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The purpose of this paper is to inform information and communication design (ICD) for multi-national projects through the presentation of an example that does not rely on expensive expertise in graphic design.

Action research involving participants from five different sectors.

Successful ICD is not necessarily dependent upon costly graphic design of elaborate explanatory methods such as storyboards.

The action research involved participants from only five differect sectors.

Economical ICD can facilitate development of understanding among multi-sector multi-national project participants.

The originality of this research note is that it addresses recent developments in ICD. The value of this research note is that an example is provided of application in a multi-sector multi-national project.

This study aims to establish the position of the European Union (EU-28) countries in the dynamics of international trade openness linkages and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) in correlation with the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, research and development (R&D) expenditures, innovation capability and information and communication technology (ICT) adoption.

In the panel data set, comparative analyses were applied to scatter diagrams, correlation and regression analyses and structural equation models using Eurostat and World Economic Forum (WEF) data for the EU-28 countries in the period 2008–2019.

The empirical results did not confirm the hypotheses that a positive correlation exists between GCI and trade openness indicators and between GDP per capita and GCI. The ICT adoption and innovation capability increase GCI, which affects GDP per capita.

The empirical results provide a better understanding of the importance of trade policies, particularly in terms of trade openness and trade shares of the EU-28 countries, as it could contribute to increasing the GCI of the EU-28 countries. Furthermore, the results of this study underline the importance of ICT adoption and innovation capability and the need for appropriate government policies that improve global competitiveness.

This study, through empirical analysis, demonstrates the existence of correlations between trade openness (exports as % of GDP, imports as % of GDP and export market shares as % of world trade), R&D expenditures, innovation capability, ICT adoption, GDP per capita and the GCI in the EU-28 countries. In addition, this study contributes managerial and policy-based implications on driving forces of global competitiveness.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of agricultural policy reform – specifically the change from market to direct payment support – on income variability of Swiss farming households. In addition, the observed heterogeneity in income risks across farms and time is explained in terms of farm and regional characteristics.

Unbalanced farm‐level panel data of the Swiss farm accountancy network (FADN) are used to construct coefficients of variation of five‐year overlapping time intervals for total household income and gross farm revenues over the period 1992 to 2009. Linear fixed effect models are applied to measure the effect of specialization, off‐farm income, direct payments, farm size, and liquidity on the variability of gross farm revenues and household income in the valley, hill, and mountain regions.

The switch from market‐based support to direct payments has decreased the variability of farm revenues and household income. The strong reliance on direct payments serves as insurance for most farmers and reduces both household income and revenue risk. Off‐farm income can be used by farmers to reduce household income risk but it increases revenue risk in the valley regions. In all of the regions considered, farm size has a positive effect on household income risk and a negative effect on revenue risk. A high degree of specialization increases both gross revenue and household income risk. Potential revenue insurance contracts should specify farmers' off‐farm employment, the degree of specialization, farm size, and regional specific risk profiles.

This paper assesses the complementary effects of specific farm characteristics and risk management strategies with regard to both farm revenue and household income risk. Influences of agricultural policy changes on income risks are also empirically assessed at different spatial scales.

The paper proposes the development of a graphical architecture description language (ADL) that allows a better understanding of software architectures for nontechnical actors and purposes and, beyond, can serve as a communication tool between domain experts and IT experts, for instance, in a software development process.

The paper follows the methods and guidelines of design science research. By deriving characteristics and general requirements for ADLs from a research literature review and from industry standards, the paper provides a conceptual modeling approach for an ADL. The model design is based on typical requirements and suggestions derived from literature and related work. The application possibilities and advantages are then demonstrated with a usage scenario.

The paper elaborates a user-oriented ADL that makes software architecture comprehensible for stakeholders and end users. It provides a high level of abstraction and, thus, is not restricted to a particular domain. The paper also provides a corresponding modeling editor as well as an underlying catalogue with symbols and rules for the ADL.

As this is a conceptual study, the ADL has not been practically evaluated yet. Thus, the usefulness of this academic approach for the industry remains to be validated.

The elaborated ADL can serve as a language to visualize software architectures, particularly in the business domain, in a comprehensible manner. Still, it retains the structured character of ADLs to facilitate communication on an IT-near level. In including nontechnical actors, the approach broadens the overall application capabilities of ADLs.

The purpose of this paper is to inform an international audience of the difficulties prosecutors in the USA have encountered in light of a decision of the US Supreme Court limiting the application of the federal anti‐money laundering statute to cases where a criminal enterprise generated profits.

The paper summarizes the law in the USA regarding money laundering prosecutions before the decision in the United States v. Santos, outlines the decision of the Supreme Court, and organizes the post‐Santos case law into categories setting forth the divergent views of what the decision means and how it is to be applied.

The case law in the USA regarding money laundering prosecutions is now quite unsettled. Courts have taken different views as to whether the government must now prove that the funds being laundered by or on behalf of a criminal represent the profits of the criminal enterprise as opposed to its gross receipts.

The case law on this issue continues to develop at a rapid pace. It is necessary to cut off the research on this issue to complete the paper, but the reader should be aware that new cases are being issued in rapid order.

Prosecutors in the USA now face several obstacles in bringing money launderers to justice. Decisions in closed cases may be reopened as defendants argue that their convictions are obtained under an incorrect view of the law. Going forward, prosecutors are uncertain whether the government must prove that a criminal enterprise is profitable before they can obtain a conviction for money laundering.

Prior to Santos, it is assumed that it is an offense to launder the gross receipts of a crime or criminal scheme. Santos cases grave doubt on that assumption, holding that in at least some cases, the laundering offense will apply only where the financial transaction involves the net profits of an offense. This is an object lesson in the confusion that can result from inartful legislative drafting. It also provides a guide to the current state of the law and suggests how prosecutors in the USA are dealing with the problem pending any legislative correction.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce cybernetic systems in defence management applications, to meet new challenges of the information society and use of system modelling for decision making.

The paper defines basic terms for understanding the complexity of the defence management applications, which is simplified using input‐output modelling.

The paper illustrates the interdisciplinary nature of cybernetics, systems and management sciences. The defence system is analysed and a general input‐output model for defence system development recommended.

New data technology and data availability provide perspective for applied research using scientific approach.

Cybernetic systems for defence provide analytical modelling for management applications.

The paper presents a concept and empirical evidence for defence system analysis and a new way of thinking that affects defence planning and defence management. A cybernetic, systemic and input‐output methodology provides solutions for defence management applications.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a model to measure the effect of broadband availability on economic growth in developed OECD countries.

The effect of the broadband availability‐related variables on economic growth is analyzed by using cross‐country panel data for 34 OECD countries over the years 1998‐2009. The robustness of the results by the six econometric estimation approaches is compared. The preferable dynamic panel model with the system of Generalized Method of Moments is selected.

The access channels per inhabitant and total broadband per inhabitant have improved over time, but vary across the analysed OECD countries. The improved access channels per inhabitant and gross capital growth (investment) play a positive and significant role in the per‐capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Labour productivity growth has encouraged economic growth positively. These results are robust independently of the estimation procedure.

The authors do not find a positive and significant role of the total broadband per inhabitant on the per‐capita GDP growth. These findings and the results for control variables pertaining to trade openness and inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in the growth equation are biased to the estimation procedure.

The conceptual‐empirical value to the research of new connections made using the key elements of economic growth theory with focus on the effect of the broadband availability, main macroeconomic and economic openness variables on economic growth. This is one of the first studies that, in the growth equation, uses different broadband availability‐related variables, which in addition to gross capital growth, government consumption, and inflation in the adjusted augmented growth model are controlled for labour productivity growth, trade openness, and inward FDI.

Single-family houses are a common form of housing in Europe. Most were built in the context of the suburbanization after World War II and are now facing challenges arising from generational changes as well as increasing living and energy standards. According to the hypothesis of this paper, in several EU regions, single-family houses may face future challenges arising from oversupply and lack of adaptation to current demand. To examine this, the paper analyses the present situation and discusses the prognosis for the challenges described above regarding the three neighbouring north-western European countries Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, based on available data and a review of country-specific characteristics of housing markets as well as national policies. Despite an impending mismatch between demand and supply, planning policies still support the emergence of new single-family houses. The comparison of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands shows the growing polarization between shrinking and growing regions and central and peripheral sites apparent at different stages in the three countries. While a high rate of vacancies is already registered for some regions in Germany, in the Netherlands this phenomenon can only be seen near the borders and in villages within the Randstad conurbation. In Belgium also, this phenomenon is not yet widespread, but in some suburban neighbourhoods dating from the 1950's and 1960's more and more single-family houses are becoming more difficult to sell, indicating an emerging mismatch between supply and demand. This article proposes some instruments which enable municipalities to intervene in single family housing neighbourhoods which are largely dominated by private ownership. These instruments are not yet widely established in single-family housing neighbourhoods but that may become important in the future.

Blues music is in the midst of its second revival in popularity in roughly thirty years. The year 1960 can be identified, with some qualification, as a reference point for the first rise in international awareness and appreciation of the blues. This first period of wide‐spread white interest in the blues continued until the early seventies, while the current revival began in the middle 1980s. During both periods a sizeable literature on the blues has appeared. This article provides a thumbnail sketch of the popularity of the blues, followed by a description of scholarly and critical literature devoted to the music. Documentary and instructional materials in audio and video formats are also discussed. Recommendations are made for library collections and a list of selected sources is included at the end of the article.