bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ethical Issues
Authors: Khan Badrul
Published: May 2011

Ethical considerations of e-learning relate to social and political influence, cultural diversity, bias, geographical diversity, learner diversity, digital divide, etiquette, and the legal issues. The following is an outline of this chapter: • Social and political influence • Cultural diversity • Bias • Geographical diversity • Learner diversity • Digital divide • Etiquette • Legal issues
Resource Support Issues
Authors: Khan Badrul
Published: May 2011

Resource support dimension of open, flexible, and distributed learning environment examines the online support and resources required to foster meaningful learning environments. An e-learning institution should have a key component in showing the students that there is an infrastructure that provides support the learners need and gives the security that they are indeed not alone in any of the tasks they are asked to carry out (Fultcher & Lock, 1999). The following in an outline of this chapter: • Online support • Resources
E-Government
Authors: Hopkins Alison
Published: May 2011

This chapter approaches the topic from a consumer perspective, looking at some of the principal challenges for governments in developing not just e-government, but responsive e-government.
Comparison-Shopping as an Emerging Channel to Increase Web Visibility for SMEs in the United States
Authors: Wan Yun
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces comparison-shopping as an emerging channel to increase Web visibility for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME). In Section I, we analyze two business models of comparison-shopping services (CSP): the BargainFinder model and the Pricewatch model. The latter can be further differentiated as Pricewatch-classic model and Pricewatch-innovative model. Through data collected from 60 CSPs, we found Pricewatch-classic model is dominant for the time being, Pricewatch-innovative model is picking up, and the BargainFinder model is only viable in niche market. In Section II, we examined the feasibility of using comparison-shopping to increase Web visibility for SMEs. We demonstrated that comparison-shopping can increase the welfare of consumers, participating in comparison-shopping is a Nash equilibrium dominant strategy for SMEs, and comparison-shopping has the disintermediary effect on underdeveloped economies and polarizing effect on developed economies. Overall, this chapter provides a comprehensive introduction of comparison-shopping and its potential for increasing Web visibility for SMEs.
The Shifting Sands of E-Commerce
Authors: MacGregor Robert , Vrazalic Lejla
Published: May 2011

Prior to the advent of e-commerce, the adoption and implementation of information technology (IT) in organisations was planned and controlled. As a result, the expected and actual (realized) benefits of the new technology could be mapped directly on to each other. However, no research has been carried out to date in order to determine whether this is still the case in the post-e-commerce era. This chapter aims to correct this by presenting the results of a study of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sweden that have adopted e-commerce technology. The study examined the correlations between the expected benefits of e-commerce (i.e., adoption criteria) as well as the correlations between the actual benefits. In both cases, the correlations were shown to exist. Finally, the study examined whether the direct mapping of criteria and benefits was still applicable. The results show that there is no direct mapping of IT criteria and benefits in the post-e-commerce era in SMEs.
Fast Learning in Neural Networks
Authors: Charles Darryl , Fyfe Colin , Livingstone Daniel , McGlinchey Stephen
Published: May 2011

We noted in the previous chapters that, while the multilayer perceptron is capable of approximating any continuous function, it can suffer from excessively long training times. In this chapter we will investigate methods of shortening training times for artificial neural networks using supervised learning. (Haykin, 1999) is a particularly good reference for radial basis function, RBF, networks. In this chapter we outline the theory and implementation of a RBF network before demonstrating how such a network may be used to solve one of the previously visited problems, and compare our solutions.
Adaptivity within Games
Authors: Charles Darryl , Fyfe Colin , Livingstone Daniel , McGlinchey Stephen
Published: May 2011

This book centres on biologically inspired machine learning algorithms for use in computer and video game technology. One of the important reasons for employing learning in computer games is that there is a strong desire by many developers and publishers within the industry to make games adaptive. For example, Manslow (2002) states, ‘The widespread adoption of learning in games will be one of the most important advances ever to be made in game AI. Genuinely adaptive AIs will change the way in which games are played by forcing each player to continually search for new strategies to defeat the AI, rather than perfecting a single technique.’ However, the majority of learning techniques to date that have been used in commercial games have employed an offline learning process, that is, the algorithms are trained during the development process and not during the gameplay sessions after the release of the game. Online learning—that is, learning processes that occur during actual gameplay—has been used in only a handful of commercial games, for example, Black and White, but the use of learning online within games is intrinsically linked to adaptivity and the use of the algorithms in this way needs to be explored more fully.
Financial Modeling and Forecasting with an Evolutionary Artificial Neural Network
Authors: Hayward Serge
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, I consider a design framework of a computational experiment in finance. The examination of statistics used for economic forecasts evaluation and profitability of investment decisions, based on those forecasts, reveals only weak relationships between them. The “degree of improvement over efficient prediction” combined with directional accuracy are proposed in an estimation technique, as an alternative to the conventional least squares. Rejecting a claim that the accuracy of the forecast does not depend upon which error-criteria are used, profitability of networks trained with L6 loss function appeared to be statistically significant and stable. The best economic performances are realized for a 1-year investment horizon with longer training not leading to enhanced accuracy. An improvement in profitability is achieved for models optimized with genetic algorithm. Computational intelligence is advocated for searching optimal relationships among economic agents’ risk attitude, loss function minimization in the learning process, and the profitability of trading decisions.
Minimal Intelligence Agents in Double Auction Markets with Speculators
Authors: Wu Senlin , Bhattacharyya Siddhartha
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores the minimal intelligence conditions for traders in a general double auction market with speculation activities. Using an agent-based model, it is shown that when traders and speculators play together under general market curve settings, zero-intelligent plus (ZIP) is still a sufficient condition for market prices to converge to the equilibrium. At the same time, market efficiency is lowered as the number of speculators increase. The experiments demonstrate that the equilibrium of a double auction market is an interactive result of the intelligence of the traders and other factors such as the type of the players and market conditions. This research fills in an important gap in the literature, and strengthens Cliff and Bruten’s (1997) declaration that zero is not enough for a double auction market.
Slow Learning in the Market fopr Lemons
Authors: Feltovich N.
Published: May 2011

Human-participants experiments using markets with asymmetric information typically exhibit a “winner’s curse,” wherein bidders systematically bid more than their optimal amount. The winner’s curse is very persistent; even when participants are able to make decisions repeatedly in the same situation, they repeatedly overbid. Why do people keep making the same mistakes over and over again? In this chapter, we consider a class of one-player decision problems, which generalize Akerlof’s (1970) market-for-lemons model. We show that if decision makers learn via reinforcement, specifically by the reference point model of Erev and Roth (1996), their behavior typically changes very slowly, and persistent mistakes are likely. We also develop testable predictions regarding when individuals ought to be able to learn more quickly.
Capital Controls and Firm's Dynamics
Authors: Orlov Alexei G.
Published: May 2011

This chapter constructs a dynamic model of a multinational enterprise (MNE) to quantify the effects of various capital control policies on a firm’s debt and equity positions, innovations, and outputs at the headquarters and subsidiary. The model is calibrated to the US Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Benchmark Survey and the IMF’s Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions so that it reproduces the average US FDI and technology flows to foreign subsidiaries. Both steady-state and transition analyses suggest a significant impact of capital controls on an MNE’s operations. Lifting capital restrictions produces an inflow of capital and technology into the less developed countries, leading to an increase in the steady-state FDI position and production. Simulation experiments reveal that even short-term capital controls have long-lasting negative effects.
Reducing Agency Problem and Improving Organizational Value-Based Decision-Making Model of Inter-Organizational Strategic Alliance
Authors: Liu Tsai-Lung , Kuo Chia-Chen
Published: May 2011

This chapter employs a cross-theory perspective by combining the four theories of agency theory, resource-dependent theory, resource-based theory, and knowledge- based theory, intending to explore the impact of inter-organizational strategic alliance on organizational value-based decision-making model and intellectual capital. Drawing the related variables upon making the literature review, analysis and inference, it infers 18 propositions and builds up a conceptual model. As a result, it is found that different formation factors of inter-organizational strategic alliance not only have significanty impact on an agency problem, but also have positive or negative impact on core resource and core knowledge strategic alliance. It is also found that when there is an inter-organizational agency problem, it will further increase the agency cost, and impact on the organizational value-based decision of inter-organizational strategic alliance in the future. Furthermore, the authors hope that researchers understanding through the governance mechanisms of inter-organizational core resource alliance and core knowledge strategic alliance are more matured, it will be more effective to prevent the appearance of agency problem and reduce agency cost and will be more helpful to the increase of organizational intellectual capital and the creation of organizational value.
Morphology, Processing, and Integrating of Information from Large Source Code Warehouses for Decision Support
Authors: Rech Jörg
Published: May 2011

Source code occurs in diverse programming languages with documentation using miscellaneous standards, comments in individual styles, extracted metrics or associated test cases that are hard to exploit through information retrieval or knowledge-discovery techniques. Typically, the information about object-oriented source code for a software system is distributed across several different sources, which makes processing complex. In this chapter we describe the morphology of object-oriented source code and how we (pre-) process, integrate and use it for knowledge discovery in software engineering in order to support decision-making regarding the refactoring, reengineering and reuse of software systems.
Managing Metadata in Decision Environments
Authors: Shankaranarayanan G. , Even Adir
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the implications for managing metadata, a higher-level abstraction of data that exists within repositories, applications, systems and organizations. Metadata is a key factor for the successful implementation of complex decision environments. Managing metadata offers significant benefits and poses several challenges, due to the complex nature of metadata. The complexity is demonstrated by reviewing different functions that metadata serves in decision environments. To fully reap the benefits of metadata, it is necessary to manage metadata in an integrated manner. Crucial gaps for integrating metadata are identified by comparing the requirements for managing metadata with the capabilities offered by commercial software products designed for managing it. The chapter then proposes a conceptual architecture for the design of an integrated metadata repository that attempts to redress these gaps. The chapter concludes with a review of emerging research directions that explore the contribution of metadata in decision environments.
Mining in Music Databases
Authors: Karydis Ioannis , Nanopoulos Alexandros , Manolopoulos Yannis
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides a broad survey of music data mining, including clustering, classification and pattern discovery in music. The data studied is mainly symbolic encodings of musical scores, although digital audio (acoustic data) is also addressed. Throughout the chapter, practical applications of music data mining are presented. Music data mining addresses the discovery of knowledge from music corpora. This chapter encapsulates the theory and methods required in order to discover knowledge in the form of patterns for music analysis and retrieval, or statistical models for music classification and generation. Music data, with their temporal, highly structured and polyphonic character, introduce new challenges for data mining. Additionally, due to their complex structure and their subjectivity to inaccuracies caused by perceptual effects, music data present challenges in knowledge representation as well.
Considerations for Deploying Web and Mobile Technologies to Support the Building of Patient Self-Efficacy and Self-Management of Chronic Illness
Authors: Cummings Elizabeth , Turner Paul
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines issues relating to the introduction of information and communication technologies that have emerged as part of planning for the Pathways Home for Respiratory Illness project. The project aims to assist patients with chronic respiratory conditions (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis) to achieve increased levels of self-management and self-efficacy through interactions with case mentors and the deployment of ICTs. The chapter highlights that in deploying ICTs, it is important to ensure that solutions implemented are based on a detailed understanding of users, their needs and complex interactions with health professionals, the health system, and their wider environment. Achieving benefits from the introduction of ICTs as part of processes aimed at building sustainable self-efficacy and self-management is very difficult, not least because of a desire to avoid simply replacing patient dependency on health professionals with dependency on technology. More specifically, it also requires sensitivity toward assumptions made about the role, impact, and importance of information per se given that it is often only one factor among many that influence health attitudes, perceptions, actions, and outcomes. More broadly, the chapter indicates that as ICT-supported patient-focused interventions become more common, there is a need to consider how assessments of benefit in terms of a cohort of patients inform us about an individual patient’s experience and what this implies for terms like individualized care or patient empowerment (Muir Gray, 2004). At this level, there are implications for clinical practice and one-size-fits-all care-delivery practices. This collaborative project involves a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Tasmania’s School of Medicine, School of Nursing and Midwifery, and School of Information Systems. The project is supported by the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services and funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, and is due for completion in June 2008.
Intelligent Agents Framework for RFID Hospitals
Authors: Mohammadian Masoud , Jentzsch Ric
Published: May 2011

When dealing with human lives, the need to utilize and apply the latest technology to help in saving and maintaining patients’ lives is quite important and requires accurate, near-real-time data acquisition and evaluation. At the same time, the delivery of a patient’s medical data needs to be as fast and as secure as possible. One possible way to achieve this is to use a wireless framework based on radio-frequency identification (RFID). This framework can integrate wireless networks for fast data acquisition and transmission while maintaining the privacy issue. This chapter discusses the development of an agent framework in which RFID can be used for patient data collection. The chapter presents a framework for the knowledge acquisition of patient and doctor profiling in a hospital. The acquisition of profile data is assisted by a profiling agent that is responsible for processing the raw data obtained through RFID and a database of doctors and patients.
Conceptual Framework for Mobile-Based Application in Healthcare
Authors: Guah Matthew W.
Published: May 2011

The significance of aligning IT with corporate strategy is widely recognised, but the lack of an appropriate framework often prevents practitioners from integrating emerging Internet technologies (like Web services and mobile technologies) within organisations’ strategies effectively. This chapter introduces a framework that addresses the issue of deploying Web services strategically within a mobile-based healthcare setting. A framework is developed to match potential benefits of Web services with corporate strategy in four business dimensions: innovation, internal healthcare process, patients’ pathway, and management of the healthcare institution. The author argues that the strategic benefits of implementing Web services in a healthcare organisation can only be realized if the Web-services initiatives are planned and implemented within the framework of an IT strategy that is designed to support the business strategy of that healthcare organisation.The chapter will use case studies to answer several questions relating to wireless and mobile technologies and how they offer vast opportunity to enhance Web services. It also investigates what challenges are faced if this solution is to be delivered successfully in healthcare. The healthcare industry globally, with specific emphasis on the USA and United Kingdom, has been extremely slow in adopting emerging technologies that focus on better practice management and administrative needs. The chapter elaborates on certain emerging information technologies that are currently available to aid the smooth process of implementing mobile-based technologies into healthcare industry.
Java Server Pages (JSP)
Authors: Polgar Jana , Braum Robert Mark , Polgar Tony
Published: May 2011

Good Web application design always tries to separate business objects from controls and the presentation. The benefit of using Java Server Pages (JSP) is the ability to separate Web page design from functionality and content dynamics (coding).
Web Service Design Issues
Authors: Polgar Jana , Braum Robert Mark , Polgar Tony
Published: May 2011

Web Services are gaining in popularity because of the benefits they provide. One of the major benefits is their support for interoperability in a heterogeneous environment, which leads to the capability to add systems and solutions that require different platforms. As long as the various systems are enabled for Web Services, the services can be used to facilitate interoperation. Web Services let enterprise application developers reuse and customize existing information assets. Web Services provide developers with standard ways to access middle-tier and back-end services, such as database management systems and transaction monitors, and to integrate them with other applications.
Portlet Authentication and SSO
Authors: Polgar Jana , Braum Robert Mark , Polgar Tony
Published: May 2011

In this section, we will introduce a few important details relevant to the authentication process and Single Sign On (SSO) implementation. The SSO is a popular feature that was established in the portal standard JSP 168 as a mandatory feature. This functionality enables the user to authenticate only once to all Web services and back-end applications to which he or she requires access. The authentication code is propagated to all services for which the user has access permissions. This means that users can log on only once and be known to the various parts of the portal server with the same user credentials.
Standards Overview
Authors: Polgar Jana , Braum Robert Mark , Polgar Tony
Published: May 2011

In this section, we would like to offer critical and informal views on the standards relevant to building portal solutions, as well as the variations in their implementation by some vendors. There are two standards that are highly relevant to building portal solutions: WSRP (Web Services for Remote Portlets) and Portlet API Specification JSR 168. • JSR 168: Portlet Specification aims at establishing a standard API for creating portlets. • WSRP: Builds on current standard technologies, such as WSDL and SOAP: Aims to solve the problem of traditional data-oriented Web Services (these required the applications to be aggregated before any specific presentation logic could be used for presenting the content) by introducing a presentation-oriented Web service that allows interaction with content that has been delivered by other Web Services.
Grids
Authors: Polgar Jana , Braum Robert Mark , Polgar Tony
Published: May 2011

This section describes some of the more important goals of a Grid system. The Grid carries with it many ideas central to other sharing technologies, such as the network operating system (NOS), and cluster computing. A common aim among these technologies is to maintain a single system image. Such a system would run across multiple machines, allowing its users to reasonably think they were using only one machine, when in fact they are accessing resources on any of the connected machines (Biswas, Lazar, Huard, Lim, Mahjoub, Pau, et al., 1998).
Buongiorno! My Alert
Authors: Haro Guillermo D.
Published: May 2011

In 1999 Jorge Mata, vice president of Broadvision and former expert in interactive solutions for Banco Santander and McKinsey, decided to leave everything to create MyAlert. The company was born on the basis of offering the same Internet services on the new and growing mobile devices. With a strong financial capitalization after raising more than 50 million euros during the bubble burst, in 4 years the company figures were in the black, and the journey had led to the creation of the European sector of mobile data services market and the European leader in that sector. As Charles Darwin emphasized, if a being wants to survive in a shifting environment, it must evolve at least as fast as the medium itself: Buorngiorno! MyAlert ruled the change.
Barcode Applications for M-Business
Authors: Scornavacca Eusebio , Barnes Stuart J.
Published: May 2011

One pertinent area of recent m-commerce development is in methods for personal transaction and information transfer. Several companies around the world have begun to use barcodes for the provision of m-commerce services. This chapter provides background on the enabling technological platform for providing such services. It then continues with three cases where mobile barcodes have been used—in Japan, New Zealand, and the UK. Subsequently, these are used as the basis for a discussion and analysis of the key business models, and strategic implications for particular markets. The chapter concludes with predictions for the market and directions for future research.
Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Kamruzzaman Joarder , Sarker Ruhul A.
Published: May 2011

The primary aim of this chapter is to present an overview of the artificial neural network basics and operation, architectures, and the major algorithms used for training the neural network models. As can be seen in subsequent chapters, neural networks have made many useful contributions to solve theoretical and practical problems in finance and manufacturing areas. The secondary aim here is therefore to provide a brief review of artificial neural network applications in finance and manufacturing areas.
Artificial Neural Networks in Manufacturing
Authors: Rovithakis George A. , Perrakis Stelios E. , Christodoulou Manolis A.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, a neuroadaptive scheduling methodology, approaching machine scheduling as a control-regulation problem, is presented and evaluated by comparing its performance with conventional schedulers. Initially, after a brief reference to the context of existing solutions, the evaluated controller is thoroughly described. Namely, the employed dynamic neural network model, the subsequently derived continuous time neural network controller and the control input discretization that yield the actual dispatching times are presented. Next, the algorithm guaranteeing system stability and controller-signal boundedness and robustness are evaluated on an existing industrial test case that constitutes a highly nonacyclic deterministic job shop with extremely heterogeneous part-processing times. The major simulation study, employing the idealistic deterministic job-shop abstraction, provides extensive comparison with conventional schedulers, over a broad range of raw-material arrival rates, and through the extraction of several performance indices verifies its superb performance in terms of manufacturing-system stability and low makespan, low average lead times, WIP, inventory, and backlogging costs. Eventually, these extensive experiments highlight the practical value and the potential of the mathematical properties of the proposed neuroadaptive controller algorithm and its suitability for the control of nontrivial manufacturing cells.
An Experiential Case Study in IT Project Management Planning
Authors: Davis Charles K.
Published: May 2011

The case covers key issues in information technology project management. It deals with developing a full set of project plans, including milestones, tasks, schedules, staffing, deliverables, and projected costs, for a complex software development project (Gido & Clements, 2003; Kerzner, 2003; Schwalbe, 2002). The essence of this case is the analyzing of a specific organizational setting with critical software needs and the developing of the needed plans. As in many similar situations, this organization is relatively complex, and the situation is not entirely clear. By reviewing the facts of the case, collecting outside information, conducting role playing interviews, analyzing requirements, and estimating schedules and costs, one can collect the information needed to develop baseline project plans for the software development envisioned in this case.
The Selection of the IT Platform
Authors: Shakir Maha , Viehland Dennis
Published: May 2011

The Health Board is one of the largest public health care providers in New Zealand (NZ). In early 1999, a supply chain optimization review recommended an enterprise system (ES) implementation to provide better control and reporting of organizational finances. The focus of this case is the IT platform decision made in conjunction with the ES implementation process. This decision was thoroughly considered by all Health Board stakeholders and the final choice was made in alignment with the Board’s strategic IT policy. Nevertheless, initial testing two months prior to go-live revealed major performance problems with the new system. The case documents the events that led up to the selection of the original IT platform and the challenges the project team faced in deciding what to do when the platform did not meet contractual specifications.
Up In Smoke
Authors: Ross Steven C. , Tyran Craig K. , Auer David J. , Junell Jon M. , Williams Terrell G.
Published: May 2011

On July 3, 2002, fire destroyed a facility that served as both office and computer server room for a College of Business located in the United States. The fire also caused significant smoke damage to the office building where the computer facility was located. The monetary costs of the disaster were over $4 million. This case, written from the point of view of the chairperson of the College Technology Committee, discusses the issues faced by the college as they resumed operations and planned for rebuilding their information technology operations. The almost-total destruction of the college’s server assets offered a unique opportunity to rethink the IT architecture for the college. The reader is challenged to learn from the experiences discussed in the case to develop an IT architecture for the college that will meet operational requirements and take into account the potential threats to the system.
Enterprise System Development in Higher Education
Authors: Chae Bongsug , Poole Marshall Scott
Published: May 2011

“One system for everyone” has been an ideal goal for information technology (IT) management in many large organizations, and the deployment of such systems has been a major trend incorporate world under the name of enterprise systems (ES) (Brown & Vessey, 2003; Davenport,2000; Markus, Petrie, & Axline, 2000). Benefits from ES use are claimed to be significant and multidimensional, ranging from operational improvements through decision-making enhancement to support for strategic goals (Shang & Seddon, 2002). However, studies (Hanseth & Braa, 2001; Rao, 2000; Robey, Ross, & Boudreau, 2002) of the deployment of ES in private sector organizations show that the ideal is difficult to accomplish. This paper reports a case in which a major university system in the US attempted to develop an in-house enterprise system. The system is currently used by more than 4,000 individual users in almost 20 universities and state agencies. This case offers a historical analysis of the design, implementation and use of the system from its inception in the mid 1980s to the present. This case indicates that ES design and implementation in higher education are quite challenging and complex due to unique factors in the public sector — including state mandates/requirements, IT leadership/resources, value systems, and decentralized organizational structure among other things — that must betaken into account in planning, designing and implementing ES (Ernst, Katz, & Sack, 1994;Lerner, 1999; McCredie, 2000). This case highlights (1) the challenges and issues in the rationale behind “one system for everyone” and (2) some differences as well as similarities in IT management between the private and public sectors. It offers some unique opportunities to discuss issues, challenges and potential solutions for the deployment of ES in the public arena, particularly in higher education.
Cross-Cultural Implementation of Information System
Authors: Law Wai K. , Perez Karri
Published: May 2011

GHI, an international service conglomerate, recently acquired a new subsidiary in an Asian country. A new information system was planned to facilitate the re-branding of the subsidiary. The project was outsourced to an application service provider through a consultant. A functional manager from another subsidiary in the country was assigned to assist the development of specifications. The customized information passed numerous benchmarking tests, and was ready for implementation. At that point, it was discovered that the native users at the rural location of the new subsidiary could not comprehend any of the user interfaces programmed in the English language. A depressed local management team, with a depleted technology budget, must reinvent all operating procedures dependent on the new information system.
Databases Modeling of Engineering Information
Authors: Ma Z. M.
Published: May 2011

Information systems have become the nerve center of current computer-based engineering applications, which hereby put the requirements on engineering information modeling. Databases are designed to support data storage, processing, and retrieval activities related to data management, and database systems are the key to implementing engineering information modeling. It should be noted that, however, the current mainstream databases are mainly used for business applications. Some new engineering requirements challenge today’s database technologies and promote their evolvement. Database modeling can be classified into two levels: conceptual data modeling and logical database modeling. In this chapter, we try to identify the requirements for engineering information modeling and then investigate the satisfactions of current database models to these requirements at two levels: conceptual data models and logical database models. In addition, the relationships among the conceptual data models and the logical database models for engineering information modeling are presented in the chapter viewed from database conceptual design.
Similarity Search for Voxelized CAD Objects
Authors: Kriegel Hans-Peter , Kröger Peer , Pfeifle Martin , Brecheisen Stefan , Pötke Marco , Schubert Matthias , Seidl Thomas
Published: May 2011

Similarity search in database systems is becoming an increasingly important task in modern application domains such as multimedia, molecular biology, medical imaging, and many others. Especially for CAD (Computer-Aided Design), suitable similarity models and a clear representation of the results can help to reduce the cost of developing and producing new parts by maximizing the reuse of existing parts. In this chapter, we present different similarity models for voxelized CAD data based on space partitioning and data partitioning. Based on these similarity models, we introduce anindustrial prototype, called BOSS, which helps the user to get an overview over a set of CAD objects. BOSS allows the user to easily browse large data collections by graphically displaying the results of a hierarchical clustering algorithm. This representation is well suited for the evaluation of similarity models and to aid an industrial user searching for similar parts.
Business Data Warehouse
Authors: Bose Indranil , Chun Lam A.K. , Yue Leung V.W. , Ines Li H.W. , Helen Wong O.L.
Published: May 2011

The retailing giant Wal-Mart owes its success to the efficient use of information technology in its operations. One of the noteworthy advances made by Wal-Mart is the development of the data warehouse which gives the company a strategic advantage over its competitors. In this chapter, the planning and implementation of the Wal-Mart data warehouse is described and its integration with the operational systems is discussed. The chapter also highlights some of the problems encountered in the developmental process of the data warehouse. The implications of the recent advances in technologies such as RFID, which is likely to play an important role in the Wal-Mart data warehouse in future, is also detailed in this chapter.
Risk Planning and Management
Authors: Brandon Daniel M.
Published: May 2011

Success today in the business world (whether as an employee, manager, executive, or self-employed businessperson) involves taking some risks. The systems that are changing the world today are very risky, but the payback is enormous (DeMarco & Lister, 2003). One needs to know how to manage risk, however, including how to identify risk sources, quantify risk parameters, and develop plans to handle risk; these are the topics covered in this chapter. Risks are inevitable in projects (particularly IT projects), and if a PM does not practice sound risk management, that PM may constantly be in a crisis-management mode. The high failure rate of modern large IT projects, such as those involving EAI/ERP, CRM, and SCM, is largely due to senior management and project management’s failure to assess risks up front and to mitigate the causes of the greatest risks at the start of the project (Gibson, 2003). An adequate analysis of potential risks can significantly increase the likelihood of success for a project and can justify dollar amounts set aside for management reserves. “Risk management is increasingly seen as one of the main jobs of project managers” (Sommerville, 2003).
Social Structures for Access, Use, and Development
Authors: Parkinson Sarah
Published: May 2011

This chapter focuses on the importance of social structures in enabling equitable access opportunities and useful applications of ICTs. It further argues for the importance of community involvement and organizational learning in designing ICT policy and projects with access and development-related objectives. Funders and policy makers have tended to overlook these and overemphasized technical dimensions of projects and accountability at the expense of social aspects and flexibility required to incorporate learning back into projects. After reviewing the literature, the chapter presents an example of a program in Uganda and a short project in Ghana which both used organizational partnerships and created strong community links to facilitate ICT-enabled development. This underscores the need for policy makers to create a climate in which not-for-profit organizations are able to create these kinds of partnerships and create meaningful community links.
Capacity Development Initiatives for Marginal Communities
Authors: Islam M. Aminul , Murelli Elena , Noronha Frederick , Rahman Hakikur
Published: May 2011

Capacity development initiatives for marginal communities with information and knowledge under the contemporary global scenario perhaps could be one of the effective instruments to make a meaningful change towards sustainable human development in developing countries. Information networking can play a key role in the initiatives toward enhancing opportunities for improved livelihood, health for all, food security, disaster management, and sustainable development. Best practices are already known in this regard such as e-commerce for better livelihood and employment, telemedicine for health, tele-food for food security, early warning for disaster preparedness, and sustainable development network as a comprehensive treatment for the sustainable development. This chapter focuses on how capacity development initiatives for marginal communities work with reference toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in developing countries. It approaches the issues and concerns related with the empowerment of the marginal communities, problems, and apprehensions in human and social capacity development in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. A lot more effort is required from governments, NGOs, and other multilateral agencies in order to bring about a sustainable mechanism of ICT planning, implementations, and development in developing countries. This chapter aims at highlighting the importance of ICT development, and the issues and concerns that are related for its expansion in the developing world for securing sustainable development.
Computational Intelligence as a Platform for a Data Collection Methodology in Management Science
Authors: Jespersen Kristina R.
Published: May 2011

With an increased focus in management science on how to collect data close to the real world of managers, we consider how agent-based simulations have interesting prospects that are usable for the design of business applications aimed at the collection of data. As an example of a new generation of data collection methodologies, this chapter discusses and presents a behavioral simulation founded in the agent-based simulation life cycle and supported by Web technology. With agent-based modeling the complexity of the method can be increased without limiting the research as a result of limited technological support. This makes it possible to exploit the advantages of a questionnaire, an experimental design, a role-play and a scenario, gaining the synergy of a combination of these methodologies. At the end of the chapter an example of a simulation is presented for researchers and practitioners to study. 1
Modeling Brand Choice Using Boosted and Stacked Neural Networks
Authors: Potharst Rob , Rijthoven Michiel V. , Wezel Michiel C.V.
Published: May 2011

Starting with a review of some classical quantitative methods for modeling customer behavior in the brand choice situation, some new methods are explained which are based on recently developed techniques from data mining and artificial intelligence: boosting and/or stacking neural network models. The main advantage of these new methods is the gain in predictive performance that is often achieved, which in a marketing setting directly translates into increased reliability of expected market share estimates. The new models are applied to a well-known data set containing scanner data on liquid detergent purchases. The performance of the new models on this data set is compared with results from the marketing literature. Finally, the developed models are applied to some practical marketing issues such as predicting the effect of different pricing schemes upon market share.
Artificial Intelligence in Electricity Market Operations and Management
Authors: Dong Zhao Y. , Saha Tapan K. , Wong Kit P.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces advanced techniques such as artificial neural networks, wavelet decomposition, support vector machines, and data-mining techniques in electricity market demand and price forecasts. It argues that various techniques can offer different advantages in providing satisfactory demand and price signal forecast results for a deregulated electricity market, depending on the specific needs in forecasting. Furthermore, the authors hope that an understanding of these techniques and their application will help the reader to form a comprehensive view of electricity market data analysis needs, not only for the traditional time-series based forecast, but also the new correlation-based, price spike analysis.
Analytical Customer Requirement Analysis Based on Data Mining
Authors: Jiao Jianxin , Zhang Yiyang , Helander Martin
Published: May 2011

This chapter applies data-mining techniques to help manufacturing companies analyze their customers’ requirements. Customer requirement analysis has been well recognized as one of the principal factors in product development for achieving success in the marketplace. Due to the difficulties inherent in the customer requirement analysis process, reusing knowledge from historical data suggests itself as a natural technique to facilitate the handling of requirement information and the tradeoffs among many customers, marketing and engineering concerns. This chapter proposes to apply data-mining techniques to infer the latent information from historical data and thereby improve the customer requirement analysis process.
From WebQuests to Virtual Learning
Authors: Zheng Robert
Published: May 2011

WebQuest as an Internet-based instructional model has recently been widely adopted in K-16 education. However, its underlying principles and functionality are not well understood, which has resulted in an inconsistency in practice. This chapter investigates the factors that are critical to the design and development of WebQuests from the perspective of students. The four constructs of constructivist problem-solving, social interaction, motivation, and scaffolding were identified as factors critical to WebQuest learning. The identified factors were further studied in a larger context with a focus on virtual teams and virtual learning. Suggestions were made on how to improve the existing practice in virtual team design in light of the factors identified in WebQuest learning.
Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning
Authors: Orvis Kara L. , Lassiter Andrea L.R.
Published: May 2011

In collaborative learning, interaction among learners is essential for effective knowledge acquisition and increased understanding. Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environments often inhibit or cause problems with learner-learner interactions. This chapter takes an applied perspective of what the instructor can do to identify and manage learner-learner relationships in a CSCL environment. Using a model of virtual team effectiveness, we identify potential motivational, cognitive, and affective problems between learners that are often exacerbated by computer-mediated technologies. Recommendations for instructor interventions designed to promote effective learner interactions are offered. This information will provide insight to both corporate trainers and K-12 educators on how instructors can promote appropriate and positive learner-learner interaction in CSCL environments.
Technology and Religion
Authors: George Susan Ella
Published: May 2011

This text examines technology and religion. We start by pausing to define technology. We find that the superficial definitions describe examples of technology. The deeper definitions seek to identify its nature and essence. Overall, technology is to be distinguished from science. Unlike science, technology is applied to daily life. Science seeks knowledge as an end in itself. Science can be considered to be “neutral,” without any moral or ethical bias, while technology can never be neutral because it is applied. In technology, there are questions of what applications are made and what is done with the technological product.
The Techno-Religious Age
Authors: George Susan Ella
Published: May 2011

First, we consider the “spiritual search” that many have found to be foundational to humanity. Religion is foundational to humanity across the world. To some extent, sociology is a “secular panacea” for what classical philosophy called “The religious quest.” The religious, and nonreligious quest is a search for meaning most commonly understood in religious contexts as a search for “god.” In the last decade of the 20th century, a number of authors have recognized that technology is being used for a “spiritual quest.” Increasingly, this is being expressed through the Internet and World Wide Web. The “search beyond Google” represents this human quest for meaning. Even though organised religion may be declining, the religious quest is not necessarily abating. Technology, along with some “alternative” religious expressions, is supporting the present day search.
21st Century Christian
Authors: George Susan Ella
Published: May 2011

This chapter makes a focus on in the 21st century. We start with a focus on the ideology that was Christendom, tracing its origins, rise, and decline, in order to appreciate the present context. We find that Christendom represented a political alliance between church and state that, in many ways, compromised the church, and represented a secular invasion into it. The persecutions of the early church were abated, although the influences of the Roman Empire and imperial court remain to this day in church buildings, in the distinction of clergy from laity, in the passive nature of worship, and in many other ways. In accordance with those theologians who find religion to be a “human construction,” Christianity in Christendom is, in many ways, the ultimate defiance, inhibiting both “faith” and God’s self-revelation.