bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Local Government Experiences with ICT for Participation
Authors: Evans-Cowley Jennifer , Conroy Maria Manta
Published: May 2011

Municipalities often struggle to provide citizen participation opportunities that are informative and engaging. E-government tools hold the potential to enhance traditional forms of citizen participation. This chapter examines the use of information and communication technology tools to promote citizen participation. The analysis includes an examination of planning department Web sites over a five-year period (2003-2007) for a sample of U.S. cities with year 2000 populations of 50,000 people or more. This is supplemented with a survey of planning department heads regarding plans for implementation of e-government technology to increase citizen interaction opportunities. The principal findings, while most of the reviewed Web sites provide basic information, an increasing number of cities are adding features to allow for true interaction rather than just information sharing. In fact, some cities are intentionally launching interactive campaigns. The chapter concludes by offering insights into challenges local governments face in implementing e-government technology for citizen interaction.
E-Governance and Quality of Life
Authors: Holzer Marc , Manoharan Aroon
Published: May 2011

The chapter is based on the results of an international survey of municipal Web portals conducted through a collaboration between the E-Governance Institute at Rutgers-Newark, USA, and the Global E-Policy E-Government Institute at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea. The joint study ranked municipalities worldwide based on their scores in 5 e-governance categories of security and privacy, usability, content, services, and citizen participation. Crucial trends in the development of the municipal Web portal indicate a growing digital divide between cities belonging to the OECD and non-OECD nations and to explain this divide, the relation between e-government service delivery, and quality of life across the globe is examined. Studies on user satisfaction, well-being, and the quality of life under e-government are important so as to understand the societal impact of the use of information and communication technology in public service delivery.
An Overview of Local E-Government Adoption and Implementation in Turkey
Authors: Yildiz Mete
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an analysis of local e-government adoption and implementation in Turkey. To this end, academic articles, various laws, and parts of the newly-adopted Turkish Information Society Strategic Plan that pertains to local e-government, reports of local e-government implementation are reviewed. The chapter also examines the integration of local e-government applications in a portal and the efforts to link this portal to a Web-based performance management system for local governments. Overall, it can be said that there is a lack of consistency with regard to local e-government mandates and implementation. The chapter concludes with the evaluation of the current state of and future research areas about local e-government in Turkey.
E-Governance and the Information Society in Periphery
Authors: Jauhiainen Jussi S. , Inkinen Tommi
Published: May 2011

Finland is among the leading information societies. The national information society strategy aims to make the information society accessible by every person in the country from anywhere, regardless of gender, age, or social status. The aim of this welfare-based task is to provide a good life for everyone facilitated by e-governance. At the same time, the strategy aims to enhance the innovativeness and economic competitiveness of the country. The cases of the Oulu urban area and the Kainuu region indicate that despite national strategies, in practice the information society is built locally. Its organization seems not to wither the development differences. The implementation of welfare centered e-governance has challenges. Providing a good life in the information society in Finland by combining social welfare and economic competitiveness is mainly found in the rhetoric of national strategies and not in local practice.
When Local Governments Choose Open Source Technology
Authors: Cassell Mark
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines empirically, the intended and unintended consequences that occur when a local government chooses to migrate away from a proprietary software technology such as Windows, and adopt a free/open source (FOSS) technology alternative. Motivation driving the process is also considered. Drawing on a comparative case study of 4 European cities, the research finds evidence that migration to FOSS is driven by a strong desire to maintain control over a municipality’s IT infrastructure and that organizational change can be an important unintended consequence of the policy.
The Wireless City
Authors: Ganapati Sukumar , Schoepp Christian F.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we explore the evolution of wireless broadband networks in cities. We examine the technological alternatives for city-wide implementation, and the governance arrangements for such implementation. Several wireless infrastructure technologies, such as Wi-Fi, WiMax, and Mesh networks have quickly evolved during this century. In terms of governance, we identify different models of ownership and deployment of wireless networks. Although the municipal provision of wireless broadband is controversial, we argue that the municipalities have a crucial role to provide such network infrastructure.
Accessibility Issues in Municipal Wireless Networks
Authors: Baker Paul M.A. , Bell Avonne , Moon Nathan W.
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents the results of an examination of the current state of U.S. municipal wireless network design and policies with regards to people with disabilities. A survey and comparative analysis was undertaken of a sample of 48 municipalities to ascertain, (1) the accessibility of municipal wireless networks, and (2) the impact of external policy instruments, in this case the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Civic Access (PCA), on network accessibility. Results suggest that the existence of external accessibility policy mechanisms, while positively associated with some sensitivity towards disadvantaged populations, does not seem to extend general awareness to individuals with disabilities. The authors conclude that although these cities have entered into accessibility compliance agreements, they are not necessarily going beyond the specific scope of the agreement, and they often overlook components of the “digital divide” within their communities.
The Little City That Could
Authors: Stowers Genie N.L.
Published: May 2011

This case describes the case of a small California city, San Carlos, a continued early adopter in the e-government areas. The chapter asks the question, how can such a small city, with limited resources, consistently be on the cutting edge of new Web developments—and how have they maintained that edge over time? To answer that question, Moon and Norris’ (2005) model of e-government adoption is expanded and the importance of various factors are proposed as possible explanations.
E-Government and Local Service Delivery
Authors: Nasi Greta
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to assess the current status and level of technology in providing on line services among larger Italian Municipalities (MUs) by presenting the results of a survey conducted by the researcher among all MUs with a population in excess of 40,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, the analysis also aims to assess the perceptions of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) with regard to the impact of e-government on the provision of services. The survey results show that MUs are generally using Internet to support interaction with different constituents and with different levels of technology. MUs have been developing all 4 stages of online service provision but higher levels of sophistication (transaction and integration) are primarily associated with the following types of LG interaction: government-to employees and government-to-government. CIOs argue that little achievement has been obtained so far in terms of efficiency while ICT usage is facilitating access to better quality information. Lessons learnt and policy implications are presented.
Local E-Government in Malaysia
Authors: Kaliannan Maniam , Abdullah Hazman Shah , Raman Murali
Published: May 2011

Despite the many quarrels and complaints about the quality of local government in Malaysia, it continues to be an important part of the overall governance system of the country. Information and Communication Technologies, particularly the Internet, have been prophesied to massively transform the quality of governance and government including local government. This chapter examines the local government development with reference to Web-based services of a cross-section of local authorities in Malaysia. The academic nature of the chapter pertains to examining issues surrounding Web site design and quality of information within the local government in Malaysia. The practical aspect of the study concerns with ascertaining if local authorities in Malaysia are ready to embrace the challenges in the information age, with particular emphasis on the ability to offer value added E-Services via local government Web sites. The survey results paint an extremely uneven and a very infant picture of E-Local government in Malaysia. The local authorities, just as other public agencies, have some way to go to tap the full potential of the Internet to render services to their public. They are still at the broadcast or publish stage of E-Government development. Much must be done to improve the design, the responsiveness, the information currency, and the interactivity dimensions of the digital window to propel local government into the national E-Government changes that are quietly taking shape. Only then can Malaysia’s E-Government initiative reap the maximum benefits offered by the information age.
Emotional Modeling in an Interactive Robotic Head
Authors: Deniz Oscar , Lorenzo Javier , Hernández Mario , Castrillón Modesto
Published: May 2011

Social intelligence seems to obviously require emotions. People have emotions, recognize them in others and also express them. A wealth of information is conveyed through facial expressions, voice tone, etc. If robots can recognize and express emotions, the interaction with the user will be improved because the robot will be able to analyze his/her affective state and choose a different action course depending on it. Thus, it seems clear that any attempt to imitate human social abilities should consider modeling emotions or affective states. This chapter describes the emotional model and implementation of CASIMIRO, a prototype social robot built by the authors. CASIMIRO is a complex robot with multimodal capabilities defined by a number of software modules. Examples of user interactions will be also shown that suggest that the model is appropriate for regulating the behavior of the robot.
Robotic Emotions
Authors: Lee-Johnson Christopher P. , Carnegie Dale A.
Published: May 2011

The hypothesis that artificial emotion-like mechanisms can improve the adaptive performance of robots and intelligent systems has gained considerable support in recent years. To test this hypothesis, a mobile robot navigation system has been developed that employs affect and emotion as adaptation mechanisms. The robot’s emotions can arise from hard-coded interpretations of local stimuli, as well as from learned associations stored in global maps. They are expressed as modulations of planning and control parameters, and also as location-specific biases to path-planning. Our focus is on affective mechanisms that have practical utility rather than aesthetic appeal, so we present an extensive quantitative analysis of the system’s performance in a range of experimental situations.
Emotions, Diffusive Emotional Control and the Motivational Problem for Autonomous Cognitive Systems
Authors: Gros C.
Published: May 2011

All self-active living beings need to solve the motivational problem—the question of what to do at any moment of their life. For humans and non-human animals at least two distinct layers of motivational drives are known, the primary needs for survival and the emotional drives leading to a wide range of sophisticated strategies, such as explorative learning and socializing. Part of the emotional layer of drives has universal facets, being beneficial in an extended range of environmental settings. Emotions are triggered in the brain by the release of neuromodulators, which are, at the same time, are the agents for meta-learning. This intrinsic relation between emotions, meta-learning and universal action strategies suggests a central importance for emotional control for the design of artificial intelligences and synthetic cognitive systems. An implementation of this concept is proposed in terms of a dense and homogeneous associative network (dHan).
Moral Emotions for Autonomous Agents
Authors: Gomila Antoni , Amengual Alberto
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we raise some of the moral issues involved in the current development of robotic autonomous agents. Starting from the connection between autonomy and responsibility, we distinguish two sorts of problems: those having to do with guaranteeing that the behavior of the artificial cognitive system is going to fall within the area of the permissible, and those having to do with endowing such systems with whatever abilities are required for engaging in moral interaction. Only in the second case can we speak of full blown autonomy, or moral autonomy. We illustrate the first type of case with Arkin’s proposal of a hybrid architecture for control of military robots. As for the second kind of case, that of full-blown autonomy, we argue that a motivational component is needed, to ground the self-orientation and the pattern of appraisal required, and outline how such motivational component might give rise to interaction in terms of moral emotions. We end suggesting limits to a straightforward analogy between natural and artificial cognitive systems from this standpoint.
Computer-Based Learning Environments with Emotional Agents
Authors: Gorga Dorel , Schneider Daniel K.
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this contribution is to discuss conceptual issues and challenges related to the integration of emotional agents in the design of computer-based learning environments and to propose a framework for the discussion of future research. We review some emotion theories and computational models that have been developed in cognitive science and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We then will discuss some basic principles pertaining to motivation and emotion in instructional design. Grounded on these principles, we then shall present the state of the art of integrating emotions into the design of educational systems, and notably examine how to create intelligent emotional agents that enhance interaction with users. We will introduce the concept of “socio-emotional climate” as an evaluative indicator of the diversity of desirable interactions within a computer-based learning environment. We formulate the conjecture that a socio-emotional climate capable of enhancing learner motivation, self-assessment and self-motivation could be developed through the use of various socio-emotional agents.
Modelling Hardwired Synthetic Emotions
Authors: Vallverdú Jordi , Casacuberta David
Published: May 2011

During the previous stage of our research we developed a computer simulation (called ‘The Panic Room’ or, more simply, ‘TPR’) dealing with synthetic emotions. TPR was developed with Python code and led us to interesting results. With TPR, we were merely trying to design an artificial device able to learn from, and interact with, the world by using two basic information types: positive and negative. We were developing the first steps towards an evolutionary machine, defining the key elements involved in the development of complex actions (that is, creating a physical intuitive ontology, from a bottomup approach). After the successful initial results of TPR, we considered that it would be necessary to develop a new simulation (which we will call “TPR 2.0.”), more complex and with better visualisation characteristics. We have now developed a second version, TPR 2.0., using the programming language Processing, with new improvements such as: a better visual interface, a database which can record and also recall easily the information on all the paths inside the simulation (human and automatically generated ones) and, finally, a small memory capacity which is a next step in the evolution from simple hard-wired activities to self-learning by simple experience.
Digital Games-Based Learning for Students with Intellectual Disability
Authors: Saridaki Maria , Gouscos Dimitris , Meimaris Michael G.
Published: May 2011

Students with Intellectual Disability (ID) are often described as “slow learners” and cannot easily integrate to the normal curriculum. Still, the needs of a person with ID for accomplishment, enjoyment and perception of high quality multimedia content are augmented. In general education settings digital games for learning seem to work successfully with students, regardless of their developmental state or academic achievements. However, can such an approach work in a suitable and effective way for students with ID? If the answer to this question is positive, under which conditions and limitations can digital games be integrated into the ID instructional process? The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the common grounds between methodologies for Special Education Needs/ Intellectual Disability (SEN/ID) pedagogy on the one hand and Digital Games-Based Learning (DGBL) on the other, as well as to explore the potential of using digital games for SEN/ID students. To this end, the usage of digital games in the learning experience of students with Intellectual Disability is discussed, the ways in which commercial and educational games support various SEN methodologies and theories regarding Intellectual Disability pedagogy are examined and findings from the education literature as well as experimental observations and case studies are presented in order to investigate how and to what extent learning-purposed as well as entertainment-purposed games are able to constitute a powerful educational medium for SEN education and its inclusive objectives.
E-HRM as a Reality in Virtual World
Authors: Yamamoto Gonca Telli , Özbek Ahmet
Published: May 2011

The human resources (HR) profession has had a rich history: that is, from the concept of labor unions in 1930 to the creation of selection tools in 1940 then to the reward systems in 1970 shifting to teamwork and then to partnerships in 1990. After the 1990s, like all other businesses, HR also influenced the Internet revolution. Classical human resources management (HRM) concerns the recruitment, selection, development, compensation, retention, evaluation, and promotion of personnel within an organization (Bernardin & Russel, 1993), which could be mostly transferred to the virtual world. Therefore, the HR profession faces an important challenge with new e-HRM and virtual actions encountered in the business world. This chapter examines the e-HRM phenomenon in the virtual world in detail and tries to bring new angles to e-HRM, and then manifests new definitions for the new reality while changes and interactions take place in the virtual world.
Business Ethics and Technology in Turkey
Authors: Yamamoto Gonca Telli , Karaman Faruk
Published: May 2011

IT ethics cannot be analyzed without assessing business ethics in general and the cultural environment. This study is based on the Turkish case. Turkey lies at the crossroads of civilizations, making it hard to define a generally accepted set of ethical principles. Western, Islamic, and Turkish cultures are in competition with each of them, and a synthesis has not yet been achieved. Therefore, a common identity and common ethical standards cannot be acquired. In fact, such a synthesis could be categorized as a new civilization. This disagreement causes proliferation of unethical behaviors such as the illegal copying of software. The majority of highly educated technical people in Turkey approves of the illegal copying of software, if it is necessitated by the interests of the country. This shows that we have a long way to go to reach global ethical standards, and country-specific differences cannot be eliminated in the short term.
Barriers to E-Procurement Adoption
Authors: Yamamoto Gonca Telli , Karaman Faruk
Published: May 2011

E-procurement practice is not well-established in emerging countries. There are barriers in terms of transportation, financial, telecommunication, and legal infrastructures. Also, a lack of a qualified workforce, cultural barriers, and security problems hinder the development of e-procurement activities. These are not such significant problems in the developed countries. In this study, we examined the Turkish practice. We gave country background information including macroeconomic data and Internet penetration data, and we gave a picture of the current situation of Turkey. We then discussed how these barriers can be overcome in Turkey. Finally, we gave predictions about how m-procurement may alter the situation and its potential for the Turkish market.
Foundations and Future Prospects of Standards Studies
Authors: Kurihara Shiro
Published: May 2011

The standards world has radically changed over the past two decades, especially in international standardization, with an increased impact on business and society, although the essential characteristic of standardization in general; namely, to achieve the optimal order in a given context, remains unchanged. In this article, such evolution of international standardization, caused by its structural adaptation to changes in its environment as well as the origin and history of standardization and standards, are reviewed initially. Subsequently, “standard studies” is advocated as a new academic discipline to comprehensively analyze the problems of standardization and standards from a broader perspective, transcending predominantly technological concerns. Finally, the need to invest in standards research and education is highlighted.
A Step Towards the Adoption of Standards Within the UK Ministry of Defence
Authors: Thomas Josephine W. , Probets Steve , Dawson Ray , King Tim
Published: May 2011

This article seeks to identify the factors that have impacted the adoption of ISO 10303, the Standard for the Exchange of Product Data (STEP), within the UK Ministry of Defence. The analysis presented in this article is based on Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory and the theory surrounding the Economics of Standards. Using a case study approach, the results indicate that several DOI and economic factors have impacted the adoption of STEP. These findings offer insights into some of the technological, organizational, and environmental influences on standards adoption. It is envisioned that these results will make a contribution towards the body of knowledge surrounding the factors and barriers critical to the adoption of standards like STEP, and enable more effective development and adoption of these standards.
Patents and Standards in the ICT Sector
Authors: Soininen Aura
Published: May 2011

Multiple cases have been reported in which patents have posed dilemmas in the context of cooperative standard setting. Problems have come to the fore with regard to GSM, WCDMA, and CDMA standards, for example. Furthermore, JPEG and HTML standards, as well as VL-bus and SDRAM technologies, have faced patent-related difficulties. Nevertheless, it could be argued that complications have arisen in only a small fraction of standardization efforts, and that patents do not therefore constitute a real quandary. This article assesses the extent and the causes of the patent dilemma in the ICT sector through a brief analysis of how ICT companies’ patent strategies and technology-licensing practices relate to standard setting and by exemplifying and quantifying the problem on the basis of relevant articles, academic research papers, court cases and on-line discussions. Particular attention is paid to so-called submarine patents, which bear most significance with respect to the prevailing policy concern regarding the efficacy of the patent system.
A Framework to Build Process Theories of Anticipatory Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standardizing
Authors: Lyytinen Kalle , Keil Thomas , Fomin Vladislav
Published: May 2011

Standards have become critical to information and communication technologies (ICTs) as they become complex and pervasive. We propose a process theory framework to explain anticipatory standardizing outcomes post hoc when the standardizing process is viewed as networks of events. Anticipatory standards define future capabilities for ICT ex ante in contrast to ex post standardizing existing practices or capabilities through de facto standardization in the market. The theoretical framework offers the following: a) a lexicon in the form of the ontology and typology of standardizing events; b) a grammar, or a set of combination rules, for standardizing events to build process representations; c) an analysis and appreciation of contexts in which standardizing unfolds; and d) logic yielding theoretical explanations of standardizing outcomes based on the analysis of process representations. We show how the framework can help analyze standardization data as networks of events as well as explain standardizing outcomes. We illustrate the plausibility of the approach by applying it to wireless standardization to explain standardizing outcomes.
Integrating Real Option and Dynamic Capability Theories of Firm Boundaries
Authors: Warner Alfred G. , Fairbank James F.
Published: May 2011

Firms often acquire other firms to source technology but it is unclear why they might assume such risk by buying before a product standard is established in their industry. We draw upon real options and dynamic capability theories of firm organization to develop an integrated framework that explains why firms might acquire early and which firms are more likely to do so. We develop propositions regarding certain firm attributes as predictors of acquisition timing relative to passage of a technology standard. We argue that from a real options perspective, the primary reason firms acquire early is related to the firm’s knowledge of the technology. However, attributes such as political influence in the standardization process, prior experience making acquisitions, and how the firm resolves uncertainty about the technical expertise of potential acquisition targets are capabilities that also enter the acquisition timing decision. We provide a model based on those propositions and address how it can be empirically tested.
On the Study of Complexity in Information Systems
Authors: Courtney James , Merali Yasmin , Paradice David , Wynn Eleanor
Published: May 2011

This article addresses complexity in information systems. It defines how complexity can be used to inform information systems research, and how some individuals and organizations are using notions of complexity. Some organizations are dealing with technical and physical infrastructure complexity, as well as the application of complexity in specific areas such as supply chain management and network management. Their approaches can be used to address more general organizational issues. The concepts and ideas in this article are relevant to the integration of complexity into information systems research. However, the ideas and concepts in this article are not a litmus test for complexity. We hope only to provide a starting point for information systems researchers to push the boundaries of our understanding of complexity. The article also contains a number of suggested research questions that could be pursued in this area.
A Conceptual Descriptive-Comparative Study of Models and Standards of Processes in SE, SwE, and IT Disciplines Using the Theory of Systems
Authors: Mora Manuel , Gelman Ovsei , O’Connor Rory , Alvarez Francisco , Macías-Lúevano Jorge
Published: May 2011

The increasing design, manufacturing, and provision complexity of high-quality, cost-efficient and trustworthy products and services has demanded the exchange of best organizational practices in worldwide organizations. While that such a realization has been available to organizations via models and standards of processes, the myriad of them and their heavy conceptual density has obscured their comprehension and practitioners are confused in their correct organizational selection, evaluation, and deployment tasks. Thus, with the ultimate aim to improve the task understanding of such schemes by reducing its business process understanding complexity, in this article we use a conceptual systemic model of a generic business organization derived from the theory of systems to describe and compare two main models (CMMI/SE/SwE, 2002; ITIL V.3, 2007) and four main standards (ISO/IEC 15288, 2002; ISO/IEC 12207, 1995; ISO/IEC 15504, 2005; ISO/IEC 20000, 2006) of processes. Description and comparison are realized through a mapping of them onto the systemic model.
System-of-Systems Cost Estimation
Authors: Lane Jo Ann , Boehm Barry
Published: May 2011

As organizations strive to expand system capabilities through the development of system-of-systems (SoS) architectures, they want to know “how much effort” and “how long” to implement the SoS. In order to answer these questions, it is important to first understand the types of activities performed in SoS architecture development and integration and how these vary across different SoS implementations. This article provides results of research conducted to determine types of SoS lead system integrator (LSI) activities and how these differ from the more traditional system engineering activities described in Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) 632 (“Processes for Engineering a System”). This research further analyzed effort and schedule issues on “very large” SoS programs to more clearly identify and profile the types of activities performed by the typical LSI and to determine organizational characteristics that significantly impact overall success and productivity of the LSI effort. The results of this effort have been captured in a reduced-parameter version of the constructive SoS integration cost model (COSOSIMO) that estimates LSI SoS engineering (SoSE) effort.
Could the Work System Method Embrace Systems Concepts More Fully?
Authors: Alter Steven
Published: May 2011

The work system method was developed iteratively with the overarching goal of helping business professionals understand IT-reliant systems in organizations. It uses general systems concepts selectively, and sometimes implicitly. For example, a work system has a boundary, but its inputs are treated implicitly rather than explicitly. This chapter asks whether the further development of the work system method might benefit from integrating general systems concepts more completely. After summarizing aspects of the work system method, it dissects some of the underlying ideas and questions how thoroughly even basic systems concepts are applied. It also asks whether and how additional systems concepts might be incorporated beneficially. The inquiry about how to use additional system ideas is of potential interest to people who study systems in general and information systems in particular because it deals with bridging the gap between highly abstract concepts and practical applications.
Information and Knowledge Perspectives in Systems Engineering and Management for Innovation and Productivity through Enterprise Resource Planning
Authors: Stephenson Stephen V. , Sage Andrew P.
Published: May 2011

This article provides an overview of perspectives associated with information and knowledge resource management in systems engineering and systems management in accomplishing enterprise resource planning for enhanced innovation and productivity. Accordingly, we discuss economic concepts involving information and knowledge, and the important role of network effects and path dependencies in influencing enterprise transformation through enterprise resource planning.
Semantic Web Services and Mobile Agents Integration for Efficient Mobile Services
Authors: Baousis Vasileios , Spiliopoulos Vassilis , Zavitsanos Elias , Hadjiefthymiades Stathes , Merakos Lazaros
Published: May 2011

The requirement for ubiquitous service access in wireless environments presents a great challenge in light of well-known problems like high error rate and frequent disconnections. In order to satisfy this requirement, we propose the integration of two modern service technologies: Web Services and Mobile Agents. This integration allows wireless users to access and invoke semantically enriched Web Services without the need for simultaneous, online presence of the service requestor. Moreover, in order to improve the capabilities of Service registries, we exploit the advantages offered by the Semantic Web framework. Specifically, we use enhanced registries enriched with semantic information that provide semantic matching to service queries and published service descriptions. Finally, we discuss the implementation of the proposed framework and present our performance assessment findings.
Identity of Resources and Entities on the Web
Authors: Presutti Valentina , Gangemi Aldo
Published: May 2011

One of the main strengths of the Web is that it allows any party of its global community to share information with any other party. This goal has been achieved by making use of a unique and uniform mechanism of identification, the uniform resource identifiers (URI). Although URIs succeed when used for retrieving resources on the Web, their suitability for identifying any kind of thing, for example, resources that are not on the Web, is not guaranteed. In this article we investigate the meaning of the identity of a Web resource, and how the current situation, as well as existing and possible future improvements, can be modeled and implemented on the Web. In particular, we propose an ontology, IRE, that provides a formal way to model both the problem and the solution spaces. IRE describes the concept of resource from the viewpoint of the Web, by reusing an ontology of information objects, built on top of DOLCE+ and its extensions. In particular, we formalize the concept of Web resource, as distinguished from the concept of a generic entity, and how those and other concepts are related, for example, by different proxy for relations. Based on the analysis formalized in IRE, we propose a formal pattern for modeling and comparing different solutions to the problems of the identity of resources.
A Fuzzy Ontology Generation Framework from Fuzzy Relational Databases
Authors: Ma Z.M. , Lv Yanhui , Yan Li
Published: May 2011

Ontology is an important part of the W3C standards for the Semantic Web used to specify standard conceptual vocabularies to exchange data among systems, provide reusable knowledge bases, and facilitate interoperability across multiple heterogeneous systems and databases. However, current ontology is not sufficient for handling vague information that is commonly found in many application domains. A feasible solution is to import the fuzzy ability to extend the classical ontology. In this article, we propose a fuzzy ontology generation framework from the fuzzy relational databases, in which the fuzzy ontology consists of fuzzy ontology structure and instances. We simultaneously consider the schema and instances of the fuzzy relational databases, and respectively transform them to fuzzy ontology structure and fuzzy RDF data model. This can ensure the integrality of the original structure as well as the completeness and consistency of the original instances in the fuzzy relational databases.
Mitigating the Blended Threat
Authors: Veltsos Christophe
Published: May 2011

While technological controls such as anti-virus, firewall, and intrusion detection, have been widely used to mitigate risk, cyber-attackers are able to outsmart many such controls by crafting new and more advanced malware and delivering them via planned attacks, a perfectly blended threat. This chapter explores this evolving threat and the failure of traditional controls. New strategies are presented to address this new threat landscape, including both human and technological approaches to mitigating risks of doing business in a Web 2.0 world.
Public Key Infrastructure
Authors: Petty Reed H. , Bian Jiang , Seker Remzi
Published: May 2011

Electronic forms of communications are becoming increasingly pervasive. The Internet links not only senders and receivers of e-mail, but also consumers to suppliers, businesses to businesses, citizens to governments, and so forth. The potential for communications to be intercepted, hijacked, emulated, or otherwise manipulated for nefarious purposes is an area of grave concern. The security of message traffic relies heavily upon encryption. Encryption relies upon keys. Public key infrastructure (PKI) addresses keys – how they are used, how they are exchanged, and how they are validated. Furthermore, public key cryptography provides confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation. In general, PKI is a broad subject matter and is constantly evolving to meet the rapid growth in today’s information world. This chapter is intended to reveal the mystery, and perhaps misconceptions, of the PKI as well as offering readers a broad high-level view of the PKI.
Key Management
Authors: Wu Chuan-Kun
Published: May 2011

In secure communications, key management is not as simple as metal key management which is supposed to be in a key ring or simply put in a pocket. Suppose Alice wants to transmit some confidential information to Bob over the public networks such as the Internet, Alice could simply encrypt the message using a known cipher such as AES, and then transmit the ciphertext to Bob. However, in order to enable Bob to decrypt the ciphertext to get the original message, in traditional cipher system, Bob needs to have the encryption key. How to let Alice securely and efficiently transmit the encryption key to Bob is a problem of key management. An intuitive approach would be to use a secure channel for the key transmission; this worked in earlier years, but is not a desirable solution in today’s electronic world. Since the invention of public key cryptography, the key management problem with respect to secret key transmission has been solved, which can either employ the Diffie-Hellman key agreement scheme or to use a public key cryptographic algorithm to encrypt the encryption key (which is often known as a session key). This approach is secure against passive attacks, but is vulnerable against active attacks (more precisely the man-in-the-middle attacks). So there must be a way to authenticate the identity of the communication entities. This leads to public key management where the public key infrastructure (PKI) is a typical set of practical protocols, and there is also a set of international standards about PKI. With respect to private key management, it is to prevent keys to be lost or stolen. To prevent a key from being lost, one way is to use the secret sharing, and another is to use the key escrow technique. Both aspects have many research outcomes and practical solutions. With respect to keys being stolen, another practical solution is to use a password to encrypt the key. Hence, there are many password-based security protocols in different applications. This chapter presents a comprehensive description about how each aspect of the key management works. Topics on key management covered by this chapter include key agreement, group-based key agreement and key distribution, the PKI mechanisms, secret sharing, key escrow, password associated key management, and key management in PGP and UMTS systems.
Security Assessment of Networks
Authors: Ahmad Aftab
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, a novel performance model for assessing security of a layered network has been proposed. The work is motivated by the fact that there is a need for a reference framework to account for all threats to a networked system. There are few such models available, and one of them is recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The proposed assessment model is based on the ITU security framework, recommended in the ITU-T Recommendation X.805. We employ this model to quantify network security against five threat categories mentioned in the recommendations. The quantification has been done based on the recommended measures against all threats. A threat vector has been proposed that defines required measures for a particular threat category. Other vectors, such as the security implementation vector define how effectively these measures are implemented in a given device, system, or network. As a simple application of the proposed model, the security provided by the IEEE 802.15.4 standard is analyzed, viewing it as an ‘end-to-end’ system (e.g., for ad hoc sensor network applications). The proposed security assessment model can be applied to any type of network (wireless, wired, optical, service oriented, transport, etc.). The model can be employed to obtain security assessment in the form of five security metrics, one for each threat category (destruction, corruption, removal, disclosure, and interruption). An expression for the overall security against all threats has also been derived.
Network Security Auditing
Authors: Pan Yin , Yuan Bo , Mishra Sumita
Published: May 2011

As people increasingly rely on computer systems and networks for services such as online banking, online shopping, and socialization, information security for identity protection and privacy has become more important today than ever. Businesses and organizations are also obligated to provide such security to comply with state and federal laws and regulations. Managing security risks and ensuring compliance with information security regulations and industry standards have become important for businesses and organizations. Security auditing is an effective process to assess policies, procedures, and controls in identifying risks associated with networks and various operating systems. This chapter emphasizes network security audits and discusses various auditing procedures and technologies to identify and examine threats and vulnerabilities in computer networks, and to determine how to assess and manage risk posed to a network.
Privacy Preserving Data Gathering in Wireless Sensor Network
Authors: Kaosar Md. Golam , Yi Xun
Published: May 2011

Sensor devices provide sophisticated services in collecting data in various applications, some of which are privacy sensitive; others are ordinary. This chapter emphasizes the necessity and some mechanisms of privacy preserving data gathering techniques in wireless sensor network communication. It also introduces a new solution for privacy preserving data gathering in wireless sensor networks. By using perturbation technique in a semi-trusted server model, this new solution is capable of reducing a significant amount of computation in data collection process. In this technique, data of a sensor is perturbed into two components which are unified into two semi-trusted servers. Servers are assumed not to collude each other. Neither of them have possession of any individual data. Therefore, they cannot discover individual data. There are many real life applications in which the proposed model can be applied. Moreover, this chapter also shows a technique to collect grouped data from distributed sources keeping the privacy preserved. Security proofs show that any of the servers or any individual sensor neither can discover any individual data nor can associate any data to an individual sensor. Thus, the privacy of individual data is preserved.
Instant Messaging Security
Authors: Liu Zhijun , Shu Guoqiang , Lee David
Published: May 2011

“Inroduction” contains an introduction to IM system and its security threats along with a survey of various defense methods. “Instant Messaging Spam: SPIM” is on IM spam filtering. “Instant Messaging Worm” presents a mathematical model and analysis of IM worm along with its defense mechanisms.
Issues Associated with the Analysis of Rural Commuting
Authors: Frost Martin , Dennett Adam
Published: May 2011

It is important to acknowledge that the reliability of the 2001 Census interaction data depends on spatial scale and geographical location. As the spatial scale becomes more refined, small cell adjustment becomes more significant because sets of flows are likely to contain more ones and twos prior to adjustment. Likewise, data for areas such as large towns and cities that have many commuters and migrants will tend to be more reliable than data for rural and sparsely populated areas where flows of commuters and migrants are likely to be relatively small. This chapter is concerned with commuting flows for rural areas and examines the sources of unreliability in the 2001 Census data by considering statistical disclosure controls, the quality of census responses and the implications of table specifications. The chapter also addresses some of the issues associated with analyzing data for rural areas and the anomalies that exist between area classifications defined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affaires (DEFRA) and the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Cognitive Science Helps Formulate Games for Moral Education
Authors: Khetrapal Neha
Published: May 2011

This chapter emphasizes that cognitive science can play a significant role in formulating games for moral education. The chapter advocates an encompassing approach where games should be developed by concentrating on the interaction of users with their contexts. Ethics entail moral principles and ethical decision-making is dependent upon developing cognitive structures. Therefore, while designing games one needs to consider developmental trends and information processing models. The framework developed here further emphasizes the need to develop moral games based upon principles of good games in general. There should also be stringent criteria to gauge the success of the game in real world contexts, especially if these games function as part of a school curriculum for moral education. Finally, the chapter concludes with issues surrounding the implementation of such technologies.
NK Cells Promote Type 1 T Cell Immunity through Modulating the Function of Dendritic Cells during Intracellular Bacterial Infection
Authors: Jiao Lei , Gao Xiaoling , Joyee Antony George , Zhao Lei , Qiu Hongyu , Yang Megan , Fan Yijun , Wang Shuhe , Yang Xi
Published: June 2011

Dendritic cells (DC) play a key role in establishing protective adaptive immunity in intracellular bacterial infections, but the cells influencing DC function in vivo remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of NK cells in modulating the function of DC using a murine Chlamydia infection model. We found that the NK cell-depleted mice showed exacerbated disease after respiratory tract Chlamydia muridarum infection, which was correlated with altered T cell cytokine profile. Furthermore, DC from C. muridarum-infected NK-depleted mice (NK−DC) exhibited a less mature phenotype compared with that of DC from the infected mice without NK depletion (NK+DC). NK−DC produced significantly lower levels of both IL-12 and IL-10 than those of NK+DC. Moreover, NK−DC showed reduced ability to direct primary and established Ag-specific Th1 CD4+ T cell responses in DC–T coculture systems. More importantly, adoptive transfer of NK−DC, in contrast to NK+DC, failed to induce type 1 protective immunity in recipients after challenge infection. Finally, NK cells showed strong direct enhancing effect on IL-12 production by DC in an NK–DC coculture system, which was partially reduced by blocking NKG2D receptors signaling and virtually abolished by neutralizing IFN-γ activity. The data demonstrate a critical role of NK cells in modulating DC function in an intracellular bacterial infection.