bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Millennium; New Technology; Same Old Right and Wrong
Authors: Gilbert Joseph T.
Published: May 2011

What does ethics have to do with computer security in the new millennium? What, for that matter, did it have to do with computer security in the old millennium? To answer these two questions, we will start with a more fundamental question: what is ethics? In the first part of this chapter, we will briefly review ethics as a part of philosophy. We will examine three approaches that have been taken for hundreds of years as humans have tried to decide what is the right way to behave. We will then examine business ethics, which is an applied subset of the more general topic. Finally, we will explore specific issues which currently present themselves as matters of ethical concern in the world of computer security, and provide a framework for analyzing issues which have not yet presented themselves, but will do so at some future date. Is it ethical to lend a friend a set of discs which contain a three hundred dollar program that you have purchased, knowing that he intends to load the program onto his computer before returning the discs? Is it ethical to hack into computer systems, as long as you don’t disrupt or corrupt the systems? Is it ethical to monitor the e-mail of your employees? In order to answer these and a host of other questions, it is useful to think about the common element in all these questions: is it ethical?
Telecommuting Experiences and Outcomes
Authors: McCloskey Donna Weaver
Published: May 2011

There are many contradictions concerning expected telecommuting experiences and outcomes. At one extreme telecommuting is believed to benefit the employee by providing increased flexibility and job satisfaction and reduced stress. On the other extreme telecommuting has been said to result in very negative experiences and outcomes for employees including isolation, increased stress and limited career advancement opportunities. This research attempts to separate the telecommuting myths and realities by examining the impact of this work arrangement on work experiences and outcomes for professional employees. This research found telecommuting experiences and outcomes are largely positive for professional employees. The telecommuters reported significantly more autonomy, boundary spanning activities and career advancement prospects and significantly less time and strain-based work-family conflict than their non-telecommuting peers. The only negative experience that was found was that telecommuters received less career support than non-telecommuters. The lack of career support did not hinder career advancement prospects.
Essential Factors in Knowledge Management with COTS Products
Authors: Chou Seng-cho T. , Chow Edward T.
Published: May 2011

Knowledge management is concerned with the effective management of enterprise knowledge, the knowledge that an organization lives by and is built upon. Enterprise knowledge is often buried in different kinds of documents and media and is not easily captured and managed with conventional tools such as database and expert systems that are designed to work with structural information. As a result, document-centric knowledge management has become an important, or the most typical, kind of knowledge management approach recently. The objective of a document-centric knowledge management systems is to make the knowledge buried in these documents, and the relationship among these documents, explicit in such a way that they can be found, accessed, and reused in an efficient manner. There are many possible knowledge management strategies, some of which can be based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products.
Concept Indexes
Authors: Voss Angi , Nakata Keiichi , Juhnke Marcus
Published: May 2011

In today’s electronic environments, knowledge is often captured through collections of documents in email or news archives, bookmark lists, document servers, and shared workspaces. Insights drawn from the documents are seldom made explicit, although persons who work in teams, form a group, or belong to a community would greatly profit from sharing their knowledge. To improve this situation, the efforts to identify knowledge in the documents and, later, to quickly find a suitable piece of knowledge must be decreased, while the benefits of reusing the knowledge must be increased. Knowledge is a subject of many disciplines and has been given many definitions. Essentially, knowledge helps an actor (a person, agent or expert system) to perform a task, attain a goal or solve a problem. Knowledge management is concerned with capturing and identifying knowledge, organising it, and distributing and accessing the knowledge. Knowledge can be passed through observation, communication and documents.
On Knowledge Management
Authors: Carstensen Peter H. , Snis Ulrika
Published: May 2011

It is widely acknowledged that knowledge is one of the most important assets of today’s organizations. According to Davenport and Prusak (1998), knowledge is often a company’s greatest competitive advantage in a global economy. How to support the company’s knowledge-intensive work processes (e.g., quality support, product design or strategic planning) is therefore becoming a vital issue in many organizations worldwide. Identification, analysis and characterization of the knowledge-intensive work processes become essential in order to qualify a discussion of how to support knowledge management processes. This chapter presents, discusses and reflects upon findings from a study of how highly skilled actors manage information and knowledge, i.e., how information is gathered from a wide range of sources, structured according to needs and relevance for the users, and disseminated to the relevant suppliers in the organization. The aim of the chapter is two-folded: first, to contribute to the general empirical body of knowledge about knowledge-intensive work, especially focusing on the central characteristics of the knowledge management processes; secondly, to initiate a discussion of which overall requirements we must set up for how knowledge management processes could be supported by means of information and communication technology. Knowledge-intensive work processes often concern collaborative problem-solving and mutual support that require effective ways of handling information and knowledge between different people, both in short-term and long-term situations. The distributed and dynamic nature of knowledge management work also imposes a high degree of complexity involving many different actors with different conceptualizations, interpretations, perspectives, needs, etc. of the knowledge produced and approached. The various actors have different perspectives on the concept of knowledge. The work needed to articulate knowledge and make information and knowledge accessible becomes extremely demanding and complex. Often face-to-face interaction is required. However, in complex and collaborative work settings the problem of articulating knowledge by rich interaction and communication is obvious. The actors are distributed both geographically and temporally. There is a need for computer-based mechanisms for interaction and coordination of information and knowledge (cf. e.g., Carstensen and Wulf, 1998).
Communicating Strategic IT Vision to Organization Members
Authors: Brabston Mary Elizabeth , Zmud Robert W. , Carlson John R.
Published: May 2011

The development, communication, use, and benefits of organizational strategic visions have been well documented. Visions focus the enterprise on achieving their strategic goals. Little research has been done to date on the development, communication, and benefits of strategic visions for information technology. Based on a review of the strategic management, information systems, organizational theory, and change management literature, we present a conceptual framework for the development, communication, and potential benefits of a strategic vision for information technology and its alignment with the overall organizational strategic vision.
Assessing Business-IT Alignment Maturity
Authors: Luftman Jerry N.
Published: May 2011

Business and IT practitioners, researchers, and consultants have been asking for an effective tool to assess IT-business alignment. Until now, none was available. This chapter introduces the strategic alignment maturity assessment. This assessment tool is based on the authors’ research and consulting experience that identified the major enablers and inhibitors in the achievement of business-IT alignment and the methodology that leverages the most important enablers and inhibitors. Alignment focuses on the activities that management performs to achieve cohesive goals across the IT (information technology) and other functional (e.g., finance, marketing, H/R, manufacturing) organizations. Therefore, alignment addresses both how IT is in harmony with the business, and how the business should/could be in harmony with IT. Alignment evolves to a relationship where IT and business adapt their strategies together. Achieving alignment is evolutionary and dynamic. IT requires strong support from senior management, good working relationships, strong leadership, appropriate prioritization, trust, and effective communication, as well as a thorough understanding of the business and technical environments. Achieving and sustaining alignment demands focusing on maximizing the enablers and minimizing the inhibitors. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss an approach for assessing the maturity of the business-IT alignment. Once the maturity is understood, an organization can identify opportunities for enhancing the harmonious relationship of business and IT.
Object-Oriented Database Design
Authors: Marcos Esperenza , Caceres Paloma
Published: May 2011

In spite of the fact that relational databases still hold the first place in the market, object-oriented databases are becoming, each day, more widely accepted. Relational databases are suitable for traditional applications supporting management tasks such as payroll or library management. Recently, as a result of hardware improvements, more sophisticated applications have emerged. Engineering applications, such as CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design/ Computer Aided Manufacturing), CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) or CIM (Computer Integrating Manufacturing), office automation systems, multimedia systems such as GIS (Geographic Information Systems) or medical information systems, can be characterized as consisting of complex objects related by complex interrelationships. Representing such objects and relationships in the relational model implies that the objects must be decomposed into a large number of tuples. Thus, a considerable number of joins is necessary to retrieve an object and, when tables are too deeply nested, performance is dramatically reduced (Bertino and Marcos, 2000).
Set Comparison Queries in SQL
Authors: Dadashzadeh Mohammod
Published: May 2011

One of the most important promises of the relational data model has been that it frees the decision maker, the manager, from the necessity of resorting to an intermediary, the programmer, in retrieving information from the organization’s database in response to unanticipated needs. That promise is founded on the availability of very high-level relational query languages such as SQL. Unfortunately, the current specification of the SQL standard fails to support users adequately in formulating complex queries involving set comparison that tend to arise in on-line analytical processing (OLAP) situations. As pointed out by Rao et al. (1996): “SQL’s syntax is too restricted to express quantified queries. While SQL allows subqueries to form sets, the relationships that can be expressed over sets are limited, and must be written in awkward and complicated ways.” This chapter presents a systematic approach for teaching users how to formulate in SQL complex set comparison queries encountered in ad-hoc decision-making scenarios.
Using a Balanced Scorecard Framework to Leverage the Value Delivered by IS
Authors: Meyerson Bram
Published: May 2011

The pace of business and technological change continues to accelerate and the gap between business requirements and the capability of Information Systems (IS) groups to deliver, is getting wider. Very often both business and IS executives fail to understand the value of their IS investments and the factors that underpin IS performance. What is required to address these issues is a broad range of metrics to gauge both IS value and performance. The fundamental principle underlying the approach described in this chapter is that measurement should be used as a catalyst for change. “You cannot fully understand a subject until it is measured,” is a cliche from a famous physicist. The subject matter under review is that of the overall effectiveness and efficiency of an IS group in meeting the business needs. The emphasis is more on the information systems that provide business functionality than on technology processes and technical infrastructure issues. IS management is particularly challenging as it usually lacks mature measurement. This is paradoxical as the IS industry promotes the use of information systems to more effectively manage businesses.
Management of Large Balanced Scorecard Implementations
Authors: Verleun Peter , Berghout Egon , Looijen Maarten , van Rijnback Roel
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, established information resource management theory is applied to improve the development and maintenance of large balanced scorecard implementations. The balanced scorecard has proved to be an effective tool for measuring business performance. Maintaining a business-wide balanced scorecard measurement system over a longer period implies, however, many risks. An example of such a risk is the excessive growth of scorecards as well as scorecard metrics, resulting in massive data warehouses and difficulties with the interpretation of data. This is particularly the case in large organisations. This chapter proposes balanced scorecard management framework that is illustrated with the experience gathered from the company-wide balanced scorecard implementation in the insurance company Nationale-Nederlanden in the Netherlands.
A Comparative Analysis of the Balanced Scorecard as Applied in Government and Industry Organizations
Authors: Eickelmann Nancy
Published: May 2011

Organizations have become increasingly dependent on information technologies to conduct daily operations, achieve competitive advantage and to create and penetrate new markets. This dependence has come at a high price, in 1990 U.S. companies spent over $154 billion on information technologies. However, organizations have found it difficult to measure the value added from these investments. Survey results found four significant barriers to measuring financial performance related to information technologies including: • Difficulty of measuring economic benefits • Inability to determine returns • Lack of good metrics • Incomplete records/accounting of investments The Balanced Scorecard framework provides part of the structure required to overcome these barriers. How organizations can overcome these barriers and successfully measure performance with respect to achieving strategic plans is the focus of this chapter. This chapter provides a comparison of results of two case studies regarding the use of the Balanced Scorecard measurement framework. The application of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is evaluated for a Fortune 500 information technology organization and a government organization. Both organizations have a business focus of software development. The BSC framework is applied and reviewed in both contexts to provide insight into unique organizational characteristics for government and contract software environments. A specific focus is to inform the use of financial measures such as Return On Investment (ROI) in the government context. The BSC framework provides the necessary structure to evaluate quantitative and qualitative information and identify the critical linkages between financial measures of past performance and key measures of future performance.
Introduction
Authors: Chidambaram Laku , Zigurs Ilze
Published: May 2011

Since the dawn of civilization, new technologies—from the plow to the locomotive to the computer—have transformed human lives. These changes have often been for the better, but occasionally also for the worse. No matter what the consequence, these changes have always been irrevocable and pervasive. Today’s new technologies, from the well-connected computer to the digital communication infrastructure, are no exception. They are dramatically changing the way we work, play and live. This book explores how these real changes have helped create our virtual world. It also examines the impact of these changes on individuals, organizations and society.
Citizens and Spokesmen
Authors: Petersen Jennifer
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, I suggest that rather than focusing the discussion of the socio-political impact of new communications technologies solely within the realm of electoral politics, the scope of analysis should be broadened to take into consideration how individuals are using the Internet and how those practices relate to social and political life. I argue against the equation of technology with increases in individual political agency and suggest an approach that is based in Internet use patterns. Research that does focus on individual web use suggests patterns and strategies of use that do not fall under the purview of these discussions but are nevertheless germane to U.S. democratic politics and public discussion.
ERP + E-Business = A New Vision of Enterprise System
Authors: Wang Betty , Nah Fui Hoon (Fiona)
Published: May 2011

E-business has changed the definition of enterprise systems. Beyond the core business functions that ERP has traditionally focused on, e-business pushes the ERP from the inside core of the companies to the network edge. Companies are realizing that the most challenging part of e-business initiatives is not in developing a Web storefront but in extending ERP to accomplish business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) solutions. A new extended enterprise system emerges by integrating ERP with e-business, which creates business that is more agile, more focused and more competitive than traditionally structured business and tight B2B connections. With the help of the componentization concept, a seamless, end-to-end flow of information and process across the value chain of companies becomes realistic.
Security
Authors: Panko Raymond R.
Published: May 2011

Security is one of the fastest-growing concerns in e-commerce and intranets. This chapter describes a number of attacks that hackers may attempt against companies and the methods used to combat each attack. The chapter also describes integrated security systems (ISSs), which automatically secure communication between two parties, protecting them from a variety of network attacks. Finally, the chapter describes potential risks from lawsuits if a company fails to adequately secure its systems and losses result.
Managing Web Site Performance and Reliability
Authors: Lunley Ross A.
Published: May 2011

An organization’s e-commerce strategies either represent their entire existence for an Internet-only business or a significant investment by a traditional business. Competition on the Internet has resulted in many sites where a shopper can find the same goods and services. The differentiator for the market leader in a particular e-business is a positive shopping experience for the customer, which includes providing a reliable and high-performance Web site. This chapter describes a number of approaches to building reliable and high-performance Web sites.
Dancing with a Dragon
Authors: Wei Yi , De Boer Sirp J.
Published: May 2011

International strategic alliances are an increasingly popular way for companies to expand their operations beyond national boundaries. For small and medium-sized ICT enterprises, this route provides interesting characteristics. However, success does not come automatically in international strategic alliances. This chapter applies the aspects of strategic fit, resource fit, cultural fit and organizational fit to analyze the cooperation between a small Dutch IT company and a major Chinese Internet content provider. Their cooperation does not run smoothly, and the chapter describes the background and presents details on their agreement. After both opposing views are described, the case is analyzed. The chapter concludes that in this case study, there are several misfits. Even though the major misfits are in the strategic area, these could be resolved by improving the mutual understanding of positions and objectives. Moreover, it is more appropriate to approach the intended cooperation as a virtual alliance.
IT Industry Success in Small Countries
Authors: Watson Rebecca , Myers Michael D.
Published: May 2011

Given the importance of the information technology industry in today’s global economy, much recent research has focused on the relative success of small countries in fostering IT industries. This case examines the factors of IT industry success in small developed countries, and compares two such countries, Finland and New Zealand. Finland and New Zealand are alike in many respects, yet Finland’s IT industry is more successful than New Zealand’s. Three major factors that impact on the development of a successful IT industry are identified: the extent of government IT promotion, the level of research and development, and the existence of an education system that produces IT-literate graduates.
Compression of Still Images
Authors: Kroll Peter , Radtke Torsten , Zerbe Volker
Published: May 2011

Data compression, and in particular image compression, plays an important role in today’s information age. Images take up over 90% of the data transfer volume on the Internet and bottlenecks like modems require heavy compression to satisfy the demands of a user. One can divide the subject of data compression into two categories: lossless compression for an exact reconstruction of the original data, and lousy compression for an approximate - as close as possible to the original - reconstruction. In this chapter we address lossless and lossy compression techniques for still images.
Using Animation to Enhance 3D User Interfaces for Multimedia
Authors: Thomas Bruce H.
Published: May 2011

Cartoon animation techniques have previously been used to enhance the illusion of direct manipulation in 2D graphical user interfaces. In particular, animation may be used to convey a feeling of substance to the objects being manipulated by the user. To lay a solid framework for this work, an extensive review of current applications of animation to user interfaces is presented. This chapter goes on to present an expansion of the 2D animation concepts to the domain of 3D interfaces for multimedia and virtual reality. This chapter focuses on the improvement of the legibility of users’ actions in 3D multimedia and virtual reality applications, and details animation effects to support this legibility. In particular, I present animation effects for 3D graphical object manipulation. These effects include a standard set of 3D direct manipulation operations which have been extended to include animated visual feedback to add substance, operation cues for the user and constraint visualisation. The visual feedback effects using 3D warping can substitute for haptic feedback, as in the case of the squashing of an object when pressed against a wall, or the stretching of an object to show frictional forces. Finally, a pinning effect is explored for multiple users’ manipulating a common object in a collaborative environment.
Multimedia Dictionary and Synthesis of Sign Language
Authors: Solina Franc , Krapez Slavko , Jaklic Ales , Komac Vito
Published: May 2011

Deaf people, as a marginal community, may have severe problems in communicating with hearing people. Usually, they have a lot of problems even with such—for hearing people—simple tasks as understanding the written language. However, deaf people are very skilled in using a sign language, which is their native language. A sign language is a set of signs or hand gestures. A gesture in a sign language equals a word in a written language. Similarly, a sentence in a written language equals a sequence of gestures in a sign language. In the distant past deaf people were discriminated and believed to be incapable of learning and thinking independently. Only after the year 1500 were the first attempts made to educate deaf children. An important breakthrough was the realization that hearing is not a prerequisite for understanding ideas. One of the most important early educators of the deaf and the first promoter of sign language was Charles Michel De L’Epée (1712-1789) in France. He founded the fist public school for deaf people. His teachings about sign language quickly spread all over the world. Like spoken languages, different sign languages and dialects evolved around the world. According to the National Association of the Deaf, the American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most frequently used language in the United States, after English and Spanish. ASL has more than 4,400 distinct signs. The Slovenian sign language (SSL), which is used in Slovenia and also serves as a case study sign language in this chapter, contains approximately 4,000 different gestures for common words. Signs require one or both hands for signing. Facial expressions which accompany signing are also important since they can modify the basic meaning of a hand gesture. To communicate proper nouns and obscure words, sign languages employ finger spelling. Since the majority of signing is with full words, signed conversation can proceed with the same pace as spoken conversation.
HTSPN
Authors: Roberto Willrich , de Saqui-Sannes Pierre , Senac Patrick , Diaz Michel
Published: May 2011

Multimedia authoring involves people not familiar with formal design techniques, but eager to check documents against synchronization, scheduling and resource allocation errors. Visual modeling with Petri Nets answers that need with a graphic syntax and a formal semantics that makes models executable. A Petri Net defines a bipartite graph where summits are divided into places associated with data processing functions and transitions which represent synchronization points. The chapter discusses an experiment with Hierarchical Time Stream Petri Nets, a timed extension of Petri Nets which was designed with distributed multimedia systems in mind. HTSPNs define a unified framework to structure complex and interactive documents. Dynamic synchronization strategies based on temporal intervals composition make it possible to take the asynchronous nature of distributed systems into account. Last but not least, a HTSPN remains an open model, which can be extended with implementation details regarding, e.g., the URLs and the presentation characteristics. The interpreted model or I-HTSPN for short, has been instantiated for MHEG and Java, respectively. The MHEG I-HTSPN editor, document checker and code generator were prototyped in C++ for Solaris. The Java I-HTSPN counterpart has been developed in Java. Their use is exemplified on a guided tour of a university and a distance learning application.
Multimedia Copyright Protection
Authors: Pieprzyk Josef
Published: May 2011

Internet and its widespread usage for multimedia document distribution put the copyright issue in a complete new setting. Multimedia documents, specifically those installed on a web page, are no longer passive as they typically include active applets. Copyright protection safeguards the intellectual property (IP) of multimedia documents, which are either sold or distributed free of charge. In this Chapter, the basic tools for copyright protection are discussed. First, general concepts and the vocabulary used in copyright protection of multimedia documents are discussed. Later, taxonomy of watermarking and fingerprinting techniques are studied. This part is concluded by a review of the literature dealing with IP security. The main part of the chapter discusses the generic watermarking scheme and illustrates it on three specific examples: collusion-free watermarking, spread spectrum watermarking, and software fingerprinting. Future trends and conclusions close the chapter.
Engineering Issues in Internet Commerce
Authors: Li Xue
Published: May 2011

Engineering Internet Commerce is about building Web-enabled enterprise information systems to carry out business transactions over the Internet. This engineering task is related to three aspects: the requirement specification, the Internet technology, and the development methodology. In the requirement specification, the business analysis and design is conducted to create a semantic business model that will reflect both the business and the system requirement. With the Internet technology, the modern information technology infrastructure is investigated in order to transform a business model into an implementation model. The system analysis and design will be performed and the architecture issues should be discussed. With respect to the development methodology, an efficient way to build enterprise information systems is addressed. This chapter is to provide an overview of the problems, concerns, and the background in an effort to rationalize the Internet Commerce Engineering.
Software Agents in Electronic Commerce
Authors: Indrawan Maria
Published: May 2011

The explosive growth of Internet-based electronic commerce has increased the consumer’s choices of goods and merchants. To find a suitable good and merchant with acceptable sales terms is a very tedious task. Agent technologies promise to simplify these tasks for consumers. This chapter presents an overview of electronic commerce systems based on software agent technology. A survey of current existing and prototype systems are presented. One of essential requirements of a successful e-commerce system is security measurement. This paper also discusses security issues related to implementing agent-based e-commerce.
Agents and Payment Systems in E-Commerce
Authors: Hua Feng , Guan Sheng-Uei
Published: May 2011

Since the 1990s, the World Wide Web has brought about innumerable changes to the ways enterprises do business. Electronic commerce is emerging as one of the most important applications on the Internet. The use of agents in e-commerce is a new research area. Agents can provide effective, fast, and cheap ways to make deals and execute transactions in cyberspace. Abstract representations of value have been developed from metal, paper notes, and bank checks to savings cards, credit cards, and now electronic forms. This chapter presents a brief survey of existing different types of payment systems and focuses on mobile agent-based computing trends in e-commerce. By combining software agent technology with cryptographic techniques, an agent-based e-payment scheme built for the SAFER e-commerce architecture is proposed, which is aimed to provide a flexible and secure financial infrastructure for Internet commerce.
Supporting Electronic Commerce of Software Products through Pay-Per-Use Rental of Downloadable Tools
Authors: Succi Giancarlo , Wong Raymond , Liu E. , Bonamico Carlo , Vernazza Tullio
Published: May 2011

The pervasiveness of Internet connectivity and the wide diffusion of Java-capable browsers foster innovative techniques for software distribution. In this chapter, we propose a new model for the electronic commerce of software tools based on a pay-per-use rental policy. Pay-per-use rental of downloadable tools is the natural exploitation of Java applets that can be transferred on demand to the user’s machine and executed dynamically inside a browser. While software rental is not a new idea (Flamnia and McCandless, 1996), at present no example of a standard pay-per-use rental mechanism for downloadable software tools exists. This approach benefits from the advantages of central management of tools and zero maintenance for users typical of Java applets, together with a new way to pay for their use. Software rental presents several advantages to producers and users. Pay-per-use rental is particularly suited to Web-based applications, because they are offered to a very heterogeneous and dynamic user population (Bakos and Brynjolfson, 1997). This chapter describes advantages and issues related to pay-per-use, and explains how to add it to Web-based systems, by presenting the example of pay-per-use integration in WebMetrics, a Web-based system providing distributed collection, management, and analysis of source code metrics. This chapter is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses tools-on-demand. Section 3 presents the role of pay-per-use. Section 4 introduces WebMetrics, our prototype pay-per-use application. Section 5 describes the architecture of WebMetrics. Section 6 presents a list of open issues. Section 7 draws some conclusions.
3D Modelling of Urban Environment
Authors: Gulch Eberhard
Published: May 2011

Sustainability and protection of the environment are requirements of high priority in our society. These tasks need an efficient monitoring of the environment. The information gathered should be accurate and up-to-date for all kinds of decision making, planning, simulation and analysis. All environmental information systems are data-hungry and once established require continuous maintenance to keep track of changes in the physical environment. The built-environment is obviously one of the most interesting areas, with regular changes and constant need for updated information. An out-of-date database is arguably worse than having no database because of the false sense of certainty it carries. If there is no database, model etc. then at least users are aware of their lack of information and cannot rely on inaccurate data. In the context of these topics we are using the term ‘environment’ to denote the urban physical structures. We do not regard in this chapter applications related to the physical environment as it expresses itself in terms of different forms of pollution, e.g. noise, emissions, etc. Examples for those are given in several of the other chapters. We regard those applications as potential users of geo-spatial information on the built-up area of a city.
FLADIS - A GIS Based System for Extending Air Pollution Point Data to Continuous Spatial Information
Authors: Wiegand Goetz , Diegmann Volker
Published: May 2011

FLADIS is an extendable software system integrated in a Geographical Information System (GIS) for displaying temporal and spatial distributions of concentrations of pollutants such as SO2, NO2, NO, particles, and O3 over whole areas. With the help of integrated statistical models, deposition of dust constituents can also be displayed over an area. FLADIS is designed for local authorities to fulfil the task of reporting. Furthermore it is a tool for combining and integrating information from measurements and models. Because the data for FLADIS have a geographical reference, a GIS is an ideal project environment and user interface for the system. FLADIS is integrated both in the GIS ArcView and MapInfo. It takes full advantage of the functionalities of the respective systems such as consistent georeferenced data storage and handling, analytical functions, and map generation and display. FLADIS consists of interpolation methods together with a dispersion or a statistical model. The interpolation is carried out by various methods such as, for example, Shepard, triangulation, and thin plate spline. The interpolation methods available can be expanded as needed through an interface for DLLs (dynamic link library). In the same manner, any available appropriate dispersion model or statistical model can be integrated into FLADIS. As output FLADIS calculates a weighted mean concentration for each grid point from the half-hourly or hourly results of the interpolation and the employed model.
Estimation of Amounts of Waste Generated from Healthcare Facilities
Authors: Kayyal Mohamad K.
Published: May 2011

In response to government and public pressures, the healthcare industry has in the past few years directed a significant effort toward the proper and safe management of its medical waste streams. Medical waste is classified as a biohazardous waste, which according to a study published by the United States Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (1990), may result in human infection and transfer of disease. This includes injury and infection with the Hepatitis B Virus (HVB) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), by janitorial and laundry workers, nurses, emergency medical personnel, and refuse workers who may come into contact with medical waste. In a recent survey conducted in the United States and Japan, and reported by the World Heath Organization (WHO) (1994), it was found that injuries by sharps constitute about 1% to 2% per annum for nurses and maintenance workers and 18% per annum for outside waste management workers. In Japan, the survey indicated that injuries by sharps constitute about 67% for in-hospital waste handlers and 44% for outside waste management workers. In order to reduce the risks associated with medical waste, proper management mechanisms should be adopted by healthcare facilities to protect the health of the staff within the medical facility, waste collectors/workers, and the public once the waste has left the facility for final disposal. These mechanisms include waste identification, segregation, storage, and treatment. However, and as a first step in the implementation of a waste management system, the management of a medical facility should conduct an audit of the generated waste streams.
High Performance Computing, Simulation and Forest Fires
Authors: Luque E.
Published: May 2011

Forest fire are one of the most critical environmental risks in all the Mediterranean countries. The fight against these emergencies requires useful tools to predict the propagation and behaviour of forest fire in order to make the best decisions. This means it is necessary to know the propagation and behaviour of the forest fire in advance to act in the best possible way. Common to realistic models of time dynamic systems is their complexity, very often prohibiting numerical or analytical evaluation. Consequently, for these cases, simulation remains the only tractable evaluation methodology, making up an attractive alternative to conventional experimental tests. In this sense, a computer can be viewed in context as an “electronic wind tunnel.” Simulation requirements for these complex systems mean more and more computing power and storage capacity. As the volume of input (sensor) and simulation output data (visualisation) increases, large archival storage systems with rapid data retrieval play an increasingly important role. To accomplish the above objective “to predict the propagation and behaviour of forest fire” it is necessary to apply numerical methods and algorithms that solve the proposed models. This work implies direct cooperation between forest fire researchers and computer scientists. We can infer an important principle from this situation, namely, the necessity of yoking together the computer science and application science research communities. This collaboration defines a fundamental guiding principle: the combination of application pull and technology push (Karin and Graham, 1998).
Modelling and Simulation of Environmental Hazards
Authors: Theophilopoulos Nick A. , Kassomenos Pavlos
Published: May 2011

Emergencies are most probably the most important issue at the European and, of course, at the international level, in terms of impact to the economic structures, the ecosystems,and human and environmental resources. A number of emergencies have been identified within the Emergency Management Area and the areas under EMA coverage. These could be summarised as forest fires, chemical fires, structural fires, industrial accidents, oil and chemical spills, explosions, nuclear accidents, radiation, storms, tornadoes, floods, dam ruptures, marine algal blooms, avalanches, landslides, earthquakes, seismic waves, and volcanic eruptions. The modelling and simulation of the environmental hazards in Europe should be harmonised in a way where developments will proceed, through a consensus mechanism, between the industry, the users, and the standardisation organisations, to create a consensus approach by identifying best practice cases in the management (including detection surveillance and monitoring of the emergency), and to plan operational aspects of the emergency situations, identify proper technological breakthroughs, and identify techniques and developments.
Data Mining Defined
Authors: Kudyba Stephan , Hoptroff Richard
Published: May 2011

Over the years, the term data mining has been connected to various types of analytical approaches. In fact, just a few years ago, let’s say prior to 1995, many individuals in the software industry and business users as well, often referred to OLAP as a main component of data mining technology. More recently however, this term has taken on a new meaning and one which will most likely prevail for years to come. As we mentioned in the previous chapter, data mining technology encompasses such methodologies as clustering, classification and segmentation, association, neural networks and regression as the main players in this space. Other analytical processes which are related to mining, as defined in this work, include such methodologies as Linear Programming, Monte Carlo analysis and Bayesian methodologies. In fact, depending on who you ask, these techniques may actually be considered part of the data mining spectrum since they are grounded in mathematical techniques applied to historical data. The focus of this work however, revolves around the former more core approaches. Regardless of the type of methodology, data mining has taken its roots from traditional analytical techniques. Enhancements in computer processing, (e.g., speed and processing power) has enabled a wider diffusion of more complex techniques to become more automated and user friendly and have evolved to the state of our current data mining.
Systematic Design of Web Applications with UML
Authors: Hennicker Rolf , Koch Nora
Published: May 2011

We propose a systematic design method for Web applications which takes into account the navigation space and the presentational aspects of the application. The method is based on a UML profile for the Web domain. Starting with a use case analysis and a conceptual model of the application, we first provide guidelines for modeling the navigation space. From the navigation space model we can derive, in a subsequent step, a navigational structure model which shows how to navigate through the navigation space using access elements like indexes, guided tours, queries and menus. Finally, a static and dynamic presentation model is constructed. The different models of the design process are represented by using a Web extension of UML. The strength of the presented methodology is that most steps can be performed in a semiautomatic way, thus providing the basis for a systematic mechanism for Web design.
A Systematic Approach to Transform UML Static Models to Object-Oriented Code
Authors: Favre Liliana , Clerici Silvia
Published: May 2011

Formal and semi-formal techniques can play complementary roles in object-oriented software development. The purpose of this chapter is to present a reuse-based rigorous method to forward engineering UML static models. This approach is based on the integration of semi-formal notations in UML with the algebraic style. The main contributions of this chapter are the definition of the GSBLoo algebraic language to cope with concepts of the UML models, the definition of the SpReIm model for the description of the structure of reusable components and the definition of a rigorous process with reuse that assists in the transformation of UML class diagrams to object-oriented code. Eiffel was the language of choice in which to demonstrate the feasibility of our approach.
Reflexive Ethnography in Information Systems Research
Authors: Schultze Ulrike
Published: May 2011

To do fieldwork apparently requires some of the instincts of an exile, for the fieldworker typically arrives at the place of study without much of an introduction and knowing few people, if any. Fieldworkers, it seems, learn to move among strangers while holding themselves in readiness for episodes of embarrassment, affection, misfortune, partial or vague revelation, deceit, confusion, isolation, warmth, adventure, fear, concealment, pleasure, surprise, insult and always possible deportation. Accident and happenstance shapes fieldworkers’ studies as much as planning and foresight; numbing routine as much as live theater; impulse as much as rational choice; mistaken judgments as much as accurate ones. This may not be the way fieldwork is reported, but it is the way it is done (Van Maanen, 1988, p. 2).
The Link Between IT Planning and IT Valuation
Authors: van der Zee Han
Published: May 2011

This chapter aims to provide a currently lacking, comprehensive measurement framework, answering the basic questions: What to measure, and How to measure, to compare results from IT investments with performance improvements in the business, and in the application and supply of IT.
Measures of the Effectiveness of IT
Authors: van der Zee Han
Published: May 2011

The effectiveness of IT should be related first to the role of IT in supporting and enabling the effective and efficient execution of business processes and business activities, and to the availability and characteristics of IT as perceived by the people who use it. These are the user-based and value-based dimensions of IT effectiveness. The more technical aspects, which stem from the architectural and infrastructure requirements of IT supplying functions, comprise the product-based and manufacturing-based dimensions of IT effectiveness.
Measures of the Effectiveness and Efficiency of IT Supply
Authors: van der Zee Han
Published: May 2011

The majority of companies, in both the U.S. and Europe, have adopted some kind of federal IT management structure. The federal IT management structure features devolved responsibility for IT to business units; the development of IT architectures for the business unit and derivation of business unit IT plans is an activity of each business unit. However, some form of corporate functional leadership for IT strategy and guidance of business units is held centralized to enable group-wide coherence in corporate information systems (e.g., financial reporting), data, computers, networks, operating software, etc. This is essential for internal coordination and communication within the corporation and, increasingly, with suppliers and customers.
An IT Measurement Program
Authors: van der Zee Han
Published: May 2011

Based on the lessons from measurement in other disciplines, and from companies’ experiences with IT measurement programs in the past, it is well known that measurement accomplishes nothing unless it indeed drives improvement programs. Also, those activities should be measured where the need for improvement is greatest, and the needs of different audiences or stakeholders must be taken into account (in Chapter 2, the main stakeholders were identified, being the shareholders, customers, and employees of the organizational entity being measured). In practice, senior and IT management tend to violate this common sense. As Rubin asserts, lack of focus on the important issues, as perceived by the stakeholders, is one of the reasons for his observed IT metrics program failure rate of 80 percent, together with too strong a focus on individual measures unrelated to specific organizational goals.