bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Human Centrality of Conversational Learning
Authors: McIntyre Boyd Gary
Published: May 2011

More responsible and potent World-wide distributed cybersystemic education is now essential for the survival of eudamonic human being. The main thrust of this chapter is that multi-level multi-perspectival learning conversations supported by manipulatable realia workspaces are essential for potent and responsible education. Three types of conversation: 1) about why we are learning this, 2) about what this amounts to, and 3) about how to better learn, are (after Harri-Augstein & Thomas, 1991) taken as primary. And employed to construct the argument for using and improving versions of learning support ventures based on Gordon Pask’s Conversation Theory. Roy Bhaskar’s Meta-Reality Philosophy provides an appealing novel approach toward legitimating our whole collective undertaking.
Telling Stories
Authors: Dennen Vanessa P. , Sota Melinda
Published: May 2011

This chapter tells the story of how one course used storytelling to support class discussions and assessments. Stories were told by both the instructor and the learners, providing examples and non-examples of the concepts being addressed. Stories also were provided for class analysis and interpretation. Storytelling was found to be an effective tool for promoting conversation among students because it encourages reciprocity, is motivational, and helps learners make personal connections to the learning material. Instructors should scaffold storytelling for learners via both modeling and facilitation, indicating what types of stories are appropriate to share, what level of detail is necessary to support the connection between theory and experience, and how to demonstrate the connection between theory and experience.
Knowledge Mining for Adaptive Multimedia Web-Based Educational Platform
Authors: Zhuhadar Leyla , Nasraoui Olfa , Wyatt Robert
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces an Adaptive Web-Based Educational platform that maximizes the usefulness of the online information that online students retrieve from the Web. It shows in a data driven format that information has to be personalized and adapted to the needs of individual students; therefore, educational materials need to be tailored to fit these needs: learning styles, prior knowledge of individual students, and recommendations. This approach offers several techniques to present the learning material for different types of learners and for different learning styles. User models (user profiles) are created using a combination of clustering techniques and association rules mining. These models represent the learning technique, learning style, and learning sequence, which can help improve the learning experience on the Web site for new users. Furthermore, the user models can be used to create an intelligent system that provides recommendations for future online students whose profile matches one of the mined profiles that represents the discovered user models.
Modeling Techniques for Knowledge Management
Authors: Schauer Hanno , Schauer Carola
Published: May 2011

Knowledge management is an umbrella concept for different management tasks and activities. Various modeling abstractions and techniques have been developed providing specialized support for different knowledge management tasks. This article gives an overview of modeling abstractions that are frequently discussed in the knowledge management literature as well as some promising techniques in a mature research state. Six groups of modeling techniques are presented and additionally evaluated with respect to their suitability for different fields of applications within the knowledge management domain.
FON
Authors: Márquez-García Alfonso Miguel , Garrido-Álvarez María Teresa , del Carmen Moreno-Martos María
Published: May 2011

FON is a revolution, or at least is defined as such on its Web page (http://en.fon.com) and the multiple posts that inundate the blogsphere. Its objective is to create a universal and unified Wi-Fi network that allows the members of its community to share not only bandwidth, but also experiences and ideals. FON is a virtual community of Wi-Fi users worldwide making use of spare bandwidth from customers’ broadband connections. This enormous Wi-Fi network, practically free of charge, is the new project of Martin Varsavsky, an entrepreneur who in the past 20 years has created seven innovative businesses, nearly all in the high tech sector. The generalization of broadband connections and the development of Wi-Fi and WiMax wireless technologies will change the competitive landscape of the telecommunications sector, which will lead businesses to retool their business models, both with relation to Internet and mobile telephones. With its visionary nature, FON is trying to position itself in this new context and for this purpose has the financial and strategic support of top companies such as Google, eBay, and Skype.
Opportunities and Challenges in the Health Care IT Sector
Authors: Garman Andrew N. , Patel Mayur , Hart Rod
Published: May 2011

The health care sector represents one of the largest and most rapidly growing IT markets in the world. Health care lends itself readily to IT entrepreneurship in a number of ways, but also poses some unique challenges. Many of these facets are illustrated through the experiences of ShiftMarket, a startup company developing and promoting technology-driven solutions for staffing hard-to-fill hospital shifts. Started without any external funding, ShiftMarket negotiated a strong beginning by pursuing technology transfer in collaboration with a U.S. hospital rather than building from scratch. At the time of this case study, ShiftMarket is facing some unexpected challenges and must re-evaluate its strategy moving forward.
Evaluating the Construction of Domain Ontologies for Recommender Systems Based on Texts
Authors: Loh Stanley , Lichtnow Daniel , Borges Thyago , Piltcher Gustavo
Published: May 2011

This chapter investigates different aspects in the construction of a domain ontology to a content-based recommender system. The recommender systems suggests textual electronic documents from a Digital Library, based on documents read by the users and based on textual messages posted in electronic discussions through a web chat. The domain ontology is used to represent the user’s interest and the content of the documents. In this context, the ontology is composed by a hierarchy of concepts and keywords. Each concept has a vector of keywords with weights associated. Keywords are used to identify the content of the texts (documents and messages), through the application of text mining techniques. The chapter discusses different approaches for constructing the domain ontology, including the use of text mining software tools for supervised learning, the interference of domain experts in the engineering process and the use of a normalization step.
Using Space Technology for Disaster Monitoring, Mitigation and Damage Assessment
Authors: Pace Pasquale
Published: May 2011

The theme of this chapter is how space technologies and satellite applications can mitigate the impact of natural and man-made disasters. The objective is to provide the reader with an overview of the most important space technologies for both monitoring and telecommunications and to shown the main issues in managing a disaster response. The chapter is divided into three parts. Firstly, the potential of remote sensing satellites related to natural disasters is described. Then, in the second part of the chapter, the strength and the weakness of space-based telecommunication architectures for the emergency and recovery phase are outlined. Finally, international policies currently applied for emergency management and disaster recovery will be described trying to individuate the needs for an optimal provision of information and accessibility of space related services and coordination of existing in-orbit assets in case of disaster.
The Satellite Internet
Authors: Chodorek Agnieszka , Chodorek Robert R.
Published: May 2011

The aim of this chapter is to show the satellite Internet as a new quality, which was created thanks to the convergence of satellite communication and data networks. The chapter describes the development of satellite communication and satellite data networks, presents methods of Internet access via satellite and discuss the opportunities and challenges of building effective commercial services based on satellite Internet. The main advantages of the satellite Internet are high bandwidth, very good availability (in practice: anywhere in the world), and natural IP multicasting. Although getting broadband Internet access by satellite is considered very expensive, independence from the local infrastructure results in the satellite Internet being a good solution for both business communications (a corporate network or its fragments) and remote area communications (rural communications and services to isolated communities).
Application of Satellite Earth Observation for Improving the Implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements
Authors: Kuriyama Ikuko
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the potential of satellite Earth Observation (EO) as a tool for improving the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). It provides the technical and legal characteristics of EO and discusses the unique advantages of EO in collecting the environmental information which is a key for effective implementation of MEAs. It also studies the challenges and future steps for application of EO into MEAs process. Emerging trends and recent initiatives are introduced for reader’s future consideration. By showing the issues surrounding such an application, author hopes to contribute to the further promotion of EO application to the effective implementation of MEAs.
Extraterrestrial Space Regimes And Macro-Projects
Authors: Kraniou Dimitris J.
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines macro-projects to be deployed in outer space. A feasibility study is used to analyze the deployment of such projects in extraterrestrial realms. Moreover, the author argues that these projects will have substantial socio-economic and political impacts on the international community of nations. Deploying permanent human facilities in space, mining planetary surfaces, asteroids, and a host of other activities will require the use of macro-projects. These macro-projects will be complex by nature. They will require the use of human and technical networks for their completion. All that can be done. It can be accomplished by using the skills and talents of people coming from a variety of ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds.
Commerce in Space
Authors: Goehlich Robert A.
Published: May 2011

Space tourism is the term broadly applied to the concept of paying customers traveling beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Operating reusable launch vehicles might be a first step to realize mass space tourism. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to investigate the potential hurdles along with other important aspects of space tourism flights utilizing reusable launch vehicles. The primary elements are social issues, e.g. “Is space tourism acceptable concerning ethical aspects?”, institutional issues, e.g. “Is environmental pollution caused by space tourism harmful compared to other emission sources?” and financial issues, e.g. “Are there any potential investors interested in space tourism?”. Fig. 1 shows a selection of key aspects of space tourism, which includes hurdles and opposing forces. Hurdles and opposing forces could be harmful for a successful establishment and enhancement of space tourism activities. These potential hurdles in commercial space travel need to be considered thoroughly, preferably before actual activation of the first regular space tourist services (Goehlich, 2003). Those aspects are discussed in this chapter after giving some brief information on space tourism in the background section.
Riddle of the Sphinx
Authors: Marks-Tarlow Terry
Published: May 2011

This chapter interprets the myth of Oedipus in light of interpersonal neurobiology and second-order cybernetics, where observers are self-referentially implicated within the observed. The riddle of the Sphinx, “What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?” is understood as a paradox of self-reference in apparent contradiction with all known laws of science. From a developmental perspective, traumatic residues from King Laius’ attempted infanticide uniquely prepare Oedipus to solve the Sphinx’s riddle. Oedipus’ capacity for full self-reference is equated with the operation of the most powerful universal Turing machine with both implicit and explicit memory of its past. That Oedipus could move beyond literal thought to interpret morning, noon, and evening as stages of human life proves pivotal. Oedipus’ use of metaphor and abstraction to solve a paradox of self-reference signals humankind’s transition to greater levels of internal complexity, including more fully self-reflective consciousness.
Thinking Animals and Thinking Machines
Authors: Scalzone Franco , Zontini Gemma
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we will examine some similarities between computer science and psychoanalysis, and we will formulate some hypotheses by bringing closer the statute of connectionism to the energetic model of the psychic apparatus, as well as OOP (object-oriented programming) to the object relations theory. We will make some remarks on the machine and people theme, the way in which people relate to machines, especially “thinking machines,” describing the fantasies they arouse. In order to do this, we will use Tausk’s classic (1919/1933) “On the Origin of the ‘Influencing Machine’ in Schizophrenia,” as well as some of Freud’s writings.
Portfolio Optimization Using Evolutionary Algorithms
Authors: Yu Lean , Wang Shouyang , Lai Kin Keung
Published: May 2011

In this study, a double-stage evolutionary algorithm is proposed for portfolio optimization. In the first stage, a genetic algorithm is used to identify good-quality assets in terms of asset ranking. In the second stage, investment allocation in the selected good-quality assets is optimized using another genetic algorithm based on Markowitz’s theory. Through the two-stage genetic optimization process, an optimal portfolio can be determined. Experimental results obtained reveal that the proposed double-stage evolutionary algorithm for portfolio optimization provides a very useful tool to assist the investors in planning their investment strategy and constructing their portfolio.
Knowledge Creation in Commitment-Based Value Networks in Multinational Organizations
Authors: Gadman Leslie
Published: May 2011

The digital networked economy has gone global and is reshaping traditional business models. “Free” and “open source” software (Raymond, 1999) along with more recent successes in the private, public and social sectors offer a vision of a radically new globally networked economy. This economy is characterized by new sources of value creation and competition as barriers to entry are lowered and substitution made easier. It also requires a more stratified, localized approach to the marketplace (Hart and Milstein, 2003) to meet more specialized demands from customers and the societies and environments within which they live. These challenges have implications for almost every aspect of a firm’s strategy and business model, especially its ability to leverage these networks to create value through innovation. Yet, most multinational firms are ill – equipped to take advantage of the knowledge creation derived from high value relationships with suppliers, complementors and customers. This chapter shows the importance of developing a corporate strategy which takes into account ways in which an innovation focus must integrate with installed business processes. This chapter considers the challenges associated with knowledge disclosure, diffusion and utilization (Snowdon, 2002; Spinosa, Flores and Dreyfus, 2001) across value networks and concludes that while successful examples exist in “Free” and “open source” software projects (Raymond, 1999) commercialization of innovation becomes more challenging when increasing levels of personal and financial commitment are required (Mauer, Rai and Sali, 2004). Choosing the most appropriate value networking strategy can have serious implications for success. This chapter adds to studies on knowledge creation and knowledge transfer in multinational corporations by proposing a conceptual model of commitment based value networking strategy. It is hoped this will contribute to future research by offering a theoretical foundation upon which this research may be based and explains why and under what conditions people in commitment based value networks share knowledge.
KAFRA
Authors: Okunoye A.
Published: May 2011

Multiple case studies in India, The Gambia, and Nigeria are the background for an empirically grounded framework of knowledge management (KM). Cultural diversity and gaps in the provision of infrastructure make managing knowledge challenging but necessary in developing countries. These cultural and infrastructural issues are also related to governmental, educational, political, social, and economic factors. These environmental factors interact with organizational variables and information technology to enable or constrain knowledge management processes in the creation and protection of knowledge resources. The framework can help organizations to prepare their KM projects, to reveal problems during the project, and to assess its outcomes.
The Role of Culture in Knowledge Management
Authors: Leidner D. , Alavi M.
Published: May 2011

Knowledge management (KM) approaches have been broadly considered to entail either a focus on organizing communities or a focus on the process of knowledge creation, sharing, and distribution. While these two approaches are not mutually exclusive and organizations may adopt aspects of both, the two approaches entail different challenges. Some organizational cultures might be more receptive to the community approach, whereas others may be more receptive to the process approach. Although culture has been cited widely as a challenge in knowledge management initiatives, and although many studies have considered the implications of organizational culture on knowledge sharing, few empirical studies address the influence of culture on the approach taken to knowledge management. Using a case study approach to compare and contrast the cultures and knowledge management approaches of two organizations, the study suggests ways in which organizational culture influences knowledge management initiatives as well as the evolution of knowledge management in organizations. Whereas in one organization, the KM effort became little more than an information repository, in the second organization, the KM effort evolved into a highly collaborative system fostering the formation of electronic communities.
Architecting Knowledge Management Systems
Authors: Kambhampaty Shankar
Published: May 2011

Organizations need well architected systems for Knowledge Management (KM). This chapter begins with a review of approaches adopted by organizations for developing KM solutions. It defines a set of components that can form the building blocks for developing a Knowledge Management system. The relevance of the principles of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) to KM solutions is explained. It presents the architecture of a generic Knowledge Management system based on the components defined and the principles of SOA. It then discusses the patterns for implementing the architecture followed by maturity levels of Knowledge Management systems.
Developing a Standardization Best Practice by Cooperation Between Multinationals
Authors: de Vries Henk J.
Published: May 2011

This Chapter presents a case of knowledge sharing between multinational companies. The companies cooperated to develop a common best practice for the development of company standards through sharing their practices. The Chapter describes how this best practice was developed and tested. Experiences in this successful project may help other multinationals to also profit from knowledge sharing. Critical success factors are the willingness to be open, the culture of cooperation and the involvement of academia.
A Cross-National Comparison of Knowledge Management Practices in Israel, Singapore, the Netherlands, and the United States
Authors: Camp II Ronald D. , Dana Leo-Paul , Korot Len , Tovstiga George
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this chapter is to explore organizational knowledge-based practices. A distinguishing feature of the successful post-Network Age enterprise is its intrinsic entrepreneurial character that manifests itself in key organizational knowledge practices relating to organizational culture, processes, content and infrastructure. The chapter reports on the outcome of field research in which entrepreneurial firms in four geographic regions were analyzed with the help of a diagnostic research tool specifically developed for profiling organizational knowledge-based practices. The diagnostic tool was applied in firms located in Silicon Valley in the USA, Singapore, The Netherlands and Israel. Key practices that were found to be common to leading-edge firms in all regions included: a propensity for experimentation, collective knowledge sharing, and collective decision-making. The chapter describes the research in terms of a cross-cultural comparison of the four regions, derives key determinants of competitiveness, and profiles regional characteristics that enhance innovation and entrepreneurship.
From e Learning to m Learning
Authors: Grew Phillip , Pagani Elena , Giudici Francesco
Published: May 2011

The term e learning indicates products that differ very much both in services supplied and in design. E learning platforms do not necessarily involve networking as a fundamental component. However, networking is important both to ease access to course material and to support interaction among users. Networking should be exploited to allow remote access to students who cannot be present at lessons, to allow asynchronous learning whenever students have time, to supply users with tools for cooperative learning regardless of their physical location. The spread of wireless networking technologies and their standardization will lead to innovations in all three of these aspects. This chapter focuses on the services whose deployment computer networks make possible in order to boost interactivity, cooperation and involvement in learning, with specific attention to ubiquitous learning and for the impact of wireless technologies on the general framework.
From Learning Objects to Adaptive Content Services for E-Learning
Authors: Brusilovsky Peter , Wade Vincent P. , Conlan Owen
Published: May 2011

This paper argues that a new generation of powerful E-learning systems could start on the crossroads of two emerging fields: courseware re-use and adaptive educational systems. We argue for a new distributed architecture for E-learning systems based on the idea of adaptive reusable content services. This paper discusses problems that have to be solved on the way to the new organization of E-learning and reviews existing approaches and tools that are paving the way to next generation E-learning systems. It also presents two pioneer systems - APeLS and KnowledgeTree that have attempted to develop a new service-based architecture for adaptive E-learning.
Internet Reverse Auctions
Authors: Gattiker Thomas F.
Published: May 2011

Once a company implements an internet reverse auction platform, buyers often have considerable discretion as to whether or not to utilize it. This paper discusses many reasons for fire non-adoption of Internet reverse auctions. The focus is on factors that impact the fit between the Internet reverse auction technology and the characteristics of the particular purchasing task that the buyer must carry out (i.e., characteristics of the material or service to be purchased in the market that it is to be purchased from). Data (qualitative comments) were collected from buyers within one firm. The comments detail the reasons that buyers have not used reverse auctions for particular commodities. Of the 9 factors identified in the literature review, 4 were actually cited by buyers. These are: specifiability, level of competition for the buyer’s business, importance of non-price factors, and dollar volume
Economic Effects of Electronic Reverse Auctions
Authors: Arnold Ulli , Schnabel Martin
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes the economic effects caused by the use of electronic reverse auctions along the procurement process. It argues that an analysis of these economic effects requires the consideration of the whole transaction process. The approaches of the new institutional economics provide a theoretical foundation for the analysis. The second part of the chapter deals with the single steps of an auction-integrated procurement process. Through this holistic view of the procurement process the authors emphasize the additional benefits and the danger caused by auctions. A better awareness of the procurement process enables better decisions concerning the choice of benefits which are worth pursuing.
Developing Trust-Based Relationships in Online Procurement Auctions
Authors: Duck Janet M.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the challenges involved with developing trust and commitment in online procurement auctions. Online procurement auctions, otherwise known as e-auctions, are becoming increasingly more popular for conducting business-to-business transactions. However, many studies suggest that the success rate for e-auctions is down considerably. This may be due, in large part, to the absence of trust between the buyer/seller in this virtual arena. This chapter summarizes the current literature on trust and collaboration in the e-auction supply chain and discusses the processes in place that may contribute to the lack of trust between parties. Viewpoints of the buyer and seller are presented. Common issues are identified and the challenges associated with creating trust and fairness in the e-auction environment is revealed. Proactive strategies must be in place in order for stakeholders to maintain trust in this environment and to gain benefits from this virtual supply chain process. Future areas of study in this area are critical to its success.
Reverse Auction Impact on Mining Company
Authors: Delina Radoslav , Lavrin Anton
Published: May 2011

The case describes the initial implementation and evaluation of an e-procurement system, using reverse auctions, for a large manufacturer of brown coal in the Slovak Republic. One of the biggest problems when making decisions on e-business investments is unclear return on investment (ROI) and uncertainty about what method should be used for measuring the results. An outline of the reverse auction process is provided, followed by the presentation of a number of metrics that evaluate the current performance of the system versus intended future performance matrix. Specifically, it focuses on the ROI and other performance indicators that have been adjusted according to e-commerce specifics, particularly to procurement with dynamic pricing transactions. The case results proved that the investment into the e-commerce solution is highly effective in reducing input costs.
A Policy-Based Authorization Framework for Web Services
Authors: Bhatti Rafae , Sanz Daniel , Bertino Elisa , Ghafoor Arif
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a policy-based authorization framework to apply fine-grained access control on Web services. The framework is designed as a profile of the well-known WS-Policy specification tailored to meet the access control requirements in Web services by integrating WS-Policy with an access control policy specification language, X-GTRBAC. The profile is aimed at bridging the gap between available policy standards for Web services and existing policy specification languages for access control. The profile supports the WS-Policy Attachment specification, which allows separate policies to be associated with multiple components of a Web service description, and one of our key contributions is an algorithm to compute the effective policy for the Web service given the multiple policy attachments. To allow Web service applications to use our solution, we have adopted a component-based design approach based on well-known UML notations. We have also prototyped our architecture in a loosely coupled Web services environment.
Semantic Integration and Knowledge Discovery for Environmental Research
Authors: Chen Zhiyuan , Gangopadhyay Aryya , Karabatis George , McGuire Michael , Welty Claire
Published: May 2011

Environmental research and knowledge discovery both require extensive use of data stored in various sources and created in different ways for diverse purposes. We describe a new metadata approach to elicit semantic information from environmental data and implement semantics-based techniques to assist users in integrating, navigating, and mining multiple environmental data sources. Our system contains specifications of various environmental data sources and the relationships that are formed among them. User requests are augmented with semantically related data sources and automatically presented as a visual semantic network. In addition, we present a methodology for data navigation and pattern discovery using multi-resolution browsing and data mining. The data semantics are captured and utilized in terms of their patterns and trends at multiple levels of resolution. We present the efficacy of our methodology through experimental results.
Privacy
Authors: Rada Roy
Published: May 2011

The contemporary concerns for privacy are not that an official will physically enter and search someone’s house or that the newspaper will take photographs of private events. Rather the concern is for the use of records, particularly in computers.
Civil Liability of ISPs, the Internet, and Law
Authors: Osuji Onyeka K. , Eze Emmanuel
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the Internet and law relationship. Using rules and decisions on ISP liability for civil defamation to illustrate, the chapter attempts to identify and proffer solutions to the challenges posed by the Internet to law. It suggests legal recognition of the distinctive nature of the Internet by policy makers and administrators as the key to addressing the legal issues continually raised by the Internet with the result that appropriate legal strategies would be applied to the Internet. The chapter also advocates international legislative action on the Internet issues. Law, including its substantive and procedural contents, interpretation and administration, is an important factor for encouraging or hindering continued Internet development.
Towards an ICT4D Geometry of Empowerment
Authors: Rubinoff Donna D.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces actor-network theory (ANT) as an approach to the analysis and improvement of the use of ICT for development (ICT4D). It argues that ANT helps to conceptualize ICT beyond the technological systems of the conventional “digital divide.” ANT supports thinking about the sociotechnical networks that incorporate humans, hardware, institutions, texts, and policies, etc. into ICT networks. It also supports the inclusion of marginal actors, helps to address development problems from the perspective of those populations, and traces the networks of power that supports their participation or exclusion. The author hopes that the ideas in this chapter will promote further discussion on the topic and the refinement of an analytical framework for ICT4D.
The Paradigm of E-Commerce in E-Government and E-Democracy
Authors: Stahl Bernd Carsten
Published: May 2011

During its relatively short history e-commerce, the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in business has been more successful and glamorous than e-government or e-democracy, the comparable use of ICT in governments and administration. This may be the reason why many government initiatives try to emulate the success of e-commerce by using concepts, processes, technologies, and approaches pioneered by businesses. This paper analyses the relevance and limits of this use of e-commerce as a paradigm in government. For this purpose it starts out by distinguishing between e-government and e-democracy. In the following step the paper discusses which factors have led to the success of e-commerce and might therefore be applicable as parts of the paradigm. It then discusses the strengths and the weaknesses of e-commerce as applied to government. The conclusion will be that there are good reasons to use the commercial paradigm in e-government and e-democracy. However, this may lead to an unintended shift towards e-government. E-democracy may even be weakened by the paradigm which might turn out to be detrimental to the democratic legitimacy of e-government and e-democracy.
An Agent-Oriented Enterprise Model for Early Requirements Engineering
Authors: Jureta Ivan J. , Faulkner Stephane , Kolp Manuel
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces an agent-oriented enterprise model for conducting enterprise modeling during the early stages of information system requirements engineering. The enterprise model integrates a set of concepts and relationships that the analyst instantiates when building a model of the part of the organization in which the future information system will operate. The aim is to allow the analyst to produce an enterprise model which captures knowledge about an organization and its business processes, and which can be used to build an agent-oriented requirements specification of the future system and of its organizational environment. Compared to similar models, the present one integrates concepts and relationships allowing the analyst to capture the relevant intrinsic characteristics, such as autonomy and intentionality of human and software agents that are to participate in the future system.
An Ontology for Secure Socio-Technical Systems
Authors: Massacci Fabio , Mylopoulos John , Zannone Nicola
Published: May 2011

Security is often compromised by exploiting vulnerabilities in the interface between the organization and the information systems that support it. This reveals the necessity of modeling and analyzing information systems together with the organizational setting where they will operate. In this chapter we address this problem by presenting a modeling language tailored to analyze the problem of security at an organizational level. This language proposes a set of concepts founded on the notions of permission, delegation, and trust. The chapter also presents a semantics for these concepts, based on Datalog. A case study from the bank domain is employed to illustrate the proposed language.
Linking Ontological Conceptions and Mapping Business Life Worlds
Authors: Jackson Paul , Webster Ray
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a methodology developed to elicit knowledge for the design of a corporate Intranet within a government agency. This Intranet was intended to supply knowledge management systems solutions to various problems such as work duplication, document location, and accessing tacit expertise that was distributed across different office locations and departments. An inventory of the pertinent knowledge was required. We situate our discussion of this undertaking within the context of ontology and what it means for something to be a depiction of a socially constructed reality, a representation of the knowledge of a group. We developed a methodology combining soft systems methodology, causal cognitive mapping, and brainstorming to create a knowledge ontology using UML class diagrams. The methodology offers an effective approach for understanding nonroutine yet rigorous knowledge work and conveying relevant and contextual knowledge to the designers of solutions.
Modeling Strategic Partnerships Using the E3value Ontology
Authors: Kort Carol , Gordijn Jaap
Published: May 2011

The banking industry is subject to a wave of consolidation taking the form of mergers but also the formation of strategic partnerships. In this chapter, we present how such a partnership can be assessed using the e3value ontology. This ontology allows us to model networks of enterprises and partnerships, exchanging things of economic with each other. To adequately model strategic partnerships, the e3value ontology has been extended to represent investment arrangements and outsourcing constructs. All this is explained using an industry-strength case banking study.
A Language and Algorithm for Automatic Merging of Ontologies
Authors: Cuevas-Rasgado Alma-Delia , Guzman-Arenas Adolfo
Published: May 2011

Ontologies are becoming important repositories of information useful for business transactions and operations since they are amenable to knowledge processing using artificial intelligence techniques. They offer the potential of amassing large contents of relevant information, but until now the fusion or merging of ontologies, needed for knowledge buildup and its exploitation by machine, was done manually or through computer-aided ontology editors. Thus, attaining large ontologies was expensive and slow. This chapter offers a new, automatic method of joining two ontologies to obtain a third one. The method works well in spite of inconsistencies, redundancies, and different granularity of information.
DART
Authors: Al-Shakarchi Eddie , Taylor Ian
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the DART (Distributed Audio Retrieval using Triana) project as a framework for facilitating the distributed processing and analysis of audio and Music Information Retrieval. The chapter begins by discussing the background and history of Grid and P2P technologies, the Triana framework, the current tools already developed for audio-rate signal processing, and also gives a description of how Triana is employing a decentralized P2P framework to support MIR applications. A music recommendation system is proposed to demonstrate the DART framework, and the chapter also documents the DART team’s progress towards the creation of a working system. The authors hope that introducing the DART system to the MIR community will not only inform them of a research tool that will benefit the entire field of MIR, but also establish DART as an important tool for the rest of the audio and research communities.
Using Pocket PCs for Nurses' Shift Reports and Patient Care
Authors: Chang Karen , Lutes Kyle D. , Braswell Melanie L. , Nielsen Jacqueline K.
Published: May 2011

Nurses working in hospitals with paper-based systems often face the challenge of inefficiency in providing quality nursing care. Two areas of inefficiency are shiftto- shift communication among nurses, and access to information related to patient care. An integrated IT system, consisting of Pocket PCs and a desktop PC interfaced to a hospital’s mainframe system, was developed. The goal was to use mobile IT to give nurses easier access to patient information. This chapter describes the development of this system and reports the results of a pilot study: a comparison of time spent in taking and giving shift reports before and after the study and nurses’ perceptions of the mobile IT system. Results showed a significant difference in taking shift reports and no significant difference in giving shift reports. Nurses stated that quick and easy access to updated patient information in the Pocket PC was very helpful, especially during mainframe downtime.
Interacting with Interaction Histories in a History-Enriched Environment
Authors: Shirai Yoshinari , Nakakoji Kumiyo , Yamamoto Yasuhiro
Published: May 2011

A ubiquitous computing environment would capture a large amount of interaction histories of objects in the environment over a long period of time. Such interaction histories serve as valuable sources of information for people to solve problems and make decisions in the present time. Our approach is to enrich the space by providing interaction history information through noticeable wear expressed within a physical environment. A history-enriched environment (HEE) allows people to use interaction histories of people, things, and places on demand, and to obtain relevant information by tracing links among objects. We argue that taking into account two aspects of people’s cognitive activities—situated encountering and information-triggered information needs—is key to building an HEE. This chapter describes how to design an HEE through the Optical Stain environment, which we designed as an HEE.
Wireless Technologies for Mobile Computing
Authors: Issac Biju , Tan C. E.
Published: May 2011

Mobility and computing were two concepts that never met a decade or two ago. But with the advent of new wireless technologies using radio propagation, the impossible is now becoming possible. Though there are many challenges to be overcome in terms of improving the bandwidth and security as with a wired network, the developments are quite encouraging. It would definitely dictate the way we do transactions in future. This chapter briefly explores some popular wireless technologies that aid in mobile computing, like 802.11 networks, Bluetooth networks, and HomeRF networks. Under 802.11 networks, we investigate the details of both infrastructure and ad hoc networks and its operations. The reader is thus made aware of these technologies briefly along with their performance, throughput, and security issues, which finally concludes with user preferences of these technologies.
Traceability in Model-Driven Software Development
Authors: Walderhaug Ståle , Stav Erlend , Johansen Ulrik , Olsen Gøran K.
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces a tracability solution for use in a model-driven software development approach. It argues that a trace model based on a provided traceability metamodel will provide a flexible solution for all types of artifacts to be traced througout the lifetime of a software system. The proposed traceability solution is demonstrated in the BusCatcher example where traces are established and analyzed. The authors hope that the metamodel and solution design can assist researchers and tool vendors in the development of unified trace models and services for model-driven software development approaches. Only then can the full potential of traceability be achieved.
A Framework for Understanding the Open Source Revolution
Authors: Elpern Jeff , Dascalu Sergiu
Published: May 2011

Traditional software engineering methodologies have mostly evolved from the environment of proprietary, large-scale software systems. Here, software design principles operate within a hierarchical decision- making context. Development of banking, enterprise resource and complex weapons systems all fit this paradigm. However, another paradigm for developing software-intensive systems has emerged, the paradigm of open source software. Although from a traditional perspective open source projects might look like chaos, their real-world results have been spectacular. This chapter presents open source software development as a fundamentally new paradigm driven by economics and facilitated by new processes. The new paradigm’s revolutionary aspects are explored, a framework for describing the massive impact brought about by the new paradigm is proposed, and directions of future research are outlined. The proposed framework’s goals are to help the understanding of the open source paradigm as a new economic revolution and stimulate research in designing open source software.
Extending Classical Planning for Time
Authors: Garrido Antonio , Onaindia Eva
Published: May 2011

The recent advances in AI automated planning algorithms have allowed to tackle with more realistic problems that involve complex features such as explicit management of time and temporal plans (durative actions and temporal constraints), more expressive models of actions to better describe real-world problems (conservative models of actions vs. non-conservative models), utilisation of heuristic techniques to improve performance (strategies to calculate estimations and guide the search), etc. In this chapter we focus on these features, and present a review of the most successful techniques for temporal planning. First, we start with the optimal planning-graph-based approach, we do a thorough review of the general methods, algorithms and planners and finish with heuristic state-based approaches, both optimal and suboptimal. Second, we discuss the inclusion of time features into a Partial Order Causal Link (POCL) approach. In such an approach, we analyse the possibility of mixing planning with Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs), formulating the planning problem as a CSP and leaving the temporal features to a CSP solver. The ultimate objective here is to come up with an advanced, combined model of planning and scheduling. Third, we outline some techniques used in hybrid approaches that combine different techniques. Finally, we provide a synthesis of many well-known temporal planners and present their main techniques.
Principles of Constraint Processing
Authors: Barták Roman
Published: May 2011

Solving combinatorial optimization problems such as planning, scheduling, design, or configuration is a non-trivial task being attacked by many solving techniques. Constraint satisfaction, that emerged from AI research and nowadays integrates techniques from areas such as operations research and discrete mathematics, provides a natural modeling framework for description of such problems supported by general solving technology. Though it is a mature area now, surprisingly many researchers outside the CSP community do not use the full potential of constraint satisfaction and frequently confuse constraint satisfaction and simple enumeration. This chapter gives an introduction to mainstream constraint satisfaction techniques available in existing constraint solvers and answers the question “How does constraint satisfaction work?”. The focus of the chapter is on techniques of constraint propagation, depth-first search, and their integration. It explains backtracking, its drawbacks, and how to remove these drawbacks by methods such as backjumping and backmarking. Then, the focus is on consistency techniques; it explains methods such as arc and path consistency and introduces consistencies of higher level. It also presents how consistency techniques are integrated with depth-first search algorithms in a look-ahead concept and what value and variable ordering heuristics are available there. Finally, techniques for optimization with constraints are presented.
Induction as a Search Procedure
Authors: Konstantopoulos Stasinos , Camacho Rui , Fonseca Nuno A. , Costa Vítor Santos
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) from the perspective of search algorithms in Computer Science. It first briefly considers the Version Spaces approach to induction, and then focuses on Inductive Logic Programming: from its formal definition and main techniques and strategies, to priors used to restrict the search space and optimized sequential, parallel, and stochastic algorithms. The authors hope that this presentation of the theory and applications of Inductive Logic Programming will help the reader understand the theoretical underpinnings of ILP, and also provide a helpful overview of the State-of-the-Art in the domain.