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Abstract. Security and trust are two properties of modern computing systems that are the focus of much recent interest. They play an increasingly significant role in the requirements for modern computing systems. Security has been studied thoroughly for many years, particularly the sub-domain of cryptography. The use of computing science formal methods has facilitated cryptanalysis of security protocols. At the moment, trust is intensively studied, but not well understood. Here we present our approach based on formal methods for modelling and validating the notion of trust in computing science.

City Centre retail spaces are integral to the sustainability of cities, and within this hierarchy secondary shopping streets, which act as hubs for local communities and businesses, have become isolated. There is now a recognised need for academic studies to reverse these trends in these areas, especially in a UK context. This work analysed and compared stakeholders' perceptions of urban interventions in a declining secondary retail area in Southampton. The investigation was based on interviews and surveys of stakeholders, as well as observational studies enhanced through analysis of secondary data.This paper presents the outcomes of such investigations addressing the perceptions and behaviours of retailers and visitors, focusing on where these are aligned or divided. The overall results reveal that retailers are more concerned with 'static' improvements, such as parking provisions or building façade improvements, while visitors are concerned with active and spatial improvements, with street level interventions being the most important. The results also show that (a) whilst retailers may believe that they understand what visitors require; they differ greatly and (b) many aspirations of retailers are costly or dependant on other businesses' intentions. Visitor's desires: include the reuse of vacant stores and creation of public space, which are far more viable, and can be enacted by governance. Such options should be trialled as a means to educate and improve understanding of less traditional interventions. The paper also provides input on ways to make these failing areas more sustainable through a shared vision and wide applicability.

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In a UK context, encouraging the uptake of energy efficiency measures at the household level is an ongoing challenge of ever-increasing importance. A combination of economic and psychological factors influence green investment decisions and so this study aims to determine whether online focus groups are a viable means of interacting and evaluating the effectiveness of personality tailored marketing strategies. Here, we present the learnings from over 70 synchronous online focus groups undertaken with a UK energy provider’s household customers ( N = 143) to test the effectiveness of two energy product propositions (smart thermostat and hybrid heat pump) through two channels of communication: video and discussion. The researchers examined and analysed the online engagement and focus group method, focusing on the customer feedback, appropriateness of the approach and how it works in practice, providing key learnings for further research. The approach allowed for greater interaction with a geographically and demographically diverse pool of participants, many of whom are time poor and would ordinarily be unwilling or unable to participate. In this article, we report the differences between implementing online focus groups and face-to-face focus groups and examine the difficulties and uncertainties, in particular relating to entry to sessions and drop-out rates. Online focus groups were found to be a viable, flexible and convenient method for engaging with an energy company’s current customer base in the comfort of their own home.