bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Semi Virtual Workplaces in German Financial Service Enterprises
Authors: Knoell Heinz D.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we will present semi virtual workplace (SVWP) concepts in the German financial sector (FS) industry. We give a short introduction into the problem and an overview of the German FS market and its recent developments under European Community (EC) legislation. In the next sections we present three German FS companies that apply successfully semi virtual workplace concepts, followed by detailed descriptions of two semi virtual concepts: strict alternating use of a workplace by two employees (every other day an employee is in his home office) and the concept of the business club, where the employees choose daily their workplace out of a workplace pool when they work on-site. In the last section we compare the concepts and draw conclusion. Further we outline our future research.
The Benefits of Using Print-On-Demand or POD
Authors: Franzén Eric
Published: May 2011

The Internet and other new technologies have made possible an ever-growing availability of distribution channels. New paths are being blazed for independent book authors to reach readers and business models have been notably altered for traditional book publishers. Content creators of the past faced many obstacles in publishing hard copy books including lack of manufacturing knowledge, high production costs, and warehouse overheads. Only large publishers with demonstrated business plans could survive the marketplace to produce works at the quantities required to maintain viability. This is rapidly changing. Many companies are surfacing that offer Print-On-Demand (POD), a technology that allows a book to be produced in quantities as low as one book, and distributed only after the demand for that book has been proven (the book has already been sold). Because most content is already in digital form, it can be uploaded to vendors’ Web sites, stored, and produced at will on digital printing devices (upgraded copiers). The companies then can bind and professionally finish the work before shipment to the buyer. Books can be listed on numerous Web sites and found by related topic area Web searches. Links to Amazon or a POD vendor’s Web site can complete the transaction. The author simply takes his cut once demand has been shown. Not much knowledge is required of the mechanical process of producing the book, production costs are covered by the unit’s sale, and there is no warehouse to stock. Independent authors, university presses, and commercial publishing houses all have new options and these options are proving valuable.
Rapid Virtual Enterprising to Manage Complex and High-Risk Assets
Authors: Liyanage Jayantha P.
Published: May 2011

Operational enterprising is gradually emerging as a new solution to manage offshore assets on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS). This is seen as an inevitable step-change with respect to obvious commercial challenges in the immediate future, and thus has become an integral component in the new efficiency leap of oil and gas (O&G) production business. This rapid enterprising solution in principal is based on the use of advanced ICT solutions, and active integration of technical disciplines, experts, and organizations to establish Smart assets. This would eventually allow the offshore assets to be supported and managed on a 24/7 online real-time basis irrespective of the geographical location. It has already begun to break the conventional organizational barriers and has brought an explosive growth in the use of advanced technologies. Current rapid enterprising practice on NCS exemplifies the usability of robust technologies blended with innovative organizational solutions as new frontiers in search of commercial excellence.
Application of Online Questionnaires in Grammar Teaching
Authors: Yu Leo Kam-hung
Published: May 2011

The consciousness-raising approach to grammar teaching aims to provide opportunities for students to identify some grammatical components through noticing activities and then make their own hypotheses about those components. This chapter proposes the application of the WebCT questionnaire to develop outside-class activities through which students are able to test and refine their hypotheses in order to internalize the grammar rules. It was found that students were more motivated and participated in the activities of testing and refining their hypotheses than in the past. Besides, students were exposed to more interlanguage samples that might have helped them refine their hypotheses. It is hoped that this chapter gives teachers better understanding of the needs of Chinese university students in grammar learning and offers them some innovative and effective teaching ideas in grammar teaching.
CMC and Intercultural Learning
Authors: Möllering Martina , Ritter Markus
Published: May 2011

One key theme in the area of computer-assisted language learning has been the potential of computermediated communication (CMC) for the language learning process. Here, CMC refers to communication conducted through the medium of computers connected to one another in local or global networks. It requires specific software tools and can be either synchronous (e.g., chat, audio- or videoconferencing) or asynchronous (e.g., e-mail, threaded discussion lists). This chapter explores how CMC might contribute to language learning and teaching. Starting off with an overview of the development of research in this field, a model for the analysis of successful telecollaboration procedures and processes is used for the discussion of a German-Australian exchange.
Corpora in the Classroom and Beyond
Authors: Kreyer Rolf
Published: May 2011

Although corpus linguistic methods and research have had a considerable impact on language teaching in the last few decades, the corpus is still mostly regarded as a device in the hands of the teacher rather than the students. This is most probably due to a number of serious problems that need to be considered when allowing students unlimited access to the wealth of corpus-linguistic data. In this chapter it is argued that these problems are to be taken seriously and that a fundamental prerequisite for student use of corpora is what I call ‘corpus competence.’ Such a corpus competence will not only help students to make use of corpora in the classroom but will also prepare the grounds for use of corpora in noninstitutionalized contexts and as a tool for life-long learning.
Sharing Corpus Resources in Language Learning
Authors: Chambers Angela , Wynne Martin
Published: May 2011

Since the early 1990s, researchers have been investigating the effectiveness of corpora as a resource in language learning, mostly creating their own small corpora. As it is neither feasible nor desirable to envisage a future in which all teachers create their own corpora, and as the content of language courses is similar in many universities throughout the world, the sharing of resources is clearly necessary if corpus data are to be made available to language teachers and learners on a large scale. Taking one small corpus as an example, this chapter aims to investigate the issues arising if corpus consultation is to become an integral part of the language-learning environment. The chapter firstly deals with fundamental questions concerning the creation and reusability of corpora, namely planning, construction, documentation, and also legal, moral and technical issues. It then explores the issues arising from the use of a corpus of familiar texts, in this case a French journalistic corpus, with advanced learners. In conclusion we propose a framework for the optimal use of corpora with language learners in the context of higher education.
The CALL Lab as a Facilitator for Autonomous Learning
Authors: Shucart Stephen Alan , Mishina Tsutomu , Takahashi Mamoru , Enokizono Tetsuya
Published: May 2011

Unlike most CALL labs that are purchased from a vender and employ either generic or commercial CALL software and technologically untrained teachers, the CALL lab at Akita Prefectural University was specifically designed by trained CALL professionals, who then wrote browser-based software custom- tailored to the textbooks and needs of the technology students who use it. This chapter delineates a project conducted to further improve the multimedia CALL lab as it prepared for a state-of-the-art update in the fall semester of 2006. Since this particular lab is utilized to facilitate the student-centered program, as opposed to the traditional, teacher-centered CALL lab that often functions as no more than a digital blackboard, the results of this project provided important feedback to allow for the instigation of cutting edge Web 2.0 innovations, specifically the open-source VLE called MOODLE.
Artificial Higher Order Neural Network Nonlinear Models
Authors: Zhang Ming
Published: May 2011

This chapter delivers general format of Higher Order Neural Networks (HONNs) for nonlinear data analysis and six different HONN models. This chapter mathematically proves that HONN models could converge and have mean squared errors close to zero. This chapter illustrates the learning algorithm with update formulas. HONN models are compared with SAS Nonlinear (NLIN) models and results show that HONN models are 3 to 12% better than SAS Nonlinear models. Moreover, this chapter shows how to use HONN models to find the best model, order and coefficients, without writing the regression expression, declaring parameter names, and supplying initial parameter values.
Higher Order Neural Networks with Bayesian Confidence Measure for the Prediction of the EUR/USD Exchange Rate
Authors: Knowles Adam , Hussain Abir , El Deredy Wael , Lisboa Paulo G.J. , Dunis Christian L.
Published: May 2011

Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLP) are the most common type of neural network in use, and their ability to perform complex nonlinear mappings and tolerance to noise in data is well documented. However, MLPs also suffer long training times and often reach only local optima. Another type of network is Higher Order Neural Networks (HONN). These can be considered a ‘stripped-down’ version of MLPs, where joint activation terms are used, relieving the network of the task of learning the relationships between the inputs. The predictive performance of the network is tested with the EUR/USD exchange rate and evaluated using standard financial criteria including the annualized return on investment, showing a 8% increase in the return compared with the MLP. The output of the networks that give the highest annualized return in each category was subjected to a Bayesian based confidence measure. This performance improvement may be explained by the explicit and parsimonious representation of high order terms in Higher Order Neural Networks, which combines robustness against noise typical of distributed models, together with the ability to accurately model higher order interactions for long-term forecasting. The effectiveness of the confidence measure is explained by examining the distribution of each network’s output. We speculate that the distribution can be taken into account during training, thus enabling us to produce neural networks with the properties to take advantage of the confidence measure.
Application of Pi-Sigma Neural Networks and Ridge Polynomial Neural Networks to Financial Time Series Prediction
Authors: Ghazali Rozaida , Al-Jumeily Dhiya
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the use of two artificial Higher Order Neural Networks (HONNs) models; the Pi- Sigma Neural Networks and the Ridge Polynomial Neural Networks, in financial time series forecasting. The networks were used to forecast the upcoming trends of three noisy financial signals; the exchange rate between the US Dollar and the Euro, the exchange rate between the Japanese Yen and the Euro, and the United States 10-year government bond. In particular, we systematically investigate a method of pre-processing the signals in order to reduce the trends in them. The performance of the networks is benchmarked against the performance of Multilayer Perceptrons. From the simulation results, the predictions clearly demonstrated that HONNs models, particularly Ridge Polynomial Neural Networks generate higher profit returns with fast convergence, therefore show considerable promise as a decision making tool. It is hoped that individual investor could benefit from the use of this forecasting tool.
Vulnerability Analysis and Defenses in Wireless Networks
Authors: Mohammed Lawan A. , Issac Biju
Published: May 2011

This chapter shows that the security challenges posed by the 802.11 wireless networks are manifold and it is therefore important to explore the various vulnerabilities that are present with such networks. Along with other security vulnerabilities, defense against denial of service attacks is a critical component of any security system. Unlike wired networks where denial of service attacks has been extensively studied, there is a lack of research for preventing such attacks in wireless networks. In addition to various vulnerabilities, some factors leading to different types of denial of service (DoS) attacks and some defense mechanisms are discussed in this chapter. This can help to better understand the wireless network vulnerabilities and subsequently more techniques and procedures to combat these attacks may be developed by researchers.
Security in 4G
Authors: Hecker Artur , Badra Mohamad
Published: May 2011

The fourth generation (4G) of mobile networks will be a technology-opportunistic and user-centric system combining the economic and technological advantages of different transmission technologies to provide a context-aware and adaptive service access anywhere and at any time. Security turns out to be one of the major problems that arise at different interfaces when trying to realize such a heterogeneous system by integrating the existing wireless and mobile systems. Indeed, current wireless systems use very different and difficult to combine proprietary security mechanisms, typically relying on the associated user and infrastructure management means. It is generally impossible to apply a security policy to a system consisting of different heterogeneous subsystems. In this chapter, we first briefly present the security of candidate 4G access systems, such as 2/3G, wireless LAN (WLAN), WiMax, and so forth. In the next step, we discuss the arising security issues of the system interconnection. We namely define a logical access problem in heterogeneous systems and show that both the technology-bound, low-layer and the overlaid high-layer access architectures exhibit clear shortcomings. We present and discuss several proposed approaches aimed at achieving an adaptive, scalable, rapid, easy-to-manage, and secure 4G service access independently of the used operator and infrastructure. We then define general requirements on candidate systems to support such 4G security.
Security in UMTS 3G Mobile Networks
Authors: Xenakis Christos
Published: May 2011

This chapter analyzes the security architecture designed for the protection of the universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). This architecture is built on the security principles of second generation (2G) systems with improvements and enhancements in certain points in order to provide advanced security services. The main objective of the third generation (3G) security architecture is to ensure that all information generated by or relating to a user, as well as the resources and services provided by the serving network and the home environment are adequately protected against misuse or misappropriation. Based on the carried analysis the critical points of the 3G security architecture, which might cause network and service vulnerability are identified. In addition, the current research on the UMTS security and the proposed enhancements that aim at improving the UMTS security architecture are briefly presented and analyzed.
Generic Application Security in Current and Future Networks
Authors: Holtmanns Silke , Laitinen Pekka
Published: May 2011

This chapter outlines how cellular authentication can be utilized for generic application security. It describes the basic concept of the generic bootstrapping architecture (GBA) that was defined by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) for current networks and outlines the latest developments for future networks.The chapter will provide an overview of the latest technology trends in the area of generic application security.
Security in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Palafox Luis E. , Garcia-Macias J. Antonio
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we present the growing challenges related to security in wireless sensor networks. We show possible attack scenarios and evidence the easiness of perpetrating several types of attacks due to the extreme resource limitations that wireless sensor networks are subjected to. Nevertheless, we show that security is a feasible goal in this resource-limited environment; to prove that security is possible we survey several proposed sensor network security protocols targeted to different layers in the protocol stack. The work surveyed in this chapter enable several protection mechanisms vs. well documented network attacks. Finally, we summarize the work that has been done in the area and present a series of ongoing challenges for future work.
Routing Security in Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Naseer A.R. , Maarouf Ismat K. , Hasan Ashraf S.
Published: May 2011

Since routing is a fundamental operation in all types of networks, ensuring routing security is a necessary requirement to guarantee the success of routing operation. Securing routing task gets more challenging as the target network lacks an infrastructure-based routing operation. This infrastructure-less nature that invites a multihop routing operation is one of the main features of wireless sensor networks that raises the importance of secure routing problem in these networks. Moreover, the risky environment, application criticality, and resources limitations and scarcity exhibited by wireless sensor networks make the task of secure routing much more challenging. All these factors motivate researchers to find novel solutions and approaches that would be different from the usual approaches adopted in other types of networks. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive treatment of the routing security problem in wireless sensor networks. The discussion flow of the problem in this chapter begins with an overview on wireless sensor networks that focuses on routing aspects to indicate the special characteristics of wireless sensor networks from routing perspective. The chapter then introduces the problem of secure routing in wireless sensor networks and illustrates how crucial the problem is to different networking aspects. This is followed by a detailed analysis of routing threats and attacks that are more specific to routing operation in wireless sensor networks. A research-guiding approach is then presented to the reader that analyzes and criticizes different techniques and solution directions for the secure routing problem in wireless sensor network. This is supported by state-of-the-art and familiar examples from the literature. The chapter finally concludes with a summary and future research directions in this field.
Evaluating Security Mechanisms in Different Protocol Layers for Bluetooth Connections
Authors: Kambourakis Georgios , Rouskas Angelos , Gritzalis Stefanos
Published: May 2011

Security is always an important factor in wireless connections. As with all other existing radio technologies, the Bluetooth standard is often cited to suffer from various vulnerabilities and security inefficiencies while attempting to optimize the trade-off between performance and complementary services including security. On the other hand, security protocols like IP secure (IPsec) and secure shell (SSH) provide strong, flexible, low cost, and easy to implement solutions for exchanging data over insecure communication links. However, the employment of such robust security mechanisms in wireless realms enjoins additional research efforts due to several limitations of the radio-based connections, for example, link bandwidth and unreliability. This chapter will evaluate several Bluetooth personal area network (PAN) parameters, including absolute transfer times, link capacity, throughput, and goodput. Experiments shall employ both Bluetooth native security mechanisms, as well as the two aforementioned protocols. Through a plethora of scenarios utilizing both laptops and palmtops, we offer a comprehensive in-depth comparative analysis of each of the aforementioned security mechanisms when deployed over Bluetooth communication links.
Cooperation Between Universities and ICT Enterprises
Authors: Kettunen Juha , Luoto Lauri
Published: May 2011

This study presents the regional development of universities aiming to increase their external impact on their environment. The purpose is to show that the activities of regional development and quality assurance at universities are important means of promoting the development of ICT in the region. Regional development is analysed in this study using the approach of quality assurance, which provides a general framework to analyse the cooperation between universities and enterprises operating in information and communication technology. The approach provides practical concepts, examples, and tools for universities to increase their external impact on their respective regions. The analysis of regional development strengthens the ability of the university to design its external engagement in its activities, report on the result achieved and prepare itself for external evaluations. The study contributes to the knowledge and practice of regional development in higher education and presents how educational institutions can support their regional engagement and incorporate the regional development in its activities. Regional cooperation between a higher education institution and ICT enterprises is illustrated with examples. Conclusions and recommendations are drawn based on the findings.
E-Learning
Authors: Hegarty Cecilia
Published: May 2011

Entrepreneurial knowledge and innovation resonates with positive views, hence the need to tell everyone about entrepreneurship and give students the opportunity to learn more about it. By the same token, universities have long experimented with different learning environments to accommodate student needs (Hannay & Newvine, 2006). Internet-based education and distance learning are commonly known as e-learning. E-learning provides a method of reaching high volumes of students within a culturally rich virtual workspace. It is arguable that e-learning has become a cornerstone tool in entrepreneurship delivery. This chapter aims to stimulate debate among practitioners on the use of information technology in the process of entrepreneurial learning. Learning activity, pedagogical shifts within the wider disciplines of entrepreneurship education, and the spin-off effects for entrepreneur training programs are all considered. The application of information technology through entrepreneurship e-learning packages is shown to have magnified the entrepreneurship potential in wider society.
Cybercafé Systems Security
Authors: Mohammed Lawan Ahmed
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the vulnerability and security issues associated with the use and operations of Internet cafés or cybercafés by demonstrating different methods of launching different attacks especially when using commercial Internet cafés in a way that renders the system or other systems inoperable. It discusses the challenges facing those operating and managing Internet cafes, governments, parents, and even educators to ensure proper preventive measures, guidelines, and laws needed to protect the system against breaches, misuses, and abuses. It also argues that defense mechanism against breaches should be dynamic and strong enough due to the increasing number of new freely available cracking tools and harmful Web sites. In addition, virus, worms, Trojan horse, adware, malware, and spyware are spreading beyond imagination. Further, the chapter discusses different defense mechanisms.
Cyber Security of Children
Authors: Mutula Stephen M.
Published: May 2011

This author discusses issues and threats to children’s cyber security vis-à-vis access to useful children online literature and the implications for sub-saharan Africa. The author points out that whereas the benefits of online children literature are immense especially in Africa where there is paucity of print literature, increasing cyber security and crime targeting children is of growing concern to governments, school teachers, parents, and Internet service providers. The chapter observes that whereas the developed world has made attempts to put in place mechanisms and systems such as acceptable user policies and protection software to mitigate undesirable consequences of online insecurity to which children are the most vulnerable, Africa is lagging behind despite the pervading Internet on the continent. The author notes that censorship of online literature is not the panacea to cyber insecurity, but parents should work closely with teachers and service providers to find pragmatic ways of protecting children online. Africa could learn a lot from developed countries on how to balance between access to useful online information resources against the growing cyber crime targeting children. The author cautions that the future of online security with regard to children’s safety in cyberspace is bound to become more complex as technologies become more advanced and online predators evolve sophisticated ways to circumvent online security measures, calling for the development of a proactive security strategy to protect children online.
Issues, Controversies, and Problems of Cybercafés Located in a University Campus
Authors: Otokunefor Henrietta O.C. , Kari Hudron K.
Published: May 2011

This chapter takes a look at the use of campus cybercafés as a possible solution to the inadequate or lack of Internet facilities in Nigerian university libraries. It argues that campus cybercafés are most likely for now the avenue whereby their faculty, students, researchers, and other members of the university community can have online access to the world’s leading peer-reviewed journals. This is because some of the libraries are yet to have Internet facilities while those that do have, do not have enough to cater for the large population of users. Secondly, these libraries through three or more global initiatives are provided with free online journal access in support of the UN millennium development goals making campus cybercafés partners in the provision of Internet facilities to the university communities in which they are located. The chapter therefore discusses the issues, controversies, and problems of their operations in relation to cyber security in order to know the level of security awareness among their users, identify serious security threats, and to find out the type of anti-virus software used.
Software Requirements for Cybercafés
Authors: Ajewole Ayotokunbo I.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses basic software that should be found in a typical cybercafé setup. ‘Software requirements’ are broadly divided into requirements for the server side and client side of the network. As a commercial venture, it is of great importance that only necessary software be found installed in a cybercafé, to meet the café user’s need. Starting with an introduction, a general overview of the café user’s needs are set forth, thereby leading to the division into two broad areas: server and client side. An outline of the chapter is given. The background section gives some details on some basic terminologies (server, client, operating system, etc.) that a cybercafé user/prospective operator might want to get acquainted with. Software requirements for the server side of the café network are discussed first; general features of timing softwares, notes on Internet security, viruses, and spyware. As the café server is a very important element in café management, it is necessary that the server is not overwhelmed by unnecessary tasks thereby leading to a generally slow network. Software for the client side of the café network is discussed next with emphasis on basic software applications often used/requested by café users. Examples of such are word processing applications and graphics viewing software. Since a lot of computer literate people are familiar with the Windows operating system, all software discussed for client use derives from such a perspective. Some security issues necessary for maintaining crisp client computers are also discussed. Due to lack of in-depth knowledge about information security among internet users, the future trends section discusses the applicability of the personal Internet communicator in the Nigerian environment, because of its portability and built in security. Other possible trends in security and cyber-crime are also discussed. The chapter ends with a note that café users will continue to demand faster Internet speeds, and therefore operators must be on the search for latest software to meet their needs, latest security software to keep their café network always clean and secure. Future research directions include software development research to allow café users modify or design their desktops to their own taste while in the café. Complete café solution software is also proposed to cater for everything from operating systems to end-user applications which can be installed once, and from a single source.Literature used for this chapter is sourced mainly from the Internet, and from personal experience of the author, as there are not literatures dealing with ‘cybercafé software’ on a specific note. A whole lot of software are been used, and could be used in a café. This depends actually on general client’s requirements and/or the operator’s amount of know-how /preferences which may vary across different environments.
Adaptive Search and Learning-Based Approaches for Automatic Web Service Composition
Authors: Milanovic Nikola , Malek Miroslaw
Published: May 2011

We investigate architectural properties required for supporting automatic service composition. First, composable service architecture will be described, based on modeling Web services as abstract machines supported by formally defined composition operators. Based on the proposed infrastructure, we introduce and analyze several options for achieving automatic service composition by treating it as a search problem. Namely, basic heuristic search, probabilistic, learning-based, decomposition, and bidirectional automatic composition mechanisms will be presented and compared. Finally, we discuss the impact and outlook for automatic composition.
The Application of International Software Engineering Standards in Very Small Enterprises
Authors: Laporte Claude Y. , Renault Alain , Alexandre Simon
Published: May 2011

The software industry recognizes the value of very small enterprises in contributing valuable products and services to the economy. As the quality of software increasingly becomes a subject of concern and process approaches are maturing and gaining the confidence of companies, the use of ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC71 standards is spreading in organizations of all sizes. However, these standards were not written for development organizations with fewer than 25 employees and are consequently difficult to apply in such small settings. A new ISO/IEC JTC1 SC7 Working Group, WG24, has been established to address some of these difficulties by developing profiles and providing guidance for compliance with ISO software engineering standards. A survey was conducted to question these very small organizations about their utilization of ISO/IEC JTC1 SC7 standards and to collect data to identify problems and potential solutions to help them apply these standards. Over 400 responses were received from 32 countries. Results from the survey are discussed.
QuickLocus
Authors: Kohan Sarah , Schneck de Paula Pessôa Marcelo , de Mesquita Spinola Mauro
Published: May 2011

Many small-sized organizations have a significant role in the software business. A good software development process is the best way to assure quality to software products. Audits and evaluations are commonly used to verify implementation and certify the development process. This chapter describes the development and application of QuickLocus, a special-purpose evaluation method of software process developed to be applied in small-sized organizations. QuickLocus has been successfully applied since January 2003 by more than 50 organizations in process improvement programs. The reason for QuickLocus success is its low-cost methodology and its capability to output reliable information for kicking off a software improvement process. QuickLocus will provide organizations ways to be more competitive—producing better products at lower costs faster—ready to compete in the international software market. This chapter is organized in three parts: foundation, method, and results. The first one is theoretical and presents how the method was developed. The second part details the method itself, and the third part presents the method application results.
User Help and Service Navigation Features in Government Websites
Authors: Stowers Genie N.L.
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines user help and service navigation features in government websites and compares them across levels of government. These features are critical to ensuring that users unfamiliar with government are able to successfully and easily access e-government services and information. The research finds clear patterns in the use of similar help and navigation features across governments, leading to a conclusion that these features are diffusing in the public sector web development field. The chapter concludes by stating that web developers should work to overcome a second digital divide—one of a lack of knowledge of website organization and government structure. Users need to be actively assisted to find information by web developers.
Civic Engagement via E-Government Portals
Authors: Chen Yu-Che , Dimitrova Daniela
Published: May 2011

This exploratory study examines civic engagement with e-government via Web sites. It provides an analytical framework that integrates both the supply and demand sides of citizen interaction with e-government. In modeling three dimensions of online civic engagement (government information access, service transactions, and contributing to government policy-making processes), the study framework incorporates a number of variables, including political activism, civic involvement, perceived benefits and difficulties, information channels, and demographic characteristics. Based on a national sample of Internet users, the study highlights the importance of the supply side (availability of e-government) for promoting civic engagement. Furthermore, political activism is found to be positively related to accessing government policy information and contributing to policy-making processes. The study results also confirm the significant impact of perceived benefits in fostering online civic engagement. Future research can benefit from this study by utilizing a more comprehensive model, treating various dimensions of online engagement separately, and conducting an in-depth analysis of the elements of perceived benefits.
Human Effect of Knowledge Sharing
Authors: Kim Jaekyung , Lee Sang M. , Olson David L.
Published: May 2011

Knowledge sharing is important for organizational success. Once IT-driven KM approaches are proliferated, they sometimes fail to operate as expected. Social perspectives of KM, especially the human effect on knowledge sharing, are expected to be important because people can choose to share or conceal knowledge. Management of knowledge is not all about collection, but more about connection. This study investigates an individual’s behavior type as a cooperator, reciprocator, and free rider with respect to knowledge contribution. We view shared knowledge in a community of practice as a public good and adopt a theory of reciprocity to explain how different cooperative types affect knowledge contribution. People are assumed to react in one of three ways; sharing knowledge without need for reciprocity (cooperators), feeling obligated to share their knowledge (reciprocators), or taking knowledge for granted (free riders). Results reveal that the fraction of cooperator is positively related to total knowledge contribution and to reciprocity level, while the reciprocity level positively affects knowledge contribution.
A Method for Knowledge Modeling with Unified Modeling Language (UML)
Authors: Kim Sung-kwan , Lim Seongbae , Mitchell Robert B.
Published: May 2011

Since knowledge management (KM) is considered to be an important function of the successful business operation, many organizations are embracing KM. The success of a KM project is dependent upon its contents. This paper presents a method for building an effective knowledge model which can help businesses analyze and specify knowledge contents. The method takes a decision-oriented view. For the modeling language of the method, Unified Modeling Language (UML) has been chosen. The method is applied to the vessel scheduling process in a maritime shipping company. The steps and rules are explained using an example, and the strengths and weaknesses of the method are discussed.
Knowledge Management and Hurricane Katrina Response
Authors: Murphy Tim , Jennex Murray E.
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores the use of knowledge management with emergency information systems. Two knowledge management systems that were utilized during Hurricane Katrina response are described and analyzed. The systems specified were developed by both federal agencies as well as grass root efforts without the support or mandate of government programs. These programs, although developed independently, were able to share data and interact in life saving capacities, transcending traditional geo-political boundaries. We conclude that emergency information systems are enhanced by incorporating knowledge management tools and concepts.
The Marvels of Analogy
Authors: Geisler Eliezer
Published: May 2011

Within the limited human existence, the knowledge we accumulate expands indefinitely. For every sediment of knowledge we add to our base, a relatively immense volume of other potential knowledge may be explored and accessed. Neuroscientists agree that we utilize only a small portion of our brains in the processing of knowledge. We are limited by our capacity to explore the environment with our senses and constraints by our brain’s ability to process, store, and retrieve the knowledge we do absorb.
Epistemetrics
Authors: Geisler Eliezer
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the nation of “epistemetrics,” the metrics of knowledge. This is a conceptual space which consists of the measurement of the attributes of knowledge, including its origins, processes, flow, and the assessment of its value to users. Epistemetrics is a subfield of the study of knowledge and knowledge systems. It is coined here as the encompassing definition of the measurement of the phenomenon of knowledge.
The Neuronal Model of Knowledge Systems, Data Mining, and the Performance of Organizations
Authors: Geisler Eliezer
Published: May 2011

Why do we continue with our misplaced confidence in this primitive model? Among the possible reasons, I propose the following four key factors. First, since the middle of the twentieth century, we have accumulated and have become accustomed to an enormity of data and information. We designed and constructed massive warehouses—physical and electronic—to store and to manipulate this massive collection. We currently, for instance, have information on almost all working people, including their credit history, economic and financial activities, and their health and employment experience. To the chagrin and desperation of supporters of individual liberties and of privacy advocates, almost all private and public organizations are in possession of even minute details of our lives. In short, as a society, we have too much data and information at our disposal, and we continue to collect and store an ever-growing quantity of whatever information we are allowed to gather.
Introduction to This Book
Authors: Mitra Amit , Gupta Amar
Published: May 2011

This chapter establishes the scope of this book, and introduces the business problem it is trying to solve. The chapter also introduces our approach to engineering business agility and integration by identifying components of knowledge which may be reused in multiple contexts.
IT Governance Implementation Guide
Authors: van Grembergen Wim , De Haes Steven
Published: May 2011

There is no real “silver bullet” (the ideal way) for implementing and maintaining good IT governance within an organization. Organizations differ in culture and size, they operate in different sectors, and they may own a different market position resulting in different business strategies. These different contingencies have a direct impact on the organizational structure and processes, and as such have a direct impact on the IT governance mechanisms.
Agile Software Development in Practice
Authors: Rossi Matti , Merisalo-Rantanen Hilkka , Tuunanen Tuure
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores agile information practices of information systems development and argues that their history is much longer than what is generally believed today. We take an interpretive and critical view of the phenomenon. We made an empirical study of two companies that apply an XP-style development approach throughout the information systems development life cycle. The results of our research suggest that XP is a combination of best practices of traditional information systems development methods. It is hindered by its reliance on talented individuals, which makes its large-scale deployment as a general-purpose method difficult. We claim that XP can be useful for small colocated teams of skilled domain experts and implementers who are able to communicate well with the end users. However, these skilled and motivated individuals with high working morale can exhibit high productivity regardless of the methods used if they are not overly constrained by bureaucracy.
Matching Models of Different Abstraction Levels
Authors: Soffer Pnina , Reinhartz-Berger Iris , Sturm Arnon
Published: May 2011

This chapter deals with the reuse of models, which assists in constructing new models on the basis of existing knowledge. Some of the activities that support model reuse, such as model construction, retrieval, and validation, may involve matching models on the basis of semantic and structural similarity. However, matching for the purposes of retrieval and validation relates to models of different abstraction levels, hence structural similarity is difficult to assess. This chapter proposes the concept of refinement equivalence, which means that a detailed model is a refinement of an abstract model. It emphasizes the use of refinement equivalence for the purpose of validating a detailed application model against an abstract domain model in the context of a domain analysis approach called application-based domain modeling (ADOM). We discuss the structural characteristics of refinement operations in object-process methodology (OPM) models, and present an algorithm that detects refinement equivalence.
Managing Government Agency Collaboration through Social Networks
Authors: Parise Salvatore
Published: May 2011

Public and private-based organizations are increasingly relying on collaboration—the coordination of two or more individuals, groups or companies working together to achieve a common goal or to create mutual value—to meet customer and market needs. Collaboration requires “rich” employee communication mechanisms that involve both people finding and interacting with subject-matter experts inside and outside their organization as well as people tapping into and incorporating structured information (e.g., the latest market research reports) and “unstructured knowledge” (e.g., expert opinions discussed at conferences) as part of their work projects. Today’s collaboration needs require networks of employees, often with different areas of expertise, organizational affiliations, job levels, or company tenure, to coordinate in near real-time to perform knowledge-based work. Organizations with a focus on the acquisition, interpretation, and sharing of intelligence information can benefit by understanding the barriers to collaboration and how fostering social networks among employees and key stakeholders results in more effective collaboration. This article provides an illustrated example involving a government intelligence agency of how social network analysis can be used to understand social networks. A framework composed of three components, collaborative IT tools, talent management and networked work processes, to enable and apply social networks is also introduced.
Theory and Management of Data Semantics
Authors: Gillman Daniel W. , Farance Frank
Published: May 2011

Almost every organization, public or private, for profit or non-profit, manages data in some way. Data is a major corporate resource. It is produced, analyzed, stored, and disseminated. And, it is poorly documented. Descriptions of data are essential for their proper understanding and use by people inside and outside the organization. For instance, systems for disseminating data on the Internet require these descriptions (Census Bureau, n.d.). Either inside or outside the organization, functions of the system support finding the right data for a study, understanding data from a particular source, and comparing data across sources or time (Gillman, Appel, & LaPlant, 1996).
Knowledge Management System Success
Authors: Liu Shih-Chen , Olfman Lorne , Ryan Terry
Published: May 2011

This article presents the empirical testing of a theoretical model of knowledge management system success. The Jennex and Olfman model of knowledge management system success was developed to reflect the DeLone and McLean model of information systems success in the knowledge management context. A structural equation model representing the Jennex and Olfman theoretical model is developed. Using data from a prior study aimed at knowledge management system use and individual learning, this model is tested. The overall fit of the model to the data is fair, although some interpretation of the estimated model parameters is problematic. The results of the model test provide limited support for the Jennex and Olfman theoretical model, but indicate the value of continued investigation and refinement of it. Suggestions for future research are provided.
Knowledge Intermediation
Authors: Scarso Enrico , Bolisani Ettore , Di Biagi Matteo
Published: May 2011

Since knowledge is increasingly regarded as the central source of competitive advantage, a “cognitive” interpretation of business activities becomes vital. With regard to this, the flourishing field of knowledge management (KM) provides useful insights into approaches to a systematic and explicit management of knowledge. Furthermore, the development of Internet technologies raises expectations of new opportunities to acquire, process, and distribute knowledge. Little research has, however, been done on the new businesses that may originate from a combination of KM practices and the use of new technologies. In particular, since the activities of knowledge creation and sharing are not bound to the single organisation, there is room for the development of innovative services that enable a “knowledge-based use” of network technologies such as the Internet. In fact, an increasing number of examples of innovative “knowledge-intensive” firms based on the Web can be found, but there is the need for better understanding of the contents and issues associated with such emerging ventures.