This textbook focuses on distributed ledger technology (DLT) and its potential impact on society at large. It aims to offer a detailed and self-contained introduction to the founding principles behind DLT accessible to a well-educated but not necessarily mathematically oriented audience. DLT allows solving many complicated problems arising in economics, banking, and finance, industry, trade, and other fields. However, to reap the ultimate benefits, one has to overcome some of its inherent limitations and use it judiciously. Not surprisingly, amid increasing applications of DLT, misconceptions are formed over its use. The book thoroughly dispels these misconceptions via an impartial assessment of the arguments rooted in scientific reasoning.Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers: Mathematics, Technology, and Economics offers a detailed and self-contained introduction to DLT, blockchains, and cryptocurrencies and seeks to equip the reader with an ability to participate in the crypto economy meaningfully.

Billions of people around the world lack internet access. No one cared until the whole world had to go online.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that the United States would close the digital divide under his leadership. However, the divide still affects people and communities across the country. The complex and persistent reality is that millions of residents live in digital deserts, and many more face disproportionate difficulties when it comes to getting and staying online, especially people of color, seniors, rural residents, and farmers in remote areas.

Economic and health disparities are worsening in rural communities without available internet access. Students living in urban digital deserts with little technology exposure are ill prepared to compete for emerging occupations. Even seniors struggle to navigate the aging process without access to online information and remote care.

In this book, Nicol Turner Lee, a leading expert on the American digital divide, uses personal stories from individuals around the country to show how the emerging digital underclass is navigating the spiraling online economy, while sharing their joys and hopes for an equitable and just future.

Turner Lee argues that achieving digital equity is crucial for the future of America’s global competitiveness and requires radical responses to offset the unintended consequences of increasing digitization. In the end, Digitally Invisible proposes a pathway to more equitable access to existing and emerging technologies, while encouraging readers to weigh in on this shared goal.

Containing papers presented at the 4th International Conference on Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Design, Construction and Operations, this volume brings together the research of experts from industry, practice and academia. It describes innovative solutions and predictions for future trends across key BIM-related topics. The modern construction industry and built environment disciplines have been transformed through the development of new and innovative BIM tools and techniques. These have fundamentally altered the manner in which construction teams operate; the processes through which designs are evolved; and the relationships between conceptual, detail, construction and life cycle stages. BIM is essentially value-creating collaboration throughout the entire life-cycle of an asset, underpinned by the data attached to them. BIM has far and reaching consequences on both building procurement and infrastructure. This recent emergence constitutes one of the most exciting developments in the field of the Built Environment. These advances have offered project teams multi-sensory collaborative tools and opportunities for new communication structures. The included papers cover such topics as: BIM and sustainability; Advanced BIM platforms; BIM and automation in construction; BIM and cultural heritage; Digital twin and artificial intelligence for buildings and infrastructure.

This book investigates the antecedents and consequences of information technology adoption among small and medium sized enterprises.Following the well publicized 'Internet bubble', the rate of adoption of such technologies - especially of Internet-based solutions - has slowly changed among small firms, leading to a very mixed picture. Whilst a significant number of these small firms are still excluded from such technologies, others show very complex patterns of adoption and implementation. What is the reason for these differences, and do they explain performance heterogeneity among small firms? Andrea Ordanini addresses these questions by formulating various models of information technology adoption and its impact on marketing and procurement processes. The models are then tested on a sample of 700 small organizations. Their results provide various implications for managers and present suggestions for policy makers wishing to improve the effective use of information technologies within small firms. This book will strongly appeal to researchers, academics and students with an interest in business and management, entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. Entrepreneurs, managers, consultants and policy institutions interested in promoting technology diffusion among SMEs will also find the book to be of great interest.