Abstract
Electricity systems around the world are decarbonizing, driven by reductions in the cost of renewable energy and encouraged by supportive regulatory policy. Electricity market designs are increasingly being tested to ensure that the bulk power system can deliver reliable, cost-effective energy to all consumers.

Abstract
The complexities of Public Administration have gained the growing attention of scholars around the world, mainly due to the impacts of the reforms implemented under the doctrine of New Public Management (which aims to apply concepts and practices of private management in public management) on civil servants. The aim of this study is to find out how Portuguese citizens evaluate the Portuguese Public Administration under the aspects of bureaucracy, organisation of human resources, innovation, skills and attitudes of civil servants, its motivation and recognition; and to verify if there are differences of opinion between respondents working in public sector and respondents from other sectors. This study follows a quali-quantitative approach, and data were collected through an online survey in the period from June to December 2020. The survey was answered by 1119 citizens from all districts of Portugal. The main findings reveal a still high level of bureaucracy in the Portuguese Public Administration; weaknesses in the management of human resources, namely regarding the motivation and recognition of civil servants; and difficulties in the establishment of a meritocratic system of recruitment and performance evaluation of civil servants. Statistically significant evaluation differences (chi-square test and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U tests, involving five hypotheses) were found between the public sector and other sectors, except for the motivation variable.

Abstract
AbstractIn the pallet building problem, we aim at loading a given set of items into one or more pallets, by satisfying specific constraints and minimizing the number of pallets used. In this paper, we address a practical case of this problem that originates from a real-world robotized application, subject to some non-trivial operational constraints. In practice, items are grouped into families and must be packed into horizontal layers. To facilitate loading/unloading operations, items of the same type packed into the same layer should be contiguous and at least one of them should be visible from the outside. We present a formal mathematical description for layer and pallet creation subproblems and then we propose heuristic, metaheuristic, matheuristic algorithms to solve the overall problem. The performance of the algorithms is assessed through extensive computational tests on real-world instances.

Abstract
Waste is one of the biggest problems on Earth today. In the spring of 2020, a team of students enrolled in the European Project Semester at Instituto Superior de Engenharia decided to contribute with the design of an ethically and sustainability-oriented autonomous cleaning robot named MopBot. The project started with the research on similar solutions, ethics, marketing and sustainability to define a concept and create a functional, ethical and sustainability driven design, including the complete control system. Finally, given the undergoing pandemic, the operation of the MopBot was simulated using CoppeliaSim. MopBot is a medium-sized vacuum cleaner, with two vertical brushes, intended to clean autonomously large areas inside buildings such as shopping malls or corridors. It is shipped with a sustainable packaging solution which can be re-purposed as a disposal box for electrical components.

Abstract
COVID-19 has caused strong restrictions in the activities of companies and people in the European Union. Its effects are not restricted to the public health field, but also include the economic and social dimensions. To face this wide range of challenges, government entities, companies, and civil society have sought to develop innovative solutions to cope with the effects posed by COVID-19. This study aims to explore these innovative initiatives using the observatory of public sector innovation (OPSI) framework and intends to understand the effects of digital skills of citizens and companies in the emergence of these initiatives. The findings reveal that the proposed innovative solutions result essentially from incremental innovation projects and are promoted by government entities at national and local levels. Nevertheless, the relevance of the participation of companies and civil society in these innovative initiatives is also highlighted. Finally, the digital competencies of each EU state member do not appear to influence the countries' capacity to offer innovative solutions.

Abstract
The transportation of large loads is still an obstacle to the productivity of some companies. To answer this internal logistics challenge, one solution with high potential is the use of several mobile robots that can execute these tasks cooperatively. This paper addresses the simulation of strategies that allow two omnidirectional robots, a leader and a follower, to coordinate their movement and cooperate in a transportation task (co-transport). This is achieved by implementing a force sensor on the mechanical structure of a support that allows the follower to grab and transport the load on the top of its chassis. Through the measurement of the forces, this robot will be able to react to the movement of the leader, whose function will be to guide the system to its final destination. The system and its cooperation strategies were idealized and then tested in the CoppeliaSim simulator. The results obtained through simulation were the target of an analysis that assessed which strategy best complemented the omnidirectional mobility of the system's constituents and, at the same time, ensured that less forces were exerted on the load during transport.