bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
COPRAS
Authors: Brusse Bart
Published: May 2011

Between early 2004 and 2007, the cooperation platform for research and standards (COPRAS) deployed a series of activities to improve the interfacing process between ICT research and standardization. This included the conclusion of standardization action plans with a series of projects in the EU-funded Sixth Framework Programme and the development of a set of generic standardization guidelines supporting future ICT research projects in their interfacing with standardization. COPRAS’s results show that cooperation and cross-fertilization between research and standardization is perceived as increasingly important by projects, and also demonstrate how direct and indirect support mechanisms are able to increase the amount of tangible results ICT research will be able to contribute to ongoing standards work. However, results also show that structurally improving the research and standards interfacing process will not be possible unless all parties to the process, including the research and standards communities and the administrators of the research programmes, take additional, and continuous, action.
"We Make Magic Here"
Authors: D’Mello Marisa
Published: May 2011

The increased transnationalisation of work and production has re-shaped international business environments, forms of work, organizational structures, and work cultures. Employing data from an ethnographic case study from India, this chapter provides an understanding of how micro-experiences of Indian information technology (IT) or knowledge workers are intermeshed with the dynamics of a high-tech organization, also called a global software organization (GSO). It argues that while GSOs in India are workplaces that can be viewed as both models of and models for globalization processes, they are also milieus deeply imbued with personal, social, and cultural relations and processes. By delineating the various forms of culture in a GSO, the study highlights the dialectical relationship between the local and global. Further, it explicitly demonstrates they ways by which GSOs and their workers constantly construct meaning and coherence in a volatile and international business context.
Interconnecting E-Business Model Components
Authors: Soderstrom Eva , Mandala Vinay Kumar
Published: May 2011

This chapter is about electronic business (e-business) models that have emerged and altered the traditional ways in which to do business. An e-business model is a specialisation of a business model, and is an organisational plan for how to work with the products or services intended to bring profit and revenue, and using ICT and the Internet in doing so. E-business models consist of components. Components constitute a business concept, i.e. an idea that an organisation wants to bring into reality. Our research has focused on the interconnections between e-business model components. The analysis of the ebusiness model components and their interconnections results in a framework in the form of a model displaying the connections between the clustered components. The purpose of the chapter is to explain an overview of e-business model components and show how value is created and added at each component level.
Fit Between Strategy and IS Specialization
Authors: Haines Marc N. , Goodhue Dale L. , Gattiker Thomas F.
Published: May 2011

As organizations implement enterprise systems, the issues of whether to “build or buy” new IT modules, and if buying, how much to customize, continue to be key concerns. In this chapter, we develop a framework in order to better understand effective information system module choice and customization from a strategy perspective. Analysis of the strategic importance of the IS module can provide general guidance for the amount of specialization that is appropriate. To illustrate these ideas we apply them to four case examples.
Aspects of Openness in Multi-Agent Systems
Authors: Oliveira Marcos De , Purvis Martin
Published: May 2011

In the distributed multi-agent systems discussed in this chapter, heterogeneous autonomous agents interoperate in order to achieve their goals. In such environments, agents can be embedded in diverse contexts and interact with agents of various types and behaviours. Mechanisms are needed for coordinating these multi-agent interactions, and so far they have included tools for the support of conversation protocols and tools for the establishment and management of agent groups and electronic institutions. In this chapter, we explore the necessity of dealing with openness in multi-agent systems and its relation with the agent’s autonomy. We stress the importance to build coordination mechanisms capable of managing complex agent societies composed by autonomous agents and introduce our institutional environment approach, which includes the use of commitments and normative spaces. It is based on a metaphor in which agents may join an open system at any time, but they must obey regulations in order to maintain a suitable reputation, that reflects its degree of cooperation with other agents in the group, and make them a more desired partner for others. Coloured Petri Nets are used to formalize a workflow in the institutional environment defining a normative space that guides the agents during interactions in the conversation space.
Mechanisms to Restrict Exploitation and Improve Societal Performance in Multi-Agent Systems
Authors: Savarimuthu Sharmila , Purvis Martin , Purvis Maryam , Nowostawski Mariusz
Published: May 2011

Societies are made of different kinds of agents, some cooperative and uncooperative. Uncooperative agents tend to reduce the overall performance of the society, due to exploitation practices. In the real world, it is not possible to decimate all the uncooperative agents; thus the objective of this research is to design and implement mechanisms that will improve the overall benefit of the society without excluding uncooperative agents. The mechanisms that we have designed include referrals and resource restrictions. A referral scheme is used to identify and distinguish noncooperators and cooperators. Resource restriction mechanisms are used to restrict noncooperators from selfish resource utilization. Experimental results are presented describing how these mechanisms operate.
Multi-Agent Systems Engineering
Authors: DeLoach Scott A. , Kumar Madhukar
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides an overview of the Multi-agent Systems Engineering (MaSE) methodology for analyzing and designing multi-agent systems. MaSE consists of two main phases that result in the creation of a set of complementary models that get successively closer to implementation. MaSE has been used to design systems ranging from a heterogeneous database integration system to a biologically based, computer virus-immune system to cooperative robotics systems. The authors also provide a case study of an actual system developed using MaSE in an effort to help demonstrate the practical aspects of developing systems using MaSE.
Fuzzy Mediation in Shared Control and Online Learning
Authors: Vincenti Giovanni , Trajkovski Goran
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an innovative approach to the field of information fusion. Fuzzy mediation differentiates itself from other algorithms, as this approach is dynamic in nature. The experiments reported in this work analyze the interaction of two distinct controllers as they try to maneuver an artificial agent through a path. Fuzzy mediation functions as a fusion engine to integrate the two inputs to produce a single output. Results show that fuzzy mediation is a valid method to mediate between two distinct controllers. The work reported in this chapter lays the foundation for the creation of an effective tool that uses positive feedback systems instead of negative ones to train human and nonhuman agents in the performance of control tasks.
Evolutionary Computing in Engineering Design
Authors: Roy Rajkumar , Tiwari Ashutosh , Tafasse Azene Yoseph , Goteng Gokop
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an overview of the application of evolutionary computing for engineering design. An optimal design may be defined as the one that most economically meets its performance requirements. Optimisation and search methods can assist the designer at all stages of the design process. The past decade has seen a rapid growth of interest in stochastic search algorithms, particularly those inspired by natural processes in physics and biology. Impressive results have been demonstrated on complex practical optimisation of several schools of evolutionary computation. Evolutionary computing unlike conventional technique, have the robustness for producing variety of optimal solutions in a single simulation run, giving wider options for engineering design practitioners to choose from. Despite limitations, the act of finding the optimal solution for optimisation problems has shown a substantial improvement in terms of reducing optimisation process time and cost as well as increasing accuracy. The chapter aims to provide an overview of the application of evolutionary computing techniques for engineering design optimisation and the rational behind why industries and researchers are in favor of using it. It also presents the techniques application trend rise in the past decade.
Towards a Methodology for Monitoring and Analyzing the Supply Chain Behavior
Authors: Moraga Reinaldo , Rabelo Luis , Sarmiento Alfonso
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, the authors present general steps towards a methodology that contributes to the advancement of prediction and mitigation of undesirable supply chain behavior within short- and long- term horizons by promoting a better understanding of the structure that determines the behavior modes. Through the integration of tools such as system dynamics, neural networks, eigenvalue analysis, and sensitivity analysis, this methodology (1) captures the dynamics of the supply chain, (2) detects changes and predicts the behavior based on these changes, and (3) defines needed modifications to mitigate the unwanted behaviors and performance. In the following sections, some background information is given from literature, the general steps of the proposed methodology are discussed, and finally a case study is briefly summarized.
Modeling with System Archetypes
Authors: Maliapen Mahendran
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the application of system archetypes as a systems development methodology to create simulation models. Rapid organizational change and need to adapt to new business models limits the lifespan of both the databases and software applications. With the information representation permitted by archetypes, diagnostic analysis and can help to evolve generic classes and models for representing the real world. Archetypes do not describe any one problem specifically. They describe families of problems generically. Their value comes from the insights they offer into the dynamic interaction of complex systems. The case of a healthcare system is discussed here. As part of a suite of tools, they are extremely valuable in developing broad understandings about the hospital and its environment, and contribute more effectively to understanding problems. They are highly effective tools for gaining insight into patterns of strategic behavior, themselves reflective of the underlying structure of the system being studied. Diagnostically, archetypes help hospital managers recognize patterns of behavior that are already present in their organizations. They serve as the means for gaining insight into the underlying systems structures from which the archetypal behavior emerges. In the casemix model of the hospital, the investigation team discovered that some of the phenomena as described by these generic archetypes could be represented. The application of system archetypes to the strategic business analysis of the hospital case reveals that it is possible to identify loop holes in management’s strategic thinking processes and it is possible to defy these fallacies during policy implementation as illustrated by the results of the archetype simulation model. In this research study, hospital executives found that policy modification with slight variable changes helps to avoid such pitfalls in systems thinking and avoid potentially cost prohibitive learning had these policies been implemented in real life.
Planning and Deployment of Dynamic Web Technologies for Supporting E-Business
Authors: Hines John A.
Published: May 2011

More and more, internal applications are being moved from legacy systems into a more flexible Webbased environment. The issue concerning World Wide Web technologies is important to today’s businesses. Decision making in this area is complex and needs to consider carefully the characteristics and needs of the entities employing these technologies. It has furthermore become clear that the Internet, in particular the World Wide Web, is playing an increasingly larger role in how people communicate. Through this research, technologies used to serve dynamic Web content are compared. This comparison includes performance as well as cost issues, the things that professionals in the business world face when deciding the best implementation of Web server technologies. Existing studies cover a limited scope of the overall picture, and research has thus been focused into very narrow aspects of the global entity. However, the continuing developments in Web technologies dictate the need for a broad scope approach to comparative studies in this field. Such a scope is pursued in this research.
Independent Component Analysis and its Applications to Manufacturing Problems
Authors: Yu Xian-Chuan , Zhang Ting , Zhang Li-Bo , He Hui , Zou Wei , Yang Meng
Published: May 2011

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a statistical method for transforming an observed multidimensional random vector into components that are as independent as possible. In this chapter, we introduce the background information, the theory of ICA, and present several common algorithms such as fast ICA, kernel ICA, and constrained ICA. It is first applied to mineral resources prediction and remote sensing imagery, while traditional methods cannot satisfy the complexity of the spatial data (prospecting geochemistry data, remote sensing data, etc.). In application cases, ICA is applied to analyze the spatial data in some districts of China. The result shows that some independent elements accord with the practical distribution better than conventional methods. Moreover, ICA can get rid of the various kinds of correlations in remote sensing imagery effectively and improve the classification accuracy. However, this method also has some limitations. At last, we list the future research directions of our work.
Realistic Spatial Backcloth is not that Important in Agent Based Simulation Research
Authors: Elffers Henk , Baal Pieter Van
Published: May 2011

This chapter considers whether it is worthwhile and useful to enrich agent based spatial simulation studies in criminology with a real geographical background, such as the map of a real city? Using modern GIS tools, such an enterprise is in principle quite feasible, but we argue that in many cases this course is not only not producing more interesting results, but in fact may well be detrimental for the real reason of doing criminal simulation studies, which is understanding the underlying rules. The argument is first outlined in general, and then illustrated in the context of a given example of the ThESE perceptual deterrence simulation model (Van Baal, 2004), a model that actually is using a simple checkerboard as its spatial backcloth.
Varieties of Artificial Crime Analysis
Authors: Eck John , Liu Lin
Published: May 2011

Since the beginnings of this millennium, there has been a burgeoning interest in the use of simulation methods for the study of crime. In a remarkably short period, crime researchers using simulations have applied the method in a wide variety of ways. Let us look at some of the first simulations—four simulations developed by three different teams working independently—to describe this diversity.
Expanding Privacy Rationales under the Federal Freedom of Information Act
Authors: Davis Charles N.
Published: May 2011

Access to government information in a post-September 11 often involves the resolution of conflicts between privacy rights and the public interest inherent in information flow. On the one hand, information about any individual investigated by the government, or merely landing in an investigative file, might very well invade the privacy of the detainees by unduly stigmatizing them. In fact, such reasoning reflects a line of argumentation central to the federal government’s justification for denial of access: privacy interests, particularly the risk of stigmatization. This chapter reviews the origins and expansion of stigmatization as grounds for protection of information under the FOIA. Examination of several key post-Reporters Committee cases decided by the federal courts illustrates the scope of the problem, as stigmatization has gained a great deal of legal traction in recent years.
Conversation Theory Conceptualized in E-Learning Environments
Authors: Holland Janet , Childress Marcus
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines Gordon Pask’s Conversation Theory, comparing his approach to the current literature about the growing field of E-learning as a vital component for knowledge acquisition. For this chapter, conversation and dialogue are simply defined as an exchange of information between students and instructors. This exchange can be informal like a conversation or more formal like a dialogue (Merriam-Webster’s, 1974). Pask developed his Conversation Theory based primarily on an exchange of information between a human and an artificial intelligence, i.e. a computer
Instructional Conversations
Authors: Sherry Lorraine , Billig Shelley H.
Published: May 2011

Instructional conversations lie at the heart of teaching and learning. Well designed instructional conversations stimulate deep thinking, promote critical reflection and metacognition, and help participants create meaning and leverage ideas to generate something new. This chapter defines instructional conversations and presents a taxonomy of five types, ranging from dialectic conversations to reflective conversations. Illustrations of each type of conversation are provided, along with a discussion of their function and ways to increase their effectiveness. The chapter ends with a set of suggestions for improving professional practice, and particularly for instructors who wish to become more intentional about reaching learning goals.
Applying Grounded Conversation Design to Instruction
Authors: Luppicini Rocci
Published: May 2011

A grounded conversation design approach is posited as a way to study complex conversational processes within online learning environments. This approach is applied to online learning contexts to leverage conversation quality and learning. Study I examines conversations emerging within an online learning community created within an undergraduate class to critically discuss research. Study II applied conversational protocols derived from study I within an undergraduate online editorial board simulation intended to generate critical discourse. The chapter suggests how basic grounded conversation techniques can be applied in a variety of online learning environments to study conversation and develop grounded conversation theory within the context of online learning. Grounded conversation design is based on the assumption that conversation is situated and grounded within the social contexts from which it emerges.
Conversation for School Change
Authors: Stokes Helga
Published: May 2011

The purpose of the chapter is to explore design conversation as it is lived out in the communication processes amongst stakeholders involved in school change and design of new learning environments. School reform efforts in various countries look for increased participation in design and decision-making at the local level. Design conversation, embedded in the theoretical framework of systems thinking and systems design has not, to date, been researched as a theoretical construct. Experiences and perceptions gathered in a phenomenological research study are presented. Data were gathered at three internationally dispersed sites in the Czech Republic, Germany, and the United States of America. The results indicate that teachers do value the process, describe changing mindsets, designing visions, concrete strategies, equitable participation, trust, and risk taking. The study hopes to lead those interested in school change to increased use and evaluation of design conversation in educational systems design.
Pedagogical Uses of Multimedia Annotators and Players
Authors: Sydorenko Tetyana , Myers Tom , Nakhimovsky Alexander
Published: May 2011

Multimedia materials form an increasingly important part of technology-enhanced learning (TEL). We present two kinds of related computer programs, multimedia annotators and multimedia players, which provide greatly improved control over how the user navigates, searches, and displays multimedia materials. Our main focus will be on MannX (Multimedia Annotator—XML). The objective of this chapter is to familiarize the reader with multimedia annotators and players, explain why and how they should be used for learning and especially for foreign language learning, present the best practices for their design, and outline the future directions for developing this new technology and its pedagogical applications. We believe that for many fields of study annotated and searchable multimedia materials are the best vehicle for instruction and learning.
Knowledge-Based Strategies and Systems
Authors: Russ Meir , Jones J. Greg , Jones Jeannette K
Published: May 2011

Knowledge management strategies and implementation of knowledge-based systems have gained importance over the last decade. However, many organizations are not able to develop “winning” knowledge-based strategies and others waste signifi- cant monies when the knowledge-based systems they invest in fail to produce the desired results. To address the challenges faced by these organizations, a recently developed framework for strategic dilemmas was proposed by Russ, Jones, and Fineman (2006) to aid in the development of knowledge-based (KB) strategies. The framework (C3EEP) identifies six dilemmas that organizations should balance when considering their knowledge management and business strategies. Examples of such dilemmas include the balance between concealment (secrecy) vs. transparency, complementary vs. destroying, and the balance between exploitation and exploration. The framework compliments the six stages in the life cycle of KB systems (KBS) as identified by the academic literature that discusses the development and implementation of KBS from the information systems (IS) perspective (e.g., Lytras, Pouloudi, & Poulymenakou, 2002; Nissen, Kamel, & Sengupta, 2000). This interaction/ linkage between KB strategies and systems is crucial for the success of both. Academic research supports the complex relationship between the two. However, there is no conclusive formula for managing this relationship to achieve success. The purpose of this study will be to identify crossovers between the two streams (strategy and systems) of research by using a systematic literature review. For example, is the academic literature focusing mostly on the learning aspect (late stage in the life cycle) of the exploration strategy while largely ignoring the discussion about attracting the appropriate knowledge (early stage in the life cycle) for this kind of strategy? Or does the academic literature focus on populating a KBS with appropriate complementary knowledge while largely ignoring the dynamics of the transfer of destroying knowledge (learning aspect)? The authors hope to accomplish three goals in this study: (1) to continue the validation of the two (C3EEP and KBS life cycle) frameworks; (2) to identify new research opportunities; and (3) to focus managerial attention on areas of importance in KB strategies and systems that lack depth of academic discussion.
The Intellectual Capital Statements
Authors: Lytras Miltiadis D. , Edvinsson Leif , Ordóñez de Pablos Patricia
Published: May 2011

In light of the latest developments in the field of intellectual capital (IC) measuring and reporting (Asia, Europe, and USA), this chapter aims to help managers measure and report the intellectual capital of their companies. Having first-hand experiences in collaborating with firms in the building of the “intellectual capital report” (ICR)—and therefore knowing weaknesses and major mistakes—the authors of the chapter propose how firms should build the ICR, an innovative corporate report with strategic implications for the achievement and maintenance of a longterm competitive advantage. The first section of the chapter presents a historical review of the development of the intellectual capital report since 1992. The second section analyzes intellectual capital reports, discussing firms’ definition and goals for these reports; the analysis is based on intellectual capital reports published by 38 firms from Europe (Austria, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and UK) and Asia (India and Japan) during the period 1992-2006. From here, we address how firms can get started building the intellectual capital report, especially regarding the structure of the report as well as the specific indicators.
Implementing Communities of Practice to Manage Knowledge and Drive Innovation
Authors: Radziwill Nicole M.
Published: May 2011

A Community of Practice (CoP) unites individuals with shared interests and shared or complementary competencies to interact on a regular basis, advancing communal learning and knowledge. By facilitating increased, relevant interactions between people, CoPs often improve organizational effectiveness. They can be initiated as a performance improvement intervention at the individual, group and organizational levels. After describing the theoretical background of CoPs as discussed in the organizational theory and knowledge management literature, this article classifies the results of research in the knowledge management domain, dating from 1991, into an actionable Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model. Future trends in CoP development, including e-Science and digital ecosystems, are then discussed.
A Framework for Introducing Knowledge Management in the Banking Sector
Authors: Roithmayr Friedrich , Fink Kerstin
Published: May 2011

The management of knowledge has become a major research field in different disciplines in the last years. A key issue is the future development of knowledge management as a “fashion” or “trend” initiative. A longitudinal empirical study conducted by the authors analyzing the literature of knowledge management from 1994 until 2004 comes to the conclusion that knowledge management is already transformed into a “trend”. Furthermore, this chapter deals with the integration of knowledge management in the banking sector by applying the building block approach from Probst, Raub & Romhardt. Currently knowledge management is used in an unbalanced manner and not considering all knowledge-intensive processes.
Managing Interorganizational Networks
Authors: Linwood Nancy , Langton Brian
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the challenges facing interorganizational knowledge management networks. Examples from DuPont, the knowledge management working group of the federal government, as well as the Construction Industry Institute give concrete examples of how these challenges were faced and overcome. The authors hope that their industry experience and years of working in these networks help the readers to apply these principles to their own networks.
Applying Information Technologies in Innovative Ways
Authors: Muñoz Castellanos Rosa Ma , Jurado Rincón José Luis
Published: May 2011

The main purpose of this case study is to explain the process of discovering and application of new information technology (IT)-based opportunities developed by a Spanish enterprise whose activity is pharmaceutical distribution. It is a mature firm, which during the course of the last few years has been able to adopt information technologies in innovative ways thanks to the intrapreneurial spirit of its managers. In the analysis of this case study, after presenting the theoretical base, we describe the history of the organization, its main characteristics, and its type of business. Next, we explain the technological utilization of the company and its managerial implications, paying special attention to its most innovative projects. We conclude with the description of the main challenges and problems associated with the achievement of the technological goals adopted by the organization.
SOM-Based Clustering of Multilingual Documents Using an Ontology
Authors: Pham Minh Hai , Bernhard Delphine , Diallo Gayo , Messai Radja , Simonet Michel
Published: May 2011

Clustering similar documents is a difficult task for text data mining. Difficulties stem especially from the way documents are translated into numerical vectors. In this paper, we will present a method which uses Self Organizing Map (SOM) to cluster medical documents. The originality of the method is that it does not rely on the words shared by documents but rather on concepts taken from an ontology. Our goal is to cluster various medical documents in thematically consistent groups (e.g. grouping all the documents related to cardiovascular diseases). Before applying the SOM algorithm, documents have to go through several pre-processing steps. First, textual data have to be extracted from the documents, which can be either in the PDF or HTML format. Documents are then indexed, using two kinds of indexing units: stems and concepts. After indexing, documents can be numerically represented by vectors whose dimensions correspond to indexing units. These vectors store the weight of the indexing unit within the document they represent. They are given as inputs to a SOM which arranges the corresponding documents on a two-dimensional map. We have compared the results for two indexing schemes: stem-based indexing and conceptual indexing. We will show that using an ontology for document clustering has several advantages. It is possible to cluster documents written in several languages since concepts are language-independent. This is especially helpful in the medical domain where research articles are written in different languages. Another advantage is that the use of concepts helps reduce the size of the vectors, which, in turn, reduces processing time.
TtoO
Authors: Mothe Josiane , Hernandez Nathalie
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a method re-using a thesaurus built for a given domain, in order to create new resources of a higher semantic level in the form of an ontology. Considering ontologies for data-mining tasks relies on the intuition that the meaning of textual information depends on the conceptual relations between the objects to which they refer rather than on the linguistic and statistical relations of their content. To put forward such advanced mechanisms, the first step is to build the ontologies. The originality of the method is that it is based both on the knowledge extracted from a thesaurus and on the knowledge semi-automatically extracted from a textual corpus. The whole process is semi-automated and experts’ tasks are limited to validating certain steps. In parallel, we have developed mechanisms based on the obtained ontology to accomplish a science monitoring task. An example will be given.
A Framework for Integrating Ontologies and Pattern-Bases
Authors: Kotsifakos Evangelos , Marketos Gerasimos , Theodoridis Yannis
Published: May 2011

Pattern Base Management Systems (PBMS) have been introduced as an effective way to manage the high volume of patterns available nowadays. PBMS provide pattern management functionality in the same way where a Database Management System provides data management functionality. However, not all the extracted patterns are interesting; some are trivial and insignificant because they do not make sense according to the domain knowledge. Thus, in order to automate the pattern evaluation process, we need to incorporate the domain knowledge in it. We propose the integration of PBMS and Ontologies as a solution to the need of many scientific fields for efficient extraction of useful information from large databases and the exploitation of knowledge. In this chapter, we describe the potentiality of this integration and the issues that should be considered introducing an XML-based PBMS. We use a case study of data mining over scientific (seismological) data to illustrate the proposed PBMS and ontology integrated environment.
Space Technologies For The Research Of Effective Water Management – A Case Study
Authors: Bukley Angie , Zhdanovich Olga
Published: May 2011

This chapter summarizes the collective work of a team of students who participated in the 2004 International Space University Summer Session Program in Adelaide, Australia. The project is called STREAM, which stands for Space Technologies for the Research of Effective wAter Management. The work represented in this chapter was accomplished as part of the intensive space studies curriculum offered during the summer session. The team project focused on the importance of fresh water resource management and its impact on the surrounding communities. The team explored various space technologies and their current and future potential to enhance water resource management. A real world case study of Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) was performed to provide the central focus of the project. Based on the results of the case study, the team then extrapolated their results to other regions of the globe that are experiencing challenges to their fresh water supply. A significant space technology recommendation developed by the STREAM project team was to improve the soil moisture measurement capabilities in the MDB. The primary goal of the STREAM project team is that the recommendations outlined in the extensive final report (STREAM Team, 2004) will receive full attention from policy makers concerned with the water issues surrounding the MDB.
Challenges In Knowledge Management
Authors: Paxton Larry J.
Published: May 2011

One of the key problems faced by organizations is that of managing knowledge: how does an organization improve and maintain performance by generating, maintaining, and sharing knowledge? High tech organizations are much more dependent on knowledge as a commodity than those in the manufacturing sector. NASA certainly is the epitome of a high tech organization. It faces complex and deep challenges – not the least of which is how to address the loss of knowledge as the workforce ages and retires. In addition, NASA faces the consequences of a program that, in the face of programmatic constraints, subsumes the process of generating knowledge to the demands of maintaining commitments. Those commitments may not provide the optimal path for generating knowledge relevant to the future success of the organization. For a space-faring organization, mission cadence is one of the key determinants of cost and risk. Mission cadence is also important as it determines the number of people in the organization with direct and relevant experience with space missions. Under a constrained budget, mission cadence can be increased by reducing the size and scope of the missions. Small spacecraft missions can afford to be innovative and thus create a culture in which new ideas are welcomed and/or sought. These smaller missions can preserve and generate knowledge by training the next generation of scientists, engineers and program managers.
Theory of Cooperative Coevolution of Genes and Memes
Authors: Kvasnicka Vladimir , Pospichal Jiri
Published: May 2011

This chapter proposes a simple replicator theory of the coevolution of genes and memes. The presented coevolutionary theory assumes that units of information acquired from parents by imitation (memes) are not independent of genes, but are obligatorily bounded with genes as composites, which are subjects of Darwinian evolution. A population composed of couples of genes and memes, the so-called m-genes, is postulated as a subject of Darwinian evolution. Three different types of operations over m-genes are introduced: replication (an m-gene is replicated with mutations onto an offspring m-gene), interaction (a memetic transfer from a donor to an acceptor), and extinction (an m-gene is eliminated). Computer simulations of the present model allow us to identify different mechanisms of gene and meme coevolutions.
Networks
Authors: Giuliani Alessandro
Published: May 2011

The term network is more and more widespread in all the fields of human investigation from physics to sociology. It evokes a systemic approach to problems able to overcome the limitations reductionist approaches have evidenced for some decades. Network-based approaches gave very brilliant results in fields like biochemistry, where the consideration of the whole set of metabolic reactions of an organism allowed us to understand some very important properties of the organisms that cannot be appreciated by the simple enumeration of single biochemical reactions. Nevertheless, the lack of consciousness that networks are modeling tools and not real entities could be detrimental to the exploitation of the full potential of this paradigm. Some applications of network-based modeling will be presented to both introduce the basic terminology of the emergent network paradigm and highlight strengths and limitations of the method.
Reflections of Spiral Complexity on Art
Authors: Kocic Ljubiša M. , Stefanovska Liljana R.
Published: May 2011

This chapter considers a relationship between spirals as proto-complex shapes and human intelligence organized in an information system (IS). We distinguish between old (precomputer ages) and new (computer ages) IS. It seems that actual intelligent machines, connected in an efficient network, inherit a much older structure: a collective consciousness being formed by an international group of artists who exchange their ideas of beauty with amazing speed and persistence. This “classical information system” was responsible for the recognition and propagation of the notion of the spiral shape as an archetypal form and its aesthetic implementation in many artifacts either consciously or not. Using modern technologies of IS, we proposed some methods for extracting spiral forms from pieces of visual arts. Sometimes, these forms are a consequence of a conscious and sometimes of an unconscious action of the artist. Both results support the thesis that there is a constant need of systematic recording of this important shape through history.
KM Technologies and the Organizational LOE
Authors: Grady Victoria M. , Grady III James D.
Published: May 2011

The potential benefits of utilizing KM technologies in multinational and global organizations are of particular significance due to the inherent geographic distance and diversity of such organizations. Unfortunately, the process of constantly changing technology can be extremely disruptive at both the individual and organizational level. This chapter explores the relationship between KM technology change within the organization and the theory of an organizational loss of effectiveness (LOE). “The general Theory of Organizational Loss of Effectiveness is predicated upon organizational behavior resulting from a loss of stability, e.g. technology change, within an organization.” (Grady, 2005) The loss of stability, in the context of this theory, occurs when a defined set of symptoms develop in individuals and groups undergoing a change in technology. The assertion is that the development of these symptoms is predictable, and when viewed collectively, results in an organizational loss of effectiveness.
Technology Trends in Knowledge Management Tools
Authors: Balmisse G. , Meingan D.
Published: May 2011

A large number of tools are available in the software industry to support different aspects of knowledge management (KM). Some comprehensive applications and vendors try to offer global solutions to KM needs; other tools are highly specialized. In this paper, state-of-the-art KM tools grouped by specific classification areas and functionalities are described. Trends and integration efforts are detailed with a focus on identifying current and future software and market evolution.
Organizational Learning Process
Authors: Ke W. , Wei K. Kee
Published: May 2011

This paper uses organizational learning as a lens to study how firms implement enterprise system. The core research questions are: what are the critical organizational factors affecting organizational learning in ES implementation? How do these elements shape the learning process and thereby influence ES implementation outcomes? To address these questions, we conducted comparative case study with two organizations that have recently adopted ES and achieved significantly different results. Based on the empirical findings, we propose a framework that describes how organizational factors affect the four constructs of organizational learning in ES implementation context – knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation and organizational memory.
Accessibility, Digital Libraries and Semantic Web Standards in an E-Learning Architecture
Authors: Siqueira Sean W.M. , Braz Maria Helena L.B> , Melo Rubens N.
Published: May 2011

As people have come to realize that the use of technology can improve the learning process, so e-learning has increased in importance. However e-learning tools are not usually developed to interoperate with each other, making the creation of a fully functional environment a difficult task. Aware of this problem, organizations such as IMS Global Learning Consortium, Advanced Distributed Learning and IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee are working to develop technical standards, recommended best practices and guides for learning technology. There are also proposals for e-learning architectures which try to structure and describe the fundamental components to be included in this kind of environment. The main aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of existing standards and e-learning architectures, discussing their evolution and presenting the most significant results and initiatives. In addition, accessibility, digital libraries and semantic web technologies are discussed within this context.
Reverse Auctions and Supplier Consortia
Authors: Southard Peter B.
Published: May 2011

Competition between supply chains has resulted in firms carefully examining the relationships that they have, or are contemplating having, with other links in their chain. While the main focus of this book is on a specific type of relationship, that of the reverse auction, other forms of buyer-supplier relationships exist. In order to better understand the implications of the reverse-auction relationship, managers should also analyze the alternatives and the environment of relationships in which reverse auctions operate. The focus of this chapter is on an alternative buyer-supplier relationship, that of the supplier consortia. Within the six dimensions of the framework proposed by Parente, et. al. (2004), this chapter examines this little-studied collaborative group and proposes a spectrum to begin to understand some aspects of buyer-supplier relationships. The chapter includes a theoretical classification framework for supplier consortia. It then compares and contrasts supplier consortia to the reverse auction concluding with a prescriptive decision process that can help managers better analyze the most appropriate form of buyer-supplier relationship for their firm and their supply chain.
Bundling for Online Reverse Auctions
Authors: Schoenherr Tobias , Mabert Vincent A.
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides insights into bundling practices for online reverse auctions by exploring approaches and reporting experiences of 252 companies in the U.S. manufacturing industry. Within the context of Parente et al.’s (2004) conceptual framework for the analysis of online auctions, aspects of the “Product Characteristics” component were explored. Bundling issues investigated include content, goals, structure, and performance. Following the theme of the book, differences and similarities in bundling behavior and outcomes between small and large enterprises are emphasized, highlighting the impact of firm size and the resulting strategies explored. While large corporations are usually on the forefront of information technology adoption and use, the potential is significant for smaller firms as well. As such, this chapter provides managerial insights, useful especially to smaller companies, for successfully employing bundles in reverse auctions.
Using SAML and XACML for Web Service Security&Privacy
Authors: Namli Tuncay , Dogac Asuman
Published: May 2011

Web service technology changes the way of conducting business by opening their services to the whole business world over the networks. This property of Web services makes the security and privacy issues more important since the access to the services becomes easier. Many Web service standards are emerging to make Web services secure and privacy protected. This chapter discusses two of them; SAML (OASIS, 2005) and XACML (OASIS, 2005). SAML is an XML-based framework for communicating user authentication, entitlement, and attribute information. In other words, SAML handles the user authentication and also carries attribute information for authorization (access control). XACML is the complementary standard of OASIS to make the access control decisions. This work is realized within the scope of the IST 027074 SAPHIRE Project which is an intelligent healthcare monitoring and decision support system.
Protecting ASP.NET Web Services
Authors: Beznosov Konstantin
Published: May 2011

This chapter reports on our experience of designing and implementing an architecture for protecting enterprise-grade Web service applications hosted by ASP.NET. Security mechanisms of Microsoft ASP.NET container—a popular hosting environment for Web services—have limited scalability, flexibility, and extensibility. They are therefore inade-quate for hosting enterprise-scale applications that need to be protected according to diverse and/or complex application-specific security policies. To overcome the limitations of ASP.NET security, we developed a flexible and extensible protection architecture. Deployed in a real-world security solution at a financial organization, the architecture enables integra-tion of ASP.NET into the organizational security infrastructure with reduced effort on the part of Web Service developers. Throughout this report, we discuss our design decisions, suggest best practices for constructing flexible and extensible authentication and authoriza-tion logic for Web Services, and share lessons learned.
Using Mined Patterns for XML Query Answering
Authors: Baralis Elena , Garza Paolo , Quintarelli Elisa , Tanca Letizia
Published: May 2011

XML is a rather verbose representation of semistructured data, which may require huge amounts of storage space. Several summarized representations of XML data have been proposed, which can both provide succinct information and be directly queried. In this chapter we focus on compact representations based on the extraction of association rules from XML datasets. In particular, we show how patterns can be exploited to (possibly partially) answer queries, either when fast (and approximate) answers are required, or when the actual dataset is not available, e.g., it is currently unreachable. We focus on (a) schema patterns, representing exact or approximate dataset constraints, (b) instance patterns, which represent actual data summaries, and their use for answering queries.