So What is the CGBP?
How was the CGBP created?
NASBITE contracted with Professional Examination Service to create the certification, thus ensuring the most reliable, professional and comprehensive exam. Many partners were enlisted on the international, federal, state, industry and local levels. From 10/2000 until 9/2002 feasibility studies with focus groups were held to determine support and identify issues. These were primarily international trade professionals from the private sector. From 07/02 until 09/03 was a practice analysis study to identify and validate the major areas of knowledge (domains). In the summer of 2003, 1500 experts in international trade were surveyed. The final stage was to develop the exam.
So who should become a CGBP?
What are the benefits of achieving this certification?
How do you become a CGBP?
Practice test is available on-line with 75 questions.
Pass the NASBITE CGBP exam which consists of 150 multiple choice questions. The exam fee is $395. The exam is offered at Prometric test centers in over 20 countries.
Other topics that are addressed include: documentation, intercultural awareness, resources in support of global trade, legal and regulatory compliance, and technology.
Who should pursue this certification? Anyone working in the profession or studying for a career related to global commerce: those in small or large companies, students in college programs, those working in trade assistance or promotion organizations, as well as educational institutions.
The exam for certification consists of 150 multiple choice questions offered by Prometric. Questions were developed by experts in the four domains listed above. Candidates must have completed either two years of college or worked in global commerce for two years.
Jim Foley took on the development of the CGBP when NASBITE committed itself to this goal at the 2000 Conference in Boston. He says that the CGBP finally gives respect for international trade, because there is a standard and people can say that they know best practices. It is truly a global standard as the 500th person to acquire the certification was from Russia and the 1000th is from China. Jim states that he hears from those who have achieved the certification that it has made a huge difference in their getting a job.
Bottom Line: CGBP helps you get a job.
Get the recertification process going for the CGBP. There are 1000 who have been certified, 313 in this year alone. This certification is valid for 5 years.
When asked what she is most passionate about, Laurie said: to keep, establish and develop relationships: bridge the gap between educators, trade trainers and practitioners to improve the quality of international trade. One way she plans to do this is with businesses at trade shows. Tell them how important it is for them to have a comprehensive knowledge base to do global business: be familiar with the barriers, supply chain, clearances, Somali pirates and more. It is not enough to be an expert in one area, in today's global business, one must have a general competency in all areas of trade. Professionals also need standards of excellence and best practices. NASBITE has the resources and expertise to do this.
In 1999, Laurie Wolff shares, 30% of Americans thought free trade was bad for America. Today, 50% of Americans think free trade is bad. Many think that exports have decreased over the past years, but in reality last year had the highest level of exports ever. Challenges to trade are still present, in fact they are even more important today. Globalization of students is a bigger job with fewer resources. All these are reasons for NASBITE to educate and certify.
Barbara Moebius has her own theories as to the future of NASBITE. She says that NASBITE is poised to take off in leaps and bounds over the next 12 years. It will grow into an organization that self-manages rather than depending on a host institution. There will be more staff especially to manage the CGBP. The Distinquished Fellows Council of Past Presidents will see to it!
Anmmar Alsaggaf, first time NASBITE attendee. Interning with the CITD and preparing for the CGBP.
We had the pleasure of speaking with Anmmar Alsaggaf who is a young man majoring in entrepreneurship at Fresno State, CA. who attended the NABITE conference for the first time. His director at the CITD where he is an intern rewarded him with the opportunity. (The CITD in Fresno is funded by the State Center Community College District.) When asked why he wanted to attend, Anmmar who was born in Saudi Arabia, answered that he wanted to learn all he could for a career in international trade. While attending Anmmar learned about the vision that links education and business and that even though regions are different it is okay.
He wants to attend the Thunderbird School of Global Management and pursue a masters in International Business. He met all sorts of alumni from the school at the NASBITE conference and found that most of the presenters of the sessions were graduates of the school as well. One of his goals is to get the CGBP certification before graduate school. He said that employers check out the CGBP group on LinkedIn and he wants to be in that group.
To coordinate and administer the Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) certification.
We, at World Trade Daily, had the opportunity to attend the 25th NASBITE Conference in Portland, OR. last week. We collected information, opinions and experiences from those who attended.
Barbara Moebius is considered "Mother NASBITE" and as one of the founding members is considered the historian. She was the an attendee at the very first NASBITE Conference in 1988. She was president in 2000 and has been on the Board of Directors for 25 years. Needless to say, she has seen many changes over the years. "In 1988, the idea of export training was a new idea. Using videos was new. We did not know if others were doing this kind of work." says Barbara. "In the '80s it was all about the trade deficit. Now it is about the national deficit ." The early days of NASBITE saw board of director meetings that lasted 3 days and into the wee hours of each morning. They were passionate about the goal to get the world to recognize the global community. It was in 2000 at the Boston conference that the idea of a credential came up. The next 12 years of NASBITE was all about professionalizing the field of international trade education through the CGBP. Link to NASBITE Board of Governors & Staff.
This April 2012 is their 25th annual conference, where the 1000th person received certification in the Certified Global Business Professional program (CGBP). The organization is in good financial standing. Its host institution is Cleveland State University. They have an excellent website: www.nasbitecgbp.org. The Small Business Association has accepted the CGBP for those in Small Business Development Centers.
Bob Irwin (University of Georgia, Lawrenceville GA) President until April 21,2012, now joins Barbara Moebius as a member of the very elite group called the Distinguished Fellows which is the council of past NASBITE presidents. Their purpose is to advise the present board on budgetary concerns, university relations, etc.
Barbara Moebius was presented with the 2012 John Otis Lifetime Achievement Award at the conference. There have only been 3 persons who have received this award. It was established in 2004 for John Otis, the original founder and who is now struggling with cancer.
The participants at the conference were both professional and friendly. There is definitely a sense of comradeship and shared passion among the members of NASBITE. For example, when Barbara accepted her award she announced that anyone willing to contribute to John Otis' expensive treatment could do so through the NASBITE website.
Conference sessions were plentiful, well attended and covered diverse topics. Donna Davisson, LCB, CGBP, as Executive Director of NASBITE made sure the conference, which was held at the Nines Hotel in downtown Portland with its approximately 300 attendees, went smoothly.
I hate to admit that I have yet to go to Chicago. I have no excuse. Since I moved to Tennessee 20 years ago, I have been close enough to visit for a weekend. I want to go and experience this fabulous city….maybe in 2012.
Chicago is the third largest city in the U.S. and a major hub for industry, telecommunications and infrastructure. It has the 4th largest Gross Domestic Product among world metropolitan areas. It is also listed as one of the world's top ten Global Financial Centers with the second largest central business district in the US. In a ranking that includes: value of capital markets, diversity of human capital, international information resources, international cultural resources, and political influence, Chicago ranks as 6th in the world. It is a major world convention destination with the largest convention center in the U.S. and the third largest in the world.
The 2010 total gross state product for Illinois was $630 billion which is fifth in the nation. The 2010 per capita income was $41,411. The state of Illinois is home to 66 Fortune 1000 companies such as Boeing, Kraft Foods, McDonald's, Sears, and United.
World Trade Center Chicago-Illinois secured the Chicago Option from the WTCA on October 10, 2010 (10-10-10). It is headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois with 10 satellite offices located around the state.
Services: International Networking events, Educational and Training programs, Business Services, Virtual Trade Advisor database, and Virtual Trade Office.
Exports: Illinois's export shipments of merchandise totaled $50.1 billion in 2010. Exports include machinery (the largest export category at $12.5 billion), computers and electronic products ($5.5 billion), processed foods ($2.6 billion), electrical equipment, chemical products ($6.5 billion), publishing, fabricated metal products, transportation equipment ($5.3 billion), petroleum and coal.
I would love to travel to Abu Dhabi, the capital and largest state of the United Arab Emirates. The photographs of this city show it to be absolutely stunning. The UAE is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf. It is a federation of seven emirates each of which is governed by an emir. H. H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the national president. The UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai is H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. UAE became independent in 1971 and Islam is the offical religion and Arabic the offical language. Its oil reserves are ranked as the world's 6th largest.
Abu Dhabi is a progressive Arabian city of over 1.6 million people and one of the world's richest cities. It has one of the largest oil reserves in the world and holds 9% of the world's proven oil reserves and 5% of the world's natural gas. There is also substantional investment in tourism, industry, retail and real estate sectors. It is also home to the world's most expensive hotel, the 7- Star Emirates Palace Hotel, the Guggenheim and Louvre galleries, musuems as well as a performing arts centre. There are more trees in Abu Dhabi (120 million were planted over the last 30 years) than anywhere else in the Gulf. It is a diverse and multi-cultural society.
The WTC Abu Dhabi was designed by Foster & Partners. It has a dramatic profile and 32,000 sqm of office space, 189 apartments, 270 room hotel, 80 services apartments, a 2,250 sqm convention centre, shops, restaurants and more.
Mission: To be the focal point of foreign trade activities in the city of Abu Dhabi by bringing together importers, exporters and service providers; to facilitate international business for companies of all sizes by ensuring stabilty which leads to overall economic growth.
Exports: $198 billion: crude oil 45%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates to Japan 17.1%; India 13.6%, Iran 6.9%, South Lores 6.1%, Thailand 5.1 %.
Imports: $158.7 billion : machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food to India 17.5%, China 14%, US 7.7%, Germany 5.6%, Japan 4.8 %.
Services: Organizing outbound missions to explore new markets, receiving incoming business groups. Up to date information related to trade activities in the region and around the world including furnishing profiles of business contacts, including manufacturers, agent distributors, service providers and others. Other services include secretarial, translation, and hotel reservations.
World Trade Center Spotlight: Washington, D.C.
03/10/2011	by Louisa Avery Comments Off on World Trade Center Spotlight: Washington, D.C.
Growing up in Baltimore MD and living in Annapolis MD, I consider Washington DC a very close neighbor. It was easy to take my children on day trips (40 min drive depending on traffic) into DC to visit the Smithsonian museums, monuments, art museums, National Zoo, the garden of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence (I am a descendant) and more. As a child myself, I spent a lot of time at my uncle's house in DC. He was in the State Department and an Ambassador. My favorite activities there include seeing the monuments lit up at night and walking among the cherry blossoms at the Jefferson Memorial. I wasn't the only one visiting DC though as over 15 million visit the city each year.
Washington DC is of course the capital of the U.S. since July 16, 1790. Most of the original city, however, was burned to the ground during the War of 1812. The DC stands for District of Columbia and thus is not one of the 50 states. It has an elected mayor and city council (as of 1973) but the U.S. Congress has ultimate authority over the city. As of 2010 it has a population of 601,723, however during the workweek commuters raise the population to over 1 million. Located in Washington DC are the 3 branches of the federal government and 176 foreign embassies. It is also headquarters for the World Bank. The district has 68.3 square miles with 19.4% parkland. President Washington had commissioned a Frenchman, Pierre Charles L'Enfant to create a planned city (although good luck figuring it out when you are driving the streets and many circles). It is also the third highest metropolitan area in the U.S. for cost of living.
In 2008, 27% of jobs in Washington DC were federal government. The top 4 non-government employees are: Georgetown University, Washington Hospital Center, Children's National Medical Center and Howard University. There are many high-tech and biosciences enterprises located in the surrounding suburbs. As to commercial shipping: the bulk of air freight goes through the three airports: Ronald Regan, Dulles International and Baltimore-Washington. DC has its own port at the Anacostia and Potomac rivers, but mainly accesses the larger port facilities of Baltimore and Virginia.
Background: The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center serves as the official World Trade Center. This amazing building (3.1 million square feet) was officially dedicated on May 5, 1998 after 8 years of construction. It is built upon "the plague spot of Washington", a location so named in the 1890s because of its saloons and brothels.
Facilities: The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center "… is the first and only federal building dedicated to both government and private use…" It holds a premier conference center and event center, executive office space, meeting and event facilities,dining and more. It is located within walking distance of the White House in the heart of DC.
Creating an accredited national forum for the advancement of trade from the country's best public and private resources.
Serving as a host venue for more than 85 trade-awareness events and symposia each year.
Assisting businesses to transition from domestic to worldwide trading partners.
Newsletter: Tradewinds. Available on the website, this is a beautifully done and informative magazine. The Autumn 2010 edition features Muhuammad Yunas (Nobel Prize winning economist and banker) and his book, Building Social Business.
Contact: tradeinfo@itcdc.com for more information about the International Trade Center.
I have only stayed in Denver once, but it is a city I would love to live in. For someone like me who loves the outdoors and sports, this city is perfect. There are so many places to drive to and things to do around Denver: ski resorts, the Beer Triangle including Coors Brewery, Boulder, gold rush towns, Rocky Mountain State Park, Estes Park, Rafting on the Colorado River, and so much more.
Denver is nicknamed the Mile High City because it is located in the spectacular state of Colorado at exactly one mile above sea level. It has 300 sunny days a year– more than Miami or San Diego. Denver is the largest city located almost halfway between the West Coast and Chicago, so it is a major location for storage and goods distribution. Denver's location also allows for telecommunication to both North American coasts, South America, Europe and Asia in the same business day. This is ironic since Denver is one of the few cities that was not built on a road, railroad, or navigable body of water. It was built where the first flakes of gold were found. Denver is also one of the few cities that has 8 professional sports teams.
Over 275 companies and individuals are members of the WTC Denver. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping companies import, export and establish overseas operations. The WTC Denver also maintains the Colorado International Trade Database which lists Colorado exporters and importers and over 1000 manufacturers and service providers. The Denver World Trade Center is located in the financial district adjacent to 17th Street which is known as the "Wall Street of the West".
Mission: The World Trade Center Denver will provide sustained value to its constituents and the community by being the private sector focal point for international business in Denver and throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.
Officers: Karen Gerwitz, Executive Director as of August of 2010. Ms. Gerwitz brought 20 years of experience in international business and communications to the position. Justin Szymik, Director, Educational Services.
Background: Formed in 1989. The founding partnership consisted of Metro, BCE Development, Denver Chamber of Commerce, Colorado International Trade Office, and the Rocky Mountain District Export Council.
Exports: Colorado's exports increased 14% last year but still lag behind the national average of 21%. Businesses are being encouraged to tap into the export market (from Breaking Import Export News.) From the International Trade Administration: Colorado's export shipments of merchandise in 2010 totaled $6.7 billion. In 2009, the metropolitan area of Denver-Aurora was responsible for 53.1% of Colorado exports of $4.3 billion. A total of 4,755 companies exported from Colorado in 2008 and 88% were small and medium size companies. The state's largest export category is computers and and electronic products ($1.8 million) then processed foods ($976 million), chemicals manufactures ($873 million), and machinery manufactures ($701 million).
Export Destinations: 25% of Colorado's exports went to Canada in 2010 ($1.7 billion) Other export destinations were: Mexico ($590 million), China ($559 million), the Netherlands ($331 million) and Germany ($321 million).
Services: WTC Denver is an active and certified member of the WTCA. There are 4 key service areas: Information, Education., Advocacy, and Connection. Services offered include: Certificates of Orgin, Certificates of Free Sale, WISER Trade Statistic Reports, Colorado International Trade Database serarches, training programs, meeting rooms, and roundtables. The International Trade Education and Training programs are impressive. One can earn a Certificate in International Trade by completing 3 required courses and 9 elective courses. The website is full of information, services, news, and many events consisting of educational classes.
I am a Marylander. I grew up in Baltimore, spent my summers on the Eastern Shore and lived near Annapolis for 11 years before moving to Tennessee. Maryland is a wonderful state with geographic variety such as mountains, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Coast. It is often called the "Land of Pleasant Living". I was raised on steamed hard shell crabs, silver queen corn and striped bass fish (rockfish). Annapolis, the state capital, is a wonderful place to visit. We used to watch the Blue Angel's Air Show at the United States Naval Academy, sail, sit at the harbor watching the boats and take the historic tours (the town was first settled in 1649). I remember the Baltimore harbor before its revitalization, now called the Inner Harbor, it is a fabulous place to see now! I love Maryland and its city Baltimore and continue to visit my family and friends there as much as I can.
Maryland is also known for: John Hopkins Hospital (the largest employer in the Baltimore area), over 350 biotech firms, and the second highest concentration of doctoral scientists and engineers in the U.S. Its close proximity to Washington D.C. has made it a center for defense/aerospace industry and satellite government headquarters.
Mission: WTCI strives to drive the growth of Maryland's flourishing global business community as Maryland's Premier Global Business Partner.
Background: Established in 1989 and licensed by the WTCA in 1991. Financed jointly by area businesses and the State of Maryland. More than 2,500 Maryland firms benefit from WTCI.
Trade Focus:The Port of Baltimore (8th largest in the nation) plays a vital role in Maryland's Economy. It serves over 50 ocean carriers making nearly 1,800 annual visits. Thirty-three million tons of cargo moved through the port in 2010.
Exports: Coal, corn, soybeans, lignite, coal coke, petroeum, and fuel oils.
Top Export Destinations: Canada is the largest destination by far. Next are the Netherlands, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, South Korea, Egypt, and Japan.
Imports: Iron ore, petroleum, sugar, and fertilizers. It is also one of the top auto ports in the U.S.
Services: Many services are available for members of the WTCI including International Signature events, Internations Business Series, International Network Connections, and business services such as: Global Intelligence Briefs, International Traveler's Packages, and an International Visitor's Management. The WTCI also provides business connections, embassy contacts and personal introductions. WTCI also has an International Visitors Program that arranges professional exchange programs.
Although the website is not current and my good friend Bassem Nijem is no longer the General Manager, I wanted to highlight this World Trade Center. Why? Because I had the honor to visit it personally in October 2009. Robert Thompson and myself visited many of the Palestinian businesses (West Bank) there in a trade mission.
Not only did Bassem plan tours for us to see businesses, but also a memorable visit through the Holy Land. It is a trip I will never forget not only for the wonderful people I met, but for the beauty and richness of the land and culture.
Officers: Bassem Nijem, Former General Manager; Ghazi Abu Nahl, Group Chairman for NEST Investments Ltd.
Mission: To promote international trade and strengthen economic ties between Palestinian businesses and foreign enterprises. To conduct customized Educational Programs covering crucial topics to enhance the practical skills of the business community. To be the most effective commercial data provider in the region for local & worldwide sourcing. To serve the Palestinian Community through its worldwide links & contacts. To remain a unique establishment with strong brand recognition internationally.
Background: Founded in 1995. Owned by NEST Investments Ltd. based in Cyprus. NEST with General Manger Ghazi Abu Nahl owns 15 WTCs in Europe, Middle East and North Africa.
Trade Focus: WTCP is an effective Trade Leads provider. There are many sectors listed on the website as well as lists of products/countries under the columns of "Offers to Buy" and "Offers to Sell".
Export Merchandise: Stone, olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, January 2011 exports totalled $66.8 million (13% increase from December 2010).
Import Merchandise: Food, consumer goods, construction materials, petroleum, chemicals (January 2011 imports totalled 421.7% (4.4% increase from 12/2010).
Services: Customized programs covering topics such as International Trade, Microsoft applications, financial education, managerial skills and language. Reliable trade information is provided on specific foreign markets, products, services and industry information as well as lists of Palestinian manufacturers. Secretarial services are also provided for local and incoming business entrepreneurs. WTCP also hosts outbound and inbound missions.
Location: Al-Birdh – Ramallah / Jerusalem St.
One of the most amazing cities in the world.
One of the many quality businesses we visited in Palestine.
I love San Diego. It has it all. Gorgeous beaches, idyllic weather (the U.S. Weather Bureau describes it as the "closest thing to perfect"), great museums, world famous zoo, Sea World and much more. It is a fabulous place to visit, and I have been there several times, but not as much as I would like! What a great place to live especially if you are in international trade.
Mission: Provide comprehensive international trade services and key global contacts to facilitate and expand trade for regional and worldwide clients.
Background: Established in 1994, WTCSD was one of the first World Trade Centers internationally to be certified by the WTCA, receiving a best practices designation for their trade missions. WTCSD is a private-public partnership with the City of San Diego, the Unified Port District, and Regional Airport.
Trade Focus: San Diego, California occupies a strategic location in the United States. It is on the border of Mexico and on the Pacific Rim. This makes San Diego a multi-cultural city and thus excellent for international business opportunites. Because San Diego and Tijuana create the largest metropolitan artea on the U.S./Mexico border, it is an ideal area for taking advantage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Many companies with manufacturing plants in Mexico have their administration and/or operation facilities in San Diego. This concept is known as Maquiladoras or Twin Plants. The border crossing San Ysidro Port of Entry is the busiest international border crossing in the world.
In September 2010, WTCSD was awarded a multi-year grant of $425,000 from the International Trade Administation to help finance their work in encouraging U.S. technology to solve the water issues in the Middle East, North Africa and India.
Economy: San Diego's economic entities are: military, defense, tourism, international trade, and research/manufacturing. San Diego also hosts the largest naval fleet in the world, and the U.S. Navy is its top employer.
Services: WTCSD has 4 core areas of service that provide businesses with links for international opportunites and bring value to San Diego's international trade community: relationships, global marketing, international public affairs and trade knowledge.
Trade services also including market research, trade counseling, trade referrals, matchmaking, and trade service requests. Trade information packets are available covering over 30 countries. The packets include a 50 page overview of each country's market and a 200-page report on information a business would need to know.
As a resident of Nashville, TN I am proud to introduce our sister city: Edmonton. Edmonton is Canada's Festival City with over 30 festivals each year including the Edmonton International Fringe Festival which brings in close to 500,000 people and the Heritage Festival which celebrates more than 60 cultures. For golfers, Edmonton has over 70 courses and in the summer the golf days are 17 hours long. Edmonton is the furthest capital city in North America and has the largest mall in North America. It is a staging point for the second largest oil sands (Athabasca) in the world located in northern Alberta and large-scale diamond mining operations in the Northwest Territories. Also a major centre for the oil and gas industry, Edmonton is a strong technology, research, economic and education centre. I have never been to Edmonton, my sister city, however, I have been to both Banff and Jasper National Parks and they are magnificent.
Officers: Martin Salloum, President & CEO; Wendy Edwards, VP, Finance & Admin/ CFO; Robin Bobocel, VP Public Affairs.
Mission: WTC Edmonton is your business " home away from home," a comfortable, one-stop service centre connecting you with global opportunities in trade, travel and investment".
Background: Located on the 6th floor of the World Trade Centre Edmonton since 2004, it is the international divison of the Edmonton Chamber. It is the only World Trade Center facility in the prairie provinces. All who are members of the Edmonton Chamber are automatically members of WTCE.
WTCE has established official partnerships with 19 northern Chamber of Commerces in Alberta. These Chambers have preferred access to the services and facilities in Edmonton. Any international businesses that want information or contacts with these communities can access them on the WTCE website.
Exports in Alberta trended downwards in 2010 although the domestic economy strenthened. This is in part due to the weakened U.S. economy. Alberta companies exported just over 6.09 billion in November 2010.
Export Merchandise for Alberta: Mining & energy, agriculture, machinery, industrial products.
Export Destinations for Alberta: United States is by far the largest export destination. Others include Mexico, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. You can check out the 2009 Alberta International Trade Review for more detail.
Services: WTCE organizes trade information, trade education, exhibitions and trade missions. The WTCE buidling has many services for its members: high-tech meeting rooms, private offices, computer work stations, banquet facilities, and more. There is a Consular Corps division of people who represent their country and promote its trade, products and tourism. Contact information is available on the WTCE website for policy and trade related questions.
Members of WTCE have the opportunity to enroll in quality trade training courses (a partnership with FITT: Forum for International Trade Training) with the end result of certification as an International Trade Professional (CITP).
Since I grew up in Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA was my northern neighbor. We always called it "Philly" with affection. As a student in school, we made countless field trips to Philadelphia. Why? Because of its rich history in the birth of our nation, the United States of America, and because of its fabulous museums. During fourth grade, I remember climbing through the life-size heart in the Franklin Institute. Philadelphia is also known for its many outstanding universities such as the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and Drexel University from where my neice recently graduated. What I never knew growing up, however, was that Philly is a huge center for trade.
Officers: Linda Mysliwy Conlin, President. Ms. Conlin has over 25 years of experince in international trade including: the U.S. Department of Commerce, New Jersey's Commerce & Economic Growth, U.S. Travel & Tourism, and U.S. Department of State. Bruce R. Pansius, Chief Financial Officer; Andrea Townrow, Executive Vice President; Dino Ramos, Senior Vice President.
Mission: To provide a world-class portfolio of services that enhances international trade growth and leads the Greater Philadelphia region to economic prosperity.
Background: The World Trade Center Greater Philadelphia was launched October 16, 2002. Since then the WTCGP has helped generate over $571 million in incremental export sales, generating over 7,400 new jobs.
Trade Focus: Philly was an important trading center as early as 1701 when it officially became a city. With the fourth highest GDP in the U.S., ($312 million according to PricewaterhouseCoopers), Philly has extensive businesses including manufacturing, oil refining, health care, biotechnology, tourism, food processing, financial services and more.
Export Merchandise: Top export merchandise includes: chemicals, machinery, primary metals, computer and electronic products and transportation equipment.
Philly exported $34.8 billion in goods and services in 2010. This was an increase of 22.5 % over 2009.
Over 300 companies received counseling services.
23 educational events and seminars.
500 company appointments with the Pennsylvania Authorized International Trade Representatives.
Generated incremental export sales of $147 million.
Pennsylvania Authorized Trade Representatives will visit Philadelphia to meet with local companies and discuss export opportunities in their respective international markets such as: Arab Gulf, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Scandinavia, Slovakia, South Africa, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Yemen.
The Declaration of Independence was signed in this building in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.
I recently had the pleasure of driving through Utah and exploring some of its incredibly beautiful landscape. Utah is such a majestic and diverse state! I loved walking on the Bonneville Salt Flats, shopping and eating in Moab, gazing on snowcovered mountains and hiking through Arches National Park. There is still much I want to see there and I can't wait to go back. Maybe I will just move there, open an export business and enjoy the beauty of Utah.
Officers: Lew Cramer, President & CEO; Elizabeth Goryunova, Executive Vice President & COO; Shelia Steiner, Vice President Business Development.
Mission: The mission of the World Trade Center Utah is to assist companies into profitable global markets.
Background: WTCU opened for business on 9/11/2006. Since that time it has helped over 1,000 companies "go global". Lew Cramer brought his experience in international trade to the postion of President and CEO. Previous experience includes: founding an international consulting firm in Washington, DC., working with U S WEST International in developing telecommunications projects in over thirty countries, serving under Reagan as a WhiteHouse Fellow with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, and directing the activities of 1400 commercial officers at over 150 embassies worldwide and in 65 offices throughout the United States in the Bush I administration. Mr.Cramer was also the Director General of the U.S.Commercial Service, practiced corporate law in Los Angeles and the SanFrancisco Bay area, and taught at the business schools of the University of Southern California and Georgetown University.
WTCU received accreditation in Trade Information, Trade Education, Business Services and Technology form the World Trade Center Association at their 2008 General Assembly in Dubai.
Trade Focus: In Utah, one out of every five manufacturing jobs depends on exports. Increased exports have created over 20-thousand jobs in the past three years. Over 2,000 Utah companies export goods and 85 % of those companies were small or medium sized businesses.
Services: WTCU has the ability to offer Utah businesses Assessment, Education and Connections on line. Utah businesses can begin to expand internationally by filling out an assessment on the WTCU website. WTCU will then provide training and educational opportunities and connect the businesses to relevant global partners, services providers, government agencies and contacts.
WTCU offers an Export Expert Series as well as Imports Club Sessions and monthly roundtables in the latest trends in the global markets.
July 14-16, 2011 U.S. & China Trade, Culture & Education Conference.
For other upcoming events focusing on Japan, the Arab World, Australia and Canada and more, please check the WTCU website.


text:
Jasmina Suter (* 16. April 1995) ist eine Schweizer Skirennfahrerin. Ihre Stärken liegen in den Disziplinen Super-G und Riesenslalom. Ihre jüngere Schwester Juliana ist ebenfalls Skirennfahrerin.

Biografie
Suter begann ihre Karriere im November 2010 mit ihrer ersten Teilnahme an einem FIS-Rennen. Im Januar 2012 nahm sie an den Olympischen Jugend-Winterspielen in Innsbruck teil, wo sie im Riesenslalom die Bronzemedaille gewann und im Slalom mit Platz vier knapp am Podest vorbeifuhr. Im selben Monat folgten die ersten Einsätze im Europacup, im Februar 2012 die ersten Siege bei FIS-Rennen. Zum Abschluss der Saison wurde sie Schweizer Super-G-Juniorenmeisterin. Im Verlaufe des Winters 2012/13 etablierte sie sich allmählich im Europacup.

Ihr Debüt im Weltcup gab Suter am 28. Dezember 2013 im Riesenslalom von Lienz, wo sie im ersten Lauf ausschied. Im Januar 2014 holte sie einen weiteren Junioren-Schweizer-Meistertitel, dieses Mal im Riesenslalom. Verletzungsbedingt verpasste Suter einen grossen Teil der Saison 2014/15, konnte dann aber zum Saisonende den Schweizer Riesenslalom-Meistertitel gewinnen. Zum Auftakt der Weltcupsaison 2015/16 fuhr Suter am 24. Oktober 2015 im Riesenslalom von Sölden auf den 20. Platz und verbuchte damit ihre ersten Weltcuppunkte. Da sie in den sechs darauf folgenden Weltcuprennen ohne Ergebnis blieb, wurde sie wieder im Europacup eingesetzt. Bei der Junioren-Weltmeisterschaft 2016 in Sotschi gewann sie die Goldmedaille im Riesenslalom.

Suter rückte bei den Weltmeisterschaften 2017 in St. Moritz für die verletzte Lara Gut nach und startete im Riesenslalom, schied aber im ersten Lauf aus. Ihr bisher bestes Ergebnis im Weltcup erzielte sie am 23. Januar 2021 mit Platz 6 in der Abfahrt von Crans-Montana. In der Europacupsaison 2020/21 entschied sie die Super-G-Disziplinenwertung für sich. Mit Platz 7 im Super-G von Garmisch-Partenkirchen am 30. Januar 2022 erreichte sie ihr bestes Weltcupresultat in dieser Disziplin.

Erfolge

Weltmeisterschaften
 Cortina d'Ampezzo 2021: 18. Abfahrt

Weltcup
 2 Platzierungen unter den besten zehn in Einzelrennen

Weltcupwertungen

Europacup
 Saison 2017/18: 7. Riesenslalomwertung
 Saison 2019/20: 8. Gesamtwertung, 3. Super-G-Wertung
 Saison 2020/21: 1. Super-G-Wertung
 Saison 2021/22: 7. Gesamtwertung, 4. Super-G-Wertung
 10 Podestplätze, davon 2 Siege:

Juniorenweltmeisterschaften
 Roccaraso 2012: 22. Super-G
 Québec 2013: 6. Riesenslalom, 11. Super-G, 19. Abfahrt
 Jasná 2014: 5. Riesenslalom, 15. Slalom, 15. Super-Kombination, 28. Super-G
 Sotschi 2016: 1. Riesenslalom, 9. Super-G, 14. Abfahrt

Weitere Erfolge
 2 Schweizer Meistertitel (Super-G 2015 und Riesenslalom 2022)
 2 Schweizer Juniorenmeistertitel (Super-G 2012, Riesenslalom 2014)
 Olympische Jugend-Winterspiele 2012: 3. Riesenslalom, 4. Slalom
 7 Siege in FIS-Rennen
 1 Sieg im South American Cup

Weblinks

 Website der Geschwister Suter

  bei swiss-ski.biz

Einzelnachweise

Alpiner Skirennläufer (Schweiz)
Schweizer Meister (Ski Alpin)
Teilnehmer der Olympischen Jugend-Winterspiele 2012
Schweizer
Geboren 1995
Frau

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Pandora FMS plugin for Oracle Database allows you to monitor your Oracle instances, listeners, processes and more.
Scan tablespace to get free space.
Scan tablespace to get status.
Scan Oracle filesystems working on the system (through a prefix and on the name of the instance (SID) ).
Verify connection to the DB (through query and getting current date).
Verify services with a listener (only at instance level).
Verify Pmon process of each SID (only Unix).
Verify general status of the listener (for all instances).
Verify listeners for each SID defined.
Error parsing, searching for a regular expression in the alert log. The alert log depends on each instance and its exact location is auto-detected. It is necessary for the pluggin to parse Pandora FMS logs in order to process them (only Unix).


text:
Limestone District School Board » Trustees » About the Board of Trustees
The Limestone District School Board, like every public school board in Ontario, is governed by a Board of Trustees. School Board Trustees are locally-elected representatives of the public, and they are the community's advocate for public education. They are required to carry out their responsibilities in a manner that assists the Board in fulfilling its duties under the Education Act. The current nine-member Limestone District School Board of Trustees will serve until November 30, 2022.
A Trustee's role is to maintain a focus on student achievement and well-being and to participate in making decisions that benefit the entire district while representing the interests of his or her constituents. Trustees have a responsibility to all the families in their community – not just their neighbours, and not just families with school-aged children. They work with their school board colleagues and with other community partners to ensure that all the students within the board's jurisdiction have equal opportunities to reach their maximum potential.
Only the Board, not an individual Trustee, has the authority to make decisions or take action. A school board must place all students first when making any decision. Trustees are required to uphold the implementation of any Board resolution (motion) after it is passed by the Board. In exercising their role, they are required to comply with the Board's Trustee Code of Conduct.
Trustees are elected by ratepayers (in accordance with the Municipal Elections Act) and empowered under the Education Act to set policy for the operation of all public schools in the Limestone District. Policies set out the expectations about what should happen or how services are to be provided within the Board. The Board of Trustees ensure that the Director of Education carries out responsibilities for implementing the Board's policies. They entrust the day-to-day management of the Board to its staff through the Board's Director of Education.
The Board of Trustees is accountable to the Province of Ontario for the proper conduct of their duties and powers, including the implementation of provincial policy and the use of provincially-allocated funds. As elected officials, trustees must balance the demands of the community with the duties required by the Ministry of Education. This can be challenging and takes dedicated leadership coupled with a willingness to seek innovative ideas and the courage to implement them.
Trustee roles and responsibilities
Under the Education Act, Trustees are mandated to:
promote student achievement and well-being;
deliver effective and appropriate educational programs;
develop, maintain and monitor effectiveness of Board policies;
develop, communicate and review annually a Multi-Year Plan;
monitor the performance of the Director of Education; and
practise responsible stewardship of Board resources.
Elected for a four-year term, from December 1, 2014 to November 30, 2018, a Trustee must be:
a resident in the area of jurisdiction of the Board;
a Canadian citizen;
at least 18 years old;
eligible to be an elector of that school board for which the person is a candidate; and
not disqualified by any legislation from holding office.
In accordance with the Education Act and Ontario Regulation 357/06, Honoraria for Board Members, the Limestone District School Board set Trustee honoraria at $5,900 per annum with an additional $5,000 for the Board Chair and $2,500 for the Vice-Chair, respectively, effective December 1, 2014, notwithstanding any future legislative changes which may impact this decision.
General questions related to Board of Trustees, its committees, agendas, minutes and reports may be directed to: Liz Strange, Records Management Coordinator, 613.544.6925 ext. 246 or toll-free at 1.800.267.0935 ext. 246.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Teaching your little one to swim can be so much fun! But when they haven't quite mastered the art of potty training it could also be a hassle.
Regular diapers quickly get weighed down and explode with saturation. They are heavy and don't add much to the swimming experience.
Little Swimmers from Huggies are perfect because they prevent those embarrassing accidents without the bulk of a diaper. Just slip them on and off like underwear.
Try a sample for free from Huggies today! Just sign up with your Huggies Club account and indicate that you want to try the Little Swimmers.
Stay tuned for other great deals and offers with your account!
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text:
Home The Latest In the Eye of the Storm: Media Silence
In the Eye of the Storm: Media Silence
by Mrill Ingram
Hurricane photo courtesy of NASA
"Major Menace" shouts the Tampa Bay Times. "It's Here" heralds the Orlando Sentinel. Matt-Whew!" crows the SunSentinel. "A Razor-Thin Miss" claims the Miami Herald. "Monster Storm" yells the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Yes, it's Hurricane Matthew coverage from Florida's newspapers. The storm is hugging the Florida coast, with wind gusts of up to 120 mph and potentially serious rainfall flooding Georgia, South Carolina, and southern North Carolina through at least Saturday night.
For all the attention the storm is generating—the numbers of printed lines and minutes of TV coverage on how people are packing up, who is leaving and not leaving, how full the shelters are, and spats over how to crate the dog—one major element of this story is receiving the cold shoulder treatment from a lot of major media outlets: Climate change.
Given that it is always the poorest and most vulnerable who suffer the most from climate calamities like the Hurricane Matthew, most glaringly the well over eight hundred dead and thousands without shelter and power in Haiti, the silence on climate change is egregious. Matthew is the most powerful Caribbean storm in a decade.
Because of course, the silence is far from an oversight.
Global climate campaign 350.org activist May Boeve affirms: "We're seeing a deafening climate silence from journalists and in this presidential cycle." It is "unequivocal" that these storms are worsened by climate change, she emphasizes, especially when we look at increased storm surges resulting from seas that are almost a foot higher.
"We know who is responsible for this problem," Boeve told Democracy Now!. "We know that the fossil fuel industry benefits when climate change is not discussed, because these storms scare people. . . . And when there's no discussion of the issue, it leaves the fossil fuel industry players, like Exxon, without any real focus on their activities.
Ruth Conniff observed the total lack of attention to the issue in the recent vice presidential debate (apart from Republican candidate Mike Pence's denunciation of the "war on coal").
In the December/January issue of The Progressive author Naomi Klien put this silence on climate in a compelling context:
"Republicans understand that doing the things we need to do in the face of climate change are utterly antithetical to their political project. If you don't believe in government, if you don't believe in taxing corporations or the wealthy, if you don't believe there is a role for collective action, then there's not going to be a response to climate change. And even when you have so-called bipartisan efforts by people like [former South Carolina Republican Congressman] Bob Inglis, who support a revenue-neutral carbon tax that is offset by cuts to income and corporate taxes, it's not much better than denial, because it would do nothing to solve the problem.
How we talk about these monster storms, Klein reminds us, isn't just a matter of describing crazy weather. Fundamentally it's about who we want to be. "It is not just about the heat, the drought, and the storms," she says.
"It's also about societies becoming meaner, because that is what a winner-takes-all type of capitalist society does in the face of scarcity…Humans are complex…We need to recognize that complexity and think about what systems bring out our better selves, versus our worst selves, because that will determine how we respond to this crisis."
When you track the devastation of Hurricane Matthew and note who is suffering and how, the price of silence—and the immorality of inaction—become clearer than ever.
Mrill Ingram is online media editor for The Progressive.
Dispatches Environment
Mrill Ingram
Mrill Ingram is The Progressive's former online media editor.
Read more by Mrill Ingram


Samsung leads the smartphone market, despite its too many battles against the gaint Apple, spread over half the continents. The company has let down its low end models. The Korean company, launched its low end Java Touch mobiles long back in the June of 2010, Under the series named Champ. Samsung C3300K (or C3303 Champ) was the first model of the series. As it was the beginning of the Smartphone trend, the mobile had a decent welcome in India, It started replacing the basic mobiles.
Touch Phone era has brought desire in most of the people (atleast for those who are aware that something revolutionary is happening in the mobile technology). The Entry of Android, battling against the existing giants like the iOS, Blackberry OS, WP, Meego made the number of smartphones available increase in great numbers. Growing development enhanced the Touchphones with Android OS and lots of mobiles were pouring out. Every week there were atleast 2 mobiles newly releasing in the near end of 2010. Sammy took the advantage of the craze for touchmobiles and the interest in Dual sim mobiles and gave a hybrid mobile combining the features of the Duos series and Champ series as Samsung Champ Duos E2652 announced.
World is getting too hasty. Everyone needs speed. Everyone needs things done quick. Why not mobile users wish speed? 3G Technology provided us with download speeds of 7.2 Mbps. Samsung announced Samsung S3770 (a.k.a Samsung Champ 3.5 G).
Still Samsung feels, its customers are not satisfied. The Former released Champ had just 1.3 MP camera which was so disappointing. FM recording was not included. Added with this features is the next 'Coming Soon' Samsung Champ 2 (model number C3330).
Not many Java Apps are supported.
The device is not robust. You may get the camera damaged if you drop down, But still nothing happens to the device.
But still considering the money you pay for the device and considering the facilities, the Cons are not to be worried about.


text:
\section{Introduction}
Deep reinforcement learning research has progressed rapidly in recent years, achieving super-human level performance in many applications. At the core of DRL research lies the need to engage in rigorous experimental design for conducting evaluations. The lack of rigorous experimental design could lead to profound implications. Researchers may inadvertently mislead themselves and draw incorrect conclusions about DRL including what factors contribute to the success of a method~\cite{engstrom2020implementation, ilyas2018closer}, what factors make the results of a method reproducible~\cite{henderson2018deep}, or whether a method successfully solves one task~\cite{whiteson2011protecting} or multiple tasks~\cite{agarwal2021deep, jordan2020evaluating}. As evidenced by these findings, strong empirical rigor is crucial for research progress as it allows the research community to confidently assess the current state of the field.

The real world induces many complexities for control tasks, and one major complexity is the existence of multiple instances of the same task. Consider the case of a traffic signal control task where the goal is to design a signal control strategy for an intersection. To reliably claim a DRL method solves the traffic signal control problem, one needs to show that the proposed method sufficiently works for a considerable majority of the signalized intersection instances~\cite{attendlight}. We see this requirement of evaluating on a family of instances as an emerging requirement in general, not just limited to traffic signal control, specifically as DRL trickles into real-world applications. We refer to such evaluations as assessing the \textit{algorithmic generalization} of DRL methods \textit{within a task}.

However, many studies that evaluate algorithmic generalization of DRL methods within a task ignore this requirement. In traffic signal control, the use of a few select intersection instances is popular for evaluations~\cite{ault2021reinforcement, Wei_2019, interpretable_TSC, mas, wei2018intellilight}. Similar discrepancies can also be seen in other application areas such as in autonomous driving~\cite{vinitsky2018benchmarks, jayawardana2022learning}, healthcare~\cite{ Zhao2009ReinforcementLD}, and in chemistry~\cite{Zhou2017OptimizingCR}. Such practices may fail to guard against evaluation overfitting~\cite{whiteson2011protecting}, in which the DRL method under evaluation records misleadingly high performance by overspecializing to the evaluation instance. As DRL trickles into real-world implementations and critical use cases, not having such practices can have serious implications, ranging from the opportunity cost of employing lower quality methods to hurting confidence in the field.

\begin{figure*}[h]
\centering
\begin{subfigure}{0.19\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/default5.png}
  \caption{Default MDP}
  \label{int-example-a}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.79\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/family3.png}
  \caption{MDP Family}
  \label{int-example-b}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{An illustrative example of a). a default point MDP vs b). a family of point MDPs specified using some environment parameters $\phi$ for evaluations of traffic signal control. }
\label{int-example}
\end{figure*}

To formalize, consider the traffic signal control task, which is typically represented as a single MDP (Figure~\ref{int-example-a}). At the same time, the task is \textit{underspecified} and could easily be represented by a family of MDPs (Figure~\ref{int-example-b}), each specified using some environment parameters $\phi$ such as the number of lanes, turn configurations, and traffic inflow levels. Standard evaluation practice for assessing algorithmic generalization of DRL methods within the task of traffic signal control is to train and evaluate DRL methods on a \textit{point MDP} (or a subset of MDPs) chosen from an implicit family of MDPs (e.g., selecting a specific $\phi$). We refer to such evaluation approaches as \textit{point MDP-based evaluations}\footnote{We note that \textit{point MDP-based evaluations} are not just limited to MDPs but applicable to all variants of MDP like partially observable MDPs. We use \textit{point MDP} as a general terminology to refer to all such cases.}. Unfortunately, such point MDPs often appear to be selected arbitrarily or in a way that inadvertently simplifies the task. It is well known that the performance of a DRL method is sensitive to the underlying MDP~\cite{reda2020learning, henderson2018deep, andrychowicz2020matters}. In this work, \textbf{we hypothesize that the coupling of an arbitrary selection of point MDPs for evaluation and the general sensitivity of DRL methods can result in a substantial error in the true performance of DRL methods} over the implicit MDP family of a task. This, in turn, harms empirical rigor in DRL. We refer this phenomenon as the \textit{task underspecification problem} in DRL evaluations.

In this work, we take a deep dive into this matter. Our main contribution is identifying an emerging problem motivated by the real-world application of RL: when a point MDP is used in evaluating DRL methods within a task, the point MDP does not exhibit adequate statistical power to draw conclusions about the corresponding MDP family. We demonstrate that this phenomenon exists not only in real-world applications such as traffic signal control but also in standard control benchmarks, which indicates that it may be prevalent across the field. Our methodology consists of augmenting DRL evaluations with appropriately parameterized families of MDPs. We show that in comparison to applying DRL methods to the point MDP, evaluating the MDP family often yields a substantially different relative ranking of methods, which could lead researchers to draw incorrect conclusions about the performance of some methods over others. We demonstrate this phenomenon experimentally in a case study of traffic signal control. We show that DRL methods which were originally reported as outperforming traditional traffic signal control methods, significantly underperform when a family of MDPs is used for evaluation, causing a substantial change in the ranking of methods.

Unlike standard DRL benchmark suites, in which the suite designer has full control over how many MDP instances are included in the suite~\cite{Kaiser2020ModelBasedRL, Tassa2018DeepMindCS}, in real-world applications, the domain dictates how many point MDPs are in a task. Whereas benchmark suites often have dozens of MDP instances, we estimate that a task can easily have hundreds or thousands of point MDPs. This thus illuminates new computational and reporting obstacles for evaluating DRL methods within a task. We provide some initial studies on the statistical power of evaluating DRL methods by sampling from the MDP family and use of performance profiles for reporting and conclude that it is a nontrivial problem owing to the sensitivity of today's DRL methods.

\textbf{\textit{Important distinctions:}}
To put our contributions into the context of standard DRL practices, in this work we neither address the evaluations of algorithmic generalization across task families (standard DRL evaluations using task suites) nor evaluations of policy generalization within a task family (as addressed in multi-task, robust RL). Second, we focus on problems where a separate individual DRL \textit{model} can be trained for each MDP (\textit{i.e.,} to achieve overall better performance). Another parallel line is in which a single agent is designed to perform well on all MDPs of the family (\textit{e.g.,} multi-task learning in robotics). However, in the scope of this work, we do not consider such problems.

In the following sections, unless otherwise stated, by \textit{evaluation}, we mean evaluations in DRL when evaluating algorithmic generalization of DRL methods within a task.

\section{Shortcomings of Point MDP-based Evaluations}
\label{pitfalls}

We illustrate the shortcomings of point MDP-based evaluation by considering an experiment derived from popular DRL benchmarks. We use three popular control tasks (Pendulum, Quad~\cite{Inala2020SynthesizingPP}, and Swimmer) as example underspecified tasks. For each task, we augment the nominal task to induce a family of MDPs. A summary of the tasks is given in Table~\ref{task-mdp}, along with their augmentations. For each task family, we then specify five point MDPs. More details of the tasks and their corresponding modifications are given in the Appendix~\ref{example-task-detailed}. We consider three popular DRL algorithms (PPO~\cite{Schulman2017ProximalPO}, TRPO~\cite{Schulman2015TrustRP} and TD3~\cite{Fujimoto2018Addressing}) for evaluation on the tasks. We have verified that each modified point MDP is not under-actuated and that given actuator limits, all are solvable.

\begin{center}
\noindent
\captionof{table}{Control task and the MDP families. }
\label{task-mdp}
\begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{ @{} c X T }
  \toprule
  Task & Task description & MDP family \\
  \midrule
  Quad &
  \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.9em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} }
    2D quadcopter in an obstacle course.\\
    \textbf{Goal}: maneuver a 2D quadcopter through an obstacle course using its vertical acceleration as the control action.
  \end{tabular}
  &
  \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.9em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} }
    MDPs with varying obstacle course lengths (upper obstacle length and lower obstacle length).
    \end{tabular} \\
  \midrule
  Pendulum &
  \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.9em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} }
    A pendulum that can swing.\\
    \textbf{Goal}: swing the pendulum upright.
  \end{tabular}
  &
  \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} }
    MDPs with varying masses and lengths of the pendulum.
  \end{tabular} \\
  \midrule
  Swimmer &
  \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} }
    MuJoCo 3-link swimming robot in a viscous fluid. \\
    \textbf{Goal}: make the robot swim forward as fast as possible by actuating the two joints.
  \end{tabular}
  & \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} }
    MDPs with varying capsule sizes for the segments comprising the robot swimmer.
    \end{tabular} \\
  \bottomrule
\end{tabularx}

\end{center}

\textbf{Observation 1: Reporting evaluations based on point MDPs can be misleading}.

Previous works commonly use three criteria for selecting a point MDPs for evaluations. 1) \textit{random MDP}: a random MDP is used to model a somewhat arbitrary selection of an MDPs from the family (\textit{e.g.,} a random selection of a signalized intersection for training a traffic signal control agent~\cite{ault2021reinforcement}) 2) \textit{generic MDP}: an MDP that represents the key characteristics of the MDPs in the family (\textit{e.g.,} the use of a generic cancer progression model for training a chemotherapy designing agent~\cite{Zhao2009ReinforcementLD}) and 3) \textit{simplified MDP}: an MDP that simplifies the modeling (\textit{e.g.,} zero-error instrument modeling when training an agent for chemical reaction optimization~\cite{Zhou2017OptimizingCR}).

\begin{figure*}[!h]
\centering
\begin{subfigure}{0.33\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/i1-quad-edited.png}
  \caption{Quad}
  \label{fig11a}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.31\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/i2-pendulum-edited.png}
  \caption{Pendulum}
  \label{fig11b}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/i2-swimmer-edited.png}
  \caption{Swimmer}
  \label{fig11b}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{Performance comparison of point MDP-based evaluations of the three control tasks. The x-axis represents the five point MDPs. For Quad, performance is a normalized score of the distance the quadcopter traveled before crashing or reaching the goal with respect to the total distance required to travel (higher the better). For the pendulum, it is the time to swing the pendulum upright (lower the better), and for the swimmer, it is the time to reach the goal (lower the better). }
\label{Issue-one}
\end{figure*}

In Figure~\ref{Issue-one}, we report the evaluations of the DRL methods on each point MDP described in Table~\ref{task-mdp} for the three control tasks. That is, each method is trained and evaluated on each individual point MDP. Given an MDP family, all child MDPs are considered possible random MDPs. For each task, $\star$ denotes the generic MDP, and $\dagger$ represents the simplified MDP. The simplified MDP is chosen as the ``easiest'' MDP, i.e., simplifies the transition dynamics. The generic MDP is the parametric mean MDP of the other four MDPs in the family.

We observe a few interesting phenomena (1) the same method yield significant differences in performance under different point MDPs for all three tasks, (2) simplified MDPs generally achieve better performance than other point MDPs in the family, and (3) comparing DRL methods based on point MDPs can provide conflicting conclusions (e.g., conflicting relative performance benefits) based on which point MDP is used for evaluations. For example, for Quad, point MDP (0,6) indicates both PPO and TRPO are equally well-performing. However, under point MDP (0.5,3), we see that PPO outperforms TRPO with approximately 0.75 point difference. These observations highlight the variability of point MDP-based evaluations and the uncertainties involved. Such evaluations could mislead the community to incorrectly conclude that one method is better than another and thereby hinder the scientific progress of the field.

\textbf{Observation 2: DRL training can be sensitive to the selected point MDP properties}. It is generally known that DRL training is sensitive to the underlying MDP. Therefore, selecting a point MDP from a family can demonstrate a training impact that does not generalize to other MDPs in the family. Subsequently, the performance of the DRL method could be overestimated or underestimated.

\begin{figure*}[!h]
\centering
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/enlarged_images/i2-quad-ppo.png}
  \caption{Quad}
  \label{quad-1-a}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/enlarged_images/i2-pendulum-ppo.png}
  \caption{Pendulum}
  \label{pen-1-b}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/enlarged_images/i2-swimmer-ppo.png}
  \caption{Swimmer}
  \label{swim-1-c}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{Training progress of each task for different point MDPs. For Quad, performance is a normalized score that indicates the distance the quadcopter traveled before crashing or reaching the goal with respect to the total distance required to travel (higher the better). In the pendulum, the training performance is measured as the time to swing the pendulum upright (lower the better). For the swimmer, the training performance is measured as the time to reach the goal (lower the better). }
\label{Issue-two}
\end{figure*}

We demonstrate this phenomenon using our three control tasks in Figure~\ref{Issue-two} when using the PPO algorithm for training\footnote{Under some point MDPs, not all parallel runs succeed. For point MDPs where some runs succeed, we only plot the runs that succeed. For point MDPs where all runs fail, we plot them as it is. We fix the number of total training steps to 5M for swimmer and 2M for quad and pendulum. Curves are truncated for better visibility. }. First, in Quad (Figure~\ref{quad-1-a}), reaching the goal means achieving a normalized score of 1. However, only under a few of the point MDPs, the agent reaches the goal during training. Specifically, 2 out of 5 settings converge to a local minimum (crashing on the same obstacle as training progress). Similarly, in Figure~\ref{pen-1-b} for the pendulum, under one of the MDPs the agent does not achieve the goal (stuck at the 200 steps mark) while under the other four, the agent achieves the goal. Finally, we see similar behavior in Swimmer task in Figure~\ref{swim-1-c} where under one point MDP the agent fails to achieve the goal (stuck at the 5000 steps) during training and succeeds under others. Further examples of training complications under other DRL algorithms are given in Appendix~\ref{i2-more-examples}.

We hypothesize one of the root causes of this phenomenon is the complexity differences in point MDPs. For example, in Quad, making the obstacle-free course narrower requires the DRL agent to explore some specific actions different from what it would otherwise need to explore when the course is wider. This effectively makes the training process harder for point MDPs with narrower paths. Another potential cause is MDP designers' over-fitting MDP design to point MDPs. For example, in the pendulum, the default reward function penalizes higher torque values while encouraging reaching the goal with a weighted composite reward. MDP designers may over-fit the weighting values to a selected point MDP which does not generalize to the entire family. This can result in point MDPs with higher pendulum mass failing if the weight on the torque limits is higher.

\section{Notation and Formalism}
\label{formalism}
Given a sequential decision-making task $T$ and a reinforcement learning method $R$ to be evaluated, we consider the setting where there are $M$ possible point MDPs in the family of MDPs. In general, despite the illustrative examples in the previous section, $M$ can be quite large. Let $N$ denote a computational budget in terms of the number of models that can be trained\footnote{Most cloud service providers charge users based on the time they use the services. Therefore, approximating the average number of models that can be trained given a pricing budget can be done with rough estimates of how long it takes to train one model on a single point MDP.}. We assume that $M \gg N$; that is, we cannot evaluate the given RL method on all MDPs in the family.

As we demonstrated in Section~\ref{pitfalls}, the performance of a DRL method $R$ can significantly depend on the choice of the point MDP. As suggested by previous work~\cite{agarwal2021deep}, it is therefore warranted to model the performance of $R$ as a real-valued random variable $X_{R}$. This means a normalized \textit{performance score $s_{R,i}$} for a given $R$ and a point MDP $i$ is a realization of the random variable $X_{R}$. We normalize point MDP performance scores by linearly rescaling scores based on a given baseline. For example, scores in Atari games are typically normalized with respect to an average human~\cite{mnih2015human, agarwal2021deep}.

Given a family of MDPs, a point MDP $i$ may be more important or common than another point MDP $j$. This is a common requirement in the real world where practitioners have predefined performance requirements, such as the performance of a signalized intersection in an urban area may be more important than a signalized intersection in a sub urban area in traffic signal control~\cite{CHODUR201687}. This \textit{importance score $p_{T,i}$} of a point MDP $i$ on task $T$ can be considered as a realization of a real-valued random variable $Y_{T}$. This means depending on the importance scores of each point MDP, a distribution can be generated for the MDP family. For $\tau \in \mathbb{R}^n$ where $\tau$ represents the point MDP context, we therefore define the point MDP distribution as $F(\tau) = P(Y_T)$.

\textbf{Assumption}: For a given task $T$, we assume $p_{T,i}$ is given for each MDP $i$.

\begin{definition}
The overall performance of a DRL method $R$ on task $T$ is defined as $E^{T}_{R} = \mathop{\mathbb{E}}[X_R] = \sum_{i=1}^{|U|}s_{R,i} p_{T,i}$ where $U$ is the set of point MDPs.
\label{overall-performance-def}
\end{definition}

However, obtaining $E^{T}_{R}$ is not always possible because of the budget constraint $M \gg N$. Therefore, a potential solution is to select a subset $V$ of point MDPs from the MDP family to perform an evaluation. Accordingly, the estimated performance of the method $R$ on task $T$ is $\hat{E}^{T}_{R} = \sum_{i=1}^{|V|}s_{R,i} p_{T,i}$. Clearly, if not careful, selecting different subsets can greatly affect the accuracy of the evaluations.

An intuitive approach to selecting a subset of point MDPs is to assess the \textit{contribution $c_i$} of each point MDP $i$ to overall evaluation. Contribution depends both on the importance score, which is given, and performance score, which incurs a computational cost to evaluate, and can be defined as $c_i = s_{R,i} p_{T,i}$. Thus, we seek to find the set of point MDPs that has the highest contributions to the overall evaluation. Given that we wish to estimate the contribution of individual point MDPs without assessing the overall performance $E^{T}_{R}$, this poses a chicken-and-egg problem. In the subsequent sections, we propose approximation techniques that one can employ to identify a subset $V$ based on the approximated contributions.
\section{Case Study: Traffic Signal Control}
\label{case-study}
To validate the shortcomings of point MDP-based evaluations, we consider an established benchmark that exhibits a large implicit family of MDPs describing a single task and wherein there could be significant real-world implications. In particular, we consider the evaluations of DRL methods on the traffic signal control task, leveraging the \textit{RESCO} benchmark~\cite{ault2021reinforcement}. We use six algorithms from RESCO in our case study, namely: \textit{IDQN}, \textit{IPPO}~\cite{interpretable_TSC}, \textit{MPLight}~\cite{mplight}, \textit{MPLight$^*$}, \textit{Fine-tuned Fixed time} and \textit{Max pressure}~\cite{VARAIYA2013177}. Further details can be found in Appendix~\ref{case-study-methods}.

Naturally, traffic signal control should be considered on multiple intersection geometries and vehicle flow levels, hence a family of MDPs. We base our importance score $p_{T,i}$ of each intersection on the frequency of occurrence within a geographic region and the performance score $s_{R,i}$ as the normalized per vehicle average delay. Scores are normalized based on an untuned yet sufficiently performant fixed time controller baseline. The importance scores and the intersections used to build the point MDP distribution of the intersections are taken from Salt Lake City in Utah. We use 164 unique intersections and refer the reader to Appendix~\ref{intersection-dist} for more details on building this distribution.

\begin{figure}[!h]
  \includegraphics[width=0.99\textwidth]{images/rebuttal/tsc-normalized_analysis.png}
  \caption{Performance vs the number of point MDPs that demonstrate the performance for all traffic signal control methods in RESCO. 164 unique point MDPs were considered for each method.}
  \label{fig:DRL-performance-traffic-light}
\end{figure}

In Figure~\ref{fig:DRL-performance-traffic-light}, we report the performance of each of six methods on 164 unique point MDPs and the reported performance as per~\cite{ault2021reinforcement}\footnote{Reported performances are based on re-evaluations of the methods on Ingolstadt single intersection.}. First, we observe significant variations in the performance based on the point MDP used for evaluations. Specifically, all DRL methods demonstrate a significant variation while non-DRL methods demonstrate comparatively low yet considerable variations. Second, we observe that the reported performances in related literature can be significantly biased. As an example, IDQN, IPPO and MPLight performances are clearly overestimated. To quantitatively analyze the potential shortcomings, we denote the performance of each method over the entire MDP family in Figure~\ref{ts-results}.

\begin{minipage}[]{0.4\linewidth}
\includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth, valign=T]{images/rebuttal/tsc-overall-results.png}
\captionof{figure}{Overall performance (lower\\ the better)}
\label{ts-results}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[]{0.6\linewidth}
Interestingly, we see a significant result change from previously reported results. Although the Fixed time controller is regarded as an underperforming method as per reported performance in~\cite{ault2021reinforcement}, we find that under the MDP family-based evaluations, the non-RL Fixed time controller and Max pressure controller perform significantly better than all the four DRL controllers. We note that fine-tuning a non-RL Fixed time controller is simple enough that it does not pose a computational burden and can be done easily, even on a regular computer. While reported performances ranked IPPO as a well-performing model with a normalized score of 0.84, we see that, in fact, it is the lowest-performing method and that the revised normalized score is as high as 1.7 (even cannot
\end{minipage}
outperform an untuned fixed time controller). It is thus clear that point MDP-based evaluations can be misleading and may pose performance benefits that do not generalize to the MDP family. \footnote{Results reported in this work should not be illustrated as evidence against using DRL for traffic signal control and should only be used as evidence of shortcomings in point MDP-based evaluations. Further studies are encouraged to study the benefits of DRL for traffic signal control without the point MDP-based assumptions.}

\section{Further Evidence on Shortcomings of Point MDP-based Evaluations}
\label{common-tasks}

To further validate the shortcomings of point MDP-based evaluations and the impact, we look at three popular DRL control tasks: cartpole (discrete actions), pendulum (continuous actions), and half-cheetah (continuous actions). For each task, we devise a family of MDPs as described in Table~\ref{drl-tasks-detailed-vv} in Appendix~\ref{drl-task-config}. Our MDP families consist of 576, 180, and 120 point MDPs for cartpole, pendulum, and half cheetah, respectively. Due to space limitations, we provide an in-depth analysis of performance variations in Appendix~\ref{drl_tasks_analysis} and only provide a summary of the analysis in this section. In Figure~\ref{DRL-tasks-pitfalls}, we show the significant discrepancies in overall performance and the reported performances. The reported performance of each task is measured by training and evaluating DRL methods on commonly used single point-MDP given in common benchmark suites.

We see significant result changes when evaluated on the point MDP family. For example, in cartpole (Figure~\ref{cartpole-a}), all reported performances achieve the best score of 1.0 while we see a significantly different overall performance. Although under reported performance, all four DRL methods for cartpole are ranked as equally well-performing, we see an interesting rank change as some methods  underperform when considering their overall performance. Similar insights can be seen in Pendulum (Figure~\ref{pendulum-a}) and in half cheetah (Figure~\ref{halfcheetah-a}).

\begin{figure*}[h]
\centering
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/rebuttal/cartpole-reported-vs-ours.png}
  \caption{Cartpole (576 point MDPs)}
  \label{cartpole-a}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/rebuttal/pendulum-reported-vs-ours.png}
  \caption{Pendulum (180 point MDPs)}
  \label{pendulum-a}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/rebuttal/cheetah-summary.png}
  \caption{Half Cheetah (120 point MDPs)}
  \label{halfcheetah-a}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{Discrepancies between reported vs. overall performance of popular DRL methods in cartpole, pendulum and half cheetah when evaluated for algorithmic generalization within the task.}
\label{DRL-tasks-pitfalls}
\end{figure*}

\section{Reliable Evaluations Within a Task}

In Section~\ref{pitfalls}, \ref{case-study} and~\ref{common-tasks}, we demonstrate the shortcomings of point MDP-based evaluations. In this section, we discuss the challenges that arise as a result of conducting MDP family-based evaluations. We present three main challenges and an initial set of recommendations to the research community as summarized in Table~\ref{summry-recommendatations}.

\begin{center}
\noindent
\captionof{table}{Summary of challenges and initial recommendations}
\label{summry-recommendatations}
\begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{ @{} T X }
  \toprule
  Challenge & Our recommendation\\
  \midrule
  Lack of benchmarks &
  \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.7em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.2em} }
    Create benchmarks that depict MDP families.\\
    Publish datasets of MDP families of control tasks including point-MDP distributions.\\
    Incentivize publication of such datasets and control task at leading conferences.
    \end{tabular} \\
  \midrule
  Large families of MDPs with limited computational budgets &
  \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.9em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} }
    Adopt performance approximations using clustering and random sampling under a computational budget. \\
    Standardize the evaluations by making the selected point-MDPs public.
  \end{tabular} \\
  \midrule
  Lack of emphasize on all point-MDP performances  &
  \begin{tabular}[t]{ @{\makebox[0.5em][l]{\textbullet}} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} p{\dimexpr\linewidth-0.4em} }
    Use performance profiles to show a detailed view of how overall performance changes with point MDPs \\
  \end{tabular} \\
  \bottomrule
\end{tabularx}

\end{center}

\subsection{Create data sets of MDP families to benchmark RL methods in evaluations}

The use of benchmark datasets for evaluations is well-established in supervised learning. From computer vision~\cite{dendorfer2020mot20} and biological data~\cite{biological-data} to natural language processing~\cite{peng-etal-2019-transfer}, standard datasets are being used for evaluations of deep learning methods. In DRL, the practice is different. In assessing algorithmic generalization of DRL methods within a task, instead of published datasets, researchers use standardized benchmark suites like RESCO for traffic signal control~\cite{ault2021reinforcement}, and Vinitsky et al. \cite{vinitsky2018benchmarks} for mixed autonomy traffic.

However, we recognize that current state-of-the-art benchmarks alone are not sufficient to standardize the evaluations in DRL. The main limitation is that they only provide select point MDPs and do not consider the family of possible MDPs. As many real-world applications inherently demonstrate a family of MDPs, the current DRL standardization of evaluations may steer the research community in a vacuum, while realistically useful DRL methods may get rejected or not even developed.

Therefore, our first recommendation is to create DRL benchmark suites which inherently demonstrate a requirement to incorporate a family of MDPs. However, which MDPs to include in a given family is task-dependent, and the expertise of domain experts may be needed. Second, we also encourage the research community to actively create MDP families for existing control tasks (e.g., different signalized intersections as traffic signal control MDP family) and publish them publically. Finally, we also encourage main artificial intelligence conferences with datasets and benchmark tracks like NeurIPS to encourage the community to publish such datasets and tasks and to include necessary check-ins in the paper submission checklists.

\subsection{Evaluate DRL methods on a family of MDPs instead of point MDPs}

\label{approx_main-content}
In Section~\ref{pitfalls}, \ref{case-study} and \ref{common-tasks}, we demonstrated the shortcomings of point MDP-based evaluations. Therefore, our next recommendation is to encourage researchers to use families of MDPs instead of point MDPs in DRL evaluations. However, evaluating performance over an entire family of MDPs can often be computationally expensive to carry out in practice due to the large cardinality of the family. A solution is to conduct performance approximations. While more sophisticated methods like active learning approaches are possible, we resort to effective yet straightforward techniques to bolster the adoptability of the techniques within a wider community.

We present three techniques: (1) \textbf{M1}: random sampling with replacements from the point MDP distribution, (2) \textbf{M2}: random sampling without replacements, and (3) \textbf{M3}: clustering point MDPs using k-means and assigning probability mass of all point MDPs that belong to same cluster to its centroid. More details of each method and more analysis can be found in Appendix~\ref{performance approximations}.

\begin{figure*}[h]
\centering
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/rebuttal/tsc-apprx/idqn.png}
  \caption{IDQN}
  \label{fig11a}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/rebuttal/tsc-apprx/ippo.png}
  \caption{IPPO}
  \label{fig11b}
\end{subfigure}
\begin{subfigure}{0.32\linewidth}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{images/rebuttal/tsc-apprx/fixedtime.png}
  \caption{Fixed Time}
  \label{fig11b}
\end{subfigure}
\caption{Approximated performance evaluations over a family of MDPs in traffic signal control with varying budget limits. Closer to the overall performance the better.}
\label{sampling}
\end{figure*}

In Figure~\ref{sampling}, we denote the approximate evaluations of IDQN, IPPO and Fixed time methods in traffic signal control in comparison to the ground-truth performance while varying the budget size.
In general, k-means clustering-based approximation produces better estimates than the other two techniques with smaller standard deviations. Specifically, if the budget size is half the total MDP family size, k-means clustering demonstrates reasonably accurate performance estimates. Also, publishing the selection of point MDPs as data sets can enable reproducibility and standardization of the evaluations of the tasks. A sensitivity analysis of the proposed techniques to the underlying point MDP distribution is also given in Appendix~\ref{extra-approximations}.

\textbf{Remarks.}
We acknowledge that there are other factors to consider for a computational budget, including hyperparameter tuning~\cite{jordan2020evaluating} and training using multiple random seeds within each point MDP~\cite{agarwal2021deep}. Here, we focus on the computational budget allotted for the task underspecification issue.

\subsection{Use performance profile of the MDP family instead of point MDP performance}

Inspired by the idea of performance profiling for DRL evaluations~\cite{agarwal2021deep} and in optimization software~\cite{Dolan2002BenchmarkingOS}, our final recommendation is to report the performance of a DRL method over a family of MDPs as a performance profile. Although the overall performance of a DRL method over a family of MDPs can yield more reliable evaluations than evaluating on a point MDP, it may encapsulate further insights into the method's performance. By representing the performance of a method as a performance profile, a more detailed visualization of the performance over the point MDPs can be illustrated.

In Figure~\ref{fig:performance-profile}, we present an example performance profile for k-means clustering-based performance approximation with a budget size of 80 models in the traffic signal control task.

\begin{minipage}[]{0.6\linewidth}
\includegraphics[width=0.95\textwidth]{images/rebuttal/pp-normalized.png}
\captionof{figure}{Performance profile of k-means clustering \\based performance approximation with budget size \\ of 80 models in traffic signal control task.  }
\label{fig:performance-profile}
\end{minipage}
\begin{minipage}[]{0.4\linewidth}

A performance profile illustrates what point MDPs are most probable in the distribution and how each of the point MDP contributes to the final estimate of the performance. It enables direct comparison of methods. In particular, if the cumulative performance curve of method A is strictly below method B, method A is said to \textit{stochastically dominate} method B (lower the score the better)~\cite{agarwal2021deep}. Furthermore, point MDPs in which a method seemingly under-performs is easily visible, giving a clear overview of where the limitations and strengths are originating from.
\end{minipage}

\section{Related Work}

Deep reinforcement learning algorithms have notoriously high variance, resulting in reliability and reproducibility issues when applying them to real-world applications~\cite{agarwal2021deep, jordan2020evaluating, chan2019measuring, bjorck2021high}. Designing sound methodologies for conducting performance evaluations is, therefore, critical. To our knowledge, Falkenauer~\cite{falkenauer1998method} first identified overfitting a design to a selected problem instance as a cause for concern. Whiteson et al.~\cite{whiteson2011protecting} later used the same motivation to argue similar overfitting can happen, particularly in reinforcement learning. We look at the algorithmic generalization of DRL methods within a task, which poses different requirements and properties compared to previous works.

The use of a family of problem instances is not new. It has been used in combinatorial auctions~\cite{leyton2000towards} and in reinforcement learning~\cite{bhatnagar2007incremental, kalyanakrishnan2009empirical}. Recently, MDP families have been used to achieve better generalization in DRL. Benjamins et al.~\cite{Benjamins2022ContextualizeM} argue that generalization in DRL is held back by factors stemming in part from a lack of problem formalization. Benchmarks suites such as CARL~\cite{Benjamins2021CARLAB} are proposed to use MDP families to study generalization. Eimer et al.~\cite{Eimer2021HyperparametersIC} further show that such DRL problems demonstrate challenges that the DRL community has not looked at carefully.

The family of MDPs has been formally modeled in multiple ways in the literature. The most recent and general method is to model the problem as a Contextual Markov Decision Processes (cMDP)~\cite{Benjamins2022ContextualizeM} where all MDPs in the family share the same MDP configuration except for the transition function and the reward function. In Hidden Parameter MDPs~\cite{DoshiVelez2016HiddenPM}, only the transition function changes but keep the reward function fixed over the family of MDPs. Epistemic POMDPs introduced by Ghosh et al.~\cite{Ghosh2021WhyGI} are a special case of a cMDP where the context is assumed to be unobservable. They show that there is implicit partial observability under generalization to unseen test conditions from a limited number of training conditions. This phenomenon translates even a fully observed MDP into POMDP. In comparison to these formulations, we do not restrict what components of an MDP can or should change in evaluations. We let that be defined by the domain of the task.

\section{Conclusion and Future Work}
\label{conclusion}
In this work, we identify an important yet overlooked issue of task underspecification in DRL evaluations---the reliance of reporting outcomes on select \textit{point} MDPs. We experimentally demonstrate that evaluating the MDP family often yields a substantially different relative ranking of methods compared to evaluating on select MDPs. Moreover, evaluating on a family of MDPs is not trivial and is faced with multiple challenges. One exciting avenue for future work is to explore if similar shortcomings occur when evaluating the algorithmic generalization of DRL methods across tasks. Furthermore, our recommendations for the related challenges when conducting reliable evaluations with a family of MDPs are only a starting point for more focused research. Future research can shed light on these directions, including designing efficient yet effective methods that can produce good approximate performance estimates. Overall, we intend for our findings to raise awareness of task underspecification that impacts the empirical rigor of DRL and aim to help move the needle toward a more disciplined science overall.

\section{Broader Impact}

Although there is not a single definition of responsible machine learning,
the Institute for Ethical AI \& Machine Learning has developed a series of eight principles to guide the responsible development of machine learning systems. \textit{Practical accuracy} is one of the principles, which emphasizes that \textit{accuracy and cost metric functions are aligned to the domain-specific applications}. This article contributes to bolstering the practical accuracy of RL, when employed for a complex downstream decision (e.g. whether to adopt an RL method for a societal system), by highlighting some limitations of current standard RL research practices and proposing to explicitly consider a family of MDPs that constitutes the complex decision. On the other hand, even with more empirically rigorous ML practices, there are still subjective aspects of the task distribution (analogous to the family of MDPs in RL), so it remains important to not over-index on RL-based evaluations.

\section{Acknowledgments}

This work was supported by the MIT Amazon Science Hub, the US DOT's Federal Highway Administration and Utah Department of Transportation under project number F-ST99(783), the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, a gift from Mathworks, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant number 2149548. The authors acknowledge MIT SuperCloud and the Lincoln Laboratory Supercomputing Center for providing computational resources supporting the research results in this paper. The authors are also grateful for insightful discussions with Jiaqi Zhang and the constructive suggestions from the anonymous reviewers.

\bibliographystyle{plain}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


text:
The Green Leaf
World Conservation Congress Hawaii
By Nina Wu
Several thousand leaders and decision-makers from government, business, academia and indigenous communities are gathering for the IUCN World Conservation Congress at the Hawai'i Convention Center from Sept. 1 to 10, 2016. The theme of this year's conference, to be held for the first time in Hawaii (and the U.S.), is "Planet at the crossroads."
The Congress is divided into two parts – the Forum, which is open to the wider public, and the Members' Assembly, a global environmental parliament where member organizations discuss and vote on a wide range of issues that guide the IUCN work program and partnership initiatives. A call for contributions went out in June for any interested groups that want to host an event during the conference's Forum.
The Forum is where IUCN Members and partners can discuss cutting edge ideas with people from all over the world. The Congress is seeking hosts for 560 available slots — 135 workshops, 200 Knowledge cafe sessions, 200 poster sessions and 25 training courses. You have until Oct. 15 to submit your proposal. The Congress is only considering hosts that partner with at least one or two IUCN constituents, rather than a single organization, and is looking for events that engage the audience, rather than simply offer a series of "old school" PowerPoint presentations.
There are several options:
>> A Workshop, or 120-minute session that is participant-oriented with a professional facilitator.
>> A Knowledge Cafe, or hosted roundtable discussion involving up to 12 people.
>> A Poster, which will be displayed during the entire Congress.
>> A Conservation Campus training session, which should be interactive and can involve up to 50 people.
Proposals must meet a number of criteria and be relevant to the theme and draft IUCN Programme for 2017-2020. Here's an outline with most of the information you need. Keep in mind that you'll be competing with organizations from around the globe for one of the slots, so it's pretty competitive. You can apply online.
There's also a link to other entries already submitted, which include a poster on "Protecting and Managing the Magnificent Marianas Trench Marine National Monument" and a workshop on "How to sell a conservation project."
Hawaii, as host for this conference, says Randall Tanaka, executive director of the WCC National Host Committee, has so much to offer in terms of knowledge in the world of conservation, whether it be watershed management issues, species survival or the challenges of sustainable development.
"I think the opportunity for Hawaii is we can provide some very unique solutions to the problems," he said. "It is truly amazing, some of the work that's been done in this state. What we learn from this conference, and what we have to share can become an intellectual export."
Also, if you are interested in hosting an excursion to support the mission of the Hawai'i Host and Program Committees, visit this Google Docs link.
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