Due to the textile industry’s polluting impact on aquatic environments the Sweden Textile Water Initiative (STWI) was established. This Sida funded collaboration between SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute), Swedish fashion brands and their suppliers received international recognition for their success in achieving tangible environmental results after implementing sustainability measures at the suppliers. However, the financing from Sida was only for a limited period of time and the projects lost momentum when the money ran out. Moreover, claims have been made that monetary savings which suppliers made from more efficient resource use has been subject to profit theft from the brands by reducing their order prices. Furthermore, the brands genuine desire to achieve sustainability in the supply chain is questioned by modest supplier nominations. Previous research shows problems in value chain management and how both intentional and unintentional actions affect power dynamics and other factors in the value chain. This research contributes to the sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) literature by including a Swedish partnership perspective. In addition, new research is continuously needed in sustainability and textile value chains as conditions in the industry change rapidly (such as increased environmental awareness, and not least the covid-19 pandemic).  The purpose of this thesis is to answer the research question; "Is there a pattern of economic benefits for sustainability efforts in the textile supply chain being unfairly distributed between stakeholders in international partnerships?" This is achieved by conducting a case study of the Sweden Textile Water Initiative (STWI), including a supplier survey, semi-structured interviews with brands and supplier representatives, as well as a literature study.  The results showed that no coherent definition of "fair" had been established within a STWI context, and although suppliers were the only ones to receive direct financial profits, brands still indicated that this was not necessarily unfair. Furthermore, it was discovered that order quantities had decreased, but that motivations for decrease could be due to a number of reasons; restructuring in business model, changed consumer behavior/demand, and order placement with other suppliers. Regarding the order price, the majority of suppliers considered that these had decreased, while brands unanimously claimed they had increased. Contradictions in the respondents' answers does not necessarily render their experiences untrue, as they rarely have direct financial transactions due to the structure of the value chain. Another result showed that the brands modest number of nominated suppliers was largely due to hesitation from suppliers to join the partnership, as well as brands focusing on strategic placement, and being more oriented towards where the projects will have the largest impact. Finally, the results led to a number of suggestions on how improved partnerships can be achieved.  The plethora of factors that affect the complex structure of the industry also leaves many opportunities to explore cause-effect relationships. Further research needs include mapping market-, upstream- and downstream- pressure on suppliers, definitions of justice and risk responsibility, driving forces leading to relocation of production countries and comparisons of environmental legislation related to textile production. / Till följd av den förorenande miljöpåverkan som textilproduktion har på vattendrag bildades partnerskapet Sweden Textile Water Initiative (STWI). Detta Sida-finansierade samarbete mellan SIWI (Stockholm International Water Institute), svenska modeföretag och deras leverantö rer erhöll internationellt erkännande för sin framgång med att nå konkreta miljöresultat efter implementering av hållbarhetsåtgärder hos leverantörerna. Finansieringen från Sida pågick dock endast under en begränsad tidsperiod och projekten förlorade momentum när pengarna tog slut. Dessutom har påståenden gjorts om att de monetära besparingar som leverantörer gjort genom effektivare resursanvändning har hamnat hos modeföretagen genom sänkta orderpriser. Vidare ifrågasätts modeföretagen genuina vilja att uppnå hållbarhet i leverantörskedjan av sparsamma leverantörsnomineringar till partnerskapet, då det indikerar vilja att vara delaktiga, utan transparens kring den egna värdekedjan. Tidigare forskning visar på problematik i värdekedjeledning samt hur både avsiktliga och oavsiktliga handlingar påverkar maktdynamik och andra faktorer i värdekedjan. Detta arbete avser att bidra till den större SSCM-litteraturen med ett partneskapsperspektiv mellan aktörerna i värdekejdan istället för topstyrt från varumärken. Dessutom behövs kontinuerligt ny intersektionell forskning inom textil värdekedjor eftersom förhållandena i branschen ändras snabbt (såsom ökad miljömedvetenhet och inte minst covid-19-pandemin).  Syftet med detta examensarbete är att besvara forskningsfrågan; “Finns det ett mönster av att ekonomiska vinster från hållbarhets-insatser i textil värdekedjan fördelas på ett orättvist sätt mellan intressenter i internationella partnerskap?”. Detta görs genom att utföra en fallstudie av Sweden Textile Water Initiative (STWI), inkluderande enkät till leverantörer, semi-strukturerade intervjuer med mode- företag och leverantörs representanter samt en litteraturstudie.  Resultaten påvisade att det saknades en gemensamt definierad tolkning av “orättvist” inom STWI och trots att leverantörer var de enda som erhöll direkt ekonomisk vinst indikerade ändå modeföretag att detta inte nödvändigtvis var orättvist. Vidare upptäcktes att orderkvantiteter hade minskat men att detta kunde bero på ett antal anledningar; omstrukturering i affärsmodell, förändrat konsumentbeteende/efterfrågan och orderplacering hos andra leverantörer, medan genomförande av STWI inte ansågs vara en betydande anledning. Gällande orderpris så ansåg majoriteten av leverantörer att dessa hade sjunkit medan modeföretag enhälligt hävdade att de hade ökat. Att det finns motsättningar i svaren betyder inte nödvändigtvis att deras erfarenheter är osanna, eftersom dessa aktörer sällan har direkta ekonomiska transaktioner till följd av värdekedjans struktur. Ett annat resultat visade att modeföretags låga antal nominerade leverantörer till stor del berodde på tveksamhet från leverantörer att medverka i partnerskapet samt att fokusering på leverantörer där åtgärder skulle ge störst nytta. Slutligen ledde resultaten till ett antal förslag på hur förbättrade partnerskap kan uppnås.  Överflödet av faktorer som påverkar den komplexa strukturen i textilindustrin lämnar många möjligheter att utforska orsakssamband. Ytterligare forskningsbehov inkluderar kartläggning av marknad-, uppströms- och nedströms tryck på leverantörer, definitioner av rättvisa och riskansvar, drivkrafter som leder till omlokalisering av produktionsländer och jämförelser av miljölagstiftning relaterad till textilproduktion.

Wireless networks collect vast amounts of log data concerning usage of the network. This data aids in informing operational needs related to performance, maintenance, etc., but it is also useful for outside researchers in analyzing network operation and user trends. Releasing such information to these outside researchers poses a threat to privacy of users. The dueling need for utility and privacy must be addressed. This thesis studies the concept of differential privacy for fulfillment of these goals of releasing high utility data to researchers while maintaining user privacy. The focus is specifically on physical user trajectories in authentication manager log data since this is a rich type of data that is useful for trend analysis. Authentication manager log data is produced when devices connect to physical access points (APs) and trajectories are sequences of these spatiotemporal connections from one AP to another for the same device. The fulfillment of this goal is pursued with a variable length n-gram model that creates a synthetic database which can be easily ingested by researchers. We found that there are shortcomings to the algorithm chosen in specific application to the data chosen, but differential privacy itself can still be used to release sanitized datasets while maintaining utility if the data has a low sparsity. / Master of Science / Wireless internet networks store historical logs of user device interaction with it. For example, when a phone or other wireless device connects, data is stored by the Internet Service Provider (ISP) about the device, username, time, and location of connection. A database of this type of data can help researchers analyze user trends in the network, but the data contains personally identifiable information for the users. We propose and analyze an algorithm which can release this data in a high utility manner for the researchers, yet maintain user privacy. This is based on a verifiable approach to privacy called differential privacy. This algorithm is found to provide utility and privacy protection for datasets with many users compared to the size of the network.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / A novel monomer (Phenazine-2,3-diimino(pyrrole-2-yl)–PDP) derived from the condensation reaction between 2,3-diaminophenazine and a pyrrole derivative has been synthesized as a hinge molecule in the design of a zig-zag polymer with actuation possibility. The monomer was polymerized chemically and electrochemically to produce the new polymer material – polymerized Phenazine-2,3-diimino(pyrrole-2-yl) PPDP. Two very crucial properties of a good actuator material, relate specifically to its solubility testing and electrical conductivity. The hinged polymer material was studied intensively in terms of its spectroscopy; Fourier Transform Infrared - FTIR, 1H’NMR, thermal properties (Differential Scanning Calorimetry-DSC and Thermogravimetric Analysis-TGA) as well as voltammetry and conductivity. Conductivity was evaluated using three different approaches including; 4 probe measurements, plotting of I/V curves based on potentiostatic measurements and an electrochemical impedance experiment using a dielectric Solartron interface. Electrochemical kinetics of the polymer prepared as a thin film at glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was also done and it was clear that the thin film conductivity was vastly different from the compressed pellet conductivity (thick film). The zig-zag polymer was then further modified by homogeneous inclusion of gold nanoparticles to improve conductivity and solubility, in the thick film arrangement. Conductivity of the thin film was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy with the relative charge transfer values being determined for unmodified and modified polymer systems. The solubility testing of the material plays an important role as it is required for a wide range of experimental applications. The zig-zag polymer showed great promise for applications; in dye sensitized solar cells and free standing interpenetrating polymer network (IPN), solubility testing and electrical conductivity would need to be improved in order to be used in these applications.