This proceedings volume highlights the state-of-the-art knowledge related to optimization, decisions science and problem solving methods, as well as their application in industrial and territorial systems. It includes contributions tackling these themes using models and methods based on continuous and discrete optimization, network optimization, simulation and system dynamics, heuristics, metaheuristics, artificial intelligence, analytics, and also multiple-criteria decision making. The number and the increasing size of the problems arising in real life require mathematical models and solution methods adequate to their complexity. There has also been increasing research interest in Big Data and related challenges. These challenges can be recognized in many fields and systems which have a significant impact on our way of living: design, management and control of industrial production of goods and services; transportation planning and traffic management in urban and regional areas;energy production and exploitation; natural resources and environment protection; homeland security and critical infrastructure protection; development of advanced information and communication technologies. The chapters in this book examine how to deal with new and emerging practical problems arising in these different fields through the presented methodologies and their applications. The chapter topics are applicable for researchers and practitioners working in these areas, but also for the operations research community.
The contributions were presented during the international conference “Optimization and Decision Science” (ODS2017), held at Hilton Sorrento Palace Conference Center, Sorrento, Italy, September 4 – 7, 2017. ODS 2017, was organized by AIRO, Italian Operations Research Society, in cooperation with DIETI (Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology) of University “Federico II” of Naples.
Antonio Sforza is a Full Professor of Operational Research at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the University ‘Federico II’ of Naples. His research activity is devoted to discrete and network optimisation, with applications to traffic management and control, transportation planning, logistics, urban security, critical infrastructure protection, and industrial process management. He organised national and international conferences and workshops on these themes. He is referee of many international journals and author of more than 100 publications on books, journals, national and international conference proceedings. He is a member of the Scientific Board of CIRO (Italian Interuniversity Center for Operational Research).
Claudio Sterle received the Laurea degree Summa Cum Laude in Management Engineering (2006) at University ‘Federico II’ of Naples and the PhD in Computer Science and Automatic Control (2009)
at the Department of Computer Science and Systems of the same university. Now he is at Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, where he is currently an Assistant Professor in Operations Research. His research interests include exact and heuristic methods for combinatorial and network optimisation problems with applications to logistics and transportation, critical infrastructure protection, security system design and industrial process management.
