bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Grid for Nature-Inspired Computing and Complex Simulations
Authors: Boero R.
Published: May 2011

This chapter deals with the usage of grid technologies for nature-inspired algorithms and complex simulations. After shortly introducing the grid and its technological state of the art, some features are pointed out in order to set the boundaries of the applicability of such new technology to the matters of interest. Then two paragraphs show some possible usages of grid technologies. The first one introduces the master-worker paradigm as a conceptual and technological scheme that helps in solving issues related to dynamic optimisation via nature-inspired algorithms and in exploring the parameters space of complex simulations. The following paragraph concerns two other points: the possibility to distribute agents of agent-based simulations using multi-agent systems; and the boundaries, architectures, and advantages in distributing parts of complex simulations which are heavy from the computational point of view. The chapter, as a whole, acts as a guide presenting applicative ideas and tools to exploit grid technological solutions for the considered purposes.
Modeling the Firm as an Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Barr J. , Saraceno F.
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to make the case that first a standard artificial neural network can be used as a general model of the information processing activities of the firm; second, to present a synthesis of Barr and Saraceno (2002, 2004, 2005), who offer various models of the firm as an artificial neural network. An important motivation of this work is the desire to bridge the gap between economists, who are mainly interested in market outcomes, and management scholars, who focus on firm organization. The first model has the firm in a price-taking situation. We show that increasing environmental complexity is associated with larger firm size and lower profits. In the second and third models, neural networks compete in a Cournot game. We demonstrate that they can learn to converge to the Cournot-Nash equilibrium and that optimal network sizes increase with complexity. In addition, we investigate the conditions that are necessary for two networks to learn to collude over time.
Knowledge Accumulation in hayekian Market Process Theory
Authors: Saam N. J. , Kerber W.
Published: May 2011

This simulation model is an example of theory-driven modeling that aims at developing new hypotheses on mechanisms that work in markets. The central aim is to model processes of knowledge accumulation in markets on the theoretical basis of Hayek’s concept of “competition as a discovery procedure,” in which firms experiment with innovations that are tested in the market, and the superior innovations are imitated by other firms through mutual learning. After an overview on the structure of these simulation models and important results of previous research, we focus on the analysis of the severe negative effects that limited imitability has for this Hayekian process of knowledge accumulation. We show that limited imitability can hamper this process through the emergence of a certain kinds of lock-in situations which reduces the number of changes in the position of the leading firm.
A New Way to Reorganize a Productive Department in Cells
Authors: Brun A.
Published: May 2011

The authors propose an algorithm for the reorganization of a production department in cells, starting from a situation of job shop, chasing the main goal of group technology (GT)—that is, to gather pieces with similar technological cycles and to associate every group of items (family) to a group of machines (cell) able to realize all the necessary activities. To get this result, a behavioral pattern has been developed, having its origin in the ants’ way of sorting food, larva, and pupa in an anthill. As first results have shown, such an approach turns out to be interesting, provided that the algorithm parameters are adequately set.
Applications of Neural Networks in Supply Chain Management
Authors: Minis I.
Published: May 2011

This chapter focuses on significant applications of self-organizing maps (SOMs), that is, unsupervised learning neural networks in two supply chain applications: cellular manufacturing and real-time management of a delayed delivery vehicle. Both problems require drastic complexity reduction, which is addressed effectively by clustering using SOMs. In the first problem, we cluster machines into cells and we use Latent Semantic Indexing for effective training of the network. In the second problem, we group the distribution sites into clusters based on their geographical location. The available vehicle time is distributed to each cluster by solving an appropriate non-linear optimization problem. Within each cluster an established orienteering heuristic is used to determine the clients to be served and the vehicle route. Extensive experimental results indicate that in terms of solution quality, our approach in general outperforms previously proposed methods. Furthermore, the proposed techniques are more efficient, especially in cases involving large numbers of data points. Neural networks have and will continue to play a significant role in solving effectively complex problems in supply chain applications, some of which are also highlighted in this chapter.
Worker Performance Modeling in Manufacturing Systems Simulation
Authors: Siebers P.
Published: May 2011

Discrete event simulation is generally recognized as a valuable aid to the strategic and tactical decision making that is required in the evaluation stage of the manufacturing systems design and redesign processes. It is common practice to represent workers within these simulation models as simple resources, often using deterministic performance values derived from time studies. This form of representing the factory worker ignores the potentially large effect that human performance variation can have on system performance, and it particularly affects the predictive capability of simulation models with a high proportion of manual tasks. The intentions of the chapter are twofold: firstly, to raise awareness of the importance of considering human performance variation in such simulation models; and secondly, to present some conceptual ideas for developing a worker agent for representing worker performance in manufacturing systems simulation models.
Multi-Objective Optimization Evolutionary Algorithms in Insurance-Linked Derivatives
Authors: Perez M. J.
Published: May 2011

This work addresses a real-world adjustment of economic models where the application of robust and global optimization techniques is required. The problem dealt with is the search for a set of parameters to calculate the reported claim amount. Several functions are proposed to obtain the reported claim amount, and a multi-objective optimization procedure is used to obtain parameters using real data and to decide the best function to approximate the reported claim amount. Using this function, insurance companies negotiate the underlying contract—that is, the catastrophic loss ratio defined from the total reported claim amount. They are associated with catastrophes that occurred during the loss period and declared until the development period expired. The suitability of different techniques coming from evolutionary computation (EC) to solve this problem is explored, contrasting the performance achieved with recent proposals of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs). Results show the advantages of MOEAs in the proposal in terms of effectiveness and completeness in searching for solutions, compared with particular solutions of classical EC approaches (using an aggregation operator) in problems with real data.
Argumentation and Computing
Authors: Nissan Ephraim
Published: May 2011

Argumentation is usually thought of as a domain within philosophy, or rhetoric. Yet, it has made inroads in the works of computer scientists, especially, yet not only, the logistics among them. Information Ethics and Security, in the title of this encyclopedia, respectively belong in ethics (in general) and in the forensic sciences (security is both preventative and about discovering traces of perpetrators). Deontic logic?that is, logic for representing obligations and permissions (Åqvist, 2002; Abrahams & Bacon, 2002) being used, for example in databases or in security?has been an early (1970s) and conspicuous stream within “AI & Law,” a domain in which models of argumentation have featured prominently since the 1990s (e.g., Ashley, 1990; Prakken & Sartor, 1996).
Building Secure and Dependable Information Systems
Authors: Zhao Wenbing
Published: May 2011

Information systems are essential building blocks in any business or institution. They can be used to automate most business processes and operations. In the Internet age, virtually all such systems are accessible online, and many of them are interconnected. This mandates that such systems be made highly secure and dependable.
Educational Technology Practitioner-Research Ethics
Authors: Gray Kathleen
Published: May 2011

Many ethical issues arise when educators undertake any kind of research into their own practice with their own students, and a number of ethical guidelines have been developed for such research. But working with educational technologies may enable kinds of transactions and interactions and trigger related questions for teachers about good practice and propriety that either do not arise at all or are not thrown into relief so clearly in other modes of teaching and learning. The broad categories of ethical issues that apply to practitioner research into teaching may not fully address all of the ethical dimensions of research into teaching and learning with technology.
Ethics and Access to Technology for Persons with Disabilities
Authors: Lazarus Belinda Davis
Published: May 2011

The growth in technology has provided unprecedented access to information and experiences for persons all over the world. An Internet search yields volumes of information, personal digital assistants (PDAs) connect people with friends and information worldwide, and prosthetic devices provide both cosmetic effects and mobility for persons with a wide variety of orthopedic impairments. Although the current level of access to technology is a recent phenomenon, most people take these conveniences for granted. However, technology may be a mixed blessing for persons with disabilities and pose ethical dilemmas for developers who wish to provide global access for all.
Ethics in Software Engineering
Authors: Kamthan Pankaj
Published: May 2011

There are various reasons for discussing the issue of ethics within a software engineering context. By participating in a software development process, software engineers can influence the final product, namely the software itself, in different ways including those that may be contrary to public interest. In other words, they could engage in an unethical behavior, inadvertently or deliberately. This could lead to personal harm, and potentially result in loss of confidence in software and loss of trust in organizations that own them. This can adversely affect the acceptance of software as a useful product, question the credibility of software engineering as a profession, lead to legal implications, and impact the bottom line of the software industry at-large.
IT Security Culture Transition Process
Authors: Ngo Leanne
Published: May 2011

The information superhighway is here and stretching further than the eye can see. Our working environment is becoming ever more hectic and demanding, computers and information technology are more pervasive, and limitations are perishing. The once solo dimension of information and technology is now multifaceted and convoluted in disposition (Ngo & Zhou, 2005). As a result, organizations need to be more vigilant than ever in actively responding to new information and technology security challenges and to ensure survivability in this new age.
Investigation Strategy for the Small Pedophiles World
Authors: Me Gianluigi
Published: May 2011

Internet child pornography (CP) is one of the most rapidly growing problems on the Net. In particular, pedophilia has been largely facilitated by the Internet, because it has enabled like-minded people to meet and fuel their sexual interests in children. In addition, the diffusion of pedophile material mainly occurs in almost-public fields like the World Wide Web, mailing lists, newsgroups, and bulletin boards, where anonymity and confidentiality obscure most of the communication parties and content causing difficulties for investigative analysis.
Meta View of Information Ethics
Authors: Crowell Charles R.
Published: May 2011

That computing and information systems give rise to specific ethical issues related to the appropriate uses of such technology is a viewpoint that, according to Bynum (2001a), is traceable at least as far back as Norbert Wiener’s seminal work in the 1950s (Wiener, 1954). From this important idea, a field of inquiry emerged that came to be known as “computer ethics” (Maner, 1980). As with many emerging fields, however, scholarly debate arose as to how “computer ethics” should best be defined (cf. Bynum, 2001b). While various distinct positions have been advanced in this regard (e.g., Moor, 1985; Johnson, 2001), a broad characterization of the field is that “computer ethics” deals with the personal and social impacts of information technology, along with the ethical considerations that arise from such impacts (Bynum, 2001b). More recent views localize “computer ethics” within a still broader philosophical domain of “information ethics” (Floridi & Sanders, 2002).
Multimodal Biometric System
Authors: Rattani Ajita
Published: May 2011

Personal identification is a fundamental activity within our society. This identification is made possible by the emergence of the new concept of biometrics. Biometrics is the science of identifying or verifying an individual based on the physiological or behavioral characteristics like face, fingerprint, iris, signature, voice, retina, handwriting, and so forth. Biometric identifiers for personal authentication reduce or eliminate reliance on tokens, PINs, and passwords. It can be integrated into any application that requires security, access control, and identification or verification of people (Jain, Ross, & Prabhakar, 2004).
Secure Agent Roaming under M-Commerce
Authors: Guan Sheng-Uei
Published: May 2011

The focus of this article is secure transport of mobile agents. A mobile agent is useful for hand phones or handheld devices (e.g., palmtop or PDA) equipped with mobile capabilities. Such m-commerce devices usually have limited computing power. It would be useful if the users of such devices could send an intelligent, mobile agent to remote machines to carry out complex tasks like product brokering, bargain hunting, and information collection.
Security Dilemmas for Canada's New Government
Authors: Roy Jeffrey
Published: May 2011

The context of this article stems from the growing importance of digital technologies within public sector processes and applications tied to the realms of service and security. Both currents continue to influence the public sector and both rely increasingly on digital capacities for information sharing and processing. Yet there are also tensions between them as although both are bound by a more citizen-centric focus, the interpretation and application of this focus is different in each case. Service delivery is predicated on providing information and transactions to citizens in more efficient and integrated ways. Security underpins such service capacities, but it also denotes the usage and deployment of a digital infrastructure to both identify and respond to potential threats. Tensions between service and security have been and continue to be central to managerial and governance reforms associated with digital technologies internally and online connectivity externally.
Security of Communication and Quantum Technology
Authors: Paperin Gregory
Published: May 2011

In this article we aim to analyze some of the advances in security of communication since this discipline evolved and to pinpoint the main problems. We then introduce a modern attempt to solve some of these problems, in particular the key distribution problem, by using the theory of quantum mechanics to construct a communication system that automatically detects eavesdropping. We examine some of the implications of quantum mechanics relevant to this field and then introduce a selection of communication protocols based on them. Finally we examine how secure these protocols are and identify their potential weaknesses.
Spyware
Authors: Stafford Thomas F.
Published: May 2011

There is a potent threat to computer security represented by the emerging class of applications commonly known as “spyware,” designed to remotely monitor and report on user activity. The threat manifests itself indirectly, unlike hacker intrusions and many virus infections. These remote monitoring applications record and transmit information on computer user behaviors to third parties, who then utilize monitored customer data for marketing segmentation and targeting, or for more nefarious violations of user computer security. Most spyware is legal, having typically been installed during free software downloads online. Some spyware is illegal, having been remotely installed by bots on visited Web sites, and can remotely monitor for illegitimate purposes such as keystroke logging and password theft and account access. Spyware is often defended by its sponsors as a means of more effectively targeting the Internet experience to users, but users typically find the costs of this purportedly customer-centric monitoring process objectionable in terms of subsequent advertising distraction and system resource monopolization.
Accessing Administrative Environmental Information
Authors: Schlachter Thorsten , Geiger Werner , Weidemann Rainer
Published: May 2011

With the citizens being entitled to be provided with environmental nformation, the quantity increased, as did the fforts needed to find the desired information on the many istributed Web sites. The Environmental Information Networks EIN) of Baden-Wuerttemberg and Saxony-Anhalt, resented here, shall serve as a central access platform that acilitates search by offering a thematically structured approach nd various search options to the user. They both re instances of a pragmatic approach to the construction f environmental portals for the public.
Analyzing Competition for a Web Portal
Authors: Patrikakis Ch. Z. , Konstantas A.
Published: May 2011

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO, 2005), organic agriculture (OA) is “a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity.” In recent years, the rapid evolution of the Internet has given the opportunity to create a large number of Web sites, Web portals, and other information resources concerning OA (for the remainder of this article, we will refer to them as OA information resources). The ultimate goal behind these attempts has been the dissemination of information to farmers, traders, agriculturists, consumers, and even children, and the provision of specialised services on OA. This has lead to a plethora of Web-based information systems and inevitably, has created the need for a detailed analysis on the positioning of a new Web portal regarding OA before proceeding to design and implementation. Dibb et al. (Dibb, Simkin, Pride, & Ferrel, 2007) define positioning as “the process of creating an image for a product in the minds of target customers.”
Assessing Weblogs as Education Portals
Authors: Weber Ian
Published: May 2011

Education is one of the key sectors that has benefited from the continuous developments and innovations in information and communication technology (ICT). Web-based facilities now provide a medium for learning and a vehicle for information dissemination and knowledge creation (Khine, 2003). Accordingly, developments in ICTs provide opportunities for educators to expand and refine frameworks for delivering courses in innovative and interactive ways that assist students achieve learning outcomes (Kamel & Wahba, 2003). However, the adoption of ICTs has also created tensions between traditional control and directiveness in teaching and student-centred learning, which relies on flexibility, connectivity, and interactivity of technology-rich environments.
The BIZEWEST Portal
Authors: Pliaskin Alex
Published: May 2011

In June 2000, the Western Region Economic Development Organization (WREDO), a not-for-profit organization sponsored by the six municipalities that make up the western region of Melbourne, received a state government grant for a project to set up a business-to-business portal. The project was to create a “horizontal portal”—BIZEWEST—that would enable small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Melbourne’s west to engage in an increased number of ecommerce transactions with each other. The western region of Melbourne contains around 20,000 businesses, and is regarded as the manufacturing, transport, and distribution hub of South-eastern Australia (Tatnall, Burgess, & Singh, 2004). Traditionally, this region had encompassed much of the industry in metropolitan Melbourne.
Challenges and Pitfalls in Portal Information Management
Authors: Landqvist Fredric , Stenmark Dick
Published: May 2011

One major objective for information portals is to provide relevant and timely information to their intended target groups. The main challenge from an information management perspective, however, is that the portal itself does not have full information ownership, and therefore cannot guarantee information quality. Poor information quality severely decreases the actual business value of a portal, but the quality of the portal information is inherited from the underlying sources. The case study we present illustrates the evolution of the Swedish Travel and Tourism Council’s (STTC) national Internet portal through three phases, thereby unmasking some of the core problems in portal information management: information ownership, stakeholder incentives, and clear business roles in the content provision process.
Developing a Knowledge Management Portal
Authors: Parsons Thomas W.
Published: May 2011

Knowledge management has been heralded as an important component of a successful business strategy, yet how does a company implement a knowledge management (KM) strategy that provides a return? Since the advent of KM, the academic literature and practitioner’s guides have been awash with KM strategies that guarantee substantial economic returns. Unfortunately, these KM systems also require a substantial initial investment, and hence it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify expenditure on knowledge-based activities (Ellinger, Ellinger, Yang, & Howton, 2002). Academic research has shown that knowledge is the main asset of an organization and provides the sole means by which an organisation can innovate to create a sustainable competitive advantage (Kandampully, 2002). The pharmaceutical industry is a prominent example of such a knowledge driven environment, where the complex processes of drug development are viewed by many to be an ideal environment in which to derive tangible value from the adoption of a knowledge management strategy (Gunnlaugsdottir, 2003).
Digital Interactive Channel Systems and Portals
Authors: Langdon Christoph Schlueter , Bau Alexander
Published: May 2011

Web portals continue to grow as a force that could shift the balance of power between buyers and sellers and, therefore, could alter the structure of channel systems in many industries. In late 2005, the increase in the importance of portals appears to be reflected in their market capitalization, exceeding that of more traditional media and communications companies (see Figure 1). Today, the Internet provides access to a vast data repository. Information on product pricing and quality that used to take hours to unearth can now be accessed in seconds with a click of a mouse. However, despite the ease of data access, one issue remains: how to find that piece of relevant information within all the data. Digital technology has reduced the cost of content creation, which has increased the amount of content or data available (e.g., replacing the typewriter with word processors and desktop publishing). Together with cheap digital distribution via the Internet and Web, much of this data is now available online. What remains is the challenge of finding relevant and reliable information. This issue is being addressed by one of the dominant forces in the online arena, the Web portal.
E-Management Portal and Organisational Behaviour
Authors: Kettunen Juha
Published: May 2011

The exchange of knowledge has emerged in recent years as an important issue in the understanding of innovation and value creation in an organisation (Rodan & Galunic, 2004). The creation of effective processes is the fundamental objective of human and organisational performance. Action is produced by the activation of procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge informs the actors in the organisation how to design actions that can be implemented (Argyris, 2004). One of the aims of the e-management portal is to support the creation of procedural knowledge utilizing the functionalities of the portal (Kakamanu & Mezzacca, 2005; Kim, Chaudhury, & Rao, 2002; Raol, Koong, Lui, & Yu, 2002).
Enabling Technology and Functionalities of Shopping Portals
Authors: Luo Hua , Gao Yuan
Published: May 2011

An electronic marketplace (e-marketplace) is a virtual space where buyers and sellers exchange goods and services (Bailey & Bakos, 1997). An e-marketplace that searches for and aggregates information from multiple vendors and presents information of related products and services to individual consumers is an example of a business-to-consumer (B2C) shopping portal. Many smart online shoppers start from a shopping portal that provides the added ability for a shopper to compare prices, read reviews, find deals, and even create a wish list or apply for credit cards. Examples of such sites include Yahoo! Shopping, bizrate.com, shopzilla. com, nextag.com, and the marketplace function of amazon. com, where new and used books from online vendors and individuals are listed and sold.
Enhancing Electronic Governance in Singapore with Government Portals
Authors: Hin Leo Tan Wee
Published: May 2011

The World Wide Web represents one of the most profound developments that has accompanied the evolution of the Internet. It is truly a global library. Information on the Web is increasing exponentially, and mechanisms to extract information from it have become an engaging field of research. While search engines have been doing an admirable job in finding information, the emergence of Web portals has also been a useful development—their distinct advantage lies in their positioning as a one-stop destination for information and services of a particular nature.
European Quality Observatory
Authors: Ehlers Ulf-Daniel
Published: May 2011

Quality has become a major factor for concern if e-learning should have its final breakthrough (Danish Evaluation Institute, 2003; Dondi & Moretti, 2004; Friend-Pereira, Lutz & Heerens, 2002; Frydenberg, 2002). This is the reason for the great variety of concepts and suggestions. One can regard quality more and more as a subjectively individual and collectively influential category. How should learning opportunities look like and learning environments be structured, now and in the future? How do we meet the demand for building high quality learning capacities in higher education— as an important contribution to transform our societies into learning societies?
Evaluation of Web Portals
Authors: Sampson Demetrios
Published: May 2011

Evaluation of Web portals is an important issue in Web engineering, taking into consideration the Internet explosion and the exponential growth of Web sites and online information sources. Web portals present nowadays a significant variety of features, complexity of structure, and plurality of offered services. It is therefore important to adopt evaluation frameworks that go beyond the simple assessment of the different operational aspects of Web portals, and that address issues such as quality monitoring and analysis of the assessment results, in the direction of interpreting the factors that affect users’ satisfaction. Moreover, there is also a need for supportive evaluation methodologies that can integrate the results of the assessment of every portal aspect being evaluated, and provide measurable, synthesized results to the key decision makers (being either those financially supporting the service or those involved in the design, development, operation, and/or exploitation of the service) aiming to facilitate the improvement of the offered services.
Guided Product Selection and Comparison of E-Commerce Portals
Authors: Sacco Giovanni M.
Published: May 2011

The number of e-commerce sites is growing at an astounding rate. Low personnel overhead, just-in-time supply, and the widespread acceptance of online credit card payments make large e-stores a viable business model. Indeed, the economics of small or no inventories seems to be a compelling force toward mammoth stores; successful stores such as Amazon have shifted from a focused line of products to selling quite diverse and heterogeneous items. E-commerce portals are one of the most active and important Internet application areas, yet selecting a product to buy is frequently a frustrating experience because of the size of inventory, and, most importantly, because customers do not know exactly the specific item they want, but are rather looking for the item that best fits their individual requirements. This situation requires system assistance in browsing and exploration as opposed to retrieval based on a precise specification, which is the paradigm of search tools (text retrieval and database queries) supplied by traditional technology and used in most portals.
Health Portals
Authors: Carbone Daniel
Published: May 2011

A lack of health services has long been the thorn in the side of many communities, especially rural and regional communities. The high costs of treating ever growing chronic and complex conditions in traditional settings, where rural allied health services providers are non-existent and doctors are already overcommitted, are prompting a shift in focus to more efficient technology driven delivery of health services. Moreover, these days it is also increasingly unlikely that health professionals will encounter patients who have not used information technology to influence their health knowledge, health behaviour, perception of symptoms, and illness behaviour.
Identifying Knowledge Assets in an Organisation
Authors: Walker Derek H.T. , Maqsood Tayyab
Published: May 2011

The Internet has revolutionised the way that business is conducted by customers and organisations that serve them. Texts are now being devoted to explaining how e-business can be practically undertaken, for example see Lawrence et al. (2003). There is a rapidly emerging trend of organizations using Intranet portals for internal business processes and communication between employees and their organisation. This is well documented in this and other books, for example see Tatnall (2004).
A Mobile Portal for Academe
Authors: Lehmann Hans , Berger Stefan , Remus Ulrich
Published: May 2011

Today, many working environments and industries are considered as knowledge-intensive, that is, consulting, software, pharmaceutics, financial services, and so forth, and the share of knowledge work has risen continuously during the last decades (Wolff, 2005). Knowledge management (KM) has been introduced to overcome some of the problems knowledge workers are faced when handling knowledge, that is, the problems of storing, organizing, and distributing large amounts of knowledge and its corresponding problem of information overload and so forth (Maier, 2004).
Mouse Tracking to Assess Enterprise Portal Efficiency
Authors: Owen Robert S.
Published: May 2011

This article advocates mouse tracking as an emerging method to include in corporate enterprise portal usability assessment. Issues of Web site usability testing are discussed, with mouse tracking as one method that should be given consideration in assessing enterprise portals. Usability testing is part of the process of assessing how well a machine or application does its job. Efficiency is in turn one component of usability, but is perhaps one of the most important components with regard to Web sites that are designed to serve as corporate enterprise portals. An enterprise portal is an organization’s Website that functions to deliver internal employees or external partners or customers to organizational information, applications, or services.
Semantic Web Portals
Authors: Wang Shouhong , Wang Hai
Published: May 2011

Web portals, based on traditional Web technologies developed in the late 1990s, present serious limitations regarding information search, extraction, and portal maintenance (Fensel & Musen, 2001). Semantic Web technologies, explored in the past several years, attempt to overcome these limitations. Semantic Web portals are portals based on Semantic Web technologies. Recently, a few Semantic Web portals in their very early stages can be found on the Internet (Lara, Han, Lausen, Stollberg, Ding, & Fensel, 2004). This article will explain the definition of Semantic Web portals, the unique features of Semantic Web portals, and a general framework of architectures of Semantic Web portals.
Semantic Web, RDF, and Portals
Authors: Kor Ah Lian
Published: May 2011

In existing literature, Semantic Web portals (SWPs) are sometimes known as semantic portals or semantically enhanced portals. It is the next generation Web portal which publishes contents and information readable both by machines and humans. A SWP has all the generic functionalities of a Web portal but is developed using semantic Web technologies. However, it has several enhanced capabilities such as semantics- based search, browse, navigation, automation processes, extraction, and integration of information (Lausen, Stollberg, Hernandez, Ding, Han & Fensel, 2004; Perry & Stiles, 2004). To date the only available resources on SWPs are isolated published Web resources and research or working papers. There is a need to pool these resources together in a coherent way so as to provide the readers a comprehensive idea of what SWPs are, and how they could be built, and these will be supported by some appropriate examples. Additionally, this article will provide useful Web links for more extensive as well as intensive reading on the subject.
SQL Injection Attack as a Threat of Web Portals
Authors: Tzouramanis Theodoros
Published: May 2011

SQL injection attack (CERT, 2002) is one of the most prevalent security problems faced by today’s security professionals. It is today the most common technique to indirectly attack Web-powered databases and disassemble effectively the secrecy, integrity and availability of Web portals. The basic idea behind this insidious and pervasive attack is that predefined logical expressions within a pre-defined query can be altered simply by injecting operations that always result in true or false statements. With this simple technique, the attacker can run arbitrary SQL queries and thus s/he can extract sensitive customer and order information from e-commerce applications, or she/he can bypass strong security mechanisms and compromise the back-end databases and the file system of the data server. Despite these threats, a surprisingly high number of systems on the internet are totally vulnerable to this attack.
Supply Chain Management and Portal Technology
Authors: Paquette Scott
Published: May 2011

The role of corporate portals as tools for managing organizational knowledge has been constantly changing throughout their short lifetime. An important recent advancement in the functionality of portals is their ability to connect companies together, joining internal and external knowledge sources to assist in the creation of valuable knowledge. Nowhere is this increased functionality and utility more evident than in the use of portals to manage the supply chain.
Ubiquitous Access to Information Through Portable, Mobile, and Handheld Devices
Authors: Patrikakis Ch. Z.
Published: May 2011

Use of mobile devices for supporting our everyday communication has become part of our daily routine. Recent statistics illustrate that the penetration of mobile devices in everyday use has reached (and in some cases even surpassed) the penetration of fixed communication devices (ITU, 2004). As a consequence, use of mobile devices for accessing data information also increases, assisted by the rapid development of new technologies especially designed to support multimedia communication. Within the next years, third generation (3G) wireless services will proliferate, offering multimedia capabilities such as streaming video (BERGINSIGHT, 2005; Raghu, Ramesh, & Whinston, 2002; UMTS forum, 2005). All of these, combined with the establishment of Internet and portal technology as the standard way for information exchange, entertainment, and communication, have created a new scenery that is characterized by access to data “anywhere,” “anytime,” and by “anyone” (or “any means”). Design issues concerning the particularities of access devices, communication technologies, and volume of information exchanged are very important in the provision of mobile portal services (Microsoft, 2006).
Visit Duration and Consumer Preference toward Web Portal Conent
Authors: Tsao Hsiu-Yuan , Lin Koong H.C. , Lin Chad
Published: May 2011

A Web portal possesses a number of unique advantages. Discussion of these advantages centers on improved information access via either customized access to selected information sources or through the improvements brought about by content management applications. A Web portal can provide functionalities that customize and personalize information flow to the Web surfers (Hoffman & Novak, 1996). In addition, it not only serves as a traditional advertising media, but also as an integrated marketing communication tool (Bush et al., 1998). Although it may be seen as an exciting tool of this kind, its effectiveness in terms of consumer engagement and persuasion has yet to be demonstrated empirically (Bezjian-Avery, Calder, & Iacobucci, 1998).
Web Museums and the French Population
Authors: Bernier Roxane
Published: May 2011

Web museums take their origin from the “imaginary museum” (Malraux, 1956). They have sparked enthusiastic claims for art democratization, or the disseminating of images on original artworks for a diversified audience without access to physical art galleries using several forms of medium (e.g., books, magazines, or catalogues). Nowadays, the advent of the Internet for heritage institutions is an indisputable turning point in the 1990s and seen as the most innovative cultural portal by both curators and educators; it holds great potential with the realism of higher-end technologies.
Web Services for Learning in Educational Settings
Authors: Andresen Brent B.
Published: May 2011

It is only quite recently that politicians and educational thinkers have begun seriously to reconsider the traditional learning environments and to value the application of Web services into primary and secondary schools. In addition, many school leaders and teachers have been more inclined to value the application of portal technology because they believe that it fosters learning. The continuing concern about the validity of the Victorian models of schooling thus reflects the rapid development of the portal technology. Currently, school district portals cover a spectrum of services and resources from public portals to learning management systems integrated with various internal Web services. Real changes in learning took part once these intranets and the Internet began offering a new tool and medium with which to support and mediate schooling (Abbott, 1995). This article covers the application of portal technology into schools (grade 0-12). By providing guidance for researchers and practitioners in this field, this article aims to add to the body of work in the use of Web resources and services at primary and secondary schools.
Cyber Terrorism Attacks
Authors: Curran Kevin , Concannon Kevin , McKeever Sean
Published: May 2011

Cyber terrorism is the premeditated, politically motivated attacks against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents. The possibilities created for cyber terrorism by the use of technology via the internet are vast. Government computer networks, financial networks, power plants, etc are all possible targets as terrorism may identify these as the most appropriate features to corrupt or disarm in order to cause havoc. Manipulation of systems via software with secret "back doors", theft of classified files, erasing data, re-writing web pages, introducing viruses, etc are just a few examples of how terrorism can penetrate secure systems. This chapter provides a brief overview of previous cyber terrorism attacks and government responses.
A Roadmap for Delivering Trustworthy IT Processes
Authors: Saleh Kassem , Zualkerman Imran , Al Kattan Ibrahim
Published: May 2011

Due to the proliferations of computers and networks, organizations are providing many of their services online. Consequently, organizations are becoming more vulnerable to attacks by cyber criminals, in addition to attacks by insiders. Ultimately, these attacks lead to reducing the trust in the organization and the trustworthiness of its provided services. Online services are mainly provided using internal IT processes. In this chapter, we provide a systematic roadmap that addresses the delivery of trustworthy IT processes at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. This roadmap is based on a defensive and preventive approach to ensure the trustworthiness of the services provided by an organization. We argue that to deliver trustworthy services, the IT processes used must be trustworthy themselves. The requirements for implementing and delivering trustworthy IT processes in an organization are discussed. For each IT process, we discuss how confidentiality, integrity, availability, accountability, reliability, privacy and business integrity requirements can be satisfied.
Social Engineering
Authors: Bhagyavati B.
Published: May 2011

This chapter will present a detailed view of social engineering and why it is important for users to beware of hackers using this technique. What social engineering is, what techniques can be employed by social engineers and what kinds of information can be gathered by these techniques will form the core of the chapter. We will also present case studies of notorious social engineers such as Kevin Mitnick. Different modes of social engineering attacks will be described. Such attacks could occur in person, via the telephone, or via the Internet. An in depth presentation of the consequences of a successful social engineering attack will be presented. A series of steps users can take in order to avoid becoming a victim of the social engineer are explored, along with examples. We will also present strategies for training employees and users so that there is minimal risk of a successful social engineering attack. Finally, we caution against ignoring the training and awareness program for front-line employees such as secretaries. Since social engineers often try to bypass front-line employees, there is a critical need to train frontliners to recognize and repel such attacks.
Social Engineering
Authors: Aiello Michael
Published: May 2011

Traditionally, “social engineering” is a term describing “efforts to systematically manage popular attitudes and social behavior on a large scale” (Wikipedia, 2006). In this context, the practice of social engineering is the application of perception management techniques to a large populous. As it relates to terrorism, social engineering is a tool used by terrorists whose actions are intended to cause the loss of confidence in a social institution’s ability to protect the security of its citizens and assets.
Public Key Infrastructures as a Means for Increasing Network Security
Authors: Chochliouros Ioannis P. , Chochliouros Stergios S. , Spiliopoulou Anastasia S. , Lampadari Evita
Published: May 2011

The work investigates some “core” features of public key infrastructures (PKI), including fundamental technologies and infrastructures, within the context of recent market demands for increased network security applications. To this aim, we explain the basic features of public key cryptography, in parallel with a variety of other major PKI functional operations, all able to affect network development and growth. Then, we discuss some among the relevant basic and PKI-derived services, in order to comply with current needs and security requirements, thus supporting both usage and deployment of such infrastructures in competitive markets. In addition, we focus on several recent advances of information and communication convergence, and the effect those advances have on the notion of PKI, especially if considering future challenges. PKI have now become a central part of securing today’s networked world and it should be expected that it will continue to have a huge impact on businesses. Furthermore, we correlate the above activities to recent European regulatory initiatives and similar commonly applied policies, to promote the appliance of digital signatures in a fully converged and liberalized market environment.
Use of Geographic Information Systems in Cyber Warfare and Cyber Counterterrorism
Authors: Leipnik Mark R.
Published: May 2011

Geographic information systems (GIS) are defined and discussed both in general and specifically with reference to their applications in three distinct modalities. These are, firstly, the application of computer mapping and spatial analysis technologies encompassed by the term GIS in counter terrorism. Secondly, the potential for misuse of GIS technologies in both terrorism in general and more specifically the unique vulnerabilities of these suites of complex programs and the huge and sophisticated datasets that are managed by GIS programs to exploitation and damage by cyber terrorists. Lastly the ways in which these terrorist threats to geo-spatial infrastructure can be detected, avoided and minimized will be discussed.
Hacking and Eavesdropping
Authors: Curran Kevin , Breslin Peter , McLaughlin Kevin , Tracey Gary
Published: May 2011

Many self-proclaimed hackers would actually consider themselves to be performing a service to businesses as they claim they are simply showing businesses the flaws within their systems so that they can implement ways to prevent future attacks. They state that if it was not for hacking, then security software would not be where it is today. An ethical hacker will tell you that someone who hacks into a system for purposes of self benefit would be best known as a cracker, rather than a hacker, for it is the latter that gives cause for security software in the first place. This chapter reviews the tools, methods, and rationale of hackers.