Many cities are moving away from traditional data collection instruments to automated and diverse sources. Cities that incorporate the use of traffic sensors and build intelligent transport systems to manage traffic also have a huge stream of real-time data. The advent of smart cities and smart management of many traditionally manual utilities are making a variety of data streams available (and in some cases open) to be exploited for analysis. Nevertheless, this high volume of data in smart city initiatives, brings a need to secure such data.  Cason and Wierschem (2020) discuss securing information and communication systems of smart city through the transportation sector and identify several trust issues and vulnerabilities in such systems. Promoting transparency and trust are two of the most relevant features that blockchain can bring to applications. This proposal investigates the feasibility, advantages and drawbacks of bringing blockchain into smart city applications.

Keywords: smart cities, blockchain technology, applications

Urban freight transport (UFT) is now recognized as critical in pursuing Sustainable Development Goals given the rise in demand within cities. In fact, UFT is both essential to ensure high standard of livings as well as responsible for relevant environmental and social costs.

Experts suggest adopting a participatory approach to UFT planning so to define the best possible compromise solution that can account for the heterogeneity of preferences among stakeholders (e.g., transport providers, retailers, public administration, and citizens), the substantial interaction effects, and the low level of cooperation among them. While consensus is building around the need for participatory planning, at the same time the engagement of citizens is typically low since freight transport is not considered important from their perspective while being the source of many negative externalities produced within the city boundaries.

The level and width of the engagement of the various stakeholders is a critical element to produce good compromise solutions capable of dealing with the hard-to-solve problems local decision makers are confronted with when taking decisions.

The thesis will investigate the possible role gamification can play in promoting awareness and engagement among citizens whose level of knowledge of the environmental, social, and economic implications deriving from the actions they frequently take (e.g., buy goods online).

The thesis will delve on both the theoretical and practical gamification principles that one has to consider when developing a gamification strategy capable of increasing citizens’ awareness with respect to the impact their daily choices have on their lives, while also upgrading their understanding of the phenomenon. The thesis will also analyze the possible methods one could use to measure the impact the gamification might have in terms of the aims pursued.

The student could also consider developing a simple game and test its impact in a pilot study simulating the adoption of such an approach in practice.

The environmental effects of e-commerce are both difficult to calculate and, as evidence suggests, relevant. Over the last years, e-commerce has consistently grown. The e-commerce share of the turnover of all EU-27 enterprises (except financial) increased from 13% in 2010 to 18% in 2019 and jumped to 20% in 2020 and 2021. Cross-border transactions also increased ad many consumers purchased from sellers in a non-EU country. Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this evolution since many more consumers and retailers in the EU shifted from physical stores to online. In fact, there are several issues that need to be consider estimating the relative environmental impact e-commerce produces with respect to physical buying options.

The extant literature suggests that there are some theoretical as well as practical issues that one must consider. Among these one can recall: 1) the substitution or complementarity of on-line and off-line purchases; 2) the fulfillment arrangements that the seller provides (express vs regular) delivery; 3) the management of missed deliveries and returned items; 4) the mix between home and click-and-pick deliveries; 5) the type of vehicles used and their average load factors; 6) the induced changes e-commerce can generate with respect to shopping habits… and possibly many others.

The assumption of positive environmental consequences linked to e-commerce have not been supported either by convincing theoretical reasonings or hard practical evidence.

Two are the crucial questions one needs to address to reverse this situation which is extremely relevant given the current and expected increase in the volume of e-commerce throughout the world. In more detail, we need to ask ourselves: (1) How do we improve our understanding and management of the environmental effects deriving from e-commerce?; (2) Which are the policy interventions one should deploy to foster the adoption and diffusion of sustainable e-commerce solutions? (3) Which are the methods to communicate the environmental impacts of e-commerce to end consumers (e.g., storytelling)?

Since the literature is currently using alternative methods and conceptual paradigms when estimating the environmental impact of e-commerce, the thesis will systematically investigate, analyze, and critically compare them with the intent of providing a credible and transparent evaluation of the pros and cons of the different options while also making explicit the underlying assumptions each one relies on.

In fact, determining the most accurate estimates about the environmental impact e-commerce produces is essential to ensure communicating the correct and reliable information to end consumers allowing them autonomously and consciously take their purchase decisions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted global air travel, leading to shifts in travel behaviors and patterns. There was a significant reduction in air travel during the peak of the pandemic, prompting many individuals and organizations to adapt to new travel norms, such as remote work and virtual meetings. The changes in travel behavior observed during the pandemic are likely to have long-term effects. There is an expectation of sustained reductions in business travel as organizations continue to leverage virtual communication tools.

Understanding these changes is crucial for the aviation industry, policymakers, and researchers to adapt to the new normal and plan for future disruptions. This thesis aims to conduct a comprehensive meta-analysis to examine the shifts in air travel behaviors following the COVID-19 pandemic. It will synthesize findings from various surveys, academic articles, and industry reports to draw comprehensive conclusions about post-pandemic air travel trends and assess the long-term implications for the aviation industry.

Potential sources of data may include peer-reviewed journals, industry reports, and longitudinal surveys from credible institutions. Meta-analysis could be utilized as a method of analysis, employing statistical techniques to aggregate findings from different studies to identify common trends and quantify changes in air travel behavior, such as travel frequency, destination choices, and price elasticities.

The length of stay (LOS) is an important indicator of the efficiency of hospital management. Reduction in the number of inpatient days results in decreased risk of infection and medication side effects, improvement in the quality of treatment, and increased hospital profit with more efficient bed management. The purpose of this thesis is to determine which factors are associated with length of hospital stay, in the covid period using the collected data. In this thesis the student will apply a data mining approach to understand the management process in the covid period. The data is from a Portuguese hospital.

Process mining is a data analytics approach which has shown promising results in healthcare including the potential to improve the management of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cardiology is a branch of medicine that diagnoses and treats heart and blood vessel illnesses include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other heart conditions. CVDs are the world's leading cause of disease-related death. In 2015, the top two cardiovascular diseases, coronary heart disease and stroke, caused 15 million deaths worldwide. From an economic standpoint, CVD has a significant impact on healthcare expenses, productivity loss, and the care of persons with chronic illnesses. A big problem is lowering the cost of CVD care while also enhancing the quality of care.

Helping healthcare professionals develop a better understanding of how to improve CVD care pathways may result in better outcomes for patients.   A Data analytics process will be applied to the collected big data from a hospital. Process mining can be applied in healthcare settings to give new insights that help enhance patient treatment processes (also known as care pathways).

The topic is suggested by the SiMolde Canteen (https://simolde.no/en/kantine)

Background

The canteen at Molde University College experiences a classic peak-hour problem with most of the customers coming lunch time creating a bottleneck for the operation of the canteen. The canteen is a part of the Student Welfare Organization in Molde (SiMolde) being organized as a legal entity responsible for the welfare of students at universities, university colleges, scientific universities and other colleges in Norway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_welfare_organisation. Since the canteen is closely related to the operation of HiMolde, cooperation ideas on lecture scheduling, library services, bookstore services might also be explored.

Proposed Main Problem:

How to handle the high variation in arrival of customers while keeping or increasing the total throughput over the opening hours? Other problem statements including the combination with the operation of HiMolde services are welcome.

Tasks could be:

First map the current operation of the canteen. Detailed data for each day is available. Second, do explorative research of different models for handling the peek hour problem, e.g., fast food, sushi conveyor systems, pre-paid models (buffets, or single customer), airport lounge systems, and canteen services combined with other services (literature review, visit places with similar operations). Third, analyze models, compare-and-contrast results. Forth, suggest improvements. Possible research methods include explorative research, AI/ML based on available data for predictions, lean and case study.

Advisors:

Supervisors: Professor Bjørn Jæger bjorn.jager@himolde.no, Steinar Westlie Kristoffersen steinar.w.kristoffersen@himolde.no, and Head of Canteen Tone Anita Åbelvold tone.a.abelvold@simolde.no.

Tine AS produces a wide range of products, some products do not have close substitutes in the market, some other meet intense competition. In order to make correct pricing decisions, the producer needs good estimates of price elasticity of demand for the products. The task for this MSc thesis is to look into existing methods of estimation of price elasticity and find out which of them are relevant and apply them to the case of TINE. This work requires a good understanding of statistical methods and skills to apply them in R or Python.

Surveys have shown that people express interest in supporting companies that adopt sustainable practices. However, actual transactions do not reflect the same level of support. The assumed reason is that the will to support such efforts is not strong enough to overcome the desire to save money. However, it may also be the case that people who are willing to spend more have a limit that does not match the asking price. Alternatively, there may be a concern that the extra money willingly spent is not directed to better sustainability practices.

These possibilities – the pricepoint of willingness and the verification of how the money is spent – need to be further studied. This thesis will address these issues by investigating how much people try to understand implications of sustainability claims and how their purchasing decisions may be affected by what they see. The thesis will use a web-based technology developed at Molde University College specifically to compare different presentations of sustainability information and to track users as they find their way to closing a transaction. The work will involve the collection of user data and the analysis of the collected data to extract user behavior. The thesis will tap into Nudge Theory to examine how the design of interfaces offering multiple choices with varying sustainable practices can impact purchasing decisions based on how the information is presented.

Drones improve the efficiency and speed of response and reduce the risk to human lives by performing tasks in hazardous or inaccessible areas. Their flexibility in deployment makes them a powerful tool in disaster relief and recovery operations.

Governments often implement lockdowns and enforce social distancing measures during epidemics, particularly when vaccines and cures are not readily available. In such scenarios, drones can play a crucial role in minimizing person-to-person contact by taking over tasks traditionally carried out by humans, such as delivering essential supplies, collecting medical samples, and monitoring body temperatures.

Beyond these tasks, drones have a wide range of other applications, including surveillance of quarantined areas, disinfecting public spaces, and assisting with the transportation of medical equipment to remote or inaccessible regions. Drones can also be used for real-time data collection, helping authorities track and respond to the spread of the virus more effectively.

This topic explores a new approach to humanitarian logistic problems with the application of multiple drones for disaster relief. Additionally, it studies alternatives of truck-and-drone combinations to minimize delivery time and costs, along with a sensitivity analysis.

In the aftermath of a disaster, drones can be invaluable for a wide range of tasks due to their speed, flexibility, and ability to access hard-to-reach areas.

Drones can be involved in Search and Rescue Operations, effectively locating survivors and assessing damage. Drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras can scan large areas quickly to detect heat signatures of survivors trapped under rubble, in forests, or in floodwaters, and provide real-time aerial footage to help rescue teams assess the extent of damage and prioritize areas for immediate intervention.

In areas cut off from traditional transportation routes due to collapsed bridges, landslides, or flooding, drones can deliver critical medical supplies such as vaccines, first-aid kits, or blood units. Drones can deliver food, water, and other essential supplies to remote or isolated locations where ground-based delivery is impossible or delayed.

Drones equipped with high-resolution cameras can fly over disaster-stricken areas to survey damage to infrastructure. This allows governments and aid agencies to prioritize repair work and mobilize resources efficiently. Drones can inspect power lines, gas pipelines, and communication towers to assess damage, enabling quicker restoration of essential services.

Drones can be utilized to create up-to-date 3D maps of affected areas, providing detailed information for disaster response teams. This helps responders understand the landscape changes and plan their operations more effectively. They can gather data on environmental hazards such as landslides, flash floods, or chemical spills, aiding in evacuation plans or identifying further risks.

As well as drones can provide recording for legal and insurance purposes. Footage from drones can serve as documentation for legal claims, insurance assessments, and post-disaster evaluations.

This topic explores the potential of using drones in emergency response operations. As a solution for a real-life problem based on a realistic case study, it proposes an efficient emergency response plan with the application of drones.

Building A at the college is currently being rehabilitated for approx. 300 million NOK. This includes, among other things, replacement of 220 windows and the glass roof. Romsdal Gjenvinning AS will handle the returned glass and windows, but they want to handle the windows in as sustainable a manner as possible. This includes elements such as -logistics, -storage, -opportunities for reuse, total CO2 emissions from reuse versus new windows, and costs for this 2-year project. An interesting issue is what opportunities exist for sustainable e-solutions. To be able to answer this, one need as much information as possible about the glass and the windows, including: Condition, K-value, Components, substances that give cause for concern (Check if they are listed at https://www.miljodirektoratet.no/ansvarsomrader/kjemikalier/reach/reach-kandidatlista-svhc-lista/). 

The research will include collection of information as mentioned above, mapping of the value chain throughout its life cycle (from the manufacturer of roof glass (https://straumsheim.no/) and windows, the Installer, the University of Molde and Romsdal recycling), mapping of reuse opportunities and who can approve the quality of the windows, collection of information about new glass and new windows to be purchased. There are good opportunities for data collection from the actors in the value chain since this takes place at the college.

Seafood consumption has seen significant growth globally, and consumers increasingly demand information about what they are eating to ensure nutritional value, food safety, and sustainable practices. Meeting these demands relies on the ability to accurately identify seafood and trace its journey throughout the supply chain. Currently, technologies such as RFID tags, QR codes, and other IoT-based systems are used to identify seafood or its transport containers. While effective, these methods remain vulnerable to manipulation, highlighting the need for more robust identification methods. One promising approach is the use of DNA-based identification for seafood traceability. Research on DNA barcoding of seafood products has already begun to address this need. The aim of this master’s thesis is to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) on the state of the art in DNA-based seafood traceability, following the PRISMA guidelines. Given that this research is part of an ongoing project on seafood traceability, the study may be extended with a case study at the DNA lab in Kristiansund, if time allows.