Enrico Maria Mosconi

Economical Assessment of Large-Scale Photovoltaic Plants: An Italian Case Study

Photovoltaic power is characterized by higher costs than coal-fired technologies. Thus, photovoltaic systems require policy support to become more affordable. This is even more important if the goals -set by Directive 2009/28/EC- must be achieved by 2020. The present paper carefully describes the economical feasibility of a large scale photovoltaic plant, with specific regard to the Italian situation. An Italian case study is investigated and attention is paid to an extremely important tool, i.e. Project Financing. In order to better understand the economical assessment, recent public incentives and supporting measures are taken into account. After analyzing the cash flows and evaluating the Net Present Value (NPV) and the Internal Rate of Return (IRR), the results -obtained by the simulation for different Feed-In Tariff (FIT)s- show that the income is influenced by the date of commissioning and by the amount of incentives.

Public Policy Innovation in Distance and On-Line Learning: Reflections on the Italian Case

The dynamic evolution of competences required by professions has to match ever-evolving contexts, in which the growth of the demand of new professionals, poses the threat of a skill shortage. The role of learning and training is strategic to this regard, also thanks to the use of on-line and distance learning that use Internet based technologies to allow learning to be administered in context different than the traditional face-to-face. Literature highlights that e-learning has to be implemented following specific strategies. Within this perspective, this chapter presents and discusses the recent experiences of the public policies for e-learning in Italy.

Digital Innovation in the Job Market: An Explorative Study on Cloud Working Platforms

The evolution of the web has produced a broad change in partnerships and collaboration worldwide due to the centrality of internet, a virtual place where actors from different countries can easily meet and exchange in-formation. This new agency model represents the basis for the development of a new entrepreneurial organization where companies can redefine their idea of business in order to make the web instrumental in the creation of a global social network of actors. This model of cooperation is now possible thank to the creation of the new cloud working platforms that have brought about a revolution in the job market. Main objective of the present work is therefore 1. to analyze and compare, on one hand, three main communities of crowdsourcing (Knowledge or Gig economy) in order to show such evolution, and on the other; 2. to analyze and compare the main platforms of cooperation at distance, in order to identify critical success factors.

Strategies and Policies to Avoid Digital Divide: The Italian Case in the European Landscape

The digital divide is a phenomenon that affects, with different intensity, several European countries, including Italy. Public policies, at the European and Italian level, play a relevant role in reducing the gap among countries with different level of digital development, and need to cope with its multifaceted nature. Currently both a European strategy for digitalization and an Italian digital agenda have been issued as policies to tackle the problem. This paper analyses from an exploratory perspective the strategies and policies issued by the Italian government to address the digital deployment of ICT infrastructures in the public administration, specifically targeting the education sector, within the background of the European context.

Ethic Values for Sharing Communities

The essence of sharing platforms and their role in the social context is related not only to technology, but especially to the way it is being used today. Ethics, social responsibility and sustainability have become part of this process of development and they stimulate the entrepreneurial mainspring of new market models, that are in evolution. In crowdfunding the “return investment expectancy” plays a key role also in the selection process of innovative ideas, where credibility becomes an essential asset for the business, as well as the need to demonstrate transparency, integrity and responsible governance as priorities. Recently, these platforms are adopting voluntary certification systems, the B Corp certification, to reconcile the need to conduct business under the ethics aspect and raise awareness of stakeholders to adopt guiding values for business, consumption, or the use of services. Our goal is to investigate the role of “ethics”, conducted by the “B Corp” Standard Certification System, on sharing platforms. In particular we analyze how the Kickstarter Platform manages the ethical values of B Corp certification. The areas we analyze are: the community, governance, workers, the environment and customers. The closing chapter highlights the theoretical implications and limits of the analysis.

Insights into Congestion Costs and Financial Risk Management: The Electricity Market☆

Abstract “Congestion costs” occur in the electricity market when the power flows, equivalent to a projection mapping of energy injection and withdrawal, established by the “electricity stock exchange” and by “bi-lateral contracts”, are incompatible with the transfer capacity guaranteed by the power grid, in required security conditions. Transfer restrictions in the national and transboundary transmission grid can potentially determine the market segmentation in different geographical areas, preventing the producers to compete freely to satisfy the overall demand in those areas. As a result of power congestions, those producers that have reduced limitations in the power transfer are obviously favored, also if in the presence of high marginal production costs and prices, leading to the constitution of pools of producers that de facto control the local market. In particular this paper aims at describing and discussing the problem of power congestions, electricity price formation and congestion risk management.

Open Design in Advanced Manufacturing Production

The speeding up of the competition context, the ongoing globalization of the markets and the growing supply of technological innovation, sometimes involving a radical change in social attitudes, make it very difficult for a company to understand what a consumer really needs (Bertuzzi, 2003; Weerawardenaa and Mavondo, 2011). The logical consequence is that it becomes more and more complex for the enterprise to stay updated, especially for what concerns technological innovation in those sectors, where it represents a key factor for success in competition. Innovation, therefore, becomes for many companies a strategic imperative (Schilling, 2005; D’Aveni et al., 2010; Soloducho-Pelc; 2014).