SharmaThis book comprises the select peer-reviewed proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Information Technology (InCITe-2023). It aims to provide a comprehensive and broad-spectrum picture of state-of-the-art research and development in decision intelligence, deep learning, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science, and enabling technologies for IoT, blockchain, and other futuristic computational technologies. It covers various topics that span cutting-edge, collaborative technologies and areas of computation. The content would serve as a rich knowledge repository on information & communication technologies, neural networks, fuzzy systems, natural language processing, data mining & warehousing, big data analytics, cloud computing, security, social networks and intelligence, decision-making and modeling, information systems, and IT architectures. This book provides a valuable resource for those in academia and industry.