TITLE: New Hope through Advanced Control and Automation Systems: Delivering e-Citizen Services in Post-Conflict, Transition Regions.
ABSTRACT: Post-conflict regions are special cases of developing countries which attract significant aid designed to stimulate socio-economic stability. Some of these regions have also experienced a move from a centrally organised economy to a market driven economy. This combination of so-called “transition” economy with the “post-conflict” status as defined by the United Nations, creates major challenges and instabilities that may hamper efforts to generate social stability and underpin a society emerging from the chaos of war. These regions present extreme challenges for public policy makers and for international intervention. They represented some of the most complex and difficult international stability challenges in existence.
The most basic regulation and control applications enjoyed in stable, developed societies, such as citizen identity databases and property ownership registers, may be difficult to set up under these conditions. The lack of regulation may be a source of hostility and tension, especially where there are ethnic enclaves or cross-community disputes. On the other hand such services are important as a way of re-establishing normal life. They provide basic societal controls and a regulated account of assets and ownership, as well as citizen identity which is the basis for participation in civil affairs, such as voting in municipal and regional elections or even something as basic as registering ownership of a car. Innovative control and automation systems which provide citizen and business services can help re-establish normal community life and alleviate tensions. The complexity of the post-conflict, transition context implies that local, indigenous firms are usually best placed to design and implement such solutions.
The paper addresses the question: How do indigenous advanced technology firms developing and implementing advanced control applications for e-citizenship operate successfully in such contexts?
It does this by exploring the findings of a study of indigenous high innovation organisations which have successfully adapted to the dynamics of their post-conflict, transition economy context. It showcases control systems applications which provide practical, cross-community, e-citizen solutions across less stable, developing regions.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY: Dr. Stapleton is a world leader in human factors and digital systems. He was awarded a PhD for his work on organizational factors in advanced, large-scale management systems in 2001 following which he established the INSYTE Research Centre at WIT. He has advised the European Commission and national governments both inside and outside the EU, business development groups and enterprise networks, Enterprise Ireland and other agencies including national and European regulatory authorities in advanced engineering sectors. He is associate editor for international journals and is a full technical board member of the International Federation of Automation and Control (IFAC) comprising several thousand members across fifty countries. He is a member of the European network of Professors in Industrial Engineering Management (EPIEM) and, in this capacity, has run European academies in Management and Leadership. As well as his work at WIT, he holds numerous international academic positions as: Visiting Professor, Vienna University of Technology, winner of “Best International Professor” award for his work at the Centre for Executive Education (2007-present), Visiting Professor at University of Business and Technology (UBT), Balkans,(2005-present), Visiting Scholar in “Banking in the Digital Age”, Institute of Banking, IFSC, Dublin (2006-present), Technical Board Member and Coordinating Committee Chair for Social Effects of Advanced Technologies (CC 9). Also he has held a Visiting Scholar position at the Institute of Banking for over 10 years, driving the highly successful “Banking in the Digital Age” program.
Dr. Stapleton has received several “Best Professor” awards, including the 2017 award for his work at the Centre for Executive Education at the Technical University of Vienna.
He is author of over 100 academic publications related to advanced digital systems and their impact.