Dynamic Actor Network Research Articles

Multi-Agent Multi-Target Pursuit with Dynamic Target Allocation and Actor Network Optimization

In this paper, we consider the cooperative decision-making problem for multi-target tracking in multi-agent systems using multi-agent deep reinforcement learning algorithms. Multi-agent multi-target pursuit has faced new challenges in practical applications, where pursuers need to plan collision-free paths and appropriate multi-target allocation strategies to determine which target to track at the current time for each pursuer. We design three feasible multi-target allocation strategies from different perspectives. We compare our allocation strategies in the multi-agent multi-target pursuit environment that models collision risk and verify the superiority of the allocation strategy marked as POLICY3, considering the overall perspective of agents and targets. We also find that there is a significant gap in the tracking policies learned by agents when using the multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm MATD3. We propose an improved algorithm, DAO-MATD3, based on dynamic actor network optimization. The simulation results show that the proposed POLICY3-DAO-MATD3 method effectively improves the efficiency of completing multi-agent multi-target pursuit tasks.

Dynamic Actor Network Analysis Approach In Management of Mass Public Transport Services

Taking into account the progress of community mobility, increased motorization of private vehicles, congestion, and poor urban transportation services, the Bandung City Government seeks to provide mass public transport services Trans Metro Bandung (TMB). What policies should be established to achieve the successful implementation of the TMB program?. This study aims to provide recommendations to TMB management to achieve the success of services that prioritize reliability, comfort, and humanity. The analysis was carried out on stakeholder opinion using actor analysis method software, namely Dynamic Actor-Network Analysis (DANA). The involvement of all stakeholders is needed to get their views, perceptions, and opinions about the implementation of the TMB program. From the interview processing, the results obtained from the perception diagram and identified 19 different factors in one arena. The factors for reducing traffic congestion and improving services for mass public transport are defined as “goals”. The analysis of relevance and centrality identifies the limitations of infrastructure, facilities, and financing which are the main causes of the problem so that TMB services cannot be implemented optimally. In the strategy analysis, four actions were analyzed. The most ideal solution strategy that has the maximum utility value, the highest satisfaction, and lowest frustration score is the formation of a consortium and socialization.

The Tale of Two 1001-Night Cities An Actor-Network View on the Role of Social Structures and the Motives and Intentions of Agents in Spatial Development of the Medieval Bagdad and Isfahan

This contribution analyses the urban identity and historical patterns of spatial development in ancient Baghdad and Isfahan, according to Actor Network Theory (ANT) and Actor-Relational Approach (ARA). In the case of two different historical urban hubs (Baghdad and Isfahan).This article demonstrates how in the course of history, those interactions between various path-dependent networks have produced various, but specific types of urbanity in this region. It aims to show how ANT could clarify the embeddedness of dynamic actor-networks within the Middle Eastern urban spaces. This contribution argues that the institutional settings, customs, and use might even be more crucial for the issue of local identity, precisely because in effect they influence and shape urban living, institutions, form and infrastructures through time.

Adopting an Actor Analysis Framework to a Complex Technology Innovation Project: A Case Study of an Electric Road System

An electric road system (ERS) is a transportation solution that provides electricity for fully electric vehicles while in motion. This solution might contribute to sustainable transportation by overcoming range anxiety problems that fully electric vehicles, especially heavy vehicles, have encountered due to battery technology limitations. However, large-scale ERS implementations are challenging, both technically and socially. An ERS is not only an engineering project, but also a complex technology innovation system composed of multiple subsystems and stakeholders, which requires an interdisciplinary means of aligning relations, problems, and solutions. In the policy analysis domain, researchers have developed actor analysis methods to support policy making processes. Actor analysis methods can provide an analytical reflection in solving complex multi-actor policy making challenges that ERSs are also facing. To uncover the complexity of multiple subsystems and stakeholders involved in an ERS, this paper applied a method to align system characteristics with the stakeholders’ perceptions to understand multi-stakeholder contexts in complex technology innovation projects. Desk research was first conducted to summarise ERS characteristics. Then, the dynamic actor network analysis method framework was adopted to establish an action, factor, goal (AFG) list, which was revised by independent researchers. Next, the AFG list was used to collect the perceptions of the ERS stakeholders, expressed as AFG selections and causal links through stakeholder interviews. The resulting AFG list was iterated through two rounds of interviews and then validated in a Swedish ERS case workshop. The results from this methodology showed that the actor analysis method can not only be applied to policy analysis domains, but can also be applied to technology innovation complex systems, using the electric road system as a case study, to help uncover the ERS complexity from the concerns of stakeholders and to secure a pathway towards sustainable technology implementation.

Actor‐Network Theory to Depict Context‐Sensitive M‐Learning Readiness in Higher Education

AbstractThis study has taken a relatively unusual approach to assessing technology readiness within a higher educational institution by using Actor Network Theory (ANT) as a lens instead of the more common adoption models and indices. The study sets out to identify the key actors within an actor network and to describe how these actors are recruited during the problematisation stage of building the actor network. The actors were identified by means of the input from three groups participating in this study, namely the students, lecturers and non‐academic staff members. The paper then goes on to explain how the actors influence one another to become and remain m‐Learning ready. This influence is described in terms of attributes found as part of the inscription process. The construction and stabilization of the naturally dynamic actor network is intended to achieve a common goal, in this case, to use mobile learning effectively within South African higher educational institutions. The study contributes practically as an analytical process is demonstrated and that this could be used as a guide for future m‐Learning readiness studies with the existing findings being used as a reference point. Once the actors are identified, their participation in the project and the extent to which they are aligned in terms of the attributes can be used to assess the readiness of the institution to use m‐Learning. Theoretically, this paper provides evidence that sociological theories such as ANT can be used to complement traditional technology readiness, adoption and use models.

Bluestocking Feminism and British-German Cultural Transfer, 1750–1837 by Alessa Johns

Reviewed by: Bluestocking Feminism and British-German Cultural Transfer, 1750–1837 by Alessa Johns Karin Baumgartner Alessa Johns. Bluestocking Feminism and British-German Cultural Transfer, 1750–1837. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2014. 227 pp. Alessa Johns's study illuminates the cultural transfer between German-speaking lands (mostly Hannover and Anhalt-Dessau) and Great Britain. In the period from 1750 to 1837, a lively exchange of ideas developed based on British and German personal experience in the other country (study and travel) and active and ongoing translation activities on both sides of the Channel. Johns concentrates on four pivotal moments in the British-German cultural transfer: the expansion of the book trade from 1750 to 1789, the rage for translation in the 1790s, the effect of revolution on intra-European travel and travel writing in the 1820s, and the impact of transatlantic journeying in the 1830s. Theoretically informed by new developments in historiography, Johns is very clear that she considers her book a contribution toward the historiography of women actors, who have not previously received critical attention. At the core of the theoretical argument are two concepts from historiography: terrains vastes and actor networks (based on theories by Bruno Latour, Michael Callon, and John Law). The concept of "terrains vastes," based on Clifford Geertz's call for "thick descriptions of cultural transfer," allows the author to extend a binary network of cultural transfer to one that covers vast geographic areas and social networks. Johns writes that "viewing the creation of history by way of dynamic actor-networks therefore allows for a decentered reading that navigates terrains vastes to come to broad, if provisional conclusions" (167). This approach helps Johns trace the dissemination of discourses across vast actor networks; in other words, she follows how concepts, such as the Philanthropinists' educational ideas, were transmitted across various countries. [End Page 307] The study is organized into four chapters of unequal length and quality. For the German studies scholar, chapters 1 and 2 are most satisfying. Chapter 1 in particular explores new territory by beginning its investigation with the Personal Union of Britain and Hannover. Johns's description of the terrains vastes shows that this union had tangible effects on the cultural life of Britain and northern Germany, with the British aristocracy attending German universities and German scholars being invited to Britain. Johns focuses on books as the material objects of cultural transfer; for example, she investigates Duchess Philippine Charlotte of Braunschweig (mother to Anna Amalia of Saxonia-Weimar) as a great collector of books from both sides of the Channel. Contrary to the general assumption that all aristocrats partook of French culture, Johns makes a convincing argument that the Hannoverians turned toward Britain for their cultural sensibilities. Fascinating to read is Johns's study of Anna Vandenhoeck, who was born in England and was the wife and widow of Abraham Vandenhoeck. She took over the Göttingen publishing house after her husband's death and commissioned the first translation of Richardson's Clarissa (by Johann David Michaelis, father to Caroline Schlegel-Schelling), thus introducing English sensibility to the Continent. The conclusion of this first chapter is that "despite being written in foreign languages and therefore seemingly nation-bound, works of literature were actually becoming more available, crossing borders, more likely to be translated, and reaching more diverse readers rather than being limited to a small scholarly circle" (36). In this process, women, according to Johns, had an important role to play as cultural mediators and translators. The second chapter traces translations across the Channel. Johns pays particular attention to the many female translators who disseminated English literature in Germany, among them the daughters of the Göttingen professoriat. Of particular interest is that Johns trains her eye on translations going both ways: English texts translated into German and German texts translated into English. The concept of translation used in this chapter is therefore broad and "implies the transfer of cultural registers and epistemologies with very real implications for transnational social understanding and gender politics" (40). Just as German audiences absorbed new cultural and social codes through Clarissa, English audiences absorbed the ideas of German reform pedagogues through translations by Mary Wollstonecraft...

Unravelling the Flemish Mobility Orgware: the transition towards a sustainable mobility from an actor-network perspective

ABSTRACTLarge mobility projects in Flanders end up in wicked problems. In the quest for efficient and sustainable mobility, the Flemish government becomes entangled in endless struggles between ever more involved and changing stake- and shareholders. The role and effectiveness of the government is exposed to rising challenges from inside and outside. Since most new projects focus on infrastructural (hardware) or (socio-)technical innovations in the use of mobile means (software), innovations within the organizational structure of mobility (‘orgware’) have mostly remained untouched. We address this hiatus by approaching mobility projects as complex adaptive systems, comprising various, dynamic actor-networks. Following actor-networks through space and time is necessary to obtain an idea of the upcoming, and leading associations of various mobility actors, that are decisive for the success, failure and efficiency of mobility projects. To grasp these complex challenges, one needs to unravel the orgware and identify the potentials of the mobility systems regarding the travel, transport and traffic mobility arenas. We draw upon a combination of actor-network theory and institutional theory insights applied to conceptual mobility frameworks. The resulting research framework for the Flemish mobility orgware will be first applied to the Oosterweel link case in Antwerp.

Landscape governance as policy integration ‘from below’: A case of displaced and contained political conflict in the Netherlands

Agrienvironmental schemes (AES) have been a predominant manifestation of environmental policy Integration in the EU. However, rather than strictly following formal AES policy, farmers across Europe have taken various other initiatives to integrate environmental and agricultural practices. Mostly, these integrative initiatives were based on dynamic actor networks at various levels, responding to local problems and challenges. Compared with situations where, from the top down, one (mostly weaker) policy domain is integrated into another, the kind of integration taking place in these examples may be called more ‘fundamental’. Here, integration is already embedded in the practical outcomes envisioned in specific places. The parts of the outcome require each other. However, this fundamental form of integration may render problems at other levels and sectors of governance. In this paper we present a case study of an initiative called Farming for Nature. The initiative aimed to integrate farming and nature more thoroughly than EU and national policies and incorporated some important other characteristics of the area, such as its water dynamics and relationships with the urban environment. However, it also involved some key differences from mainstream policy; and although it resonated with EU support for participative governance, these differences rendered a lengthy process towards implementation lasting more than half a decade. We use the concept of ‘landscape governance’—operationalized as the interplay of discourses, institutional practices, and natural–spatial conditions—to understand the politics of scale involved when mainstream government policies and local integrative initiatives meet. Particular attention is paid to how the local ideas toned down some of their integrative ingredients in order to comply with mainstream sectoral policy discourse. We find that the type of landscape governance implemented shaped the initiatives into a form that contributed to their implementation, but simultaneously displaced and contained political conflict in a way that prevented public debate.

Using a multiple-informant approach in SCM research

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to review the current state of survey-based SCM research that employs a multiple-informant perspective. Recommendations on how to rigorously conduct such research are developed, strengths and limitations discussed, and opportunities for advancing the discipline through this approach identified.Design/methodology/approach– A systematic literature review (SLR) of 1,048 articles published in five leading SCM journals within a seven-year time frame is conducted.Findings– The review shows that multiple-informant studies are still largely under-represented. Yet this approach more accurately depicts the multi-faceted nature of SCM. Specific requirements of this approach need to be considered throughout the research process, from unit of analysis, sampling frame, and data collection to analytic strategy.Research limitations/implications– Taking into account the often complex, dynamic actor networks in which SCM phenomena are embedded may provide new insights, especially when controversial results have been found. This approach may also enrich the understanding of phenomena that have previously been examined only from a monadic perspective.Originality/value– The paper examines the low incidence of multiple-informant survey research in SCM, discusses how its application can advance the field, and provides guidance on how to effectively apply this approach to more fully understand complex SCM phenomena. It further shows that studies using multiple informants yield novel theoretical insights and valuable recommendations for decision makers on how to use the interfaces between different actors across functional and organizational borders.

What Design Tells Us about Objects and Things

ABSTRACTIn this article, I demonstrate that objectification is an inherently social process situated within a dynamic actor network in which material and semiotic actors create meaning. In some sense, an object is a partial, intentional view of the actor network in which it is situated. In order to understand this approach, I will consider how things and objects emerge in human experience through three steps: first, I revisit the relationship between things and objects; second, I summarize how, in the book Design Things, A. Telier arrives at a new characterization of the object of design as a web of things; third, I will show how objects then appear as things immersed in actor networks. In the concluding section of this article, I will discuss how this conceptual itinerary suggests new, fruitful directions for thinking about experience and design.

The Impact Study of Hexavalent Chromium on the Environmental Safety of the Drinking Water Source from the Jiangsu Section of the Yangtze River Basin

In this paper, a health risk model was used to calculate and analyze the water quality monitoring data of the Yangtze River Basin from 2007 to 2009. The data analysis leads to a conclusion that hexavalent chromium is a major health risk factor of those drinking water sources in the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River basin. Based on the health risk analysis, an environment strategy analysis model and the Dynamic Actor Network Analysis (DANA) software were used to study the optimal strategy on the risk management of chromium contamination of those drinking water sources in the Jiangsu Section of the Yangtze River basin.

An approach to design long-term monitoring and evaluation frameworks in multi-actor systems—A case in water management

Learning-by-doing and adaptive management require careful monitoring and evaluation of the outcomes of environmental policies and programs under implementation. Selecting relevant indicators is difficult, especially when monitoring over a longer period of time. Further challenges arise when policies are developed as a collaborative effort among multiple actors.This paper discusses an approach to design frameworks for long-term monitoring and evaluation in multi-actor systems. It uses Dynamic Actor Network Analysis (DANA) as an actor-sensitive method to reconstruct program theories. This is combined with elements of assumption-based planning to identify critical assumptions and associated indicators to incorporate the dynamic aspects related to long-term monitoring.An application of this approach is described for a case of water management in the Netherlands. Here, mapping multiple perspectives and identifying critical assumptions helped to broaden the scope of monitoring in important ways. Identifying associated indicators and expectations on their development in response to policy implementation proved more difficult.From this case, it can be concluded that the approach is feasible, useful, but also demanding. However, with continuing trends of networked governance and adaptive management, additional efforts to reflect these trends in monitoring and evaluation, through this and similar approaches, are needed.

Actor modelling and its contribution to the development of integrative strategies for management of pharmaceuticals in drinking water

Widespread presence of human pharmaceuticals in water resources across the globe is documented. While some, but certainly not enough, research on the occurrence, fate and effect of pharmaceuticals in water resources has been carried out, a holistic risk management strategy is missing. The transdisciplinary research project “start” aimed to develop an integrative strategy by the participation of experts representing key actors in the problem field “pharmaceuticals in drinking water”. In this paper, we describe a novel modelling method, actor modelling with the semi-quantitative software DANA (Dynamic Actor Network Analysis), and its application in support of identifying an integrative risk management strategy. Based on the individual perceptions of different actors, the approach allows the identification of optimal strategies. Actors' perceptions were elicited by participatory model building and interviews, and were then modelled in perception graphs. Actor modelling indicated that an integrative strategy that targets environmentally-responsible prescription, therapy, and disposal of pharmaceuticals on one hand, and the development of environmentally-friendly pharmaceuticals on the other hand, will likely be most effective for reducing the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water (at least in Germany where the study was performed). However, unlike most other actors, the pharmaceutical industry itself does not perceive that the production of environmentally-friendly pharmaceuticals is an action that helps to achieve its goals, but contends that continued development of highly active pharmaceutical ingredients will help to reduce the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the water cycle. Investment in advanced waste or drinking water treatment is opposed by both the wastewater treatment company and the drinking water supplier, and is not mentioned as appropriate by the other actors. According to our experience, actor modelling is a useful method to suggest effective and realisable integrative risk management strategies in complex problem fields that involve many societal actors.

Dynamic actor network analysis for diffuse pollution in the province of North-Holland

Diffuse pollution problems involve numerous different organizations and this requires decision makers to involve different actors if they want to develop policies that have a chance of being implemented effectively. A first step in such interactive policy development would be to gain an overview of the different actors involved in diffuse pollution problems, as well as their views on the problem, their interests and their means to influence policy development and implementation. Dynamic Actor Network Analysis (DANA) offers a method that helps analysts in providing such an overview, and the use of this method is explored through its application to a case in the Dutch province of North Holland. The described case specifically focuses on the use of herbicides in public space and involves actors from regional water management authorities, municipalities and private sector users. An important finding is that there is an imbalance in the perceptions of actors that needs to be addressed by water management authorities. The paper concludes that DANA is a promising tool for offering new and useful insights to decision makers, although more practical experience is needed to better assess the utility of this analysis tool.